Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 373 Clues to Prove Innocence

Zhou Zhao listened and sighed inwardly.

"Have Fan Yin sent you any tales of the strange and supernatural these past few days? The tales that Song Yu sold to Fan Yin should be all the stories he wrote, not six but seven."

The first story is about this tattered bamboo slip in his hand.

At this time, his writing style was still very immature, and the content did not appear gloomy or terrifying, nor did it contain many unspeakable words. He wrote a story about a scholar who fell in love with a pear blossom fairy, and his words were filled with the innocent excitement of youth.

Fan Lishen watched the entire investigation last night and immediately understood what Zhou Zhao meant. His face grew even paler.

"He sent over a few trunks and specifically mentioned that he had found some good books and asked Uncle Fu to put them on my desk."

But these days, I haven't been in the mood to read it at all, and I don't even know if there are any books by Song Yu in it.

Fan Lishen said with a bitter smile, "There's definitely something to it that he was trying to frame me. I hadn't thought that Song Yu had bought Fan Yin's services to deal with me.

Zhou Zhao shook his head. "The person behind this is meticulous and must have already found out."

Xiao Li was different from Song Yu; he didn't consider her a target of his deception, so when I asked him, he only mentioned six people. And we haven't verified the existence of a seventh person, which gave him an opportunity.

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he looked at the corpse on the bed.

She stepped closer and gently picked up a pear blossom petal from Xiao Li's chest.

"Did you have an alibi before you went to the crime scene with Ah Huang last night?"

Fan Lishen shook his head. "No, I went to stay at Ahuang's Chu Prince's Mansion. But Ahuang doesn't like people, so there are only a few servants serving him, and they are all concentrated in one corner. The main courtyard is where he uses to examine corpses, so no one lives there at all."

It was too terrifying there, so I found the courtyard closest to Ah Huang and settled down. There was no one to serve me in that small courtyard, and I slept alone.

Later that night, I suddenly heard a commotion in Ah Huang's courtyard. I got up to investigate and heard that he had a case to examine, so I went out with him.

I was alone throughout the entire period, so I have no alibi.

Zhou Zhao was not surprised, as Chu Yi was the only person in her courtyard.

It was common knowledge in Chang'an that Ah Huang disliked living people, and it was no secret that the Prince of Chu's residence had few servants. Some even mocked Ah Huang, saying he was born a wealthy servant and could never enjoy any real luxury.

Upon hearing this, Fan Lishen immediately lost her temper and berated the man, who then came to her to complain.

That very night, she led Su Changying to give that man a sound beating, so badly that he didn't dare to leave the house for half a month.

Whether it was Grand Commandant Huo or Marquis of Huaiyang, the people who orchestrated this were well aware of it.

As long as Fan Lishen was not in the same room as Ahuang, then he would definitely not have an alibi.

Unless absolutely necessary, Ah Huang would never share a room with someone else.
At the banquet, Song Yu only boasted about the other six girls and didn't mention Xiao Li. So, the person who knew there were seven stories was Fan Lishen, who had obtained the complete copy of Song Yu's stories...

Now he has been caught red-handed, it's a series of interconnected events, and he has no way to defend himself.

Zhou Zhao pondered for a moment, then looked at Su Changying and asked, "How did the Northern Army receive the news that a murder had occurred here?"

Such a perfect timing couldn't possibly be a coincidence; someone must have been manipulating it.

Su Changying beckoned the squad leader over. This man was a big, burly fellow with a full beard.

He looked closely at Zhou Zhao's face, then looked at Su Changying with some envy. The future general's wife is really beautiful!

"Reporting to the General, Lord Zhou, someone said they saw someone trespassing and heard strange noises, so we came. The man was about..." The squad leader said, pointing to Fan Lishen, "about the same height as Young Master Fan, with fair skin, wearing a black robe, and dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept for eight hundred years. He looks like a seasoned pro..."

As he spoke, he realized that he had been too rude and that it would leave a bad impression on the general's wife.

She cleared her throat again, speaking in a soft voice, "He had a red mole at the corner of his eye. I asked him his name and where he lived, and he said his name was Kang Xi and he lived in Wanliu Lane. When we came to check, we saw Young Master Fan, but when we turned around to look for him again, he was gone."

There was total silence.

Chang Zuoping snorted coldly, bringing everyone back to their senses. "Big, burly men, speaking in such a booming voice, are you Northern Army soldiers starving?"

Heaven knows how unpleasant it is to hear a tall, burly, rough-looking soldier speak like a kitten...

The squad leader smiled awkwardly, not daring to look at Su Changying.

He resumed his previous loud and boisterous voice, "I'm just afraid that my rough speech might frighten our general's wife!"

Su Changying, who had initially despised this shameless fellow, instantly brightened up upon hearing the words "General's wife."

He rolled his eyes at the squad leader and said coldly, "You lead your men to search for that man, whose name is Changrong. He is Fan Yin's personal attendant from Duobao Pavilion."

The centurion cupped his hands and shouted, "Yes, sir!"

The sound was deafening, and Chang Zuoping, who was closest to him, couldn't help but rub his ears.

I know you eat more than a pig!

Zhou Zhao shook his head speechlessly and looked at Fan Lishen questioningly.

Fan Lishen nodded, "It's undoubtedly Changrong."

She frowned and stood quietly in front of the corpse.

Unlike the previous two cases, this case occurred during the day, when people are awake. Although Xiao Li is blind, she shouldn't be sleeping in bed. Moreover, compared to other large mansions, this is an ordinary residence, with only one wall separating the two houses. Any noise could be heard by someone.

"What does Xiaoli usually do at this time? Is she completely blind?"

When Little Pear heard Zhou Zhao's question, he wiped his eyes and said, "She can only see blurry shadows and feel light. Although she can't see, she's not a burden and can do many things. After I leave in the morning, Little Pear will go to the kitchen to continue making pancakes. At noon, I will carry them out to sell a second time."

Zhou Zhao looked closely and, sure enough, there were still quite a few crumbs of dough stuck to Xiao Li's palm and under her fingernails.

So, Xiaoli was making pancakes in the kitchen when the murderer approached her from behind and drugged her. She didn't have time to struggle before passing out, hence the lack of defensive injuries. But a conscious person being covered would instinctively reach out to pry open the covering.

Although the drug was potent, she might not have the strength to pry open the enemy's hand or launch an attack.

However, she has sticky dough on her hands, which might be able to pick up clues.

Zhou Zhao had a sudden inspiration and moved closer to carefully examine the deceased's ten fingers.

Finally, she noticed a faint, almost invisible green stain on the index finger of the deceased's right hand, which had somehow appeared.

“Ah Huang, come and take a look. I smell a medicinal odor.”

Ah Huang quickly stepped forward, picked up the hand, and sniffed it. "It smells like ointment, just like frostbite cream."

Zhou Zhao curled her lips; she now had two pieces of evidence to prove Fan Lishen's innocence.