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 was extremely high. Even though he was young, there were many influential elders who showered him with respect. He didn't look like a young man in their eyes, people treated him like a senior. Xie Zheng could also see that Mu Yi had a great deal of knowledge and had a great deal of experience for a young man.
"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 dull.
However, Mu Yi wasn't like that. He was humble and experienced.
Talent was also another deciding factor. Xie Zheng could see that Mu Yi was extremely talented at his age. That was why he was so quick to scold Xie Miao.
Even though Xie Miao didn't feel at ease, when he saw how angry his uncle looked, he jumped in fright.
"Master, I hope I didn't offend you. Please forgive me," Xie Miao said hurriedly.
Mu Yi smiled at him. He gave the picture scroll back to Su Jinlun and had nothing to say on the matter. Even Su Jinlun knew Xie Miao had gone too far. Otherwise, Su Jinlun wouldn't have taken out the scroll at that crucial moment to change the subject. They both didn't approve of Xie Miao's statement.
They had to be careful because a statement like that could destroy a prestigious family's reputation and cause them to be killed at the same time.
Peng Songlai's eldest son-in-law was a public figure and held a great deal of power. He had been in office for five years, and people were right to be frightened of him.
If the Su Clan wanted to gain power, they couldn't afford to offend other powers.
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 which would humiliate the Peng Clan and Peng Songlai.
If Peng Songlai's daughter was a murderer, that would also have an impact on her sister's life. Peng Songlai would also come under a great deal scrutiny.
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, he would need to bear the responsibility of the accusation.
He hadn't thought that everybody would contradict his conclusion right away.
If Mu Yi had told Peng Songlai about this, the uncle and nephew would have probably lost their positions in the county.
When Xie Miao thought about the possible consequences, he shivered, and his face turned pale. He even had cold sweats. He lowered his head and understood that his rashness could have caused unimaginable trouble.
"Stupid boy. Go away now. Stop disturbing everyone here," Xie Zheng said when he saw Mu Yi say nothing. This time, he was extremely angry and even kicked Xie Miao so hard he fell. Xie Miao fell to the ground with a loud thump.
When Mu Yi saw that, he felt a bit guilty because he wasn't angry with Xie Miao. Xie Miao was smart and a good investigator, and actually, he was right; everything pointed to Counselor Peng's daughter being the killer.
But, Mu Yi knew that the murderer was someone else!
Even without his vision of the murder, he wouldn't have considered 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 foolish way. It would've been really stupid to kill her own husband in her own room with the windows and doors locked from the inside. And to do it without leaving a single clue pointing to someone else?
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 the point of no return.
"Master, please don't blame him. My nephew is foolish. 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 only an ordinary person, so I probably can't find him," Xie Zheng said while shaking his head. He was slightly afraid of Mu Yi's influence, so he intentionally lowered his status by saying that he was ordinary, which meant that because Mu Yi was brought here to solve the case, it implied he was extraordinary.
"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 a great deal more than Mu Yi.
"People die all the time, but I've never heard of such a cruel murder," Xie Zheng said, he was certain he had never seen this before. Then, he added, "Of course, maybe such things happen but aren't reported because most 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 have your own conclusion, Master," Xie Zheng said, trying to flatter Mu Yi.
"No, I also 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 angry again. He didn't understand why his uncle and Mu Yi were so sure that he was wrong, but he couldn't say anything. He was forced to just stand there silently.
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