The daily life of a space tycoon raising children, doting on his husband, and farming.

Chapter 121 expresses gratitude [Requesting monthly votes]

Lin Jianshan glared, "You surnamed Shang, stop spouting nonsense!"

"I didn't say you were the murderer, why are you so anxious?" Shang Wan raised an eyebrow. "Is my question so hard to answer? Or are you feeling guilty?"

"I didn't kill anyone!" Lin Jianshan denied it outright.

Shan Dajun narrowed his eyes, "Since you say you didn't kill anyone, where were you when the crime occurred?"

"I...I went up the mountain to chop firewood."

Who can testify?

Lin Jianshan looked around, and everyone avoided his gaze.

It's not that people don't want to testify for him, but giving false testimony is a crime punishable by law. What if Lin Jianshan really is the murderer? Wouldn't that leave a menace in the village?

Village Chief Lin said, "I can testify that we went up the mountain together."

"Wow, the village chief is really strong-willed despite his disability," Shang Wan said leisurely. "He still has an arm in a sling, yet he can still go up the mountain to chop firewood."

Dan Dajun looked at Village Chief Lin's arm suspiciously, frowning as he said, "You two are father and son, so your testimony is unreliable. Is there a third person who saw you two going up the mountain to chop firewood?"

The two looked at each other, neither able to name a third person.

Lu Chengjing suddenly spoke up, "Officer, may I ask you a few questions?"

Shan Dajun nodded.

Before leaving, Lord An specifically instructed him to take appropriate care of Lu Chengjing and Shang Wan as long as it did not involve matters of principle.

He was even thinking of being transferred to work for Lord An, so he was only asking a couple of questions and naturally wouldn't refuse Lu Chengjing's request.

Unexpectedly, Lu Chengjing's inquiry was not directed at the Lin family father and son, but at Liu Yuzhi.

"Does this red string look familiar to the girl?"

Liu Yuzhi looked away. "Never seen it before."

"As far as I know, this red string is used at the Temple of the Old Man Under the Moon for praying for marriage." Lu Chengjing glanced at the red string on Li Dashan's wrist. "It seems that the young lady has given it to quite a few people. Dashan, is this red string on your wrist a gift from Miss Liu?"

Li Dashan's face first turned red, then paled after he understood what Lu Chengjing meant.

He asked hesitantly, "What do you mean by 'many people'?"

“Look over there.” Shang Wan pointed them out one by one. “See the red ribbons on their wrists? Not only are they the same style, but they even gave them to the same people.”

Li Dashan: "..."

The wronged youths: "..."

The tears that Liu Yuzhi had been holding back were swallowed back before they could fall.

She delivered them separately, and no one saw her deliver them. How could Shang Wan and Lu Chengjing have found out?

"I...I didn't," she tried to argue. "I just wanted to thank you for helping me, that's why I gave you the red string. I didn't mean anything else."

These words are simply treating Li Dashan and other innocent victims like fools.

Li Dashan angrily tore off the red rope and threw it on the ground. He pointed at Liu Yuzhi, wanting to curse her, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything to such a delicate girl. Instead, he felt disgusted with himself.

He took two deep breaths, turned his head away, and refused to look at Liu Yuzhi again.

The other young men didn't have his good temper. They not only lost the red string, but also took turns making sarcastic remarks about Liu Yuzhi.

Liu Yuzhi's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment, and she couldn't help but cover her face and burst into tears.

Lu Chengjing said, "Don't cry yet."

As soon as Liu Yuzhi stopped crying, she raised her head through her teary eyes, waiting to hear Lu Chengjing's words of comfort.

Shi Tou glared at his brother-in-law with a reproachful look.

How can you comfort a woman other than your sister? Brother-in-law, you must uphold male virtues!
"You can cry all you want after I finish asking." Ignoring Liu Yuzhi's embarrassed expression, Lu Chengjing asked, "How many of these red strings did you give away in total?"

"Five, five." These were exactly the five unjustly accused children of Li Dashan.

Lu Chengjing's eyes turned cold. "Lying to the police will get you a beating. I'll ask you one more time, how many are there?"

Liu Yuzhi felt as if she were back on the day Lu Chengjing attacked her with a short arrow. She shuddered and blurted out, "Seven!"

Lu Chengjing pressed further, "Who are the other two?"

"Yes...yes..." Liu Yuzhi stammered, her face flushed. Suddenly, Shan Dajun drew his official knife with a clang, startling Liu Yuzhi, who pointed at Lin Jianshan and said, "It's my cousin."

Everyone: "Oh~"

Liu Yuzhi waved her hand and explained, "I just thanked my older cousin for taking me to the city, that's all."

The women scoffed softly.

"Didn't you just say that?"

"I understand, I understand. Whatever I do is out of gratitude."

"I'll go to the Temple of the Matchmaker tomorrow and ask for a bunch of them, then I'll give them out one by one to express my gratitude."

Each word she heard made Liu Yuzhi blush and turn pale with embarrassment, and she almost crumpled the hem of her clothes in her own hands.

Zhou stared at her, her eyes practically blazing with anger. She never imagined that Liu Yuzhi would try to seduce her husband! Did she think she was dead?!
Lu Chengjing remained unaffected and said to Liu Yuzhi, "We're still one short."

Liu Yuzhi shook her head with tears in her eyes, "No more, I haven't given away the last one yet."

She was filled with regret; she should have known better than to be greedy and give away the same thing.

Shan Dajun noticed the key point: "Scholar Lu, where did you get this red string in your hand?"

“I found it at the crime scene.” Lu Chengjing handed it over. “There’s blood on it; I suspect it was left by the murderer.”

Dan Dajun looked down and examined it carefully, and found that there were indeed bloodstains on the red rope.

He looked up at Lin Jianshan, "The evidence is right here, what else do you have to say?"

Lin Jianshan showed no sign of panic. "Such a red string can be obtained from the Temple of the Matchmaker for just two copper coins. They're all the same style. How can I prove it's mine?"

“No, the ones Miss Liu gave you are different.” Lu Chengjing gestured for Shan Dajun to compare the blood-stained red rope with the one on his wrist and the one that Li Dashan and the others had just thrown to the ground.

This comparison reveals the difference.

The red ropes Liu Yuzhi gave away added two rosy clouds to the cheeks of the jade maidens painted on all the pendants, resembling a shy expression.

The red string on Shan Dajun's wrist is not there.

He raised his hand to wipe it and found that he could wipe it off if he used force.

"Liu Yuzhi, what's going on?"

Liu Yuzhi whispered, "I drew it on with colored pens when I had nothing else to do."

Her original intention was not to be like everyone else, but unexpectedly, it became evidence to identify the murderer.

"Officer, even if the red rope is mine, it might have fallen off when I was dressing the corpse," Lin Jianshan defended himself. "I had no grudge against Aunt Gui, why would I kill her?"

That makes some sense. After thinking for a moment, Shan Dajun held up the silver hairpin and asked, "Then why is this silver hairpin on the deceased? It couldn't have fallen off when you were dressing the deceased, could it?"

The silver hairpin was wrapped inside the deceased's clothes, indicating that it was originally tucked into the deceased's bosom.

Lin Jianshan couldn't answer.

"What's all the noise about?" A thin-faced constable noticed the group of children pushing and shoving each other, their voices growing louder, and he reprimanded them.

A boy puffed out his chest and shouted, "Reporting to the officer, we have a lead!"

Upon hearing this, the adults all turned to look.

The one who spoke was Yuan Lang, the youngest son of the Yuan family.

(End of this chapter)