"Who is this person in the hall, and what grievance have you suffered?"

The high-ranking Gu Chengke was a student of Cheng Shaoyuan's father and treated Cheng Shaoyuan with great respect. Whenever he saw Cheng Shaoyuan coming to the government office to study, he would be extra cautious.

There were three people kneeling in the hall, a young couple and a middle-aged man named Wang Dafu.

"To answer your question, I am Wang Dafu. We are all from Xia'an Village. A murder happened in the village. Zhou was cruel and murdered her mother-in-law."

As soon as Wang Dafu finished speaking, he glanced at Zhou behind him. Zhou had a sallow complexion and looked honest and simple, and did not seem like someone who would do such a cruel thing.

"Your Excellency is wronged. My mother-in-law and I just had an argument, but I really didn't have such vicious thoughts."

Gu Yunru heard it clearly at the back of the room. She put down the teacup in her hand and walked into the hall to sit down.

Just as Rong Zhen was about to leave, he saw her graceful figure. For some reason, it felt like a thousand-pound iron was tied to the soles of his feet.

Rong Zhen saw that Cheng Shao was very close to her and they didn't know what they were talking about. She felt annoyed and clenched her fists silently.

"This Zhou is lying. You can see there's something wrong with her eyes."

Gu Yunru lowered her voice and could see Zhou's expression clearly through the veil. When she said this, she looked at the ground intentionally or unintentionally, which showed that these words were not from her heart. It seemed that the relationship between her and her mother-in-law, Jia, was not good.

When Cheng Shaoyuan heard what Gu Yunru said, he also observed Zhou's expression. Cheng Shaoyuan gave Gu Chengke a look, asking him to continue asking.

"Ahem, let me ask you again, how can you say that Zhou killed her mother-in-law? Did you see it with your own eyes?"

Wang Dafu is a villager of Xia'an Village and came to the government office as a key witness. He must have evidence.

Wang Dafu's eyes were evasive, and he swallowed subconsciously, saying, "I saw it with my own eyes. This morning, Zhou and her mother-in-law had an argument by the river. Zhou threatened to push her mother-in-law into the river and drown her."

Gu Yunru raised her eyebrows. This Wang Dafu was avoiding the main point in his words. He did not even give any evidence as to whether he had seen Zhou kill her mother-in-law Jia personally.

She noticed a man kneeling beside Zhou, who looked in pain, had a thin face, messy hair, and was wearing a white linen robe. He should be Jia's son.

Gu Yunru whispered a few words in Cheng Shaoyuan's ear. Cheng Shaoyuan nodded, moistened his throat, and looked at Zhang Dalong, who was kneeling beside him and had not said a word since the court opened.

"Zhang Dalong, who is this Wang Dafu to you?"

"He is the younger neighbor."

Zhang Dalong did respond one sentence at a time, but from his eyes it could be seen that he was deliberately avoiding this matter. He must have believed what Wang Dafu said, that Zhou and Jia had started fighting because of a verbal dispute.

"Do you believe him? Where were you when it happened?"

Lord Gu asked curiously, Jia's death was caused by a head impact, but before that her upper body clothes were soaked.

"I was cutting firewood in the mountains, and usually I would sell some firewood on the streets. I came back today and learned about this incident. I don't know what to do."

Zhang Dalong spoke in a very soft tone and did not even glance at Zhou the whole time, which showed that their relationship was usually very cold. Gu Yunru saw all of this and noticed every subtle movement of Zhang Dalong.

"Master Cheng, how do you think this matter should be judged?"

Gu Yunru asked Cheng Shaoyuan beside her in a low voice. Cheng Shaoyuan had a serious expression on his face, and he always had this expression when he was solving a case.

Hearing her question, Cheng Shaoyuan said, "This Zhang Dalong knows nothing. The people in the government office also saw the injuries on Jia's body. She had a blow to her head. She must have been pushed to the side of the water tank. This Zhou is the biggest suspect."

"I don't think so. Although Zhou hated Jia, there was no fear or panic in her eyes. A village woman who kills someone should be extremely panicked and lose her composure, but she didn't show any panic from beginning to end."

"But Zhou is the only one in this village who has the motive to kill. If it wasn't Zhou, then I can't think of who would want to harm Zhou."

The two of them consulted each other. Wang Dafu raised his eyes, glanced at Lord Gu who was sitting in the upper seat, and quickly added: "The conflict between Zhou and Jia is known to everyone in the village, and Zhang Dalong should know it best."

The people present turned their eyes to Zhang Dalong. Zhang Dalong looked like a man with no ideas and a weak mind. He nodded and told the conflict between Jia and Zhou.

"Da Long, even though my mother-in-law and I don't get along, I will never harm her. Why don't you believe me?"

Zhou begged Zhang Dalong to look at her, but Zhang Dalong ignored her from beginning to end. His eyes were extremely cold and it was impossible to tell that they were a couple who had been married for seven years.

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"It seems that the case has been solved. It's you, Zhou! Are you still unwilling to admit it?"

Lord Gu slammed the gavel and the whole room fell silent. Zhou swallowed back her tears with sobs, and looked at Zhang Dalong beside her with hatred. She gritted her teeth fiercely, and it seemed that she was going to swallow her teeth, which was really aggrieved.

"My lord, I didn't. Although I am dissatisfied with my mother-in-law, I have never thought of killing her, let alone taking action. My lord, I am really wronged!"

Zhou spoke with tears and snot. It seemed that Zhang Dalong could not provide any useful clues, so he followed Wang Dafu's lead in everything. Wang Dafu insisted that he had witnessed Zhou committing the crime.

"You still dare to make up your mind? It seems that you will not confess the truth unless you are severely punished."

Gu Chengke's best trick is to extract a confession through torture, but today he overlooked the fact that Cheng Shaoyuan was here.

“Ahem.”

Noticing a sharp gaze coming from the side, he immediately changed his words and said, "Just be patient!"

Gu Chengke calmed everyone down, then hurried to Cheng Shaoyuan with a flattering look on his face.

"Sir, the real case has been solved. The motive and witnesses are in court. Otherwise..."

"So this is how Lord Gu solves cases. It's a bit too casual."

Gu Yunru finally couldn't help but speak. Gu Chengke frowned and looked curiously at the mysteriously dressed woman. She came with the young master, and it seemed that she was of noble status. He was much more respectful to her.