Help! The cunning and treacherous minister and I were reborn together!

Xiao Zong looked at his mother with deep, probing eyes.

"My son thought you brought people over because you were worried about the safety of him and his wife. Now it seems that you just wanted to take back the power of housekeeping."

He smiled bitterly. If one day he was no longer the commander of the Leopard Guard, would his mother still treat him well?

Xiao Rong said urgently, "Brother, please don't do this. Mother will be so heartbroken if she hears this!"

Qin grabbed the little girl's hand and looked at her son with resentment.

"Even your sister cares about me, but you, as the eldest son and legitimate heir, are not only unfilial, but you also think so much about your own mother!"

Xiao Zong felt a chill in his heart. "Then what am I supposed to think? Since Mother came to Songfeng Courtyard, has she ever uttered a single word of concern for her son?"

No sooner had she finished speaking than Granny Zhao, her hair disheveled, came running over shouting, "Brother Yun!"

Xiao Zong caught Zhao Mama, who almost fell, and said, "Slow down, Mama."

Granny Zhao looked up and saw him standing there safely, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's good that you're alright, it's good that you're alright! I had just fallen asleep when my husband woke me up, saying that someone had died in Matsukaze-in. I was afraid you were in danger, so I didn't dare to stop along the way."

"It was Guyu who died."

"Miss Guyu?"

When Granny Zhao saw the corpse on the ground, she was certain that it was Yun-ge'er's head maid.

"How did you die?"

"The results have not yet been found."

Seeing that she could barely stand, Xiao Zong helped her sit on a stool.

Compared to Granny Zhao, Madam Qin appeared far too calm, not at all like a mother who cared about her son.

Though the servants didn't say it aloud, they couldn't help but feel indignant on behalf of the young master.

The entire family fortune was earned by the eldest young master, yet the madam prefers the second young master, that纨绔子弟 (playboy), and is extremely indifferent to the eldest young master, which is puzzling!

Madam Qin had a stern face, believing that Granny Zhao was deliberately trying to embarrass her. How could a wet nurse overshadow her biological mother? It was simply going against the natural order!

"I'm going back now, you can continue the interrogation!"

"Mother, wait for me!"

Xiao Rong caught up with her mother's pace. Granny Li grabbed her daughter and hurriedly left with the maids and servants of the main courtyard.

Zhao Mama, unaware of the situation, said, "Madam, she..."

Xiao Zong gazed at the empty moon gate, his smile not reaching his eyes. "Mother is probably tired. She should be resting at this hour. Granny, take a rest. I'll send someone to take you back later."

"Eh."

Granny Zhao replied with a kind smile.

Xiao Zong glanced at Liu Rong, "Go on."

Liu Rong nodded, "Last night, Gu Yu and I lied to the young mistress. We thought you two would never make up, but when we saw you carrying the young mistress back last night, I knew that what we did could no longer be hidden."

"I was scared, so I quickly went to Guyu to discuss a solution." Liu Rong pointed and said, "I cornered her against the wall and told her to think of a way, but she didn't know what to do. She cursed at me a few times and then left. The cat hair must have gotten on me then. Later, I was so anxious that I went to the kitchen to chop firewood to calm myself down until you sent someone over."

Yuan Zhi pondered for a moment and said, "Husband, Gu Yu died half an hour ago, and Liu Rong has no witnesses. Can we not rule out suspicion?"

Xiao Zong teased her deliberately, "How did you know when Gu Yu died?"

"If my husband asks where Liu Rong was half an hour ago, doesn't that mean Gu Yu was murdered around that time?"

Xiao Zong looked at her with affection, "Don't be nervous, I just wanted to test you."

Yuan Zhi blushed. Why is it suddenly so ambiguous?

Granny Zhao and the two servants were grinning from ear to ear. They never expected that Xiao Zong would have such a tender side in private!

Liu Rong: "..."

If his life weren't still in their hands, he would have rolled his eyes.

Yuan Zhi wrapped his hands in his sleeves and examined Gu Yu's body several times, turning it over and over to see if there were any clues he had missed.

A moment later, she exclaimed, "Husband, come quick!"

Xiao Zong walked over to her, bent down to examine her, and found that Gu Yu's dress was worn to varying degrees, and there was a patch of moss stuck to her lower back. With his wife there, he couldn't do it himself, so he asked Yuan Zhi to do it for him, to check if Gu Yu had any injuries on her lower back.

Yuan Zhi lifted up his clothes and saw that there was indeed a bruise.

"Did you... bump into something?"

"possible."

Xiao Zong examined the clothes for a while, then looked at the fabric, and searched around with a lantern for a bit before finally finding something.

"Child."

The torn fabric clung to the trunk of the osmanthus tree, and Xiao Zong took it down and handed it to Yuan Zhi.

Yuan Zhi was completely baffled, "How could Gu Yu's clothes get caught on the tree trunk when he was hanging from the branch?"

This was also what puzzled Xiao Zong.

He leaned against the tree trunk, casually scanning the area, and when he saw a certain spot, his pupils suddenly contracted.

The stone bench has been moved!

Several clues were connected, and the case gradually became clear.

"Child, could you please do me a favor?"

"Sure! What can I do for you?"

"Help me move Gu Yu's body to the osmanthus tree, then move two stone benches to support her body so that she is standing."

Granny Zhao scolded him, "How can you, a grown man, make your wife do such heavy work?"

"Granny, I have my own reasons." Xiao Zong raised an eyebrow at Yuan Zhi. "Zhi'er, a person cannot stand without integrity. Once you've agreed, you can't go back on your word!"

Yuan Zhi gritted her teeth. What kind of person had she married?!

She wrapped Gu Yu's arm around the back of her neck, stood up unsteadily, and walked step by step toward the osmanthus tree.

At that moment, only one thought occupied her mind: Dead people are so heavy!

When they reached the tree, Yuan Zhi's face turned pale. Xiao Zong supported her, saying, "I forgot you're still injured. Don't move, let me help you."

Yuan Zhi waved her hand, "I can still hold on, and I've guessed what you're trying to do. Do you think—the murderer is a woman?"

"Those who truly understand me are children."

Yuan Zhi smiled shyly and went to Granny Zhao to move a stone bench.

The stone benches looked heavy, but they weren't too heavy to lift, and Yuan Zhi quickly moved both. She had Gu Yu's body hug the tree trunk, used one stone bench to support her legs, and flipped the other stone bench over to avoid soiling the side she was sitting on, stacking it on top.

The base was dotted with moss, which was positioned right behind Gu Yu's waist. The moss on the corpse came from this spot!

The murderer strangled Gu Yu, but lacked the strength of a man to lift her up.

She used the stone bench to stabilize the body, saving half the effort required to lift it, and then looped the rope around the branches to pull the person up.

After tying the knot, the murderer put the stone bench back, then moved the rope and the body to the center of the branch, successfully creating the illusion of a suicide out of guilt.

There are two points of doubt:

First, Gu Yu wore a dark-colored, lace-trimmed long dress. The wear and tear from the dress rubbing against the tree trunk was difficult to notice without close inspection. Was this a coincidence, or was the murderer deliberately making her wear it for the crime?

Second, the body's clothes were worn, but there were no scratches on the face. Could it be that the murderer covered the body's face with a cloth beforehand?

Yuan Zhi said, "Husband, we can now be certain that Liu Rong is not the murderer. Do you think we should summon the servants and question them one by one?"

"There's no need to make such a fuss. Chen Qing is in charge of guarding the courtyard gate. Let's ask him first."

Xiao Zong summoned Chen Qing and asked him who had entered Songfeng Courtyard during the Xu hour (7-9 PM).

Chen Qing said that the young mistress was injured and Songfeng Courtyard was in chaos. No one in the other courtyards dared to disturb her. Apart from the servants of Songfeng Courtyard, only the doctor came in.

Yuan Zhi said, "That makes the investigation easier! Chen Qing, lock the courtyard gate and summon the servants from Songfeng Courtyard to the backyard."

Chen Qing obeyed the order and went to fetch someone. Xiao Zong saw that it was getting late and asked Dou Zhao to send Granny Zhao back to rest.

Yuan Zhi, on the other hand, was full of energy and showed no signs of fatigue.