"A last message written in blood?" Zu An frowned.
Pang Chun, the county magistrate standing nearby, said, "Before his death, the deceased Yang Wei wrote the character 'Zu'. Given your conflict with him at the academy a few days ago, and the fact that there is no other person with the surname Zu in the entire Mingyue City, we believe that the message he left behind refers to you."
Chu Zhongtian was getting restless, but Zu An remained calm. He knew that it was precisely in times like these that one should not panic. He used to criticize those characters in TV dramas who would only shout useless nonsense like "I am innocent" when they encountered similar situations.
He thought for a moment and said, "Killing requires a motive, and I had no motive to kill Yang Wei."
"How could there not be? You and my husband had a dispute at the academy, and hundreds of people at the academy can testify to that. Afterwards, you held a grudge and came to kill my husband. How could there be such a vicious person as you in the world!" Yang Wei's wife roared, pointing at Zu An with a ferocious expression.
Zu An replied, “That’s right. I did have a conflict with Yang Wei at the academy, but it was just a dispute over arithmetic. I won the bet and was even appointed as the new arithmetic teacher by Principal Jiang. Yang Wei not only lost face in public, but was also dismissed from his teaching position. I can say that I won the whole process. Why would I need to deal with a loser?”
"To be honest, if anyone hates someone, it's Yang Wei who hates me more. He'd probably rather want to kill me."
Xie Yi and Pang Chun exchanged a glance and nodded secretly; indeed, it didn't make sense from a motive standpoint.
Chu Zhongtian looked at Zu An with some surprise. He used to think that this guy often talked nonsense and his words and actions were unpredictable. To be honest, he didn't think much of his brilliant performance on the stage before. After all, he was only a third-rank player. There were plenty of people like him in the Chu family. But this guy's thinking and analysis were so clear that he looked at him with more respect. He felt that his wife's impression of him was probably very wrong.
At this moment, Mei Chaofeng, who had been watching the show from the sidelines, spoke up: "That's hard to say. Everyone saw Zu An's vindictive nature on the stage yesterday. Yuan Wenji only slightly offended him, and he had his hand chopped off and his Yuan Meridian destroyed. Lord Yang had such a conflict with him before, and his revenge afterwards is completely in line with his nature."
In this situation, it was inconvenient for Shi Kun to personally take the lead, so it was natural for him to charge into battle.
Upon hearing his words, Yang Wei's wife immediately found theoretical support and began to wail and cry, "Yes, that's exactly it! I beg you gentlemen to do justice for me! My husband died such a tragic death!"
Xie Yi and Pang Chun frowned; the current situation was rather difficult.
At this moment, Sang Hong spoke up: "Zu An, how do you explain the blood-written words left by Lord Yang before his death?"
Zu An replied, "How can we be sure that the writing was left by Lord Yang himself? Everyone, think about it: if I were the murderer, would I allow the deceased to leave his own name?"
Sang Hong smiled slightly and stopped talking. It would be beneath him to personally participate in the debate. He had already pointed out the important factors, and Xie Yi and the others would handle the rest.
Sure enough, Pang Chun said, "When the blood-written words were discovered, Lord Yang covered them with his hand, so it's normal that the murderer didn't see them."
Zuan laughed: "May I ask which murderer would be so careless? It would be one thing to leave the victim with half a breath left to write, but to not even notice what he wrote is another."
The onlookers at the entrance began to whisper and discuss, and both sides seemed to have some merit.
"Silence!" Xie Yi slammed his gavel. "Zu An, what you said makes sense, but all the clues point to you as the prime suspect. If no other evidence is found, it will be difficult for you to clear your name."
At this moment, Chu Zhongtian spoke up: "May I ask when Lord Yang died?"
Pang Chun replied, "Reporting to Lord Mingyue, according to the coroner's examination, he should have died between midnight and 1 AM last night."
Chu Zhongtian smiled slightly: "Then it couldn't be Azu. He rested at home all night. Also, because of some things that happened in the past, I have been sending several guards to protect his safety. It's even more impossible for him to go out and kill someone."
"I see." Xie Yi breathed a sigh of relief. Having this evidence was even better. Just as he was about to pronounce the verdict, Shi Kun's voice rang out:
"If I remember correctly, testimonies from relatives can only be used as a reference, not as conclusive evidence, right?"
They had naturally considered this issue when they set up this scheme.
Xie Yi frowned. There was indeed such a rule, which was to prevent relatives from covering up for each other.
Chu Zhongtian looked at Shi Kun and said in a deep voice, "Are you saying that I deliberately lied?"
Shi Kun smiled slightly: "I don't doubt Lord Mingyue's character. It's just that the Chu Mansion is so big and there are so many people. No matter how strong Lord Mingyue's cultivation is, it's impossible for him to know everyone's comings and goings. Moreover, judging from Zu An's cultivation level yesterday when he defeated a fifth-rank expert on the arena and his strange movement technique, it wouldn't be difficult for him to sneak out and kill someone without the guards in the mansion."
Chu Zhongtian: "..."
The other party's explanation was reasonable, and he didn't know how to explain it. Those in the area who had their eyes on Zu'an were filled with suspicion.
Zu An turned to look at him: "Young Master Shi, you've obviously been prepared for this for a long time. It seems that this whole affair was orchestrated by you?"
Shi Kun smiled slightly: "I'm just an enthusiastic member of the public. It shouldn't be too much for me to say a few words of justice for the deceased."
At this moment, County Commandant Pang Chun spoke up: "Zu An, do you have anything else to say?"
Zuan fell into deep thought, and after a while spoke up: "I want to go and see the crime scene."
Having watched so many crime dramas in my past life, I hope all the great masters like Bao Zheng, Di Renjie, Sherlock Holmes, and Conan will bless me and that your plots aren't just made up, otherwise I might be in trouble today.
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