Chapter 1018 Choosing Between Two Murderers
Huang Ying was always dissatisfied with Sun Xiangxiang, but she knew that as a maid with a contract of servitude, being beaten and scolded was common. With the contract of servitude in Sun Xiangxiang's hands, Huang Ying could not resist.
Behind her back, she had cursed Sun Xiangxiang more than once. They were both country girls, but Sun Xiangxiang was just lucky to have a big brother like Sun Baiwan. When one person attains enlightenment, even their chickens and dogs rise to heaven.
“This servant admits that I was wrong, but without the encouragement of the Venerable Master Fu Hui, this matter would not have been accomplished.”
Since things had come to this, in order to lessen her own sins, Huang Ying shifted all the blame onto the old monk. He would die and be done with it, but the living would still have to bear the responsibility.
Huang Ying wasn't lying; it was the old monk who provided the idea, which led her to decide to take a bold gamble.
"After you conspired to swindle Miss Sun out of her money, you came back and asked to share the spoils with the old monk Fu Hui."
Following Huang Ying's train of thought, Officer Li continued to deduce, "As a result, you knocked on the door for a long time, but the door remained closed, simply because the old monk Fu Hui changed his mind and wanted to keep all the money for himself."
Not only that, the old monk Fu Hui threatened Huang Ying that if she made trouble again, it would be a fight to the death, and he would tell Sun Xiangxiang about his deception, so that Huang Ying would not get away with it.
Enraged, Huang Ying poisoned the old monk.
If things are progressing this way, it doesn't quite make sense, unless Huang Ying had already prepared snake venom and planned to kill the old monk to silence him.
The group conspired to swindle money, but Officer Li felt that killing them for it was a bit too much.
"Officer, I didn't kill the old monk!"
Huang Ying collapsed to the ground, and without hiding anything, she recounted the whole story.
When she arrived in the courtyard, the old monk was already lying on the ground, poisoned. She was only greedy for money, which is why she took the risk and climbed in through the window.
Huang Ying confessed that she hid the money under a big tree.
As the officials continued their questioning, Lin Yuesha felt utterly absurd. Could it be that she had been deceived by the old monk from the very beginning?
She remembered those two visits, and the old monk's words were very pertinent.
Abbot Yuanzhen's statement that the old monk's mind was not clear was meant to save face for him. The truth was that the old monk had repeatedly broken the precepts and had been expelled to a small courtyard to reflect on his actions behind closed doors.
“Mrs. Qi, actually, my uncle hasn’t opened for business for over a year.”
The middle-aged monk in charge of the old monk Fu Hui's food and lodging sighed. His uncle had spent about a year swindling money from Lin Yuesha.
I had no choice but to resort to this measure because I'm short on money lately.
Lin Yuesha was speechless. The old monk only went online once a year. Last time it was her, and this time it was Sun Xiangxiang. They were both easy targets.
Sun Xiangxiang is the one who's truly out of her mind. No wonder she keeps rolling her eyes at her. This Miss Sun genuinely believes she's about to rise to a high position, which is why she's so exceptionally attentive to Qi Heng.
Therefore, it seems unlikely that the old monk would have a grudge against the worshippers while in the temple. So who was responsible for the snake venom?
Following Huang Ying's instructions, the official dug out a package under the tree, opened it, and placed it on the table.
A package of gold and silver, worth at least several hundred taels of silver, Sun Xiangxiang was really willing to spend it.
When Sun Xiangxiang saw her belongings, she felt a lump in her throat and her face turned ashen.
She was as smug as she was just moments ago, and now she looked as pathetic as she could. She wished she could find a crack in the ground to bury herself in.
The officials investigated repeatedly but could not find anyone who had a grudge against the old monk Fu Hui, and were unable to identify the murderer.
Sun Xiangxiang and the magpie have always been together, and they can testify for each other.
The case has reached a stalemate.
"If that's the case, take Huang Ying away and interrogate her severely."
Officer Li always felt that there was more to this than met the eye, but he couldn't find a way to break through, so he had no choice but to target Huang Ying.
"Young mistress, please save me."
If she is taken away and severely tortured, even if Huang Ying didn't do it, she won't be able to withstand it and will confess, which would be tantamount to taking the blame for the real culprit.
Huang Ying was momentarily blinded by greed and made a mistake; she really didn't kill the person.
Sun Xiangxiang looked indifferent, wishing that Huang Ying would be taken away by the officials. Huang Ying knew this perfectly well and bypassed her young lady to beg Lin Yuesha.
"Young Madam, do you have any insightful suggestions?"
Li Guanchai asked Lin Yuesha for her opinion.
"The key to this case lies in the snake venom."
There was no poisoning reaction in the teacup or tea bowl, so what exactly did the Venerable Master Fu Hui come into contact with that caused his death?
Finding the medium of this poisoning is very important.
There were no signs of resistance inside the room. If someone had forcibly fed him poison, the old monk would have been completely powerless to struggle.
Moreover, the coroner said when he examined the body that the old monk's mouth was very clean, with no food residue.
"I suggest we check Sun Xiangxiang's jewelry."
Lin Yuesha suggested that a greedy person, upon seeing gold or silver, would habitually bite into it to see if it was real gold. Don't ask her how she knew.
The two officials, Li and Wang, were enlightened and instantly cleared their minds, instructing their subordinates to do as instructed.
A quarter of an hour later, the official arrived before the crowd carrying a gold bracelet.
"There are teeth marks on the gold bracelet, which match the teeth marks of the Venerable Master Fu Hui."
The real poison was Sun Xiangxiang's gold bracelet.
This bracelet feels quite heavy. Presumably, the old monk Fuhui was curious about whether the bracelet was hollow or solid, but little did he know that it would cost him his life.
"Ms. Sun, do you need to explain this?"
The physical evidence points to Sun Xiangxiang's bracelet. Apart from Huang Ying, no outsiders had entered the inner room, so the bracelet was very likely poisoned by Sun Xiangxiang beforehand.
Faced with the evidence, Sun Xiangxiang was dumbfounded.
"Officer, this has nothing to do with me!"
On the day Sun Xiangxiang came of age, her elder brother Sun Baiwan gave her a valuable gold bracelet, which she liked very much and wore every day except when washing up.
She went up the mountain today because the old monk said she had to pay more to have her fortune told, so she had no choice but to reluctantly take it off.
“Miss, I believe this has nothing to do with you.”
Huang Ying stood beside Sun Xiangxiang with a mournful face.
Given Sun Xiangxiang's magnanimity, she will definitely not let Huang Ying off easily for deceiving the young lady. All Huang Ying can do is behave well and try to be treated leniently.
She realized that the magpie had betrayed her, and immediately dragged it into the sewer: "The magpie manages the young lady's jewelry. Could the magpie have had the opportunity to poison it?"
"Huang Ying, stop spouting nonsense!"
Enraged, the magpie leaped three feet high and began hurling insults at the oriole, creating chaos in the scene.
"Shut up!"
Lin Yuesha shouted impatiently, "Finding the real culprit is the key right now. If you want to frame each other, you can wait until the truth comes out before you start arguing."
After a moment's consideration, Lin Yuesha gave her opinion.
As Qi Heng said, this matter is strange and is inextricably linked to Sun Xiangxiang and her two servants.
Sun Xiangxiang's gold bracelet was very conspicuous. Lin Yuesha noticed it on the way up the mountain. Given Sun Xiangxiang's personality, she wouldn't wear a poisonous bracelet.
Either Sun Xiangxiang was unaware of the situation and was kept in the dark by her maid, or the poison was added later.
Lin Yuesha leans towards the former; if there is no third person lurking in the shadows, the murderer is either Huang Ying or Xi Que, one of the two.
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