In the hall of the Jinzhou Mansion, the Xu Governor's Mansion sat on the hall, and there was Master Chen standing nearby, and the two classes of officials were majestic. Chang An knelt at the foot of the hall, his face was slightly panicked, and Qu Zaichen stood nearby, looking peaceful. Outside the hall, there are people who are interested and curious, Congxi, Lan Chu, Congran, Yun Xian, Feng Nianqing, Yang Sizhen, Yang Sishan, Hang Zhitong, Chang Father, Chang Mother, all standing in the forefront, each with their own thoughts.

Governor Xu said with authority: "Qu Zaichen and Chang'an, but you conspired to kill the people's daughter Yu Zhenzhen, and quickly recruited from the truth?" ”

Chang An hurriedly said: "Lord Prefect, Xiaomin was wronged, Xiaomin didn't kill Zhenzhen, she was fine when she went back to her room last night, it was half noon this morning, Zhenzhen didn't come out for breakfast, her mother came into the house to call her, only to find that she was hanging on the beam, I really don't know what's going on, please find out what happened." ”

Governor Xu: "Go back to your room?" Aren't you husband and wife, not living in the same room? ”

Chang An: "Back to my lord, in fact, Zhenzhen and I divorced a year ago, but she is pregnant and has nowhere to live, so for the sake of husband and wife, let her stay at my house temporarily." ”

Governor Xu: "Why did you leave a year ago?" ”

Chang An said: "Zhenzhen and I got married three years ago on the orders of our parents, and after marriage, she gradually became dissatisfied with the trivial life of doing housework every day. Zhenzhen is good-looking, and she always feels that she should be like other noble ladies, wearing gold and silver, and calling servants and maids, but there is only one small pharmacy in my family, which is only enough for the family to live a dull life, and cannot meet her extravagance. A year ago, she got along with Xu Xiang, the young owner of Lanyue Restaurant, and wanted to marry Xu Xiang to be the young lady of the Xu family, so she divorced from me. ”

Governor Xu: "Why didn't she marry into the Xu family?" ”

Chang An said: "The parents of the Xu family disagree, after all, Zhenzhen has already married, and Zhenzhen's parents are just small brokers who make and sell umbrellas, and the parents of the Xu family threatened that even if they are just a concubine, they are not allowed to enter the door of the Xu family, but Zhenzhen is clamoring for Xu Xiang to marry her as the head lady, and the matter has been deadlocked for a while, and Xu Xiang gradually alienated Zhenzhen. Then, it is said that Xu Xiang went to the capital to study, and the matter was over. ”

Governor Xu said loudly: "It is also said that when Yu Zhenzhen and you were still husband and wife, the red apricot was out of the wall outside, so you had a grudge against her and wanted to kill her, right?" ”

Chang An hurriedly shook his head and said: "No, at first I resented her and hated her, but then I figured it out, everyone has their own ambitions, Zhenzhen wants to live a rich life, I am incompetent and can't meet her expectations, why do I force her to stay with me to live a dull life?" It's better to let Zhenzhen leave, and I will find a woman with a similar temperament to live in peace, and when we leave, I will no longer resent Zhenzhen. ”

Governor Xu: "In this case, why did Yu Zhenzhen return to live in Chang's house, the child in her womb is yours?" ”

Chang An shook his head: "About seven or eight years ago, Zhenzhen got along with Qi Ruyuan of Yuxiu Buzhuang again, and made Qi Ruyuan's outer room, three months ago, Zhenzhen and Qi Ruyuan went to Qi's house, saying that they were pregnant with Qi Ruyuan's child, and asked Qi Ruyuan to marry her as a concubine." But Qi Ruyuan's wife and parents disagreed, and said. Speaking of Zhenzhen water-based poplar flowers, the child in her womb may not know who it is. Moreover, Mrs. Qi has already given birth to three sons for Qi Ruyuan, and the Qi family has no shortage of successors, so the Qi family resolutely refused to let Zhenzhen enter the door, and Qi Ruyuan later fell in love with other women, and even the outer courtyard did not allow Zhenzhen to live, so Zhenzhen was driven out.

After the first few things, Zhenzhen's parents felt ashamed of us, and they couldn't stand the guidance and ridicule of others, so they left Zhenzhen and moved away from Jinzhou, Zhenzhen had nowhere to go, and came to my house for help. ”

Governor Xu: "It's really just to take Yu Zhenzhen in, don't you want to seek revenge?" ”

Chang An hurriedly explained: "I really just want to take her in, if Xiaomin has a heart of revenge, ignores Zhenzhen that day, lets her wander alone outside, and lets her starve to death outside, wouldn't it be the biggest revenge for her, why take her in and risk killing her?" ”

Governor Xu: "According to the inspection, Yu Zhenzhen was held down with a cotton pillow and suffocated to death, and was disguised as self-hanging, others killed her at your house, just run away and blame you, why do you have to disguise yourself as self-hanging, isn't it you doing it to escape the crime?" ”

Chang An panicked: "Lord Prefect, I really don't know why the murderer did this. But I really didn't kill anyone, please be enlightened. ”

Xu Zhifu: "Yu Zhenzhen's right fingernail cracked, it was caused by the struggle before death, and there were two silk threads left in the crack, which were compared by Jian Tuiguan, and the silk thread on the left sleeve of the robe was indeed scratched and off, this dress is yours, right?" ”

Chang An glanced at the desk in front of Xu Zhifu, and there was a tray on the table, and there was a folded gray coat on the tray. Governor Xu glanced at Master Chen, who picked up the gray coat on the table and walked to Chang An's side to let Chang An take a closer look.

Chang An looked at the gray coat carefully for a long time, nodded and said: "Yes, this coat is indeed mine, my mother helped me wash it last night and dried it in the courtyard, but why the coat has scratches and falls off, I really don't know." ”

Xu Zhifu said: "As you said, since you are innocent, someone else should have entered your house last night to commit murder, Yu Zhenzhen was killed when she was the grandfather yesterday, the doors and windows of her house are intact, it should be the door she opened for the real murderer, in the middle of the night, who will Yu Zhenzhen let into her room?" ”

Chang An thought for a moment and said, "The grass people really don't know. ”

Xu Zhifu said loudly: "Chang An, you don't have to quibble again, it is clear that you lost face because Yu Zhenzhen was disloyal to you, so you killed Yu Zhenzhen, and then disguised as Yu Zhenzhen to commit suicide after the killing, hoping to escape, this coat and the silk thread on her nails are physical evidence, do you want the official to be punished before you are willing to confess?" The official asked you again, do you recognize the person next to you, but he killed Yu Zhenzhen with you? ”

Chang An raised his head and glanced at Qu Zaichen, and shouted in a panic: "Lord Prefect, I don't recognize him." Just now, the grass people told the truth, and there was no panic, Zhenzhen was indeed not killed by me, and I did not kill Zhenzhen with this person, please be aware of it. ”

Xu Zhifu looked at Qu Zaichen: "Qu Zaichen, Yu Zhenzhen grabbed your money bag with her left hand, but when you killed her, she ripped off the money bag, what is your relationship with Yu Zhenzhen, why did you kill her?"

Qu Zaichen said calmly: "Lord Prefect, I have never met Yu Zhenzhen, I have no relationship, the money bag was lost by me yesterday, as for why it appeared in the hands of the deceased, I don't know." ”

Governor Xu frowned: "How do you prove that the money bag is lost?" ”

Qu Zaichen said calmly: "I can't prove it." However, the money bag is large and conspicuous, and if I really kill someone, even if the deceased tears the money bag from me, I will take it back immediately, and I will not leave it to the government as physical evidence. ”

Governor Xu: "Or were you flustered when you killed someone and didn't notice the loss of the money bag?" ”

Qu Zaichen: "Lord Prefect, when you found the money bag, did the deceased cover the money bag in his hands?" Or is there a part of the purse that is partially exposed?

Governor Xu looked at Master Chen, and Master Chen glanced at the autopsy and said, "There are a few taels of broken silver in the money bag, and the deceased grabbed the bottom of the bag and the bottom of the broken silver, and the mouth of the bag was exposed outside his hand.

Qu Zaichen said: "According to what the adult just said, the real murderer used a cotton pillow to cover Yu Zhenzhen to death, and then disguised himself as Yu Zhenzhen to hang himself, and he needed to move the body, which was laborious and time-consuming. ”

Governor Xu frowned and said, "This..."

Qu Zaichen answered: "My lord, Zaichen has a reluctant request, although I didn't kill anyone, but my money bag appeared in the hands of the deceased, and Zaichen couldn't avoid suspicion." Moreover, if what this Chang Gongzi said just now is true, he may not be the real murderer, can Zaichen be allowed to assist Jian Tuiguan in investigating the case in detail, within ten days, if the real murderer cannot be found after ten days, everything is left to the fate of the adult? ”

Governor Xu secretly thought: "Although it is not very compliant, but as a relative of the Qu family, it is not difficult to ask for a holy decree." Moreover, a money bag really can't prove that Qu Zaichen killed people, so why not be a favor. Governor Xu pondered for a moment and said: "Okay, but Chang An has an obvious motive for killing, and there is other physical evidence to prove that he killed someone, and the government will put him in prison first." ”

Qu Zaichen bowed his hand: "Thank you, sir." ”

Qu Zaichen returned to Youyun Yuan from the courtyard of Mrs. Qu, Yun Xian, Luo Yi, Lan Chu, Congxi, and Congran were already sitting in the dining room, and saw Qu Zaichen coming over, and hurriedly looked at Sister-in-law Yu who was standing behind him and said: "Sister-in-law Yu, Qu Zaichen is back, let's have dinner, I didn't eat at noon, I starved to death." ”

Sister-in-law Yu took the order and hurriedly went to the kitchen to serve food.

Qu Zaichen sat down slowly, looked at Congxi and said word by word: "Say, what's going on with the money bag?" ”

Congxi said calmly: "You are all here in the court today, what do you think would happen if you didn't have that money bag?" ”

Yun Xian thought for a while and said: "As Governor Xu said in the end, Chang An's motive for killing is obvious, and there is physical evidence, if it weren't for the fact that Zai Chen's money bag was suspected, making the case more confusing, Governor Xu might directly convict Chang An of homicide, and the case would have been closed." ”

Congxi said: "Yes, I am afraid that the government will settle the case hastily and wronged Brother Chang, and in the morning at Chang's house, while no one notices, I forced Qu Zaichen's money bag into Yu Zhenzhen's hands." ”

Yun Xian: "Huh? ”

At this time, Sister-in-law Yu, Rong'er, and Han'er came over with meals and placed them on the table one by one, and Sister-in-law Yu immediately retreated. Congxi picked up the rice and took two bites, took a large piece of chicken, chewed and swallowed it quickly, and then slowly said: "I found out in the morning that Yu Zhenzhen did not hang herself at Chang's house, her face was slightly swollen and cyanosis, and the strangulation marks on her neck were not particularly deep, as if she had died of suffocation, and she was disguised as a self-hanging, which should be a murder." I can see this, and the government must be easy to find out. It is very likely that the murderer also knew, and it was easy for the government to find out the true cause of Yu Zhenzhen's death. So, why did he still disguise Yu Zhenzhen's self-hanging?

I thought there were two possibilities at the time, one was the Chang family, they killed Yu Zhenzhen in their own home, and they were afraid that the government would suspect the crime, so they pretended to be Yu Zhenzhen and committed suicide. But the Chang family runs a pharmacy, and I know what the people who hang themselves are like, how can they not know Brother Chang? They knew that the government would find out the true cause of Yu Zhenzhen's death, and they also disguised themselves as Yu Zhenzhen and hanged themselves, didn't they burn themselves even more? If you want to cover up the murder, there are other better ways, such as secretly pulling the body out and burying it or sinking it into the river, Yu Zhenzhen's relatives are no longer in Jinzhou, and no one will seriously investigate Yu Zhenzhen's whereabouts. Moreover, with my understanding of the Chang family, they will not kill Yu Zhenzhen, Uncle Chang and Aunt Chang are both gentle and kind people, Chang An is even more kind and kind, and I have never seen him get angry with others. Yu Zhenzhen was uneasy in the room, and she didn't see Chang An annoyed and complained, and Chang An laughed at the gossip and ridicule of neighbors. How could they kill people? Moreover, what Chang An said in court is also reasonable, if the three members of the Chang family really resent Yu Zhenzhen, they don't have to take Yu Zhenzhen in, let her fend for herself, life is better than death, it is the biggest revenge on her, why take her in first, and then risk killing? Therefore, I always felt that the murderer should be someone else.

If the murderer is not very family, he wants to blame the Chang family after killing people, and thinks that the corpse with such obvious traces of murder will not be dealt with in the Chang family, which makes people suspect that it is not the Chang family's murder. Therefore, disguising Yu Zhenzhen as a self-hanging, so that others will think that it was the Chang family who killed someone, and then covered up the murder, so as to disguise Yu Zhenzhen to commit suicide in order to escape the crime of murder. The Chang family had an obvious motive for killing, and at that time, the Chang family was at a loss for words. In court, Governor Xu thought so.

If it is the second case, I am worried that the government will accidentally fall for the real murderer's plot and hastily convict Chang An of homicide, so I quietly stuffed Qu Zaichen's money bag into Yu Zhenzhen's hands, just so that the government can carefully investigate the case, after all, your second son Qu is involved in the case, they don't dare to be sloppy, right? ”

Qu Zaichen stared at Congxi word by word and said, "Madame is really smart." ”