Knowing the case

At the city gate of Jiangnan...

Shen Bin and Xia Jingxi reached closer leading their troop.

"Looks like General Yan is already here with his troop." Shen Bin said looking at the soldiers standing there.

"Good, we can discuss the situation at once." Xia Jingxi said.

"Are you even human? Not feeling tired after long ride and no sleep. Still want to jump into the case without resting." Shen Bin said astonished at hearing her words.

"Commander Shen is welcome to rest no one is forcing you to push yourself."

"Why do I feel like you are calling me lazy?"

"These are your own words Commander Shen, I didn't say it."

They entered the city and unmounted from their horses.

"You go ahead, I'll join you in a moment." Xia Jingxi said to Shen Bin and went towards the soldiers who were guarding the captured rebels. Shen Bin went towards Liang Yimin who was already approaching him.

"You must be Lord Liang." Shen Bin said.

"I'm young almost the same age as you, you can call me Liang Yimin instead." Liang Yimin said.

"Why are you lying Lord Liang? Commander Shen is much younger than you." Li Jinai said coming to them.

"How do you know me?" Shen Bin asked.

"You look exactly like your father General Shen. Anyone with eyes can tell." Li Jinai said.

Shen Bin laughed and asked, "And you are?"

"I'm Li Jinai, and this is General Yan." Lin Jinai introduced himself and Yan Zhiyuan who also reached them at this point.

"General Yan." Shen Bin said greeting him.

Yan Zhiyuan nodded and said, "You do indeed look like General Shen, I hope you can be a good in charge like him too."

"I will do my best but this time Commander Xia is the one incharge." Shen Bin said pointing to Xia Jingxi who was walking towards them.

Xia Jingxi reached there and Shen Bin introduced everyone to her as she greeted them.

"Commander Xia sounds young, how old are you?" Li Jinai asked looking at her masked face.

"I'm 17, does that change something?" She asked.

"17? Life at border is vastly different from capital Commander Xia. You are indeed a bit young." Yan Zhiyuan said looking somewhat doubtfully at her.

"I heard General Yan was already fighting at the border when he was 17. Do you think only you can do something like this?" Xia Jingxi asked looking directly at him.

"Commander Xia is right, age doesn't determine the ability. His Majesty has sent him as in charge, so of course you are capable." Lord Liang said intercepting between them.

"Right. Let's go the army camp, the soldiers are tired and need rest." Shen Bin said.

Lu Jinai saw that both Yan Zhiyuan and Xia Jingxi were still staring at each other.

"Commander Xia, You didn't tell us your full name?" Li Jinai asked getting Xia Jingxi's attention as she looked away from Yan Zhiyuan to him.

"It's Xia Jin." Shen Bin answered for her as not to expose that she is a female.

"And what about the mask on your face?" Li Jinai asked further.

"We have just met Mr Li, I think knowing my name is enough for now." Xia Jingxi said and both her and Shen Bin walked back to their troop.

"Why did you do that?" Xia Jingxi asked Shen Bin.

"I didn't think anything and said it instinctively because I know you don't like lying." Shen Bin said.

"I was about to answer but you swooped in so quickly. Now they will definitely think something is wrong with me."

"You are thinking too much. It's not a big deal."

Looking at the backs of these two people, Yan Zhiyuan asked, "Did you feel something off about Commander Xia?"

"His personality is a bit similar to yours, other than that nothing." Li Jinai amswered.

"Why did Commander Shen answer for him so quickly when you asked his name?"

"No big deal, he just said it. You have grown paranoid dealing with enemy all the time." Li Jinai said.

....

At the Army Camp...

In the underground cell where the two rebels were prisoned.

"So did they tell you anything?" Lord Liang asked looking at the two caught rebels.

"They refuse to say anything." Shen Bin said.

"Anything else you have got?" Yan Zhiyuan asked.

"This note they shot at us." Xia Jingxi said handing him the paper.

Yan Zhiyuan opened it and looked at the message inside and passed it to Liang Yimin.

...'The tyranny of Xia officials has drove us to this point, go back if you want to live. Once you enter Jiangnan death is inevitable'......

"Got anything to say." Yan Zhiyuan asked.

"What can I say about it?" Liang Yimin said dismissing the note.

"Tell us about the deaths that happened?" Xia Jingxi questioned.

"Let's go to the morgue room upstairs." Liang Yimin said leading them upstairs.

In the morgue room...

There were two bodies lying on the table covered with a cloth.

"This one is the latest death, he was incharge of food supplies in Jiangnan." Liang Yimin said pointing to one of the two corpses.

"What about the other one?" Li Jinai asked.

"He was assistant at the revenue department." Lord Liang answered.

"So I guess all the others who are dead were also some sort of officals." Xia Jingxi said.

"Seven out of eight." Liang Yimin said.

"And the eighth one?" Xia Jingxi asked.

"He was a scholar preparing for the examination." Liang Yimin said.

"What about the cause of death and if you found anything with them?" Shen Bin asked looking at the corpses carefully.

"Every victim was found buried somewhere after three days from going missing. Their hearts are craved out from their bodies. Except for the scholar, he was not missing for days nor was his heart carved out just stabbed. We think maybe his death isn't even related to all the other ones." Liang Yimin explained everything.

"Maybe he saw something by mistake and was killed unplanned unlike the officals." Xia Jingxi said.

Yan Zhiyuan who was listening to all of the talk, finally spoke, "This scholar is a odd target among the murders. We should start the investigation from him. Also the two caught people are crucial for us as they can provide some useful information."

"I'll get someone to properly interrogate them, maybe they'll open their mouths soon." Shen Bin said.

"It's already late, and all of you must be tired. Get some rest, I'll leave now." Liang Yimin said to them.

...----------------...

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