“Jian Fan, do you have a relationship with the eldest lady?” Qin Nan blurted out.

  Jian Fan: “……”

  He turned his head, staring blankly at Qin Nan.

  Qin Nan raised his hand and made a gesture to silence him.

  Jian Fan chose to ignore Qin Nan and continued to look at the maid, repeating, “What was the eldest lady doing on the night of the murder?”

  The maid rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Doctor Jian, don’t act like you’re in charge here. I might just tell the eldest lady about this later.”

  Hearing this, Qin Nan suddenly interjected, “I think listening in on other players’ inquiries is also a way to find clues.” For example, Jian Fan’s situation and the maid’s behavior clearly indicated that there was something more than a normal relationship between the house doctor and the eldest lady.

  Jian Fan turned his head sharply to look at Qin Nan.

  Qin Nan, taken aback, asked, “Isn’t that something we can discuss?”

  “No,” Jian Fan replied. “I think it’s a viable approach. Keep it up.” With that, he turned back to continue questioning the maid.

  Qin Nan stood there for a moment, feeling a bit dazed.

  Did Jian Fan really think he could just order him around like that? Mu Xin, who had been listening to their conversation, considered for a moment and then turned to walk toward where the other players were gathered.

  “Where are you going?” Qin Nan called out as he noticed Mu Xin moving.

  Mu Xin turned back, maintaining her gentle demeanor. “Didn’t he say we should listen to how other players ask questions? Aren’t you coming?”

  “Sure,” Qin Nan suddenly felt a bit powerless.

  Dealing with Jian Fan was one thing, but it seemed like his new teammate wouldn’t be easy to handle either.

  The maid seemed quite displeased with Jian Fan, but after several rounds of questioning, she finally spoke up. “The eldest lady was pretty much the same as usual, just staying in the courtyard.”

  “Are you sure?” Jian Fan remembered clearly that he had seen the eldest lady heading toward the deceased’s courtyard.

  The maid hesitated for a moment before responding, “The lady likes to be alone, so after dinner, she told us to rest, and she stayed in her room. She might have gone for a walk in the garden or met someone; how would I know?”

  With that, Jian Fan had no more questions.

  The maid didn’t know much, but it was clear that he had a relationship with the eldest lady that went beyond normal interactions, and it was likely private.

  The nature of their relationship could be one of mutual benefit or perhaps one-sided exploitation; it was impossible to determine at this stage, and these details could not be gleaned from NPCs.

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  The maid was the last NPC Jian Fan questioned.

  The other three groups were working together, and he and Qin Nan had managed to finish their inquiries in nearly half the time compared to the others.

  After wrapping up, Jian Fan prepared to listen in on other players’ inquiries.

  He glanced over at where Qin Nan and Mu Xin were.

  Mu Xin had chosen to follow Xia Zeqin and Lu Jing, practically walking straight toward them.

  On the team with Qin Wei Yi were Zheng Jueming and Lin Junru, effectively Mu Xin’s second set of eyes. Since they had no useful information from Xia Zeqin’s side yet, it made sense for Mu Xin to choose that direction.

  Jian Fan thought for a moment and then decided to head toward Qin Wei Yi.

  Although Zheng Jueming and Lin Junru were with him, he found it hard to trust those two bumbling teammates.

  When Xia Zeqin saw Mu Xin and Qin Nan approaching, he paused his questioning and looked at them. “Finished?”

  “Yeah, you don’t mind us listening in, do you?” Qin Nan said cheerfully, then stole a glance at Mu Xin, silently sighing.

  It was clear that Mu Xin had chosen this direction, but as they got closer, she suddenly slowed down, eventually trailing behind him. Qin Nan could tell what she was trying to do.

  She wanted to keep a low profile.

  She was just a lucky player who knew nothing.

  Xia Zeqin smiled knowingly. “Of course, feel free.” With that, he resumed questioning the servant.

  Qin Nan didn’t gain any useful clues from Xia Zeqin and Lu Jing.

  Lu Jing remained mostly silent, only occasionally asking trivial questions, while Xia Zeqin controlled the entire flow of the inquiry, making it tight-lipped.

  Jian Fan’s situation was different.

  He trusted Qin Nan and didn’t mind revealing his connection to the eldest lady, which allowed him to ask questions openly, leading the maid to expose that information easily. Xia Zeqin wouldn’t give them that opportunity.

  However, Qin Nan and Mu Xin did pick up a new clue from Xia Zeqin’s questioning about the accountant, Zheng Jueming.

  “If you’re talking about anything unusual in the household recently, Zheng Jueming owes a large sum of money,” said a servant responsible for purchases.

  Xia Zeqin nodded. “How much does he owe, and why?”

  The servant chuckled. “That’s not really a secret anymore; many people know about it. Zheng Jueming suddenly got obsessed with gambling a few months ago. He used to win some money, but then he started losing. I heard from people at the gambling house that he’s already in debt for a thousand taels. That’s a lot of money; even if he worked his whole life, he wouldn’t be able to pay it off.”

  Qin Nan mentally pieced together the connections between this group and the deceased.

  Like him, who had conflicts with the deceased due to his mother, Xia Zeqin was in a similar situation. Among the other young masters and ladies, there were likely others with conflicts as well. Additionally, the financial motive for murder was also quite plausible.

  Afterward, there were no other useful clues from the NPCs Xia Zeqin questioned, and Qin Nan was left in the dark about previous inquiries.

  At that moment, Jian Fan had already reached Qin Wei Yi’s side.

  Qin Wei Yi looked surprised and then remarked, “Good teammates are hard to find.”

  Jian Fan met his gaze. “It all depends on whether you want them.”

  Though he knew it was unlikely, Jian Fan still threw out the line.

  Qin Wei Yi chuckled. “Sometimes having too many people can be a bad thing. I think two is just right.”

  Jian Fan didn’t deny it.

  What he hadn’t told Qin Nan was that he only intended to find one more teammate. Initially, he had set his sights on Xu Tian, but after realizing something was off with her, he shifted to a secondary choice—Mu Xin.

  Although Qin Wei Yi was clever, he wouldn’t necessarily accept their olive branch. Qin Wei Yi had enough confidence in his own intelligence; adding a couple of potential dissenters to the mix didn’t seem appealing. Maintaining the status quo allowed him to keep absolute control over the conversation.

  While Mu Xin wasn’t his ideal teammate, upon reflection, she could have both advantages and disadvantages.

  He disliked her approach, but her youthful, timid demeanor made her easy to underestimate. Coupled with his somewhat frail appearance and Qin Nan’s lack of experience, the three of them could form a deceptive team that could easily mislead others.