Chapter 40 Old case of arson
When Zhou Zhao heard this, he looked at Xie Laosi with a somewhat complicated look.
She could see that Xie Laosi was a good person.
In this quagmire, he still cared about the woman's reputation, believing that evidence should be used when doing things, and he would not allow innocent people to die miserably. Even the leader of the village who hated her to the core felt that "I didn't kill Boren but Boren died because of me" would be the last straw that broke Xie Laosi's back.
But she didn't expect that he was still stubbornly searching for the truth.
With the bruises all over his body, he was living in hell.
Xie Laosi was obviously lost in memories, "I was originally from Wu, and the same family as Cheng Yuyuan was the county magistrate of Guzhang."
"Speaking of which, Cheng Yuyuan and I had an engagement. Just a year before we were to get married, Cheng Yuyuan's brother suddenly had an accident, and their family suddenly lost the pillar of support."
"The people in the clan are eager to kill her. Cheng Yuyuan is a tougher person than any man. She did two things. The first was to come to my house to break off the engagement with me, and the second was to recruit Li Zhan. Become a son-in-law.”
When Xie Laosi said this, there were many complex emotions in his eyes that he could not explain himself.
"I admire her as a woman who led the family and supported the direct lineage. My father often lamented at home that a stupid person like me missed a good match. However, I have no right to do what a gentleman does and what he does not do. She was too entangled. After living in peace for several years, I became the official of Liangping County, Guzhang County."
"Until one day, a fire broke out in a house in Liangping City. A total of eight people died in the fire. Among them were Li Zhan's parents, brother-in-law, two nieces, Cheng Yuyuan and Li Zhan's only son Cheng Nan, and Chengnan’s wet nurse ”
"It was midnight when the fire broke out. Because Li Zhan's nephew Li Yuan was seriously ill, Cheng Yuyuan and his wife sent him to see a doctor. Fortunately, they escaped."
Xie Laosi said so eloquently that Zhou Zhao could almost feel the despair Cheng Yuyuan must have felt when she saw a sea of fire after she came back.
"The fire was not extinguished until dawn. At that time, in addition to eight charred corpses, there was also a maid who was fainted by the smoke in the courtyard. There were traces of oil on the hands of the maid. Not only that, but her The corners of her clothes were also stained with tung oil, and there were fire sticks hidden on her body.”
"There were traces of arson at the scene, and everything pointed out that the maid was the arsonist. Cheng Yuyuan also found out that the maid was a secret chess piece inserted by her clan uncle. Originally, this case should have been closed like this. But I was When doing an autopsy with the couple, they discovered differences. ”
"Not all the faces of the eight burnt corpses were destroyed. Li Zhan's brother was protecting his sister-in-law in his arms, and her face was still clearly visible. There was also Li Zhan's little niece, the child. Half of the face is intact. In addition, Cheng Yuyuan’s son Cheng Nan’s face is not completely damaged.”
Zhou Zhao frowned when he heard this, "Do you think Cheng Nan was dead before the fire?"
"The sister-in-law Li Zhan and her niece had red cheeks and a hibiscus color on their faces, but Cheng Nan's face did not look like this."
Xie Laosi looked at Zhou Zhao in shock. After a while, he nodded with a wry smile, "Who are you? Are you some kind of god who can pinch and calculate!"
In front of Zhou Zhao, he felt that he was as stupid as a pig.
"Yes, I had doubts in my heart and wanted to do an autopsy on the child. But because of the pain of losing her son, Cheng Yuyuan stopped her like crazy. Finally, she asked me if she could find out if the child was cut open. Was he burned to death? ”
When Xie Laosi said this, his eyes suddenly dimmed, "I don't know how to answer. The widower in Liangping County is not a real widower. He is just a doctor sitting in the court, and he doesn't know how to check."< br>
"Because I had doubts, I refused to close the case as arson and investigated the case everywhere. Finally I found some clues, that is, the next day I found a round bruise on Li Zhan's fist. Have you seen the one on Cheng Ming's body? A jade pendant, right? Everyone in the family has one.” "The servant's is a square sapphire with the Chinese characters engraved on it; the master's is a square sapphire with a raised circle in the middle and a name engraved on it. Cheng Yuyuan and I were once engaged, and it was a token sent by us when we got married. It’s a jade pendant with the word Yuan engraved on it.”
"I immediately suspected Li Zhan. The adult hung the jade pendant around his waist, but the child hung it around his neck. Is it possible that Li Zhan first beat Cheng Nan to death with his fists, and then set fire to destroy the evidence? Later I asked , Cheng Yuyuan was injured when she was born in the south and could no longer have offspring.”
"After the arson incident, Cheng Yuyuan was devastated and felt extremely guilty for the Li family. She believed that it was the fight between the married families that caused the young Li Yuan to become an orphan."
Zhou Zhao's fingers moved slightly, "So do you think that whether Li Zhan made amends with the murder by mistake or did it on purpose, he had the motive of being exterminated."
Xie Laosi nodded, "That's right! And there is always a way out. I was right not to close the case easily and submit the file. The maid who set the fire woke up. Under interrogation, she identified Li Zhan, said that Li Zhan killed Cheng Nan and then ordered her to set the fire."
"With the witness, I immediately arrested Li Zhan."
Xie Laosi let out a long sigh, and Zhou Zhao instantly understood his helplessness, "Cheng Yuyuan doesn't believe you. Li Zhan coaxed her with sweet words and made her think that you had a grudge against the couple because of the breakup. , so he ordered the maid to make a false confession.”
Xie Laosi is no longer surprised by Zhou Zhao's "divine fortune teller" skill. He already understands that the gap between people in this world is simply greater than the gap between earth dragons and dragons.
He nodded, "Yes! But I still compared the round bruise on his hand with the jade pendant on Cheng Nan's body. The rope was burned, but the jade pendant was on the chest. The size and shape They all match, it’s Li Zhandong’s hand.”
"I interrogated Li Zhan overnight. He refused to punish him and admitted that he punched Cheng Nan to death."
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Zhou Zhao was not surprised. Not only at the local level, but also at Tingwei Temple, cases were often punished. Otherwise, Chang Zuoping would not have become what people call a "cruel official."
"Not only Li Zhan, but also myself, did not expect the direction that followed," Xie Laosi said, looking a little dazed. To this day, he still can't figure out how the night that changed their lives happened.
What on earth is going on in this woman Cheng Yuyuan’s mind!
"That night, after Cheng Yuyuan arranged the family affairs and let her sister inherit the family, she led the Cheng Ming brothers into the prison. They kidnapped me and rescued Li Zhan. Cheng Nan’s body was also taken away.”
"Cheng Yuyuan dragged us onto the boat and entered the sea from Guangling, then entered Yan and landed in Guangyang, and went straight to Tianying City."
"After joining Tianying, Cheng Yuyuan seemed to be crazy and refused to bury Chengnan. She didn't believe me, but she also alienated Li Zhan, but she also demanded that we must live under her nose. She has no martial arts skills. , but the two brothers Cheng Ming are loyal to her.”
"Relying on her own means and the martial arts of these two people, Cheng Yuyuan secured her position as the leader of Tiandou Village after a lot of fighting."
"When she is good, she will ask me if I have any irrefutable evidence to prove that Li Zhan did it; when she is bad, she will burn me with a soldering iron and make me admit that I am a person who colluded with the family members and ordered the maid to make false statements to slander Li Zhan, deliberately made Cheng Nan die uneasy, so that she would be trapped in it for the rest of her life and could no longer be in charge of the family. "
Before Zhou Zhao could ask, Xie Laosi shook his head and said, "A man is destined to die, so how can he tell lies out of thin air? Although I can't answer the question, I am not wrong. Cheng Nan was killed by Li Zhan." ”
Zhou Zhao looked at Xie Laosi, who was holding his neck, with mixed feelings in his heart.
"I can find evidence. If, as you said, Cheng Nan's face was pale when he died, then he was indeed dead before being burned."