In the afternoon, Xue Rui first went to the Supreme Court to report the case, while Yu Shu stayed in the Wangji Tower and studied Cao Youling's eight characters of birth.
Her law of time of calamity was different from ordinary disguise. Even if a person died, she could still calculate the disasters that the person had experienced during his or her lifetime from the eight characters of birth in this life.
It didn't take long for Yu Shu to calculate a series of disasters from the time of calamity a few days before Cao Youling was killed. As expected, the result of the calculation was almost the same as her previous guess.
Cao Youling first committed the disaster of love, and then she was targeted by a villain. So she suffered an undeserved disaster, which led to a fatal disaster. She couldn't escape.
"Committing a disaster of love" and "committing a villain" were both kinds of crimes. In the examples of time of calamity collected by Yu Shu, they were relatively common. Usually, if one of them was encountered alone, it would not be life-threatening. However, when two disasters met, it could easily lead to death.
The day of Cao Youling's "disaster of love" happened to be the day when she entered the Taishi Library in April to pay respects to the academician. It was not difficult to guess that this "disaster of love" was caused by Jing Chen. This also explained why she sneaked to the observatory in the middle of the night just because of a note that imitated Jing Chen's handwriting.
And the "villain" should have discovered Cao Youling's feelings for Jing Chen, so he made good use of it and lured her with a note.
This was the first time Yu Shu had used the Law of the Time of Calamity on a dead person, and the effect was better than she had expected. This was because not only did she deduce the entire process of how Cao Youling brought about her death from the Time of Calamity, she also came to a crucial 'conclusion', which was something that both Xue Rui and herself were uncertain about — the murderer's target was indeed Jing Chen.
Just when Yu Shu was lost in thought because of this conclusion, the maid Xiaodie's crisp voice came from outside the door.
"Miss, the young master is back. Please come downstairs for dinner."
"Got it, I'll go down later."
Yu Shu folded a few pieces of paper on the table and put them into her sleeves. She washed the charcoal ink on her hands and went downstairs to find Xue Rui.
At this time, the sky is dark and the room downstairs has already been lit. Yu Shu enters the room. Xue Rui had just changed his clothes and was tidying up his sleeves as he walked out of the inner room.
"Big Brother."
"Take a seat."
As soon as he sat down, Xue Rui asked, "I heard that you stayed in the room for the whole afternoon. Did you figure out anything from Miss Cao's horoscope?"
Yu Shu nodded and said, "I was about to tell you."
Xue Rui asked casually. He knew that she would not speak without thinking. His curiosity was aroused again. Looking at her slightly tired face, he did not rush to ask. Instead, he said,
"Let's eat first. We'll talk later."
"Yes."
The dishes were served. These few meals were mainly light. Although Yu Shu didn't have much of an appetite, she still ate until she was 70% full.
After the meal, Xue Rui asked the servant to tidy up the study next door. He put on a tea table, fragrant tea, and a plate of fragrant fruits. Then he and Yu Shu moved over to talk.
The two sat on a horizontal couch. There was a small carved square table in the middle. Xue Rui put one arm on the table and poured tea with the other hand. The small flower and bird cup emitted a white mist of tea. He squinted his eyes and sniffed it. Then he put the cup in front of her with two fingers and asked,
"What did you find?"
Yu Shu put her hand on the slightly warm cup and said while thinking carefully, "I'm sure that Miss Cao's death was innocent. The murderer chose Jing Chen as the target. It was also because she admired Jing Chen, so it was convenient for her to use him. "
Hearing that she was so sure of her conclusion, Xue Rui couldn't help but ask, "Why do you think so?"
Yu Shu raised her head and looked at him. There was a trust in her eyes that she didn't even realize, "In fact, I know a strange skill. I can calculate the birth date of the dead and know something about them when they were alive. "
Xue Rui was a knowledgeable person. When he heard Yu Shu's claim, he was immediately surprised. Yesterday, they talked about the strange skill of Yin and Yang and laughed at it. But today, she told him with certainty that she could calculate the birth date of the dead. For a magistrate like him who dealt with murder cases and dead people all day, it was like a thunder on the ground. He was speechless for a moment.
Yu Shu thought that Xue Rui didn't believe her. In order to prove that she was not lying, she put down the teacup, stood up and walked to the desk. She took a pen and paper and turned back to him.
"Brother, you have dealt with a lot of murder cases. I often read the case files of you, so there must be a few cases that are still fresh in your memory. Whether it was a murder or an accident, you might as well tell me the birth date of the dead person and the date of death. I can immediately infer the cause of death."
Actually, it wasn't that Xue Rui doubted Yu Shu's ability. However, the things she spoke of were things he'd never heard of, and it had indeed caused him to be surprised. While he was doubtful, he told her the horoscope of a deceased person.
"There was a dead person whose birth date was on …" He looked at Yu Shu who was facing him and writing on the paper. He didn't say a word, but he was very nervous. After about a cup of tea, he suddenly saw Yu Shu stop writing. He couldn't help but sit up straight.
"If the birth date is right, this person was not killed. He should have drowned himself. He either fell into a lake or a river, or jumped into a well."
Yu Shu turned her head and looked at Xue Rui who was tongue-tied as if he had seen a ghost. She couldn't help but smile. She blinked at him and asked a question even though she already knew the answer.
"Am I right?"
Xue Rui was speechless for a while and said in a deep voice, "You calculate again. There was a dead person who died on the fifth day of the seventh month last year. The birth date was …" Yu Shu curled her lips and continued to calculate. After another cup of tea, she said, "This person lost his life for money. He was murdered by a sharp weapon."
Such an accurate deduction could be said to be a coincidence if it happened once, but it was inconceivable if it happened twice. Xue Rui took a deep breath, and as he gazed at Yu Shu who had a relaxed expression, the astonishment on his face slowly faded away, and he fell into deep contemplation.
Yu Shu casually scribbled on the paper on the table, threw the pen away, walked back to his side, and sat down. She drank the cup of cold tea in one gulp, leaned sideways on the coffee table, supported her head with one hand, and looked at him with a half-smile.
"Now you believe me?"
Xue Rui couldn't help but sigh in admiration when he saw her. "I've always been curious. Who is the master who taught you?"
It wasn't that he didn't want to know about Yu Shu's experience of learning Yi. It was just that she was very wary of it and seemed to be a taboo. He didn't dare to ask too much because he was afraid that it would raise her guard.
"I'm also curious about who he is," Yu Shu muttered softly. Daoist Qing Zheng's origin was still a mystery. Although her Time of Calamity law was coincidentally obtained by her, the foundation was built on the mystical Algebra mnemonic formula that Daoist Qing Zheng taught her. In other words, if she hadn't met Qing Zheng, she wouldn't be where she was today. One shouldn't forget one's roots.
"What did you say?" Xue Rui didn't hear her muttering clearly.
Yu Shu shook her head. She didn't want to fool Xue Rui like she did with Liu Yi, so she told someone about Qing Zheng for the first time.
"It's natural that you're curious. With my background, poor aptitude, and bad fate, if I hadn't met Master in Yiyang City, who knows where I would be living my days. It's a pity that he hid his identity and told me an alias. He didn't allow me to tell anyone about him. We were separated in Yiyang City. Master wandered far away and I don't know where he went. I can't tell you about him clearly. "
Xue Rui was already surprised to hear her talk about this experience. How could he ask for more? Seeing that she was unhappy, he considerately changed the topic.
"It's okay if you can't tell me clearly. Didn't we just talk about the murder in the library? Go on."
Yu Shu came back to her senses. She put down her hands and sat up straight. She said seriously, "As I said before, the murderer's target is Jing Chen. That's why he chose a female student who was in love with him. Miss Cao was plotted against by a villain. She went to the appointment because of that note. Based on this deduction, regardless of who the man who knows martial arts is, I'm sure that the person who passed the note to her is someone from the Taishi Library. Firstly, he has seen Miss Cao. Secondly, he must have seen her feelings for Jing Chen —"
Speaking of this, her voice suddenly became cold.
"Miss Cao is a new student this year. Jing Chen is a new academician this year. They have only met a few times. Their love affair only happened in these few days. The person who has such eyesight to detect it must be someone who is proficient in physiognomy!"
Xue Rui's face darkened. His eyes suddenly became fierce. The person in his mind was clear.
"It's her?"
Yu Shu played with the flower and bird mug and smirked. "Brother, why don't you go and check tomorrow? Among the more than 30 students who have been apprenticed to our Daoist, how many of them have the ability to 'know their hearts just by looking at their faces'?"
A fox would always show its tail. She liked to do this kind of thing.
***
After being instructed by Yu Shu, Xue Rui went to the Taishi Library early the next morning. He sent someone to find Jing Chen to collect his confession.
At the same time, Yu Shu was carrying two cups of good tea. She was inquiring about the location of Academician Fang's lecture in the Inner Yard. She had to finish the admission before the pink uniform was distributed. Only then could she focus on what was going to happen next.
Yu Shu went all the way to the east side of the garden. She walked across a small bridge and a stream. Suddenly, she heard the sound of a zither. From afar, she saw a pine tree surrounded by more than a dozen mats. There were men and women sitting there quietly, listening to an old man in gray playing the zither under the tree.
The sound of the zither was very strong. It was not good or bad, but Yu Shu thought it was not bad.
Knowing that the old man was Fang Zijing, Yu Shu did not want to interrupt the sound of the zither. She stood at the end of the bridge and waited for him to finish playing. Who knew that the sound of the zither would continue for a long time without stopping.
Seeing this, Yu Shu's legs were tired. She looked around and retreated to the pier of the bridge. She used her sleeve to wipe away the dust and sat down.
"Clang!"
The sound of the zither rose and stopped abruptly right after she sat down. She looked suspiciously under the tree and saw that the old man had stood up without her noticing. He waved his wide sleeves and pointed his finger at the bridge, shouting in a loud voice:
"You little boy, come here!"
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