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Chapter 86 The Third Person

The yamen runners from Jingzhao Prefecture were very quick and did not give Zhuang Zhi much time to cry or complain. They quickly brought the thief over.

As soon as the thief showed up, everyone present, even Lu Zhang and others who came later and learned about Zhu Yu's speculation, were shocked.

This person's appearance was almost exactly the same as Zhu Yu's previous guess. He was a thin man. Even though he had been caught and thrown into prison, and was brought here by the yamen runners with his hands tied behind his back, he still walked on tiptoe. When he walked, he would just tap his heels lightly on the ground and then immediately lift them up.

The thief looked extremely frightened, with nervousness written all over his face. That nervousness was not like the nervousness after being caught stealing, but a fear that came from the bottom of his heart.

As soon as Zhu Yu saw the thief, he felt more at ease, knowing that his speculations were confirmed.

She spoke to the thief with a pleasant expression, "Don't be afraid. I know you didn't kill anyone. I asked the yamen runner to bring you here just to ask about what happened that night. You just need to answer truthfully."

The thief probably didn't expect the other party to be so straightforward and friendly, so he nodded nervously.

"Why did you come to this embroidery building that day?" Zhu Yu asked.

"My Lord, I was possessed by a devil that day..." The thief was afraid that if he didn't act honestly enough, Zhu Yu would not believe him. "For several days at that time, I didn't know what happened. Not to mention valuables, I didn't even steal a copper coin. I was about to go hungry.

When I was searching for things on the boat on this river before, I had seen this embroidered building several times. I thought that some wealthy family must be living here, and that they didn't have many servants.

That day I was worrying about not being able to open the business, and I happened to see someone hurriedly going downstairs and taking a boat away.

After a while, the lights on the second floor went out, and soon another person left.

I was thinking, could it be that since everyone here has left today, I deserve to go in and make some fortune?
So... so I waited there for a long time, and when I saw that no one was coming back, I sneaked over again, went into the yard, and went upstairs, thinking that in the dark, I could touch some of the old ornaments.

Unexpectedly, after entering the room, before I could touch anything valuable, I stepped on something sticky, slippery and wet.

I felt like something was amiss, so I quickly touched it with my hand and sniffed it. It had a fishy smell...

I panicked, and when I looked down carefully, I saw someone lying on the ground, motionless, with a large pool of blood on the ground...

I was so scared that I ran away from here.

Two days later, I was caught by those policemen. I was so scared at that time, I thought you thought I had killed someone!
Later I found out that you guys didn't seem to know about this either, and I... I was afraid that if I told you all this, I wouldn't be able to explain it clearly, and if you insisted that I was the one who killed someone... then I would be wronged as a thief!"

As he spoke, he looked at Zhu Yu pitifully.

Zhu Yu had no doubts about what he said later, but he was very interested in a detail that the thief had mentioned earlier: "You said you saw someone hurriedly leaving on a boat that day, and after a while the lights upstairs went out?"

"Yes, that's right, that's right! I swear to God, this is all true!" The thief nodded repeatedly, "Not only did the lights go out later, but after the lights were turned off, someone left. That's why I thought there was no one up there, so I dared to touch it! Otherwise, what if someone turned out the lights and went to sleep? If I ran up there, I would be walking into a trap!"

I usually steal the silver bags of merchants on the boats in the water. If I am really discovered, the worst that can happen is that I jump off the boat and dive into the water.

I'm a good swimmer. I can jump into the water and swim 20 to 30 feet without surfacing. But I can't do that on this rooftop! With my small body, if I get trapped inside, I'll be beaten to death!
So I made sure no one was around before I quietly went up there."

"Oh? When you came, weren't there two boats moored on the river bank below the embroidered building?" Lu Qing listened with great interest and asked the thief.

The thief waved his hand hastily: "There's only one boat, and the boatman is still waiting on it. Why should I risk getting on it? I might as well just stay underwater and wait to steal something from the boat!"

His words made the boatman, who had been huddled aside for a long time, not daring to say a word, fearing that he would be implicated, secretly glared at him.

"There was only one boat, but two people left at the same time? Could it be that the second person jumped into the river and swam away like you did?" Zhu Yu asked.

"That man didn't go into the water. He left the yard and ran into the woods behind. He hasn't come back since. I guess he... killed someone and ran away!"

The thief's words gave Cao Chenfeng, who had been kicked to the ground by Cao Tianbao and didn't dare to get up, more confidence, and he propped himself up and knelt down.

Not only him, but even the boatman who was originally timid, remembered after being reminded by him: "Sir! I remember it too!

That night, when the young man hurriedly ran down to the boat and told me to leave quickly, I didn't know why, but I could only do as he said and hurriedly row the boat across the river.

When we reached the middle of the river, I looked up at the embroidered building and saw light coming out of the windows on the second floor. But when we almost reached the middle of the river, the lights upstairs went out!

Zhu Yu ignored him and continued to ask the thief, "When you saw a dead person lying on the ground, did you notice what kind of knife was stuck in her body?"

The thief was stunned for a moment: "Knife? What knife? I didn't see any knife when I looked at it! I just saw a person lying on the ground, covered in blood!"

As he spoke, he seemed to remember something and subconsciously wanted to pat his head, but for a moment he forgot that his hands were tied behind his back. As a result, he failed to pat his head and only made a weird gesture with his whole body twitching.

"I remember!" He became more and more certain, "That night, the second person who left the embroidery building went to the bottom of the building. I don't know what he did, but I heard some noise in the water, and then he went into the woods.

My Lords, you are looking for a knife. Did that man throw it into the river? I know how to swim, so why don't you let me find the knife for you, Lords?
If I can atone for my sins and help you get the knife back, please forgive me. I will never steal again, I promise!"

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　　I wish all my friends in the south a happy Little New Year today!
　　What are your Little New Year customs? Do you also clean up?

　　
　
(End of this chapter)