"How... how is this possible!" Liu Wu's eyes widened in disbelief.
At the same time, Wei Fu was startled, her eyes wide with terror, "You... you didn't... already..."
"Already dead, was I? Miss Wei?" the old woman finished Wei Fu's sentence, sneering.
Wei Fu swallowed several times, her gaze dropping guiltily.
The old woman ignored Wei Fu and knelt before Lan Heng on the dais, "This commoner, Liu Shi, pays respects to the Grand Judge."
Lan Heng raised his hand.
Zhong Li knew Liu Shi could not see, so she walked to her side and helped her up.
"Liu Shi, what is the purpose of your visit today?" Lan Heng asked.
"This old woman is here today for three matters!"
"We are eager to hear them."
Liu Shi straightened her chest and said, "The first matter is to accuse Liu Wu of murdering my young lady. The second is to accuse Liu Wu of occupying the Wu family's property. The third is to accuse Liu Wu of attempting to murder this old woman."
"You... you are slandering me! I'll tear that blind old woman's mouth off." As soon as Liu Shi finished speaking, Liu Wu stood up, intending to rush towards Liu Shi.
Fortunately, the constables around them were quick enough to restrain him.
Lan Heng watched Liu Wu's every move, his expression darkening, "Liu Wu, this is the Dali Temple. Do you think you can cause a scene here?"
Warned, Liu Wu fell silent.
Lan Heng turned his gaze back to Liu Shi, "Liu Shi, do you have evidence for these three accusations?"
Liu Shi took a deep breath, "I have evidence for the second and third matters, but for the first..."
"Pfft..." Before Liu Shi could finish, Wei Fu, sensing Liu Shi's insincerity, let out a scoff, "The first matter concerns Sister Wu's death, doesn't it? Everyone knows Sister Wu died inexplicably. No one entered that room, yet you want to implicate me and Manager Liu. I suspect Zhong Li found you, some country bumpkin, to frame us."
"For the first matter, Liu Shi has no evidence, but I do!"
As soon as Wei Fu finished speaking, a loud voice echoed through the hall.
Wei Fu and Liu Wu stiffened, their gazes fixed on a jade earring that Zhong Li now held.
"Miss Wei wouldn't not recognize this, would she?" Zhong Li presented the jade earring before Wei Fu, inquiring.
Wei Fu blinked in surprise, then quickly averted her gaze, "I don't understand what Miss Zhong is implying. This item is not mine, and I've never seen it before."
"Miss Wei has finally spoken a truth. This item is indeed not yours; it belongs to Wu Xiu Chu." Zhong Li picked up Wei Fu's statement and asked, "Does Miss Wei wish to know where I found it?"
Wei Fu swallowed several times.
"In the wardrobe in your room."
"You are slandering me! How could Sister Wu's belongings be in my wardrobe?" As Zhong Li finished, Wei Fu became agitated.
"How could they not be? What if Wu Xiu Chu's corpse was once hidden in there?"
As Zhong Li spoke, everyone in the Dali Temple, including Lu Wu Xie who was observing, became instantly interested. Wu Xiu Chu's death was the most peculiar case recently; her body had appeared like a phantom in Wei Fu's room, baffling many. It seemed Zhong Li had solved it. Everyone was eager to know her method.
"You... you are slandering me, I..."
"Since Miss Wei still wishes to quibble, I shall explain it to you." Zhong Li said, giving a nod to Lin Jin who stood not far away.
Lin Jin nodded and brought something from outside.
Everyone peered closer and saw it was an internal model of the Huanxi Tower. Within the model were several crossed wooden figurines, dyed in different colors. They appeared to represent several constables, Xu Qing, Wei Fu, Liu Wu, and the deceased Wu Xiu Chu.
Zhong Li nodded in thanks to Lin Jin. After Lin Jin stepped down, she swept her gaze across Xu Qing's face and said, "I recall Lord Xu stating that he was napping in a private room on the second floor when Wu Xiu Chu was murdered, correct?"
Xu Qing was most unwilling to have his past transgressions of drinking and being reprimanded during an investigation brought up, but he knew it was necessary for the case. Reluctantly, his expression darkened as he nodded.
Receiving confirmation, Zhong Li casually placed a figurine painted red in a private room on the second floor.
Then, she placed an unpainted figurine in a wardrobe within a private room and placed a figurine painted green inside the private room. Closing the door to the private room, she turned to Liu Wu and said, "This is when you came to knock on the door, right?"
Liu Wu nodded.
Following his words, Zhong Li's fingertip lightly tapped the door.
She no longer asked questions, but began to reenact the events based on the testimonies from the previous days.
She placed the figurine representing Liu Wu at the doorway, and then removed the figurine representing Xu Qing from within the room.
Subsequently, the door to the private room containing the green figurine was opened by Xu Qing. After discovering the body, Xu Qing spoke a few words to Liu Wu, then went downstairs, bypassed the remaining figurines representing the constables, and as the constables' figurines ran towards the second floor, Xu Qing turned and rushed out of the Huanxi Tower.
Concurrently, as Xu Qing departed, the figurine dyed green on the second floor suddenly stood up and beckoned to Liu Wu. The two walked to the wardrobe, repainted the unpainted figurine green, placed it where she had been lying, and then dyed themselves white before moving to the adjacent private room.
At this moment, the figurines representing the constables also appeared on the second floor. The figurine in white clothing once again emerged from the private room and lunged at the green figurine.
After completing this series of actions, Zhong Li looked up at Lan Heng and said, "Lord Lan, if my memory serves me correctly, you and I happened to appear here at this time."
As she spoke, she pointed behind the door of the Huanxi Tower.
Lan Heng nodded, Xu Qing and the physician had followed them closely at that time.
Zhong Li fixed her gaze on Wei Fu, whose face had already turned ashen, "Miss Wei, you are very clever. You knew how to exploit Lord Xu Qing's weaknesses to stage the murder scene. However, you never expected that when you and Liu Wu were moving Wu Xiu Chu's body, the earring on her ear went missing.
In your haste, to avoid detection, you removed the earring from your own ear and placed it on Wu Xiu Chu's, didn't you?"
Wei Fu lowered her eyelids, gazing at the jade earring in Zhong Li's hand, "Miss Zhong's idea is good, but it is all speculation, isn't it?
What if, on the day Sister Wu died, she coincidentally borrowed my earring, and left her earring to me? I did not like its style, so I casually threw it into the wardrobe. Are you satisfied with this explanation?"
As her words fell, all the surrounding constables showed looks of indignation. This Wei Fu was clearly being obstinate.
Zhong Li looked at the jade earring in her hand, her lips pursed tightly.
She knew Wei Fu wanted to escape culpability, and she knew that this single earring was not enough to prove Wei Fu's guilt. But let's not forget who she was – the forensic examiner of the Dali Temple.
"Indeed, this small item cannot convince Miss Wei to admit fault." Zhong Li casually placed the earring onto the evidence tray.
Wei Fu heard this and a faint hint of smugness appeared on her lips.
Zhong Li glanced at her indifferently and uttered a sentence that struck like thunder:
"However, Wu Xiu Chu's time of death was the hour of Xu Shi on the eighth day of the eighth lunar month, and we discovered Wu Xiu Chu at noon the following day. If memory serves, Lord Xu also escorted Miss Wei back to her room then, and Wu Xiu Chu's body was not in the room at that time. May I trouble Miss Wei to explain where Wu Xiu Chu was during this half-day discrepancy, and why you did not see her when you returned to your room?"