Ning Dao Covered with Snow

Chapter 246 Interrogation
Yan Ciwan felt that there might be clues on the road from the study to Xie Li's residence, but she was not able to move now and could not go there in person, so she had to ask.

"Do you have a geomancy map of the governor's mansion?"

Ah Feng immediately responded: "Yes, it is in this study."

He first confessed his crime to the chief, then stood up, walked to the bookshelf against the wall, stood on tiptoe and stretched out his arms, and pulled out a scroll from the top shelf.

This is the geomancy map of the governor's mansion. A Feng handed the map to Si Buping, who unfolded it and placed it on the desk.

Yan Ciwan stood up with the help of Xiao Wang and walked to the desk. Chaolu also came over at this time.

They found the location of the study in the map, and then used it as the starting point and Xie Li's residence as the end point, and found three routes.

The murderer must have been extremely cautious after killing someone that night, and he must have chosen the most secretive route.

Among the three routes, one goes through a bamboo forest, passing through a garden and a pond. The entire route is a tree-lined path and is very secluded. As long as you are careful, you will hardly meet anyone along the way.

Yan Ciwan's fingertips landed on the picture, gently tapped the spot that represented the pond, and asked, "Is this the pond where Xie Chusong threw away the paper cutter?"

Xiao Wang responded: "It should be here."

Yan Ciwan looked at Si Buping, who said that he had sent people to drain all the water from the pond, and that the palace soldiers were now searching every inch of the pond carefully, and that there should be results soon.

As soon as he finished speaking, Fu Bai arrived at the door of the study.

"Your Excellency, I have found the paper cutter that Xie Chusong discarded in the pond. I also found something else. Please take a look."

Everyone looked up at the door and saw Fu Bai walking in with a tray.

On the mahogany tray was a shiny paper cutter and a roll of wet memorials.

Yan Ciwan's eyes lit up. This was like a pillow being delivered just when he was dozing off. It was so timely!

Si Buping handed the paper cutter to Chaolu and asked her and Yuejin to go and examine Xie Tanyu's body and compare the size of the wound with the paper cutter.

Chaolu and Yuejin left the study together.

The memorial was placed on the desk and Si Buping unfolded it. The entire piece of silk was soaked and the words on it were completely blurred.

It is obviously impossible to identify the murderer with such a memorial.

Fu Bai said dejectedly: "When I found it, it was already like this. I tried my best but couldn't restore the writing on it."

Si Buping frowned and pondered over his next strategy.

Yan Ciwan's gaze fell on the lower left corner of the memorial, where there was a red mark, probably left after the ink had spread.

Generally, only the completed memorial will be stamped with the seal, indicating that the memorial has been completed.

She smiled slyly: "I have a way that may make the prisoner confess. I wonder if the chief is willing to cooperate?"

Si Buping looked at her and motioned for her to speak.

"First, we need to write a confession and have Ah Qin sign it..."

……

Inside the government prison, the cell door was suddenly opened, and the jailer rushed in and grabbed the thank-you gift that was sitting on the ground.

Xie Li was no longer the high-spirited judicial officer. Now he was a prisoner, wearing a shabby and dirty prison uniform, with messy hair and mottled scars on his body from being tortured. He hadn't eaten for a day and had no strength left in his body.

When the jailer caught him, he had no power to resist and could only be dragged out in shackles like a dead dog.

He was dragged all the way to the room at the end of the cell block.

Xie Li, who had served as a judicial officer, was very familiar with this place. He knew that this was a room used for temporary interrogation of prisoners and that the torture chamber was next to it.

The door of the torture chamber was closed at this moment, but bursts of crying and wailing could be heard coming from inside.

The thank-you gift was thrown roughly to the ground.

He raised his head with difficulty and saw Yan Ciwan limping in from the side door on crutches, with Chaolu following behind her.

When Yan Ciwan walked to the table, Chaolu helped her sit in the chair and put away her crutches.

Yan Ciwan looked at the thank you gift on the ground and said with a smile: "Don't lie down, come and sit down."

Xie Li gritted his teeth and endured the pain as he slowly got up. He leaned on the edge of the table and sat in a chair, asking in a hoarse voice, "Why are you interrogating me? Where is the leader?"

Yan Ciwan said: "The chief minister is very busy, and I happened to be free, so he sent me to interrogate you."

Xie Li curled his lips and said disdainfully: "Who do you think you are? What qualifications do you have to sit here and judge me?"

"I knew you would say that. This is what the Grand Chamber gave me." Yan Ciwan said as he took out an inner guard token from his sleeve pocket. "You should recognize this, right?"

Xie Li glanced at the token and sneered, "I didn't expect the Inner Guards would employ a young girl. It seems the Grand Master has really lost his mind!"

Yan Ciwan put away the token and said slowly: "I think you are the one who is really confused. As a judicial officer, you broke the law, colluded with rebels, and murdered the governor. Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, even if you have ten lives, they are not enough for you to waste like this."

Xie Li denied it, saying, "I didn't kill Governor Xie."

Yan Ciwan looked at him with a half-smile: "It's already this time, you still don't want to tell the truth?"

"Yes, it's already come to this point. My collusion with the Five Gods has been confirmed. My life is definitely not going to be saved. What else do I have to hide?"

Xie Li showed an attitude of giving up everything.

"The reason why you still refuse to tell the truth is because you want to save Aqin. To be more precise, you want to save the baby in her belly. After this incident, both you and the Xie family will be ruined. You don't want the Xie family to be extinct, so the baby in Aqin's belly must live."

When Xie Li heard the name Aqin, his face began to turn ugly.

He stared at Yan Ciwan and said gloomily, "I don't even know any Aqin. Don't even think of framing me for personal gain!"

"Really? But Aqin said that she had been pregnant with you two years ago. The doctor has checked her pulse and found that she is indeed two months pregnant. She has also admitted that she poisoned Governor Xie. This is her confession." Yan Ciwan pulled out a folded confession from his sleeve pocket, unfolded it and placed it on the table.

Xie Li's eyes fell on the confession, which was covered with densely written words.

Yan Ciwan said leisurely: "Aqin said that you gave her the medicine. You asked her to put the medicine in the tea of Governor Xie. After the effect of the medicine took effect, Governor Xie fell into a coma. He took the opportunity to kill him and stole the memorial that Governor Xie had just written. Aqin did not completely trust you. She suspected that you were hiding something from her, so she quietly hid near the study. That night she saw you sneak into the study and leave in a hurry soon after. She followed behind you and saw you passing through the bamboo forest and the garden. When you passed the pond, you threw the memorial into the pond..."

Xie Li slammed the table, interrupting her.

"This confession is false, you are deceiving me!"

Yan Ciwan pointed at the confession on the table and said, "Take a look for yourself. There are Ah Qin's signature and fingerprints on it. Based on Ah Qin's confession, we have found the memorial you discarded in the pond. We have both witnesses and evidence. You cannot deny it."