Chapter 59: Even if a murder case is well prepared, it is not without flaws...
Xie Wuhen has also been keeping an eye on the progress of the Guadi murder case over the past two days.
Liu Qinian didn't let him interfere, so he had to send Wu Sheng to inquire privately.
Wu Sheng, worthy of his nickname, spent days nagging the temple master, Zhang Qingshan, until he finally got firsthand information: "Boss, I heard the coroner found cartilage powder in Liu Dazhong's charred body."
Xie Wuhen's expression slightly changed: "First poison, then arson?"
Wu Sheng added, "I also heard that a set of footprints were found at the crime scene. The footprints weren't big, only about half a foot long. They were probably women's."
"A woman, poisoned?" A light flashed in Xie Wuhen's eyes, and he suddenly thought of the Du Yuting case. It was also a woman who committed the crime, and she also poisoned first and then killed people.
He couldn't help but murmur, "Could it be that the murderer is the same person?"
Wu Sheng reminded him, "Hasn't Lord Liu already closed the Du Yuting case, stating that the murderer was a spy from the Southern Barbarian Kingdom? If you bring this case up again, wouldn't that be a slap in Lord Liu's face? Besides, Lord Liu is also investigating the melon field murder case, so why bother with this?"
He snorted disdainfully, "Liu Qinian knows nothing about investigating crimes, except for his ability to play along in official circles."
Wu Sheng snorted disdainfully and whispered, "Boss, you're right about that. I heard from Zhang Sizheng that Lord Liu has been hitting the wall in his investigation. So far, aside from the clues we've gathered from the crime scene, there's been no progress."
Xie Wuhen pondered for a moment and asked, "Was it Liu Dazhong's son-in-law who brought him to the melon field that day?"
Wu Sheng nodded: "Yes, that person's name is Song Sheng."
He ordered in a deep voice: "Send someone to keep an eye on Song Sheng."
Wu Sheng was puzzled: "Boss, are you really going to...interfere in this case?"
He replied: "It's not really meddling, it's just being aware of what's going on."
Wu Sheng clasped his fists and replied "Yes", and sent people to keep an eye on Song Sheng as ordered.
Song Sheng has had a very happy time these days.
After Liu Dazhong died, no one dared to look at him harshly anymore.
His wife Liu Jiao fell ill due to the grief of losing her father, and no one dared to take care of him anymore.
More importantly, all of the Liu family's property fell into his hands, and he no longer had to suffer from poverty.
He even changed his previous decadence, quit gambling and drinking, and became a serious and responsible person.
But Song Sheng still has a knot in his heart.
When he borrowed money from the female creditor that day, he had signed an IOU. Now he has done what the female creditor wanted, but the female creditor has not returned the IOU to him.
If the female creditor comes to him with the IOU to ask for money in the future, won’t he suffer a huge loss?
Song Sheng thought about it and felt that he had to get those IOUs back no matter what.
So after being quiet for a few days, he came to the alley outside Xie's house in secret, waited with his head tilted for most of the day, and finally saw Ah Si coming out of the house.
He hurried forward and said, "Little brother, wait a moment."
Ah Si recognized Song Sheng at a glance and stopped to ask, "What's up, Brother Song?"
Song Sheng pulled him to a corner away from others and whispered, "I have completed the transaction with that lady, but the IOU I signed...she hasn't returned it to me yet."
Speaking of the "IOU," Ah Si couldn't help but become alert. He looked around and lowered his voice: "Wait here for a moment. I'll go to the mansion to report to the madam first."
Song Sheng hunched over and replied, "Okay, I'll wait here. Sorry to bother you, little brother."
Ah Si was originally going to go out of the house to buy some dried fruits, but now he didn't bother to buy them and turned back into the house.
But two quarters of an hour later, he left the house again, holding the IOU that Song Sheng had signed earlier: "It's all here, take a look."
Song Sheng took the IOU and checked it: "Yes, that's it."
He breathed a sigh of relief, then tore up the IOU and stuffed the pieces into his mouth.
Ah Si thought his behavior of eating paper was very funny.
But he suppressed his laughter and ordered, "Madam said that if anyone asks about the IOU, you should say that you borrowed it from my father. My father used to be the accountant of the Du family, but he has passed away. That way, no one will find out anything."
Song Sheng nodded and said "OK", and then said: "Madam is really thoughtful." After that, he cupped his fist and hurried away.
In the tea shop across the alley, someone saw the whole scene.
The man drank the last sip of tea in the bowl, paid the money, turned around and left, then walked into the gate of the Dali Temple, found Wu Sheng, and reported everything he had seen.
Wu Sheng was extremely puzzled after hearing this, but he hurried to the public housing to report: "Boss, there's movement from Song Sheng's side."
Xie Wuhen was looking up some information. He looked up when he heard this and asked, "What's going on?"
Wu Sheng hesitated, trying to find the right words to tell the truth, but he was too ignorant to know how to start after searching for a long time.
He asked coldly, "What's wrong? Are you mute?"
Wu Sheng said with a bitter face: "Since Liu Dazhong's death, Song Sheng has been idle at home for several days. There has been no special movement, but today he suddenly left the house..."
"Where did you go?"
Wu Sheng's expression became even more embarrassed. "I went to... the alleyway next to our mansion and saw the boy that the young lady rescued."
He paused: "Ah Si?"
Wu Sheng nodded: "That's right."
"What did the two of them say?"
"I don't know exactly what they said, but I saw Ah Si handing Song Sheng a few pages of documents, and then Song Sheng tore them up and stuffed them into his mouth and swallowed them."
Xie Wuhen frowned: "Did you swallow it?"
Wu Sheng was also puzzled: "Could it be...something?"
Finally, he asked, "This matter doesn't really have anything to do with the young lady...?"
Xie Wuhen shouted, "Shut up."
Wu Sheng was so frightened that he tensed up and immediately fell silent.
He closed the documents, stood up from the desk, and ordered in a cold voice: "Prepare the car and return home."
Wu Sheng turned around to prepare the car.
As soon as Xie Wuhen returned home, he went into the study and then summoned Ah Si.
Ah Si bowed respectfully as he entered the room. "I wonder what you have that my son-in-law has sent me here for?"
He gave Ah Si a meaningful look and pointed at the cakes on the table: "Have a snack first."
Ah Si is just a minor, so it's natural for him not to be greedy.
He immediately smiled and said "Thank you, son-in-law", then walked forward, took a piece of cake and put it in his mouth.
"This plate is all yours. Eat slowly and don't choke."
Ah Si nodded as he chewed until he had finished all the cakes on the plate.
Wu Sheng also handed him a cup of tea and said, "Come, I'll make sure you have enough to eat and drink today."
Ah Si didn't hesitate to take the tea and drank a few sips. Then he burped and grinned, "I'm really full."
Xie Wuhen's expression became a little more solemn, but his tone was still gentle, "In that case, let's get to the point now."
Ah Si wiped his mouth with his sleeve and straightened his face: "Sir, if you have anything to say, please feel free to ask. I will tell you everything I know."
He asked directly: "Do you recognize Song Sheng?"
Ah Si blurted out, "Of course I know him."
"How did you meet?"
"My father knew Song Sheng before, so I got to know him as well."
"Why did he come to see you today?"
Ah Si raised his eyebrows: "Master, you know that he came to see me today?"
Wu Sheng reminded coldly: "Don't interrupt, answer properly."
Ah Si's shoulders shrank in fear, and he continued, "He came to me today to pay off a debt."
Xie Wuhen paused: "He owes you a debt?"
"It's a debt I owe to my father."
Ah Si narrated the story, "Song Sheng was a gambler. He borrowed a lot of money from my father in the past. After my father passed away, I went to him at least ten times with the IOUs he'd signed, but he never paid me back. Now that Liu Dazhong is dead, the Liu family's wealth has fallen into his hands. Naturally, he doesn't dare to delay the payment any further. After all, I have the support of my uncle and his wife, so he wouldn't dare to act rashly."
So, what Song Sheng swallowed was an IOU?
Xie Wuhen looked at Ah Si gravely and asked, "Where is the silver he returned?"
Upon hearing this, Ah Si immediately pulled out a receipt from his chest pocket and said, "I deposited all of it into the Yifeng Bank."
Xie Wuhen took the note and took a closer look. It was indeed Ah Si's name on it, and there was a full two hundred taels of silver. "Your father is quite generous to Song Sheng."
Ah Si sighed, "I don't know what kind of drug he gave Dad, but he owes me money, and I don't want to show him any mercy."
He returned the voucher to him and reminded him, "You must keep it safe and don't lose it."
Ah Si replied, "Don't worry, sir. I will give it to Madam later and ask her to keep it for me."
He hummed, then ordered: "Nothing to do, leave."
Ah Si bowed and walked out of the room.
Inside the house, Wu Sheng was still puzzled: "Boss, don't you think this is too unbelievable? A half-grown kid actually knows how to collect debts?"
Then he said, "Should we go and interrogate Song Sheng again? And investigate what's going on here?"
Xie Wuhen was standing in front of the window with his back to him.
The sky outside the window was gloomy, and a gust of wind blew, bringing with it a gust of summer heat.
The breeze also carries the faint fragrance of unknown flowers, which is almost imperceptible.
He thought that he should plant a plum forest or jasmine behind Chunhua Courtyard. Then, if she wanted to make tea with the flower dew, she could go into the backyard and collect it at any time.
Wu Sheng continued to ask, "Boss, do you want to go and find out what the young lady has to say?"
He turned to look at him and ordered in a cold voice: "There is no need to investigate this matter further."
Wu Sheng was confused: "We've only checked halfway, why are you stopping again?"
He walked towards the case and said, "Liu Qinian is in charge of this case. There's no need for us to waste our energy on it. We should focus on completing the Emperor's mission."
Wu Sheng choked and was speechless.
He was the one who said he would investigate, and he was also the one who said he would not investigate. He is truly the first person to go back on his word.
Xie Wuhen ordered again: "Keep a close eye on Yuan Chenghao."
Wu Sheng had no choice but to respond "yes".
"If there's no one else around, you can leave as well."
Wu Sheng answered "yes" again, and before leaving the room, he deliberately glanced at the "boss", only to find that his face was cold and his eyes were blank.
Is the boss avoiding something? Or is he afraid of something?
Or maybe he was also worried that the young lady would be implicated in Liu Dazhong's murder?
Wu Sheng couldn't help but shake his head. How could the frail young lady kill a court judge? Even thinking about it was a joke. The boss was just being too concerned!
What's the old saying? Yes, it goes like this: A wise man never falls in love. He thinks his boss has become stupid since he got married!
Finally, he sighed deeply and hurried to keep an eye on Yuan Chenghao's news.
At this time, it was in the main house of Chunhua Courtyard.
Chunlan hurried over to report, "Miss, your guess was correct. The son-in-law really summoned Ah Si."
Zhang Xiuhua broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing this: "It's as if the son-in-law can smell the murderer's scent and is practically chasing us. Fortunately... fortunately, the young lady was prepared."
Su He closed the book "Slave" in his hand and sighed softly: "Even if we are prepared, we are not without loopholes."
Zhang Xiuhua's face turned pale: "What should I do?"
Su He looked at the gloomy sky outside and answered irrelevantly, "Xie Wuhen is indeed very smart. Even if it wasn't a case he led, he could still see the key points at a glance. But I told my aunt that my fight with him was never about conspiracy, but about the friendship between us. Where there is friendship, there is trust. He not only wants to trust me, he is even more afraid of not trusting me."
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