Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!-Chapter 77 - 76: An Unexpected Intervention

Little Tao’er immediately described the distinguishing features of the person, causing everyone present to look directly at Cao Chenfeng.

Only Zhu Yu raised his eyes and examined Little Tao’er carefully.

Cao Chenfeng’s face alternated between red and white, and in his panic, he stammered: "You, you better not talk nonsense!

Who—who’s encouraging you to slander me?!" 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"Enough, don’t argue about this!" Cao Tianbao waved his hand and said to his nephew, "The thing about protective heart hair, quite a few people could have it, it’s nothing.

Now that things have come to this, to prove your innocence, just take off your shirt, show your back, and let others see if there’s any red birthmark, then everything will be clear!"

He spoke with great confidence, clearly as an uncle, he was certain that his nephew had no red birthmark on his back, so he was confident that this proof would completely erase all previous slanders.

To his surprise, Cao Chenfeng did nothing upon hearing this, looking troubled and at a loss for words as he glanced at him.

Cao Tianbao was slightly irritated; if they were a family of scholars, concerned with rites and proprieties, he could understand, but their family had practiced martial arts for generations, and taking off one’s shirt wasn’t taboo for warriors, particularly since there were no women present except for Little Tao’er.

He simply couldn’t comprehend what was causing his nephew to hesitate.

Thus, Cao Tianbao grabbed his nephew, pulled open the back of his collar slightly, and peered through the opening.

Although he couldn’t see clearly in this manner, he still noticed about a palm-sized patch of dark red skin on Cao Chenfeng’s back; it didn’t appear precisely like a birthmark, but more like a burn that hadn’t healed yet.

Cao Tianbao’s face changed drastically.

Little Tao’er said that the man she saw having an affair with her lady at night had a red birthmark on his back. In such a situation, mistaking a healing burn for a birthmark seemed plausible.

"You..." For a moment, anger choked him, and his words stuck in his throat, leaving him glaring at his most valued nephew.

Cao Chenfeng could no longer bear it and knelt on the ground with a thud: "Uncle, I... I was momentarily confused... that’s why I had an affair with that woman... Please punish me, uncle!"

"You!" Cao Tianbao’s entire beard trembled with anger.

After all this fuss, he wanted to prove that the Cao Family had no one involved in such illicit affairs and murder because his nephew had always behaved honestly and earnestly, focusing wholeheartedly on martial arts to make a name for himself.

Yet, it turned out to be true!

Cao Tianbao felt as if he had completely lost face, enraged to the point where he kicked Cao Chenfeng’s shoulder pit with his foot.

Even though Cao Chenfeng was tall and robust, he couldn’t withstand his uncle’s strong kick, falling backward and rolling twice on the ground before finally stopping, covered in dust and looking disgraceful.

"You truly are a disgrace!" Cao Tianbao roared, pointing at Cao Chenfeng in anger, "Such foolishness! Absolute folly!

How could you ruin the Cao family’s reputation over a private affair!

If you truly had feelings for a merchant’s daughter, you could have informed your parents and brought her into the house as a concubine!

But no, you have an affair and then murder someone! You really made something of yourself!"

Cao Chenfeng was trembling from the scolding, not daring to talk back, but was stupefied when his uncle said this.

"Uncle! I was wrong, I shouldn’t have had an affair with that woman... but... but I absolutely didn’t kill her!" He no longer cared about disgrace; after all, compared to murder, an affair was nothing. "I had feelings for Miss Zhuang, but I didn’t kill her!

Since leaving that night, I never sought her out again!

If it weren’t for being asked today, I wouldn’t even know she’s no more!"

"You liar!" Zhuang Zhi, hearing Cao Chenfeng’s confession, glared with bloodshot eyes, wishing to strangle him. "Then tell me, why did you hurriedly leave my daughter’s embroidery tower that night?!"

Cao Chenfeng opened his mouth, diverted his eyes, and looked elsewhere: "I left for other reasons... Anyway, when I left, Zhuang Lanlan was perfectly fine.

Whether she is alive or dead today has nothing to do with me.

I admit to what I did, but I absolutely did not take her life; this I cannot admit under any circumstances!"

Saying this, he moved closer on his knees towards Cao Tianbao: "Uncle, having a secret meeting with a woman brought disgrace to the family. I’m willing to accept your punishment, be it a whip or a board, I’ll endure it!

But I truly didn’t commit murder. To claim I did is a grave injustice! Even if you chop off my head, I would still call out my innocence as a ghost!"

"Let’s not discuss anything else for now," the Capital Governor, feeling overwhelmed, saw Cao Tianbao too angry to speak and hurriedly asked on his behalf, "Since you claim not to have committed murder, then why did you leave that day, and was there anything unusual with Miss Zhuang before you left?"

Cao Chenfeng opened his mouth but then swallowed his words, clenched his fists tightly by his side, and turned his face away.

This response left the Capital Governor at a loss; the current situation was highly disadvantageous for Cao Chenfeng. Zhuang Zhi had stirred up such a scene, exposing Cao Chenfeng’s affair to the high officials in the Capital, now firmly accusing him of murdering his daughter.

Cao Chenfeng neither confessed nor could prove his innocence, only stammered.

No matter what is done now, it seems it will be incorrect.

Following proper procedures and arresting Cao Chenfeng for questioning and verification would undoubtedly offend General Cao, regardless of the outcome.

But if one doesn’t want to offend General Cao, at this point, under everyone’s watchful eyes, who knows when someone might report this.

"Boss Zhuang," suddenly, Lu Qing, who hadn’t spoken until now, voiced up, not to question Cao Chenfeng, but Zhuang Zhi, "you said you reported this to the authorities before? In that case, how has your daughter’s body been handled?"

Zhuang Zhi had been glaring at Cao Chenfeng, not focusing on anyone else, so upon hearing someone speak to him, he steeled his nerves and then noticed Lu Qing among the crowd.

"My daughter’s body is kept in the corpse room at the Jingzhao Mansion," he quickly replied. "The Jingzhao Mansion has been urging me to have her buried soon to prevent decay from setting in over time.

But since the murderer hasn’t been found, I can’t let my poor child die without justice.

So, I had many ice blocks sent there and haven’t yet buried her body."