Chapter 22: Tricks
"Then...then the county lady brought people over, and she knew everything that happened after that."
As Nanny Tian spoke, her face covered in tears and snot, she banged her head on the ground. "I would never dare to deceive the county lady. This is exactly what happened that night! I beg the county lady to have mercy on me. I am willing to be a vegetarian and chant Buddhist scriptures for the rest of my life, guarding the lady's tomb. Please spare my life..."
"Why do I want your life? If you die, will my mother come back?" Qiandeng's gaze shifted from her to Nan Yu. He clenched his teeth and forced himself to calm down.
Uncle Kang ran to the rockery to check and confirmed that there were traces of being hacked with an axe on it. Qian Deng then ordered them to go to the corridor to check the situation in the small pavilion in detail.
The bloodstains on the blue brick floor of the corridor were still there, deeply hurting Qiandeng.
Barely shaking off the pain that made her dizzy, Qiandeng bit her tongue to steady her thoughts and checked for traces in the ear room.
The traces at the scene are completely consistent with the cause and effect they described. It seems that what they said this time must be true.
She walked to the edge of the platform again, looked down, and asked, "Did you hear any sound of water coming from below before or after the madam's accident?"
Nanny Tian was stunned for a moment, and she and Nan Yu looked at each other in confusion: "The sound of water?"
"Any sound of falling into the water or wading through the water?"
The two tried desperately to think, but it was clear that their memories contained nothing.
Consistent with Qiandeng’s previous observations by the pool, no one went in or out of the water that night.
She ordered people to keep Nanny Tian under guard, and ordered Uncle Kang to take Nan Yu to the woodshed to check the situation there.
Uncle Fu's body had been carried away, but the bloodstains and overturned bowls were still in the woodshed. Daimao was squatting on the ground, wiping the bloodstains from his father with tears in his eyes.
Qiandeng raised his hand and silently stroked Daimao's back, but he didn't know how to comfort her. But seeing that the anger in Daimao's expression outweighed the pain, and knowing that she had always been strong, he felt a little relieved and just asked her not to wipe off the bloodstains first, but to keep them for investigation.
"Did you see your father's body?"
"I saw it!" Thinking of his father's untimely death, Daimao wiped his tears and kicked Nanyu again in hatred, "My father's neck was cut open by that beast, and blood spurted all over the ground... County Master, look, on the ground, on the ground..."
The blood spurting out from the floor of the woodshed was obvious. It was obvious that the main vein in the neck was cut, which resulted in such a tragic mark.
Qiandeng's eyes fell on a piece of broken porcelain beside the pool of blood. Seeing that the porcelain was stained with blood, he picked up the porcelain and looked at it, then turned to look at Nan Yu's tied hands.
There were several deep and shallow bloodstains on the back of his hand below the knuckles, which were obviously left when he used broken porcelain pieces to cut the hemp rope to escape.
Nan Yu saw her examining the blood-stained porcelain fragment and quickly defended himself: "County Lady, please understand! I don't know who killed Uncle Fu! I...he was feeding me when suddenly blood spurted out of his neck and he collapsed without a sound..."
"Nonsense! Nonsense!" Daimao kicked him hard in the knee, causing him to fall to his knees with a thud in pain. "My father was feeding you, how could his neck suddenly be injured? Could it be that my father was so upset that he committed suicide in front of you? It's obvious that you were trying to escape and smashed the porcelain bowl and killed my father!"
Nan Yu no longer looked like a handsome young man. He could only cry out, "County Lady, I didn't kill anyone. I really didn't..."
The noise from the woodshed obviously alarmed the people in the village.
The figure at the door moved slightly. It was Cui Fufeng who stayed in the manor to recuperate. After hearing the cries of injustice here, he slowly walked over while holding the wall.
After glancing at the scene, he turned his gaze to Qian Deng: "Does the county lady need... help?"
He was still seriously injured, his voice was weak, and his complexion was not much better than that of a dead person. But in his pale and damaged face, the eyes looking at her were sincere and bright.
Qian Deng felt a little sorry: "Mr. Cui is seriously injured, so he should rest well. I... can handle it myself."
"I am also responsible for this case. When I was in the Ministry of Rites, I failed to properly examine the candidates, which led to such a disturbance in the manor. Even my wife..." Cui Fufeng's voice was weak, his eyes paused on her stubborn face, and his heart moved slightly.
The slender girl in front of him was not crushed by her mother's death.
The burning fire in her eyes rekindled, she was persistent and strong, without the grief and confusion of an ordinary little girl who had lost her mother and didn't know what to do in life.
He felt slightly relieved and nodded to her. He turned back to look at Daimao and asked, "Where is Uncle Fu's body? I'll go check it out."
Daimao wiped the tears from her face and pointed to the warehouse next to her: "There is no vacant room in the mansion, so it is temporarily parked in the warehouse."
Cui Fufeng turned around, held onto the wall, and slowly walked towards the warehouse.
Qiandeng followed him. Daimao couldn't bear to see his father's body, so he squatted in the woodshed and cried loudly.
Zhuangzi's warehouse had been in disrepair for a long time, and there was nothing important inside, only some heavy tools, so it was not locked at all.
The warehouse was spacious and dark, with a cleared space in one corner. Uncle Fu's body lay inside, covered with a white cloth. The remaining items were in a mess: pine wood, a broken millstone, rotten bamboo mats, and old barn were all piled inside.
Cui Fufeng gestured for Qiandeng to stop at the door and said, "The county lady is a daughter of gold, and she won't step into filthy places. I'll go in and check."
Qiandeng nodded and watched him go in.
Cui Fufeng lifted the white cloth from the corpse and carefully examined the wounds on the neck.
Seeing the incomparably noble Sixth Young Master of the Cui Family facing the bloodstained corpse, frowning slightly as he carefully examined the wound, Qian Deng couldn't help but ask, "Have you ever been exposed to criminal justice matters while working in various government offices?"
Cui Fufeng wanted to say no, but after a slight hesitation, he said, "Don't worry, it's not like I haven't seen corpses before."
After all, in his heart, she should be a beautiful lady who is untainted by dust amidst the apricot blossoms and spring rain, and should not touch upon dirty and evil things.
Uncle Fu had died not long ago, and his body was still stained with blood. Cui Fufeng suppressed the discomfort in his chest and examined the body carefully. He said to Qian Deng at the warehouse door, "It seems the murderer was very skilled; he must be a veteran. He fired the weapon from behind, and it was so sharp and powerful that even the victim's throat was cut."
Qiandeng took out the blood-stained porcelain piece from his sleeve and showed it to Cui Fufeng: "Please compare them, Master Cui."
"The murder weapon is definitely not this piece of broken porcelain." Cui Fufeng took a quick glance and said, "Its sharpness is not enough to cut the carotid artery and throat so cleanly."
"Well, I remember there were a lot of bloodstains on the back of Nanyu's hand. I guess they were left by him using the porcelain shard to cut the hemp rope when he escaped. The porcelain shard has cut the back of his hand many times, but it only left a few messy marks. If it were to cut his neck with it, I think it would be very difficult." Qiandeng pursed his lips and thought for a moment, then said, "Nanyu definitely couldn't have killed Uncle Fu. It's just that the murderer was too hasty in framing him this time and didn't consider the cause and effect relationship."
Cui Fufeng paused for a moment, "You mean, if Uncle Fu hadn't died, Nanyu wouldn't have had the chance to kill; and by the time Nanyu had the chance to kill, Uncle Fu would have been in trouble?"
"Yes, otherwise, the cause and effect of these two events would be in conflict." Qiandeng said softly.
Nan Yu's hands and feet were tied, so only if Uncle Fu got into trouble and broke the bowl could he get the porcelain shard and escape. In other words, if Uncle Fu was safe and sound, Nan Yu's hands and feet were tied, so he definitely couldn't attack Uncle Fu and get the porcelain shard.
Cui Fufeng nodded knowingly, covered Uncle Fu's body with a white cloth, and said, "Go back and interrogate Nan Yu again to find out what happened."
Qian Deng, however, remembered the pine bark he had seen by the pond. He glanced at the wood piled against the wall nearby and said, "Wait a moment. I want to see what else is in the warehouse."
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