Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 112: A Case Within a Case
Zhou Zhao listened, his feelings extremely complicated.

There's a saying: like begets like.

Back then, Li Zhan had a perfectly legitimate reason to covet Cheng Yuyuan's family fortune, and now his son, Cheng Yuan, has made the same choice as his father.

When Li Yuan entered the Cheng family, he was still a child. He didn't remember the kindness of being raised for so many years. Instead, after being a guest in their home for so long, he really thought he was the master.

"Tell me in more detail, what did you see? What did you hear?"

Cheng Ying collapsed to the ground. When he heard Zhou Zhao's question, he sniffed and replied, "We walked along the river until we reached the vicinity of Zhaixing Tower, where we heard two people arguing on your awning boat."

“One of the young men threatened an old man with white hair, saying that if he didn’t give him money, he would tell the young woman named Chu You that he had tampered with the load-bearing pillar, and that the Tower of Stars would collapse on the day the guests arrived.”

"The young man called the old man 'Master,' and the old man called the young man 'Little Six.'"

“We originally wanted to leave, but then we saw another person rush onto the boat with a hammer... and then they killed the guy named Xiao Liu and sank him into the Dongshui River. We were all terrified and didn’t dare to make a sound.”

"However, the two were busy washing the boat and disposing of the bodies, and they didn't notice us."

As Cheng Ying spoke, she glanced at the two corpses lying on the ground with a complicated expression. "That very night, Cheng Yuan found me and said that this was a golden opportunity. If the Star-Picking Tower were to collapse, countless people would die, and their bodies would sink into the water and never see the light of day again."

"By then, who will know that Cheng Ren wasn't drowned, but poisoned?"

As Cheng Ying spoke, he looked at Zhou Zhao, who was sitting opposite him.

He personally witnessed this young Lord Zhou and General Su, seemingly tireless, diving into the water time and time again to rescue people.

He silently prayed to all sorts of gods in his heart, but it was no use.

They managed to retrieve the body.

Their golden opportunity, which they had been waiting for, turned into misfortune before noon.

“We specifically chose the side that wasn’t near the water, thinking that if it collapsed, we could just jump out of the window and be safe.”

As Cheng Ying said this, she clenched her fists. "But none of us expected the building to collapse so quickly. After we heard the cracking sound, we rushed to the window. I guessed that Cheng Yuan must have thought the same thing as me, thinking that killing one person was the same as killing two."

"If Cheng Ren and Cheng Yuan are both dead, then I will definitely become the next head of the Cheng family."

“I won. When I jumped out of the window, I kicked Cheng Yuan away. Because we fought for a while, it was too late, and we both fell into the water. We are both from the south, and we live near the water and are good swimmers.”

"Seeing that Cheng Yuan wasn't moving under the screen, I guessed he must have been knocked unconscious, so I ignored him and floated up..."

After Cheng Ying finished speaking, it was as if all his strength had been drained. He covered his face and started sobbing again.

Zhou Zhao glanced at him quietly, then walked towards the door. When she reached Chen Jiyuan, she smiled at him and said, "Thanks to you."

Chen Jiyuan's eyes instantly shone brighter than the stars in the sky. He stared intently at Zhou Zhao, "Sister Zhao, call me anytime you need anything. I won't..."

Before he could finish speaking, he felt a huge shadow appear in front of him. When he looked up, he was met with Su Changying's profile.

Chen Jiyuan was startled and took a step back, crashing directly into the wall.

He clutched his chest, stood on tiptoe and pressed himself against the wall, wishing he could melt into it. That was Su Changying!
The group went outside, and Min Zangzhi had Na Chengying sign and put her fingerprint on the document. Then a jailer came in and took Na Chengying to the prison.

Chen Jiyuan breathed a sigh of relief and walked up to the three witnesses. "Please go to Min Wenshu to sign and affix your seals."

This time, the fisherman walked at the very back. He reached out, wanting to pat Chen Jiyuan, but then withdrew his hand and firmly put his hands behind his back.

“Young man, of the three unfilial acts, the greatest is to have no offspring. To try to break a rock with an egg, or to fly into a flame like a moth... is like me trying to catch fish with every rod I cast—absolutely impossible.”

Chen Jiyuan was completely bewildered.

Perhaps he hasn't read enough books, otherwise how could he not understand what people are saying?
……

After leaving the place where Cheng Ying was being interrogated, Zhou Zhao did not stop and went into the next room.

The room was pitch black; you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

When you're in a place like this, you can't see, but your ears suddenly become clear. Standing here, she could clearly hear what the fisherman was saying to Chen Jiyuan in the next room.

Before Zhou Zhao could speak, Su Changying had already taken out a tinderbox and lit the torches in the room.

The world suddenly brightened, and the old man and the young man huddled in the corner immediately raised their hands to shield their eyes.

Zhou Zhao looked at Wang Xun and his grandson Wang Chang in front of him.

"You two heard it, didn't you? Cheng Ying's testimony just now."

The problem with the main beam of the Star-Picking Tower is something no ordinary person could accomplish. Such a massive pillar must be personally selected by a seasoned craftsman with years of experience in the field. Even Chu You, who drew the plans, is just a newcomer and needs to learn from the master craftsman.

When Zhou Zhao saw that "big pillar with a leather backing", he kept thinking, among Chu Hang's many subordinates, who could "steal the beam and replace the pillar" without making a sound?
Unless Cheng Ying is an idiot, she would never choose to poison Cheng Ren in public on the opening day of Zhaixing Tower.

There is only one possibility: he knew something was going to happen at the Star-Picking Tower.

How could he know?

Zhou Zhao then had a bold conjecture.

"Why would you think of us? Just because I'm a respected old carpenter in the Star-Picking Tower?"

Wang Xun looked at Zhou Zhao intently, his eyes filled with sorrow, yet also with a glimmer of hope.

Zhou Zhao shook his head. "Because you said your wife was seriously ill and needed a lot of money, you caused all sorts of trouble and gave Wang Liu something to hold against you. Isn't that strange? If your wife was really seriously ill and needed money to save her life, you should have asked Chu Hang for a large sum of money to save her long ago."

"Where would you find so much money to give to Wang Liu, who's extorting you?"

“You all admitted that Wang Chang committed murder, but you lied about this because you were waiting, waiting for your scheme to succeed, waiting for something to happen at Zhaixing Tower.”

"If I'm not mistaken, even without Cheng Ying as an unexpected eyewitness, you would have confessed after the collapse of the Star-Picking Tower, and the Court of Justice would have sent corpse retrievers to the East River to find the mummified corpse hidden in the pillar..."

"Who exactly is the mummified corpse inside that large pillar?"