A Minor Investigation [I]

On the second day, Yang Yiting took Lu Zhu and Miss Xu to the small courtyard that was on fire the other day.

Yang Yiting had lived in this small courtyard for more than ten years. She was three years old when her mother died, and was brought up by Yang Mei Shi.

Yang Mei Shi had a grudge against Yang Su, so naturally it was impossible for her to like the daughter Yang Su left behind. When the matriarch, Madam Yang, was around, the Wu family was still able to restraint themselves, and Yang Yiting was pretty decent then.

But since Madam Yang was disheartened and secluded herself in the Buddhist monastery, and Yang Mei Shi became the mistress of the Yang Mansion, she immediately threw Yang Yiting to the remotest part of the Yang Mansion.

The deserted courtyard was left to fend for itself.

The small courtyard burned by the fire had become more and more dilapidated, with traces of smoke everywhere. Since the small courtyard was originally an unmaintained place, Miss Xu deliberately refused to let people in or out under Yang Yiting's instructions. So the scene was not damaged much.

Before entering the burned room, Yang Yiting signaled Lu Zhu and Miss Xu to tie their veils. Although several days have passed, there would still be some harmful gases and charcoal dust at the fire site.

If they were not to put on veils, their nostrils and mouths would be filled with black smoke quickly, which would in turn hurt their bodies after a long time.

After the three of them were ready, they entered the room. Yang Yiting quietly observed the surroundings of the room. To find the cause of the fire, she must first determine where the fire started, or to be more precise, determine the source of the fire.

She started from the slightly damaged outer room and looked carefully, not overlooking any corner of the room. There was no other way for her since there were no technical tools here. She could only rely on her own eyes.

Lu Zhu and Miss Xu watched quietly from the side. Suddenly, they had a strange feeling that the young lady with them now had never seen them before. The calm and wise light radiating from her eyes made her look unreal.

"Lu Zhu, you said you slept here that day, didn't you?" Yang Yiting asked from the side of a small bed in the outer room.

"Yes, Miss." Lu Zhu replied: "That day, I lay down and slept here. For some reason I don't know, I fell asleep as soon I lay down. When I woke up, I found that I was already outside. At that time, the fire in the room was already so great that I couldn't find you no matter how hard I look. I was just wondering if you were still in the room, and was about to rush in to look for you, when I saw you coming out of the room and collapsing at the door."

In that case, someone must have done something to her, otherwise Lu Zhu wouldn't have fallen asleep so unreasonably.

Yang Yiting looked closely along the window sill, and suddenly found that there was some white powder on the side of the window sill, which was not very conspicuous because it had a mixture of the black smoke and dust.

Then, she asked Lu Zhu to wrap the white and black mixed powder with a silk scarf, and went inside.

The interior was the place where Yang Yiting slept. It was not big and there was not much furniture there. It was simple in one word. One could imagine how bleak Yang Yiting's days in the Yang mansion were.

The original owner of the body had lived here for more than ten years without her mother and partially father too, but she still grew up. One had to say that Miss Xu and Lu Zhu had contributed the most.

If it were not for the meticulous care and protection of the two, the original owner would not have grown up so smoothly. It was a pity that, after all, it was impossible to guard against fate.

At the age of eighteen, she was supposed to marry into the Wang family and become a concubine. Even if she was not loved by the prince, at least she would have a decent identity and status.

But just like that, she died in a muddled manner. It was really not an ordinary miserable fate!

Yang Yiting felt distressed for the misery of the original owner. This strengthened her conviction. She must replace the original owner and live a good life for them both. From then on, she would no longer be bullied.

She looked closely along the wall. The local authorities had designated this fire as an accident. In ancient times, accidents such as fires were common for houses with wooden structures and who frequently made use of candle oil lamps. But Yang Yiting didn't think so.

If it was the burning caused by candles or other sources, there would be smoldering at first, and then there would be an open flame, and depending on the degree of burning here, it was not like this.

She noticed that there was an ink painting that dropped from the crack in the wall behind the dressing cabinet. This painting was painted by Yang Su during her lifetime and was the body original owner's favorite painting. It had been hanging on the wall above.

Yang Yiting picked up the painting on the ground. Only one corner of the painting was burned, most of the area was not overly burned, and there was no trace of smoke.

The wood frame of the painting was severely carbonized. The carbonized and uncarbonized parts were clearly demarcated, and the inclination angle was very straight, which meant that when the fire reached this painting, it was directly an open flame.

There was an open flame that ignited the painting which was originally hung on the wall. After the painting was ignited, it fell from the wall into the gap between the dressing cabinet and the wall due to the force, causing it to be completely extinguished without burning.

So where did this open fire come from? The dressing table was near the window, she checked it, and found that there were signs of it being pried.

In this way, someone pried open the window that night and threw the ignited open flame into the room, which just engulf the painting.

After the painting was ignited, it fell off the wall and happened to be caught in this gap. The combustion was completely extinguished. And now, this painting left by Su when she was alive became the key to finding the truth about the fire.

Yang Yiting could only understand that it was her mother who was alive in the heavens. It was just that she knew these truth, but the people in power didn't understand. How could she spot this arsonist?

She frowned slightly, and the one who could set fire to the mansion late at night must be someone in the mansion. With a turn of her mind, she came out of the window. Outside the window was a piece of mud, and the original owner planted some flowers and plants in her leisure time.

Looking at it this way, Yang Yiting quickly really found a pair of footprints. Because they were covered by a few Begonia flowers next to them before, they couldn't easily find them.

Yang Yiting, who had been engaging in forensic work for many years, could see at a glance that the pair of footprints were dark and light, and it was obvious that the owner of the pair of footprints was a lame person. She asked Lu Zhu and Miss Xu. "Is there anyone in the house who has one disabled leg?"

Lu Zhu and Miss Xu looked at each other for a while, and thought of one person, Ma San.

Ma San was a cook in the mansion. He only came to Yang mansion for a few months. He was usually polite to Lu Zhu and Miss Xu. He was not like some of the servants who gave them annoying looks because of Yang Yiting's frustration. The two had a good impression of him. The two really did not expect that Ma San would be the one who set fire.

"It's really about the true nature of people. You know their faces, but not their hearts." Miss Xu sighed.

Lu Zhu was even more irritated seeing all these. When she first met Ma San, she felt like she was meeting a true brother of hers. It was really disgusting to think he'll do something like that to the eldest lady whom he had no grievances and no grudges with. Then why would he want to commit arson and these crimes? Lu Zhu had doubts in her mind.

Yang Yiting and Miss Xu looked at each other, noting that the girl Lu Zhu was really naive. If it weren't for someone behind it, what would be the benefit of Ma San, a subordinate who had just come to the Yang mansion, to set fire to Yang Yiting's solitary courtyard for no reason?

Just who was this mastermind? Was it the Wu family or Yang Ruo, or the two of them conspired, or was it someone else entirely? All these questions Yang Yiting could not answered for the time being, and now she could only use this Ma San.

However, although Ma San was a subordinate in the Yang mansion, he was not hers after all. And with Yang Yiting's level of power in the mansion, there was no way she could move him to cooperate with her. She needed someone to support her.

At this time she thought of Madam Yang, her own grandmother.