Chapter 24: Seven

Chapter 24: The Seven

Shen Qingye studied her for a long moment before slowly shaking her head. "It wasn't you."

"When Yuan Zhenghao died, you should have been in the makeup room, right? There were probably many people around you at that time."

Xue Mingqi's smile faltered for a moment, then she sighed helplessly. "I thought you'd say that, given how long we've known each other, you trust I wouldn’t do something like this."

Shen Qingye replied, "Personally, I'd like to believe you, Ming Qi. But as a police officer, I have to rely on evidence."

Xue Mingqi smiled faintly. "You're not wrong."

She brushed her hair and said, "After arriving at the banquet hall, I went straight to the makeup room. I was busy with my wedding dress, hair, and makeup, waiting for the MC to kick things off. Several relatives and friends stayed with me the whole time. If you don't believe me, you can ask them."

Shen Qingye, however, said, "There are surveillance cameras in the banquet hall. Whether it's true or not, we can see by checking the footage. No need to bother anyone else."

Hearing this, Shen Qingye caught a flicker in Xue Mingqi's eyes.

After a moment, Xue Mingqi said naturally, "That's a relief."

She then asked, "So, did you see the murderer from the surveillance footage?"

Shen Qingye replied, "We did, and we suspect it’s a crime of passion."

"A crime of passion?" Xue Mingqi's eyebrows raised slightly.

Shen Qingye said gently, "Didn’t you know, Ming Qi? Yuan Zhenghao had a few flings on the side."

"Really?" Xue Mingqi was genuinely surprised this time. "When he was chasing me, he said he’d always been single, never been in a relationship."

Shen Qingye asked, "Yuan Zhenghao was... 29 this year, right? And you believed him when he said he had never been in a relationship?"

At this, Yue Lingchuan, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but touch his nose.

Xue Mingqi, however, said, "Does it really matter if I believed him or not? After all, we weren't an ordinary couple. Why dredge up the past and stir up trouble?"

Shen Qingye looked at her for a while before smiling lightly. "You’re pretty laid-back, Ming Qi."

Xue Mingqi shrugged. "I used to dream of finding a love that would last forever, but as I grew older, I realized how difficult it is to find someone who truly matches your thoughts and values in every way."

She looked at Shen Qingye. "You’re still young. In a few years, you’ll probably get it."

Shen Qingye pursed her lips, not refuting her, and simply said, "So, about this case, you don’t know anything, Ming Qi?"

Xue Mingqi sighed. "If I knew anything, I’d have told you everything. Even if we set aside my relationship with Yuan Zhenghao, given the long-standing friendship between my parents and the Yuan family, I wouldn’t just stand by and do nothing."

Shen Qingye looked at her for a long time before slowly nodding. "Alright, I understand."

Yue Lingchuan stood up and said, "In that case, we’ll let you be. Please think it over, Miss Xue. If you come across any clues, make sure to reach out to us right away."

Xue Mingqi gracefully stood up. "Of course, don’t worry."

They exchanged smiles and went their separate ways. Only after walking some distance did Shen Qingye's smile fade.

Yue Lingchuan looked at her and asked, "What do you think?"

"Xue Mingqi wasn't telling the truth," Shen Qingye said calmly. "Or at least, not the whole truth."

Half-truths, mixed with lies—Shen Qingye felt something was off, but upon closer inspection, Xue Mingqi's words didn't seem to have any obvious loopholes. For now, there’s no clear lead.

Yue Lingchuan said, "Even if she didn't kill him, it's impossible that she was completely unaware of it, as she claimed."

At the very least, Yue Lingchuan doubted she was truly unaware of Yuan Zhenghao's past relationships.

And even... were those girlfriends really just in the past?

As they spoke, the two walked back to the crime scene. As soon as they entered, Shen Qingye heard the gloating voice of the TV:

"See, I told you, it was a waste of effort."

Shen Qingye couldn't help but quietly purse her lips, feeling that the TV was a bit annoying.

During the time they were away, Captain Xu from the Trace Examination Unit and his team had also arrived and were busy at the scene. Yue Lingchuan asked, "So, have you found anything?"

Xu Yanting took off his mask, shook his head, and said with a serious expression, "There are very few traces left at the scene. We haven't found any useful clues so far."

As they spoke, Jiang Cheng also walked in and said, "I just took a walk outside. There are basically no surveillance cameras around, so that lead is also dead."

The TV gloated again, "Of course, even I, a high-def TV, can't see anything! What do you expect from that blurry footage?"

Shen Qingye slightly lowered her eyebrows, calmly stepped forward, and casually leaned against the TV, tapping the top with her knuckles, saying, "The victim's family doesn't know anything either. We can only confirm that the deceased had some girlfriends in the past."

But who they were still needs to be verified.

The whole case is a total mystery right now, with no key clues found.

The TV kept shouting, "Hey, stop tapping my head! Stop tapping my head!" Shen Qingye's expression stayed natural, as if she hadn't heard a thing.

Just then, Luo Kaiyang came running in, all excited, and said, "Boss, I just asked the cleaning staff. Someone said Xiao Wu lost a set of clothes a few days ago!"

Yue Lingchuan turned to him right away, "Where's Xiao Wu now?"

Luo Kaiyang shrugged, "Xiao Wu's off today."

Everyone exchanged glances, and Yue Lingchuan immediately ordered, "Get the address from the manager and check on Xiao Wu at her place."

Luo Kaiyang acknowledged and left.

Shen Qingye glanced at him, "You think it's Xiao Wu?"

Yue Lingchuan shook his head, "Not necessarily her, but right now, we can't ignore any leads."

He looked around the room, "Captain Qin, take the body back to the station first and see if there's anything else." He turned around, "Jiang Cheng, the guests are still in the hall. Go ask them if they know who Yuan Zhenghao usually hung out with, especially any close buddies."

"He might not have told his parents or his fiancée about his relationships, but he might have told his buddies."

Shen Qingye got it, "Then I'll ask the deceased's parents. They should know who their son usually hung out with, right?"

The group split up again. Jiang Cheng found a room and started calling people in one by one, jotting down the names they mentioned. Mrs. Yuan also perked up and slowly recalled:

"People he used to hang out with..."

"He usually got along with everyone, but if we're talking close friends, there were only a few."

"Cui Bowen from the Cui family, Zhao Yongxin from the Zhao family, Dong Xiangchen from the Dong family..."

"Oh, and... Xiao Liao hung out with him a lot too. Yeah, Xiao Liao, Liao Hongyuan."

Mr. Yuan added from the side, "And the two boys from the Yang and Gao families. They often went out together. I think their names were..."

"Yang Wenxuan, Gao Hanming," Mrs. Yuan, clearly more attentive to her son's social interactions, added, "and the third son of the Qiu family, Qiu Wencheng."

She thought for a moment more: "That's probably all."

Shen Qingye looked at the densely packed names on the paper and exchanged a glance with Yue Lingchuan, feeling the weight of the task ahead.

She took a deep breath and stood up: "Alright, if there are any more leads, please let us know right away."

Mrs. Yuan looked at them earnestly, reaching out to grasp Shen Qingye's hand: "Xiao Shen, you must help us find the murderer. Your uncle and I have only this one son, we really..."

She choked up, unable to go on. Seeing this, Shen Qingye couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow and squeezed her hand in return: "Auntie, don't worry, we'll do everything we can."

·

By the time they returned to the hall, Jiang Cheng's part of the screening was almost done. The two sides sat down to discuss, combining the lists, which came to about ten to nearly twenty people.

Shen Qingye murmured, "Yuan Zhenghao sure had a lot of friends..."

Jiang Cheng looked up at Yue Lingchuan: "I just observed that most of the people on the list are here. Should we start the questioning now?"

Yue Lingchuan stood up: "Let's get on with it. If we wait any longer, they might start to complain."

The people outside were all big names in Pingjiang City. Yue Lingchuan wasn't afraid, but if they were kept waiting too long and started to fuss, it would cause trouble.

In the meantime, Wei Zhengyi and Zhou Qiming, who lived farther away, had arrived one after another. After getting the gist of the situation, Yue Lingchuan asked the manager for a few rooms, and they began separate interrogations.

...

"Girlfriend?" Qiu Wencheng frowned: "I don't know."

Zhou Qiming stared at him: "Really don't know?"

"Why would I lie?" Qiu Wencheng leaned back on the sofa, pursing his lips: "Yuan Zhenghao and I usually just went out to eat and play ball together. As for his girlfriends, even his parents don't know, so how would I?"

"But he did hang out quite a bit with Geng Haonan and the others. Officer, you might get more out of them."

----

"Yuan Zhenghao's girlfriend?" Cui Bowen's eyes flickered slightly, and he smiled: "Zhenghao has always been quite self-disciplined. He never had a girlfriend before, as everyone knows. But officer, why are you asking about this?"

Wei Zhengyi knocked on the table, his expression serious: "Yuan Zhenghao's death might be related to those girlfriends of his, Cui Bowen. Think carefully before you say anything."

----

Jiang Cheng's face was stern: "Hiding the truth can get you in legal trouble. Think carefully about whether you can bear the responsibility."

Dong Xiangchen scratched his head, looking helpless: "I really don't know. If I knew, I'd definitely tell you!"

----

Shen Qingye's gaze was calm: "Yuan Zhenghao's cause of death is closely related to these people. I hope you can tell us everything you know. You were close to him, surely you want to find out who's behind this?"

Liao Hongyuan licked his dry lips.

----

"Let's not talk about anything else. Just consider that you know the leads but are unwilling to speak. How do you think Mr. and Mrs. Yuan would feel if they knew?" Yue Lingchuan twirled a pen in his hand, looking leisurely at Yang Wenxuan: "I hear your families work together a lot, don't you?"

Yang Wenxuan's lips tightened into a straight line.

----

"Girlfriend?"

"Yeah, I know! What's the big secret?" Geng Haonan crossed his legs, speaking nonchalantly: "I've said it before, if you're dating someone, just date them. What's the need to hide it from others? It's not like you're gambling or visiting prostitutes."

"His girlfriends, as far as I know, there were four or five. Like Xiao Minmin, Wei Xiaoxia, Xu Lixiu, Liang Siqing, he introduced them all to us."

----

Gao Hanming sighed: "I don't know much, but I vaguely remember there were Lin Mengjiao, Pei Sisi, Zheng Yudan, and a few others I can't quite remember."

Wei Zhengyi frowned: "Can't remember clearly?"

Gao Hanming whispered: "Yuan Zhenghao went through girlfriends so fast, I can't keep track of them all."

----

Wei Chengze adjusted his glasses: "If I’m not mistaken, there was Ning Jiajia, Meng Huayun... oh, and He Shuwen too."

----

"Xia Jingling, Zhan Jiahui... um, and there was someone named Weiwei? Or was it Weiwei?" Zhao Yongxin said with a bitter face: "Officer, I’ve been completely honest. Is that good enough?"

...

...

Staring at the list of dozens of names, everyone went quiet.

After a long while, Wei Zhengyi murmured: "So this is what they call clean living? Then I only dated once in college—does that make me pure-hearted too?"

Zhou Qiming rubbed his head: "Gao Hanming said Yuan Zhenghao went through girlfriends fast, but this isn’t just fast—it’s downright reckless."

Jiang Cheng pursed his lips, looked up at everyone, and asked: "With this many people, do we really have to check every single one?"

Wei Zhengyi couldn’t help but say: "That’d take forever."

Shen Qingye tapped the list in her hand and said: "I think we can narrow it down by timing."

Everyone looked up at her, and Shen Qingye continued: "According to their statements, Yuan Zhenghao’s relationships with each girlfriend were generally short, ranging from two or three months to just ten days or a couple of weeks. If he did something to provoke the killer, they probably wouldn’t wait long to act."

She looked at everyone and shared her speculation: "So let’s skip the ones from years ago and focus on his recent girlfriends from the past year. This way, our investigation scope can be narrowed down."

Wei Zhengyi nodded upon hearing this: "Makes sense to me."

Zhou Qiming also said: "Sounds doable."

Yue Lingchuan, standing nearby, watched her calm and composed demeanor, and a smile gradually appeared in his eyes. Seeing everyone agree, he said: "Alright, let’s figure out who we’re targeting."

Everyone took the list and started working. Eventually, six names appeared on the list.

Lin Mengjiao, Wei Xiaoxia, He Shuwen, Zheng Yudan, Liang Siqing, Xia Jingling.

"Six people total..." Zhou Qiming murmured.

Wei Zhengyi said: "We’ve narrowed it down a lot. Should we start tracking them down?"

Yue Lingchuan stayed quiet, his face stern, while Shen Qingye studied the list, lost in thought.

Wei Zhengyi shot Zhou Qiming a confused look, and Zhou just shrugged, just as clueless.

Jiang Cheng pointed out the key issue: "There’s only six names here."

What’s the issue with six? Wei Zhengyi looked puzzled.

Shen Qingye said softly: "If we include Xue Mingqi, wouldn’t that make it seven?"