The princess was ordained by Heaven.

Chapter 211 Wanting to impose a crime

Qi Wuyu was stunned.

"Interrogation? Direct interrogation? He's already convinced that Miss Wu is the murderer?"

There is no conclusive evidence yet.

"Then why did he bring people directly to the court for interrogation? He neither went to investigate the area near Sanshan Lake, nor did he inquire about the situation that day in private."

In the Dayong Dynasty, what kind of people were authorized to conduct interrogations?

That person was identified as a suspect after thorough investigation!

Who interrogates someone privately from the very beginning?

Although this is not written into the law, it is a customary practice.

There's no other reason than that if a girl is subjected to torture and forced confession in private, even if she is completely honest, she can't escape the wrath of some people who have ulterior motives or are just bored.

If you're lucky, no one will gossip or have malicious intentions, and the matter will just pass. But if you're unlucky, the outcome is hard to predict.

Tao Heng said calmly, "Although it is not inhumane, it does not violate the law."

Zheng Xun glanced at him; something was wrong, really wrong.

Although his words sounded reasonable, he came for Lord Zhang's sake and must have known that he was no good, so why would he speak up for him?

Qi Wuyu frowned deeply and changed the subject: "I feel that Lord Zhang seems to have no idea how to solve cases."

Tao Heng raised an eyebrow: "Perhaps they have already deduced the real culprit, which is why they act without any scruples."

Zheng Xun narrowed his eyes: "Do you realize that your attitude is very strange right now?"

Tao Heng remained expressionless: "What's so strange about it?"

"You're like the kind of person who knows the whole truth but deliberately steers others in the opposite direction when they make their deductions, listening to their analysis from a testing perspective."

Zheng Xun's sentence was so long that she felt tired talking about it, and the listener felt tired too.

After waiting for a while, Tao Heng still did not answer.

Qi Wuyu waited for a while, but ultimately chose to skip over Zheng Xun's question.

"However, there was no evidence at the scene to prove that Ms. Wu was the murderer."

“None of the stab wounds on the deceased were fatal. The man couldn’t have lost his strength so quickly. So why did he only struggle and not try to fight back?”

"Either he couldn't bear to, or he knew that the other party was so strong that her counterattack would be futile."

Zheng Xun nodded in agreement: "If it's Miss Wu, then it's the one in front."

“But a girl like Miss Wu, who is so weak that she can’t even kill a chicken, usually couldn’t have caused such a clean wound. However, we can’t jump to conclusions. We’ll have to see Miss Wu to be sure,” he said seriously. “I’ll go tomorrow.”

He wanted to see just what kind of monster this Lord Zhang was.

……

The next day, the yamen runners brought Miss Wu over.

Qi Wuyu, who had sent a message back home but then turned back, successfully reunited with them.

Upon meeting Miss Wu, they discovered that she was much thinner than they had imagined, and there was no trace of training on her.

How could a little girl chase a grown man for more than ten steps?

This sounds absurd no matter how you look at it.

But Lord Zhang seemed convinced that she was the criminal.

The first day's questions were some very ordinary ones.

As expected, Ms. Wu didn't say anything.

After leaving, Zheng Xun asked Qi Wuyu, "Did you notice anything?"

Qi Wuyu nodded seriously: "Lord Zhang's questions seem very ordinary, but most of them are leading questions, as if he wants to force Miss Wu to admit that she is the murderer."

For example, when he asks about the murder weapon, he doesn't ask what weapon she used, but directly asks what shape of dagger she used.

One or two of these questions could be considered a test or a verbal trap, but every single one of his questions was like this.

Tao Heng looked at Zheng Xun with a self-satisfied expression, as if to say: See, I told you he's grown up quite well.

However, they were greatly surprised when they saw Miss Wu again the next day.

She changed into a loose prison uniform, and apart from being a little pale, she seemed to have no other abnormalities.

But after a while, many mottled bloodstains appeared on her clothes.

Tao Heng's expression suddenly turned cold and stern.

"You tortured her?"

Lord Zhang was startled by his sudden outburst of anger, and after a moment he managed a forced smile: "Yes, what's wrong?"

"If I remember correctly, the Great Yong Dynasty strictly forbids forced confessions."

Lord Zhang blinked innocently, looking both troubled and aggrieved: "Your Excellency may not know, but these people have the guts to do evil and the guts to conceal it. Even if the evidence is presented to them, they will not admit it. Therefore, when necessary, we will take some special measures."

Tao Heng coldly said, "Tell me, what evidence do you have?"

After being questioned repeatedly, Lord Zhang's face finally darkened.

"Imperial Envoy Tao, a high-ranking official like you, living in a golden palace, naturally has no idea how much we people suffer..."

"Did I ask you to complain? I asked you to present your evidence."

Lord Zhang was secretly pleased.

He knew that this imperial envoy had no good intentions, so he was prepared.

"Of course there is evidence. The deceased was the murderer..."

"Miss Wu."

Lord Zhang paused for a moment, then continued, "The deceased was Miss Wu's fiancé, but he actually belonged to someone else."

Tao Heng interrupted again: "You have someone you love? Who is it?"

Because of his connections in the capital, even Lord Zhang's superiors treated him with courtesy.

Having been a local tyrant for so long, he was naturally unhappy about being repeatedly disobeyed.

However, he still had his senses and knew that the emperor was standing behind Tao Heng.

So he suppressed his anger and forced himself to say, "She is Wu Yuan's older sister who died young."

Tao Heng didn't press further, and Lord Zhang finally breathed a sigh of relief: "So, Wu Yuan had already accumulated a lot of resentment towards this fiancé who ignored her, which also explains why Wu Yuan took action."

He winked and said suggestively, "You know, women are always like that, jealousy and such, it's normal."

Tao Heng wasn't angry this time because he felt that a princess who was included in the category of "it's normal for women to be jealous" would definitely be even angrier.

However, Zheng Xun remained calm, and he couldn't guess what she was thinking.

Tao Heng turned around and looked at Lord Zhang with pity: "Where's the murder weapon? And how was it committed?"

“I have investigated and found that Wu Yuan always carried a dagger given to her by her father for self-defense. However, that dagger has now disappeared. Therefore, I can reasonably deduce that the murder weapon was thrown into Sanxian Lake by Wu Yuan.”

Qi Wuyu couldn't help but roll her eyes again.

He calls this a reasonable conjecture?

Does he have some misunderstanding about this word?

Isn't this just his conjecture? Without any other evidence to corroborate it, he drew a conclusion, which made him almost laugh at his own frivolity.