Chapter 1650: The Murderer is Outside the List

Chen Guanlou went down to the C-grade prison, saw Zhu San, and asked right away: "Did you know that the Marquis's Mansion originally intended to marry their daughter to you, to make you their son-in-law?"

Zhu San was completely stunned, his brain buzzing; he felt as if he had heard something incredible.

He asked subconsciously, "What?"

"The Marquis's Mansion originally intended to marry their daughter to you; did you know?"

Chen Guanlou asked again.

"How is that possible!" Zhu San denied it subconsciously. "What virtue or ability do I have to marry a daughter of the Marquis's Mansion? Besides, I am a widower, a second marriage!"

"What if that girl was a bit slow-witted, not quite right in the head?"

"This..." Zhu San's expression stiffened, as if he remembered something. "Is what you say true?"

"Fourth Master Zhang said so, and I could tell he wasn't lying. So, you didn't know?"

Zhu San nodded repeatedly. "I didn't know! Fourth Master Zhang didn't say anything; not a hint leaked out. He just sent an invitation for me to visit, and nothing happened during that time."

"Did you go to pay your respects to the Marquis and the Marchioness?"

"Yes, yes. At the time, there were many people in the hall, and the old Marchioness's attitude was kind and amiable. I was even thinking, is it that the higher one's status, the easier they are to get along with?"

"Nothing else?"

Zhu San shook his head. "Nothing abnormal."

Chen Guanlou nodded, indicating he understood.

Zhu San then asked: "Does this matter have any connection to my case?"

"Perhaps it does, perhaps it doesn't. If you were framed, have you thought about whether it was a spur-of-the-moment decision or a long-planned scheme?"

"I..."

Zhu San was also stunned for a moment; he had thought that it was highly likely he had been framed. But he had never pondered deeply about what kind of framing it was.

Chen Guanlou helped him analyze: "A spur-of-the-moment decision is very likely because you had the lowest status at that day's banquet and no consequences, so they chose you. If it was a long-planned scheme, then the marriage proposal from the Marquis's Mansion could also be a gimmick, just to invite you into the Marquis's Mansion in a legitimate way."

Zhu San slumped to the ground, looking terrified.

He clutched his head. "I am just a merchant, relying on my own skills to eat, never having harmed anyone; why did it have to be me?"

"When a person dies, someone has to take the blame. At that day's banquet, the other guests were all of noble status. Only you had neither status nor position. It is perfectly normal for you to become the target. That circle is not one you can integrate into just because you have money."

Chen Guanlou's words were cruel, yet reality was ten or a hundred times crueler than his words.

A small merchant wanting to integrate into the circle of noble descendants, even if it was just a group of useless noble descendants and not the circle of the eldest legitimate sons inheriting the family business, was truly overestimating himself and lacking self-awareness.

This bunch of noble descendants had always been arrogant and looked down on everyone. They didn't even put the sons of officials in their eyes, so how could they value a merchant and sit together drinking?

Zhu San was delusional and had great ambition, which was why he fell into the trap and ended up in this state today.

However, the Marquis's Mansion was bullying people too much!

The merchant hadn't eaten their grain or drunk their water, and had even helped Zhang Laosi make money; to discard someone without a word, and to commit murder at that—it was outrageous!

Chen Guanlou couldn't stand it, so he had to intervene.

He comforted Zhu San: "Now, first we must determine if you killed the person. Second, we must identify the true murderer. Once the true murderer is found, everything will come to light."

"Can it be found?"

"Yes!"

Chen Guanlou believed in Li Tou's capability.

The Six Shanmen could solve cases. Many times, cases couldn't be solved not because of a lack of ability, but because of human interference.

Everyone was a dog of the imperial court, eating the court's food, so naturally, they had to share the court's worries.

If the superiors said to close the case, it was closed; if the superiors said there was no crime, there was no crime—that was just how it was.

Several days passed.

Li Tou overcame all difficulties, using the excuse of consolidating evidence to solidify Zhu San's guilt, and went to the Marquis's Mansion several times to ask for testimony. The maids, servants, matrons, and guards...

Through cross-referencing, Zhu San's suspicion could basically be ruled out.

He didn't make it public, but instead made a copy of the testimony, attached his analysis and judgment, and handed it to Chen Guanlou.

The two met at a restaurant.

Chen Guanlou flipped through the testimony while asking: "Zhu San's suspicion is ruled out; is there any clue about the murderer's identity?"

"The guest list you gave me was very useful."

"Is the murderer on that list?" Chen Guanlou was pleasantly surprised.

Li Tou shook his head. "Not on the list, but the list was helpful. My brother at the Military Horse Division told me that on the day the Marquis's Mansion held the banquet, he was responsible for patrolling the streets. He saw with his own eyes a carriage without a crest enter the Marquis's Mansion, but the coachman was from a certain mansion."

Having said that, he pointed to a name on the guest list, signaling to Chen Guanlou.

Chen Guanlou looked at the name, and it became clear in his mind.

Li Tou continued, "Miss Mei died after being abused; even if her mouth was gagged, she would have made a sound, right?"

Chen Guanlou nodded.

A young girl suffering such treatment, even if she couldn't scream, would struggle, and struggling would cause a commotion.

"Look at the testimony; the passing maids and servants all said they didn't hear any commotion. Among them, a matron responsible for cleaning said she heard a few snores."

"Are you relying on this to rule out Zhu San's suspicion?"

"Not just that! When we went to investigate the scene, I clearly remembered there were bloodstains on the threshold, and there were a few drops of blood outside the door. This is the most convincing evidence. If Miss Mei was killed by Zhu San, how could the bloodstains be outside the door? Moreover, I asked the cleaning matron, and she was certain there were no bloodstains on the ground at the time. If there had been, she would definitely have discovered them."

"These traces are all gone now, right?"

"But the Six Shanmen has records! And diagrams were drawn and appended, with everyone's signatures and fingerprints."

Chen Guanlou felt admiration; the Six Shanmen was quite rigorous in handling cases.

"Who do you suspect is the murderer?"

"The greatest suspicion lies with the person inside that carriage without a crest. Because comparing the testimony, the other male guests, from the time Zhu San was drunk until the crime occurred, more or less had a few maids or servants see their whereabouts, and they could accurately state roughly which time period they were in and what they were doing."

Li Tou helped Chen Guanlou flip to the back of the file. "I made a timetable for every guest. From 1:45 PM to 3:45 PM, this is the time period from Zhu San's drunkenness to the crime. Look, comparing the guest list, these male guests all have time witnesses; although not for the entire period, it is enough to explain the problem."

Chen Guanlou looked at the comparison table; he was worthy of being a professional, the investigation was detailed and thorough. Fearing he wouldn't understand, he specifically extracted the key information and made a table for comparison.

He clicked his tongue in admiration. "Looking at it this way, it is indeed clear at a glance. The only person who didn't appear the whole time is Zhu San, right?"

"Among the known personnel, besides Zhu San, there is also the Second Master of the Marquis's Mansion, who also didn't appear during this time, and no one knows where he was. However, considering the deceased was a girl from the Mei family, I have temporarily ruled out the Second Master."

"Why rule him out? When a woman is killed, the first to be suspected is an acquaintance."

"That is how it is said. However, there is a testimony here saying that during that time, the Second Master was fooling around with a maid. But this testimony has a problem: they only heard the commotion, they didn't see the person. So, it is temporarily impossible to determine its authenticity."

"Wait a minute. Have you confirmed that Miss Mei suffered a man's insult? Could it have been done by a woman?" ===== CHAPTER 1651 =====