They also found several commonalities, but they were mostly typical of scholars interacting with each other.

What did scholars like? Read some books and occasionally write some poems and articles. It seemed that they did have something in common, but since they were both scholars, it seemed not surprising that they did this.

Liu Yuan only felt as if he was surrounded by an invisible barrier. He had vaguely caught something, but when he really wanted to see clearly, he couldn’t see anything for a while.

At this moment, Lin Fei’s voice rang in his ears: “Reading, writing poetry, writing articles, etc. are all what scholars like. There is nothing special. Do you remember what Ruan Zhan and Han Jun did besides visiting the study, what else did they like to do?”

When Ruan Zhan and Han Jun were mentioned again, who could no longer speak, Liu Yuan was startled, and instinctively replied: “They also like to visit pen and ink shops.”

“This is a list from the stationery shop they often visit, with items they frequently purchase listed on it,” Lin Fei said, placing the two densely written sheets of paper on the desk and gesturing for Liu Yuan to take a look.

Liu Yuan lowered his head and looked at the papers full of writing on the case.

Naturally, the pen and ink shop sold things such as the Four Treasures of the Study. There are various types of wolf brushes, inkstones, paints, etc… Huh? pigment?

Seeing Liu Yuan’s finger pause on the pigments, Lin Fei pointed to the various sizes of wolf hair brushes on top and said, “Ordinary scholars don’t need to be so particular if they’re only writing. They wouldn’t require such a variety of sizes for their brushes. It’s only artists who would pay attention to these details. Therefore, these two individuals must also enjoy painting.”

Enjoying painting… For a scholar, it didn’t seem like an unusual hobby. While not every scholar had this hobby, it wasn’t considered strange either.

“Including Ruan Zhan and Han Jun, there are fifteen people in total.” Lin Fei pointed to the files on the other missing scholars’ cases and said, “Although the records on the missing cases in these government offices are not exhaustive, there are things that have been mentioned.”

At this point, there was no need for Lin Fei to continue talking. Liu Yuan said with a subtle expression: “These scholars all have a hobby of painting.”

While none of them were particularly outstanding artists, becoming renowned masters, the perpetrator evidently didn’t care whether these scholars’ paintings were good or bad. They simply targeted scholars who had a preference for painting.

But… why choose a scholar who liked to paint?

Lin Fei reached out and took out the old case file from the warehouse that was on the desk, opened it, pointed at the handsome scholar on the file, and said: “The scholar that Madam Rouge killed was also a painter.”

Maybe the painting wasn’t that outstanding, but the scholar used his painting to attract quite a few women.

All of this was seen by people back then and was deeply remembered.

“The murderer hates such handsome scholars who like to paint,” Lin Fei said.

It was not unreasonable to say so, but…

“Ruan Zhan and Han Jun died so strangely, but those scholars just disappeared. Why?” Liu Yuan was puzzled and asked Lin Fei, “Why did Ruan Zhan and Han Jun die so strangely? Why didn’t Ruan Zhan and Han Jun just disappear?”

If these two were to go missing, their families might have just assumed they went out for pleasure and treated it as a missing person’s case to be handled by the local authorities in Chang’an Prefecture, rather than attracting the attention of the Dali Temple as they had now.

Lin Fei was not surprised by this.

“The night when Tangyuan was frightened, there was a thick fog and it was difficult to see the way forward.” Lin Fei reminded Liu Yuan of what happened that day. “That day, Tangyuan ate an extra bowl of porridge and a salted duck egg, so she went back too late. If she went back at the usual time, she might not have encountered something like this.”

These trivial things were true. If she hadn’t eaten an extra bowl of porridge and a salted duck egg, Tangyuan would have gone back long ago, and she might not have encountered such a thing.

“The sudden appearance of Tangyuan is an accident.” Lin Fei said, “Her voice even attracted people on the street next door.”

Although the little girl Tangyuan had a small voice, she howled loudly. People in the nearby streets were called over to watch the excitement.

“So, if Tangyuan hadn’t shown up that day, perhaps we would have had to wait until midnight or until the patrolmen or night watchmen passed by to discover the body,” Liu Yuan mused.

“It’s possible.” Lin Fei nodded and reminded Liu Yuan calmly: “If the murderer’s original plan was to leave the person here, he would have to wait until midnight to be seen.”

The prerequisite for the body to be seen was that the murderer had planned to leave the body there for others to discover.

Liu Yuan understood, and after hearing the words, he immediately said: “What if the murderer’s original plan was not to leave the person here at all, but to take him away? If he hadn’t encountered Tangyuan that day, wouldn’t Han Jun have become another missing person case?”

Lin Fei glanced at him, turned around, took down the map of Chang’an City hanging on the wall behind him, and placed it on the case. Then, he took another pen and drew a circle at the location of Yishan. He also drew a circle at the entrance of the alley where Han Jun was found that day. After a pause, he drew a circle at the location of Zhuang Meiniang’s study.

“Let me ask you,” Lin Fei pointed to the location of Yishan on the map and the location of Zhuang Meiniang’s study, and said, “How to transport a corpse from Yishan to Zhuang Meiniang’s study?”

“What a strange question,” Liu Yuan muttered to himself, but after some serious thought, he said, “Transporting a body can be troublesome. To avoid suspicion, the best solution would be to find a carriage and hide the body inside.”

“Not bad!” Lin Fei confirmed Liu Yuan’s answer, but said: “They don’t know how to drive a carriage.”

“Then…” Liu Yuan thought for a while and was about to speak when he heard Lin Fei say, “It’s late at night and the fog is thick at night. It’s hard to see. On Qingqian Road, two people are supporting a drunk friend. Do you think it will attract attention?”

Liu Yuan was dumbfounded by this statement, but as he processed it, he exclaimed, “So, Lin Shaoqin, are you suggesting that after Han Jun’s death, he was ‘assisted’ down from Yishan by someone and they were taking him to the study?”

How was this… possible?

Lin Fei walked out of the door and said, “Follow me!”

He went straight to the rear court to find Wu Bucai, leaving Liu Yuan behind. As he passed by the public kitchen, it was the time when Wen Mingtang and others were preparing dinner. A rich aroma of fried food filled the air, making his already hungry stomach growl even more. Liu Yuan instinctively glanced into the kitchen and saw Wen Mingtang and others gathered around a large frying pan, frying something.

The aroma truly tantalized the senses, and as he listened to Wen Mingtang instructing A Bing and Tangyuan from inside, “Fry it again for extra crispiness,” Liu Yuan couldn’t help but instinctively swallow saliva.

Despite casting a glance at the tempting aroma emanating from the kitchen and the tantalizing sight of the ongoing cooking, Liu Yuan forcefully suppressed the urge to step inside and followed Lin Fei, catching up to him.

(end of chapter)

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T/N Doesn’t this chapter remind of detective serials like Criminal Minds or CSI?