Chapter 1592: Chapter 1599: Mo Ziqi Protects His Wife (5)
Upon hearing this, Duke Li Guo said sternly, "Empress Dowager, please rest assured. Even if Lady Mu were my grandson’s wife, or even my grandson himself, if they had violated the national law, I would never shield them."
At that moment, the day had already broken. Nangong Yi and the ministers hadn’t slept through the night, so he ordered them to rest first, while he and Duke Li Guo continued investigating Nangong Yu’s case. Empress Dowager Mo, however, refused to return and insisted on following them in the investigation. She repeatedly declared that if anyone tried to shelter the criminal, she would stop at nothing, even if it led to mutual destruction, to avenge her daughter.
As she spoke, her eyes were fixed on Fei’er, as though she had already determined that Fei’er was the murderer of Nangong Yu.
Fei’er was just a twelve- or thirteen-year-old child who had never witnessed such a scene before. Not only was she falsely accused without cause, but such a grave crime was also pinned on her. Naturally, she was terrified. When she looked helplessly at Mo Ziqi, her tear-filled, misty eyes brimmed with grievance. She tightly pursed her lips; if not for her efforts to hold back, she would have already burst into tears.
Mo Ziqi saw this and felt a pang of anguish in his heart. However, he knew the matter was extremely serious; now was not the time for him to comfort or soothe her emotions. The most pressing matter was to uncover the true murderer and clear her name.
Duke Li Guo first ordered that Ying Chun’s corpse be brought over and instructed Lan’er to identify whether it was the woman she saw last night.
When Lan’er saw Ying Chun’s face with her bulging eyeballs, an unnaturally long tongue protruding, and her features twisted and grotesque, she was so frightened that she fainted on the spot.
The current state of Ying Chun’s corpse was horrifying; it was impossible to discern if she was the person seen the previous night. However, her physique and the clothes she was wearing did match those of last night’s woman. After regaining consciousness, Lan’er adamantly refused to look at her again, covering her eyes and crying out in terror, "Yes, it’s her! She is the one!"
This became an unfavorable lead for Fei’er. If this Ying Chun were indeed the Ying Chun who lured Nangong Yu away, then Fei’er’s suspicion of murder became even more substantial.
Following this, Duke Li Guo examined Ying Chun’s corpse and discovered that Ying Chun had not died by hanging herself, but was strangled to death before being hung up.
A person who commits suicide by hanging would typically have upward-slanting ligature marks on the neck caused by the pull of their own body weight. In cases of strangulation, however, an "X"-shaped overlapping point is often visible at the back of the neck. Upon closer inspection, Duke Li Guo found faint traces of such an overlapping mark on Ying Chun’s neck, confirming she had been strangled before being hung.
This lead, in and of itself, might not have had much significance. However, when combined with Lan’er’s earlier confession that this Ying Chun was the same Ying Chun as from the previous night, it became increasingly detrimental to Fei’er. Empress Dowager Mo immediately declared that Fei’er had murdered Ying Chun to silence her and began clamoring to arrest Fei’er’s attendants for severe interrogation, convinced that they would unveil the truth under torture.
Yet Duke Li Guo objected, saying, "Under harsh punishment, false charges inevitably arise. If these girls cannot endure the beatings and falsely implicate someone, wouldn’t good people be unjustly wronged?"
Empress Dowager Mo dismissed his concerns and said emotionally, "Father, Mu Caifei has the motive to kill, the opportunity to commit the crime, and an abundance of evidence against her. Why can’t she be convicted? Furthermore, how can you be certain that interrogating these girls will lead to false accusations rather than confessions of the truth?"
Duke Li Guo responded, "Although the evidence strongly incriminates Lady Mu, this case still has many flaws. For instance, if Lady Mu were to arrange a meeting with the princess in the mountain with the intent to murder her, she would need to leave the room. Yet, the guards stationed outside did not see them leave. Lady Mu is just an ordinary woman, untrained in martial arts or light skill. How could she manage to evade the eyes of multiple guards and lead the princess into and out of the mountain? Moreover, the corpse of Ying Chun was found dressed only in lingerie; her regular clothing, identical to that of the other girls, was missing. A thorough search of the room revealed no trace of these garments. Could it be that Ying Chun was strangled and her attire removed for the perpetrator’s use in committing the crime?"
Empress Dowager Mo had been consumed to the point of frenzy by her hatred, firmly believing that Fei’er was the murderer of Nangong Yu. In a domineering tone, she proclaimed, "While Father’s reasoning holds some doubt, the abundant evidence pointing to Mu Caifei cannot simply be ignored. Don’t accuse me of being unreasonable; I will grant you three hours. If after three hours you cannot present convincing evidence to exonerate Mu Caifei, then we must proceed with interrogation of those three maids. They are merely cheap and expendable. Apply the punishment to their bodies, and they’ll naturally start talking!"