Chapter 57: The Weird Xiao Yu
Xiao Yu's willingness to investigate the case further was a good thing for Old Lady Lu, so she hurried out in person and led the crowd towards the garden.
Looking along the road, the Lu family is indeed a wealthy family. The whole mansion is spacious and magnificent. In addition to the magnificent buildings, it is surrounded by rockery, pavilions and waterside terraces. It is much larger than it looks from the outside.
The entire mansion was divided into two parts. According to Madam Lu, the south part was the residence of the deceased wealthy businessman, while the north part was where the old lady and the eldest son's family lived. The area of the north part was even larger than the south part.
The garden where the will was dug out was close to the border between the two gardens, but it still belonged to the south where the rich businessman lived.
The garden was well-maintained by the servants in the mansion, with flowers in clusters and lush greenery, but it also made everyone notice the abrupt peach tree that had been dug out by the roots.
It is indeed the third tree from south to north.
It is not the season for peach blossoms to bloom, and the unfortunate peach tree was thrown crookedly aside, with only a sunken pit left where it was originally planted.
"Here it is, sir," the old lady hastened to introduce. "That stinky... woman brought a stranger in the other day and insisted she had buried something under the peach tree. We kindly let her dig it up, but then we didn't expect it to turn up some kind of will... I'm afraid she must have forged something beforehand and brought it in, then pretended she dug it up!"
Her analysis was very logical.
"Well, that makes some sense." Xiao Yu nodded to the old lady in agreement.
Then he squatted in front of the hole where the peach tree was dug, grabbed a handful of soil, rubbed it carefully in his palm, and then threw it back to the ground.
"The ritual to summon the soul was performed seven days ago, so when was the will dug out? How many days ago?" he suddenly asked.
"Also seven days ago," the old lady answered quickly, "He came at noon that day. I'm afraid he didn't do anything special and just came to cause trouble."
"We're not lying! This will was really dug out from under the tree!" Madam Lu finally couldn't help but angrily said, "Just answer whatever the master asks, don't exaggerate!"
"I'm not exaggerating!"
Seeing that the two women were about to quarrel again, Xiao Yu raised his hand to stop them from talking.
He smiled faintly: "It's all analysis and speculation, there's no need to make a big deal out of it. What the old lady said is not impossible."
Seeing Xiao Yu's attitude and his repeated favoritism towards the old lady, Mrs. Lu was completely disappointed.
She couldn't help but glance at Shao Zhi beside her with reproach, blaming her for having good intentions but doing bad things, causing the latter to feel aggrieved for a while.
The old lady was naturally beaming with joy, and echoed, "Your Excellency is wise and your judgment is powerful!"
Xiao Yu's smile remained undimmed as she asked her, "Then I wonder what specific date the deceased passed away?"
The old lady answered without hesitation, "It was seven days before they came to dig up the tree."
"Then it's been fourteen days in total," Xiao Yu said. "Has he been buried already?"
"Yes, he will be buried after the seventh day." The old lady nodded vigorously, and looked at Xiao Yu with the same affection as if she were looking at her own son.
"Then dig it out." Xiao Yu also said casually.
"Of course I didn't ask..." The old lady said halfway before she realized what was going on. She was stunned. "What did you say, sir? Dig, dig what..."
Xiao Yu's expression remained unchanged. "What else can we dig up? Of course, we'll dig up the body. This case is shrouded in mystery. I believe we need to have the coroner investigate the cause of death before we can uncover the truth."
The old lady's face turned pale in an instant: "My lord... My lord, are you joking? The deceased has been buried. How can we dig him up again?"
Not to mention the old lady, everyone else was secretly shocked when they heard this. After all, digging a dead body into the ground was no trivial matter.
But it was only after Xiao Yu said this that everyone realized that this battle for property was complicated and confusing, and it was very likely that there was a problem from the very beginning.
Everyone says that the rich businessman died of a sudden illness, but is this really the case?
"Rest in peace?" Xiao Yu looked at the old lady in confusion. "If the deceased knew that after his death, his wife was driven out of the house, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were fighting over the family wealth, how could he feel 'peaceful'?"
"In my opinion, if he were able to move, he would have crawled out of his grave and asked me to examine him."
Xu Chuchu almost laughed out loud when she heard this from behind.
Xiao Yu is still the same Xiao Yu. When he judges a case, he often speaks in a sarcastic tone, leaving people speechless.
But she just liked this kind of sarcastic Xiao Yu. At this time, he was confident and calm, and he was adept at the field he was good at, as if he had gotten rid of all the haze in the past.
The old lady obviously didn't find Xiao Yu humorous at all. She dropped to her knees and begged, "Sir, please show some mercy! The person has already been buried. If you dig him out again, that would be unlucky... and my son died of illness!"
"Died of illness? Who was present when he died? Did you check what food and medicine he consumed? Did you ask a coroner to determine the cause of death and issue a certificate?" Xiao Yu asked. "If you don't have any of these, how can you be sure that he died of illness?"
"I, I... am not..." The old lady was so blocked that she couldn't even utter a complete sentence.
"If you want to show some leniency, that's fine," Xiao Yu said readily. "If we can't find any other clues, we'll have to close the case. Madam Lu has a will, so all the property should belong to her, including all the houses and land. You and your son, go back and pack up and get ready to leave."
"That won't do, sir!" The old lady regained her ability to speak upon hearing she was being driven away, and she lay on the ground and started to act like a spoiled child. "We are old and young, where will we stay if we go out? This is going to kill us both!"
Xiao Yu didn't buy it and didn't give her a good look anymore. She said calmly, "Then I'll give you one last chance. Re-examine the autopsy or close the case, old lady. Choose one. Three, two..."
"Autopsy, autopsy!" The old lady made the choice without hesitation.
"Mom..." Her eldest son finally reacted and helped the old lady up.
"Okay, just cooperate." Xiao Yu smiled happily and thoughtfully arranged for his men to help dig the grave and carry the body.
Only then did Mrs. Lu finally breathe a sigh of relief, confirming that Xiao Yu was not completely against her and was fair. She hurried forward to express her gratitude.
"Thank you, sir, for handling this matter impartially! I am deeply grateful!" Mrs. Lu bowed.
Seeing this, Xiao Yu changed the subject and asked her, "What about you, Madam Lu? According to what you said before, you and your husband also have a deep relationship. Why didn't you stop me from digging the grave?"
Mrs. Lu opened her mouth and quickly closed it.
"Just say it." Xiao Yu said.
Madam Lu was a little uneasy and seemed to hesitate for a moment before finally saying, "Actually... I also had my doubts about my husband's death."
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