Chapter 256 Interrogation

Xiao Qingyuan looked down on Shen Mingxuan: "Brother Liao came to the Prince's Mansion to help me solve the case. This is a big deal, he can't leave. This woman is crazy, she's annoying to look at! Granny Chai, hurry up and kick her out!"

Granny Chai didn't move. She looked at Shen Wantang, and only after Shen Wantang nodded did she order someone to take Shen Mingxuan out.

Shen Mingxuan shouted angrily and anxiously, "Liao Youhe, come with me! You can't stay here! You can't help Xiao Qingyuan solve the case!"

"You solved this case all by yourself, so all the credit is yours. If you share it with Xiao Qingyuan, your career will be over! You'll never be able to become the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review again!"

"Liao Youhe, did you hear me? I'm doing this for your own good, you have to listen to me!"

Unfortunately, Liao Youhe didn't even glance at her.

These past few days, Shen Mingxuan has been saying that only he can solve the Xin family's case, and that he will become famous overnight because of this case.

When Chu Yanluo met him, she used the same excuse.

But how could he not know his own limitations?

He had already analyzed the Xin family's case, but he was completely clueless. He didn't even know where to begin, let alone solve the case!

Xiao Qingyuan said he could help him solve the case, but that was just flattering him. He was clearly clueless, knew nothing, and was at a loss!

If he were to listen to Shen Mingxuan and leave the Ning Prince's Mansion with her now, he would be a fool!

Who is Xiao Qingyuan? He is the heir of the Prince of Ning, one of the most prominent royal family members in the capital.

Previously, she was not good enough for him, because even though the two families were related by marriage, Xiao Qingyuan looked down on the Shen family, let alone their poor son-in-law.

But things are different now. Now that Xiao Qingyuan can use him, he naturally can't give up such a good opportunity to curry favor.

His father-in-law, Shen Guannian, wanted to curry favor with the Prince of Ning's family, but he hadn't received a single kind word from the Prince yet! He was much better off than his father-in-law; at least he had drunk with Xiao Qingyuan and had even been taken back to the Prince's mansion to spend the night!

So, as soon as Shen Mingxuan left, Liao Youhe quickly apologized: "I am truly sorry, Your Highness. My wife was unruly and offended Your Highness and Your Highness's wife. I feel deeply ashamed. But Your Highness, rest assured, I will do my utmost to assist Your Highness in solving the Xin family's case."

Xiao Qingyuan glanced at him: "You're quite thoughtful, much better than your crazy wife! You're really unlucky to have married such a wife."

Liao Youhe clenched his fists and lowered his head. Shen Mingxuan had truly embarrassed him! It was one thing for her to spout nonsense at home every day, but after coming to the Ning Prince's Mansion and seeing Xiao Qingyuan, she still dared to say things. She simply had no brains at all!

Comparing him to the composed and dignified Shen Wantang, Liao Youhe felt even more distressed—if only he had married Shen Wantang back then.

What Liao Youhe didn't know was that Xiao Qingyuan was also making comparisons, and he was relieved that his mother had chosen Shen Wantang as his heir, not Shen Mingxuan.

Fortunately, his mother wasn't the kind of rigid person who valued legitimate and illegitimate children. Otherwise, if she had chosen the legitimate daughter of the Shen family, wouldn't he have had to face a madwoman every day?

Is there any way to make a living like that?

Xiao Qingyuan looked at the calm and composed Shen Wantang and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She was emotionally stable and kept the big picture in mind. She never went crazy or lost her temper. That was really good!

Although he was drunk last night, he wasn't completely out of his mind; he remembered most of what happened.

So he naturally remembered that Shen Wantang had given him a lot of face in front of Xin Huailin and Liao Youhe last night.

This morning, feeling that Huayi had served him well, she specially rewarded Huayi with something, giving him plenty of face.

He didn't consider himself the kind of ungrateful bastard, so when Shen Mingxuan was spouting nonsense, he naturally had to say a few words for Shen Wantang to save face.

You can do whatever you want behind closed doors, but when you're out in public, you still have to maintain appearances.

This is something he has just learned from Shen Wantang these days.

At this moment, a maidservant tiptoed into the flower hall, bowing her head respectfully, and said, "Princess Consort, Granny Jin has been brought back. Would you like to see her?"

Shen Wantang nodded: "Bring her over, the young master has some questions for her to ask later."

"yes."

The maid responded and quickly led Granny Jin into the flower hall.

Xiao Qingyuan glanced at her, then turned to Shen Wantang and asked, "This is Xiang Meng's mother? Did you tell her anything beforehand?"

“She is Xiang Meng’s mother. I have not revealed anything to her. Last night, the young master said he wanted to interrogate her, so I had someone bring her from the estate overnight. The young master may ask whatever he wants.”

Xiao Qingyuan greeted Xin Huailin and Liao Youhe, then began the interrogation with great anticipation.

"The Xin family of thirteen has mysteriously disappeared. Was this done by your son?!"

"Innocent, Your Highness! My son is the most honest man imaginable; he has absolutely nothing to do with the Xin family's case!"

"You still dare to say you have nothing to do with it?! He's the one who killed Xin Huailin's sister, Xin Dong'er! Confess the truth now, or you'll be in for a beating!"

"Absolutely not! Your Highness, you've made a mistake!"

"How did your son kill them? How many did he kill? Did you help? Speak up!"

"No! My son didn't kill anyone!"

"Still denying it! Men, beat him!"

After a beating, Granny Jin wailed in pain.

However, no matter how Xiao Qingyuan and the other two questioned her, no matter how they beat her, she kept repeating the same few sentences: her son was innocent, her son had never harmed anyone.

The interrogation lasted for the entire morning. Xiao Qingyuan was so thirsty from asking so many questions that he drank two pots of tea. Even Princess Ning heard the commotion and came over with Xiao Qingxi to check on the situation.

Unfortunately, the case made no progress whatsoever.

Xiao Qingyuan even suspected that Xiang Meng might have been wronged.

Xin Huailin and Liao Youhe each asked Granny Jin several questions, but they didn't get any answers.

Liao Youhe was alright; he remained calm because his main reason for getting involved in the case was to curry favor with Xiao Qingyuan, and the failure to solve the case had little to do with him.

Xin Huailin was extremely disappointed and became dejected. He had thought that Xiao Qingyuan could really help him solve the case and that he could get some useful clues from Granny Jin, but unfortunately, it was all wishful thinking.

The more unsolved the case became, the more likely he felt that his entire family had been murdered, and the last glimmer of hope that his family was still alive was fading away.

Shen Wantang sat to the side, quietly watching all of this.

Xiao Qingyuan and his two companions' interrogations were completely haphazard. They relied entirely on guesswork to solve the case, on deception to gather clues, and on beatings to obtain testimonies. If they could solve the case this way, then the people in the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review would be out of a job.

Granny Jin was beaten half to death, but she gritted her teeth and insisted that her son was innocent. She said nothing more.