strictlysupreme Chapter 194 Confession
Chapter 194 Confession
When Qin Miaoxi rushed to Zhao's house in a hurry, the scene before her made her heart tighten.
Several soldiers surrounded the Zhao residence like an iron barrel, and the atmosphere was grim.
Jingzhao Yin Shi Xinzhe was walking out of the mansion with heavy steps and a dejected look, as if he was carrying a heavy burden on his shoulders.
Qin Miaoxi's heart sank suddenly, and she hurried forward, her voice filled with urgency: "Master Shi!"
Shi Xinzhe looked up when he heard the voice, a glimmer of light flashed in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by deep fatigue.
He sighed and said in a low voice, "Coroner Qin, you... are late."
Her expression suddenly changed several times, and she said with certainty: "Master Zhao is dead."
Shi Xinzhe had no time to care how she knew that at the moment. He nodded heavily, "Yes, he died as soon as I arrived. He's been dead for half an hour."
"How did he die?" Qin Miaoxi frowned, without stopping, and walked straight towards the gate of Zhao's mansion.
Seeing this, Shi Xinzhe hurried over and explained in a low voice: "He committed suicide by hanging himself."
Qin Miaoxi paused slightly and glanced at him sideways, a sharp glint in her eyes. "Another suicide by hanging? Are there any doubts?"
"Lord Zhao seemed to be fine before his death, but none of the servants in the mansion noticed anything unusual. It wasn't until a servant went to the study to deliver ginseng soup that he was discovered."
Then, Shi Xinzhe lowered his voice even more: "It's the same way Qian Baiwan died. There are scars on the chest and back."
Qin Miaoxi immediately quickened her pace and walked straight towards the study in the Zhao Mansion.
The two of them walked one in front and one behind, through the corridor of Zhao's mansion and went straight to the study.
The atmosphere in the mansion was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe, as if even the air had frozen. The servants who discovered the deceased stood timidly at the door of the study to be interrogated by the yamen runners.
Inside the study, a faint smell of blood mixed with the fragrance of ink filled the air. Lord Zhao's body was hanging from the beam, the rope digging deep into his neck. His face was blue and purple, his eyes tightly closed.
She approached the body, her eyes as sharp as a knife, and examined it carefully. There was no trace of
Sure enough, there were several scars of varying depths on Lord Zhao's chest and back.
She reached out and pressed gently, and found that the surface of these scars was bruised, but there was no fresh bleeding or swelling. It did not seem to be caused by being restrained, but rather like bumps.
She frowned and whispered to herself, "These wounds... are at least two or three hours old, and they've been medicated."
Qin Miaoxi stood up and turned to look at the yamen runner beside her. Her tone was calm but with a hint of urgency: "How did you get these injuries? Did you have them before you died?"
A yamen runner stepped forward quickly and replied respectfully, "Reporting to Qin the Coroner, the servants at the Zhao Mansion said that this morning, Lord Zhao accidentally hit his chest and fell in the mansion. He not only has injuries on his chest and back, but also bruises on his elbows and calves. He has been treated with wound medicine."
Qin Miaoxi nodded, her gaze returning to the marks on the corpse's neck.
She looked carefully and found that the edges of the marks were neat and the depth was consistent, which was indeed the mark left by hanging.
However, her brows did not relax, and she felt that things were not simple.
Shi Xinzhe walked over to her and whispered, "We've carefully checked the scene and found no signs of a second person entering. Furthermore, according to the servants at the Zhao Mansion, the study is a very important place for Master Zhao. He even cleans it himself and never allows anyone else to set foot inside."
Qin Miaoxi did not respond immediately. Instead, she quickly scanned the room and noticed the scattered papers and an ink-soaked brush on the desk. The ink in the inkstone had not dried yet. It was obvious that Lord Zhao was still writing something before his death.
Then she walked over with full of doubts. When she came to the table, she found a piece of paper with scribbled handwriting at the bottom of the pile of scattered papers, and the content on it seemed to be a confession.
The paper read: He was afraid that new talented people would appear in the court and block his path to promotion, so he joined forces with his good friend Qian Baiwan, and lured those talented scholars and princes under the pretext of cracking a treasure, and then abducted them to the wilderness and killed them. He was the real murderer of several people, and he knew that he was guilty of a serious crime, so he begged the emperor to spare his family.
Shi Xinzhe was shocked by the confession. "He pleaded guilty."
Qin Miaoxi did not comment, but the doubts in her heart were not dispelled. The handwriting on the confession letter was messy, obviously written in a hurry.
At this moment, a yamen runner hurried over, holding a few bamboo slips in his hands, and respectfully handed them to Shi Xinzhe: "Sir, please take a look!"
Shi Xinzhe took the bamboo slips and glanced at them briefly, his expression suddenly changing. He looked up at Qin Miaoxi and said solemnly, "These are the bamboo slips found at Prince Wang's house! Look, the contents are exactly the same."
Qin Miaoxi leaned forward and quickly scanned the text on the bamboo slips. Sure enough, it was exactly the same as the records she had found in Prince Wang's house. Her heart sank, and she whispered, "How did these bamboo slips end up in the Zhao Mansion?"
Shi Xinzhe did not answer, but quickly compared the handwriting.
After a moment, he said with certainty, "Yes, the handwriting on these bamboo slips was indeed written by Lord Zhao."
He held his chin, frowning, and muttered thoughtfully, "Could it be... he knew we had found out about him, and was afraid that the truth would be exposed, so he chose to commit suicide to apologize?"
If it weren't for the fact that the scars on the deceased's body were exactly the same as Qian Baiwan's, Shi Xinzhe would never have suspected the possibility that Lord Zhao committed suicide. Now, whether it is the scars, the confession letter or the scene environment, all prove that he is the murderer behind the whole case, and he committed suicide out of fear of punishment after the government investigation found him.
However, he stood in the middle of the study, his brows furrowed, his eyes moving back and forth between the corpse and the scattered bamboo slips, but there was no joy in his heart at all for solving the case.
Qin Miaoxi stood aside, muttering to herself, as if sorting out her chaotic thoughts. "Before I found Wang Biao, I visited Lord Zhao. He acted calm and composed at the time, completely denying ever having seen those bamboo slips and ancient books. But in fact, I investigated and found that he not only knew Wang Biao, but also said something meaningful: 'By the time you find Wang Biao, he will have long since turned into a pile of bones.'"
Hearing this, Shi Xinzhe couldn't help but frown. Qin Miaoxi looked at him intently, "Not only that, but those assassins I just captured also confessed the real culprit during interrogation. It was none other than Editor Zhao."
His expression suddenly changed, and his voice was low and rapid: "Are you saying that Lord Zhao is not only involved in Wang Biao's death, but also sent assassins to hunt you down for this? So he is the mastermind behind all this?"
Qin Miaoxi nodded, her tone solemn: "That's right. But the strange thing is, if he was really the mastermind behind this, why would he choose to commit suicide? How could a small editor like him afford to support such a group of assassins? And the most crucial point..."
She paused, "He doesn't look like someone who would commit suicide."
Shi Xinzhe was silent for a moment, then slowly asked, "What do you think?"
Qin Miaoxi said coldly: "Perhaps, he was forced into a desperate situation and had to die to cover up a bigger secret."