Chapter 113 Qi-Liang Realm (Twenty-Five) This has nothing to do with your older brother! ...

The two rushed back to the Qi residence at noon. Enoki was having lunch with Sirou in the main room. As soon as Sirou saw Jiuli, she frowned slightly and quietly asked Wang Mama who this girl was. Wang Mama was used to her forgetfulness and said with a smile, "This is Miss Jiuli from Mr. Yu's family. You've forgotten again."

Si Rou sized up Jiu Li for a moment, her eyes filled with disdain. She then pulled Wang Mama aside, deliberately raising her voice so that others could hear, "Miss doesn't have any manners. How come she came with Xu Bai? Doesn't her family keep an eye on her?"

Everyone felt awkward, and Enoki could only laugh and say, "Miss Jiuli is probably here to examine you on Mr. Yu's instructions. Miss Jiuli, why isn't Mr. Yu here?"

Jiuli smiled and said, "My uncle had something to attend to, so he sent me. How is Madam feeling today?"

Unexpectedly, Si Rou put down her chopsticks, got up, and walked into the bedroom, leaving behind a cold and indifferent back view. "I'm perfectly fine, so there's no need for you to come every day."

Upon hearing this, Jiu Li's heart skipped a beat. Didn't she not remember? How could she still remember that they came every day? Her eyes followed Si Rou's back and peered through the curtain, where she could glimpse a dark and luxurious corner of the bedroom.

Enoki then invited Jiuli to sit down, ordered a maid to bring tea, and asked Jiuli if she had eaten lunch. After exchanging pleasantries, she sighed, "Don't worry about it. Once Madam calms down, I'll have to trouble you to go in and check on her."

Jiuli nodded with a smile. Xu Bai took the opportunity to get close to Enoki and whisper a few words to her. Enoki then turned to Jiuli and told her to sit for a while before leading Xu Bai back to her room.

As soon as she entered, Enoki turned around and asked, "Didn't you say your older brother went to the capital? Why are you asking about his usual haunts? Where exactly did your older brother go?"

Now that things had come to this, Xu Bai could no longer hide it and had no choice but to tell the whole story. Unexpectedly, after listening, Enoki suddenly staggered and fell to the ground. Xu Bai reacted quickly, caught her, helped her to a chair, and then hurriedly poured her some tea.

After a while, Enoki felt her vision clear again, but her heart was pounding. She pressed a hand to her chest and stammered, "Your older brother, your older brother—"

He looked at her, and her two pink lips trembled for a long time before she could only utter these three words over and over again. The more she read them, the lower and more trembling her voice became. After a while, she lowered her head and shed tears.

He had a strange thought: would Jiuli be like this one day, wanting to admit her affair with Yuqi but not daring to? He hesitated for half a day and could only shed tears, hoping that a few sincere tears would gain the understanding of the world.

He felt a growing tightness in his chest. He calmly sat down in front of the round table facing her, his voice growing colder. "The constables have checked all the exits from the city, and they haven't seen you leave. I think you didn't even take your valuables with you. It's very likely that you want to hide and end it all. Think carefully about where you might be hiding."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a loud "slap" was heard as Enoki stood up and slapped him across the face. "What kind of tone is that? You don't even believe your older brother?!"

His face stung with pain. He looked up and saw her tear-streaked face, and a feeling of inexplicable depression welled up inside him. "I have no choice but to believe it or not. The murder weapon and the wounds on his hands can both be evidence. I only look at the evidence."

Unexpectedly, Enki slapped him across the other cheek, tears streaming down her face, but she smiled, "Fine, my good son, you really are heartless! Have you forgotten how your older brother treated you since you were little! He taught you and disciplined you like a father—"

"Don't say such disgusting things!" He was furious, sitting up abruptly, biting his cheek, but tears still streamed down his face. "It was you who wanted him to be my 'father'! I've always only seen him as an older brother, and he clearly knows he's just my older brother, my own brother! It's you, it's you who messed up our relationship and turned this family into a mess!"

Enoki's shoulders hunched several times, she froze, took two steps back, slumped back into her chair, and dared not lift her face again. "You know everything—"

"If you don't want others to know, then don't do it in the first place!"

Enoki shook her head repeatedly, tears streaming down her face. "It's my fault. Don't blame your older brother. It's all my fault. Your older brother actually wanted to sever ties with me a long time ago, but I kept pestering him, forcing him to stay away from home."

As she spoke, she suddenly raised her tear-reddened eyes and lunged at Xu Bai, "Your brother didn't kill him, I did! Chen Zifang came to extort a hundred taels of silver from me first. I was furious and afraid he would let it slip later, so I killed him! It has nothing to do with your brother! Go find your brother and bring him back. I know where he is. It has nothing to do with him! He took the blame for me! Find him and bring him back!"

Xu Bai's arms were being shaken by her, and his whole body swayed from side to side, but his eyes were fixed on her face. After a while, he still couldn't tell whether what she said was true or false.

The most important thing right now is to find Xuyun, so he could only instruct, "Keep your mouth shut, don't say anything yet, just tell me where my elder brother is?"

"He's at the foot of Nantou Mountain. Our whole family used to go hiking there. Do you remember those two thatched huts at the foot of the mountain? Your eldest brother rented those huts later—"

Before he could finish speaking, Xu Bai interrupted, not wanting to hear any more. "Why rent two thatched huts? Isn't it just for their rendezvous?" He snorted and turned to leave.

The autumn sun was high in the sky. Yu Qi, Du Zhong, and Zhang Da followed Chen Zifang's wife, Liu, straight to their two vegetable plots. There, they saw a newly erected grave standing at the foot of a half-zhang-high ridge, with fresh paper money scattered around it. Chen Zifang had been buried just yesterday, so the grave was easy to dig up. In less than half an hour, Zhang Da and Du Zhong opened the coffin, turned over the charred corpse, and then Yu Qi jumped into the pit to examine the head of the body.

Liu, who was waiting nearby, came over and whispered to Du Zhong, "What's there to see? Didn't the coroner already find out last time that he was crushed to death?"

Du Zhong, wanting to show off, said with his hands behind his back, "Even if someone is killed by something, we need to know what killed them. Now that we've found an inkstone, we need to compare it carefully to determine if it's the murder weapon."

"An inkstone? Whose inkstone is it?"

Du Zhong suddenly remembered that Liu had been a servant of the Qi family for more than ten years, and it might not be good to say too much. So he became impatient and said, "Why are you asking so many questions? Anyway, we will definitely find out the murderer and give you an explanation."

As they spoke, they walked to the edge of the grave and squatted down to watch Yu Qi inspect it. After a while, Yu Qi finished his inspection and came up. Zhang Da and Du Zhong nailed the coffin back in place, filled the grave, and rebuilt it as before, then headed straight for the government office.

On the way, Du Zhong and Zhang Da pressed Yu Qi about the murder weapon. Yu Qi silently shook his head. "The deceased was indeed struck to death with a blunt object, but the murder weapon is not that inkstone. The deceased's skull not only had cracks but also small chisels. The murder weapon should have sharp edges, but Qi Xuyun's inkstone, although it had edges, was polished to be rounded, which is not the case."

Du Zhong immediately realized the logic in this question, "Could it be a weapon?"

Yu Qi still shook his head, "What kind of weapons would a scholarly family like the Qi family have? Even if they had two swords, they would only be used to decorate the house."

The two nodded in agreement, and Zhang Da smiled again, "How did you notice that the inkstone was not right, and that's why you thought of opening the coffin to examine the body?"

"It's the bloodstains on that inkstone that's a bit off. Chen Zifang died on the night of the 12th, which is six or seven days ago. The bloodstains should be completely congealed and easily peeled off with a knife tip. Last night, when I checked the inkstone, although the bloodstains could be peeled off, quite a lot of residue remained. This indicates that the blood clots on the inkstone were not very dry and were probably applied in large quantities yesterday afternoon."

Du Zhong hurriedly scurried to the other side, "So, the bloodstains on the inkstone were deliberately faked by Qi Xuyun?!"

Yu Qi glanced at him, nodded with a smile, and said, "As a murderer, even if it's inconvenient to throw away the murder weapon, you should at least clean it up. Do you think Qi Xuyun is a careless person? I don't think even if he's careless, he wouldn't have missed the large amount of blood left on the inkstone after killing someone. If he did see it, why would he be too lazy to even do something as simple as wiping it clean?"

"So, according to this logic, the tinea spots on Qi Xuyun's hands were also faked by him?"

Yu Qi frowned and said, "Back then, in the guest room where the two Taoists were staying, Yu'er explained the toxicity of oleander very clearly. I think he may have had the idea of ​​taking the blame for someone else at that time."

Zhang Da said, "Maybe Xiaoyuer is right. The one who killed her was Second Aunt, and Qi Xuyun is taking the blame for Second Aunt."

Yu Qi shook his head. "That's still uncertain. I'll say it again: first, the murder weapon; second, we need to know who in the Qi family knows about the toxicity of oleander."

The three walked and talked, slowly making their way to the bustling street.

It was unclear what time it was, but Jiuli was sitting in Enoki's room waiting for news of Xu Bai. The sun that had been shining outside the corridor was now shining into the corridor again, almost climbing into the room. Jiuli's eyes were blurry, so she had to look away. But then she saw that Enoki's dry face had become moist again.

Logically speaking, she was an elder, and Jiu Li wanted to comfort her, but she was afraid of touching on her private relationship with Xu Yun and making things awkward for both of them, so she could only remain silent and hand her a handkerchief.

Enoki had been silently pondering for half a day. When she saw the handkerchief, she followed Jiu Li's arm to his face. Her dull eyes suddenly focused with a determined light. Instead of taking the handkerchief, she tightly grasped Jiu Li's hands. Her hands were so cold that Jiu Li shivered, but he didn't pull away, just waiting for her to speak.

"Take me to the yamen! Girl, I killed the man. Take me away; it has nothing to do with Xu Yun!"

At this moment, Jiuli was somewhat skeptical, scrutinizing her with her eyes, "Auntie, you can't just accept these kinds of statements so easily."

Enoki smiled through her tears and slowly released her hands. "I'm not making this up. Chen Zifang and Fan Yi found out about my relationship with Xu Yun and tried to blackmail me with it, so I killed them."

Jiuli thought she was making up a story, so she casually asked, "Then how did you kill Chen Zifang, and how did you kill those two Taoist priests?"

“After returning from Baiyun Temple, one day Chen Zifang suddenly came to ask me for one hundred taels of silver, saying that he knew everything about me and Xuyun. I gave him one hundred taels of silver at that time, but he spent the money too quickly. After a while, he came to ask me for two hundred taels. I thought that this was not a good way to go. Besides, he was a man from the mansion and often drank. If he got drunk one day and let it slip, it would be impossible to protect him. So that day I arranged to meet him at Sishixuan at night. He thought I was going to give him the two hundred taels, so he happily came to the appointment. I took advantage of his drunkenness and smashed him to death with something.”

Jiuli frowned. "What is that?"

"I don't quite remember. It was just some random item I picked up from Sishixuan. Our room was always piled with odds and ends."

Premeditated murder, yet no murder weapon prepared beforehand? Jiu Li relaxed, her tone becoming even more casual, "What about those two Taoist priests? And how did you poison them?"

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Author's note: Thank you for reading.