Chapter 170 It Turns Out to be an Old Friend



After hearing what Zhen Shicheng said, Yongchang Bo and others immediately moved closer to take a look.

There are two long hairs lying on the yellowed oil paper, one of which is completely black, and the other has turned mostly white from the roots. These two hairs have a distinct feature, curving like waves, and the damselfly's long hair is curled like seaweed.

People with naturally curly hair are extremely rare, and no one would believe it was a coincidence.

The way people looked at the damselfly immediately changed; some showed disgust, some showed hatred, and some showed curiosity.

The hair that Lord Zhen found from the murderer's hiding place was the same as the hair of the damselfly. It was undoubtedly the damselfly who killed the lady. But why would a cook like the damselfly want to kill the lady? The lady had obviously done a favor to the damselfly.

Everyone was thinking the same question and staring at the damselfly.

A housekeeper suddenly exclaimed.

Zhen Shicheng immediately looked at the housekeeper who spoke: "Have you thought of anything?"

The housekeeper looked uncertain and hesitated without speaking.

"You can say whatever you think of. It doesn't matter if you are wrong. No one will hold you accountable." Zhen Shicheng comforted the housekeeper and gave a look to Yongchang Bo's messenger.

After mistakenly thinking that he had killed his wife, and then the maid Qiulu and concubine Chaoyun, and now that Dou Niang had finally been caught, what Yongchang Bo wanted to know most was Dou Niang's motive for murder. So after Zhen Shicheng gave him a look, he immediately said, "My lord, you are right. Just tell me what you think. It doesn't matter if you say something wrong. If you say something useful, you will be rewarded."

The housekeeper stopped worrying when she heard this. She quickly glanced at Dou Niang and said, "Seeing Dou Niang's hair, this old servant suddenly remembered a maid who had naturally curly long hair. But she was driven away more than ten years ago."

Zhen Shicheng was moved when he heard this.

The roster says that Dou Niang is 34 years old this year, which would have been the age for a maid a dozen years ago.

"That maid's name is..." The housekeeper tried hard to recall, and suddenly slapped her thigh, "I remember now, that maid's name is A Wan!"

As soon as the word "Awan" came out, some old people in the Yongchang Earl's Mansion had a vague impression of it.

The steward who had been answering Zhen Shicheng's questions stared at Dou Niang with a changed expression, blurting out, "Are you A Wan?"

Dou Niang's eyelids trembled, and she slowly turned to look at Earl Yongchang.

That look revealed deep hatred.

The chief steward's words made the steward's wife suddenly realize: "I was wondering why the more I looked at Dou Niang, the more familiar she looked. Oh my God, isn't she the A Wan who was driven out that year!"

More than ten years is enough to change a person beyond all recognition, especially those who are not familiar to you. It is not uncommon not to recognize them when you meet them again after more than ten years.

However, when a distinct feature is pointed out, the valve of people's memory is opened.

The housekeeper was hesitant at first, but finally became firm and clapped her hands, saying, "Yes, she is Ah Wan!"

The crowd began to talk.

"Who is A Wan?" the young maid asked curiously.

"I don't know. I've never heard of such a person living in your house."

"You hadn't started working in the mansion at that time. I do have a vague impression that more than ten years ago, a maid named A Wan was driven out because she displeased Master Bo and Madam. But I don't remember where she worked at the time..."

The dragonfly stood in the center and let people talk about her. Although she looked calm, her hands hanging by her sides were shaking slightly.

Was she recognized after all? Her hair was wrapped so tightly, how could this Lord Zhen be sure that the two strands of hair in the closet were hers? Was it just because she was the only one who stayed in the kitchen and didn't come out?

Zhen Shicheng temporarily left Dou Niang aside and continued to ask the housekeeper: "Why was Ah Wan driven out back then?"

The housekeeper apparently still remembered what had happened, and immediately looked towards Earl Yongchang upon hearing this.

Yongchang Bo could not remember A Wan at all. How could he remember a little maid who was driven away more than ten years ago? He immediately said, "Tell me!"

The housekeeper said with a determined heart, "At that time, the lady was pregnant with the prince, so she wanted to choose a maid to serve the uncle. The lady picked several and finally decided on Chunmei. But suddenly, A-Wa came to the lady and insisted that the uncle had...had her body. The lady thought that A-Wa was not right because she was talking nonsense and ruining the uncle's reputation in order to become a maid, so she drove her out of the house..."

Earl Yongchang frowned as he listened, and had a vague impression.

More than ten years ago, there seemed to be a maid who ran to his wife crying, but he didn't take it to heart at all and didn't even pay attention to what the maid called.

Could it be that this disaster was the root of the disaster that happened back then?

At this moment, there was a sound of hurried footsteps.

"Sir, we found it!" A bailiff walked quickly to Zhen Shicheng and presented the item in his hand.

They were a pair of women's cloth shoes that looked a little old, with oil stains on the uppers. They were very suitable for people who work in the kitchen.

"Sir, these shoes were found in the box in Dou Niang's room and were wrapped in this piece of clothing." The bailiff said as he picked up a piece of clothing that was neither new nor old.

It seems unreasonable to wrap a pair of worn-out shoes with a piece of clothing.

The yamen runner quickly turned over the shoe to reveal the sole: "Look, sir!"

There are shallow lines on the soles of the shoes, and the gaps between the lines are sometimes stained with dirt and sometimes brown in color.

Zhen Shicheng stared at the brown color and his eyes narrowed.

From experience, this is where the shoes stepped on the blood.

Zhen Shicheng held the shoes in front of Dou Niang: "Dou Niang, you may be able to make excuses for the two strands of hair, but what about these blood-stained shoes?"

He had previously sent his men to search for clues in the damselfly's room, and had specifically emphasized the shoes for a simple reason.

Before committing a crime, a damselfly can wear two layers of outer clothes, and after committing the crime, she can take off the outermost layer of clothes stained with blood and bury it, and her body will be clean again. However, she will most likely not prepare two pairs of shoes, which is too inconvenient. In this case, the damselfly cannot bury her shoes with the bloody clothes, otherwise she will go back to her room barefoot and will not be able to explain herself if she meets others on the road.

A pair of shoes worn during a crime will certainly not be worn again given the meticulousness of the damselfly, but it is too late to completely destroy them in such a short time, so hiding them temporarily is the best option.

And the facts proved that his expectation was correct.

"Sir, there is also this." The yamen runner took out a plain purse and presented it to Zhen Shicheng, "I found this in the damselfly pillowcase. I smelled a strange fragrance, and I saw that the purse was hidden secretly, so I thought there might be something strange, so I brought it here."

Zhen Shicheng brought the purse to his nose and sniffed it, sneering: "Dou Niang, the strange fragrance left in the closet is exactly the same as your purse. What else do you have to say now?"

Dou Niang's lips turned pale as she stared at her purse. She knew that the situation was hopeless and laughed bitterly: "I have nothing to say. I just hate that Earl Yongchang didn't kill his wife by mistake out of shame. It's really unfair!"


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