Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 368 Am I the Murderer?

Song Yu looked at Zhu Yang and Xu Xian questioningly.

The four of them were classmates. That day, he finally made money by writing storybooks instead of relying on his looks, and he was overjoyed. That's when he drank with them. He Jiang also brought Chen Shanhai with him.

"What do you mean by becoming a different person? I have no recollection of that at all. Zhu Yang, Xu Xian? He Jiang is lying to me, isn't he?"

Zhu Yangsheng has an oval face with no sharp angles no matter how you look at it. He shook his head at He Jiang, "I was drunk at the time and had already passed out on the table."

However, when I woke up, I saw that He Jiang's clothes were indeed torn, his eyes were red, and you were lying on the ground beside him. Chen Shanhai said that you were drunk and acting crazy, and he knocked you unconscious. Later, He Jiang told me not to tell you, so as not to affect our friendship.

They also said that in the future, when we're together, I absolutely mustn't let you drink too much. That's true, but I didn't see it.

Song Yu's face turned deathly pale instantly.

Seeing this, Xu Yang chimed in, "I went to the restroom and when I came back, I happened to see you lying on He Jiang, already unconscious. As for the rest, I shook Zhu Yang awake, and then it was just like he said."

Seeing that Song Yu looked unwell, He Jiang gently patted his shoulder.

“It’s alright, Song Yu. You’ve never done this before when you’re drinking. You’ve probably been too engrossed in writing about supernatural things lately, and that’s why you were momentarily distracted. You even called me Yun Niang and asked if I saw yourself in the mirror…”

As Song Yu listened, a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead, his lips trembled incessantly, and he crawled a few steps toward Zhou Zhao.

"Young Master Zhou, I have no recollection of this at all. I didn't go out tonight, so I couldn't possibly be the murderer."

I don't have this problem either! I...I...I..."

As Song Yu spoke, he covered his head, his eyes filled with confusion and fear, and he even lacked the confidence to speak.

"I really didn't kill anyone... I didn't kill Xie Yunniang or Tu Ying!"

As soon as Song Yu said this, the others in the room immediately erupted in an uproar.

Just as Zhou Zhao was about to speak, there was a noise at the door. An elderly couple dressed in plain clothes stood in front of the door and looked over nervously.

Han Ze nudged the two men and cupped his hands in greeting. "Young Master Zhou, as General Su instructed, we searched for people near Song Yu's house after dawn to see if we could find anything. As a result, we found two eyewitnesses."

The elderly couple, dressed in simple clothes, walked in shakily and knelt down on the ground with two thuds.

Zhou Zhaoguang felt his knees hurt just listening to it.

"What did you see?"

The old man glanced at Song Yu and said, "My name is Liu Dashan. My wife and I run a breakfast shop, and we always sleep late and get up early. When I finished preparing the filling and was about to go to bed, I saw Young Master Song sneaking out of the house."

We stayed in the shop, and the door wasn't completely closed; there was a crack in it.

Sometimes, a regular customer, Mr. Jun, would come here in the middle of the night when he was hungry and buy a meat pie.

There was already a curfew, so anyone coming out was particularly conspicuous.

Song Yu suddenly looked at the old man, his eyes bloodshot. He raised his hand and shoved the man to the ground. "You're talking nonsense! I didn't leave the house at all last night. I was at home the whole time! The person you saw wasn't me!"

As he spoke, he scrambled to Zhou Zhao's feet in a panic, reaching out to grab her clothes again.

But seeing the menacing Su Changying beside him, he withdrew his hand in fear. "Lord Zhou, please believe me, I really didn't go out, and I didn't kill anyone. Why? Why don't I remember anything? I...I...it wasn't me..."

Zhou Zhao raised an eyebrow with interest. She didn't look at Song Yu, but her gaze fell on Chen Shanhai's face. Her eyes flickered, and she asked.

"When did you see someone come out of Song Yu's house? It was dark after curfew, how could you tell that person was Song Yu? Did you see his face?"

The old man was taken aback and sat up from the ground.

He glanced at Song Yu with some fear, and dared not continue speaking.

Zhou Zhao looked on and reassured him, "Speak freely, this is the Court of Justice."

The old man nodded and counted on his fingers, "It should be 3:45 PM. Every day after I finish mixing the filling, I can hear the night watchman's gong coming from the back alley."

I didn't see Song Yu's face. He was wearing a cloak with a cape, but my wife recognized the cloak because she was a skilled seamstress. Song Yu had paid her to sew that cloak, and it was embroidered with green bamboo.

We were even speculating at the time that Young Master Song must have encountered some trouble, going out even though it was curfew.

"Did you see when he came back?"

The old man shook his head. "No, we went to sleep after we finished mixing the filling. We didn't get up until around 5 a.m. to knead the dough and make the pancakes. He should have come back before that. Our two houses are across from each other, so if he came back, we should have been able to see him."

Song Yu listened and shook his head frantically.

How could he be such a fool to be able to deceive so many young girls at the same time?
What's going on now? Could it be that his personality has drastically changed, and he went out and killed someone?

Perhaps it's karma for lying too much; now he can't even tell if he's fooled himself.

Could it be that he really is the murderer?

"I didn't go out, and I didn't kill anyone, so why are you all trying to harm me?"

Zhou Zhao pondered in his heart, his gaze falling on Fan Yin, who had remained silent throughout the room.

"Fan Yin, where did you go last night? Can anyone testify?"

Upon hearing this, Fan Yin stepped forward respectfully. He smiled, his eyes becoming even narrower, like a live fox.

"Reporting to Lord Zhou, I have been doing the accounting at Duobao Pavilion all day yesterday. The owner has run into trouble, and the head manager asked us to check the account books and hand them over to the young master after we have settled the accounts. So these days, we have been working day and night to sort out the accounts."

The Duobao Pavilion was brightly lit. We are a large store in Chang'an, with very complex inventory and accounting records. Seven people were involved in the liquidation, including Han Lin, the supervisor from the Imperial Household Department. They could all serve as witnesses for the culprit.

Han Lin is Han Ze's elder brother. The Duobao Pavilion makes a fortune every day. It would be impossible for His Majesty not to receive a share of the golden basin that Consort Fan is holding.

"Which distinguished guest bought Song Yu's book? On the day Song Yu invited people for drinks, did you see him suddenly change his temperament and attack He Jiang?"

Fan Yin shook her head. "I was preoccupied with worldly affairs and wasn't familiar with them, so I left after a short while. They weren't drunk when I left, so they don't know what happened afterward."

Actually, there were no distinguished guests. We gathered them to present to the young master. After I received them, I packed them into a box and handed them to Uncle Fu. They should already be on the young master's desk. No one else has seen them except me.

After all, our Treasure Pavilion receives many items every day; a storybook like this is really not worth mentioning.

As Fan Yin spoke, she met Zhou Zhao's gaze.

“Our young master is known to Lord Zhou.”