Chapter 60.1
(The butler was very busy)
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Once he was done chatting with Su Lan, Gu Liang followed her out of the resting lounge.
After exiting, Gu Liang caught sight of Yang Ye first. Yang Ye happened to be looking at him too, and he jerked his head in the direction of Sc.u.mbag Yu’s resting lounge.
Having understood Yang Ye’s intentions, Gu Liang nodded at him.
At this moment, Lady Rong was more or less done with her conversation with Meng Qian Cheng, and she was exiting the interrogation room as well.
Following, he saw Lady Rong telling Designer Mei to go into the one-on-one interrogation room. It seemed like Meng Qian Cheng was planning to talk to Designer Mei next.
Gu Liang casted a glance towards the lonesome and silent Butler Hao before he turned his head back again. As he was walking past Li Xiao Yu, he knocked on her table. “Come, let’s go over and have a chat together.”
Hence, Li Xiao Yu followed Gu Liang into Yang Ye’s resting lounge.
Yang Ye and Gu Liang sat on the sofa shoulder to shoulder.
Li Xiao Yu sat opposite of them with a table separating them, and she happened to face Gu Liang directly.
Whenever Li Xiao Yu raised her head, she would see Gu Liang staring at her with an ice-cold and hard countenance.
Li Xiao Yu immediately s.h.i.+fted towards Yang Ye.
Gu Liang: “……”
First it was Meng Qian Cheng, and now it was Li Xiao Yu. At that moment, Gu Liang reacted as well; he raised his hand to place it on his face, kneading it subconsciously as if he wanted to make his expression appear less stiff.
Li Xiao Yu said hastily: “Yeah, that’s right, don’t be so strict-looking. Are you anxious because you feel that everyone is suspecting Yang Ye?”
Yang Ye: “Oh, I like hearing those words.”
Gu Liang: “……”
Gu Liang knocked on the table, deciding that he would keep to his strictness to prevent this frivolous duo from disrupting the case solving process.
Reverting back to his poker face, Gu Liang asked Li Xiao Yu: “Can you talk about the timeline you had in the morning in detail?”
Li Xiao Yu used her palm to cover her mouth, thereby blocking her mouth from Gu Liang’s line of sight as it swept over.
Having freed herself from the metaphorical persecution, she grimaced at Yang Ye and mouthed the following words: “Your wife is becoming fiercer and fiercer!”
Gu Liang tilted his head, wanting to see what Li Xiao Yu was doing. However, Li Xiao Yu’s palm followed by turning and obscuring his line of sight completely.
Gu Liang could only look towards Yang Ye: “What are the two of you doing?”
Yang Ye hardened his expression and knocked on the table in front of Li Xiao Yu, pretending to berate her. “Be serious, be serious, we have a case to solve!”
Gu Liang: “……”
Li Xiao Yu: “k2026;k2026;”
Li Xiao Yu coughed twice, ultimately focusing on the task at hand. Under a pair of strict gazes, she recounted in an honest manner: “Enk2026; At 7:30 in the morning, I followed the system’s notice to go for breakfast and I met Old Man Meng at the lift, so I followed him to the garden dining room. After taking a few bites, you and Yang Ye arrived. Since everyone’s timelines were the same during breakfast, I’m not going to say more about it.
“After eating breakfast, it was around 8:30. As I was leaving the garden dining room, I noticed Designer Mei saying something Sc.u.mbag Yu alone. I was a little jealous because Sc.u.mbag Yu was already together with me. On the way back, I asked Sc.u.mbag Yu to come to my room.”
“Me and Sc.u.m… Never mind, that feels strange, it’s not the script enactment segment now either way. I’ll say Confidant Ai instead. Owing to the fact that Confidant Ai was afraid of Designer Mei seducing Sc.u.mbag Yu, she asked him to come to her room to spend some time alone together, doing stuff. These depths of love…”
Having to narrate this story in front of the two men made Li Xiao Yu increasingly embarra.s.sed. Puffing out her cheeks, she lowered her head because she was too self-conscious to meet their gaze and said: “In the depths of their love, Sc.u.mbag Yu left abruptly, which made Confidant Ai find it strange. You were originally kissing me but your heart seems to have flown somewhere else, and you actually abandoned the scene halfway through?
“That was the moment where Confidant Ai recalled Designer Mei saying a few sentences to Sc.u.mbag Yu alone as they were leaving the dining room. She felt that Designer Mei wasn’t just flirting with Sc.u.mbag Yu, but meeting with him as well. Hence, after Sc.u.mbag Yu left, Confidant Ai secretly followed him.”
One she spoke to this point, Li Xiao Yu released a long sigh. “Okay, I can change the address back to ‘me’ again.
“And after Sc.u.mbag Yu stepped into the elevator, I walked up to the elevator and saw it stopping on the first floor. Consequently, after the elevator came back up, I walked in and went to the first floor too. After reaching the first floor, I looked out of the lobby’s main doors, but thought that he probably didn’t leave the ancient castle, so I turned towards the main hall. Just as I walked through the main doors of the main hall, I saw him walking out from the side door, in the direction of the garden.
“At that time, I didn’t follow immediately. I went to the kitchen to grab some food to eat, and pretended to eat my snacks with my head lowered in the main hall. Approximately 10 minutes after, I saw Designer Mei walking into the main hall and then she used the side door to get to the gardens as well. I became increasingly certain that he was having a rendezvous behind my back.
“But I still remained where I was. I was constantly pondering, Sc.u.mbag Yu has only been with me for a few days. No matter how much of a sc.u.m he was, he shouldn’t have a change of heart this quickly, right? Moreover, as fickle in love affairs as he was, he couldn’t possibly try to do something right under my eyelids. Maybe both of them had something they needed to discuss?
“I waited for another fifteen minutes, give or take a few, but neither of them had returned. It was highly likely that they had gotten together. I became increasingly uncomfortable with that notion, so I went to look for them.
“When I found them, it was around 9:30.”
Gu Liang opened his mouth: “I apologise for interrupting, but how did you find them? When you traverse through the small path between the orchard and walk to the end, there are two roads in the peach forest. One goes towards the vegetable field, the other goes to the lake. How did you reach the conclusion that you should go towards the lake?”
Li Xiao Yu replied: “Because there were voices coming from the lakeside direction. Although I couldn’t hear it clearly, the voices were there. Sure enough, after I walked towards the lake, I saw Yang Ye and Su Lan.”
Gu Liang asked: “Were there noises coming from the vegetable field, or any smells of fire burning?”
Li Xiao Yu shook her head. “There probably wasn’t. I didn’t hear or smell anything.”
Gu Liang: “Therefore, during the script enactment segment, you didn’t go to the vegetable field from the beginning to the end, and neither did Designer Mei?”
Li Xiao Yu shook her head again. “We didn’t. I can essentially confirm that Designer Mei and I have never been there.”
After giving a pause, Li Xiao Yu went a step further to explain why she was aware of Designer Mei’s timeline: “While we were by the lake, Designer Mei and I started arguing the moment we confronted each other, and Sc.u.mbag Yu was constantly trying to smooth things over during our ten-minute argument. Both of us were quite disappointed with him at that time. He said we women were incredibly troublesome, and he wanted to be alone by the lake to disperse his cares. Hence, Designer Mei and I headed back to the main hall.
“On our way back to the main hall, both of us were still arguing and we weren’t walking very fast. It was around 10 o’ clock when we finally reached the main hall. But we didn’t go back to the lodging area immediately.”
Upon hearing that, Gu Liang sensed that an important point was about to be brought up. With furrowed brows, he asked her: “Why didn’t you return immediately?”
“We were obstructed.”
Li Xiao Yu stated, “There were workers fixing up the wedding decor. All of them should be acted out by NPCs. When we arrived, they happened to finish constructing the T-shaped stage. There were a lot of fresh flowers placed on the ground, it was very messy. They needed to place the fresh flowers on the two sides of the T-shaped stage, and when they saw us, they asked us if we could help them decorate the two sides of the stage since we’re Lady Rong’s friends.
“In front of so many people, Designer Mei and I had to uphold our images as wise and virtuous women, so we put aside our grudges temporarily and stopped arguing for the time being. As we were helping out in the main hall together, we maintained a harmonious veneer.”
Gu Liang could not resist asking: “How long did you decorate for?”
Li Xiao Yu thought back about it, saying: “Roughly 30 minutes, which means we were bustling about until 10:30. Apart from the flowers at the side of the T-shaped stage, we had to do up the fresh flower arrangements on the table as well. There were quite a lot of things we had to do.
“After we were done, the chefs carried out some snacks and fruits over to thank us for our help.
“When it was nearly 11 o’ clock, I left the main hall. Lady Rong’s wedding rings were with me. Since the wedding was about to begin, I had to go back to my room to retrieve the rings. Besides that, I also needed to change my outfit slightly, and freshen up my make-up.
“Designer Mei was together with me when I was going back. Hence, I can affirm that I’ve never been to the vegetable field, and that she has never been there as well.”
With her explanation, Gu Liang finally made sense of the missing portion in their timelines. “Therefore, you did not have a single encounter with Boyfriend Feng the entire afternoon.”
After a moment of contemplation, Li Xiao Yu said: “Yes. In all likelihood, Designer Mei didn’t see him either.”
Gu Liang: “In actuality, starting from the time you finished arguing and returned, you didn’t see Lady Rong and Butler Hao as well.”
Li Xiao Yu nodded.
Gu Liang frowned for a long moment before he slanted his head to regard Yang Ye who was sitting by his side: “Relatively speaking, most workers wouldn’t ask the guests to help decorate the wedding venue, and then have the chefs specially prepare some snacks and beverages for them. It’s highly likely that they had been instructed by someone else.”
Yang Ye nodded. “Agreed. Someone must have told the workers and the chefs to retain Confidant Ai and Designer Mei to prevent them from returning to the lodging area.”
Li Xiao Yu’s eyes widened, and it took her a moment to react: “That… Could it be the butler? The person who has the highest probability of communicating with the workers and chefs, is him. Since he’s the butler, everyone would listen to him.”
“It’s highly possible.” Gu Liang.
— Certainly, Butler Hao’s suspicions were growing larger and larger.
At this juncture, Yang Ye stood up to fetch two bottles of mineral water before walking back. He handed one bottle to Li Xiao Yu and it looked like he was going to offer the other bottle to Gu Liang.
“Both of you had been talking the entire time, you must be thirsty. Drink some water.”
After hearing Yang Ye say those words, Li Xiao Yu accepted the mineral water happily and twisted open the cap to take a sip. As she was about to say a word of thanks, she saw Yang Ye twisting open the bottle cap before he handed it to Gu Liang.
The water in her mouth became less clean and sweet in an instant. It was sour.
However, Li Xiao Yu felt complicated in her heart too.
On one hand, she felt that as a single dog, she had been abused.
And on the other, she wanted to cheer excitedly because she felt like she had willed the pairing into reality.
Swallowing the mouthful of water, Li Xiao Yu pouted: “Ying, single dogs have no human rights. However…”
Li Xiao Yu looked at Gu Liang and Yang Ye with a serious gaze all of a sudden. “But I don’t matter, I wish both of you 99.”
Gu Liang: “I…”
Yang Ye knocked the table to chide at Li Xiao Yu again. “Once you’re done drinking your water, hurry up and discuss the case, don’t talk about anything else.”
Gu Liang: “…………”
— I feel like I really need to take a moment to explain this to Li Xiao Yu.
Forget it, we should solve the case first.
After drinking two mouthfuls of water, Gu Liang continued to question Li Xiao Yu: “I understand your timeline now. I still have another question to ask you: with regards to the magic and pentagram, how much do you know?”
“My character doesn’t know a single thing. But through the free exploration, I’ve come to understand that Butler Hao, Lady Rong, and Sc.u.mbag Yu are all aware of it, and Designer Mei has some knowledge of it as well.” Li Xiao Yu replied.
“What did Butler Hao say on his part?” Gu Liang asked.
“Mn, during the free exploration, we had a discussion about this issue after we found the magic clue in Sc.u.mbag Yu’s sports car,” said Li Xiao Yu. “Lady Rong and Butler Hao admitted to it on their own accord, and said they were aware of the magic.”
Gu Liang queried: “Can you talk about the situation back then in detail?”
“Of course I can.”
Li Xiao Yu made a brief recall. After everyone inspected the pentagram together at the vegetable field, Yang Ye and Gu Liang remained in the vegetable field. The other five players – herself included – left the vegetable field together, traversed through the orchard and returned back to the main hall.
Following that, they had dispersed to search around in the main hall, but they did not find any clues. Thus the five of them left the main hall together, cut across the main lobby and left through the main entrance of the ancient castle to arrive at Sc.u.mbag Yu’s sports car.
Upon opening the sports car, everyone found that special photo frame very easily.
The photograph in the frame had a witch, and there was a pentagram at the back.
Consequently, Yang Ye’s a.s.sociation with the pentagram and magic became an absolute fact.
Confidant Ai, Lady Rong, Butler Hao, Designer Mei, and in addition to one Magnate Rong, started to discuss Yang Ye’s a.s.sociation immediately. This included the fact that Su Lan saw him walking into the storage, and how he might have used fire to kill Lady Rong before.
When they were at the peak of their discussion, Yang Ye and Gu Liang approached from the direction of the main doors, and brought away Magnate Rong, the detective of this case.
Hence, the remaining people continued the aforementioned discussion.
“I’m genuinely unaware of the magic and pentagram, did any of you know about it?” Li Xiao Yu gazed at all of them.
Designer Mei was the first to answer: “Truth to be told, I have some knowledge of it as well. The pentagram can seal off evil spirits, and the evil spirits are afraid of fire. Therefore, when the two factors are combined together, it should be capable of killing the doll.
“As a doll designer, there are numerous dolls in my own house as well. My mother was rather cautious of taboos and she invited a magician over. The magician reminded me that dolls attract evil spirits easily, and that the pentagram and fire can kill the evil spirit. However, I’m unaware of the specific operations.”
“What about the others? Since Designer Mei is aware of the magic because she makes these dolls, Lady Rong should be aware of it too?” Li Xiao Yu asked Lady Rong.
Lady Rong thought about it before she glanced at Butler Hao. Then, she told Lady Rong: “I’m aware. I also met a magician who told me about the pentagram. However, I’m also unaware of the special or concrete details.”
Lastly, Li Xiao Yu looked towards Butler Hao. “Butler Hao must be aware of it too then.”
Butler Hao nodded. “I’m aware. I’m always at the ancient castle. It goes without saying that I would know of any guest who arrived here.”
Li Xiao Yu repeated the past situation in detail. “Mn. That was how it went back then, I can’t be wrong.”
“To summarise, Designer Mei was the first to admit to knowing the magic, followed by Lady Rong, then lastly Butler Hao. Is that correct?” Gu Liang asked.
“It’s correct.” Li Xiao Yu nodded.
“Sure. You can go out first then. Old Man Meng should be calling on you soon.” Gu Liang nodded his head, “Many thanks.”
Li Xiao took the mineral water and rose to her feet. “I get it, I’m leaving, I’ll let the both of you talk to each other secretly as you desire.”