Daming's Bizarre Story: Painted Skin

Yang Xueshi glanced at Zhao Ran and didn't ask further.

The door opened with a "squeak", and Wu stepped in, with a stiff smile on her face, and whispered: "My lord, old lady." Then she consciously sat down on the chair opposite Zhaoran .

Zhao Ran raised his head and said, "Mr. Wu, do you know why I called you here?"

There was a look of grievance on Wu's face: "Madam, I know you suspect that I wronged Zhao Jing, but I really, really saw Zhao Jing coming out of the door."

With a clear smile: "No, I asked you to come because Zhao Min'er cleared up your daughter Xiuying's injustice just now, and the person who asked Zhao Jingqian to go to the sedan chair was not Xiuying, but herself. Since Xiuying's Cleared, then you need to explain a hole in your testimony."

"What, what loophole?"

Zhaoran leaned forward and looked at Mrs. Wu: "You said that you went after Xiuying after delivering the supper. It can be seen that the time was not far away. Xiuying also said that she opened the side door for Zhao Jing, which means that her time was in Zhao Jing Before. So the order of your arrival at the front yard should be Xiuying, you, Wu, and Zhao Jing. Now, Zhao Jing didn’t enter from the side door at all, but from the main entrance of A Daliu. At that time, your position was different. At the Chuihua Gate, facing the gate, then you have to explain how he jumped from your eyes to the sedan chair courtyard, raped your daughter Xiuying, and then wrestled with you?"

He approached Wu Shi and asked, "This loophole is what you want to explain."

Wu's teeth chattered up and down, and they clucked: "I am, I really saw Zhao Jing from the door..."

Zhao Ran said coldly: "You did see Zhao Jing coming in through the door, but this door is not the Yuanyue Cave Gate in the mansion, but the gate of the Zhao Mansion. You heard the shout that day, why didn't you rush in immediately? At that time, there was another person who attracted your attention, that is Zhao Jing who pushed in through the gate. If you ran to the sedan courtyard at that time, he would definitely see him, so you hesitated, but you Surprisingly, Zhao Jing also went to the sedan chair courtyard, and you deliberately rushed over to scuffle with Zhao Jing because you were afraid that your daughter's adultery would be found out."

Yang Xueshi raised his head. There was dense sweat on Wu's forehead, and he said clearly: "So you are the first person to frame Zhao Jing!"

Wu's body softened, and she slid down from the chair. She stepped forward and hugged Zhaoran's leg, sweating profusely: "Old lady, since my grandson is still young, please give me a way out." .”

"Give you a way out, why didn't you give Zhao Jing a way back then?" Zhao Ran looked at her and said.

Wu's whole body seemed to have collapsed, she covered her face and said: "Xiuying is also for our family. Back then, Xiuying's brother was working at the pier and asked the accountant to take advantage of his shortcomings, so Xiuying had to be wronged and followed the accountant. At that time, brother and sister Zhao Jing intended to marry our family, and I thought at the time... I thought it would be better to leave it to him than to leave it to someone else. Afterwards, the two families will get married, and I will eventually make up for Zhao Jing in the future."

"False!" Yang Xueshi was furious.

Mrs. Wu pulled Zhaoran and wept, "Our family lives in the Zhao Mansion. If the patriarch finds out about this, he will definitely drive us out of Dang Fishing Village. You have pity on us. In the next life, we will be Zhao Jing's cows and horses." .”

"The hatred of a lifetime will be avenged for the rest of my life. In the next life... Zhao Jing will forget who he is in the next life!" Yang Xueshi sneered.

Zhao Ran turned his head to the side, and suddenly felt that the words of this sour scholar were not all pleasant to the ears.

"You go, call Agui."

But Mrs. Wu just refused to follow her, and entangled her in every possible way.

Zhaoran had no choice but to open the door and shout a few times: "Ah Gui, Ah Gui, come here!"

It was Ah Da who came over after a while, he bowed and said, "Ah Gui went to the toilet."

Zhao Ran looked at him and said, "Go to the toilet? When did you go?"

"Just now." Ah Da squeaked and said, he glanced at Wu Shi who was crying on the ground.

----

While they were talking, Zhao Zhongbo rushed into the yard with a confused face and said, "My lord, Ah Kuan came to report just now, Xiu, Xiuying was killed."

Yang Xueshi got up abruptly, and Zhao Ran quickly stood up and asked, "Where was he killed?"

"In her own room in the back room."

"Take us there." Yang Xueshi ran out of the door, just as they ran out of the Yuanyue Cave Gate, they rushed past them and rushed into the Chuihua Gate, only to see the Xia Hua on his forehead trembling, leading the way.

Yang Xueshi looked at Zhaoran's back and couldn't help being speechless for a while.

Zhao Ran met Zhao Yingwen on the Chaoshou veranda halfway through his run, his face turned pale and he sat on the railing, as if he was a bit out of his wits.

"Why are you here?"

"It's young master, young master asked me to stay here and not move." Zhao Yingwen said with a pale face.

"Why did he let you stay here?"

"I, I found out that Xiuying was killed. I met the young master and Ah Kuan on the way here. The young master probably suspected me, so he told me to stay here and not move anywhere. He went to see the situation by himself." Zhao Yingwen bitterly typical.

"Lead the way!" Zhao Ran said.

Zhao Yingwen hesitated for a moment, then immediately answered "Yes", led the way ahead, and said as he walked: "Madam, you are wise, but no matter what, help me find out that I was wronged. When I went to the room, Xiu Ying is dead."

The two of them talked and soon reached the back room at the back, only to see a door in the courtyard wide open, Zhao Tianci was frowning looking at the female corpse on the ground.

Zhaoran stepped into the house, and Xiuying was lying face up on the ground with a knife stuck in her belly.

Yang Xueshi and Zhao Zhongbo also ran in, followed by Ah Kuan and Wu Shi.

When Wu Shi saw Xiuying's body, she screamed and passed out on the spot.

Seeing the corpse, Zhao Zhongbo couldn't help saying: "Who stabbed Xiuying to death?"

"She was not stabbed to death, but strangled to death." Yang Xueshi said.

"Strangled?" Zhao Ran asked, "Are you sure?"

Yang Xueshi glanced at him: "According to Song Ci's "Washing Injustice Records", the incisions made after death are neat, and the flesh is dry and white." He pointed to the fingerprint bruises on Xiuying's neck and said, "This is her The real cause of death."

"Someone strangled her and stuck a knife in her body." Zhao Ran murmured.

Zhao Zhongbo suddenly remembered something, and said, "Where is Zhao Min'er?"

As soon as he asked, Zhao Min'er answered, "What do you want me to do?"

She stepped into the yard, glanced at the person at the door, and asked, "Why did you come to Xiuniang's yard?"

Zhao Zhongbo said: "Xiuying died, where did you go?"

Zhao Min'er seemed a little dazed and said, "I was in a bad mood, so I went out for a walk in the garden, who died?"

"It's Xiuying." Zhao Zhongbo repeated.

Zhao Min'er took a few steps, stepped into the yard and saw Xiuying's body, she opened her eyes wide, crying and laughing, "Good death, good death."

"Xiuying!" Ah Kuan said, "Min'er, did you kill Xiuying?"

Zhao Min'er turned her head and sneered: "I think I killed this bitch with my own hands. If I could beat her, I would have killed this bitch in the side hall this morning!"

Zhao Zhongbo calmed down and said, "Xiuying has a lot of strength, the one who can strangle him should be a man."

Zhao Yingwen seemed to be grabbing a life-saving straw, and kept shouting: "I, I am just a weak scholar, and my strength is not much stronger than a woman. It is impossible to strangle Xiuying to death?"

But no one answered him.

Wu Shi still didn't wake up, Zhao Zhongbo had no choice but to send someone to take her to the room to rest first.

----

Several people returned to the side hall in the front yard, only Ah Da and Zhao Xiangli were inside, Zhao Zhongbo asked, "Where is Ah Gui?"

Ah Da stammered: "Yet, I haven't seen him yet."

Zhao Ran's expression changed and he said, "Send someone to look for A Gui!"

Zhao Zhongbo left in a hurry, everyone in the side hall was sitting, Zhao Yingwen was in mourning, Ada and Zhao Xiangli were sitting quietly in the corner, only Zhao Tianci said dissatisfiedly: "People are starving to death, everyone is dying." Where have you been, no one even pours tea."

Only then did Zhao Xiangli open his mouth and said: "Young master, the patriarch said that this matter involves the reputation of our family, and the servants have a lot of chatter, so it's better not to ask them to come and serve you before you figure it out."

Zhao Tianci grinned disapprovingly, put his legs on the table, and Zhao Xiangli said with great difficulty: "Young master, the patriarch said that you should have a sitting posture, and a standing posture."

"You are not finished yet. You are just my concierge. Do you think you are my father?" Zhao Tianci said angrily.

They were arguing, and Zhao Zhongbo turned around again: "My lord, this, this Agui is gone too!"

Yang Xueshi frowned: "Could it be him..."

Zhao Yingwen immediately raised his head: "Could it be that Agui killed Xiuying, and he absconded in fear of crime?"

There was an "uproar" in the side hall, and there was a lot of discussion, and he walked out of the side hall clearly, looking at Twilight, thinking what was wrong with him?

----

"Why, you have no clue." Yang Xueshi came out and stood beside him and said coolly.

Zhao Ran sighed: "My lord, the little ones who have no clue are of no benefit to your big affairs."

"Then think about it quickly." Yang Xueshi glanced at him, "You can remember what went wrong."

Zhao Ran was a little surprised, turned his head and smiled: "I said Master Yang, when did you have so much confidence in me?"

Yang Xueshi lifted his delicate chin and said: "I have always distinguished between public and private. I don't like you, but you still have abilities."

Zhaoran almost laughed out loud, stretched his waist and said, "It's not really a fault, but I thought that the one who died first should be Ah Da."

"Why Ah Da?" Yang Xueshi was a little puzzled, but he had already stepped through the threshold and walked into the side hall.

----

The silence in the side hall has been restored, and Zhao Ran asked again: "Which of you can explain the ins and outs? I didn't tell you to wait in the side hall, so why did you come to the inner mansion?"

Zhao Tianci raised his chin indifferently, A Kuan glanced at him and said: "My lord, old lady, it's like this, the young master felt a little bit hungry and wanted to eat something, so he sent A Gui to the kitchen After Ah Gui left, the accountant said to go to the toilet, and then went out too. After he left, the young master felt that the accountant was suspicious, so he took me to follow secretly. Seeing that the accountant was running back in a panic, he was caught by us. Then the accountant said that Xiuying had been killed, so the young master asked me to go back and inform the second master."

He spoke vividly, with clear cause and effect.

Zhao Yingwen said in a flustered manner: "Your Excellency, it's so true that I didn't kill Xiuying. I didn't even step into this room."

"Since you haven't even stepped into this room, how do you know that Xiuying didn't commit suicide but she killed her?" Yang Xueshi asked.

Zhao Yingwen swallowed his saliva, and said with a wry smile: "I, I won't hide it from you two, in fact, I had an affair with Xiuying back then, and I originally wanted to wait for the patriarch to be in a good mood, so I would ask him to accept her as a concubine Who knows what happened later. Xiuying has a stubborn personality, and she is definitely not a person who would commit suicide. The more I think about it today, the more I feel that I may have wronged Zhao Jing back then, so I want to ask Xiuying, what is the truth? How is it?"

Yang Xueshi said with a frosty face: "I'm afraid you didn't come to ask Xiuying the truth, but to ask Xiuying if she confessed her adultery with you. Now that she has been killed, you are afraid that you will betray me." If you are accused of murder, you will honestly confess your adultery, but you know what to choose."

Zhao Yingwen said: "But I really didn't kill her. I saw her lying on the ground like this through the window, with a knife stuck in her stomach. I, I was afraid that others would suspect me, so I had no choice but to turn around and walk back. "

Zhao Zhongbo's face was full of anger: "Zhao Yingwen, hello, the patriarch has trusted and cultivated you for so many years!"

Zhao Yingwen's body softened, and he knelt on the ground and said, "Second Master, I really didn't kill Xiuying. You, you must tell the patriarch."

Zhao Min'er gave him a "pooh" with disgusted eyes.

Zhao Zhongbo grimaced and said, "Come here, take Zhao Yingwen to the ancestral hall for me."

Two guards who had been waiting outside the door came in, took Zhao Qingwen's arms and dragged them out. Zhao Yingwen showed a look of horror and shouted loudly: "No, no, I don't want to go to the ancestral hall. Second master, look at me I have worked hard for many years without credit, so please forgive me."

"Why are you afraid of going to the ancestral hall?" Zhao Ran suddenly asked.

Zhao Yingwen stammered: "I, I... I'm afraid of Zhao Jing."

Zhao Zhongbo said angrily, "Don't drag it away yet."

Zhao Yingwen was dragged away screaming all the way, Zhao Zhongbo said with shame on his face: "It's really unfortunate for the family, the big tree attracts insects and ants."

Zhao Ran said in relief: "Such a big family has a lot of hands and hands, and there are always some young people."

"Thank you, old lady, and please don't worry, even if the Zhao family overturns Dangyu Village today, we will still find Agui!" Zhao Zhongbo said angrily.

Zhao Ran raised his hand and said, "Of course Ah Gui wants to look for it, but don't worry. But it doesn't matter, without Ah Gui, we can still settle the rape case three years ago."

"Not Agui?" Zhao Zhongbo was a little puzzled.

Zhao Ran smiled and said: "Back then, Ah Gui and Ah Da were drinking together. If he didn't have the ability to separate himself, how could he rape Xiuying? Unless Ah Da, Zhao Xiangli, and Wu Shi lied for him at the same time."

Zhao Xiangli waved his hand and said, "I definitely don't."

Ah Da also shook his head quickly: "No, Ah Gui really did drink with me at that time."

"That's not Agui..." Zhao Zhongbo couldn't help asking.

"This person is not difficult to find among the six witnesses. Because besides him, only Zhao Yingwen had no circumstantial evidence under the circumstances at the time, but Zhao Yingwen was originally Xiuying's adulterer, so he was not the rapist, and there was a little He is right, he may not be Xiuying's opponent."

The person in the side hall lowered his head and thought for a while, then suddenly raised his head and looked at a person in disbelief.

Zhao Ran smiled and said: "That's right, only he has no witnesses. Under the circumstances at that time, Mrs. Wu and Zhao Jing, Ada and Agui, and Zhao Xiangli were an old man in this side hall. He had to go through Mrs. Wu to get to the sedan chair courtyard, so Impossible."

Zhao Xiangli quickly said "sin".

Zhao Ran turned to look at Ah Kuan and said, "Am I right, Ah Kuan?"

A Kuan smiled and said: "Old lady, didn't Zhao Jing run out from the gate of the full moon cave? Why do we need any other witnesses?"

Zhao Ran said "ah": "I forgot to tell everyone about the current situation. Zhao Min'er and Wu respectively revised their confessions. Zhao Jing was not called by Xiuying to the sedan chair courtyard, but Zhao Min. , then he couldn’t have walked through the side door, the fact is that he walked through the main door specially left for him by Ah Da. Mrs. Wu also confessed that Zhao Jing didn’t go to the sedan chair courtyard at all, and she wronged him.”

He smiled, "Where did that prisoner go? Outside the gate are Wu and Zhao Jing, and next to the wall is Zhao Yingwen. The only place he can escape is the side gate of the sedan chair, and the person outside the gate is you, Ah Kuan." , why didn't you see him?"

A Kuan involuntarily glanced at A Da, and said clearly: "Because it's very simple, you are the one who escaped from the side door, you go out from the side door, and then pretended to be passing by the main door, and helped Mrs. Zhao Jing, right?"

"Ah Kuan!" Zhao Zhongbo shouted.

Ah Kuan was always eloquent, but at this moment he couldn't speak a whole sentence.

Zhao Ran said indifferently: "You didn't lose your wallet at the gate, but in the room in the sedan chair, and asked Agui to pick it up. So in the past three years, Agui must have blackmailed you a lot. He Xing likes to drink, and if Xiuying's source of income is cut off, she will naturally find another one."

Ah Kuan said: "Old Madam, you have nothing to prove."

"Ah. You want evidence." Zhao Ran pointed at his back and smiled, "The sweat on the back is the evidence. How long does it take to walk from the back house to the front yard?"

Zhao Zhongbo said: "Every time you enter the courtyard, it will add about three feet to the main room, and the second entrance to the courtyard will be at most about ten feet long." (Note: about 40 meters)

"It's a ten-foot road, even if you walk, how can you sweat through your heavy clothes when you run back?"

"Little man, little man..."

Zhao Ran said, "Because you went back and forth on the road more than once, and you went to other places. You were very nervous at the time. You knew that Xiuying was dead. Under Zhao's deputy questioning, Agui will definitely send her back to you." You confessed, so you have to get rid of Agui first before this."

Everyone in the side hall looked at Ah Kuan, and said plainly: "Your time is very short, and the place where Ah Gui can be dealt with cannot be too far away, so Ah Gui doesn't need to go to other places to look for it, the second master only needs to search carefully in the Zhao residence. Just search it. Especially the warehouse, warehouse, and the well near the kitchen that Ah Kuan is in charge of.”

Zhao Zhongbo looked at Ah Kuan for a long time, then walked out the door of the side hall with a flick of his sleeves, and hurriedly searched the yard.

----

Ah Kuan stared at Zhao Ran with a haze on his face: "Old Madam, who are you?"

Zhao Ran grinned: "I'm a spirit woman who specializes in catching ghosts."

Ah Kuan suddenly moved, and rushed towards Zhaoran, Yang Xueshi shouted "Be careful!" and stretched out his hand to pull Zhaoran to his side.

But Ah Kuan turned around and ran towards Zhao Xiangli, grabbed the knife from the fruit plate and held him hostage: "Don't come over to any of you! I will kill anyone who comes over!"

"Help, help!" Zhao Xiangli said in surprise.

Ah Kuan dragged Zhao Xiangli back to the door, Zhao Tianci said with a "hmph": "Where do you think our Zhao Mansion is? If you want to run, don't think about it!"

He didn't care about Zhao Xiangli and rushed forward. A Kuan didn't expect that Zhao Tianci didn't care about Zhao Xiangli at all. He was stunned for a moment, and Zhao Tianci grabbed his hand and started wrestling. , the scene is very thrilling.

Ah Da wanted to go up to help, but he was afraid that the knife in Ah Kuan's hand would hurt Zhao Tianci by accident, so he was at a loss what to do there.

All of a sudden, there was a sound of "swaying", and Zhao Min'er raised the vase on the table and slammed it on A Kuan's head. With a sound of "poof", Zhao Tianci's knife stabbed into A Kuan's chest , blood spattered out, even Zhao Tianci himself was startled.

These few scenes were only in the blink of an eye. When Zhao Ran came to his senses, he found that Yang Xueshi was also holding him in a daze, as if he hadn't recovered yet.

"Haha, Xiaoxiao like this also wants to escape from this young master." Zhao Tianci kicked Ah Kuan on the ground, Zhao Min'er gave him a contemptuous look, turned his head and walked away.

Only then did Yang Xueshi realize that he was still holding Zhaoran in his arms, so he quickly let go, and Zhaoran stood up straight.

Zhao Tianci stretched out his hand and said, "Everyone saw it, he was the one who committed the murder first, I had no choice but to act."

Yang Xueshi said indifferently: "I will consider it myself."

----

As they were talking, there was a sound of footsteps coming from outside the door, and Zhao Zhongbo walked in with a lantern and two nurses carrying the wet body of Agui.

Zhao Zhongbo was startled when he saw Ah Kuan's body, Zhao Tianci said: "He kidnapped someone and wanted to escape, but I killed him to save someone!"

Ah Da hurriedly responded: "That's right, that's right."

At this moment everyone just remembered Zhao Xiangli, and helped him up from the ground, only to see that his neck was cut with a knife. Although it was not fatal, the wound was not shallow. Zhao Zhongbo quickly called someone to bring medicine to bandage Zhao Xiangli .

Only then did Zhao Ran point to A Gui's body and ask, "Did you find it in the well?"

"Exactly. Although Zhao's mansion is next to the lake, but because it is built on the rocks in the middle of the mountain, the well in the mansion is very deep." Zhao Zhongbo said with a dark face, "If you don't search carefully, I'm afraid the well will be flooded. Only by smelling it can we see the clue."

Zhao Tianci said with a disgusted expression, "I don't drink the well water soaked in corpses."

Zhao Min'er gave him another contemptuous look, and said, "Three of these seven witnesses are dead now, so what about the remaining four who wronged my brother?"

Zhao Zhongbo said: "Don't worry, the patriarch will definitely uphold justice for you!"

Seeing Zhaoran looking down at the knife, Yang Xueshi asked, "You... Do you have anything to say, Granny Feng?"

Zhao Ran said: "Who put the knife in this fruit plate here?"

The people in the side hall looked at each other and shook their heads, Ah Dao: "Just now everyone was not thinking, how could they think of eating fruit, who put a knife here, I really didn't think about it."

Zhao Min'er sneered and said, "Just now you were the only one in the hall, you said you didn't know that ghosts would believe it."

Ah Da was in a hurry: "Min'er, I didn't mean to wrong your brother. I was kind at the beginning, and I was afraid that you brothers and sisters without parents would be cheated. I never thought of what happened next." , there is no other way!"

Zhao Min'er turned her head away and ignored it, staring at the night outside, not knowing what she was thinking.

Zhao Zhongbo said with a tired expression: "Everyone is tired today. Tomorrow, the patriarch will hear the matter in the ancestral hall. Master Yang and the old lady will have dinner first. Let's call it a day."

Zhao Ran said, "That's also good."

Zhao Tianci said impatiently: "I'm almost starving to death." After he finished speaking, he walked away without caring about others.

----

Two corpses were carried out in the Zhao residence. Even if the clan leader's ban had been issued, everyone in the residence probably knew about it. They must have panicked for a while. This dinner seemed a lot more hasty than lunch.

Yang Xueshi and the people serving the food left, and then sat down and asked, "If Ah Kuan killed Ah Gui, and Zhao Tianci killed Ah Kuan, then who is the man who killed Xiuying?"