Agent secret Wind Boy

Chapitre 50

"This dress was given to me by Xiuyu!" Zhang Bing stammered for a long time before finally saying, "Because my mother was sick, Miss gave me a hairpin and told me to sell it to buy medicine for my mother."

The crowd erupted in uproar. "Nonsense! You're saying that Miss Zhu and you had an affair?! How shameless! You killed someone, robbed them of their property, assaulted them, and now you want to ruin Miss Zhu's reputation!"

"Heh, this kid is really stupid! If he's going to spout nonsense, he can't even come up with a convincing reason." Guan Dingshan shook his head, turned to me, and sighed.

I gave a dismissive reply, but my eyes were drawn to a man pushing a cart outside the car window. I casually answered, "That's not necessarily true! At least his feelings for that Xiuyu girl are genuine! I don't think he's the real culprit; the constables arrested the wrong person."

"What makes you think that?" Guan Dingshan retorted, quite unconvinced. "Isn't the evidence irrefutable?!"

"Just based on a piece of Master Zhu's clothing? Don't you think that's too hasty?! Besides, who would be so stupid as to kill someone and then parade around in the dead wearing the victim's clothes?!" I sneered. "The most urgent thing right now is to find that missing Miss Zhu, isn't it?! Once we find her, the whole truth will come to light!"

"You make it sound so easy, but where would you find someone in this vast sea of people?!" Guan Dingshan was speechless for a moment, and quickly retorted with a question.

"Perhaps, Miss Zhu and the murderer are right in front of us!" I turned my head and gestured towards the wheelbarrow piled with wheat straw.

Guan Dingshan peeked out and couldn't help but laugh, "You mean this dwarf pushing the cart?! Are you out of your mind?!"

“How heavy could that cart of wheat straw be? Why would it leave such deep tire tracks on the road? It’s clear that there must be something else on the cart besides the wheat straw.” I smiled slightly and slowly pointed out my reasoning: “The perpetrator of the biggest murder and rape case in the county in the last ten years is kneeling here. It’s illogical that he wasn’t curious at all and didn’t stop to watch the spectacle.”

I pointed to the ground again and said, "Look, there's a dark brown water stain where the wheelbarrow ran over."

“What’s so strange about that? It just rained around noon, so the wheat straw got wet!” Guan Dingshan shook his head again.

"But if it's just rainwater, wouldn't it attract flies?! Miss Zhu must have been injured; there's blood mixed in with the water. Also, that short man has three red marks on the left side of his neck. Do you know what caused that?" I smiled faintly, and seeing Guan Dingshan shake his head, I continued without keeping him in suspense, "Those are scratch marks from a woman's fingernails!"

"Even so, as you can see, he's a dwarf. How could he have the strength to kill Master Zhu and kidnap Miss Zhu?!" Guan Dingshan was already 80% convinced, but he still wanted to make things difficult for me—this question was really idiotic!

“He must have practiced some martial arts. Look, the cart is heavy, but he pushes it without batting an eye. Moreover, his footprints are not messy at all, and even the depth is almost the same—he must have practiced internal strength and lightness skills for a few years!” Guan Dingshan analyzed it thoroughly before I could say anything—I couldn’t tell what kind of kung fu he had practiced, I just thought he had some strength.

Before I could praise him, Guan Dingshan had already leaped forward, stopping the dwarf in a few bounds. He grinned at me, "Let me see if you're right!" With that, he reached out with his left hand and lifted the dwarf up, then with his right hand, he overturned the cart of wheat straw—and amidst gasps from the crowd, a beautiful young woman in a green dress, bound like a dumpling, was revealed. Inside the cart was a wooden box—presumably containing the Zhu family's gold and silver treasures!

"Xiuyu! Xiuyu!" Zhang Bing cried out, tears streaming down his face, as he struggled and lunged forward. But because he was bound, he could only roll around on the ground in vain—tsk! It broke my heart to see him like that.

Constable Zhou and several other constables rushed forward and apprehended the dwarf. Guan Dingshan walked towards me with a smile, "How did you notice him?"

“Generally speaking, transporting wheat straw from the countryside to the city is understandable. I’ve never heard of transporting wheat straw from the city to the outskirts!” I turned and got into the car, saying calmly, “Most importantly, I saw genuine sincerity in Zhang Bing’s eyes for Xiuyu. I always believe that a person’s words may lie, but their eyes will not deceive!”

"Then how can you be so sure that Miss Zhu is hiding in the car?" Guan Dingshan was still puzzled.

I glanced at him. "The murderer committed the crime last night, but the city gates were already closed, so he definitely couldn't have left the city! I just thought the person looked suspicious and took a gamble—since this is a major case that only happens once every ten years, it's unlikely that another major case will follow immediately, right?!"

"What if you made the wrong bet?" Guan Dingshan glanced at me sideways.

"If the gamble was wrong, it was Zhang Bing's fate; if it was right, it was Miss Zhu's life that wasn't meant to end!" I sighed softly. "I just wanted to give Zhang Bing a chance, that's all!"

"I don't think Xiao Huizi is being fake to you, why don't you give him a chance?!" Guan Dingshan seized the opportunity to persuade me—I never said he was being fake to me, it's just that he's "like a mimosa pit, truly hateful, with two people in his heart!"

"Let's go! There's nothing more for us here." That stubborn old man would never understand my thoughts, so why bother making myself upset?

"Hey! You really aren't going to talk to Xiao Huizi anymore?!" Guan Dingshan was still nagging, but I had already lowered the carriage curtain, shutting out all my worries, sadness, and pain... all at once. But if I can close the carriage door, how can I close the door to my heart...?! This book was first published on Xiaoxiang Novel Original Network. Please retain this information when reprinting!

[Volume 3: War and Chaos - Chapter 12: Deep Resentment, No One to Hear]

After entering the city and having dinner, Guan Dingshan found an inn to stay in. I asked a few passersby on the street and eventually arrived at No. 27, Duozi Lane, Dongcheng—a small courtyard house with blue bricks and tiles, the gate still bearing traces of red paint, showing its former vibrancy.

"Is anyone home? I'm coming in!" I knocked lightly on the door for a long time, but no one answered. I tried pushing the door, and it opened easily. I called out a few times and stepped into the yard.

Silence reigned all around—it seemed as if no one lived there at all. I looked around in confusion, hoping to find a single person.

"Who are you looking for? That family has moved away, there's no one there anymore." My shouts must have attracted a neighbor, because a man standing outside the door kindly told me.

"Where did you move to? Do you know?" I asked as I walked towards him—wasn't this the young man named Zhang Bing?!

"Ah! It's my benefactor!" Zhang Bing recognized me and exclaimed excitedly, "What brings you here, my benefactor? Are you a relative of the Li family?!"

"You live here?" I glanced curiously at the dilapidated wooden house next door, which looked like it could collapse at any moment.

"Yes, my benefactor, please come in. But my humble abode is simple and I'm afraid it might be an inconvenience to you, Miss!" Zhang Bing said, blushing, as he invited me into his home.

Before I even entered, I heard a girl's soft sobbing—strange, could Zhang Bing be hiding a woman in his house? I peeked in and was startled. The girl kneeling and weeping by the bed was none other than Zhu Xiuyu, Miss Zhu! What was she doing here? Why was she kneeling and crying?!

Zhang Bing looked embarrassed and hurried forward to the bedside. He took the old woman's hand and whispered, "Mother! This is the benefactor who saved my life this evening. Uh, may I ask your name?"

"I wouldn't dare, my name is Ye Qingyang." I glanced at the old woman—and saw that her face was full of wrinkles, her hair was white, her eyes were lifeless, and her expression was tragic. Seeing her struggling to sit up, I quickly stepped forward and pressed her down. "Aunt Zhang, you don't need to get up, lie down and rest."

Zhu Yuxiu glanced at me gratefully, handed me a cup of tea, and then knelt down in front of Aunt Zhang's bed with a "thump"—what kind of play is this? It really confuses me!

But this seems to be their family matter, and I, as an outsider, shouldn't meddle. I just want to know where Li Hu's wife moved to!

"When did the family next door move? Do you know where they moved to?" I asked him anxiously about the whereabouts of Li Hu's family. Back in Sunjiawan, if he hadn't desperately shaken me awake, I might have died in my sleep—just like those other guests at the inn!

"After Brother Li died, Sister-in-law Li remarried and moved to Bianjing soon after." Zhang Bing said with a look of pity. "It seems that their son was given away for adoption! So now there is no one left in the Li family."

"Really?" I touched the undelivered letter in my arms, a sense of melancholy washing over me. "Who did she marry? Do you even know where she is in Bianjing?!"

"I'm sorry, I only heard that he's a businessman. It seems he's in the medicinal herb business. I don't know anything else." Zhang Bing looked at me apologetically.

I glanced at Miss Zhu, who was still kneeling there, and finally couldn't control my curiosity. "Miss Zhu, what's wrong? What did you do wrong?!"

Zhang Bingjun's face turned deathly pale, a kaleidoscope of emotions flashing across his features—anger, pain, humiliation, helplessness... He opened his mouth several times, finally speaking in a low voice, "Xiuyu, by that scoundrel..."

Oh, I see. A surge of anger welled up inside me, and I glared at Zhang Bing—that big idiot! His girlfriend suffered immense emotional and physical trauma, and instead of comforting her, he was reminiscing and mourning the loss of her precious hymen?!

I shoved Zhang Bing aside, rushed into the room, grabbed Zhu Xiuyu's hand, dragged her up, and shouted sternly, "Get up! You haven't done anything wrong, why are you kneeling and begging for forgiveness?! He doesn't accept you, which means he doesn't deserve your love at all! Come on, come with me!"

Zhu Xiuyu's eyes were red-rimmed. She covered her face with her hands, lowered her head, and her shoulders trembled like a leaf in the wind. She was being dragged forward by me against her will. Her beautiful eyes kept looking at Zhang Bing, hoping to get his help—but that damned Zhang Bing could only blush, turn his head away, and not dare to meet Xiuyu's gaze.

"Bing'er, give it to her." Zhang Da Niang on the bed cried out in a trembling voice as she struggled.