Chapter 2068: Shifting Blame onto Ruan Jinqian

Chapter 2068: Shifting Blame onto Ruan Jinqian

As soon as Shu Yu spoke, all the villagers turned their heads to look at her. Perhaps it was because she had been friendly and approachable all day, treating everyone who wanted to grow sunflowers with kindness.

So now, when she stepped forward, the villagers immediately approached her and said, "County Princess, you must help us! Our villagers couldn't have committed murder. Please speak for us in front of the county lord and clear our names."

The villagers also turned to look at the two constables blocking the way.

The constables were experienced in handling cases and knew that villages with people of the same surname tended to be tightly knit communities. They were well aware that these villagers would support each other. Especially since Ruan Hai, as the village head, was the first to speak up, he was clearly trying to shift the blame onto the entire village.

Fortunately, this time they had more than twenty constables with them, so they didn't need to worry too much.

If it weren't for the fear of escalating the situation and the instructions from Constable Jiang not to respond too aggressively, they would have already drawn their swords to intimidate the villagers.

Now that the County Princess had arrived, the two constables turned and made way for her.

Shu Yu was followed by another constable. She looked at the villagers and said, "Let's set aside the other issues for now. Can anyone tell me whose hoe this is?"

As soon as she asked, the constable behind her stepped forward with a hoe.

Ruan Hai's pupils contracted, and the villagers began to step forward to identify the hoe.

When Ruan Jinqian saw it, he widened his eyes and exclaimed, "This is my family's hoe! It suddenly went missing half a month ago. How did it end up here?"

He reached out to touch it, but Shu Yu stopped him, her expression solemn. "This hoe was buried in the same pit as the corpse. According to Constable Jiang's preliminary judgment, the victim was killed with this hoe."

"What?!" Ruan Jinqian instantly took several steps back, his face filled with fear as he stared at the hoe in front of him.

Other villagers subconsciously distanced themselves from Ruan Jinqian, looking at him with vigilant expressions.

Seeing their reactions, Ruan Jinqian urgently raised both hands and said, "It's not my doing! It has nothing to do with me, County Princess, Constables! My hoe disappeared half a month ago. Back then, I even came to the village chief to ask for help in finding it, in case someone had stolen it. Many people knew about it."

Some villagers remembered this incident, and Ruan Jinqian had lamented about his lost hoe for quite some time.

Ruan Hai couldn't deny it, so he nodded and said, "That's true. Half a month ago, one morning, Jinqian came to me, saying that his hoe had been stolen. We searched the area near here, but we couldn't find it."

Ruan Jinqian heaved a sigh of relief, but little did he know that Ruan Hai's next words would cast suspicion on him. Ruan Hai furrowed his brows and said, "However, the claim that your hoe was stolen was based on your words alone. If you... cried wolf, we wouldn't have known."

Ruan Jinqian couldn't believe his ears. "Village head, what are you saying?"

Ruan Hai sighed, "I'm just making a reasonable assumption. After all, the murder weapon is a hoe from your family, and the circumstances are very strange. Moreover, you claimed that you left the hoe on the field and rested under a tree for a while, and then the hoe disappeared. This is highly suspicious. If someone had really come to steal your hoe, you should have been able to see them while sitting in the shade of that tree."

With these words, the other villagers began to discuss the matter.

Shu Yu realized that Ruan Hai was trying to stir up discord but failed, so he decided to shift the blame onto Ruan Jinqian.