Chu Nanzhi's mind raced for a moment. The people invited to the dinner last night were all members of the Lin clan, and they all lived in Chongrenfang and nearby houses. There was really no need to stay overnight.
She continued to look at Ying'er: "Then when did you hear the footsteps coming back after your mistress went out last night?"
Ying'er squinted her eyes and thought for a while: "It shouldn't take more than a stick of incense, but at that time, the slave was already asleep, and she only vaguely heard the sound of the door opening."
Li Sanmu felt a little angry when he heard this: "Since you know that your mistress is out, why don't you go out with her?"
Ying'er immediately showed a look of shame: "My mistress usually only orders the slaves to follow her when something happens. If she didn't give the order, the slaves would not dare to make their own decisions."
"That's true."
Li Sanmu nodded thoughtfully, then raised his eyes to Chu Nanzhi, wanting to ask for her permission.
Chu Nanzhi was still a little confused and wanted to find out more, so she continued to ask: "Where did your master rest last night?"
"It's in Jiang Xiaoniang's yard."
When this matter was mentioned, the expressions of the two maids became uncertain and somewhat depressed.
"Um."
Chu Nanzhi couldn't help but sneer.
That's right, with such a delicate beauty hiding in the courtyard, I think a man would pity her more.
After silently staring at the maids for a moment, her tone became calm and she said: "You go back to the house to serve your mistress first, and don't mention the matter of my interview with Li Langjun."
Yes, Mi'er responded and immediately got up and walked into the house.
Li Sanmu watched the two of them walking away and asked hesitantly: "Ms. Chu, do you think we should arrest him immediately?"
"There's no rush. Once the investigation is clear, it won't be too late to arrest him."
This was the first step to take her daughter away. Now if Zhou is imprisoned again, it will be fine if she is indeed the one who did the evil. If she is wrongly accused, then it will be difficult for the mother and daughter to gain a foothold in the Lin family in the future.
You can't just make excuses again and again.
"Miki, are you sure you have checked everywhere in the courtyard and found no trace of anyone entering?"
Chu Nanzhi was actually a little suspicious of her second uncle and third uncle. These two people were both secretive and liked to interfere in other people's family affairs.
Especially the third uncle, Mrs. Chen, who was able to instigate her niece, Mrs. Chen, to go to the county government office to kill Lin Jinxiao on his first day in office. She could also hire murderers to kill the tired mother and daughter completely.
Li Sanmu shook his head firmly: "Mrs. Chu, we have carefully searched the inside and outside of the courtyard. If outsiders really entered the hospital, we would be able to find some footprints or traces of damage anyway. Our Luyan Port has a humid climate.
Several houses near Chongren Fang are filled with towering old trees, and the soil inside and outside the courtyard walls is relatively loose.
Moreover, I carefully inspected the wall of the inner courtyard. The wall is much higher than that of the front courtyard. It is not easy to climb in without leaving any traces. Not to mention that Chongrenfang is close to the county captain's mansion.
It is also close to the West City Gate, and the density of guard patrols is stronger than the other three gates. There are people on duty day and night, so no one dares to admit it openly."
"Well, what you said makes sense."
Chu Nanzhi looked pleased when he heard this. He didn't expect that this guy had followed her on several cases and his mind was now much more delicate than before.
From this point of view, the possibility of a foreign thief being admitted to the hospital can indeed be ruled out.
After narrowing the scope of suspicion and considering all the circumstances before and after, the most likely murderer of Lin Sanniang can only be Zhou's mother and daughter.
"Did you find the murderous dagger?"
Chu Nanzhi looked at the figure of the policeman walking in the distance.
Li Sanmu shook his head blankly: "I asked the cook at home. A short boning knife was indeed lost in the kitchen in the front yard a while ago. It has not been found yet. We also searched carefully inside and outside the yard.
I searched and couldn't find the boning knife."
"Where did you look for?"
Chu Nanzhi continued to ask.
"Lin Erniang, Lin Sanniang's room, utility room, and the inner courtyard wing were all turned upside down. Even every corner of the courtyard was not neglected."
Li Sanmu counted roughly, and finally looked at Zhou's yard hesitantly: "Now there are only Mrs. Zhou's and Miss Jiang's yards that have not been searched."
As he spoke, he changed the topic and vowed: "Jiang Xiaoniang must not have this short knife hidden in her room. The head of the Lin family slept in her courtyard last night, and it is impossible for her to murder her own daughter.
"
"Well, that's true."
Chu Nanzhi looked at Zhou's yard with some embarrassment.
Lin Tingzhen dotes on this concubine so much, and Jiang is Lin Sanniang's biological mother. She has to rely on this only daughter to gain some hope for the rest of her life.
As the saying goes, the two of them would not have any evil thoughts.
Thinking about Zhou's behavior today, although it seemed heartbreaking, there was no telling whether there was any hidden secret hidden behind this layer of heartache.
It would make sense to say that he regretted and blamed himself because he had caused his daughter to suffer.
Li Sanmu's thick eyebrows trembled, and he stared at Chu Nanzhi cautiously. He couldn't bear to disturb her when he saw her looking thoughtful.
After a long time, he finally said with some embarrassment: "Before Mr. Lin left, he specifically ordered me to look at every corner and find the murder weapon. Madam Chu, what do you think?"
"Since you are following orders, let's go search."
As soon as Chu Nanzhi finished speaking, Li Sanmu impatiently led the guards towards Zhou's courtyard.
This made her very distressed.
It seems that this guy has been waiting for his words.
What made her even more frustrated was that the pretty boy Lin Jinxiao didn't even find the murder weapon, so he believed the words of Lin Tingzhen and the Lin clan members and took Lin Jinhui directly to prison. What if the murder weapon was really found in the Zhou family's yard?
The murder weapon, wouldn’t it be that my sister-in-law had been wronged.
Moreover, Ms. Zhou went out last night. If sharp weapons can be found in her yard, she will almost be suspected of committing the crime.
But calm down and think carefully about what Lin Jinxiao said to himself and Lin Jinhui today. I'm afraid he knows that he cares about his sister-in-law, so he wants to follow Lin Tingzhen's wishes and take her to prison to teach her a lesson.
.
"This girl Jinhui really needs to be taught a lesson, otherwise she will definitely suffer big losses in the future with her straightforward temperament."
Thinking like this, Chu Nanzhi finally felt relieved about Lin Jinxiao's reckless behavior.
With many doubts about the Zhou family, I stepped into the courtyard again.
There were servants everywhere in the room. Mrs. Zhou was supported by Liu Yun and sat at the tea table. Her eyes were dry and she was about to cry.
Seeing Chu Nanzhi coming in, Ying'er and Mi'er lowered their heads one after another, remaining silent and not daring to speak.
Upon seeing this, Liu Yun immediately raised her eyes and asked anxiously: "Da Zhi, what clues did you find out? What happened to these officials? Why did they find everything in your aunt's courtyard?"
Chu Nanzhi pursed her lips and smiled bitterly. She didn't know how to explain it. She stared straight at Mr. Zhou, but she was really speechless.