Xing Zhubu was intimidated by the sharp knife and did not dare to reveal any slight words for a short time.

  The most intimidating ones are actually the Golden Armor Guards standing outside the Temple of Great Rites at this moment.

  Inside the Temple of Great Rites, many people harbored doubts about this nobleman Pei Tan, with Xing Zhubu at their head; however, no one dared to make a move under the eyes of the Golden Armor Guard.

  Jing Wan'er was completely unaware of what had happened to her. When she appeared in front of Pei Tan the next day, her expression was as usual.

  Pei Tan looked at the girl and slowly asked: "Did you hear anything last night?"

  Jing Wan'er shook her head and smiled: "I'm a heavy sleeper, I went back to my room and fell asleep last night."

  The eyes of Pei Xian at the door added a hint of coldness amidst his usual calm and collected demeanor.

  Jing Wan'er glanced at Pei Tan's eyes with bloodshot, "It seems that the adults didn't rest well last night?"

  This year Chang'an seems to be really unstable, Emperor Zhongzong's second ascension has not been long, and it is the time when he needs to work hard to govern the country and stabilize the world. However, heaven seems to have brought down a heavenly punishment in silence. Originally, this grand event of imperial examination was a good thing for both the Great Tang and the people of the world.

  Pei Tan saw Jing Wanyu looking refreshed and clear-headed, and silently shook his head in his heart.

  In the afternoon, someone came crying and shouting to report to the official. The Golden Armor Guard dragged a man with a frightened face and threw him onto the main hall.

  The person who reported the case said that they saw a scholar jumping from the third floor of the Wangyue Tower and dying on the spot.

  Nor does it know whether the ominous sign is really being fulfilled.

  Bai Tan heard the name "Wang Yue Lou" and the girl standing beside him also stiffened for a moment.

  The leader of the Jinwu Guards spoke in a low voice: "We will replace Temple Master to guard the Grand Temple, sir can go out to handle the case."

  This remark was heard by people with different thoughts and naturally had different interpretations. Xing Zhubu and others did not dare to raise their heads at first.

  "Bring our new undertaker along." Pei Tan said in a dim tone.

  The carriage of the Temple of Great Rites arrived at the foot of Wangyue Tower and saw that the onlookers had already crowded around, packed like sardines.

  Dull days need stimulation, and the common people are pointing at the scholar's corpse, discussing it in hushed tones.

  "The court is in session, all unrelated persons retreat!" The bailiffs reluctantly drew their waist knives and shouted at the pedestrians.

  The onlookers made way and cleared a path, the yamen runners immediately came forward, occupied the road and let Pei Tan go first.

  Jing Wan'er wrapped herself in a large cloak and hood, covering her head and face, following Pei Tan's side.

  After all, no one noticed her, and her beautiful eyes saw the corpse in the blood pool, which was really scary.

  The third floor was not too high, but this scholar actually fell head down, and the skull was subjected to such force, naturally blood splattered everywhere, it's impossible for him to survive.

  This is indeed a deliberate attempt to seek death, and it's only possible when one has made up their mind to die.

  The newly appointed coroner of Dalisi Temple, Shen Xingwen slowly walked forward, took a look at Pei Tan and said: "The deceased looks bad, please ask the adults to retreat to a distance."

  Pei Tan glanced at him and said after a moment: "I'll stay here, you go check."

  Shen Xingwen did not express his opinion, generally speaking, which of the adults would be willing to watch such a bloody scene, especially since Pei Tan looked delicate and pale, probably the least like the Grand Master of Dalit Temple among all the Grand Masters of Dalit Temple.

  Shen Xingwen stepped forward a few steps, lifted his collar, and squatted beside the deceased. His hand probed the deceased's throat, which still had brain tissue stuck to it, especially after he lifted the deceased's tongue for a look.

  His mouth and tongue are clean, but there is a faint smell of alcohol underneath, proving that he was not poisoned.

  He lifted the dead man's collar, and his chest was gaunt, his face yellow and emaciated. He hadn't eaten for many days, and with the bad wine, this body had been ravaged beyond recognition.

  Poverty and serious illness are enough to crush a person.

  Moreover, this person should be a candidate who failed in this imperial examination.

  Shen Xingwen stood up and surprisingly pulled out a clean white handkerchief from his sleeve, slowly wiping the tips of his fingers and both hands.

  "Reporting back to you, sir, preliminary autopsy results show no signs of foul play on the deceased's body."

  There was no poisoning, no Rohypnol; this corpse had jumped from the third floor while fully conscious.

  The conclusion caused a burst of sighs from the people around. After all, even ants are greedy for life, and even in Chang'an City, such things are still very rare.

  Fresh.

  "Want to go upstairs and take a look." Shen Xingwen's gaze swept up to the railing on the upper floor, seemingly unintentionally.

  Unless there is another possibility, that he was pushed down by someone, then the third floor should also have left marks of struggling with others.

  The yamen runners had all the surroundings of Wangyuelou guarded, and Pei Tan led a few people to the third floor.

  Zi Yan'er and her husband Wen Lang were standing pale-faced at the foot of the stairs, being closely guarded by two bailiffs.

  Hearing the movement on the stairs, Zǐ Cuān'er subconsciously raised her head to look, and when she saw Péi Tán, especially the figure behind Péi Tán, her eyes couldn't help but tremble violently.

  "When the scholar was drinking on the third floor at first, only this couple was by his side. If it's said that he was pushed down, this couple would absolutely not be able to escape suspicion."

  The official spoke indifferently to Bae Dae-soo.

  Zi Yan'er's eyes flickered, apparently wanting to speak but stopping herself. The Wangyuelou that she and Wen Lang had worked so hard to build would probably never be able to recover from this murder case.

  This is the second time Wen Lang has seen Pei Tan, and the fear from last time still lingers in his heart, rendering him speechless.

  Pai Tan walked to the third floor railing and found a five-fingered shallow imprint on the railing.

  "These three floors are short, ordinary guests don't want to come up, only this young master Liu, every time he comes, he likes to sit by the railing." Wen Lang's soft and trembling voice explained.

  The layout of these three floors is cramped and narrow, with only a few tables that can be placed. In such cold weather, there is even a kind of sultry dryness.

  Pai Tan observed that the railing around was dirty like a muddy pit on the ground, with chaotic footprints all over it.

  From the shape of the footprints, it can be judged that these are the footprints of the same person. It should be the deceased who drank here before.

  These chaotic and disorderly footsteps seem to reveal what kind of state the deceased was in before death.

  Generally, people who want to commit suicide have gone through a long period of mental struggle before deciding to end their lives, often accompanied by self-torment and deep fear.

  "The footprints on the ground show that when the deceased fell from the third floor, there was no one else present here."

  Wu Zuo Shen Xingwen inspected the scene and reported back to Pei Tan.

  Because the whole ground is slippery, it's impossible for people to walk on it without leaving footprints.

  The clerk next to him glanced at Pei Tan and said, "Sir, since that's the case, let's just conclude this as a suicide."

  Suicides don't need to go through trial and sentencing, as long as there is evidence and circumstantial evidence, writing a concluding statement will suffice.

  There is also a question on site, which is why the floor of the entire building is wet.

  Pei Tan slowly crouched down beside the table and chairs, looking at the gaps on the ground. These water stains emitted a wine aroma. Could it be that all of this was spilled wine on the floor?

  "After you brought the deceased in, recount everything that happened."

  "After hearing the question, Wen Lang mechanically repeated: 'As soon as Liu Gongzi came in, he went straight up the stairs. He went to the third floor where there were the fewest people and asked us for three jars of wine. Then he stayed alone on the third floor and never came out...'"

  Pei Tan heard the key point and narrowed his eyes, "He asked you for three jars of wine?"

  "Wen Lang stiffly replied, 'Yes, it's his most frequently consumed Huangjiu.'"

  Yellow wine is the cheapest wine, even the cheapest wine can only be had for three jars at most. Thinking of the skinny corpse downstairs, this kind of poverty and desperation, relying on wind and dew to arrive in Chang'an, there are really too many scholars like this.

  Apart from the people of the Temple of Great Wisdom, there were only Zixuan and his wife, and it was then that Jingyu removed her own veil.

  Her pale and white complexion, Ziyaner met her gaze, the two beautiful women unexpectedly had a kind of consistency.

  Perhaps more consistent is the calm and serene beauty in her face.

  Both were beauties in a chaotic world, but also possessed a strong and resilient temperament at the same time.

  "Three jugs of wine are still not enough to wet this earth." Pei Tan stood up and said.

  Shen Xingwen looked at Pei Tan's appearance and seemed to find it somewhat interesting. He wouldn't even squat down to check the clues at the corner of the table.

  "This land is water mixed with wine."

  Pei Tan turned around and looked at the couple, "You are the owners of the wine house, what the guests do upstairs, you don't care?"

  Looking at this mess of three floors and one ground, it's probably going to take a long time to clean up after the fact.

  Jing Wan'er suddenly lifted her foot and walked towards the table where people were drinking.

  Zi'an'er hung her head, a hint of sadness in her expression: "Because the wine house has been crowded with guests lately, Wenlang and I have been attending to them downstairs. And this Mr. Liu... he told us not to disturb him on the third floor when he arrived today."

  The guests downstairs are making a racket, what happened on the third floor, and who else would hear it.

  It wasn't until the guests on the first floor heard the sound and saw the mangled corpse that they were shocked and scattered in all directions.

  Jing Wan'er walked to the edge of the table and then reached out to touch the surface, seemingly furrowing her brow.

  Shen Xingwen looked at her with a hint of curiosity: "I wonder what insights Miss Jing has?"

  Jing Wan'er had been enlightened by Pei Tan before, and she had an attitude of not caring about this young servant. She said lightly: "I just want to see if these things on the table are wine."

  Shen Xingwen knew that Jing Yuanyuan was sent by the palace, and this woman also had many strange places. Their new Da Li Temple Master always brought her with him, and in the eyes of others, a young official should avoid suspicion, entangling with a palace maid, which didn't seem like something a noble and reputable young master would do.

  Shen Xingwen's inquiring gaze had become numb to Jing Yuanyu, from the time she entered the palace at the age of ten, such a gaze had never stopped, those people, apart from having no nutritious curiosity, would not do anything useful.

  She casually put her fingers to the tip of her nose, sniffed lightly, and the whole house was full of wine, but her fingertips were clean and smelled nothing.

  Only water has no taste at all