A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 111: Juxiang's Death Ends Hastily

Guier adjusted her breathing, calmed herself down, then slowly walked out of the room and went to the balcony on the second floor to look down.

I saw them find a tattered mat from somewhere, roll up Juxiang's body, and drag it towards the door.

The gate was half open, and there was a fenced-off cart at the door. An old man was standing there, looking inside with a smile, waiting to collect the body.

Gui'er wanted to go down and stop them, but when she thought about the stone tied to Juxiang's feet, it was obvious that it was caused by someone in this house. She was now isolated and helpless, and it would be useless for her to stand up.

But if I don't do something, I will feel guilty. After all, this is a human life, and Juxiang is my personal maid. If I kill Juxiang, will I be the next one?

Just as Gui'er was hesitating, two patrolmen suddenly came over. Seeing the old man standing next to the cart, they teased him, "Zhao Laosan, you're quite capable. You've brought a dead body here. Is this the place you want to be? The people who live here are either rich or noble. Go, go, go, go somewhere else."

The old man bowed and said with a smile, "Excuse me, sirs. This family asked me to come over to help carry something. I didn't come here on my own. Please be kind."

A patrolman laughed and said, "Who would ask a car like yours to help haul things?"

As he spoke, he glanced into the room. At this time, two servants were pulling the body wrapped in a mat to the door. When they pulled it, the feet were facing forward and the head was facing backward. The mat was not covered tightly, and they could immediately see a hemp rope tied around Juxiang's bare feet.

The two patrolmen's faces suddenly changed. They walked into the yard. One of them pointed at the two servants dragging the corpse with a baton and ordered them to stop. The other one used his baton to lift the mat and saw Juxiang's swollen face and the hemp rope tied to her feet. They untied the stones, but did not remove the rope from her feet.

The patrolman asked, "What's going on?"

The two servants were so frightened that they quickly retreated to the side, not daring to say a word. Steward Liu, taking two steps at a time and smiling broadly, stepped forward and said, "Sir, this is a little servant of ours. She was so depressed that she jumped into a well and committed suicide. Isn't that why we asked Master Zhao San to drag her to the mass grave outside the city and send her away?"

The two patrolmen exchanged glances, and one of them snapped, "Bullshit! Why would someone who committed suicide by jumping into a well tie a rope around their feet? It's obvious she was pushed into the water and drowned, and to prevent her from swimming out, they put a heavy object on her feet. Do you think I'm just here for work? Can't you see through this little trick?"

Butler Liu was speechless for a moment.

Another patrolman said, "Brother, why are you taking it so seriously? Our superiors asked us to patrol, not to solve the case. What if this little girl committed suicide by jumping into the well? She was afraid she wouldn't die, so she tied a stone to her foot."

When Butler Liu heard this, he quickly said, "That's right, that's what the officer said. We are unlucky too. She couldn't have died in our house. You see, it's hard to explain now."

The patrolman at the beginning said, "That's your one-sided statement. No matter what, come back to the station with us first to record your statement and take the body back."

Another patrolman said: "Brother, this is too troublesome. They are all from other places and have no relatives or friends here. We can't find out anything at all." After saying that, he glanced at Liu Guanjia.

Butler Liu finally realized what was going on and said with a grin, "The officer is right. We are from out of town and just wanted to spend the New Year peacefully. I don't know what's wrong with this girl. She's so upset. We don't know why she's upset, so you guys can't find out anything. There's no need to go through so much trouble."

As he said this, he took out a few silver dollars from his pocket and put them directly into the pockets of the two policemen's uniforms.

The policeman felt the pocket of his uniform, probably trying to figure out how many silver dollars were in it. Then they looked at each other and said, "Okay, then you can just take them away and get rid of them. If you keep them here, it will be difficult for us to do anything if the news gets out."

Butler Liu kept saying, "Yes, yes, yes." Then he signaled the old man and two servants to quickly put the body on the cart.

The old man pulling the cart walked in, not to pull the corpse, but to walk up to Butler Liu and said with a smile, "Look, both officers have been fined. I can't have come here in vain, right?"

With a dark face, Butler Liu reluctantly took out a silver dollar and threw it to the old man. The old man quickly caught it, blew it with his mouth, put it to his ear, listened as if to verify its authenticity, and then put it in his pocket with satisfaction.

Then he walked over and worked with two servants to carry the body out.

But the giant's body must have been quite heavy. They finally managed to get it out of the doorway and were about to move it to the car when the matting didn't cover it tightly enough, revealing half of the body. Some passersby stopped to look, and Butler Liu quickly stepped forward to shoo them away: "Hey, hey, hey, what are you looking at? There's nothing to see. Hurry up and leave."

Gui'er was extremely anxious and didn't know what to do.

At this time, the sound of a car horn was heard at the door. The Marshal had returned. There were several passers-by, two patrolmen, servants, and people carrying corpses gathered at the door, so the car could not get in at all.

Although Butler Liu wanted to direct the traffic so that the cars could drive to the door, the onlookers ignored him. The Marshal got out of the car with a dark face, took a look at the corpse, and walked inside. Guier looked at his mouth shape and seemed to be asking Butler Liu what was going on?

Butler Liu whispered a few words in his ear. Seeing the Marshal's surprised expression, Gui'er looked outside a few more times, turned around and took two steps outside, then changed her mind, turned back, and went straight into the house.

Butler Liu quickly turned around and urged the servants and the old man to move the body to the cart and take it away. After finally moving it onto the cart and taking two steps, there were suddenly "thump, thump, thump, thump" sounds. It turned out that two patrol motorcycles had arrived. The motorcycles had a cargo bed, and there was a driver sitting on the motorcycle. There was also room for another person in the cargo bed. Guier recognized the leading policeman at a glance. He was Director Zhou who rescued her from the kidnappers that day.

Director Zhou slowly stepped down from the truck bed, walked up to Butler Liu with his belly protruding, and said, "Don't rush to take it away. We received a report that someone has been killed here."

Steward Liu hurried forward and bowed, saying, "Sir, this isn't a big deal. It's just that a little maidservant got so upset that she jumped into a well and committed suicide. I was just about to have her taken away and sent away."

Director Zhou walked around the cart and said, "Whether it's a serious matter or not is up to me to decide. Look, there are ropes tied around her feet. The cause of death is suspicious. No, I have to investigate."

Having said that, he turned and walked into the yard.

Gui'er didn't know whether Director Zhou was called by Song Xichen, but judging from his attitude and style, it didn't seem like it.

Director Zhou looked around the yard, walked to the well to take a look, and then walked into the hall. At this time, Marshal Sha was sitting on the sofa in the living room, and everyone present was nervous.

Director Zhou glanced at Marshal Sha and said with a smile, "You are Marshal Sha, right? I've heard a lot about you. Do you know anything about that maid outside?"

Marshal Sha sat on the sofa, crossed his legs, and said, "I haven't asked you yet, Your Excellency..."

Director Zhou bowed and said, "Commissioner of Police, my last name is Zhou."

Marshal Sha stood up with a smile, bowed, and said, "It's Director Zhou. I've heard a lot about you. Please take a seat. Old Liu, bring the tea."

After a while, a maid brought up tea. Marshal Sha said with a smile, "Director Zhou is very busy and keeps the area safe. He is truly admirable. I should have invited Director Zhou to dinner a long time ago."

Director Zhou smiled and said, "Oh, what are you talking about? It's just my job scope."

Gui'er saw Sha Yanyao walking from the second floor to the first floor with a cane at some point, and walked up to Marshal Sha and handed something to him.

Marshal Sha gently placed the package on the table and pushed it over to Director Zhou, saying, "It's just a small gift. Please have some tea, Director Zhou and the brothers."

Director Zhou picked it up, weighed it, and said with a smile, "Marshal Sha, you are so polite. Thank you very much, Marshal Sha."

Guier looked at the shape of the package and thought it might be gold bars.

Director Zhou put the package into his pocket, then stood up and said, "Now that everything is clear, I'll take my leave." He paused and glanced around, just in time to see Gui'er standing there. He gave her a meaningful look, then turned to Marshal Sha and said, "This kind of thing can't happen again, or we'll both be embarrassed."

Marshal Sha smiled and said, "Of course."

Then Director Zhou waved his hand and several inspectors followed him.