Chapter 80: To Escape Punishment, Anything Is Possible
"You two are greedy for the family fortune and lazy. You've both gotten used to asking Chen Feng for money to make a living. You've even made up one lie after another to get money from Chen Feng."
Li Jin glanced at her face and pressed his advantage: "Miss Chen, if you don't speak up, Huang Liangping will pin all the blame on you. If this case is sent to the Jingzhao Prefecture, even the Ministry of Justice or His Highness the Crown Prince won't be able to save you."
As he spoke, he glanced sideways, a smile on his face, and nodded to Li Jing in greeting.
"Or do you possess something that would make His Highness the Crown Prince defy the laws of the Great Wei for your sake?"
In short, Li Jing was also included in the scheme.
He crossed his arms and chuckled softly. As expected of Prince Jing, breaking her will was not enough; he also had to cut off her escape route.
The courtyard was eerily quiet.
Chen Lan lowered her head, her fingertips picking at the handkerchief in her hand.
She was terrified, but she still didn't want to give up.
What if, what if Li Jin was just bluffing her? What if this person actually has nothing in his possession?
She gritted her teeth: "I didn't do anything!"
Chen Lan suddenly looked up and shouted, "We didn't do anything! It's his business if he loses money in business! What does it have to do with us! I didn't know anything before they left that night!"
The saying "Too much talk leads to mistakes" was the opportunity Li Jin had been waiting for.
"Them?" Li Jin stopped fanning himself, his gaze turning cold. "Which 'them'?"
Only then did Chen Lan realize she had misspoke. She was shocked and hurriedly waved her hands, saying, "No, no, no, it wasn't them, it was him, him!"
"And which 'he' is that?"
In that instant, the last crimson line on the horizon disappeared into the endless night.
Lanterns were lit in the Chen residence, and the ever-burning lamps in the corridors were lit one by one by the maids.
From afar, it resembled a winding dragon approaching Chen Lan's courtyard.
She stood there, fine beads of sweat glistening on her forehead.
"Chen Lan, you didn't kill him, why are you risking your and the Chen family's future to exonerate him?"
Li Jin's words caused a glimmer of hope to flash in Chen Lan's eyes, who was completely lost at the moment.
She pursed her lips and took two steps forward: "I..."
But Li Jin didn't give her a chance to speak. He reached out and threw the blood-stained blue robe in front of Chen Lan.
Was Huang Liangping wearing this outer garment when he left that night?
The blue robe embroidered with cloud patterns and stained with blood was presented to Chen Lan. She staggered two steps in fright, her lips trembling, unable to utter a word.
Li Jin chuckled softly and said calmly, "This is your last chance."
In the late May night in Beijing, the bright moon hangs high, and the breeze remains gentle.
Looking at her expression, Jin Shu's admiration was palpable.
If Li Jin solved cases in the past because of his superb talent for deduction, then this time it was due to his exceptional skills.
In fact, he only had two pieces of physical evidence that could not be connected.
However, through interrogation skills, he broke down Huang Liangping's psychological defenses at Guilai Pavilion, and then in the Chen family's courtyard, he used psychology to his advantage, using a piece of clothing as the final straw that broke Chen Lan's back.
In this case, his reasoning became an auxiliary tool and an important part of perfecting his questioning process.
"Has Li Jin always been like this?"
The crown prince spoke in a low voice. He did not turn around, but his eyes were fixed on Jin Shu's face out of the corner of his eye.
How do we understand this "always been like this"?
Jin Shu frowned slightly, about to speak, but then remembered Li Jin's words: "If there's no need, don't speak to the Crown Prince."
After a moment of contemplation, she nodded silently.
With such a cautious demeanor, coupled with the white jade flute at his waist, the prince's gaze softened somewhat.
After a short while, as if chatting idly, he continued, "My younger brother is just a playboy." He paused, "I'll trouble Mr. Jin to keep an eye on him in the future."
For some reason, Jin Shu felt that there was more to his words than what he seemed on the surface.
She simply nodded and said nothing.
This appearance pleased Li Jing greatly: "You're quite clever." He chuckled and added, "Go get a cup of tea, I'm thirsty."
At this moment, in the center of the courtyard, Li Jin looked at Chen Lan, who was still standing there in a daze and unwilling to speak, and waved his hand: "Alright, it's getting late, His Highness the Crown Prince and I should go back. Miss Chen, you should go to the prison and think it over."
A prison?!
Before her eyes, Li Jin got up on his own, dusted himself off, didn't even glance at her, and turned to leave.
He didn't hesitate at all, crushing Chen Lan's last bit of hesitation.
"Wait! Wait a minute!" she called out, raising her hand. "Yes! This garment is the outer robe that Liangping wore when he went out with Chen Feng that day!"
At this point, Li Jin turned his back to Chen Lan, and the corners of his lips slowly turned up.
The case has been solved.
Standing by the courtyard wall outside the gate, Chen Wen listened to his youngest daughter's outburst, then slowly sat down with his back against the wall, completely lost in thought.
He never imagined that the family that poisoned his "good-for-nothing" second son was actually his most beloved youngest daughter's family.
That's his son! The son he raised with his own hands, through countless hardships!
Even if he's useless, even if he stays at home, even if he always makes him angry, gives him headaches, and disappoints him.
Chen Feng is also Chen Wen's son! His own son!
She could actually stab him like a sieve with a dagger, and even cut off his head to finish him off in a fit of rage.
That's Chen Lan's second brother, the brother who watched Chen Lan grow up since she was a child!
Thinking of Chen Feng's gruesome death, Chen Wen could barely breathe.
He clenched his fists at his chest, his face contorted with pain, and tears streamed down his face silently.
In stark contrast to his grief and indignation was Chen Lan, who was now doing everything she could to pin the blame on Huang Liangping in order to exonerate herself.
She frowned and sighed, "I really didn't know he would do something so cruel. I only sent him to teach my second brother a lesson!"
She complained, "Who knew that after that day, neither of them would come back. Then the next day, I heard that a body had been found outside Yanxing Gate, so I rushed to send the servants to investigate."
Chen Lan paused for a moment: "Hey! I really wasn't involved in this! That day, Liangping... no, Huang Liangping said he would take Chen Feng to meet the owner of the medicinal herb shop. As soon as night fell, the two of them left."
"I don't know anything! Really! And Chen Feng took a lot of silver with him when he left, which I haven't seen yet."
After she finished speaking, she looked at Li Jin, who was expressionless in front of her.
Seeing that he didn't say anything, she panicked and turned her gaze towards the Crown Prince.
The prince simply held his teacup, gently blew away the foam, and showed absolutely no intention of getting involved.
She really panicked.
"It really wasn't me! How could I possibly know what Huang Liangping and Chen Feng were doing!"
She used unreasonable and sophistry to disguise her sophistry as innocence, attempting to deceive Li Jin.
This sight, reflected in Li Jin's eyes, was both laughable and pathetic.
“Miss Chen,” Li Jin took a deep breath, “you don’t care where your husband has been for so many days, nor do you care whether he killed him or not. Even now, you’re still thinking about the money your brother took away.”
"Hmph." Li Jin sneered, "Huang Liangping used that money to book venues and hire singers. When I caught him, not a single copper coin was left."
"What!?"
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