The old man was covered in injuries, clearly having been tortured. The bailiffs left him in the main hall and then withdrew.
Zhou Yan said coldly, " Jiang Wancheng, I ask you... do you know the people in the hall?"
Jiang Wancheng looked at Jin Shanyao through his swollen eyelids. "Reporting to my lord, I recognize her. She is Jin Shanyao, the owner of the Anzhi Hall."
"Let me ask you again, were the jujube seeds imported from the Anzhi Hall in Qingzhou Prefecture?"
Jiang Wancheng trembled, burying his head in the ground, his voice barely audible as he said, "Yes..."
Zhou Yan was very satisfied with his performance. It seemed that some people were just stubborn and wouldn't know what to say unless he was beaten. He leaned back in his chair, feeling confident of victory.
"I'll ask you again, did Bai Yunjin buy jujube seeds from your house and then drink them, leading to his death?"
After these words were spoken, the hall fell silent.
Zhou Yan, hearing no reply for a long time, shouted sternly, " Jiang Wancheng, I'm asking you a question... You'd better tell me the truth. Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless..."
Jiang Wancheng had always been an honest businessman, treating the sick and saving lives with his conscience. He never imagined that something like this would happen.
Thinking of his eight-year-old grandson, Jiang Wancheng gritted his teeth and said, "It was... it was Anzhi Hall who killed Bai Yunjin... it was her, she did it all."
With each shout he uttered while lying on the ground, his spine bent a little more, until finally it was a hysterical despair.
For a moment, no one spoke, either inside or outside the lobby.
Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci quietly watched the old man, looking at his swollen and red soles and his broken wrist.
Zhou Yan smiled with satisfaction. "Someone, bring out Yongtaihe's jujube seeds."
Fang Rui stepped forward with the cloth bag and casually tossed it in front of Jiang Wancheng, startling him so much that he flinched.
Zhou Yan spoke again, " Jiang Wancheng... take a look, this packet of jujube seeds is from the Anzhi Hall."
Jiang Wancheng raised his head tremblingly, and before he could even see what was inside, he exclaimed, "It's... it's Anzhi Hall's jujube seeds."
Zhou Yan took a deep breath and lazily looked at Zhu Huaizhang, " Lord Zhu... we have both witnesses and evidence. Do you have any further questions?"
Zhu Huaizhang stared at Jiang Wancheng, his chest heaving with anger. This man had clearly been tortured into confessing.
How could Zhou Yan be so lawless? He slowly exhaled the stale air from his chest and calmed himself before saying, " Lord Zhou, I need to perform an autopsy."
Zhou Yan looked at him with a smile, "Unfortunately, it's May or June now, the body couldn't be kept any longer and has already been buried."
Zhu Huaizhang tightened his grip on the chair, gritting his teeth as he said, "Since that's the case, then I'll go to the scene and see for myself."
"Please proceed, Lord Zhu."
Just then, Jin Shanyao weakly raised her hand, "Um... I also want to go and see it in person."
Zhou Yan's face darkened, and he said sternly, "What are you doing at the crime scene, you murderer?"
"Oh... you think I'm easy to bully just because I speak softly?" Jin Shanyao straightened her back, put her hands behind her back, and said coldly, " Lord Zhou, do you know who my superior is?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yan became serious. He had investigated Jin Shanyao's background; the only high-ranking official he knew from Little River Village in Willow and Poplar County was Su Wenqian.
Now that Su Wenqian has been transferred, no matter how far his influence extends, it can't reach Jing'an Prefecture.
But he still asked, "Who is your superior?"
Jin Shanyao glanced at him disdainfully, raised her chin, and sneered, " Taishang Laojun..."
Zhou Yan's lips twitched twice. He racked his brains but never expected that it would be a mythical figure.
"You dare to play me?!"
Jin Shanyao looked completely bewildered, thinking, "When did I ever trick you... Never mind, that's not important."
" Lord Zhou, everyone in Qingzhou Prefecture knows that I am skilled in divination, ghost hunting, and examining burial sites."
It doesn't matter that Bai Yunjin is dead; I can find his soul and ask him to find out who the real murderer is.
Bang! Zhou Yan nearly shattered the gavel. "This is not a place for you to play tricks. Case handling relies on witnesses and physical evidence."
Jin Shanyao her hands, saying matter-of-factly, "That's why I have to go to the scene. But you've stopped me time and time again. Do you not want to solve the case? Or do you want to find a scapegoat and get it over with hastily..."
"Or perhaps..." she deliberately drew out her words, staring intently into Zhou Yan's eyes, her gaze instantly turning sharp, "What are you trying to hide?"
For some reason, Zhou Yan was startled by that look, his heart skipped a beat, and cold sweat instantly covered his back.
Zhu Huaizhang, "Based solely on Jiang Wancheng's testimony and half a packet of jujube seeds, it's hard to be convincing..."
He stepped forward, grabbed a handful of jujube seeds, and seeing nothing wrong with them, presented the bag to Jin Shanyao. "Are these medicinal herbs from the Anzhi Hall?"
"No."
The pungent musty smell made Jin Shanyao wrinkle her nose and think to herself that Zhou Yan had been in his official position for too long and was even too lazy to deal with evidence used to frame someone.
Zhou Yan's face turned ashen. "The pharmacy owner pointed it out on the spot, and you still dare to argue? Guards..."
"Alright, someone come here, someone come here... Stop yelling like that..."
Jin Shanyao up the jujube kernels, strode towards him, and then placed them on the table. "The jujube kernels from the Anzhi Hall are large and plump."
It's not these small pellets. You can take it and wander around the mountains of the Anzhi Hall; if you can find even one this big, I'll consider you skilled...
Zhou Yan had carefully compared the two types of jujube seeds beforehand and found no difference, so he presented them as evidence. How did Jin Shanyao recognize them at a glance?
Seeing his unfocused gaze, Zhu Huaizhang seized the opportunity and said, "If the evidence is questionable, we cannot conclude that the deceased died from taking drugs. Let's go back to the scene and take a look."
He walked over to Jin Shanyao's side, "Let's go..."
Jin Shanyao hummed in agreement and beckoned to the two children, "Come on... Auntie will take you for a stroll."
The gate to Cloud Brocade Workshop was sealed off, but stepping inside revealed a completely different world, with peach trees arranged in a pleasing, staggered pattern throughout the courtyard.
The embroiderers in the courtyard sat in a row. When the crowd entered, none of them looked up, focusing only on the needle and thread in their hands.
Bai Yunjin's younger brother, Bai Yunduan, stepped forward to greet him, " Lord Zhou, you've arrived."
Zhou Yan responded casually, "How's the progress on this year's tribute embroidery?"
"We're already working on it at a faster pace... Sir, about my brother's case." Bai Yunduan stood beside Zhou Yan, her gaze seemingly casually sweeping over Jin Shanyao and Zhu Huaizhang.
"This is Zhu Huaizhang, the prefect of Qingzhou Prefecture, and the one next to him is Jin Shanyao from the Anzhi Hall," Zhou Yan said before he could finish speaking, Bai Yunduan rushed towards Jin Shanyao like a madman.
"You killed my brother... I'll kill you!" But the next moment, he was slapped to the ground by Jin Shanyao.
She raised her hand, grinned, and wiped it on Zhu Huaizhang's body twice in disgust.
Zhu Huaizhang glared at her and silently moved away from her.
Jin Shanyao's gaze swept over the embroiderers, most of whom were about fifteen or sixteen years old. A group of eight- or nine-year-old girls were also sitting under the eaves.
The group of little girls, imitating the adults, sat upright at their embroidery tables, meticulously stitching patterns. Despite the commotion in the courtyard, no one even glanced at them.
They were like marionettes, their hands pulling on the embroidery threads, lifting and lowering them...
Zhu Huaizhang also sensed something was wrong and whispered, "Wasn't it said that Cloud Brocade Workshop was closed?"
Zhou Yan stopped the furious Bai Yunduan, his expression unchanged, and said, "It's the inner quarters that are being sealed off. The front courtyard still needs to be completed; the tribute cannot be delayed."
The group passed through the moon gate and arrived at the back courtyard. Jin Shanyao's gaze fell on the peach tree beside the courtyard wall. This peach tree was different from the others, growing exceptionally lush.
She didn't linger and followed the others to Bai Yunjin's bedroom.
The door was pushed open, and a mixture of musty, smoky, and bloody smells rushed out.
The smell of smoke made Jin Shanyao frown as she waved her fan, peering over the screen into the room.
The bedding was piled haphazardly in the corner of the kang (a heated brick bed), and there was a brown stain next to the pillow that looked like medicine residue.
Jin Shanyao hand over the inanimate objects, her gaze falling on the bonsai pine tree in the room. Before she could examine it closely, she saw Zhu Huaizhang walk to the kang (a heated brick bed) and search along its edge bit by bit.
Zhou Yan stood aside with his hands behind his back, his eyes full of disdain. He had already cleaned up the scene at the Bai Household, leaving no trace. He wanted to see how Zhu Huaizhang would get out of this mess.