Inside the firewood shed in the Gu family's backyard.
A male corpse lay on a pile of dry straw. His lips were blackened, his features contorted, and his body was already stiff. A dagger was plunged into his chest, and blood pooled on the ground, having long since coagulated.
Three servants stood guard outside the door.
About a meter away from the door, many servants had gathered, whispering amongst themselves.
"Ah, what a tragic death! Did you see? I heard his appearance was terrifying. So awful. Who do you think killed him?"
Among the servants, someone patted their chest, their face etched with fear.
"Who else could it be? Of course..."
Another person pointed in the direction of the Garden Pavilion, their words unfinished, but their meaning was clear.
"No way? Our mistress doesn't seem like such a ruthless person."
"You're foolish. It's not about seeming. For us, whose lives are as cheap as grass, if we offend our masters, isn't this the result? Don't you remember who framed our eldest young lady yesterday, nearly ruining her reputation?"
At this moment, another person chimed in, "What do you know? If she were truly framed, why would they act in secret? They could have dealt with her directly."
"Ah? You mean... it wasn't a framing, but rather..."
The servants babbled, with some deliberately steering the conversation.
The tide of gossip immediately turned towards the mistress in the Garden Pavilion.
As a result, when Gu Qianying arrived at the backyard with Lu Zhu, the surrounding maids and servants, startled, quickly retreated. Fear was evident on everyone's faces.
No one dared to approach Gu Qianying presumptuously, fearing they would be dealt with by her on the spot.
Gu Qianying's reputation for ruthlessness spread here.
Fortunately, before Gu Qianying's notorious reputation could spread further, Gu Yefeng dealt with some of the gossiping servants for slandering a master of the household.
"Brother, when did the person die, and how?"
After Gu Qianying and Lu Zhu entered, Gu Qianying looked at the male corpse while inquiring about the situation.
Gu Yefeng was quite shocked that Gu Qianying showed no reaction to the gruesome sight of the dead man.
His sister seemed to have grown bolder.
Meanwhile, Lu Zhu, leaning against the doorframe, retched uncontrollably.
"It looks like he was killed by a dagger, but also poisoned. To know for sure, we'll need the coroner to examine it."
Gu Yefeng had already dispatched someone to fetch the coroner immediately after the murder.
"Were the guards unconscious? Or dead?"
The men under his brother were not ordinary servants; they were all skilled. If they heard any commotion inside, how could they stand idly by?
"They were drugged with a potent sleeping powder."
Gu Qianying's brows furrowed slightly. "Potent sleeping powder?"
Gu Yefeng nodded and beckoned to the person behind him. "Bring it here."
The person behind him handed the item to Gu Yefeng.
It was a packet of white powder.
Gu Yefeng unfolded it and said, "My men are all trained and carefully selected. Ordinary sleeping powders cannot affect them."
Gu Qianying took the packet of powder from Gu Yefeng, sniffed it, and then said, "The main ingredient of sleeping powder is Datura. Datura mixed with a small amount of Atropine to make this sleeping powder is indeed top-tier. It seems the killer has some skill."
She had originally intended to use the village head to lure out the person who framed her.
The person harming her from behind was likely Gu Mingyue. Her strategy of luring the snake out of its hole was simply to make Gu Mingyue reveal herself, thereby allowing everyone to see Gu Mingyue's true face.
However, from this murder case, it was clear that things were far from simple.
Gu Qianying squatted down to examine the body. The stab wound on the body was obvious. Although a dagger was plunged into his chest, the position was off-center from the heart. This indicated that the killer intended to stab the heart but missed. The missed location was not fatal, so the killer then resorted to poison?
This thought was quickly dismissed by Gu Qianying. If the killer's stab did not kill the village head, they could have simply stabbed him again. Why resort to poison? It was an unnecessary step.
Thus, killing with a dagger and then poisoning made little sense, unless...
"Brother, there's no need to call the coroner. His fatal wound was not in the chest; he died of poisoning. The poison used was Gelsemium. Gelsemium is a swift-acting poison that is fatal upon contact with blood. The person who poisoned him and the person who stabbed him are not the same."
Gu Qianying scanned the surroundings of the firewood shed and added, "The room appears chaotic, but it has actually been deliberately tidied up by the killer. The killer seems to be trying to conceal something."
Gu Yefeng listened, dumbfounded, as Gu Qianying spoke.
He watched his younger sister speak so coherently, and her observations were no different from what he had seen. He had suspected the village head had been poisoned but didn't know the specific poison, which was why he intended to find a coroner.
However, what he couldn't figure out, his sister could see at a glance, and even accurately discern that the crime scene had been deliberately tampered with by the killer.
Could such a capable person truly be his younger sister?
Gu Yefeng scrutinized Gu Qianying, his eyes filled with suspicion. "Are you really my little sister?"
Gu Qianying: "..."
"Genuine."
"Little sister, when did you become so capable? You make your brother so excited."
Gu Yefeng embraced Gu Qianying, filled with emotion. "My little sister has become so intelligent. This not only excites me but also puts immense pressure on me. If little sister is this smart, I, as her elder brother, might be overshadowed in the future."
"..."
"So, Brother, are you going to be jealous like this forever, instead of reporting to Grandpa and sending the male corpse lying here to the yamen to report the crime?"
With a murder in the mansion, reporting to the authorities was the most crucial matter at hand.
"Yes, yes, of course, of course."
Gu Yefeng quickly released Gu Qianying, then sent someone to notify Old General Gu, and at the same time, called back the subordinates who had gone to find the coroner.
Since little sister was so capable, why bother finding a coroner?
At this moment, Gu Kun, Old General Gu, Third Concubine Han Shi, and others, upon hearing of the death in the backyard, all rushed over.
Gu Yumei, Gu Mingyue, and Third Concubine, upon seeing the corpse in the firewood shed, screamed and ran out.
Despite their fear, their mouths were like they had been poisoned: "Eldest sister, even if you disliked this village head for framing you, you couldn't be so cruel, could you? It's a living human life!"
"Yes, Eldest sister, Second sister is absolutely right. Although this person's sins were grave, his crimes did not warrant death. How could you be so heartless?"
"Slap, slap."
The sound of slaps suddenly rang out.
Gu Mingyue and Gu Yumei were both stunned.
They covered half of their faces and glared at Gu Qianying with anger. "Eldest sister, what are you doing?"
"Why did you hit me?"
Gu Qianying's icy eyes swept over Gu Mingyue and Gu Yumei, then she spoke coldly, "Slandering your elder sister, though not a capital offense, is still a grave crime!"