Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 209 The truth comes out
Li Mu looked at Zhou Zhao, whose honest face was now unusually ferocious. Without thinking, he turned and ran away.

But before he could run three steps, he stiffened and stopped.

Zhou Zhao, who had previously hung upside down behind him like a female ghost, now stood under the old locust tree in front of him, her hands behind her back, the night wind blowing her two hair ribbons, one black and one white, up and down, making her look like an omnipresent deity.

Li Mu felt a lump in his throat, and then he felt a sweet taste in his throat, and blood trickled down his chin.

"Zhou Zhao! Why?"

Zhou Zhao turned around and gave Li Mu a disdainful look. "Do I need to do anything to arrest a criminal?"

She looked Li Mu up and down. "I thought you were just a stupid person who couldn't even solve cases, but I never expected you to be such a useless puppet who can be manipulated by others."

"You're the one who's useless... What gives you the right to call me useless!"

Li Mu suddenly became agitated, his fists clenched tightly, "You're all the same, you all look down on people!"

I am a truly capable person, no less skilled than any of you, but a pearl is always hidden from view; the Court of Justice simply cannot see people like us. I refuse to accept this!

Zhou Zhao looked coldly at Li Mu, "What kind of pearl do you think you are? You're just a small jar with a big lid, thinking you're a water tank."

"You!" Li Mu was furious. "Zhou Zhao, if you weren't Zhou Buhai's daughter, would you be where you are today? If you didn't have such martial arts skills, would you know my secret?"

Zhou Zhao almost burst out laughing when he heard this.

She cupped her hands in a gesture of respect to Li Mu, "Thank you for praising my family's profound martial arts tradition, which far surpasses that of my father; thank you for praising my martial arts skills, although I could indeed take on eight of you with one hand. But despite the thanks, you are truly more useless than I thought."

"Do you think you were able to walk out of the Court of Judicial Review unscathed, and why did the Northern Army's squad leader allow you to pass through to find Cao Yuanxu?"

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he raised his chin and said, "Of course I know that you will definitely come looking for Cao Yuanxu, that scoundrel of a strategist."

Li Mu was stunned, frozen in disbelief.

Cao Yuanxu finally waited until Su Changying moved her foot. He endured the soreness all over his body, sat up, and stared straight at Zhou Zhao. "How did you know I would come to Chang'an? Even if you found out that Li Mu had handled the case wrongly, how did you guess that he colluded with me to commit a false case?"

Zhou Zhao looked at Cao Yuanxu and once again marveled at the man's keen insight.

Compared to him, Li Mu seemed brainless.

"Li Mu has been handling cases in Lujiang for many years without ever making any outstanding contributions. Case handling is not like martial arts training; you can't suddenly unlock your full potential and gain sixty years of martial arts skills from a senior master. Yet he has solved three major cases in a row and directly entered the Court of Justice. Something is definitely amiss."

You, Li Mu, and your father-in-law, who is also the commander of the Lujiang garrison, conspired together to create these three major cases and fabricated a court record, didn't you?

You, a ruthless person who even killed your own elders and relatives, and used a self-inflicted injury to deceive innocent women, did all this not to become a bodhisattva and send Li Mu to the heavens. You will surely follow Li Mu to Chang'an like a leech, taking advantage of the Qingguang Wine Shop to make a big splash.”

How could such a small county town contain such a wolfish ambition?

The Cao family were merchants. Cao Yuanxu wanted to establish herself in the capital, so she wove a beautiful dream for the ordinary Li Mu, making him unaware of his own capabilities.

"The stolen military pay has been recovered. Your father-in-law used Li Mu's investigation to eliminate his rivals. Shao Qingqing's abduction by the Black Tiger Stronghold bandits was a ruse you orchestrated to deceive that naive girl. Firstly, it was to get Xiao Hong to steal the wine recipe in the chaos, and secondly, it was to find a scapegoat for your third case."

The bandits didn't demand any money, so Shao Qingqing essentially vanished into thin air. How could Li Mu, a mere official, know she was at Black Tiger Stronghold, and how could he possibly mobilize the garrison to suppress the bandits? Suppressing the bandits is one thing, but leaving no one alive at Black Tiger Stronghold is obviously because you were afraid they wouldn't keep their mouths shut and would reveal your ruse.”

Zhou Zhao spoke with a mocking expression.

"The third case is the Cao family's locked room serial murder case. There was a vacancy in the position of the court clerk, which was a rare opportunity. Li Mu was worried that the case was not convoluted enough and would not catch the eye of the officials of the Court of Justice. So he added many strange elements to show off his ability to investigate the case. This resulted in a murder method that only insiders would know."

It just so happens that all those who could have inherited the Cao family's business have died, and it just so happens that when Shao Qingqing infiltrated the Cao family, Li Mu came out to catch her in the act.

"If it weren't for the two of you conspiring together, I truly wouldn't understand how such a coincidence could happen."

Cao Yuanxu looked at Zhou Zhao with deep eyes, but remained silent.

"The Shao and Cao families have a blood feud. For several days in a row, members of the Cao family have been mysteriously murdered in their homes. Under such circumstances, it is simply unreasonable that Shao Qingqing was able to find out the location of everyone's residence from the servants of the Cao family so that she could sneak in."

Under normal circumstances, the servants would not only keep quiet about it, but would also immediately report this suspicious matter to Li Mu, identifying Shao Qingqing as a suspect.

Why didn't Li Mu question Shao Qingqing beforehand, knowing she had a grudge against the Cao family and a motive for murder? It was to catch her in the act, so that when the Court of Justice reviewed the death penalty case, they would consider the evidence irrefutable and let her off easily.

Once the murderer has been caught at the crime scene, who would bother to ponder the case?

The Court of Justice has to handle more than just one or two cases every day.

"Because this case was premeditated, it is full of loopholes and cannot withstand close scrutiny. Because any human act will leave a trace. Especially when it was committed by a fool."

Cao Yuanxu is capable, but he is, after all, just a businessman and doesn't understand the proper procedures for handling cases.

Her first suspect was Cao Yuanxu, but Cao Yuanxu needed the cooperation of the investigating officials to carry out his series of schemes, including rescuing Shao Qingqing from the Black Tiger Stronghold and killing her to make her take the blame.

"There is a huge flaw in the story that you were drugged and nearly killed. If Shao Qingqing is not the murderer, then the murderer must be you and Li Mu. Because that night, the county officials set up an ambush outside your house, and you were already unconscious when Shao Qingqing went in."

If the murderer were someone else, Li Mu and the others lying in ambush outside would have seen the murderer drug you and enter your house. But they saw nothing but Shao Qingqing, which can only mean that you were the one who drugged you, and that you prepared the copper basin beforehand.

As Zhou Zhao finished speaking, he raised his chin and looked at Cao Yuanxu across from him.

Cao Yuanxu was alarmed by her gaze. "You have no evidence. I will not admit to what we just said."

Zhou Zhao raised an eyebrow. "Really? Are you sure you've killed all the constables who set up the ambush that day? And her too..."

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he looked at the woman who was still unconscious on the ground.

Then he raised his eyes and glanced at Li Mu, who was standing there on the verge of collapse.

So what if Cao Yuanxu is stubborn?

Who says his former ally won't become a fatal witness against him?