Xu Chu said, ignoring the embarrassment of others, he directly pulled up the trouser leg of Song Xin'er's right foot slightly, but saw that he was really holding a handkerchief messily. The veil had long been soaked with blood and stains, and it didn't even cover the large area of deep bone burns on the ankle.

"As for the evidence, I don't think there's anything more straightforward than this injury." Xu Chu got up, looked at the scar on Song Xin'er's ankle, and said sadly, "I don't know if you still remember that before Aunt Liu died, she was imprisoned in a place where charcoal was burning, so that it caused coal smoke poisoning, making the corpse spots bright red?" ”

Song Derong nodded, he wanted to stop Xu Chu from investigating deeply, so he almost forced her to put the case on Aunt Liu. It's a pity that it is because of the so-called carbon monoxide poisoning that he has nothing to argue that Xu Chuna's murder is a murderer rather than a suicide.

"That's true."

"Then I looked up and down the house, and there was only one place where charcoal fire burned day and night. Even more coincidentally, the next day it was destroyed by a fire, and it was impossible to enter and investigate. Xu Chu turned to look at Mrs. Song, and then said, "And as far as I know, because of the fire in the flower room the night before, the people around Madame, including Feng'er, went to fight the fire. In other words, on the night Aunt Liu died, there was no one to prove the whereabouts of the lady. ”

The sky was dark, and the hall was silent because of Xu Chu's sudden questioning. Even Song Derong frowned and looked at his wife, who had been with him for many years.

"So what? Could it be that the girl can slander me based on this guess? ”

"No, if that's all there is, I can't be sure that Madame is the real culprit. It's a pity that Mrs., as a person who loves flowers and cherishes flowers, is not willing to burn the flower house after all. As she spoke, she turned her head to look at Xiao Mingzhu and asked, "When examining Aunt Liu's corpse, did Mingzhu help the people of the Song Mansion clean up the ruins of the flower house?" ”

"Yes, I also got black kerosene at that time, and I didn't wash it for half a day." As she spoke, she stretched out her hands. Everyone really saw that there were many blackened places in the white and soft palms.

And Xu Chu fell his gaze on the people of the Song Mansion who were waiting on both sides, and asked lightly: "The people who were present to clean up the ruins of the flower house on the day, are there still people who are contaminated with kerosene?" ”

"The slave maid has it on her hands, and her clothes are dyed a lot, and she was punished by the housekeeper's aunt."

"Slaves and maids are also ......"

As one voice after another sounded, Song Deqing frowned impatiently and said, "Even if there is kerosene, how can it be proved that the poisonous woman is the murderer?" ”

He didn't want to excuse Mrs. Song, but he couldn't stand Xu Chu's gradual progress, and only hoped that she could tear apart the poisonous woman's hypocritical face with one shot.

Xu Chu didn't care about his attitude, but followed his reproach and continued: "Obviously, whether it was the fire in the flower room last night, or the eldest lady Song Xin'er wanted to burn down Aunt Liu's residence tonight, the things used were kerosene. Kerosene is different from ordinary tung oil, its price is expensive, and the rich and noble are reluctant to buy it. Ordinary people will enter the account whenever they buy, and at the same time, the merchants outside will also be registered because it is a big deal. ”

As she spoke, she had already called the housekeeper of the Song Mansion to come out, and asked in a cold voice: "I have heard from the people in the mansion that the kerosene and candles purchased by the mansion this year are not enough before the first lunar month. Is that so? ”

The housekeeper broke into a cold sweat and hurriedly said: "Originally, it was enough, but the warehouse did not know when rats entered, and a few days ago, I ate most of the urn of kerosene." I've never had this happen to me in previous years, so this year I neglected it......"

"Have you remedied?"

"Yes, yes, yesterday I asked a few cats to be put in the storeroom, but unfortunately it still didn't work. There was even a cat that fell into the oil man and drowned last night. Steward Song glanced at Xu Chu and replied without thinking, "It's really not that the villain is guarding and stealing, the kerosene has always been counted." According to the purchase volume of previous years, even if the lanterns and lanterns inside and outside the house are lit with kerosene, it is enough to use it until the New Year. ”

Xu Chu nodded, asked him to hand over the account book that had been prepared long ago, and then handed it to Song Derong to check. After a while, Song Derong bowed his head and said that what he said was true.

Xu Chu slowly hooked his lips, and his voice became more and more stable but impossible to ignore.

"Did the butler ever throw the cat's corpse out of the house?"

"It's been thrown out, it's been thrown out the back door. During the New Year's Festival, the house is unstable, and if there is another incident where the cat is drowned in kerosene, I don't know how the people are panicking. ”

Mrs. Song, who was seated without saying a word, glanced at Xu Chu for the first time at this time, her eyes were neither light nor serious, but her face was extremely pale and pale. It's a bit scrutinizing.

Xu Chu didn't look at her, but straightened up and said with a smile: "It just so happens that I, a person who can pass through the Yin Division, picked up the cat's corpse." After speaking, she glanced back at Wei Guang, and saw Wei Guang leave the hall with a look on his face.

A moment later, a black and oily cat that was motionless and silent was carried back by him.

Compared with everyone's disgust and dodge, Xu Chu went up directly and flattened the cat.

The people present were all seeing her so-called psychic for the first time, and even though they were disgusted, they were also full of curiosity.

But she took out the tweezers from the toolbox and carefully pried open the cat's lips and teeth to check it. Then, I went to Baipa to wipe the cat's nails one by one.

It was cautious, but it was extremely strange.

Xiao Qinglang raised his eyebrows and looked at Xu Chu, who was engrossed in his movements, and a faint smile gradually appeared in his eyes. Doing an autopsy on the cat, she figured it out.

"The deceased, a miscellaneous cat, was six inches long. The abdomen had been severely wounded, and there was a remnant of flesh between the teeth and nails, as well as silk fibers. She looked at it with a cautious countenance, as if she had taken the cat as a corpse, and examined it solemnly. There is no foreign body between the throats, and there is no kerosene, so it can be seen that he was thrown into a kerosene urn after being severely injured and died. ”

"Obviously, the cat had met the real oil thief rat before her death, and even was frightened and frenzied and bit her." She looked at Mrs. Song with burning eyes and asked word by word, "I'm right, Mrs. Song." I wonder if the scars on my wife's hands can be improved? You know, an undomesticated wild cat like this carries no less toxin than the cinnabar root alum you commonly use......"

Song Derong's eyes narrowed slightly, and when there was silence in the hall, he suddenly pulled Mrs. Song's hands out. Sure enough, there were several deep scratches on his wrists and the back of his hands, and these scratches could never have been left by human fingernails.

There was silence in the hall, either stunned or horrified, and it was unbelievable. Only Song Deqing patted the table and said coldly: "Sure enough, it's you, a poisonous woman, second brother, who is so jealous of the woman who killed your aunt in the back house, and you have been respectful for so many years." ”

Song Derong was so ridiculed by him, his face was extremely ugly. But when he thought of the right thing, he finally reprimanded: "During the questioning, if the eldest brother is impatient, he will leave first." If you want to continue the hearing, don't make a noise! ”

In the end, he has some official authority, and he is really angry, so Song Deqing is really not an opponent.

"You are talking nonsense, my wife is so kind, how can she kill someone? Besides, why did Madame do this? She has no grudges against the two aunts, even if she is jealous, she will not hurt the killer. Without waiting for others to question, Feng'er first reprimanded Xu Chu with an angry exit.

"The reason is not just jealousy, but just an emotional barrier." Xu Chu sighed, and after a short pause, he looked at the people present.

At this time, except for a few people in charge of the Song family, the rest of the maids and mothers-in-law were all puzzled.

These people, each of them has secrets hidden in their hearts, and there are many complicated and embarrassing places, which make people sigh.

It was Xu Chu's unclear words that hit most people's minds, so at this time, Song Derong, Song Deqing and others all looked at her with strange expressions. There was a stunned panic on his face, as well as heaviness and chagrin.

However, after Xiao Qinglang drank tea indifferently without squinting, Song Derong's expression gradually improved. Now, he is tying Xiao Qinglang to his side, so whether they find out their details or not, they shouldn't be nonsense.

Not to mention that if he falls, then Wenyanlou and Qishan Academy will inevitably have to do with it. Just say that these two people are now alone on their own territory, so they shouldn't come nonsense.

Thinking of this, his mind gradually calmed down. As for the rest, as Zhou Yunlang said, as long as it is operated properly, it is not an opportunity.

"In fact, the beginning of this matter should start with the robbery of official grain more than ten years ago. At that time, the adults had a heavy responsibility and went to investigate, but they almost died in the line of duty when they encountered robbers on the road. And the clerk next to him, that is, Xiao Hua, a schoolboy who has been accompanied by adults since childhood, was killed by bandits. Xu Chu saw that most of the people were stunned or incredulous, but except for Song Deqing, he didn't dare to really question Mrs. Song. After a slight pause, she turned to look at Song Derong and asked lightly, "I wonder if you still remember this?" ”

Song Derong frowned slightly, but when he said this, he couldn't avoid it. He naturally remembered it, and even the reason why Li Dai Taozhuang was able to jump from an unknown student to a bureaucrat in Jinzhou City was precisely because of the opportunity to rob the grain.

He looked at Xu Chu with a cold expression, and only after a while did he bow his head and say: "Naturally remember, Xiao Hua is loyal, and afterwards I asked my wife to prepare a hundred taels of silver for Shuangniang." And, because of that incident, he gave grace to let Shuangniang leave the house alone. ”

Xiao Hua, who was originally a clerk, after marrying Shuangniang, Shuangniang should have redeemed herself to become the wife of the Xiao family.

It's just a coincidence that Xiao Hua himself is a talent from the Song family, and releasing his deed of sale is already considered a grace. In addition, the old lady has a deep relationship with Shuangniang, in order to protect the affection between Xiao Hua and the Song Mansion, and also to round the relationship between Shuangniang and the old lady's master and servant, so she has never left the Song family.