Chen Wu grinned and hesitated for a long time, not knowing where to start.
Chu Nanzhi looked at his confused expression, and hurriedly urged him with anger: "Tell me quickly, is it possible that you can't remember what you ate today because of the meal you ate yesterday? If you, the chief cook of the inn, can't remember what you ate in a row,
I have no memory of this, so I have to wonder how you got the position of chief cook."
Chen Wu grimaced, and had to improvise, thinking as he began to elaborate: "When I was young, I remember my mother prepared a roast chicken, fried some pancakes, cooked a pot of porridge, stewed a pot of pork, and prepared some for me.
A pot of old wine."
Well, such a sumptuous meal should not arouse any suspicion.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, Chu Nanzhi continued to ask: "It's quite rich. Let me ask you, how many cakes did you eat, how many bowls of porridge did you drink, and how many bowls of wine did you drink?"
"this"
Chen Wu was so depressed that he finally couldn't answer.
If you continue to make it up, even if you can talk nonsense, your mother at home will not be able to keep up with you.
"You are obviously lying and you dare to make up nonsense."
Chu Nanzhi sternly scolded, her peach eyes half-squinted and turned into a smile: "Chen Wu, according to the laws of our court, relatives can indeed protect each other without punishment, but the crime you committed is no longer an ordinary crime, murdering the imperial court
Official, colluding with the Dongsang thieves is a heinous crime of treason.
You can drag your old mother into trouble, but Mr. Hu and I will go to question your mother in person. If what she said is not consistent with what you just said, this serious crime of harboring treason is not ordinary, not to mention the exile of the third generation.
I'm afraid she can't bear even a slap in the face for Qianli."
Chen Wu's face paled when he heard this, and his heart gradually became filled with panic.
If she were to interrogate him seriously, even if she beat him to pieces, he would not frown. But now this woman has sinister intentions and involves her mother, which is really hard to deal with for a while.
Chu Nanzhi reminded him seriously again: "I have witnesses who saw you appearing near the county captain's house when the crime occurred yesterday, and there were more than one person. You should think about what to say next."
Chen Wu only dared to remain silent.
Chu Nanzhi said with a solemn expression: "Since you refuse to admit it, let me tell you about your whereabouts yesterday."
He paused for a moment, and then said eloquently: "You didn't go anywhere else after you were kicked out of the post house the day before yesterday. Instead, you secretly hid in the county government office and in Master Tan's courtyard. Yesterday, Kang Mingyuan was arrested.
During the investigation, you took advantage of the chaos and sneaked into the county magistrate's mansion, murdered Qi Dongqiang, and then fled from the west side of the county magistrate's mansion. Although it was a carefully designed route, someone accidentally caught you. What you said was not true.
?”
"I"
Chen Wu was dumbfounded. He didn't expect that her inference was so accurate. She did have some ability.
Have you exposed yourself?
It shouldn't be.
But he couldn't admit the crime of murder at will. He gritted his teeth and denied it again: "There is no proof and no evidence. How did Madam Chu get involved with the Registrar again?"
"Yesterday Kang Mingyuan was dismissed from his post, and immediately after that, the county government was sealed off. Everyone stayed on standby. Only one person took advantage of the chaos and left the courtroom."
Chu Nanzhi glared angrily: "Yesterday, only Master Tan made an excuse to go to the backyard to get evidence of Kang Mingyuan's crime when Kang Mingyuan was arrested. If he hadn't reported the news for you, how would you have known about the incident in court at the first time? So what?
Did you seize the opportunity to escape from the government office?"
"this"
Chen Wu was speechless again.
The county government office was surrounded yesterday. If Master Tan hadn't been clever, he wouldn't have been able to leave the county government office. I'm afraid he would still be trapped inside with everyone else.
But because of this, Tan Miao also fell into the spotlight and attracted suspicion.
He didn't expect this woman to be able to relate so much content from these subtle doubts, and he didn't know how to argue in a hurry.
Just when he was at a loss, Xing'er, Zhang's maid, had been brought in by Li Ce.
As soon as Xing'er entered the court, looking at the back of the kneeling figure in front of the court, she shouted out loud: "Hey, isn't this the person who escaped into the woods that night?"
When Chu Nanzhi heard the sound, she immediately went up to him and asked anxiously with a surprised look on her face: "Xing'er, how are you sure that he is the person you saw?"
Xing'er pursed her lips and pointed at the back of Chen Wu's head, and replied seriously: "He is missing a lot of hair on the back of his head. The white hair can be seen clearly in the dark night."
"Chen Wu, stand up."
Chu Nanzhi scolded him solemnly, and couldn't help but glance at the streak of white on the back of his head. It was quite eye-catching. He had noticed this the day before yesterday, but he didn't expect that it would become a piece of evidence.
Chen Wu stood up tremblingly, but did not dare to turn his face.
Xing'er recalled the scene of that night and gestured with his size. She accidentally saw the butcher's knife on the table, and her eyes became firmer: "Ms. Chu, I dare to conclude that this is what I saw."
Man, he was holding this kind of short knife in his hand, and he seemed to be wiping it in his hand."
Chu Nanzhi nodded hesitantly and looked at Chen Wu: "Tell me, what's the matter with the hair loss on the back of your head?"
"When I was killing a pig, I accidentally scalded the skin off with boiling water, and the hair never grew back."
Chen Wu replied without thinking.
"Okay, then tell me, why did you appear in the west of the city again on the night of June 24th? Could it be that Myolie misunderstood again? Were you at home or staying at the inn that night? Do you want to make up some more?
Why, let me ask the cooks and servants of the post house again?"
Chu Nanzhi asked repeatedly.
Chen Wu's dark face became even more gloomy. He couldn't even guarantee that his mother's confession was consistent with his own. How could he get the people in the post house to collude with him in such a desperate situation?
What's more, he has been kicked out of the post house, Tan Miao has also been imprisoned, and no one can protect him.
Chu Nanzhi sat back on the chair by the side of the hall and slowly probed: "Even if the two government officials who were monitoring you were killed by you, I can't identify you based on this, but so many people have seen you appear in every incident.
It’s not like everyone at the murder scene is trying to frame you. If you don’t accuse the truth, I’ll have no choice but to let Mr. Hu torture you.”
"Then please let me beat the little one to death."
Chen Wuli was at a loss for words and became very excited when he heard that he was beaten.
Chu Nanzhi looked at him with a look of death, and it turned out that he was just as he thought, he was just a hard-nosed person.
She smiled slightly and said coldly: "Now you are strong-willed. If you are so fearless, why did Tan Miao's few threatening words the day before yesterday make you confess immediately?"
It seems that these two people are indeed having an affair, there is no doubt about it.
Chu Nanzhi shouted to Li Ce: "Li Sanlang, lift his arm."
When Li Ce heard the sound, he went up and lifted up the clothes on Chen Wu's arm. He saw that the upper left wrist was bandaged with a cloth bag, and there was still faint traces of blood on it.
"Untie the bandage."
Chu Nanzhi's face was full of anger, and his sinister eyes frightened Chen Wu so much that chills ran down his body, and he trembled as he spoke.
He pressed the bag hard, trying to hold on to this last line of defense.
Li Ce called the yamen servant to hold him down and slowly opened the bag, and everyone saw a clear scratch mark.