Chapter 608: Mysterious Case in Jinling (Part 4)
Incomplete screen?
Best at fine brushwork calligraphy and painting?
“Could it be…”
While others were still pondering, Xue Ke at the side blurted out, "Could it be that Shuxuan copied a picture of a screen and hung it in front of the real screen?! In this way, she only needs to quietly move the painting away to reveal the body tied to the screen, and it naturally doesn't take too much time!"
Everyone then suddenly understood.
"Bitch!"
At this moment, a roar was heard from behind, followed by the sound of iron locks rattling. It turned out that Liu Yiqing heard this and couldn't help jumping up from the ground and rushed forward in a few steps.
Seeing his furious look, everyone thought he was going to fight to the death with Shuxuan.
Just when he was wondering whether he should stop her, Liu Yiqing had already stopped, crossed his arms, stretched his neck, and asked like a fighting cock: "I have always treated you well, and Xi Niang even regards you as her confidant. Why are you so cruel and crazy that you not only killed Xi Niang, but also deliberately put the blame on me?!"
Shuxuan was frightened by him at first, and it was seen that he stopped in the middle of the move, but instead of showing a look of relief, he showed a bit of resentment.
However, the resentful look disappeared in an instant, and was replaced by a pitiful and aggrieved look.
"Master, please understand!"
She knelt softly on the ground, covered her face with her sleeves and sobbed, "I am the maidservant who came with the young lady as a dowry, and I have always been very loyal to her. I am not close to Lu Yi on weekdays, so how could I kill the young lady for her? This... This is really unfair to me!"
This rebuttal is reasonable.
In particular, even Mu Qin, who was standing by, couldn't help but come forward to testify, saying that Shuxuan and the eldest young master's favorite, Luyi, had always been fighting openly and secretly, and there was really no reason for Shuxuan to avenge Luyi.
For a moment, everyone hesitated again.
Even Liu Yiqing frowned and muttered, "Could it be that I was really wronged..."
But before he could finish his words, he was pinched hard by his own father. It was then that he suddenly woke up - if Shuxuan was cleared of suspicion, wouldn't he become the number one suspect again?
Just as he was about to ignore the matter and put the murderer's hat back on Shuxuan's head, he suddenly heard someone cautiously say, "Sir, this Sun was killed by someone. She is a woman, I'm afraid... I'm afraid she can't do such a thing, right?"
However, it was Li Mou, the magistrate of Jiangning, who could not help but raise questions.
Upon hearing this, Liu Yiqing's words full of slander were immediately stuck in his throat.
yes!
My wife was killed, and Shuxuan is also a woman. How could a woman kill a woman?
Most people had just focused on the method of using the 'double screen' to commit the crime. When they heard Li Mou mention this crucial evidence, they all felt that Shuxuan was wrongly accused.
"snort!"
At this time, Sun Shaozong sneered and said, "It's true that women can't kill women, but as long as you try to bring a man's semen into the backyard, it's not difficult to fake the illusion of being killed!"
Before he finished speaking, someone else shouted excitedly: "It's wax pills! They must have used wax pills!"
This is none other than Sang Youfu who provided the clue of "broken wax".
After he mentioned this, many people suddenly realized it.
"Yes, yes, yes, this vicious woman must have used wax balls to secretly bring the man's dirty stuff into the backyard !"
"No wonder they used candles. It turns out the murderer doesn't have anything at all!"
Liu Yiqing was even more excited and called her "bitch" and "evil woman" several times.
"It's not me!"
At this moment, Shuxuan, who had been crying with her face covered, suddenly raised her head and loudly retorted: "Let's not talk about the fact that I have no reason to kill the young mistress! Where are the wax balls and the copied pictures now? If the master wants to wrongly accuse me of murder based on empty words, I will not accept it!"
Just this one sound drowned out the noise all around.
The inferences compiled by Sun Shaozong can be said to be reasonable, but they lack the most important motive and evidence!
Although it is not impossible for him to forcibly identify Shuxuan as the murderer given his current position, it is hard to convince people with such behavior.
Seeing that everyone was speechless, Shuxuan asked again , "Besides, the master always said that only I have the opportunity to set up these messed-up traps - but what about my eldest young master? Is it impossible for him to do this case?!"
"Bitch! How dare you..."
"What a bitch!"
Upon hearing this, the Liu family father and son could not help but shout in anger.
Shuxuan, however, had already made up her mind. Not only did she not back down at all, but she sneered, "The Liu family is extremely wealthy, but they only have the eldest young master as their only child. If they can escape the death penalty, I'm sure they would be willing to lose everything they have."
This is clearly an allusion to Sun Shaozong accepting bribes from the Liu family!
Now even Jiangning County Magistrate Li Mou couldn't hold back any longer. He jumped up and down and ordered his men to come forward and slap him in the face.
"No need."
Sun Shaozong reached out his hand to stop several yamen runners, and looked at Shuxuan's face which had become extremely distorted due to excessive excitement. He suddenly smiled and shook his head and said, "You are a sharp-tongued person. It's a pity that although you put a lot of thought into this plan, it still left a lot of loopholes."
"First of all, Liu Yiqing is definitely not the murderer!"
"There were no wounds on her body, and only blood on her hands. These two points cannot be considered as conclusive evidence - but when you tied that Sun to the screen, you shouldn't have tied the silk scarf neatly!"
"Let me ask, if Liu Yiqing really committed this crime impulsively after drinking, how could he have tied her up so neatly in such a hurry? Moreover, he also humiliated Sun with candles. If Sun was awake at the time, how could there be no signs of struggle?"
"On the other hand, if Liu Yiqing had planned to kill his wife and even used drugs to knock Sun unconscious, how could he continue to sleep soundly at the scene after committing the crime?"
"So when I saw the complaint stating that the scarf and knot were neatly arranged, I immediately ruled him out as a suspect!"
"As for the evidence you want..."
"That rice green liquid can't just appear out of nowhere! And sealing it in a wax pill is not something that can be done casually."
"Generally speaking, it should be more convenient to use objects such as bamboo tubes, porcelain bottles, and water bags - unless, for your accomplices, making wax balls is just a piece of cake."
"Liu Changfeng!"
At this point, Sun Shaozong suddenly asked, "How many pharmacies and clinics are there in the town where you live?"
"Each of them has a family..."
"I see!"
At this moment, Liu Yiqing suddenly shouted excitedly: "It's Su Jiao, right? He asked you to avenge Lu Yi, right?! It turns out that this guy not only hooked up with Lu Yi, but even you, a bitch, have been bewitched by him!"
It turns out that the person who was suspected of having an affair with Lu Yi was none other than the town's chief doctor, Su Jiao!
At the time of the crime, Su Jiao was also a key suspect, but he went to another family for medical consultation and there were more than a dozen witnesses, so he was quickly cleared of suspicion.
Now it seems that Su Jiao had probably planned this out long ago and deliberately created an alibi.
"This is none of Su Lang's business!"
As soon as Liu Yiqing pointed out Su Qiao's name, Shuxuan immediately panicked and took a few steps on her knees in excitement, trying to pull at the corner of Liu Yiqing's clothes.
After being dodged by Liu Yiqing, she excitedly shouted again: "Su Lang only prepared the wax pills and the drug according to my instructions, and he didn't know that I was going to kill the young lady!"
“It’s her indeed!”
"This is really... really unexpected!"
"Luckily it was Lord Sun who passed by Jinling. If it were someone else, how could they have seen through this vicious woman's methods based on just a few words?!"
As everyone was discussing, Liu Changfeng, feeling relieved, could not help but ask the question that everyone was most concerned about: "You, a lowly slave, keep saying that Su Jiao didn't know about it? Then why did you want to kill my daughter-in-law and frame my Yi Qing?"
Knowing that it is impossible to deny it now, Shuxuan only hopes to reduce her lover's crime and no longer hide her motives.
"For what? Ha..."
She laughed at herself and shook her head, saying, "Actually, I don't know why. If you really want to find out, it's probably to atone for my sins."
"Atonement?"
“That’s right!”
Shuxuan looked at Liu Yiqing steadily: "In fact, from the beginning to the end, I was the only one who had a secret affair with Su Lang. It was last winter. Because the young mistress caught a cold, Su Lang was invited to the mansion for consultation. At that time, Su Lang and I had already had a good relationship, so naturally we had to have a secret affair."
"Who knew that I was almost caught by the young mistress by mistake - when I was trying to avoid her, Lu Yi happened to pass by, so I took the opportunity to push the blame of my secret meeting with my lover onto Lu Yi."
"The young mistress didn't make this public at the time, and I thought the matter was over. But two months later, Lu Yi suddenly found out she was pregnant, and the young mistress insisted that the child was Su Lang's!"
"I thought about telling the truth several times, but I didn't dare to speak..."
"Not long after, Lu Yi committed suicide by jumping into a well."
"Since then, I have had dreams for months in a row. She is holding a child in her arms, chasing after me, covered in water, and wants to... want to take my life!"
"I was filled with regret and fear, and even thought about committing suicide, until..."
At this point, she suddenly raised her hand and pointed at Liu Yiqing, gnashing her teeth in anger and saying, "Until you reconciled with the young mistress without hesitation because of a piece of calligraphy and painting!"
"Lü Yi has been serving you since she was a child, and she was so infatuated with you when she was alive. Moreover, she is pregnant with your child. And yet, in your eyes, all these things combined are not as good as a piece of calligraphy and painting?!"
"At that time, I suddenly understood that although I was guilty, you two were the culprits who forced Lu Yi to death!"
"I want to avenge her, I must avenge her!"
"I planned for two whole months! Finally I found the opportunity to kill the young mistress and then pin the blame on you!"
"I originally wanted to let you experience the feeling of dying without being able to defend yourself, but I never expected..."
At this point, Shuxuan glanced at Sun Shaozong and shook her head dejectedly, "If I had known earlier, I should have killed you too!"
