Lu Enshan wiped the sweat from his head, sat down on the ground, and said slowly: "After my eldest brother married my eldest sister-in-law, he treated her very well. I was worried that my eldest brother would leave all his property to her, not to mention that if my eldest sister-in-law gave birth to a son, I would have nothing to do with it. So...so..."

"So you killed your eldest brother?"

"No, no, no!" Lu Enshan shook his head hurriedly, "No matter how cruel I am, I will not kill my eldest brother! I...I wanted to kill my eldest sister-in-law. If she is gone, my eldest brother will still leave his property to me. So I found a killer, but before I could do it, my eldest brother..." "

Who is the killer? How did you contact him? How will he get the reward after the success?"

"His name is Huang Jiu, I also contacted him through a friend. I gave him a deposit of 500 taels. After the deal is done, he will come to me for the rest of the reward."

Lu Zheng said nothing.

Lu Enshan cried with snot and tears: "My lord, what I said is true, I really didn't kill my eldest brother..."

Lu Zheng did not comment: "I will check whether it is true or not." He paused, and suddenly remembered the man Lu Enshan had entertained in the restaurant the day before the incident, and asked, "Two days ago, you entertained a man in gray in the restaurant. Was he Huang Jiu?"

Lu Enshan's face was a little confused, but he quickly recalled. He shook his head and said, "No, his name is Xie Chaozong, and he is my eldest brother's business partner."

"Business partner?" Lu Zheng frowned, "Why did you meet your eldest brother's business partner?"

"He and my eldest brother have some conflicts, and he wants me to help reconcile..."

Lu Zheng raised his voice slightly: "Tell the truth!"

"Old Xie and my eldest brother are childhood friends. They used to do business together. However, my eldest brother's business has been growing in recent years, and his relationship with Old Xie is not as good as before. Last time, Old Xie came to me and said that he felt there were some problems with my eldest brother's business and asked me to help investigate. I... I thought that if I had evidence, I could use it to threaten my eldest brother, so I agreed. However, I don't know much about my eldest brother's business. He usually keeps his account book strictly locked and doesn't allow me to interfere in business matters. So I stole the account book and gave it to Old Xie. It was the day before my eldest brother died..."

Lu Zheng nodded: "I understand. We are going to find Xie Chaozong now. You stay here and think carefully to see if there is anything you have missed."

Lu Enshan nodded honestly.

Lu Zheng and Bao Zheng left the cell. He glanced at Bao Zheng and asked, "What do you think?"

Bao Zheng frowned and said, "This case seems to be getting more and more complicated. If this guy didn't lie, could it be that Xie Chaozong killed him?"

"I don't know." Lu Zheng shook his head, "Let You Xiaowu check Huang Jiu, and we'll go and deal with Xie Chaozong."

The Xie family is also very powerful in Nanxia County. Xie Chaozong is a branch of the Xie family. He is quite capable in doing business and bought a big house in Qingxi County.

Xie Chaozong is thin and elegant. He doesn't look like a businessman, but rather like a scholar. He doesn't seem to be in good health and keeps coughing.

After meeting with him, Lu Zheng asked straight to the point: "Have you, Shopkeeper Xie, heard about the murder of Mr. Lu Enshan?"

Xie Chaozong nodded: "I have heard of it."

"I wonder what you think?"

Xie Chaozong coughed twice: "My lord, you come to ask me, I guess it is something that Lu Enshan said?"

"Since Shopkeeper Xie is a wise man, just tell me the truth of the matter!"

"I have known the Lu brothers since childhood. I was the one who lent Lu Enguang the capital for his business. His business has been booming in recent years. To be honest, I am indeed jealous, but this matter is not enough for me to hire someone to kill." Xie Chaozong said slowly.

"Then why did you instruct Lu Enshan to steal the account book?"

Xie Chaozong smiled gently: "Sir, I have been doing business for so many years, and I have never seen any business that can triple the profit in a short period of time. I wonder if you have ever seen it?"

"What do you mean by this?"

"I know Lu Enguang's ability very well. He does have some brains, but it is impossible to make steady profits in business. However, no matter what the market price is in recent years, his warehouse can always make a lot of money. I was curious, so I asked Lu Enshan to steal the account book, just to see what kind of business this great philanthropist in Qingxi County is doing."

"Since you are curious, why didn't you let Lu Enshan steal it earlier, but at this time?"

"Earlier, Lu Enguang wanted to leave all his property to Lu Enshan, but Lu Enshan didn't even bother to associate with me. It wasn't until Lu Enguang got married that he became anxious." Xie Chaozong said slowly, "He was worried that his property would be taken away by his sister-in-law and unborn nephew. I added fuel to the fire at the right time and finally convinced him, but I didn't expect that Lu Enguang would die."

Lu Zheng paused and asked, "Have you seen the account book? Is there anything wrong with it?"

"There is nothing wrong with the account book." Xie Chaozong changed the subject, "But the fact that there is no problem is the biggest problem. According to the account book, Lu Enguang's business has lost money almost every year. But in recent years, his pharmacy has become bigger and bigger, and he even helps the poor from time to time. How is this possible?"

Lu Zheng said nothing.

Xie Chaozong seemed to remember something and suddenly said, "Not only that, I also find it strange that he suddenly got married."

"What's so strange about that?"

"Your Excellency may not know that when he was young, he had a girl he liked, but the two were not well-matched. The girl loved him so much that she refused to marry anyone else and even starved herself to death. Lu Enguang vowed at that time that he must make a name for himself and never marry again. So for so many years, there has been no one around him except a concubine who has always been with him. Who would have thought that when he was old, he would break this oath." Xie Chaozong shook his head, "He doesn't have any other advantages, but he is good at keeping his promises. So on the day of his wedding, I asked him this question and he looked very bad. Our relationship deteriorated because of this."

"I understand." Lu Zheng bowed his hands, "Thank you very much, shopkeeper Xie, but I don't know where the account book is. Can we take it back as evidence?"

"Of course." Xie Chaozong nodded, "Butler, go to my desk and get the account book."

After the account book was brought, Xie Chaozong handed it to Lu Zheng, and bowed his hands again and said, "If there is anything you need from me, I will do my best."

Lu Zheng put away the account book and said to Xie Chaozong, "Thank you, shopkeeper." After that, he left Xie Mansion with Bao Zheng.

After leaving Xie's house, the two walked on the street. Bao Zheng said, "I saw that the shopkeeper Xie didn't look like a hypocrite, and his answer was very frank. I don't think he had anything to do with Lu Enguang's death."

Lu Zheng didn't comment, but just said, "We still have to wait for You Xiaowu to get the news back. In addition, I think we'd better go meet Mrs. Lu."

Bao Zheng asked in doubt: "Does your Excellency think that it was Madam Lu who killed the person?"

Lu Zheng said: "Whether it was her or not, there are doubts about her. Lu Enguang was not a womanizer. He wanted to marry at the age of knowing his destiny, which is itself a doubt, not to mention his attitude towards his brother approaching his wife, which was like facing a powerful enemy. And if what Xie Chaozong said is correct, there is a big secret hidden in Lu Enguang. If this secret is solved, I think the whole case will be solved." "Your

Excellency is right."

The two were walking on the main street of Qingxi County at this time, and suddenly a person rolled in front of them. Lu Zheng was startled, and when he looked closely, he found that it was An Zicheng who wrote the pornographic book.

An Zicheng didn't see them. He quickly got up and said to the waiter of the tavern: "If you don't want to give me a gift, then don't give me a gift. Why are you pushing me?"

The waiter rolled his eyes and said: "You are right. You haven't paid me back for the wine you owed me last time!"

An Zicheng touched his nose and said: "Confucius said..."

"I'm too lazy to listen to you. If you have money, sell him some wine. If you don't have money, get out of here."

Bao Zheng couldn't stand it anymore and walked over and said, "I'll pay for him."

An Zicheng saw the two of them and smiled in surprise, "You two gentlemen are here to buy wine too?"

Lu Zheng shook his head, "We just happened to be passing by here." He said to the waiter, "How much does he owe for the wine? I'll pay for him, and you can sell the wine."

The waiter immediately hesitantly said, "Three... three taels."

An Zicheng quickly said, "Nonsense, it's clearly two taels and eight cents."

Seeing that the two were about to quarrel again, Bao Zheng quickly took out three taels of silver. "Okay, okay, go buy some wine."

After the waiter left, Lu Zheng said, "Since there's nothing else to do, we'll take our leave."

An Zicheng said embarrassedly, "This... Hey, thank you so much. Actually, if I was addicted to alcohol, I wouldn't drink, but I bought this wine for Li Si. Today is his seventh day, and I want to take the wine to pay tribute to him. He has no relatives, and if I don't go, his afterlife will be too miserable."

After he said this, Lu Zheng remembered that Li Si's case had not been solved yet, and he felt a little guilty, so he said, "I'll go with you to pay tribute."

"If you go and pay your respects, it would be a great blessing for him."

Lu Zheng shook his head: "I didn't bring the murderer to justice. This is my incompetence. I should go and pay my respects."

An Zicheng said nothing more. After getting the wine, he led the two of them out of the city.