After learning who the murderer was, the one who reacted most fiercely was neither Old Master Zhou nor Madam Zhou.

Rather, it was the indignant County Magistrate sitting in the high hall.

He grabbed the gavel block from the case table, pointed it at the old steward on the ground, straightened his body, and said furiously, “You, you, you—Miss Zhou had no grievances or enmity with you. Why did you kill her? Speak! Speak!”

In his words, there seemed to be a hint of excitement.

Hey, hey, hey! He hasn’t even said whether there was enmity or not—why are you getting so worked up!

When the old steward didn’t answer, he asked again, “If you still refuse to admit it, this official will first give you fifty heavy strikes with the staff. Let’s see if your mouth stays stubborn. Quickly confess your crimes truthfully to avoid punishment.”

Unable to bear watching anymore, Ji Yunshu reached out her hand toward him and pressed downward.

Sit down!

Receiving Ji Yunshu’s signal, the County Magistrate felt quite embarrassed. His cheeks twitched slightly as he sat down.

Now it was Old Master Zhou and Madam Zhou’s turn.

After both being stunned for a brief moment, they gradually came to their senses.

“You killed my daughter? Uncle Jing, is it true? But why would you do this? Why?” Madam Zhou questioned.

Yet whether in words or actions, she wasn’t very agitated.

In her eyes, there was merely a hateful sense of disappointment!

Unusual, not at all usual.

As for Old Master Zhou, he merely sighed once and left it at that!

Ji Yunshu’s heart was once again shrouded in a cloud of fog—hazy and strange.

And that old steward completely ignored Madam Zhou’s questioning, once again directing his gaze to meet Ji Yunshu’s eyes.

He smiled. “Sir, didn’t you say that people may choose not to speak, but objects can? Since you already have the answer in your heart, why ask me again?”

“Are you testing me?”

“I just don’t understand how the gentleman knew the murderer was me. I hid it so carefully—you couldn’t possibly have discovered it.”

Quite confident!

“Carefully?” This time, it was Ji Yunshu’s turn to smile.

Her straight posture remained, but her gaze lowered slightly, falling on the ferocious scar on the old steward’s face.

She pointed out directly, “If this humble one hasn’t guessed wrong, the wound on your face should have been inflicted by Miss Zhou!”

The old steward wasn’t surprised. “How did you figure that out?”

“You told me to guess, so naturally I guessed it. However, listening to old sir’s tone, I probably guessed correctly.”

The old steward fell silent, his eyes still puzzled.

Ji Yunshu simply curved her lips. “You must want to ask me again—how can these things alone determine that you’re the murderer?”

Having said that, she took out a packet of folded yellow paper from her waist, unfolded it layer by layer, revealing a thin piece of white wax oil inside, staining it—very obvious.

Could it be poison?

Jingrong, hidden to the side, felt his face twitch.

In broad daylight, was this little one about to poison someone again?

He saw Ji Yunshu extend the yellow paper before the old steward and ask, “Recognize this?”

A confused expression! No recognition!

Holding up the yellow paper, Ji Yunshu took on the stance of a long explanation. The corners of her mouth carried a solemn meaning worthy of scrutiny as she explained, “What I hold in my hand is a piece of wax oil that I obtained from this old gentleman’s clothing.”

Coincidentally, this old steward was completely unaware and at this moment was still wearing that coarse hemp cloth garment.

Ancient people were like this—one garment changed once a month!

By the time the old steward reacted and glanced at his sleeve, it was already too late.

Ji Yunshu continued, “Ordinary wax oil only carries the scent of plant resin, but this piece of wax oil carries the scent of superior precious lotus extract. I imagine even in the imperial palace such a candlestick might not exist, yet coincidentally, the Zhou residence has one.”

As her words fell, she glanced at a nearby bailiff. The bailiff nodded, took out something wrapped in white cloth from behind himself, and handed it to Ji Yunshu.

She pulled it open with one tug, revealing to everyone’s eyes…

Precisely the crystal candlestick from Miss Zhou’s room.

Everyone looked puzzled, not understanding!

The County Magistrate also didn’t understand. He curiously pointed at that object. “What does this have to do with killing Miss Zhou?”

“Of course it does.”

She held up the candlestick, turned sideways toward the old steward, her brows tightly furrowed, and spoke deliberately.

“You told me to guess, so I’ll continue guessing. That night, Miss Zhou, as usual, lit this candlestick she must light every night, preparing to drink her medicinal soup and rest. She had just picked up that bowl of poisoned medicine when she saw you appear in the courtyard. She was very unhappy at the time. Usually at that hour, she absolutely would not allow anyone to disturb her. This point, I believe both Su Yun and Qiao Xin knew. And for someone who originally suffered from severe behavioral obsessive-compulsive disorder, once her established rules were broken, how could she continue to be a proper, well-mannered young miss?”

“So at that time, her illness flared up. She must have been furiously angry, cursed at you, and even struck you. And you, remembering that wound on your face that Miss Zhou had inflicted years ago, finally could bear it no longer. You entered the inner room, took the pillow from the bed, and smothered her to death on the floor.”

Everyone was in uproar again…

Her words not finished, Ji Yunshu continued, “During that process, you bumped into the candlestick in the room. Your clothing was scorched with a pale black mark, and when the candlestick fell to the ground, the wax oil on it naturally fell onto your clothes. What you didn’t expect even more was that as Miss Zhou struggled, the bowl of medicinal soup originally placed on the table also spilled to the ground, splashing into her mouth and also onto that piece of wax oil on your clothing. So that piece of wax oil not only has the scent of precious lotus but also the scent of spring return herb from the medicinal soup.”

“After Miss Zhou died, you put the candlestick back in its original place and cleaned up the room once. Just at that moment, you happened to see Su Yun secretly enter the courtyard. In your haste, you didn’t even have time to handle Miss Zhou’s body before hurriedly leaving. But you hid in the darkness and discovered that when Su Yun saw the corpse, she neither called out nor made a fuss, but instead lifted Miss Zhou’s body onto the bed. You found it strange, but also felt relieved, because someone was cleaning up after you.”

“So you continued being your good steward, while Su Yun became your scapegoat!”

When Ji Yunshu finished speaking, everyone was dumbfounded!

This case was actually so complex.

One piece of clothing, one drop of wax oil—completely exposing this entire case.

It seems one should bathe daily and change clothes daily!

Yet the old steward’s eyes remained calm and gentle. Although at this moment, he had been stripped bare like peeled skin, exposed before everyone…

Still, there was no fear!

Ji Yunshu questioned him, “Now, do you confess or not?”

“Sir… is truly intelligent!”

Yes, he confessed!

While speaking, he finally raised that face without concealment. That dark red scar seemed to drip with blood as it stared fixedly at Ji Yunshu!

But just at this moment…

“My Lord, this is bad! The prisoner… the prisoner is dead.” The jailer rushed in frantically.

The County Magistrate frowned. “Which prisoner?”

“It’s… it’s that Su Yun from the Zhou family. She committed suicide, used the plate that held the oil lamp to slit her wrists and died!”

Oil lamp?

The oil lamp Ji Yunshu had left for her to keep warm!