Tang Dynasty detective

Chapter 231 Witness Appears in Court
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The people who heard this gasped and looked sideways. Although it was rumored that Tao Zhaoxue's death was tragic, they never thought that she was tortured to death by such cruel methods.

Tao Youran burst into tears, as if recalling the scene of her daughter's tragic death, she gasped for breath, almost dying.

Tao Ruozhu gritted his teeth. While helping his father calm down, he glared at Lu Jitong angrily. If his father didn't need to take care of him, Kang Xu would not have doubted that he would rush to fight Lu Jitong immediately.

Lu Jitong didn't speak, but there was a strange gleam in his eyes.

"After the murderer brutally murdered Tao Zhaoxue, he tied him to a stone and threw him into Luoshui to throw his body away. But what the murderer didn't expect was that two fishermen in Hetou Village who rebelled against their wealth destroyed his plan instead. The two fishermen After learning that Zhou Aliu salvaged the jade pendant from the water, he followed Luoshui to salvage the jade pendant and let them find the corpse instead. Although the two were greedy for money, fortunately their conscience was still alive and they removed the stone that fell on the corpse , so that the corpse can be seen again."

With his hands behind his back, Kang Xu ordered Zhou A Liu and the two fishermen to be brought over, and said, "I'm not wrong, am I?"

The two fishermen knelt on the ground, nodded and said yes: "It is exactly as the old man said."

Asking the two fishermen to describe the matter in detail, Kang Xu asked them to step back for now, and then said: "After receiving the report, the officer immediately launched an investigation. Tao Zhaoxue is a lady of the family, and she usually does not leave the gate, and does not enter the second gate." , there is absolutely no enemy at all. If there is any connection, I am afraid that the only one who is married to her is Zhang Hebi."

"As we all know, Zhang Hebi has a marriage contract with Tao Zhaoxue, but the Tao family thinks he is a poor scholar, and obstructs this marriage in every possible way. Zhang Hebi was also kicked out of the Tao family. It stands to reason that Zhang Hebi is the most suspected murderer, but Following our investigation, we found that Zhang Hebi and Tao Zhaoxue were deeply in love, and it was absolutely impossible to kill Tao Zhaoxue, so the suspect was naturally someone else."

No one spoke, both inside and outside the county office were extremely quiet, and everyone listened carefully to Kang Xu's narration.

"I'm afraid no one would have guessed that all of this was due to an elopement, and it was this elopement that caused Tao Zhaoxue's death. Tao Zhaoxue and Zhang Hebi made an appointment to elope. And the killer took advantage of that."

Having said that, Kang Xu paused for a moment, and he passed Zhang Hebi to the hall, saying: "Zhang Hebi, tell me everything you know."

Zhang Hebi's eyes were gloomy. When he saw Tao Youran and his son, he felt ashamed. He knelt down in front of the two of them and cried, "Uncle, Brother Tao, I killed Zhaoxue! If I hadn't agreed to her elopement, Zhaoxue I will not die tragically, I am sorry for Zhaoxue. Uncle, I have already made a plan, as long as the murderer is punished, I will immediately accompany Zhaoxue, and I will never let her walk alone on Huangquan Road."

Tao Youran burst into tears, he glared at Zhang Hebi, raised his hand slightly as if he wanted to slap him hard, but he raised it halfway, but couldn't fall down anyway, and finally had to sigh helplessly.

"Hebi, give me an explanation, what's going on?" Tao Youran asked tremblingly.

"Your Excellency is right. In fact, from the moment I met Zhaoxue, I fell in love with her deeply. I know that I am humble and not worthy of Zhaoxue, so even if I am kicked out of the Tao family, as long as I can Seeing her from a distance, I am also satisfied. But Zhaoxue doesn't dislike me, we Hongyan pass letters, tell each other about love, all of this is done in secret without telling everyone...including the elopement."

Zhang Hebi wiped away his tears, and said: "That day I received a letter from Zhaoxue, saying that she wanted to elope with me, but I didn't agree on a time, so I was naturally overjoyed. That night, I packed my things and said goodbye to my friends, Prepare to leave Zhengyang with Zhaoxue and go far away."

"Hmph, go far away? You have nothing to live on, and you are so poor, where can you fly? Have you ever thought that Zhaoxue will only suffer and suffer if she follows you? What can you give her? You don't even give her basic food and clothing. No!" Tao Ruozhu said angrily in a low voice with a sullen face.

Zhang Hebi was stunned. He was stunned for a long time before he came to his senses and muttered to himself: "Yes, what Brother Tao said is true. I was dazzled by happiness at the time, and I didn't think much about it. Think a little more, even a little bit, maybe I will reject the proposal of elopement, and Zhaoxue will not die..."

Kang Xu shook his head, and said: "The matter has come to this point, regretting is useless. If you want to make up for your mistakes, you should tell everything you know. Only by catching the murderer can Miss Tao rest in peace."

Kang Xu's words raised hope in Zhang Hebi, who had gloomy eyes. He wiped the corners of his eyes abruptly, and continued: "At noon the next day, I received a letter from the maid Dongmei, which said that I was with you when Ye Chou Meet each other in the bamboo forest outside the city. I started to go to the bamboo forest in Shenshi, but when I arrived at the bamboo forest, I didn’t see Zhaoxue. The next day I met the fisherman Zhou Aliu on the street, and seeing the jade pendant in his hand made my guess even more certain."

"Why?" Tao Ruozhu asked in a deep voice.

"That jade pendant was my token of love for Zhaoxue. Since she threw away the jade pendant, she must have given up on me. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. I wanted to get the jade pendant back, so I quarreled with Zhou Aliu in the county. Ya."

Zhang Hebi beat his head a few times in frustration, and whimpered: "Ruoxue said that as long as she was alive, she would carry the jade pendant with her. Why didn't I think that she would have an accident? I'm still doubting her, I'm so stupid !"

"My official asks you, why did you arrive at the bamboo forest in Choushi when you set off from Shenshi?" Kang Xu asked pacing.

"Returning to my lord, I did leave from Shenshi, but I was surrounded by a group of beggars within a short distance. They insisted that I stole their things, and entangled them for a long time until I got rid of them and was close to Choushi. I just went to the bamboo forest outside the city." Zhang Hebi replied honestly.

"Okay," Kang Xu nodded, and said, "I will ask you again, when you said that the time you agreed with Tao Zhaoxue was ugly, do you have evidence?"

Zhang Hebi took out a letter from his pocket, handed it over and said, "Yes, this is a letter from Zhaoxue to me, and the content of the letter is written by her own hand, please read it."

Kang Xu had read the letter a long time ago, so he only glanced at it, and handed the letter paper to the Tao family and his son for identification.

"This... This is indeed my little sister's handwriting, there can never be a fake." Tao Ruozhu, as a bachelor of the Imperial Academy, naturally knows all kinds of handwriting at a glance. He can tell at a glance that the handwriting on the letterhead is Tao Zhaoxue's own handwriting. Book.

(End of this chapter)