Chapter 11 Chapter 11 Hezhou smiled and patted...
Hezhou smiled and patted him, deliberately lowering his voice, "These two people are Mr. Chen's men."
"So it's the Chen family! No wonder the adults want to give us the credit for solving the case." Zhao An smiled and looked at him with a look that I understand.
Hezhou smiled and didn't respond. He didn't know what was written on the note sent to Zhao An, but he didn't say it out loud. Sometimes he couldn't understand Xie Xunzhi either.
From the first time he wrote a reply to Mr. Chen without telling me, to the time when he saw the signs of the murderer but didn't tell me.
It can even be said that Xie Xunzhi could see that he could handle it alone, but still chose to stay with him.
So it doesn’t matter whether it’s true or false, as long as the person is by his side.
Zhang Wen's house is a small earthen walled house with a yard, and the outer wall is only as high as a person.
The group first found Lotus who was guarding outside to make sure that the person was still inside.
Zhao An ordered people to seal off the surrounding area and led his men over the wall to capture the people.
After a while, the door opened and Hezhou looked inside.
Zhao An came out drunk and knelt on the ground vomiting non-stop.
Hezhou covered his nose in disgust. How much did he drink? He could smell the disgusting smell of alcohol from a distance.
He pulled Xie Xunzhi and stood outside the door. All the actions inside were silent, except for the old woman who had just followed them who was cursing Zhang Wen in a low voice, calling him a bastard.
In less than a moment, Zhao An came out with a square handkerchief and a bucket of water in his hand.
He waved his hand and called over a yamen runner beside him to pour water down. "He confessed everything. Wang Shuo paid him to buy the medicine. He said he didn't have time. He agreed because they had known each other for a long time, Wang Shuo had a good reputation, and he had money."
The water from the scoop splashed onto the ground, forming a small pool. Zhao An left, wiped his hands with a handkerchief, and continued.
"People who do this kind of work have to obey their master's orders and go out at any time. Their schedules are completely disrupted. When they're not working, they often can't sleep. They both have the same illness and the same prescription. He's just an alcoholic, drinking himself into a blackout every day and not knowing anything."
Xie Xunzhi lowered his head and whispered from behind, "Brother He, do you want to go catch Wang Shuo first?"
Hezhou turned around and smiled at him. He also noticed Hehua, who was waiting anxiously at the side. He smiled at Zhao Anyang and said, "Master Zhao is very fast. Why don't we go and capture Wang Shuo now?"
Zhao An looked at him and chuckled, and ordered two people to leave to take Zhang Wen to the yamen, and the rest to go with him to arrest Wang Shuo.
The two houses were not far from each other. They walked along the low walls of each house for a while and saw Chunjuan hiding at the corner of the alley with a nervous look on his face.
Lotus breathed a sigh of relief and gradually walked behind them and submerged herself.
Chunjuan watched them coming, saluted first, then pulled out the broken knife from his sleeve and returned it to Hezhou with both hands, saying in a soft voice that no one came out, there was just a burst of noise when they first arrived, but it died down after a while.
Hezhou took the knife and waved for her to step back. He then handed the knife to Xie Xunzhi. He was a member of the school basketball team before, so his ability to protect himself was definitely better than Xie Xunzhi's sickly face, which was as pale as if he had never seen the light of day.
Xie Xunzhi hesitated for a moment before taking the broken knife and holding it in his hand.
Zhao An still had people blocking the yard on all sides, and the two of them were guarding the door. This time, they moved even faster. They heard the sound of Zhao An and the others landing, followed by a low curse, and the door opened.
A corpse with half of its face and body destroyed was lying on the ground, its face covered with broken porcelain pieces and blood was all over the ground. A sour smell mixed with wine was floating in the yard.
Hezhou frowned and waved his hands in front of him. Xie Xunzhi just got closer and started coughing. "Green vitriol oil?"
Hezhou pulled him to make way for the door. The old woman who was hiding behind the door and peeking through the door frame was so frightened that she lost her voice, but fortunately she did not faint.
After just one glance, he leaned against the wall and sat down, his face pale with fear, just like the scholar from yesterday, muttering, "Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt has its creditor... I'll burn paper money for you..."
He came forward and said, "Auntie, do you think this could be Wang Shuo?"
The old woman's eyes widened as she spoke incoherently, "Yes... yes... the clothes were made by his wife... they are very precious..."
Zhao An was not surprised at all. He kicked the corpse with his black boots and asked, "So, the person committed suicide out of fear of punishment by drinking green vitriol oil?"
Hezhou glanced at Xie Xunzhi and saw that he shook his head. He took out gloves from his arms and was about to move forward.
He immediately took away the gloves and said, "Don't move forward. You're not in good health. If you smell this stuff too much, you'll feel dizzy."
After saying that, he put on gloves and walked to the side of the corpse. He was mentally prepared to squat down and check, but he still felt his stomach churning. Looking closely, he found that this corpse died even more tragically than the previous one.
He leaned over and squatted, carefully raising one hand. "This person has no calluses on his hands..."
Zhao An patted him and said, "The cause of death for this corpse is that he was forced to drink a large amount of green vitriol oil. He stumbled in the yard, broke the jar, and plunged headfirst into it. But his face is thin and hungry, his eyes are dirty, his hair is rough and untidy, and he doesn't smell of alcohol, but there is a lot on his clothes. He doesn't look like someone from a well-off family at all."
Hezhou suppressed the feeling of nausea and nodded, forcing a smile at him.
Zhao An also smiled and put his hand on his sword. "Sir, by the time you finish looking at the cucumber dish, it will be cold. Where should we start searching next, sir?"
"The stable! Whether he runs away or not, this is where he must go." Hezhou stood up with his back to the stable.
"Dele! Search!"
Xie Xunzhi walked up to him and handed him a handkerchief, stroking his back intermittently. "Why are you doing this?"
Hezhou leaned on his shoulder and pursed his lips, "I wanted to share some of the burden with you. Besides, it's really not good to smell that too much."
He rubbed Xie Xunzhi's neck, letting out a burst of warm air. Finally, the tip of his nose was replaced by a faint woody fragrance. "Besides, don't you just want to tell the Chen family that this case was solved by the neighboring county? Give them a way out."
Xie Xunzhi's eyelashes fluttered, and he couldn't see the expression in his eyes. His tone was gentle, "Just don't make it hard on yourself."
"Yeah, don't make things difficult for yourself..." Hezhou leaned against Xie Xunzhi. He could feel the other person's nervousness through his throbbing neck.
What was he nervous about? He didn't know. For a moment, he felt like a dodder thread growing on Xie Xunzhi's body.
Zhao An dragged the man out by the collar. When Wang Shuo was released with a panicked look on his face, he rolled twice on the ground and fell smoothly to his knees.
Hezhou stood up straight, collected his expressions, and looked fierce. "But Wang Shuo?"
"It's me." Wang Shuo knelt on the ground trembling, with two yamen runners with knives standing beside him.
The small courtyard was surrounded by people, but no one dared to come forward this time. The old woman was also pulled up and stood far away, telling about what she had just seen.
"Do you know why we are here this time?"
Wang Shuo shook his head, and the bun on his head swayed.
Zhao An laughed and said in a bad tone, "I don't know. Then what are you doing hiding in the cellar? To improve your life?"
"A thief broke into my house. I had no choice but to hide from him!" Wang Shuo pointed at the corpse on the ground.
"Really? Then have you seen what he looks like?" Hezhou patted his legs and sat down next to the millstone.
"Yes! It's... it's... Beggar Wang..."
"Really? Then how did he die after drinking the green vitriol oil? And your wife died in the dilapidated temple. She was taken there in a carriage, knocked unconscious, and brutally murdered with an awl. Do you know that?"
"I don't know! I don't know... I had an argument with my wife a few days ago, and she went back to her parents' home in anger! It wasn't me who did it."
Hezhou took out the prescription and shook it. "This is the drug you ordered from Calvary Pharmacy. Do you remember? Where is it now?"
Wang Shuo kowtowed heavily on the ground with a determined look in his eyes. "My drug was taken by this beggar Wang."
Hezhou actually laughed. He slapped the prescription on the graphite and raised his voice, "How ridiculous! This beggar came to your house not asking for money or food, but only for death? First he took green vitriol oil and endured the excruciating pain, then took a drug? People say you have a great reputation and are kind to others, but what happened? You're just a beast who killed his wife! Worse than pigs and dogs... Do you think you can escape?"
"She's such a slut!" Wang Shuo interrupted harshly, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. "It was her! She took advantage of me not being home to cheat on this beggar! She was such a slut that she seduced him and even reported him to the police! What have I done wrong? I was just sending this star-crossed couple to have some fun..."
The surroundings were completely silent, with only Wang Shuo's painful sobs and the faint sounds of discussion coming from outside.
Xie Xunzhi walked forward and looked at Wang Shuo, who was lying on the ground, his eyes full of mockery. "If she really did it, why did she report it to the police? I've read the autopsy report. She had fatal injuries and some minor injuries from being beaten and resisting."
"It's already happened, what else can I do? She never considers me, what will happen to my reputation if it gets out?"
Hezhou was so angry that he laughed, "People like you... are hopeless..."
Zhao An thought the same thing, and put a wooden clamp on him. "Master He, let's take him back to the yamen for interrogation. It's still early today, so I'm afraid we can fight him back and forth."
"Thank you for the trouble." Hezhou thanked him.
The yamen runners outside cleared a path, Wang Shuo's yard was sealed, and Hezhou found the old woman in the crowd.
"Why don't I see Mrs. Wang's family?"
"Her younger brother worked hard and passed the exam to get into the capital, so the whole family moved there. She stayed after she got married...but her family has provided a lot of help."
Hezhou nodded. "Can you find some time today to go to the government office and give me the address? Or send a letter of complaint?"
“Hey hey hey!”
He reached out to hold Xie Xunzhi's hand, but there was only a layer of gauze between them. He then remembered that he had to buy clothes for Xie Xunzhi, at least two pieces for him to change into.
Xie Xunzhi's hands were exceptionally small, and Hezhou could easily hold them in his palms. Their long and slender hands had distinct joints. Perhaps it was because of his illness, but Xie Xunzhi's hands felt cold even in late summer.
Hezhou had never held a man's hand or a girl's hand in his previous life. He just wanted to pull Xie Xunzhi away quickly and had no other thoughts.
That’s not right. He was subconsciously afraid that Xie Xunzhi would get hurt, so he wanted to hold his hand and walk with him. That’s what he thought in his heart.
Xie Xunzhi noticed his discomfort and smiled with his eyes curved. "What's wrong?"
Their hands intertwined through the gauze, their slender fingers pulled each other over, their hands intertwined and their fingers interlocked, a touch of light red crept behind Hezhou's ear.
He thought it was no wonder that young couples liked holding hands, as hands were a sensitive area. Just being held by Xie Xunzhi made his heart beat faster and he felt extremely satisfied.
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