Chapter 501 - 501: Cousins

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Tang Jinghong, noticing Chu Qingzhu seemed preoccupied, asked, “Did something happen?”

hu Qingzhu replied, “Zhou Da is dead.”

Tang Jinghong thought for a second, “The Zhou Da who was injured during reparing the road?”

Chu Qingzhi nodded. “Yes.”

“How did he die?”

“Suffocation.”

Tang Jinghong furrowed his brows, “A leg injury but died of suffocation? That’s strange.”

After a moment of silence, Chu Qingzhu said, “There’s no one in Zhou family capable of suffocating Zhou Da to death. Someone else must be involved.” “Has Xuhua figured this out yet?”

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“I didn’t ask him. He’s gone to investigate in Zhou village. We’ll discuss it when he returns.”

“Let him gain some experience.”

“Yeah.”

The murder in the village stirred up a commotion, with many people gathering near Zhou family, whispering and speculating.

Chu Xuhua, accompanied by several constables, arrived at Zhou village and approached an elder, “Old man, has anyone visited Zhou Da’s house recently?”

The elder thought for a moment, “Xu San has been frequently visiting Zhou Da’s house these days.”

Chu Xuhua instructed two constables, “Go to Xu village and bring Xu San here,” and whispered to one, “Observe his expression when you find him.”

The constable nodded. “Yes, sir.”

Chu Xujin patted the constable’s shoulder. “Go, come back as soon as possible.”

Chu Xuhua then asked the elder, “What kind of person was Zhou Da? How was his relationship with his wife?”

The elder replied, “Zhou Da was a bit idle but helped with farm work during busy seasons. He liked to drink and had many drinking buddies.

“In the eyes of outsiders like us, his relationship with his wife is neither good nor bad. Sometimes, we can hear his wife complaining about Zhou Da. The two of them often quarrel. It’s a small quarrel. It’s not very intense.”

Chu Xuhua thought this character didn’t seem likely to provoke murder, “Did he have any recent conflicts with anyone?”

The old man waved his hand and said cautiously, “No. Previously, when we were busy with farming, Zhou Da was working at home. He just had some free time and went to help repair the road. He’s been very busy recently and doesn’t have time to make enemies.”

Chu Xuhua had a suspicion; someone might have murdered Zhou Da for the hundred taels of silver, “Thank you, old man.”

Chu Xuhua then approached Zhou Da’s neighbors, “Did you hear any unusual noise last night?”

The neighbor shook his head. “I’ve been busy with the autumn harvest recently and I’m very tired. 1 slept like a log at night and didn’t hear anything.”

The other neighbosr said the same thing.

After thanking them, Chu Xuhua examined Zhou Da’s house.

The house had been tidied up. There were so many people coming and going.

Chu Xujin frowned slightly. He looked at everything in the room carefully, looking for the tools to commit the crime.

Zhou Da wasn’t strangled or hung. How did he suffocate to death?

Zhou Da’s legs were injured, and he hadn’t been moving around recently. Chu Xujin walked to the bed and touched the blanket. The night weather had turned cold, and the blanket was a little thick…

He lay down on the bed and covered his face with a clean handkerchief. Then he pulled the blanket over his face and covered himself tightly.

After a while, he lifted the blanket and sat up. His face was red. This could suffocate a person to death.

A constable who followed him suddenly said, “Sir, since Zhou Da died at night, if someone killed him the way you demonstrated, Zhou Da’s family members probably wouldn’t have had the strength to do it, right?”

These words reminded Chu Xujin, “That’s right. We can exclude Zhou’s family from the list of suspects.”

He continued analyzing, “At that time, the door of the house should have been closed. It could only be someone who let the murderer in, and this person must be someone the murderer knows.”

The constable said, “Sir, in that case, the other party might have planned this in advance.”

Chu Xuhua nodded, “If it was Zhou Da’s parents who let the murderer in, Madam Zhou, who slept with Zhou Da, would definitely have stopped it. But that’s not what happened, so we can exclude Zhou Da’s parents and children.”

Both of them simultaneously concluded, “The accomplice can only be Madam Zhou.”

“If it was Madam Zhou, then everything makes sense,” Chu Xuhua thought for a moment and instructed, “Go and investigate men who are close to Madam Zhou.”

‘Yes, sir.’

Since it was still a hypothesis, Chu Xuhua needed to find evidence. He continued to search the room carefully.

Suddenly, he noticed a very distinct footprint at the foot of the bed. He measured it with his hand and then compared it with Zhou Da’s shoe. The size was almost the same, but the sole patterns didn’t match.

This footprint could very likely belong to the murderer.

Ge Lihua entered and asked, “What have you found?”

Chu Xuhua, seeing Ge Lihua, showed a smile despite his serious demeanor, “I have some theories. Let me tell you…”

Ge Lihua listened attentively.

Soon after, Xu San was captured and brought back by the constables, “Sir, 1 didn’t kill him, it has nothing to do with me. You can’t arrest people randomly.”

Chu Xujin and Ge Lihua heard the sound and walked out together.

Chu Xuhua pointed to Xu San’s foot, “Take off his shoes.”

The constable immediately removed Xu San’s shoes and handed them to Chu Xuhua, who took them to the bedside for comparison. They matched perfectly. Xu San, being held by the constable, saw this and became even more panicked.

“It’s not me, not me. The footprint was left by me when I came to see Zhou Da,

I didn’t kill Zhou Da.”

Chu Xuhua did not jump to conclusions, “Where were you last night?”

Xu San, sweating profusely and fearful, said quickly, “I was at home sleeping. My family can prove it.”

Chu Xuhua negated, “Testimonies from family members are not valid. Think, is there anyone else who can prove it?”

Xu San’s body went limp, his face filled with fear, “Sir, everyone sleeps at night, who can prove it for me?”

After saying this, he suddenly started making a scene, struggling and saying, “This won’t do, that won’t do, are you trying to find a scapegoat just to solve the case quickly?”

Chu Xuhua looked at Xu San, “If I really wanted to find a scapegoat, I would have arrested you and convicted you by now.”

Xu San, terrified, “Sir, I really didn’t kill anyone, please believe me.”

Chu Xuhua asked casually, “Then who do you think killed him?”

Xu San suddenly mentioned someone and said confidently, “Madam Zhou’s cousin brother. It must be him.”

Chu Xuhua was surprised, “Why do you say it’s him?”

Xu San eagerly said, “I’ve seen him several times being intimate with Madam Zhou. He must have killed Zhou Da to marry Madam Zhou.”

Chu Xuhua was puzzled, “Since they are cousins, they must know each other. If he wanted to marry his cousin sister, why did she marry someone else?”

“Zhou Da told me that at that time, Madam Zhou’s cousin was going to marry her, but Zhou Da took people to snatch Madam Zhou back. And since he offered more dowry than Madam Zhou’s cousin, her parents married her to Zhou Da.”

This was what Zhou Dasheng was most proud of. Everyone who was close to him knew..