Chapter 123: Waiting By The Stump For The Rabbit
Lin Jianshan was caught off guard and got scratched squarely, leaving several bloody marks on his face.
He shook his head to dodge, angrily saying: “You crazy woman! I’m your man!”
Zhou Shi relentlessly chased and scratched him, and the two constables holding Lin Jianshan’s arms didn’t stop her, quietly watching the show, even tightening their grip on Lin Jianshan a bit more.
Liu Shi couldn’t just watch her own son get beaten, so she went up to pull Zhou Shi away and slapped her hard.
“Pa!”
This slap held back no strength at all, nearly knocking Zhou Shi over.
“Mother!” Zhou Shi covered her bright red face, looking at Liu Shi with tears in her eyes, her expression both aggrieved and helpless.
“He’s your man! He’s your sky! Who are you to lay hands on him?” Liu Shi said with a stern face, “Go home right now, don’t embarrass yourself here!”
Zhou Shi trembled under her glare, then looked toward Village Chief Lin, hoping her father-in-law could stand up for justice for her.
Village Chief Lin said expressionlessly: “Listen to your mother-in-law.”
Tears immediately fell from Zhou Shi’s eyes.
Liu Yuzhi stepped forward and softly comforted her, “Eldest cousin-in-law, let me help you back first.”
“Get lost!” Zhou Shi pushed her away, “You’re no good thing either!”
Liu Yuzhi stumbled from the push and fell to the ground.
“Yuzhi.” Liu Shi heartbrokenly helped her up, glaring furiously at Zhou Shi, “Yuzhi was kindly trying to help you, and this is your attitude?”
“She’s coveting my man, what attitude do you think I should have?” Zhou Shi wiped away her tears, sneered, turned around, pulled her son along, and strode home.
Liu Shi’s face was ugly, “You stand still for me!”
Her Yuzhi couldn’t suffer in vain.
Zhou Shi turned a deaf ear, her feet not stopping.
The villagers all made way for her, thinking it was rare to see Lin Dajia being tough in front of her mother-in-law Liu Shi for once.
It was the first time Liu Shi had been defied by her daughter-in-law Zhou Shi, her chest heaving violently with anger, her gaze at Zhou Shi’s back like a knife poisoned with venom, as if it wanted to carve a piece of flesh from her body.
“Aunt, I’m fine. Don’t let yourself get upset over me, or Yuzhi will feel heartbroken.” Liu Yuzhi shook Liu Shi’s arm coquettishly, softly comforting her, “Eldest cousin-in-law is in a bad mood, I understand. Don’t quarrel with her over me.”
“I’ll deal with her when we get back!” Liu Shi said darkly. Her eldest son had only slept with a few other women, and hadn’t brought them home. Now that woman was dead, what more did this Zhou Shi want?
She was actually throwing a tantrum at her man—she’d spoiled her!
If not for the fact that Zhou Shi had borne her family a precious grandson, she would have long told her eldest son to divorce her.
A hen that can’t lay eggs is only good for eating rice in vain!
She cursed inwardly, and once this matter was settled, she would definitely give this disobedient daughter-in-law a good lesson!
Dan Dajun ordered men to take Lin Jianshan away, and Lin Jianshan shouted: “I’m innocent! I really didn’t kill her! If I wanted to kill her, I wouldn’t leave the silver hairpin for her and create trouble for myself.”
Dan Dajun watched coldly, his intuition telling him that Lin Jianshan wasn’t lying.
But if Lin Jianshan wasn’t the killer, then who was?
“Officer, there’s one more person you haven’t questioned.” Shang Wan gestured toward Chen Guifang, “She has no alibi either.”
Chen Guifang’s body stiffened, her hands twisting tightly, a flash of panic uncontrollably crossing her face.
Before Dan Dajun could ask, she volunteered, “I didn’t kill her!”
Dan Dajun narrowed his eyes, “Did you see the killer?”
“No.” Chen Guifang shook her head like a rattle drum, “Gui Shi was still alive when I saw her.”
It turned out Chen Guifang had noticed Lin Jianshan acting suspiciously, so she quietly followed him all the way to the reed marsh.
She was shocked to see Gui Shi, and what followed with the two rolling together made her so disgusted she nearly vomited up last night’s dinner.
She only came out after Lin Jianshan left, threatening Gui Shi with their adultery to demand the silver hairpin.
Gui Shi naturally refused and wasn’t afraid of Chen Guifang’s threats.
Anyway, she had already gotten the thing. If Chen Guifang told about the adultery, she would have run off long ago, and only Lin Jianshan would suffer.
Chen Guifang had no choice and was afraid of being scolded for being out too long, so she had to leave.
“I just wanted that silver hairpin.” Chen Guifang said, “Gui Shi was really still alive when I left.”
Coroner Xu examined Chen Guifang and said to Dan Dajun: “The killer shouldn’t be her.”
First, Chen Guifang’s height doesn’t match. Looking at the angle of the wooden stick inserted, the killer should be at least a head taller than the victim.
Second, the killer had great strength; otherwise, just a sharpened wooden stick couldn’t have pierced right through her. Chen Guifang is a woman, and with her strength, it would be hard to do that.
Overall, the possibility that Chen Guifang is the killer is minuscule.
After this interrogation, the case seemed to return to square one.
Dan Dajun scratched his head. Since they were already here, they couldn’t leave with no progress, so he decided to take the two back for thorough questioning.
The Lin Family naturally wouldn’t agree, but their previous slight acquaintance was useless in the face of a murder case, so they could only watch helplessly as the officials took the two away.
Night fell, the moon climbed the treetops, casting silvery glows on the river surface.
A black shadow crept over carefully, slipped into the reed marsh, stooped with back hunched, and carefully searched for something by the moonlight.
“Strange, it should have fallen around here, why isn’t it?”
The man muttered, secretly complaining that the moonlight wasn’t bright enough to see anything clearly.
“Are you looking for this?” A pleasant female voice suddenly rang out, startling the man into jumping and turning to run.
Unfortunately, it was too late. Officials led by Dan Dajun raised torches and surrounded him, the flickering firelight illuminating the man’s face.
Zhang Er exclaimed: “Zhao Tian! How is it you?”
Zhao Tian hurriedly lifted his sleeve to shield his face.
“Truly stupid enough to return to the murder scene for a money bag.” Shang Wan walked out from the darkness, a dirty, bloodstained old money bag hooked on her slender finger.
This was what she found under the bloodstained reeds when picking up the red string—it was clearly a man’s money bag, likely something the killer had dropped.
The money bag contained two taels of silver fragments and about thirty copper coins—not a small sum for the villagers. If lost, he might come back to look.
She and Lu Chengjing found Dan Dajun and discussed, deciding to set up an ambush.
The trap was just set, and the rabbit eagerly came crashing into the stump.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying.” Zhao Tian turned away, “I just couldn’t sleep and came to the riverside to stroll. Can’t I stroll?”
“Your hobby is quite unique.” Shang Wan tsked, “Why stroll anywhere else but a place where someone died? Aren’t you afraid Gui Shi’s aggrieved ghost will come for your life?”
The night wind blew, and a chill suddenly ran up Zhao Tian’s back; he instinctively looked left and right.
Suddenly, a ghastly pale face with blood oozing from all seven orifices appeared behind the crowd, scaring his pupils to contract sharply as he shrieked in a broken voice, “Ghost!!!”
“Drip drip drop drop…”
The smell of urine wafted over—he had actually been scared into wetting his pants.
“Ghost!!!”
