Volume 1 Zhangqiao Iron Coffin Chapter 45 The murderer is you!
"At the beginning of the preparation, the murderer first trapped the Taoist priest in the Changsheng Temple in Qijiawu," Xu Zun continued his story, "and at the same time built an iron coffin in a secret location. Not only did he make one that was exactly the same as the one two years ago, he also made a semi-finished product with the remaining iron plates and placed it in the underground secret room of my house to frame the murderer...
“In this way, they secretly prepared for nearly a year, and when everything was ready, they finally started their plan.
"In the first step," Xu Zun said, "they used You Dalang and his wife to frame me, and let You Dalang's wife Chunniang seduce me and have an affair with her.
"Then, You Dalang took the opportunity to kill Chunniang, thus confirming my crime of raping another man's wife and killing her, thus bringing disgrace upon me.
"In the second step, they killed You Dalang, creating the illusion that I abused my power for personal gain, killed the merchant couple, and embezzled their property.
"The third step," Xu Zun continued, "is that evening, they killed the Taoist priest, activated the iron coffin, and placed it on the Zhang Bridge to recreate the iron coffin tragedy of that year.
"The purpose of doing this is to exaggerate the case and create a sensational effect, thereby attracting higher-level officials to investigate.
"As expected, the higher-ups have indeed sent the Ministry of Justice to work with the prefectures and counties to investigate this case. Only in this way will they be qualified enough to shake Lord Shen!
"The next step is the fourth step," Xu Zun continued, "They use the jade pendant to reveal the Taoist's identity.
"As a result, the situation escalated again. The Iron Coffin Case became a serious case of collusion with Japanese assassins. The Ministry of Justice was no longer able to handle it, and a more senior figure had to be brought in to handle it.
"And coincidentally, the Queen Mother had already made preparations and specially dispatched Lord Cai to secretly investigate the case. As a result, Lord Cai naturally took over the case and became the person with absolute power to deal with Mr. Shen.
“So, in the fifth step, the informant letter appeared at the right time and led Mr. Cai to my residence, thus finding evidence of my conspiracy to plot the Iron Coffin Case.
"As everyone knows, I am just a confused county lieutenant. I can't handle such a big case by myself. People will definitely point the finger at my father-in-law, Lord Shen!
"So, the murderer's plan was perfectly realized. The Shen Mansion was investigated, and Lord Shen and I were arrested. Their goal of overthrowing Lord Shen was finally achieved!"
After Xu Zun finished speaking, the scene was dead silent at first, but after a few seconds of silence, people started to make a noise like a boiling pot .
During this time, most people laughed. It was obvious that they were not impressed by Xu Zun's words and even found them ridiculous.
"Ahem..." Seeing the situation getting out of control and the lower-ranking officials not daring to speak, Li Yan, the governor, could only cough a few times and said to Xu Zun, "Xu Zun, don't you think that your words are a bit too presumptuous? In our opinion, they are totally unconvincing and full of loopholes!"
"Yes!" Hearing this, Luo Baiwan on the opposite side couldn't help but echoed.
At the same time, all the people who were listening nodded frequently, obviously agreeing with what the governor said.
"Okay," Xu Zun did not refute and said directly, "Since you said I have many loopholes, then point them out to me! I will answer them one by one for you."
"Well... OK," Li Yan first looked at Cai Kun, and after finding that Cai Kun had no intention of stopping him, he said to Xu Zun, "First, you said you didn't kill the merchant couple, so how do you prove it?
"You are the county lieutenant, in charge of the prison. If someone kills that merchant in prison to frame you, doesn't it sound like a joke?
“Also, you said you didn’t embezzle their property, but we saw with our own eyes that the merchant’s silver and valuables were placed in the closet in your bedroom. How do you explain this?
"Secondly, you said that the iron coffin in the underground secret room was used to frame you, which means that the murderer must have set up the iron coffin before you moved in.
"But we saw that there was no dust in the secret room. It was obvious that someone went in and out and cleaned it regularly. Can you believe that you had no idea about it?
"Also, you said that the iron coffin was not made in the secret room of your house. How do you prove it? Where is the real place where it was made?
“Third, let’s talk about the Taoist priest again. Since someone wanted to frame you, why didn’t they just put the jade pendant directly on the Taoist priest?
"Wouldn't it be possible to immediately prove his identity? Why would we have to lead you to the Changsheng Temple to search for him? What if we can't find him?
“Also, how could the murderer have calculated so accurately that he could even predict that the Queen Mother would send someone to investigate secretly?
"Finally," Li Yan asked in a resounding voice, "You keep saying that someone framed you, so why don't you tell me who this person is!?
"You know what? If you don't know anything, what's the point of making up stories here and confusing people?"
Li Yan's series of clearly stated questions made the atmosphere even more intense.
Everyone looked at Xu Zun, wanting to see Xu Zun's embarrassed expression as he was left speechless.
However, what they saw was Xu Zun with a gleam in his eyes and an increasingly arrogant expression.
"Okay! Lord Li, everyone," Xu Zun said frankly to everyone, "I wanted to keep it a suspense, but since you've already asked this, I won't keep it a suspense. I'll tell you now, who is the person who framed me and Lord Shen?!"
After Xu Zun said this, the scene suddenly became quiet.
But after Xu Zun glanced at everyone, he finally stretched out his arm and pointed at someone:
"The person who framed me, the real mastermind behind the Iron Coffin Case, is him!!!"
Wow...
When everyone saw the person Xu Zun was pointing at, there was an exclamation of surprise.
What!?
Chen Taiji and several other officials could not believe their eyes.
Looking at the whole scene, only Cai Kun, who was high above, did not feel any surprise. Instead, he squinted his eyes and watched the show in front of him with relish.
But it turns out that the person Xu Zun was referring to was none other than the county magistrate of Xinye County——Qiu Yongnian!!!
"This..." Qiu Yongnian spread his hands to show his innocence, and then asked Xu Zun, "Jiying, what do you mean?"
"Master Qiu, I expected that you would have the reaction you have now." Xu Zun stared at Qiu Yongnian with his eyes like lightning and said, "Master Li asked just now, I am the county lieutenant, in charge of the prison, if someone dares to kill someone in the prison and frame me, it sounds like a joke.
"But if the person who framed me is the head of a county, our county magistrate, then... does it still sound like a joke?"
"Ha, ha, ha..." At this time, Luo Baiwan, the county magistrate next to him, suddenly laughed, "This... this is simply nonsense! No, it's simply a mad dog!
"Xu Zun," he stared at Xu Zun and asked, "Are you crazy? Are you hallucinating? County Magistrate Qiu, how could he be the murderer you mentioned?"
"Yes, Jiying," Qiu Yongnian said angrily, his face also red, "We are acquainted, why do you have to drag me into this? How have I offended you?"
"Xu Zun," the governor Li Yan on the other side shouted, "You really don't know what's good for you . County Magistrate Qiu is just a scholar. Can you come up with a stronger slander?"
After several people said this, the scene burst into laughter again. It was obvious that people just regarded Xu Zun's testimony as a joke.
"My Lords, don't be anxious," Xu Zun said confidently at this moment, gritting his teeth, "Listen to my analysis first, and then you can think about it carefully to see if I am talking nonsense or not."
