The woman was stunned at first, as if she didn't expect Caizhu to say such a thing, and then she reacted and hit Caizhu with her hands: "What are you talking about, you unfamiliar white-eyed wolf!"
"Stop!" Zhen Shicheng frowned and shouted, and the yamen immediately stopped the woman.
The woman was still showing her teeth and claws: "For you to eat and drink, you still say such a thing? Do you still have a conscience!"
Caizhu sat on the ground and cried, "It's my sister who feeds me, not you!"
"You said it! You little conscience, have you forgotten your mother?"
Caizhu froze for a moment, covered her face and sobbed: "Anyway, my mother will die soon, me, what else do I have to be afraid of—"
She kowtowed to Zhen Shicheng while crying: "Sir, the maid has heard of you, you brought the prince of Changxing to justice, you are a master of the sky. I beg you to be the master of my sister, and I can't let my sister die and suffer injustice. White injustice—"
The woman became more and more angry: "Little hoof, wait for me, there will always be time to clean up you when you go back!"
"Gag her mouth." Zhen Shicheng instructed lightly.
As the woman put a sweat towel in her mouth, the scene suddenly quieted down, and only the girl's low cry was heard.
Zhen Shicheng sighed and helped Caizhu up himself: "This official will not let a bad person go, let alone a good person. Little girl, don't cry, talk about your sister."
"Yes." Caizhu wiped her tears and gave the woman a decisive look.
The woman was speechless, her eyes were wide and threatening.
Caizhu simply stopped looking at her, sniffed and said, "Actually, everyone in Fuzhong knows that only my elder sister does things in our family, and the money for food, drink and chewing, including my mother's medical treatment, is all given by my elder sister. I just went back to the mansion to do things. Who would have thought that my mother’s health is not as good as the day? Five days ago, she was in a coma. I invited the doctor to see it and said that she needed a lot of money to recuperate. After my sister found out, she brought the money not long ago. —"
"How much is that money?" Zhen Shicheng asked.
Generally speaking, there are only three reasons for murder cases, because of hatred, because of money or because of love, that kind of casually looking for someone to kill is very few, and it is not within common sense.
"There are fifty taels of silver."
"How much moon silver does Qiu Lu have?"
The steward immediately said, "Qiu Lu is the maidservant who serves Madam. Yueyin is second-class among the servants, two and a half."
"Two or two, a lot." Zhen Shicheng said lightly.
Ordinary people's homes, a few taels of silver is enough to spend more than half a year.
"But since Qiu Lu has to support her family, she must have no savings. Where did the fifty taels come from?"
Caizhu's face flushed red, and she said with trembling lips, "My sister didn't say anything at the time, she just asked us to take it for my mother to take care of her body, but—"
Having said this, Caizhu gave the woman a hateful look, and wept: "But yesterday, my mother suddenly vomited blood, and the maid hurriedly went back to my elder sister. Only after my elder sister's questioning did I realize that my brother and sister-in-law didn't use the money for my mother at all. Buying medicine, the medicine I feed my mother is basically what they take to make up for it."
"Woo woo-" The woman struggled desperately when she heard this.
"Take the cloth out of her mouth." Zhen Shicheng ordered.
As soon as the woman's mouth was free, she immediately cried and said, "I'm wronged, my lord, not a penny of that money was spent on the woman, and it was taken by the one who killed a thousand knives to pay off the gambling debt—"
Zhen Shicheng patiently listened to the woman scolding the man for a cup of tea, and knew what kind of person Qiu Lu's brother was.
A puddle of gambling-addicted mud.
"What's your sister's reaction when you know this?"
"My elder sister hugged her mother and cried bitterly, but... the mother said that she knew about it, and she agreed to let her brother take the money. My elder sister was even more sad when she heard this, so she ran out crying—" , Caizhu was choked up and speechless.
"You haven't seen your sister since then?"
Caizhu suddenly raised her head and looked straight at Zhen Shicheng: "No, the maid chased him out."
Zhen Shicheng moved in his heart.
Based on experience, the little girl in front of her is likely to know something.
He did not urge, and looked at Caizhu with gentle eyes.
Caizhu bit her lip: "I have never seen my elder sister so sad. My elder sister has always been the pillar of the family. It was my elder sister's decision to ask me to take a long vacation and go back to take care of my mother. I always remember my elder sister saying to me that as long as there is her Yes, the difficulties at home will definitely pass. But yesterday, my sister cried very desperately. Maybe she was too sad at the time, and she finally told the reason under my questioning. "
Caizhu couldn't help but look at Yongchangbo.
Uncle Yongchang sighed, "Just tell me, my wife and I have always been people who know right from wrong."
"Sister said that the fifty taels of silver was secretly taken from Madam's makeup, and she thought that she would solve the urgent problem first and then make up for it slowly. Who knew that Madam suddenly wanted to find a magnolia that she wore many years ago. It turned out that she had stolen the money. Madam asked her why her sister had stolen the money and did not pursue the money, but told her that she could no longer keep her by her side. Madam was charitable, saying that after all her sister had been with her for many years, she suddenly sent it out. Life is not easy, so I will stay with my sister for a few more days and find a suitable person for her to marry."
"In that case, why do you say that your brother and sister-in-law forced your sister to death?"
Caizhu smiled bitterly: "Sister has always been proud of serving Madam, but she took Madam's money for her own sake. If my mother used this money to take care of her body, it would be fine, but as a result, the older brother used the money to pay off gambling debts. My sister and I were kept in the dark, and my mother said that she was the one who gave it to my brother... At that time, my sister said, I knew why she would do such an unconscionable thing. The most important thing is to live up to the love of the lady, it is better to die clean. I thought my sister was talking in anger, who would think that my sister really did something stupid... "
Zhen Shicheng looked at Uncle Yongchang: "Does Mrs. Uncle usually leave a maid to watch the night?"
Yong Changbo nodded.
"So, only last night, Mrs. Uncle sent Qiu Lu out." Zhen Shicheng stroked his beard and sighed, "The money Qiu Lu stole was squandered by his brother, and the mother was seriously ill and vomited blood, but she focused on her son. After that, Mrs. Obviously she doesn't want to be close to her anymore, so it makes sense that she can't think of suicide for a while."
Everyone was silent, and there was only one thought in their hearts: Caizhu was right, Qiu Lu was indeed forced to death by her brother and sister-in-law, and to be precise, Qiu Lu was also killed by her mother—
"Since Qiu Lu committed suicide in shame, who killed my mother?" Xie Qingyao murmured.
Zhen Shicheng was not discouraged.
This is the case in many cases. The clues that emerge are irrelevant in the end, but this does not mean that the truth will always surface after useless efforts have been made.
"Master Zhen, since there was no one in the closet at sunset yesterday, does that mean that the murderer was among the people in the inner courtyard of Bo's Mansion?" Jiang Si suddenly asked.