Chapter 738 Clearing Jin Ji's Name

Everyone seemed to have their own ideas.

What was originally a simple case of rape, murder, and torture leading to death has now become complicated.

How could such a large fire break out in such a big mourning hall during the day? A maidservant "accidentally" knocked over a candlestick while guarding the mourning hall, but then suddenly died of poisoning. Who could have reached into the Jingzhao Prefecture government office to poison a maidservant?

It's not impossible that Magistrate Zhang would point the finger at the victim's husband, Li Cheng, given that Li Cheng has a criminal record.

Everyone speculated that Li Cheng was the most suspicious person because he used such a heinous method to kill his wife and then fabricated such a long lie to frame Jin Ji.

However, King Qi's words overturned this conclusion, and some people sighed: "This case is really full of doubts! Madam Li's personal maid was poisoned to death. The murderer must have been guilty and afraid that the maid would tell the truth. The maid must know the truth."

Someone else said, "So it's very likely that Jin Ji was wronged."

"If Jin Ji really did kill someone at Fu Lai Inn, and the methods were so cruel, with so many people in the inn, it's impossible that no sound could have been heard. He must be innocent!"

"Didn't Lord Zhang say that the deceased had his chest slashed? If that's true, how much pain must he have endured? The murderer is truly ruthless! There must have been a lot of blood at the scene!"

Zhang Anyu pointed at the minister who said this and said, "This gentleman is right, but I have inspected the scene and there is no large amount of blood at the crime scene. This does not meet the conditions of the first murder scene at all. It proves once again that Madam Li was not killed at Fulai Inn, but died long ago and her body was moved to Fulai Inn."

The adult who had spoken earlier said, "So it seems Jin Ji was indeed framed."

Previously, no one knew who Jin Ji was. After the case was publicized by Vice Minister Shu, everyone knew that Jin Ji was the Empress's second brother-in-law. If Jin Ji's case is overturned, everyone's attitude will definitely change, and they will all speak well of him.

"But it wasn't Jin Ji who killed him, nor was it Young Master Li. So who killed him?"

"They didn't say it wasn't Li Cheng who killed him! The case is still being investigated layer by layer!"

“Li Cheng just admitted that he went out of the city with Shu Xue to relax and watch the sunrise. Why would he lie? If he lied, then he could only have killed the person. Otherwise, why would he lie?”

"But why would he frame Jin Ji?"

"Perhaps it's because Jin Ji happened to be at the Fu Lai Inn!"

"That doesn't make sense either. If Li Cheng killed someone, instead of trying to dispose of the body quietly, he transported the body outside the city to frame someone else and made such a big fuss. That doesn't fit the mentality of a murderer!"

"The person who died was Minister Shu's niece. If Shu Xue disappeared for no reason, won't Minister Shu seek revenge and seek justice for his niece?"

Everyone nodded. "That's true!"

What no one knew was that when Zhang Anyu and Xie Qi went to the palace last night to report on the progress of the case, Jiang Fenghua and Xie Shang had already planned their statements for today. Everything was developing in the direction they envisioned, and the first step was to clear Jin Ji's name.

The second step is to raise suspicions and let everyone speculate on the verdict. If there are any people in the court who know the truth, they will definitely not sit still when they see this situation.

Xie Qi was a prince, and he was also the supervising official in the case. It was most appropriate for him to raise the questions. No one dared to refute the words of a prince, and everyone would only be led toward the truth.

Xie Shang coldly swept his gaze across the crowd in the court. He noticed that Vice Minister Shu's brows looked furrowed, as if the character "川" (river) was etched into them, and he appeared quite melancholy.

Xie Shang said in a deep voice, "Minister Shu, do you have anything to say?"

Shu Lang stepped forward and bowed to the Emperor. "When I learned of my niece's death, I was heartbroken and lost my composure. I beg Your Majesty's forgiveness. I did not expect Lord Zhang to solve the case so quickly and find so many suspicious points. Lord Zhang has found the real culprit. Xue'er can rest in peace now."

Xie Shang said coldly, "She died such a tragic death, I reckon she won't rest in peace. Even as a ghost, she'll seek revenge on the murderer who killed her."

Shu Lang was stunned for a moment, unsure how to respond.

At this moment, everyone's eyes were fixed on Li Cheng. Lu Tingwei said, "Since Li Cheng is lying, we should start the investigation from Li Cheng. I suggest that we put Li Cheng in prison first."

Li Cheng roared, "I didn't kill anyone, I didn't kill Shu Xue, her death has nothing to do with me."

Minister Li said, "Cheng'er, what exactly happened? Tell me the truth. Why did you lie? Why did you frame Young Master Jin?"

Li Cheng's face turned pale with fright. "I don't know why. Someone just told me to do this. Shu Xue is dead. She was dead when I saw her."

"Who told you to do this?" Minister Li asked.

“I don’t know that person. He was completely covered in black, from head to toe, even his hands were covered.”

Xie Qi asked, "You clearly saw that Shu Xue was dead, so why didn't you report it to the authorities? Instead, you listened to others and transported her body outside the city."

Li Cheng would never reveal the real reason. He said, "I was the first to see Shu Xue's body. She was still in the carriage at the Li residence. If I reported it to the authorities, they would definitely think that I killed her and made her look so terrible. I was very scared."

He continued, “She didn’t come home all night, and we don’t know where she went. She was raped and killed. It’s a shameful thing. I was very scared at the time, so I took that person’s advice and sent her out of the city. That person then asked me to take her to the Fulai Inn outside the city and asked me to identify the murderer the next day. I didn’t know that the murderer would be someone from the Jiang family.”

"In other words, you had already sent the body to the side room of the Fulai Inn, just waiting for Jin Ji to come and drug him before sending him to the side room. You were supposed to find someone to discover Shu Xue's body the next morning and identify Jin Ji as the murderer." Zhang Anyu continued, "Why do you listen to the man in black so much? Did you drug Jin Ji or the man in black? Where did you take his men?"

“I already said I was scared. I was also afraid that people would say I killed Shu Xue and that I would be implicated. Someone gave me advice and didn’t even have to do anything. Of course I was willing! Of course, someone had already arranged everything at the Fulai Inn. It wasn’t my people. I only learned the name Jin Ji on the second day. I didn’t know Jin Ji at all before.”

Jiang Jinyan said coldly, "You not only framed Jin Ji, but also beat him up badly. You dare to say you didn't know him before? I don't think your statements are convincing. Either you killed Shu Xue, or you participated in the murder."

Now that Jin Ji has been cleared of suspicion, Jiang Jinyan no longer needs to hold back, and he no longer needs to worry about people smearing the Jiang family.

Jiang Jinyan then asked, "Lord Zhang, Your Highness Prince Qi, what other evidence did you find on Shu Xue's body?"

He just received a message from Ruan Ruan that the evidence in King Qi's possession could be presented.