26: This gentleman is very good at solving cases.

“Tell us about it.”

Xie Weilou looked at Lu Zhao.

“……”

Lu Zhao looked at Steward Ma.

Steward Ma said, “Since things have come to this, just tell the truth.”

Lu Zhao nodded and said, “Last night, Steward Ma found me and gave me one hundred taels of silver to help him put on a show. I was pretending to be the water ghost. I dragged the Master’s corpse out of the pavilion.”

“To cover up the injury on the back of the Master’s head, I deliberately threw the Master by the pond, as requested by Steward Ma, to create the illusion of a stone impact. We didn’t report it at the time because the person had just died and the traces were too obvious, so we deliberately waited until this morning.”

“Lu Zhao, you were always by the Master’s side, his most trusted guard. I didn’t expect you to be involved in this. I was wondering why I didn’t see you last night when we were dealing with the water ghost. So you were the water ghost.”

The Xu family’s guards looked coldly at Lu Zhao.

They knew that some of them had been injured when they were dealing with Lu Zhao last night.

Lu Zhao shook his head and said, “I am just a cripple, and Madam Xu’s father is the Ministry of Works Vice Minister. If he stepped forward, this case would naturally be resolved quickly.”

He continued, “If I were not sensible, my end would not be good. I just didn’t expect that the Ministry of Works Vice Minister would actually die…”

Xie Weilou looked at Lu Zhao: “When I questioned Zhang Yun’s steward earlier, he said that at midnight, he saw a Xu family guard go to Zhang Yun’s house. That must have been you.”

He mused, “It seems that you were not with Xu Pan when he died last night. Otherwise, as his most trusted guard, if you had been with him, he might not have died.”

Lu Zhao said with a complex expression, “I was ordered by the Master to deliver the newly arrived fine wine to Master Zhang. When I returned, he had already been killed by Steward Ma. If I had been there, he naturally would not have died. What a pity… The dead cannot be brought back to life. I could only follow the arrangements of Steward Ma and Madam Xu for one hundred taels and my own life.”

Xie Weilou suddenly realized, “Delivering wine? So that pot of osmanthus wine in Zhang Zai’s room was delivered by you.”

“That’s right.”

Lu Zhao nodded slightly.

Lin Qinghuang looked at Xie Weilou, a smile appearing on her face, the cunning fellow.

Xie Weilou stared at Lu Zhao, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned: “Guard Lu, you are lying!”

“Hmm?”

Lu Zhao was startled, looking at Xie Weilou in confusion, saying, “I am not lying.”

Xie Weilou smiled faintly, “You should be familiar with the order of Zhang Zai’s and Xu Pan’s deaths, right?”

Lu Zhao’s heart tightened. He shook his head and said, “I only know that the Master died at midnight. I don’t know anything else.”

Xie Weilou said, “Zhang Zai died before Xu Pan. He died at Hai Shi, while Xu Pan died at Zi Shi. If the steward saw you at Zi Shi, wouldn’t that mean you went to Zhang Zai’s mansion and saw a dead Zhang Zai?”

“I…”

Lu Zhao’s face changed slightly. He quickly said, “It was late last night. I must have remembered incorrectly.”

“You certainly remembered incorrectly, after all, Zhang Zai’s steward didn’t see you go to Zhang Yun’s mansion.”

Xie Weilou said with a playful expression.

Lu Zhao’s body trembled. He then said, “Sir, there’s no need to trick me. I did go to see Master Zhang. As for the time, I must have remembered it incorrectly.”

“May I see your hands?”

Xie Weilou looked at Lu Zhao.

Lu Zhao didn’t understand why, but he extended his hands.

Xie Weilou stared at Lu Zhao’s hands, noticing that the nails on both hands were broken, with some flesh visible.

Lu Zhao explained, “I am a martial artist, and I was soaked in icy water last night. This shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“This is caused by frequently grabbing window sills, isn’t it?”

Xie Weilou said indifferently.

“……”

Lu Zhao’s pupils constricted. He instantly stared at Xie Weilou.

Xie Weilou pointed to the location of the broken window and said, “The claw marks outside are too obvious, and that single footprint is also quite conspicuous.”

Lu Zhao frowned and said, “What does that prove?”

“It doesn’t prove anything, but I need to show you a crucial item.”

Xie Weilou stretched lazily.

“Qinghuang, hand over that thing you drew earlier.”

Xie Weilou looked at Lin Qinghuang.

Lin Qinghuang took out a piece of paper from her sleeve and handed it to Xie Weilou.

Xie Weilou took the paper and said to Lu Zhao, “Take off your shoes.”

“……”

Lu Zhao silently took off his shoes.

Xie Weilou unfolded the paper. There was a footprint on it. He gestured beside Lu Zhao’s shoe and said, “This footprint is the same size as your shoe, and even the patterns are similar.”

Lu Zhao was silent for a second, then asked, “So what exactly do you want to say, Sir?”

Xie Weilou said, “Under Zhang Zai’s bookcase, there was dust. Late at night, when you approached the bookcase to take things from the secret compartment, you certainly didn’t notice the dust. Your footprint happened to be left behind, and there was also another spot at the scene, left by your crutch.”

Lu Zhao slightly tightened his grip on his crutch, his face turning extremely pale. Upon hearing this, he understood that he had been completely exposed.

Dust, there was actually dust under that cabinet. How careless!

That old man Zhang Zai was as cunning as ever.

Xie Weilou looked at Lu Zhao and Zhang Yun: “I’ll make a rough inference. You first went to Zhang Zai’s mansion in Xu Pan’s name, then killed him and took the items from the secret compartment. After that, you returned to the Xu mansion and happened to see Steward Ma and Madam Xu having an affair by Steward Ma’s window. You were filled with rage. You then told Xu Pan about this. Xu Pan furiously came to catch them in the act and was ultimately knocked down by Steward Ma with a vase.”

“Lu Zhao, you…”

Upon hearing this, Steward Ma and Zhang Yun’s eyes narrowed. They stared intently at Lu Zhao. Had they been set up by Lu Zhao?

Lu Zhao said regretfully, “This Sir is truly brilliant at solving cases. The details are exactly as you said.”

Xie Weilou shook his head and said, “These are not details. Relatively speaking, what I am more curious about is why you wanted to kill Zhang Zai and Xu Pan? Why, upon seeing Steward Ma and Madam Xu having an affair, were you so enraged that you clawed at the window sill? There are many claw marks on that window sill, definitely not left in a single day. You knew about Steward Ma and Madam Xu’s affair long ago, and you were very angry.”

Lu Zhao said in a deep voice, “I killed Zhang Zai, but not Xu Pan.”

Xie Weilou chuckled, “Killing one person is killing, killing two people is also killing. Since you did it, there’s no need to deny it. The injury on the back of Zhang Zai’s head was flat and actually not fatal. The real cause of his death was angina.”

“What? My strike wasn’t the key to killing the Master?”

Steward Ma looked at Xie Weilou in shock. If the person wasn’t directly killed by him, could his punishment be reduced?

“Don’t worry! The Tianquan Division’s Dungeon can make you sit through it.”

Xie Weilou said indifferently.

After hearing this, Steward Ma’s face turned ashen again.

Xie Weilou looked at Lu Zhao and said, “Since things have come to this, just tell all the details! There’s no need for you and me to continue wasting each other’s time.”

“Alas!”

Lu Zhao sighed softly and said, “There’s really no need to argue anymore, because it’s meaningless.”