Su Liuyue's eyes darkened when she heard this, and she said, "The person driving the carriage is most likely the murderer. He knows where the victims live, their daily routines, who is around them at any given time, and even when there are the least people around them. He must have observed them for a period of time."

Lu Lu nodded immediately, "We thought so too, but Miss Yue Ru said that she had never seen the driver's appearance."

Miss Yueru is the maid who is talking to them now.

Her eyes were red as she sobbed, “Madam…Madam has high hopes for the Fifth Young Master. Not only did she spend a lot of money to rent a yard in Zhuangyuan Lane early on, she also…she also endured not visiting the Fifth Young Master during this period of time, fearing that it would affect the Fifth Young Master’s preparations for the exam.

Many times, when the Madam really wanted to know about the Fifth Young Master's situation, she would send servants to bring him some supplements, clothes, etc.

I have come here to look for the Fifth Young Master four times in total. Three of those times, I saw the carriage parked outside the alley, but there was no one in the carriage. Although I found it strange, I just thought it belonged to a resident in Zhuangyuan Lane..."

The murderer would certainly not let others see his appearance easily.

At that time, he was probably hiding in the carriage or in some secret place in the alley, watching Yueru coldly as she walked into Wei Wulang's yard.

Su Liuyue looked at her and asked, "When did you first see that carriage?"

Yue Ru: "About half a month ago..."

"Do you remember what the carriage looked like? What was so special about it?"

Yue Ru shook her head in pain. "I am a stupid servant. Although I looked at the carriage a few more times, I didn't look closely. And the carriage was no different from those commonly seen on the street. It was the most common two-wheeled red-painted carriage. I don't remember what was special about it. If I have to say, the carriage was quite new, and the horse pulling it looked a little thin..."

In ancient times, carriage making was actually similar to modern times. The people who made carriages included small private studios, usually carpenters who took on private jobs, and large companies, usually shops that specialized in carpentry.

The efficiency of private carpenters is limited, and it often takes them ten days or half a month to complete a carriage. This naturally cannot meet market demand because of the low efficiency and high price.

Therefore, the commonly used carriages on the market are all made by a few large carpentry shops. They emphasize high efficiency and pursue quantity rather than quality, so the carriages they produce are usually the most basic styles. Such carriages are made quickly and are not expensive. Most of the carriages bought by car rental companies or ordinary people for their own use are of this type.

If the murderer used a common carriage like this, it would be difficult to tell what was special about it. In fact, the murderer would only use this kind of carriage to make it easier for him to hide.

Su Liuyue continued, "Since there is nothing special about it, how could you recognize that it was the same carriage you saw three times?"

Yue Ru said: “When I saw the carriage for the second time, I was indeed a little hesitant, not sure if it was the carriage I saw for the first time, but… because it was parked in the same place as the first time, next to the big locust tree at the entrance of Zhuangyuan Lane, so I felt that they were the same carriage.

The third time I saw it, it was parked in the same place. Because of my experience the previous two times, I recognized it immediately. It was the same car I saw the previous two times!"

No matter how similar two people are, if you meet them enough times, you can always find some subtle differences between them. You may not be able to describe them, it's just a feeling.

Although Yue Ru couldn't tell what was special about the carriage now, she would definitely recognize it if she saw it again. But the murderer had succeeded now, and the chances of him coming near here again were almost zero.

Feng Dali couldn't help but look worried and said, "There are so many red-painted two-wheeled carriages on the street. We can't let Miss Yueru follow us around to find her!"

As for what she said, that the carriage looked newer and the horse seemed thinner, these were very general statements. Even with these two screening conditions, there were still a lot of carriages that met the requirements.

Not to mention that the capital has recently been flooded with thousands of scholars waiting for the exam and the people they brought with them to accompany them. There are more horse-drawn carriages on the streets, and the car rental companies must be very happy during this period.

Su Liuyue glanced at him and said, "Besides, the murderer will definitely keep a close eye on the officials. If you suddenly took Miss Yueru to search the streets for this type of carriage, even a fool would know that something was wrong. With the murderer's caution and shrewdness, he would definitely modify his carriage immediately."

After all, Yueru saw the murderer's carriage three times, and the murderer must have seen her three times as well, so it is impossible for him not to recognize her.

That’s the truth!
Feng Dali couldn't help but feel even more worried. "Then this information, other than telling us that the murderer has a carriage, is basically useless in solving the case."

"Who said it's useless?"

Zhou Yunke and Su Liuyue's voices sounded almost at the same time. Zhou Yunke paused, looked at Su Liuyue, raised his eyebrows slightly, and said with a faint smile in his voice: "Young Master Su, please speak."

Su Liuyue glanced at him and said without being polite, "Like I said just now, the murderer was able to design each arson so perfectly, and even deceived the officials the first two times, making everyone think it was just an accident. He must have spent a lot of time observing the victims.

Miss Yueru said that she had seen the carriage at the entrance of Zhuangyuan Lane three times, which meant that the murderer must have come to observe Wei Wulang three times before burning him to death.

So far, he has burned three people to death, assuming that he spent time observing each victim..."

Lu Lu suddenly had an idea and said with his eyes slightly opened: "The murderer started committing crimes about a month ago. He must have spent most of this month looking for and observing victims!"

Feng Dali was stunned and couldn't help but said in surprise: "But, isn't the murderer also a candidate? Other candidates are studying hard, but he is so focused on setting fire and killing people that he doesn't care about the exam?"

"But, that's not right!"

Another bailiff hissed, "According to popular speculation, the murderer specifically targeted candidates with good grades just to make himself more likely to pass the exam. If he was only concerned with killing people and neglected to prepare for the exam, then it would be useless no matter how many candidates with good grades he killed. In the end, he might not even be able to pass the exam as well as those candidates with average grades..."

Su Liuyue suddenly chuckled, slowly glanced at the yamen runners, and said: "So, that's just folk speculation, those speculations can be used as a reference, but they are not necessarily the facts.

Besides, who says that the murderer...must be the examinee?"

Everyone's heart skipped a beat, and they realized that their thoughts had been framed unconsciously. Because the dead were all candidates, and they were all candidates with top grades, they naturally believed that the murderer must be a candidate, and he was killing people just to reduce the number of competitors!
Feng Dali could not help but ask: "But, if the murderer is not the examinee, who could it be?" (End of this chapter)