Chapter 40: Who's The Murderer?
Suddenly, Xie Zheng coughed. Xie Miao was young, and he couldn't do anything against Mu Yi. Xie Zheng perfectly understood that Mu Yi's social status had to be high. Even though he was young, all of the elders still respected him. He didn't look like a young man, and people treated him like a senior Taoist priest. Xie Zheng could also see that Mu Yi had traveled all over the world.
"You're trying to be smart. Apologize to the Master now! Hurry up!" Xie Zheng said angrily to Xie Miao. If Mu Yi had just a social background, Xie Zheng wouldn't have acted like that because many noble young men who thought highly of themselves were actually quite stupid.
However, Mu Yi wasn't like that. He was humble and experienced.
However, being well-traveled wasn't enough. Some people traveled for many years but were still rookies.
Talent was important too. Xie Zheng could see that Mu Yi was well-traveled but also humble and pure. That's why he dared to scold Xie Miao.
Even though Xie Miao didn't feel at ease, when he saw how angry his uncle looked, he shivered. He was scared.
"Master, I hope I didn't offend you. Please forgive me," Xie Miao said.
Mu Yi smiled at him. He gave the picture scroll back to Su Jinlun and had nothing to say. Even Su Jinlun agreed with Mu Yi. Otherwise, Su Jinlun wouldn't have taken out the scroll at that crucial moment. They both didn't approve of Xie Miao's statements.
They had to be careful because they could destroy a prestigious family and themselves at the same time.
Peng Songlai's older son-in-law was a public figure and had power. He had been in office for five years, and people were already terrified of him.
If the Su Clan wanted to gain power, they couldn't offend those people.
If Xie Miao was right and that the murderer was from the clan, the consequences would be too dreadful to contemplate. That would be a scandal, and it would also humiliate the Peng Clan and Peng Songlai.
If Peng Songlai's daughter was a murderer, that would have an impact on her sister's life. Peng Songlai felt under pressure.
Xie Miao stopped talking because he didn't want to infuriate the County Magistrate, potentially affecting his uncle as well.
But because of Mu Yi, Xie Miao had hope. He wanted the whole thing to come to light, and since Mu Yi was there, they wouldn't need to bear the responsibility.
He hadn't thought that everybody would contradict him.
If Mu Yi had told Peng Songlai about this, the uncle and nephew would have probably lost their jobs.
When Xie Miao thought about that, he shivered, and his face turned pale. He even had cold sweats. He lowered his head and understood that he could have caused trouble.
"Stupid boy. Go away now. Stop disturbing everyone here," Xie Zheng said when he saw Mu Yi say nothing. He was really angry and even kicked Xie Miao. Xie Miao fell down on the floor, and a bumping sound spread in the air.
When Mu Yi saw that, he felt a bit sad because he wasn't really angry at Xie Miao. Xie Miao was smart and a good investigator. And actually, he was right; everything pointed to Counselor Peng's daughter.
But, Mu Yi knew that the murderer was someone else!
Even without his hallucination, he wouldn't have thought Peng Songlai's daughter to be the murderer.
If the murderer had been Peng Songlai's daughter, she wouldn't have killed him in such a stupid way. One shouldn't do anything to harm one's neighbor, and it would've been really stupid to kill her own husband in her own room. And to do it without leaving any clues too?
Xie Miao was smart but not that smart.
Xie Zheng didn't warn his nephew about such things because as long as he was there, it was impossible to reach a point of no return.
"Master, please don't blame him. My nephew is stupid. We all know that the murderer is someone else," Xie Zheng said straightforwardly.
"Oh, who?" Mu Yi asked.
"I don't know either. I'm an ordinary person, so I probably can't find him," Xie Zheng said while shaking his head. He was afraid of Mu Yi, so he said that he was ordinary, which meant that someone extraordinary like Mu Yi could probably solve the case.
"The murderer must be very experienced. When was the last time something like this happened in the county?" Mu Yi asked. After all, Xie Zheng was a magistrate officer, so he knew more than Mu Yi.
"People die all the time, but I've never heard of such a cruel murder," Xie Zheng said, certain of what he had said. Then, he added, "Of course, maybe such things happen but aren't reported because murderers usually hide the corpses."
"Why would the murderer flay his victim's skin? Do you have an idea?" Mu Yi asked.
"Eh, hm… no idea. But you will probably think of something, Master," Xie Zheng said, trying to flatter Mu Yi.
"No, I have no idea," Mu Yi said. Xie Zheng blushed, and Su Jinlun smiled mockingly.
"But you're right. The murderer can't be Counselor Peng's daughter, and it must be someone else," Mu Yi said straightforwardly.
When Xie Miao heard Mu Yi, he became furious. He didn't understand why his uncle and Mu Yi were so sure, but he couldn't say anything. He was forced to just stand there silently.
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