Chapter 31: Old Friend 7: The murderer is a woman
Even at this moment, Du Yuting still didn't believe that the lowly and weak woman in front of him could kill him.
He covered his chest with his hands, a sneer on his face, "What did you just say?"
Su He walked over, piercing through the dim light and standing in front of him, and said word by word: "I mean, the smell you smell is the smell of killing you."
She emphasized the word "kill you".
Du Yuting took a breath, slid down the cave wall weakly, and sat down on the ground: "You lowly slave, you are so brave."
"You are right, I am just a lowly slave. However, Master Du, a great merchant, will probably die at the hands of a lowly slave like me."
Su He squatted down and leaned close to his face, meeting his eyes. Her face was clearly reflected in his cloudy pupils. "I sprinkled fine deer blood powder into every glass of wine that Master Du drank in the back hall. Master Du suffers from hypochondria. Once exposed to deer blood powder, his breathing will be blocked and his blood vessels will be swollen. And just now, Master Du inhaled the soul-devouring incense I personally concocted. When a person's blood vessels are swollen, he inhales the soul-devouring incense. One breath and all his strength dissipates. Two breaths and he enters the palace of Hades. Master Du must be feeling very uncomfortable now, right?"
Du Yuting widened his eyes in horror, "You...you..."
Su He smiled slightly, his eyes full of coldness: "In less than half a minute, Master Du will be out of breath, exhausted, his blood vessels will be cut off, and he will bleed from all seven orifices and die."
"Come... someone come... someone come..." Du Yuting gasped with difficulty and turned to call for help towards the cave entrance.
Su He said slowly, "Master Du, please save your energy. This place is remote and no one will come for a while. Besides, Master Du's voice is too soft."
Du Yuting had no strength left, so his voice was naturally low.
In addition to the swelling of his throat and difficulty breathing, his face was flushed and beads of sweat the size of beans appeared on his forehead.
He held himself up and softened his tone, "I... I'm just selling iron. My crime isn't punishable by death. Why... why do you have to kill me?"
"To be honest, I don't care whether Mr. Du sells iron or not."
Su He stopped smiling and stared at him intently. The light from outside the cave filtered in and fell on her face, making her makeup-covered complexion even more stern. "What I care about is that Master Du killed someone."
Du Yuting was becoming increasingly uncomfortable, his entire body trembling, but he remained unyielding: "Miss, you are... wrongly accusing a good person... wrongly accusing a good person..."
"How dare you call yourself a good person?"
Su He gritted her teeth and said, "You've taken more than one life. The death of Chen the Accountant, the death of Zhang Dachang, the guard, and the death of Deshun eight years ago were all caused by you. Those who do evil will eventually perish. Today is your end."
As she spoke, she reached out and grabbed his neck.
Du Yuting's breathing was already obstructed, and after she pinched him, he felt even more breathless.
He wanted to struggle, but he had no strength left and could only look at her in despair like a fish on the chopping board.
But after a while, he began to bleed from his mouth and nose.
Su He was also looking at him, watching the blood gushing out of him.
She remembered that the night her father died, blood was flowing out of all his orifices, no, his whole body was covered in blood.
She also remembered the look her father gave her through the gaps between the branches when he was being beaten, which was just like Du Yuting's look at this moment, desperate and powerless.
She wanted Du Yuting to die the same way her father died.
But at this time, Du Yuting was still unwilling to die and was still trying to breathe in fresh air.
He used the last bit of his strength to ask, "Who...who...are you?"
Su He said frankly: "Remember this, I am the daughter of De Shun, whom you wanted to kill eight years ago, the slave you mentioned. It's a pity that I am not dead. I am here to seek revenge on you." As she spoke, she increased the strength in her hands again.
Du Yuting had some impression of the name Deshun, but not a deep one.
At this moment, he had no time to look around. He was still struggling, speaking incoherently: "I... I can give you... silver... no matter how much... silver."
Su He also had strong perseverance and pinched him tightly.
She gritted her teeth and replied, "I don't want your money, I just want you to die."
After saying this, he used all his strength and successfully sent Du Yuting to the "Western Paradise".
She watched his pupils slowly grow larger and lose their response before she slowly released her hand.
Du Yuting's body tilted, and he fell to the ground with a puff, dying silently.
Su He wiped the blood on her hands on his collar, then stood up, took a long breath, and looked up. Outside the cave, the sun was shining brightly, the sky was clear, and a breeze blew, making her feel comfortable.
Some people say that after killing someone, a person will feel anxious, trembling hands, and breathing rapidly.
But she didn't, not when she killed Li Shuli for the first time.
Su He calmly looked at Du Yuting's body, then walked out of the cave.
Before he had gone more than half a foot, he saw someone walking towards him, shouting, "President Du, where are you? President Du, are you okay?"
Su He knew something was wrong and quickly hid in the rockery next to him.
The two men who came to look for someone were probably members of the Chamber of Commerce judging by their clothes.
One of the members wondered, "The president went into the back hall without guards, and he's never left a table before. I'm afraid something's amiss today."
Another member suggested: "Why don't we split up and look for it again."
So the two of them searched separately.
One of the men looked around and then walked into the cave.
What happened next was as expected. They called for help and reported to the Dali Temple, and then many Chamber of Commerce members came to watch.
Su He was blocked behind the rockery and couldn't get out.
If she continued to be blocked like this, she was afraid that she would have to meet people from the Dali Temple, and maybe even meet Xie Wuhen. She was extremely anxious.
Fortunately, more and more people gathered around, even the maid from the kitchen came over.
Su He was delighted and took advantage of the moment when no one was paying attention to get out of the rockery and successfully mixed into the group of maids.
Then he watched for a moment and turned around to leave.
She walked along the corridor through the front hall and arrived at the main entrance of the Chamber of Commerce.
The two guards with swords were still guarding the door.
Because something happened to the Chamber of Commerce president, the two guards looked unusually solemn.
When Su He was about to step out of the gate, a guard held her back and said, "The situation today is unusual. No one is allowed to leave this place without permission."
She pretended to be timid: "When can I leave?"
The guard replied, "After the Dali Temple officials arrive, they will eliminate all suspicions one by one before they can leave."
Su He looked embarrassed. "Just now, the steward asked me to hurry up and report the death to Madam Du so that she can prepare for the president's funeral. If I'm late, the steward will blame me..."
She stopped talking in a low voice.
The guard looked hesitant: "But it was the steward who told us not to let anyone leave."
Another guard sighed, "Never mind, she's just a woman, what suspicion can there be? The president is in trouble now, and his family should be notified in a timely manner. Let's not make a fuss here and let her go to announce the death."
The guard who stopped the man withdrew his arm after hearing what he said.
Su He bowed and thanked him, then walked away.
She walked a hundred meters along the street, found a public bathroom, changed out of her Chamber of Commerce maid's dress, washed her hands and face, removed her makeup, and then joined the crowd flowing on the street.
She became the noble wife of the Shaoqing in the Xie Mansion again.
Madam Shaoqing wanted to rent a carriage to take her back home.
But before she could agree on the price with the coachman, she saw two teams of officials hurrying towards her. In front of them was the Shaoqing, who was riding his horse towards her with a strong look and murderous intent in his eyes.
Su He felt a chill on his back and turned around and walked into the Wuyou Teahouse next door.
He almost saw her from a distance of several meters.
However, she almost got exposed due to a glance.
If she got caught, her performance last night would be in vain—she would die without a burial place.
So, when Xie Wuhen drove his horse across the street in front of the teahouse and rushed to the Chamber of Commerce to look for the murderer, the real murderer Su He was also walking up the stairs of the teahouse to the third floor.
At that time, Zeng Yidao was warming tea in the tea room.
Seeing Su He enter the room, he was not surprised at all, "Here?"
Su He hummed and sat down opposite him.
Zeng Yidao looked at her.
There was an indescribable calmness in his eyes, like the surface of a lake under the moonlight, dotted with stars, without a single wave or wind. He said, "Today seems to be a lively day."
Su He answered casually: "Yes, the officials from the Dali Temple were passing by downstairs just now."
Zeng Yidao smiled slightly and said, "It should be the madam's husband passing by downstairs."
Su He fell silent and looked at him calmly.
The intertwined light and shadow are flowing, telling some hidden secret.
She felt that he seemed to have seen something, but she didn't know what exactly he had seen.
He was the first to look away, lowered his head, and poured a cup of tea for Su He. His pale wrists were exposed between his rolled-up sleeves.
His face was equally pale.
It was a kind of anemic white that came from never seeing the sun, a white that was still extremely fragile even when one was over fifty.
Su He asked, "Have I disturbed you, sir?"
Zeng Yidao replied, "If Madam wants to come, I welcome you anytime."
She began to test the waters: "Why don't I see Sister Liu today?"
Zeng Yidao replied, "She has no talent for tea."
She asked, "Then why did you accept her as your disciple?"
Zeng Yidao looked at her again, his eyes full of meaning, "If you didn't want to accept her as your disciple, why would Madam come here to get to know her?"
Then he said, "If my guess is correct, then there's no need for her to learn tea anymore, right?"
After all, Liu learned tea making for Du Yuting. Now that Du Yuting is dead, there is naturally no need for her to learn tea making anymore.
Su He suddenly stopped.
The moment their eyes met, it seemed as if he saw through everything about her.
What kind of man is he, she wondered?
Seeing Su He remained silent, Zeng Yidao smiled slightly and said, "Madam, you haven't tasted today's tea yet."
Su He had no choice but to pick up the cup and drink tea.
The tea tastes fresh, with a light sweetness and a hint of astringency in the aftertaste.
She actually tasted a familiar feeling, like the taste of her father's cooking, but not exactly the same.
She said, "Good tea."
"As long as Madam likes it."
Su He asked inquiringly, "Could it be that Mr. has known me for a long time?"
He replied: "I said that the lady looks like an old friend of Zeng."
"Like Mr.'s wife?"
"Zeng lived alone his entire life and never married."
"Then the person who looks like Mr.'s favorite?"
Zeng Yidao was silent, then answered the question irrelevantly: "I wonder if Madam would be free to play a game of chess with me?"
Su He was busy, she had to hurry back to Chun Hua Yuan. "I'm so sorry, I'll have to wait until next time."
Zeng Yidao didn't force it, and smiled modestly: "Then let's do it next time."
Su He stood up, bowed, and turned to leave the tea room.
Zeng Yidao stared at her back in a daze until she disappeared into the dark corridor...
At this time, Xie Wuhen had already entered the Chamber of Commerce and saw Du Yuting's body lying on the ground.
The corpse's hands and feet were curled up, blood was flowing from all seven orifices, and there were two faint pinch marks on the neck.
He carefully examined the two pinch marks and immediately concluded: "The murderer is a woman."
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