Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 111 The irrefutable evidence
Cheng Ying cried out in pain. He reached up and touched his lips, only to find that he had bitten them in his panic.

"It was precisely because you two knew that the Star-Picking Tower would collapse that you chose to kill and dispose of the body here. Cheng Ren is a direct descendant of the family, and if he were to disappear without a trace, the Zhang Cheng clan would definitely not let it go."

“But if he died in the Zhaixing Tower accident, then the Cheng family would have no need to investigate.”

Zhou Zhao stared into Cheng Ying's eyes, his expression full of certainty.

"But you didn't expect that the Northern Army would immediately set up barricades to block the Star-Picking Tower, and you were unable to leave in time; you also didn't expect that even if it was just a corpse, we would definitely pull it out of the water and absolutely not let anyone die in vain."

Cheng Ying came to his senses, clenched his fists, and lost his initial arrogance. He slumped back down and looked away from Zhou Zhao.

"I don't know what you're talking about. How would I, a newcomer to Chang'an, know that the Star-Picking Tower would collapse?"

Zhou Zhao did not answer Cheng Ying's question directly, but looked at the brazier in the interrogation room. "Don't you find it strange? We returned to the Court of Justice at noon, but it was not until evening that we came to interrogate you."

Cheng Ying pursed his lips tightly and reached out to wipe the sweat from the tip of his nose.

Where were you four nights ago?

Cheng Ying suddenly raised his head, his hands gripping the table, looking at Zhou Zhao in horror.

Zhou Zhao narrowed his eyes. "Before I came here, I found three witnesses."

As they spoke, Chen Jiyuan led the three of them over excitedly. His back was hunched forward so much that his chest and belly were seen before his legs were even visible. His neck was tilted back, his head held high, and he walked with a pigeon-toed gait.

From the front, he looks like a young man trying too hard to imitate others and put on airs of officialdom.

From the side, it looks like a strange bow.

Standing in front of the door, Chang Zuoping glared angrily at Zhou Zhao, then turned to Chen Jiyuan and said, "Are you pregnant for ten months? Your belly is bigger than Li Tingwei's!"

Chen Jiyuan jumped in surprise, immediately bending over. He shrank his neck, lowered his head, and jogged over, saying meekly, "Sister Zhao, the witness has arrived!"

He spoke with excitement in his eyes.

Heaven knows how long he'd been at the Court of Judicial Review, and this was the first time he'd had the chance to investigate a case. Li Youdao usually just slept when he arrived and didn't care about anything. It was quite unusual that he was on night duty at the gate; it was as if he had a naturally protective body that could ward off evil, and he hadn't encountered a single case.

For three months, all he had to do was wipe tables, serve meals, and even sweep the yard for Xu Jin's elderly mother.

Today, he overheard Zhou Zhao investigating the case while peering over the wall, which finally gave him an opportunity.

As Chen Jiyuan spoke, his gaze toward the three witnesses behind him was as warm as a spring breeze.

The middle-aged man standing at the front couldn't help but rub his arms and move a little further away from Chen Jiyuan. "My lord," he said, "I am already married and have two unfilial sons. I only want to fish and have no other hobbies."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhao almost couldn't suppress his official demeanor.

She suppressed a laugh and looked over expressionlessly. "What did you see by the East River four nights ago?"

The fisherman immediately became solemn. "Sir, I fish by the East River every night. I remember the night four days ago very clearly. At first, I didn't catch any fish. Later, when I finally got a fish on the hook, it was scared away by three people who suddenly passed by."

"I came out because I was so angry with my stupid son that I was dizzy. I was holding back my anger and even had a fight with them."

As the fisherman spoke, he pointed to Cheng Ying, "That's him. He even threw a handful of coins on the ground, saying he wanted to compensate me for the fish. I was so angry that I grabbed my fishing rod and stabbed his arm hard right here."

The fisherman explained in detail, and worried that the others might not understand, he even pointed to his sleeve. Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhao swiftly rolled up Cheng Ying's sleeve and, sure enough, saw a bruise on his arm.

"The three of them were arguing about something related to the head of the family. After they met me, one of them..."

The fisherman looked at the corpse beside him with some fear, then pointed to Cheng Ren, "It was him. He left first. The two of them then went upstream along the Dongshui River. I was so angry at the time, I grabbed my fishing rod and headed home."

“I walked along the riverbank for a while and saw with my own eyes the two of them walk to the Zhaixing Tower.”

After hearing this, Zhou Zhao looked at Cheng Ying, who was already trembling. He didn't look at the fisherman, but stared intently at a plump old man standing in front of the door.

Seeing this, Zhou Zhao turned to the plump old man and said, "Dr. Deng, do you recognize this man?"

The physician, Deng, nodded. "I remember, this young man visited our clinic three days ago."

Zhou Zhao raised an eyebrow and looked at Doctor Deng with interest. "Hey, there are countless people coming to the clinic seeking medical treatment and medicine. How can you remember people from three days ago?"

Doctor Deng stroked his beard, his expression amiable. "When this young man entered the clinic, he looked anxious, saying that his parents had been bitten by centipedes and he had brought out a prescription to get medicine. Because the prescription contained arsenic, I was very cautious."

"Years ago, Lord Zhou Yan of the Court of Justice once tried a poisoning case. The murderer had bought arsenic from a pharmacy. Since then, Lord Zhou has personally visited almost all the doctors in Chang'an and asked us to keep a record of anyone who buys highly poisonous substances."

"If we get involved in the case in the future, it can serve as evidence, and it can also help us protect ourselves."

As he spoke, Dr. Deng bent down and handed a scroll of bamboo slips to Zhou Zhao.

Zhou Zhao's hand trembled slightly, as if the bamboo slip in his hand weighed a thousand pounds.

This is indeed something her brother Zhou Yan would do quietly.

She took a deep breath and opened the bamboo scroll. It did indeed record the incident, even specifying the clothing and appearance of the person who bought the medicine, and the jade pendant with the character "Cheng" hanging from their waist. It seemed that neither Cheng Ying nor Cheng Yuan had expected that they would discover among so many people that Cheng Ren's cause of death was different from the others.

Therefore, they did not do much disguise.

After she finished reading it, she placed the bamboo slip in front of Cheng Ying and gently tapped the table.

"Now can you speak? What did you hear near the Star-Picking Tower four nights ago? And how did you kill Cheng Ren, and then kill Cheng Yuan to silence him? You recognize the other witness, right? The wine server who served you the dishes."

“He remembers and understands everything you said to him clearly.”

When the wine connoisseur finally spoke up, "This young master Cheng instructed me that the black beans with sugar should be eaten hot, with plenty of broth and lots of sugar."

The reason, of course, was to allow the arsenic to dissolve more quickly, so that Cheng Ren wouldn't notice anything amiss.

After hearing this, Cheng Ying finally couldn't hold back her tears and burst into sobs.

He was crying with snot and tears streaming down his face, looking extremely heartbroken. "I was bewitched. There are very few male heirs in the Cheng family. Cheng Ren was just lucky to be chosen by the family head to become a member of the direct line. Because of this, he will become the future head of the Cheng family."

"Cheng Yuan has always been dissatisfied with this. No one is a true dragon, so why should Cheng Ren be in charge? Back then, the former head of the Cheng family, Cheng Yuyuan, even said that she would adopt him as her heir and let him inherit the Cheng family."

“I’m not convinced either. Of the three of us, only I am truly of Cheng family blood. What right do those two adopted outsiders have to righteously compete for the position of family head?”

Cheng Ying wiped the snot that was about to drip onto the table with her sleeve. "I never intended to kill anyone. Cheng Yuan and I witnessed a murder at Zhaixing Tower and overheard them saying that something bad would happen at Zhaixing Tower..."

"After that, Cheng Yuan came up with a plan to poison Cheng Ren. He told me that this was a godsend."