Chapter 29 Complexity
After Xue Xiyang finished questioning, the two men put away the files, came to Ji Linyou's room, and knocked on the half-open door.
"I'm coming." Ji Linyou responded loudly and got up to open the door.
With a long creak, the door was opened, and there was indeed a dull and stuck sound in it.
Qian Deng and Cui Fufeng's eyes naturally fell on the door hinge.
They say door hinges never rot, but this room was rarely occupied, and the hinge hadn't been polished smooth. There was a hard knot on the wooden hinge, clearly not thoroughly polished during manufacture. Therefore, the slight, long-lasting creaking sound when the door opened was indeed mixed with a subtle jerking sound.
Neither of them said anything, and they went into the house and sat down tacitly.
After a few pleasantries, Cui Fufeng routinely unfolded the interrogation file: "Did the recorder sleep well last night? Was there any movement in the house last night?"
"Honestly, I didn't sleep very well," Ji Linyou said directly. "After the dispute between Jin Tang and me last night, I was still resentful. I thought about the soldiers who died in vain and the manipulations of the Jin family. I didn't fall asleep until around three o'clock in the morning. Who knew that when I woke up, Jin Tang was dead. Although I have a grudge against him, but...ah, how could it be so!"
Seeing him sigh, Qiandeng also felt sad.
Cui Fufeng asked, "So, you stayed in the house the whole night and didn't go out?"
Ji Linyou nodded without hesitation: "No."
Cui Fufeng flipped through the first page of the file calmly: "But according to our investigation, someone heard the sound of your door opening in the middle of the night."
"Yes, I opened the door, but I didn't go out." Ji Linyou said confidently, "In the middle of the night, the more I thought about it, the angrier I got. I opened the door and wanted to go find him to settle the score, but then I thought, didn't the county lord let my cousin live next to Jintang? My cousin has a better relationship with Meng Lanxi than I do. How could I go past him to beat up Jintang? Why would I go out? So I closed the door again in anger."
"About what time?"
"I forgot, maybe around three o'clock in the morning."
Cui Fufeng went back to his previous confession: "You said just now that you fell asleep around three o'clock in the morning. So, after getting angry and opening the door, you fell asleep right away?"
Ji Linyou was speechless for a moment, and after a long while he finally defended himself, "There weren't any bells or drums, so maybe my estimate was wrong... Anyway, Jintang and I are so far apart, and my cousin is in between. There's no way I could sneak past him and kill him!"
He resolutely refused to admit it, and when questioned again about his feud with Jintang, the only unsolved mystery was the battle in Huangsha Valley.
"No matter what, how could I possibly kill someone in the middle of the night?" Ji Linyou said depressedly, "After all, the truth of the Battle of Huangsha Valley has not yet been revealed. Jin Tang is now dead, and I still suspect that someone killed him to cover up the inside story. Now all the clues are gone! County Master, you must find out the truth of that year and give an explanation to the brothers back then!"
After questioning the three people who lived in the same wing with Jin Tang, the only one left was Ming Jiu who lived in the other wing with Cui Fufeng.
"We stayed next door last night, and I didn't notice anything unusual," Cui Fufeng said, looking at the muddy courtyard in front of him. "According to the layout here, it would be far more difficult for Mingjiu to kill Jintang than for others. The wind and rain corridor only has three sides, and Jintang's side is against the wall, with no corridor. So Mingjiu would have to either cross the muddy courtyard or go around under the corridor, passing by everyone's door, to sneak into Jintang's room."
From this point of view, Mingjiu has little chance of committing the crime, but he has a motive and is unusual, and he is one of the candidates for the county lord's husband in the same courtyard, so he naturally has to be questioned in detail.
"Yeah, I'm kind of happy that Jintang is dead, because there's one less person to snatch the Immortal Pearl from me!"
Mingjiu was not afraid to show his gloating, and he looked more than just a little happy.
"I even talked to my cousin about it in my heart and contributed to this good deed!"
Qiandeng guessed that what he meant was not dedication but sharing, but because he was in a low mood, he did not speak to correct him.
Cui Fufeng had already opened the file and started writing, "So, what does Prince Mingjiu think of Jintang's death?"
"When Ji Linyou opened the door, I walked over to see." Ming Jiu clearly didn't understand what it meant to see. He scratched his lion-like, thick, curly hair, trying to appear dignified. "Ah, I saw it right away. He died a miserable death. I hope he died naked."
Cui Fufeng paused for a moment and corrected himself, "No worries."
Screeching Vulture didn't care: "Oh, yes."
Qian Deng suddenly asked, "Do you hate Jin Tang?"
"Of course! I hate the way he works so hard for Xianzhu every day!" Mingjiu said. His slowness finally caught on to Qiandeng's emotions. Even though Jintang was already dead, he couldn't help but feel a bit gloomy and jealous. "Originally, I wanted to capture him and place him in front of my maternal sister...my aunt's grave. According to our Huihe customs, I'd chop off his limbs first, then cut off his head, and then throw the corpse to the wolves - but for Xianzhu's sake, I held back!"
Cui Fufeng asked, "Did you originally intend to attack Jintang without any investigation?"
"We Huihe people are just like that!" Mingjiu said confidently, "My cousin died because the Jin family did it. Jin Tang is a member of the Jin family, so what's wrong with me killing him?"
This self-righteous arrogance left Cui Fufeng speechless for a moment.
Qian Deng asked, "But when your cousin died, Jin Tang was just born. There's no way he could have left Chang'an to go to the northwest and kill someone. Even if the real murderer was a member of the Jin family, wouldn't you want to start with Jin Tang and find out the truth?"
"Yes, otherwise why would I listen to Xianzhu and let him go last night?"
Seeing his frank look, Qiandeng and Cui Fufeng were silent.
Even if Mingjiu wanted to attack Jintang, he should have followed the custom of the Huihe people and dragged him in front of the relatives of the deceased to kill him in revenge, instead of secretly poisoning Jintang and using this roundabout way to kill and retaliate.
After saying goodbye to Mingjiu, the four gentlemen had all been questioned.
Qian Deng and Cui Fufeng were comparing everyone's statements in the front hall when they heard quick footsteps outside. They looked up and saw Ling Tianshui striding into the yard.
He nodded to the two of them, then his eyes fell on the files in their hands: "Are you done with your questions?"
Qiandeng nodded and asked, "What about you?"
"Wei Fengyang took two heads back, and I sent the remaining two bodies to the Imperial Guards, registered under Ji Linyou's name."
This arrangement is very appropriate and I believe no one will object to it.
"Where are Feng Yi and Lan Xiurong? Have you found them?"
"No." When Ling Tianshui mentioned this, his face looked unhappy. He didn't say anything else. He just took the files beside them and looked through everyone's confession.
Cui Fufeng said, "The county lord and I are currently reviewing their statements. It appears that Meng Lanxi and Ming Jiu have motives, but no opportunity to commit the crime. Xue Xiyang has no motive, but he had the opportunity to open the door and strike as agreed with Jin Tang. Only Ji Linyou has both motive and opportunity to commit the crime, but we don't have solid evidence. The suspicion we have on him is not enough to make a definitive judgment."
Ling Tianshui read through the four people's words in detail, frowning and pondering.
Qian Deng saw his serious expression and asked, "Based on the current situation, who do you think is more suspicious among the four of them?"
"I'm afraid it's Ji Linyou," Ling Tianshui said without hesitation. "After all, we have to consider another factor, and that's the markings found on the pillars of the Water Pavilion. Of the four of them, Mingjiu Yuanri had just arrived in Chang'an. Meng Lanxi and Xue Xiyang weren't familiar with the markings used by the army, and their skills weren't enough to observe them from outside the corridor. The only one who could have done it was Ji Linyou."
Cui Fufeng pondered and nodded. "If that's the case, we have to consider another thing. As mentioned before, Princess Changyi died at the hands of the imperial guards, and her killer was most likely the same person who killed Shi Jingning at Jianfu Temple."
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