Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 304 I am not a murderer

Zhou Zhao lowered his eyes and looked at the purple-robed man's feet.

Su Changying noticed her gaze and instantly understood Zhou Zhao's meaning. He suddenly reached out and grabbed the purple-robed man's sleeve, then lightly leaped back to the snow next door, leaving a long trail of footprints that were particularly clear.

Before the man in purple robes could react, Su Changying grabbed him and flew back like an eagle snatching a chick.

Unlike before when she had pulled Zhou Zhao close, Su Changying let go of him without any hesitation.

The man in the purple robe suddenly lurched up and down, his stomach churning, and his head spinning. He swayed a few times like he was drunk, and subconsciously reached out to grab Xu Zhi's skirt.

Xu Zhi took a step back and pulled hard, tearing her robe out of the purple-robed man's hand.

Her ears were bright red, and she bit her lip but said nothing, her eyes filled with panic.

Zhou Zhao, observing this, looked at Su Changying questioningly, "How is it?"

Su Changying nodded. "The footprints are exactly the same size."

Zhou Zhao listened and chuckled, "You may not be very familiar with the skills of the coroners of the Court of Justice in examining corpses. There may be identical twins in this world, but there will never be two identical corpses."

People's teeth may wear down differently depending on the food they like to eat from childhood to adulthood.

If the skin and flesh are injured, a scar will be left; if the bone is injured, then a clear mark will be left on the human skeleton, no matter how many years have passed.

These are irrefutable pieces of evidence, and no matter how you try to argue, they cannot be changed.

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he looked at the purple-robed man with an unpleasant expression, "Now I'll ask you one last question: are you Song Ran or Song Ying?"

The man in the purple robe paused noticeably, his head bowed, making it impossible to read his expression.

"You only get one chance. I advise you to think carefully before you speak. After all, who lies? Of course, it's someone with a guilty conscience, hmm... very likely the murderer! Don't you agree, Xu Zhi?"

Xu Zhi glanced at the purple-robed man beside her, her face pale, and whispered, "Song Ying."

Sure enough.

Zhou Zhao was not surprised at all. From the moment Xu Zhi subconsciously pulled out her clothes earlier, she was certain of the identity of the man in front of her.

Song Ying smiled sadly, then suddenly raised his head. "I am Song Ying. The person who died was Song Ran. I killed Song Ran and then wanted to take his place. Because the person I love in A-Zhi is not just Song Ran, but also me."

As Song Ying spoke, she looked at Xu Zhi beside her.

Xu Zhi swayed and lowered her head to avoid Song Ying's gaze.

Song Ying's eyes were bloodshot. "A-Zhi, I killed Song Ran. I hate him. Why didn't he cherish what he had after he got it... I was the one who wanted to marry you in the first place..."

Xu Zhi froze, and after a long while, she finally sighed.

She didn't look at Song Ying, but instead looked apologetically at Zhou Zhao, "I'm sorry, Lord Zhou, I could tell from the beginning that he was Song Ying, not Song Ran. After all, the current Song Ran would never bring back snacks anymore."

She tilted her head and looked at the high courtyard wall, then turned back to look at Song Ying.

"Please don't bring up 'likes' or anything like that again, Aying. I just want my son to grow up with a clean conscience. If you still remember that you are his uncle, then don't say these irrelevant things and drag us into an unjust situation."

As Xu Zhi spoke, she bowed and cupped her hands in greeting to Zhou Zhao.

"Please don't spread what happened today. Song Ran is dead, and there will be a lot of gossip around a widow's house. I don't want my children to hear any rumors in the future."

Ah Ying, you don't need to lie and take the blame for me, because I didn't kill Song Ran at all. It would be a lie to say I don't resent him. Placing An Ning right next to me was like stabbing me in the heart. Countless times I've wanted to kill him, and then kill myself.

But I can't. I have my own child, and he can't have a mother who killed his father. That would ruin his life.

Therefore, I did not kill Song Ran. I did go to serve my grandmother these past few days and did not stay here.”

As Xu Zhi spoke, her expression was exceptionally calm. She looked at Su Changying, who was standing close to Zhou Zhao, and a hint of melancholy flashed in her eyes.

"My family was poor, and I only met Song Ran by chance. Song Ran treated me very well back then, and he left the Song family to marry me. He went through a hard period with me. He was a rich young master who didn't know how to do anything and couldn't even earn a penny."

In order to force us to separate, Song Ran's father deliberately set up a trap. He kidnapped me and Song Ran, choosing one of us to live and the other to die.

Their intention was to separate us, to expose each other's ugliness. They also believed that a young master like Song Ran could never truly fall in love with an ordinary woman. Song Ran, without hesitation, chose to let me give birth…

As Xu Zhi spoke, a hint of sorrow lingered in her smile.

"The Song family had no choice but to agree to let Song Ran marry me. Isn't that incredible? It seemed like a romance straight out of a storybook, but it changed in just five years. Song Ran fell in love with An Ning."

Anning came looking for me, and when I saw her, it was as if I were seeing myself from back then.

Xu Zhi smiled sarcastically as she said this, "I grew up without a mother and was an only child raised by my father. We were poor, but I was stubborn and unwilling to bow my head easily, as was Anning. That day, Anning told me that they had been kidnapped, and Song Ran chose without hesitation to let her live while he himself died."

She said she was from a good family and wouldn't normally become someone's mistress, but it was just...

In that instant, I found it strange myself, I suddenly stopped hating Song Ran.

It doesn't matter what he does, I just want to raise my child well.

Zhou Zhao recalled the innocent appearance of the little boy he had seen before and couldn't help but sigh in his heart that Xu Zhi had indeed raised that child exceptionally well.

“When I heard you say that they were tied to a wooden frame in a secret room and murdered, I guessed that Song Ran had used the same trick again… only this time, he really died.”

Hearing Xu Zhi's words, the faces of everyone present turned extremely grim...

Chen Yin didn't dare look at Min Zangzhi, fearing that he would go crazy and beat him up again.

Min Zangzhi's face was deathly pale. He suddenly turned to look at Zhou Zhao and said, "Zhou Zhao, I want to go first."

As he spoke, he took off running towards the courtyard gate. He ran exceptionally fast and disappeared from sight in an instant.

Zhou Zhao watched him leave without paying him any attention, and instead looked at Guan Lin, the attendant standing next to Song Ying.

Guan Lin was so frightened by Zhou Zhao's gaze that he knelt down on the ground with a thud.

"My lord, I did not kill anyone. Young master... Song Ran has ingratiated himself with Young Master Chen and Young Master Huo. The patriarch instructed Young Master Ying to follow his orders."

He wanted to mingle with Anning and didn't want to go to the mass grave to retrieve corpses in the freezing cold, nor did he want to be discovered by Young Master Chen and be seen as unfaithful. So he had Young Master Ying impersonate him and go out of the city to retrieve two unidentified corpses from the mass grave. Indeed, because the wind was too strong, we temporarily sought shelter at the Xiaolin Tavern outside the city; the tavern owner should still remember us.

Young Master Ying did indeed catch a cold that day, and I even asked the mistress of the house to prepare medicine for him.

Later, because of the traitors and the fighting, the city gates were closed. As of this morning, the Northern Army was still strictly checking people entering and leaving the city. We dared not move the corpses, so we returned.

Upon returning, as he passed by the neighbor's house, Young Master Ying saw the door ajar and, assuming Young Master Ran was still inside, stormed in angrily. What he found was…”

As Guan Lin spoke, he looked up at Chen Yin, "We were originally going to the Court of Justice to report to the authorities, but on the way there, I was so scared that I accidentally bumped into a young lady..."