As soon as Shu Yu spoke, the villagers all looked up at her.
Perhaps it was because Shu Yu had been so kind and friendly to all the villagers who wanted to plant sunflowers all day.
So when she came out, the villagers approached her and said, "Princess, Princess, you've come out! You have to stand up for us! Our villagers couldn't have killed anyone. Please speak up for us in front of the magistrate. We can't be falsely accused like this."
As the villagers spoke, they turned to look at the two constables blocking their way.
The constables, seasoned by years of experience, knew that villages inhabited by people of the same surname were the most difficult to deal with, and that these groups were extremely united in their dealings with outsiders. Especially now that the village chief, Ruan Hai, had spoken up first, it was clear that he was shifting the blame onto the entire village.
Fortunately, there were more than twenty constables with them this time, so there was no need to worry too much.
If they weren't worried about escalating the conflict, and if they hadn't been instructed by Constable Jiang not to respond further, they would have already drawn their swords to intimidate the villagers.
When the county princess arrived, the two constables turned around and made way for her.
A constable followed behind Shu Yu. She looked up at the villagers and asked, "Putting everything else aside, can anyone tell me whose hoe this is?"
As soon as she spoke, the constables behind her came forward with a hoe.
Ruan Hai's pupils contracted as the villagers rushed forward to identify him.
When Ruan Jinqian saw it, his eyes widened in surprise. "This is my hoe. It suddenly went missing more than half a month ago. How did it end up here?"
He was about to touch it after he finished speaking.
Shu Yu blocked the man's path, his expression grave. "This hoe was buried in the pit along with the body. According to Constable Jiang's preliminary assessment, the deceased was killed by this hoe."
"What?!" Ruan Jinqian instantly took a few steps back, staring at the hoe in front of him with a look of horror.
The other villagers instinctively took three steps back from Ruan Jinqian, looking at him warily.
Seeing this, Ruan Jinqian hurriedly waved his hands and said, "It has nothing to do with me, really, Your Highness, Officer, I lost this hoe half a month ago. Back then, I even went to the village chief to ask him to help me find out if someone stole it. Many people know about it."
Some villagers still remember this incident. Ruan Jinqian was heartbroken to lose his hoe and made a big fuss about it for a long time.
Ruan Hai couldn't deny it, so he nodded, "Indeed, Jin Qian came to me one morning about two weeks ago and said that his hoe had been stolen. We even searched the area around here."
Ruan Jinqian just breathed a sigh of relief, but then Ruan Hai changed the subject, frowning and saying, "However, the hoe being stolen is your excuse. If you are... the thief crying 'stop thief,' then we won't know anything."
Ruan Jinqian stared wide-eyed in disbelief. "Village Chief, what are you talking about?"
Ruan Hai sighed, "I'm just speculating reasonably. After all, the murder weapon is your family's hoe, which is too strange. And you said that you put the hoe on the edge of the field and rested under the shade of a tree for a while, and then the hoe disappeared. That's too strange. If someone really came and stole your hoe, you would have seen it while you were sitting under the shade of the tree, right?"
These words immediately sparked a flurry of discussion among the other villagers.
Shu Yu knew that Ruan Hai's attempt to incite sabotage had failed, so he simply shifted the blame onto Ruan Jinqian.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
