There is a god in the sky

Chapter 301 Enmity

The Zhao family sent people outside the city to collect the bodies.

According to those who returned, the eldest daughter of the Zhao family died a terrible death; when she was found, several poisonous snakes were still wrapped around her body.

In the afternoon, the Ministry of Justice sent someone to summon Xiao Ji.

Minister Zhao looked gloomy and asked Xiao Ji, "Do you really hate her that much?"

Xiao Ji calmly replied, "I understand Lord Zhao's grief over the loss of his daughter, but there is no need to suspect me of being the murderer."

"She tried to poison you, but failed. It's only natural for you to seek revenge. Even the methods are the same. Heh, it doesn't matter whether you admit it or not."

Minister Zhao concluded that Xiao Ji had committed the murder as revenge.

However, no evidence was left at the scene, and it rained all night. Apart from the faint wheel tracks of the carriage, no clues could be found.

The place was remote. If a passerby hadn't discovered it and reported it today, the body might have already decomposed by the time the Zhao family realized the person hadn't reached their ancestral home.

Xiao Ji was unable to defend himself, and the Zhao family was convinced that he was the murderer; it no longer mattered who the real culprit was.

"If Minister Zhao has nothing else to say, I will take my leave."

"Wait a minute." Minister Zhao tossed him a scroll of files. "This case will be investigated by the Criminal Investigation Department. Lord Xiao, I need to see the closing statement within seven days."

"Yes, I will take your orders."

Everyone saw Xiao Ji come out of the Ministry of Justice and then hurriedly lead his men back to the Criminal Investigation Department. When he was about to take his men to examine the body, he was told that the body had been taken back by the Zhao family.

Xiao Ji arrived at the door with his men, but was almost beaten out by the servants.

He went to the Ministry of Justice and returned the case file with a clear conscience.

"Lord Zhao, you're asking too much. How can you solve a case if you won't even examine the body?"

"All ten people died from poisoning, and there were many venomous snakes at the scene. There's nothing else. It's written in the file I gave you."

"I prefer to have my own coroner examine the bodies to avoid any mistakes."

"What a joke! My coroners from the Ministry of Justice are inferior to those from your Criminal Investigation Department?"

“That’s true,” Xiao Ji replied without hesitation.

An autopsy is out of the question. Who knows what Xiao Ji might do to his daughter's body?

After sending him away, Minister Zhao ordered people to investigate Xiao Ji's whereabouts yesterday. If someone were to commit murder outside the city, they would always leave some clues.

"Sir, how should we investigate this case? Should we go to the city gate office first?"

Sui Feng is still recovering from his injuries, while Sui Ying has gone with Constable Xing to track down the assassin who tried to kill the Crown Prince. Now, a young constable is following Xiao Ji.

Xiao Ji said casually, "No rush, let's go back and check the files first."

There's not much to investigate in this case, and Zhao Kaizhi didn't expect him to find the real culprit anyway; the other party wouldn't believe anything he found out.

Xiao Ji had even prepared his closing statement.

The Zhao family will definitely target him, but the relationship between the two families has been strained ever since he broke off the engagement.

Back at the Criminal Investigation Department, an officer ran up to report: "Sir, Constable Xing and his men have discovered the assassin's trail and have sent me to request backup."

"where?"

"In Huaihua Lane in the south of the city."

The Xiao family immediately led their men there, and also sent someone to the Imperial City Guard to deliver a message along the way.

Catching assassins is the job of the Imperial City Guard.

The reason why the Criminal Investigation Department is still investigating is because the Crown Prince entrusted this case to them.

Using Shen Lan's method, they found the direction the group had fled and tracked them down. Although they didn't find the people, they identified several areas.

After that, he even sent Constable Xing to keep an eye on several pharmacies in the vicinity. Anyone who went to a pharmacy to get medicine for external injuries was to be tracked and investigated.

After these days, the assassin who had been hiding in the shadows finally revealed himself.

When he arrived at Huaihua Lane, the officials had already surrounded an inconspicuous little house.

The area was surrounded by archers, and the defenses were tight.

Commander Zhao arrived a step later and immediately took over the on-site defenses.

"How many of them are there? Are they really hiding in here?"

Suiying came over and reported, "There were five living people and two corpses in total. When we found them, they were planning to bury the bodies in the yard."

Clearly, they couldn't take their companion's body with them and wanted to bury them on the spot, otherwise, once the bodies started to decompose, they wouldn't be able to hide it anymore.

How did you find them?

Commander Zhao had led a search of this area before. Although he didn't remember this house, it was impossible for the Imperial City Guard to miss it during their thorough search.

"Some of them were injured, and the master ordered us to guard the nearby clinics and pharmacies."

Today, as usual, we saw someone buy medicine for treating external injuries and followed them. Then we saw people burying a body in the yard.

Normal families wouldn't bury a dead person in their own yard, especially when there are several men in the burial.

"What are we waiting for? Men, charge in! Don't let a single one escape!"

Surrounded by enemies, the assassins had no chance of escape, but they did not surrender. After a fierce fight, only two were captured alive.

"Lord Xiao, I have taken these two men back with me. I will personally report to the Crown Prince's residence later."

"Very well, if you obtain any useful information during the interrogation, please inform me so that I can close this case."

Commander Zhao led the assassins away, taking the bodies with him.

Xiao Ji walked into the courtyard and saw the pit that was only half dug.

There was a dog tied up in the yard, which had already been shot dead by arrows.

As Xiao Ji entered the room, a foul stench assaulted his senses.

The dark, damp room was a mess, filled with leftover food, bloodstained strips of cloth, and a dried-out medicine pot, all mixed together with various smells.

"The Imperial City Guard must have searched every house back then, so why didn't they find this place?"

Officer Xing led Xiao Ji to a corner of the courtyard. "I suspect that the original owners of this house are still alive. The assassins used them to escape the search and then killed them."

It is quite possible that this land has been turned over.

"Dig it open and take a look."

At Xiao Ji's command, the officials took shovels and began digging.

A moment later, three corpses were indeed unearthed.

The body was buried very shallowly and was dug out quickly.

"Go to the Jingzhao Prefecture to check the family register and see if there are any relatives left. Find them and handle the funeral arrangements."

"Yes."

The person who was happiest when the assassin was caught was none other than the Crown Prince.

His greatest act of sincerity was to promote Xiao Ji.

Although Xiao Ji's promotion was expected by the ministers, the Ministry of Personnel had been delaying the matter because of the broken engagement.

Now that the Emperor has openly praised Xiao Ji in court, and the Crown Prince has brought up the matter of promotion, the Ministry of Personnel dares not be negligent.

"Your Majesty, please reconsider!" Minister Zhao stepped forward.

In just two days, he looked much more haggard. Kneeling in the center of the hall, he pleaded, "Your Majesty, my daughter was brutally murdered a few days ago. The murderer is suspected to be Xiao Ji. The case is still unsolved. I believe that I should decline the offer of an official position."

Marquis Pingyang asked with a glee, "Lord Zhao, are you getting senile? Didn't you hand this case over to Xiao Ji to investigate? So you suspected him of being the murderer, shouldn't you have made him recuse himself?"

Xiao Zhengyang naturally had to defend his son.

"Your Majesty, I swear on my life that my son would never kill anyone!"