Ji Yunshu continued, "But, there can be other possibilities besides the three theories that I have just stated." Indeed, anything was possible! Without any concrete proof, no one had the audacity to convict the murderer.
Jing Rong listened to Ji Yunshu quietly.
For a long time, she pondered over the case in silence. Puzzled, she mumbled, "Even if Lin Shu is the killer, he'll definitely deny it if we question him directly. Then let us make a few hypotheses first. If the bottle does belongs to Guo He, why did the murderer dispose of the bottle into the well together with his body? The murderer only had to discard the body, but not the bottle. Why did the murderer do something unnecessary?"
Maybe the killer was too bored!
Ji Yunshu's query was reasonable. The culprit only had to discard the body into the well. It was illogical for him to be bothered about the wine bottle during such a crucial time. How could he have so much of "leisure time" to worry about it?
Jing Rong straightened his face as an idea flashed across his mind. Following Ji Yunshu's assumption, he added, "If your theory is correct, we shall make a bolder guess. Maybe, there were blood stains on the wine bottle. The killer was extremely anxious as he had just murdered someone. When he tossed the dead body into the well, he did not have a deliberate plan to handle the wine bottle that was covered in blood. Hence, he discarded the wine bottle into the well together with the body out of convenience."
Wow! "Your Highness has made a very reasonable deduction!" Ji Yunshu complimented him out of the blue.
'Thanks!' Jing Rong put on a faint grin but he failed to hide his satisfaction and joy from being praised.
After a while, Ji Yunshu continued, "Then, we have to prove our theory."
"How can we prove it?"
"I need some vinegar and strong alcohol."
Oh!
Jing Rong recalled how Ji Yunshu detected the blood stain on the dagger that Ah Yu used to kill Lord Jiang. He was learning new things everyday from Ji Yunshu!
Jing Rong's subordinates promptly brought the two items over under Jing Rong's orders. Ji Yunshu mixed the vinegar into the alcohol and gently swirled the liquid in the bottle. Then, she wet her handkerchief with the mixture and carefully wiped the broken pieces with her handkerchief. She meticulously checked every piece of the bottle, leaving no spot unattended.
After she had wiped every piece of the broken jar, she arranged them carefully on the table. Before long, a maroon mark gradually appeared on a few of the broken pieces, appearing exceptionally striking on the silver wine jar.
Jing Rong was hit by a sudden realisation, "This is blood!"
"You're right, it is blood. The mixture of wine and alcohol is capable of recovering the blood stain that has been wiped off or washed away."
"I think we can assume that our hypotheses have been proven."
"That's not exactly true."
"How so?"
"We have to find out whose blood is this."
She picked up a paper, that was inked in red, among the pile of bones. She wrapped the few pieces that were stained in blood in the red paper and gently rubbed the broken pieces against the paper. Eventually, she flattened out the paper.
She was right! Half of the blood that dyed the broken pieces had blended together with the red ink on the paper, while the other half was left on the damaged bottle.
At that moment, Ji Yunshu clenched her fist and deepened her gaze. She was able to make a rough verdict now.
Jing Rong replied, "I reckon the hypothesis is now accepted. The blood on the bottle belongs to Guo He." What?!
Ji Yunshu nodded, "Yes. You're right. This is Guo He's blood." As she spoke, she crumpled the paper in her hand.
Upon seeing her, Jing Rong was confused. He raised his eyebrows and asked, "Why are you reacting like this if you've already come up with an answer? Could it be…" he trailed off, not completing his sentence.
Ji Yunshu stayed silent as she put on a sombre expression. After a long while, she recomposed herself. She pursed her lips and lifted the broken pieces up as she explained, "The blood does not solely belong to Guo He. Someone else is involved too."
Huh?
She explained, "Only the blood from the same person will mix together when they come in contact. When I rubbed them against each other just now, there were some blood on the broken piece that failed to blend with the blood on the paper. There is only one explanation to that. Aside from Guo He, there's someone else's blood stained on the wine bottle. And he's most probably the killer."
"Lin Shu?"
She gently shook her head, "I'm not sure. If the blood really belongs to Lin Shu, together with the chestnut bead, we can close the case immediately. But, I need his blood now to obtain the answer."
"That's an easy job!" Jing Rong succinctly ordered the guards, "Fetch me Lin Shu's blood immediately."
"Yes!" the guards answered and was about to carry out their quest instantly.
Ji Yunshu quickly reminded before the guards left, "I don't need a bowl of blood. Just a few drops will do."
"We understand, Teacher Ji. We'll not hurt him," they responded and left the scene.
She remembered how Jing Rong's guards brought her a full bowl of Ji Yuanzhi's blood. She was so shocked to the extent that she nearly passed out. It would not be surprising for the guards to get her a bowl of blood this time if she did not remind them beforehand, which was completely unnecessary as the remaining blood could not be made into a skincare product and she would have to discard it nonetheless.
At this moment, Lin Shu had not noticed that the "danger" was slowly creeping toward him. As he was suffering from the whipping wounds and the snake's bite, he had not left his room since the night before, had not been to the back mountain and definitely not seen the skeleton. He merely summoned Fu Yuansheng, his classmate, over discreetly and requested Fu Yuansheng to recount the whole incident for him.
Fu Yuansheng had a direct personality and told the tale without hesitation, adding in expansive gestures as he spoke.
"You can't imagine how they placed the skeleton on the floor. We were all dumbfounded when we entered the room. Fatty Lu was so horrified that he passed out and laid by the well for the entire night. When he woke up in the morning, he was frightened by the skeleton once again and cried for help. That was how the others noticed. However, it's strange how our teacher is unusually accommodating to this group of people. He trusts them unreservedly. In fact, we had already informed the officials and only had to wait for them to send a coroner to do the autopsy. Yet, Teacher was willing to hand over the case to Teacher Ji. He put the bones together and did some other weird things, concluding that the deceased is Guo He. Furthermore, he said that Guo He was involved in a fight before he passed away, resulting in the five wounds that were found on his body. The explanations had so much jargon that an ordinary person wouldn't understand, and all the things he did were so illogical too. However, teacher believes in him. He told us to listen to Teacher Ji obediently until the officials are due to arrive. That's absolutely unfair!" he ranted furiously.
Lin Shu's face turned greener and greener as he listened to Fu Yuansheng's story. His eyes were brimming with trepidation while his hands, which were hidden underneath his gown, were trembling with fear!
Fu Yuansheng noticed the change in his expression. With furrowed brows, he reached out to touch Lin Shu, "Lin Shu, are you alright?"
"Huh?" he was startled, as his unfocused eyes widened all of a sudden. He gulped and shook his head, "No, I'm fine." He was clearly lying!