Huh? The Tyrant Cries After My Inner Thoughts Were Exposed!-Chapter 171: Interrogation

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Su Juan directly snatched the large knife from one man’s hand that was resting on the boy’s neck, "This knife is quite heavy, I’m a girl and carrying it makes me shiver a bit."

The blade shook and occasionally grazed the boy’s neck, leaving a cold streak. A blood mark was scratched on his neck. The boy was pressed down, unable to move, crying loudly, calling for his dad and mom, his voice nearly hoarse.

The woman pleaded tearfully, asking her husband to save their son.

Su Juan smiled slyly, "Such a man, if his wife dies, he can still marry a younger one. But losing a son... that’s where his heart truly lies."

Everyone from the Ministry of Justice, including Xie Xun, stared dumbfounded at Su Juan, fearing she might accidentally swing the knife and decapitate the child.

They are people from the Ministry of Justice; they must uphold the law. Even if these people are guilty, they cannot use vigilante justice here.

However, the shopkeeper was clearly panicked!

Su Juan coaxed the child with a smile, "Oh, why do you have such a heartless father in this life? Be a good boy, close your eyes, it’s just a stroke of the neck, it won’t hurt after death, get a good birth in the next life..."

Saying this, she raised the knife with both hands and swung down...

"County Magistrate! It’s the County Magistrate!"

The shopkeeper finally couldn’t bear it and confessed.

Su Juan clicked her tongue, casually wiped the blood off the knife, and then threw the knife back into its sheath, inserting it steadily into place.

Xie Xun was stunned, "?"

Just a moment ago, she couldn’t even hold the knife steady, how could she have such skill?

Yu Zhong looked at Su Juan, visibly surprised, but didn’t speak.

The woman and child were still crying, their faces wet with tears.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, afraid Su Juan would really decapitate the boy with that knife.

Su Juan, however, was impatient, most annoyed by these whining sounds, "Your husband is out there committing crimes for money, and you two are benefitting from it all, others don’t even have a place to cry, yet you cry about nothing?"

Aunt never believed in the saying "Ignorance is no excuse for the law."

Since being brought in earlier, the woman had been pleading her husband to save her and their son, urging the husband to confess, showing that she had known everything her husband did but pretended ignorance.

Only when it involved her precious son did she panic, now she has the nerve to cry, none of this family trio is innocent.

Yu Zhong ordered that these people be taken to the other rooms next door for separate interrogation.

Su Juan yawned and went into another room, telling Yu Zhong and others, "I’ll sleep now, don’t make a fuss too late."

She was really exhausted, feeling like her bones were falling apart.

That night, Su Juan fell asleep as soon as she touched the bed. Xie Xun remained at her door, took a chair, leaned against it for rest, and did not return to his room.

Xu State was indeed dangerous, and since Su Juan was the only girl here, in case someone broke in at night, she feared they wouldn’t detect it in time.

After interrogation, Yu Zhong passed by, seeing Xie Xun guarding Su Juan’s door, somewhat surprised.

Xie Xun, after all, was the Princely Heir of the Duke Mansion. Raised in luxury, he couldn’t endure shoulder or hand labor, yet now he was compliant in everything regarding Su Juan, even guarding her door.

His attitude towards Su Juan didn’t seem romantic, but if they were just ordinary friends, why go to such lengths? Was there some other undisclosed connection between them?

Yu Zhong shook his head, realizing his tendencies from investigations were making him overly suspicious, constantly trying to find a reason for anything unusual, maybe their relationship was simply good.

...

The next day, everyone woke up and rustled up some food in the kitchen.

Su Juan then learned, after Xu State’s disaster, although He County wasn’t as severely affected as other counties, refugees constantly flooded the city, with mobs and bandits taking advantage to pillage and loot, abducting women, people are desperate, even cannibalism became common when starved to the extreme.

The inn had little business, so they resorted to petty thefts. Initially, they only stole some money from merchants bringing rice or doing disaster relief in He County. Later, they were caught and brought to the government. The County Magistrate didn’t severely punish them but joined in the business, taking seventy percent of the profits.

Gradually, he found some helpers who would watch the streets, inviting those who appeared wealthy to stay at the inn.

After all, given the current situation in Xu State, there were no better options. To avoid starving or dying of illness, this was the route they took.

As long as they weren’t caught, they stole money.

If found out, they argued it in the government.

If resistance persisted, they’d kill the person and dump the body on the street. Anyway, He County’s daily death toll was high.

From the moment Su Juan and party arrived in He County, they had been targeted by these people. Despite wearing the simplest cloth robes, because Xie Xun occasionally gave refugees on the street silver and food, it was clear they were wealthy or noble. Wearing cloth robes to disguise wealth suggested they must be richer than those who didn’t hide it.

Thus, the incident at night unfolded.

Hearing this from Yu Zhong, Su Juan finally understood everything, smiling, "No wonder you didn’t stop Xie Xun from giving silver to those refugees earlier, instead supporting him, turns out it was to deliberately attract these people." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Yu Zhong smiled, "The Princely Heir hasn’t been out of the Capital, where wealth is abundant, giving silver and food to beggars is commonplace. If such an act can draw people out, that’s perfect."

Capital City’s allure blinds, Duke Mansion’s power and wealth are unmatched, with extraordinary prestige, with guards and servants always around when going out, never having met danger. Venturing far for the first time, he didn’t know the sinister hearts during disasters and calamities, nor what actions might invite envy or harm. It was understandable not to consider these.

Su Juan nodded, "He simply needs more experience. But if you have concerns, you can talk to him, he will listen. Lord always disciplines him, he doesn’t have any arrogant tendencies."

Yu Zhong nodded, discussing the main issue with her.

"Last night, I asked; Miss Liu and her group stayed at this inn too. These people were caught stealing, a fight occurred, several fled afterwards, probably Vice Minister Jiang and Miss Liu’s group."

He handed something to Su Juan, "The shopkeeper said this was snatched from a girl’s hand... check if it’s Miss Liu’s."

Yu Zhong didn’t mention how it was snatched. Among them, a delicate girl had suffered something.

Seeing the familiar ring, Su Juan’s pupils contracted sharply, "It’s Miaoqing’s. When she left the Capital earlier, I purposely gave it to her for self-defense."

She remembered clearly, the ring contained ten needles, each coated with a drug that could induce paralysis and unconsciousness.

Now, the ring was empty, Su Juan clenched her fist, Miaoqing must have been desperate then...

Yu Zhong: "We still need to find Miss Liu to know what happened."

Su Juan feigned calmness, "It’s okay, I’ll pack up, we’ll leave shortly."

Saying this, she picked up the sword Xie Xun had just placed on the table, and went upstairs.

A moment later, Yu Zhong noticed the empty table, suddenly alarmed, hurriedly chasing after, shouting upstairs, "Miss Su, don’t!"