There is a god in the sky

Chapter 112 The Strange Case of Fuchunju 10

The young prince, dressed in official robes, sat in the main seat, frowning as he looked at Ma Long, who was bound hand and foot.

"What does Lord Xiao mean by this?" The young prince was unaware of what had happened last night.

Xiao Ji took out the evidence he had obtained from the Hundred Beasts Garden yesterday and explained, "Your Highness, we found this in an iron cage in the back mountain of Your Highness's Mansion yesterday."

It was a blood-stained rag, its original color unrecognizable, and it emitted a foul odor.

“I deliberately spread the word that I had found valuable evidence. I never expected that in the dead of night, Officer Ma would sneak into my room to steal the evidence, but I caught him red-handed.”

The young prince's gaze fell on the tattered cloth, and he asked in confusion, "What kind of evidence is this? And why is it in the Hundred Beasts Garden?"

"When we searched the Prince's mansion yesterday, we considered a possibility: if the murderer had thrown the body into the back mountain, then the evidence could have been destroyed!"

The young prince clenched his fist, his face showing deep thought.

Yeah, why didn’t he think of it?

Why could Xiao Ji think of such a simple question that he couldn't?

His expression turned somewhat grim, and he continued, "So, Lord Xiao means that this piece of cloth is from the deceased's body?"

Xiao Ji did not answer, but instead shouted outside, "Someone, summon the Wu family."

Wu the coroner's wife and eldest son were brought in by the officials.

The two knelt in the hall, nervous and at a loss.

Xiao Ji had the evidence brought to them. "Please examine it carefully. Is this the same fabric that Coroner Wu was wearing?"

Madam Wu dared not look and shook her head frantically: "My lord, you are mistaken. My husband has left the city and is not in the city."

The eldest son of the Wu family pinched his nose, picked up the tattered cloth, and asked with disgust, "How can you tell anything from it when it's so dirty?"

Xiao Ji looked at them suspiciously, "You don't seem to care at all about Wu the coroner's life or death."

These two are clearly close relatives, yet they showed far too little emotion when faced with what could be the belongings of a loved one.

Madam Wu tugged at her son, squeezed out two tears, and said, "Sir, it's not that we don't care, but we believe that my husband is still alive."

Why are you so sure?

“This… Your Excellency cannot curse my master; it’s taboo for him in this line of work.”

Xiao Ji laughed in exasperation, "He's a coroner, spending his days surrounded by corpses, and he's actually superstitious about this?"

Madam Wu and the eldest son of the Wu family both looked rather unpleasant.

They hate being called the coroner's family members.

"Since you can't identify it, then forget it." Xiao Ji didn't make things difficult for them and let the officers take them out.

Upon hearing that they could leave, the two quickly stood up and walked out, a hint of smugness on their faces.

"Stop!" Xiao Ji shouted to them.

The two men's expressions changed, and they slowly turned around, looking at Xiao Ji warily.

"This morning, a stranger entered the Wu family's house. Who was that person?"

The mother and son exchanged a glance and shook their heads simultaneously, "Nobody, just ordinary neighbors."

"Really? Did that person leave something good for your family?"

"No, no," the two hurriedly denied, but their guilty conscience was obvious to everyone.

The young prince slammed his gavel down. "How dare you! Confess the truth now!"

The constables on both sides banged their batons forcefully, shouting menacingly, "Majesty...!"

Madam Wu's legs went weak, and she was so frightened that she knelt down on the ground.

Xiao Ji added fuel to the fire, warning them: "Don't even think about lying. I've had people watching the Wu family these past two days, and I know exactly what happened. If what you're saying is untrue, then I'll have no choice but to use torture on you!"

"Don't hit us, let's talk..." The eldest son of the Wu family was terrified of dying, and stammered out what had happened.

It turned out that someone had entered the Wu family early this morning and left a bag of silver, saying it was Wu the coroner's share.

“That man said… he bought an orchid from my father before, and he sold it at a high price, so… so he gave my father 70%, which was agreed upon beforehand.”

"Who is that person?"

"I... I, a commoner, do not know, and have never seen it before."

"You believed what a stranger said?"

The eldest son of the Wu family replied confidently, "How could he lie about giving us money? Who would give money to someone for no reason?"

Madam Wu chimed in, "That's right! My husband doesn't earn much money all year round, and that bag of silver was a full ten taels! Ten taels!"

"Aren't you afraid that's Wu the coroner's money to buy his life?" Xiao Ji sneered. In the end, they were just greedy for money.

Mrs. Wu muttered under her breath, "No way, who would kill someone and then send money home? That's too kind of them."

"What else did that person say?"

"This...he also said...that if anyone asks about my father, we must say that he went out of town." The eldest son of the Wu family covered half of his face with his hand, feeling extremely ashamed.

"I see. It seems you were aware of this as well."

Xiao Ji ignored them and walked up to Constable Ma, asking, "Constable Ma, do you know who they're talking about?"

Having been tied up all night, Ma Long was exhausted, both physically and mentally. He gently shook his head and said, "I don't know."

"But you know that what I brought back from the Hundred Beasts Garden was a piece of cloth, and that I intended to steal it. Is it that important?"

"This humble servant does not know what you are talking about, sir."

"You didn't come to my room in the middle of the night just to check on me while I was sleeping, did you?"

Ma Long raised his chin, his eyes red, and said, "This humble servant only... only wanted to check if Lord Xiao was safe."

"Tsk, then how do you explain taking Counselor Shen hostage?"

"That's because I was misunderstood by you, sir, and you wouldn't listen to my explanation, so I had no choice but to take the hostage and leave. My lord, I was wrong. I shouldn't have entered your room without permission."

The officials present were all familiar with Ma Long, and most of them felt that Ma Long could not possibly have committed murder.

However, they had no chance to speak in court.

"Lord Xiao, Constable Ma had no motive to kill. Are you mistaken?" The young prince didn't believe it either.

"What is motive? Killing someone intentionally, being forced to kill someone, or killing someone on orders are all forms of killing. The prince believes he has no motive for killing, but what if he was merely acting on orders?"

As a subordinate, you don't need a motive to obey your master's orders.

"Lies!" Ma Long shouted.

He knelt upright and shouted, "Your Highness, I am innocent! Xiao Ji must be eager to solve the case, so he wants me to take the blame!"

Xiao Ji bowed to the young prince and said, "Your Highness, how about we make a bet?"

"What should we bet on?" The young prince's heart wavered.

Although Xiao Ji is very capable, how could he possibly solve such a difficult case in just one day?

Ma Long's words are not without merit.

“Based on the course of previous cases, all suspects will be killed by the murderer. Now that Officer Ma has become a suspect, let’s take a gamble and see if Officer Ma will be killed!”

There is no winner or loser in this bet.

If Mataki is the murderer, then he wouldn't have died, but that also proves that he is the murderer.

If Ma Long is not the murderer, then he will become a victim of the murderer's blade, which is also a dead end.

The young prince readily agreed and dispatched dozens of officials to guard Ma Long.