Detective Ghost Empress

280 Strip him

” So, you are Lord Ji Meng, the one who is in charge of dealing with the aftermath of all the cases along with noting everything down right?” Liu Hui Ying raised her head and looked at the very gentle and scholarly-looking man who was sitting in front of her. She looked at his hands that he kept folded in his lap and her eyes flickered slightly before she smiled softly and said, ” I really wanted to meet you the first time when you sent me the report of the investigation of princess Chenguang. Thank you very much for such a detailed report, it was really helpful in keeping track of the case that I solved.”

Ji Meng was slightly nervous when he was called by Liu Hui Ying but when he saw that the latter was only praising him, he sighed in relief and said, “It’s all right, this is my job. There is no need for Sir Chi to thank me for doing my job properly.”

Liu Hui Ying continued to smile, in fact, she smiled so wide that her eyes were almost pinched as she looked at the man and remarked, ” No, I insist. If you did not send me that report, I wouldn’t be able to solve this case... it’s all thanks to you that I am finally holding the last key to bring this case to an end.”

Almost immediately, Ji Meng felt his heartbeat skitter as he raised his head and looked at Liu Hui Ying who was sitting in front of him. Droplets of sweat started to cover his forehead as he looked at the latter and asked with a forced smile, ” W…What do you mean, Sir Chi? I don’t think I understand what you are trying to say… how can I help in something so serious?”

” Of course, you can,” Liu Hui Ying took the letter that was found in the room of the maid where she lived and then unfurled it in front of Ji Meng, she watched his eyes that were locked on the paper with confusion brimming in them as she spoke, ” When I examined the body of consort Liu, I found out that the killer pushed her neck in the pond many times which stuck sort of weird to me but at the same time the reason could always be simple like the killer having a very deep grudge with the consort.”

She leaned forward in her chair, her lips were still curled in a smile but she did not have any humour in her eyes. ” But the same thing happened with consort Su, of course, given that she was in cahoots with consort Liu, we can say that the killer wanted to kill her in the same manner but——”

” Why will a maid, who had no existence in this palace and could be ignored by just anyone at any time be killed in the same manner? Don’t you think its too weird, like what kind of grudge can a killer have with a maid who had no links with the two consorts or maybe he never had a grudge, to begin with,” she stretched out her hand that was covered with a handkerchief and caught Ji Meng’s hands that were stained with ink? ” The killer might have been trying to clean something that ended up getting stuck to the necks of his victims.”

Liu Hui Ying raised her head and smiled at Ji Meng as she said, ” You have made me run around a lot, mister Ji.”

Ji Meng stood up from his seat and he looked at Liu Hui Ying, his eyes were shaking and so were his fingers but he still managed to glare at the latter and shout, ” What nonsense are you saying? Do you …do I look like a murderer to you? Even if I am a concubine son of the Ji family, I think I deserve more respect than this!”

.....

” You think you deserve respect after killing three women straight, oooh, why did I not think of that?” Liu Hui Ying cooed as she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms in front of her as she placed her head on the back of the chair. ” I am sorry let’s do this again shall we?”

She cleared her throat and then opened her mouth as she said, ” So, respected Lord Ji, with all due respect that I can summon for you in my heart … believe me when I say I have none … would you mind telling me why did you kill those three women hmm?”

” I am done,” Ji Meng snapped as he took a few steps back and pointed at Liu Hui Ying and Zhai Heng along with Yu Lingyun as he repeated, ” I am done, I don’t know what you three are doing but this is not funny …how can you even doubt me? I am the concubine-born son of the Ji family, why will I need to kill someone, what’s more …you don’t even have any evidence.”

” That’s right,” seeing that the matter was escalating Ji Mo immediately stepped in, he was worried that he will be a step too late and that this man will get their family in trouble. ” I mean even if you are doing this to prove yourself and degrade the Ji family’s prestige, you shouldn’t do something like this——-”

” Strip him.”

Ji Mo was still speaking when Liu Hui Ying suddenly spoke causing everyone including Zhai Heng and Ji Mo to be stunned they all turned to look at Liu Hui Ying who has asked them to strip Ji Meng and were shocked and speechless.

” What did you say, lord Chi?” Please let it be him who misheard her, please let it be him who misheard her, Zhai Heng prayed in his head as he looked at Liu Hui Ying silently as he asked her to repeat herself.

But maybe the Gods were really angry with him these days because he heard her turn to look at him and with all the seriousness she could muster on her face and say, ” Strip him down.”