The strange thing Lou mentioned wasn't what Shu Yu guessed—that their hoe was missing—but rather…
“The morning after that incident, Ruan Jinqian from the village entrance ran to my house and asked my father-in-law for help, saying that his hoe had been stolen and he wanted my father-in-law to help find it.”
A hoe is an iron farm tool. Although iron tools couldn't compare to gold, silver, or jade these days, they were still an asset for ordinary farmers. They were naturally unwilling to let it go, especially since the hoe was relatively new.
According to Ruan Jinqian, he went to turn over the soil that evening. He got tired halfway through, so he put his hoe on the edge of the field, went to the shade of a tree to drink water, and sat down to rest for a while.
In just a short while, when he returned to the field, the hoe was gone.
He thought he had misremembered, so he searched the entire acre of land, but couldn't find it even after dark. He suspected it had been stolen. Actually, he had gone to Ruan Hai's house, but Lou Shi didn't see him inside, only vaguely hearing some noise. However, Ruan Hai was out with Ruan Kewei and wasn't home at the time, so Ruan Jinqian had left.
They came back the next day.
Ruan Chengqian looked up in surprise after hearing this, "So Ruan Kewei used Ruan Jinqian's hoe to kill the person?"
"If the premise of murder is established, then based on Ruan Kewei's behavior, it should be considered a crime of passion. Without a plan, the murder weapon would usually be found randomly. The crime scene is likely near Ruan Jinqian's land."
Shu Yu stood up as she spoke, "No matter what, we have to go to the scene first. Do you know where Ruan Jinqian's land is?"
Ruan Chengqian said, "I know all about his land, but I don't know which plot he turned over that day."
“I know, it’s at the foot of the mountain,” Lou said. “I overheard it once, and my father-in-law even pretended to go with Ruan Jinqian to the foot of the mountain to take a look, but they didn’t find anything.”
"Then let's go take a look at that piece of land at the foot of the mountain."
Ruan Chengqian was somewhat surprised to see her about to leave. "Are you going now? It's the middle of the night, and even if there are clues, you won't be able to see them clearly in the dark."
"I know, but since we're already out here, it would be a waste not to take a look around. Let's check out the terrain first."
Ruan Chengqian nodded. "Okay, I'll take you there."
Lou followed her out, but Shu Yu saw that she was covered in injuries and walked with a limp, so he told her to stay at home for the time being.
“We’ll go, you stay home and recover. We’ll look for clues first, and we won’t come back tonight. Don’t go back to the Ruan family for the next couple of days. If the Ruan family comes looking for you, you should…” Shu Yu thought for a moment and said in a low voice, “You should pretend that you were beaten and fell ill in bed, and ask the Ruan family to pay for your medical treatment in the county town. If they don’t pay, you can go by yourselves. This way, you can avoid this turmoil.”
Shu Yu was worried that before the matter with Ruan Hai's family was resolved, he would target the Lou family again.
She gave her the address of the clinic that Zhao Xikai ran in the county town. "It's my brother-in-law's clinic. In my opinion, even if you're not pretending to be seriously ill in bed, you should see a doctor after being beaten like this. Talk to your parents about it, so that you don't end up with any lasting health problems."
Lady Lou noted it down, saying, "Thank you, thank you, Your Highness."
"Don't worry, if Ruan Kewei really killed someone, we definitely won't let him go. Even if he didn't kill anyone, we will still bring Ruan Hai down and help you get a divorce. Just hang in there a little longer."
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