I relied on a system to prolong my life in ancient times.

Chapter 120 Murder Case 3

"Let's go check out the back hill first," Xiao Qinian said, wanting to go to the scene of the crime.

Everyone went to the back mountain and, guided by Chen Lan, arrived at the place where they first found Old Lady Zhu.

There was nothing suspicious on the ground, so Xiao Qinian ordered the constables to search the surrounding area to see if they could find anything.

Xiao Siyue also looked around, but found nothing.

Suddenly, a constable pulled something out of the bushes nearby and shouted, "Sir, we've found something here!"

Xiao Siyue quickly followed Xiao Qinian and discovered that what was in the grass was actually a piece of jujube paste cake.

"Take the pastry away for testing immediately to see if it contains any poison." Xiao Qinian was delighted to see the pastry; it might be the key to solving the case.

"Yes," someone immediately wrapped the pastries in a handkerchief and took them away.

It was getting late, and the case had made a slight breakthrough, so Xiao Qinian planned to return to the yamen. Of course, he left someone to keep watch over the place when he left.

On the way back, Xiao Qinian must have been thinking about the case the whole time; his eyebrows were practically furrowed into a caterpillar shape.

"Dad, are you still thinking about the case?" Xiao Siyue couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, this case seems a bit difficult to handle." After all, there's no deep-seated hatred involved, and it's not something that would warrant taking someone's life.

Another point is that there are absolutely no witnesses.

"Dad, don't worry. If it's man-made, there will definitely be flaws." Xiao Siyue could only comfort him. She had been watching all day and hadn't found anything wrong with it.

"Yue'er is right." Xiao Qinian was very pleased with his daughter's comfort.

"Dad, we can ask the villagers for information tomorrow." Xiao Siyue thought that they couldn't keep focusing on the Zhu family, since the village wasn't big and everyone knew each other.

“Yes, that’s what Dad thinks too.” Xiao Qinian agreed wholeheartedly.

"Yue'er, are you tired today? Do you want to go again tomorrow?" Xiao Qinian patted Xiao Siyue's little head.

"I'm not tired, I'll go again tomorrow." Of course she wanted to go; she still wanted to know who the murderer was.

“Alright, then tomorrow, Father will bring Yue’er with him.” Xiao Qinian agreed immediately.

The two chatted along the way and soon returned home.

The next morning, Xiao Siyue followed Xiao Qinian to Yuhe Village again.

It seems that nothing major usually happens in the village, but now that a murder has occurred, the villagers are very enthusiastic, and even those who have nothing else to do are coming to see what's going on.

However, this also happened to make Xiao Qinian's investigation much faster.

"Fellow villagers, does anyone know anything about the Zhu family?" Xiao Qinian asked, looking at the villagers surrounding him.

As soon as he opened his mouth, the villagers started chattering enthusiastically.

The noise was so loud that Xiao Qinian and the others couldn't hear a single word clearly.

"Ahem, I know everyone is very concerned about the case and wants to help me, but let's take it one at a time. Please don't rush." ​​Xiao Qinian coughed twice and waited for everyone to stop talking before speaking.

"I, I'll speak," a woman rushed out hurriedly.

“Okay, ma’am, you go ahead and speak,” Xiao Qinian said politely.

"That old woman Zhu is no good. She's greedy for small gains. Before we even had a chance to pick up the rice stalks after harvesting, she took them all and she won't admit it." The woman started complaining as soon as she arrived.

"That's right, we haven't found any eggs for several days in a row. I was wondering if there was something wrong with the chickens, but it turns out that this old woman secretly took them all," another woman said angrily.

"Ahem, what's the relationship like among their family members?" Xiao Qinian asked, quickly stopping the others who were also eager to join in.

"Well, I do know a little about that. The family isn't very harmonious. Old Mrs. Zhu is very domineering and always makes trouble. She's the boss at home. Besides doting on her only son, Zhu Chong, she either beats or scolds Zhu Chong's father, who is her son-in-law." The woman's eyes were full of contempt as she spoke.

"That's right, that's right! And Old Lady Zhu isn't good to her daughter-in-law either. Her daughter-in-law has been married for over two years and hasn't gotten pregnant yet. I always hear Old Lady Zhu cursing her daughter-in-law as a barren hen, saying she wants to divorce her and let Zhu Chong marry another one." An old woman rushed out from the crowd and stood in front of the woman, saying excitedly.

"Yes, Auntie is right. Not only that, I also heard that Old Lady Zhu has been giving her daughter-in-law some kind of fertility remedy from who-knows-where for some time now." The woman nodded in agreement.

"I've heard that too. Old Mrs. Zhu even bragged to me that her daughter-in-law is sure to give her a big, fat grandson." As she spoke, the old woman couldn't help but think that her own daughter-in-law was not pregnant either. She had originally planned to try to get the recipe from Old Mrs. Zhu if Chen Lan really got pregnant, so that her daughter-in-law could try it too.

"Oh, I think that old woman Zhu is lying. With Chen Lan's thin body, how could she possibly give birth to a big, healthy boy?" The woman pouted, not quite believing it.

"Indeed, Old Mrs. Zhu has been tormenting her daughter-in-law. Ever since Chen Lan married into the family, she has done almost all the housework. Look at Chen Lan, she's only in her early twenties, but she looks like she's in her thirties," the old woman said, her face full of regret.

"Yes, yes, they look older than me." The woman agreed, and even touched her own face.

Seeing that the two of them were already chatting as if no one else was around, Xiao Siyue quickly looked at Xiao Qinian.

Xiao Qinian looked helpless and had no choice but to interrupt the two of them.

"Cough cough, all done."

The two were a little confused when Xiao Qinian interrupted them. After they realized what had happened, they felt embarrassed, glanced at Xiao Qinian, and immediately hid in the crowd.

"Alright, thank you all for your help. I understand. You may go about your business now," Xiao Qinian said, standing up to express his gratitude.

After everyone else left, only Xiao Qinian and a few others remained.

They also learned a lot from what the villagers had just said.

The Zhu family has many problems and is not as it appears on the surface. They had previously focused their investigation on outsiders, but now it seems that the members of the Zhu family are also highly suspicious.

“Sir, when Chen Lan came to report the case, she was crying so sadly that I thought the relationship between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was very good. But it seems that’s not the case now,” said Xiao Qinian’s clerk.

“This isn’t just a bad relationship, it’s extremely bad. So Chen Lan should be happy that Old Lady Zhu is dead,” a yamen runner chimed in.

"That's not necessarily true. We should respect the dead. Now that the person is dead, all past unpleasantness has turned to ashes."

“That makes sense. What about Old Master Zhu? Zhu Chong once said that Old Master Zhu fell ill because he was too heartbroken over the death of Old Lady Zhu.”

"This...maybe it's the same principle," the constable said somewhat uncertainly.

"Alright, it seems we should go and find the Zhu family again to get to know them better," Xiao Qinian interrupted their conversation.