The coroner and the concubine doctor pursue the murderer in the Dali Temple

There was a commotion in the crowd. No one had expected that Chen Tianzhi, who seemed to be an honest man on weekdays, could actually commit such a big crime. Many people found it unbelievable, but everyone had heard that Chen Tianzhi himself had just admitted it, so they had to believe it even if they didn't want to.

Butcher Zhang's eyes were red, and he said to Chu Yunxi: "Thank you, young lady, for clearing my name."

Chu Yunxi said: "In fact, have you already thought that the person who framed you might be Chen Tianzhi? Why didn't you tell us?"

Butcher Zhang lowered his head and said after a long while, "He has been with me for eight years. When he first came to me, he was just a half-grown child. I don't have any children of my own. After so many years together, I actually treated him like my own child. Although I guessed that he might have committed this crime, I really couldn't bear to give him up. I thought, he has called me his master for eight years, so I should do something for him as his master."

"If you are convicted and sentenced to death, are you willing to accept it?" Chu Yunxi asked.

Butcher Zhang smiled bitterly, "So what if I'm unwilling? What parent would push their child away in exchange for their own safety? Girl, if you hadn't found out the truth, if I was really sentenced to death, I think I would have accepted it."

Chu Yunxi thought Zhang the Butcher was really stupid, but she didn't know how to refute him. She could only sigh and say, "Just think of it as if you never accepted this apprentice. Live your life well in the future. If possible, accept another apprentice, but this time, you have to keep your eyes open."

Butcher Zhang has never married and has always been alone. Chu Yunxi hopes that he can take in another apprentice so that someone will take care of him in his old age.

But Butcher Zhang smiled bitterly and shook his head, "No more. I don't have the energy to teach anyone anymore. Let's just live one day at a time."

Everyone has their own aspirations, and Chu Yunxi couldn't force anything, so she had to leave some silver to Butcher Zhang and left. Butcher Zhang said he didn't want any, but how could he catch up with Xiao Mubei?

After returning to the Dali Temple, Chu Yunxi and Xiao Mubei went directly to the prison to see Chen Jianyi. He had calmed down at this moment and was sitting in the cell with his head hung. Xiao Mubei ordered someone to take him to the interrogation room. After a while, he appeared in front of them in prison clothes.

Chu Yunxi saw that he seemed to have been drained of his energy all of a sudden, and couldn't help but sigh in her heart. She thought about how important hope is in a person's heart. When you have hope in your heart, you will be motivated to do anything. But once this hope is taken away, the whole person will wither away at a speed visible to the naked eye, and may even wither and die soon.

"Chen Jianyi, tell me, you are the son of the Minister of War, why have you been lurking in this Qilou Street for so many years and associating with a butcher?" Chu Yunxi stared at him and asked.

Chen Jianyi did not answer. He raised his eyes and asked, "I want to know where I revealed my flaws that made you suspect me?"

Chu Yunxi and he looked into each other's eyes, neither of them backed down. After a while, Chu Yunxi slowly took out the longevity lock and held it up, "You should be familiar with this, right?"

Chen Jianyi's pupils suddenly contracted, and the expression on his face seemed to be neither smiling nor crying, which was very complicated. After a long while, he choked and said, "Fortunately, I finally found it. Girl, can you give it back to me?"

Chu Yunxi glanced at Xiao Mubei, who nodded. Chu Yunxi stood up, walked to Chen Jianyi, and handed him the longevity lock. He took it carefully, wiped it on his sleeve, looked at it over and over again, then put it in his arms and let out a sigh of relief.

"Girl, you are amazing. You found me with this longevity lock and found out all my life stories. I, Chen Jianyi, fell into your hands. I admit it. I will tell you whatever you want to know."

Chu Yunxi smiled slightly, "Thank you for your recognition. Let me ask you the same question again. Why did you, the son of a military minister, hide in Seventh Floor Street for so many years? What happened to the Chen family back then?"

Chen Jianyi obviously didn't want to recall what happened back then. He closed his eyes, as if he had made a great decision, and then he spoke: "In fact, when the Chen family was in trouble, I was only five or six years old. At that time, my father was the Minister of War, and he had a political enemy in the court. In order to avenge my father for reporting him in front of His Majesty, that person deliberately framed my mother. In public... he dragged her out of the inn in disheveled clothes, falsely accused her of adultery, and asked the innkeeper's daughter, Lin Baozhu, who was only eleven or twelve years old at the time, to testify. I didn't expect that such a little girl would be so greedy. Just because that person gave her a pair of beautiful earrings, she lied against her conscience and testified against my mother. Because she was a little girl, others believed her words. My mother had no way to defend herself, and she jumped into the river in shame and anger. When my father arrived, all he saw was my mother's cold body."

Chen Jianyi clenched his fists tightly, and it was obvious that recalling this incident made him very excited. Chu Yunxi poured him a glass of water and handed it to him. Only then did he slowly loosen his fists and said "thank you".

After drinking half a glass of water and calming himself down, Chen Jianyi continued, "My father and mother once swore to live and die together. Seeing my mother die unjustly, my father went completely crazy. He rushed to the home of his political enemy with a knife, wanting to kill him, but he didn't expect that the man had gone into hiding. My father couldn't find him, and when he returned home and saw my mother's wet body, he felt hopeless. He told Uncle Zhong, the old servant at home, to take good care of me, and then he slashed his own throat with a sword and followed my mother. Uncle Zhong was unable to stop him, and he watched helplessly as my father passed away. He endured the grief and buried my parents, dismissed the servants at home, and brought me to Qilou Street, changing my name so that no one could find me again. He was afraid that rumors would hurt me again."

Chen Jianyi drank the remaining water, gritted his teeth, and continued, "But this incident is a pain that Uncle Zhong and I will never forget. I only have one thing left on me, which is the longevity lock. Uncle Zhong often told me that the culprit of this incident is Daddy's political enemy and Lin Baozhu. He told me to avenge Daddy and Mom. They destroyed our family, so we must repay them with an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. We will never tolerate it."

Chu Yunxi had an ominous premonition in her heart and asked, "How is your father's political enemy now?"

Chen Jianyi sneered, "He was lucky. He died in an accident the year after my parents died. His wives and concubines also died one after another in order to fight for the family property. It's a pity that I didn't have the chance to take revenge myself."