klisemfg Chapter 2120 Denying It
Chapter 2120 Denying It
Upon hearing Yan Ruyu's words, Chunni seemed to be frozen in place, taking a few breaths before raising her eyes to look directly at Yan Ruyu.
Her pupils contracted slightly, her eyelashes trembled twice, and her tone was full of genuine surprise: "What Liu Jiulang? I don't understand."
Yan Ruyu's lips curled into a sneer: "Don't you understand?"
"Then let's say something you can understand. A few days ago, you were the one who assassinated the Yu brothers in the alley, weren't you?"
Chunni's breathing faltered almost imperceptibly, and she lowered her eyes to conceal the fleeting emotion that crossed them.
She tried to keep her tone calm: "How could I, a country girl, possibly assassinate them?"
“That’s because,” Yan Ruyu said, her gaze sharp as she looked directly at Chunni, “that you saw him and recognized him as someone you had been imprisoned with in the Water God Temple. You were afraid he would recognize you too, so you rushed to kill him to silence him.”
Chunni's eyes became more wary, her lips pressed into a straight line, and after a long while she spoke: "Kill to silence me? I wouldn't dare to do such a thing."
"Is that so?" Yan Ruyu chuckled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "Actually, you're overthinking it. You were wearing a mask that day, so he couldn't see your face at all, let alone recognize who you were."
She paused, her gaze sweeping over Chunni's tense profile: "It was your own guilty conscience that led you to kill him, thus sowing the seeds of future trouble for yourself."
Before she finished speaking, Yan Ruyu pointed to Chunni's arm and said with certainty, "The wounds on your body were caused by the hairpin. This is the best evidence."
Upon hearing this, the others all turned their gazes to Chunni's arm.
Chunni's hand clenched unconsciously, her face turning slightly pale: "What hairpin? I don't know."
She still stubbornly denied it: "I do have an injury. It was a few days ago when I was hunting in the mountains and was scratched by a wild animal. It has nothing to do with the hairpin."
Yan Ruyu's laughter was full of disdain: "A wild animal scratch? The wound should be of varying depths, with rough edges, and mostly torn."
But the wound on your arm is long and neat, with slightly pointed ends, clearly caused by a sharp instrument. And look at its length and width—they match the silver hairpin perfectly.
Chunni's shoulders trembled slightly, her eyes darting away, unable to meet Yan Ruyu's gaze any longer, and she simply repeated in a low voice, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Governor Ding, who was standing to the side, was already dumbfounded. He looked at Chunni and then at Yan Ruyu, his face full of disbelief, and his voice trembled slightly: "She...she is Liu Jiulang? Isn't Liu Jiulang a man? She is clearly a woman."
Upon hearing this, Huo Changhe turned his head, his tone calm but with a hint of questioning: "Liu Jiulang is a man. Has any of you seen him? And who told you that?"
Governor Ding was speechless for a moment when asked the question. He opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything for a long time.
He raised his hand to touch the beard on his chin, his brows furrowed as he carefully recalled the events.
Regarding Liu Jiulang, no one has ever truly seen his face, and no one can confirm that he is definitely a man.
“But generally speaking, those addressed as ‘Lang’ are all men,” Governor Ding hesitated for a moment before finally speaking up. “This is common knowledge, is there any need to doubt it?”
“It is precisely because of this preconceived notion,” Yan Ruyu continued, her gaze sweeping over everyone present, that the real Liu Jiulang has been able to escape time and again.
“We’ve been investigating Liu Jiulang and we seem to have a lot of leads. We’ve even caught three of his doubles. His doubles all look very similar, which is to make us think that he himself looks the same.”
After all, who would choose a body double who looks completely different from themselves?
Chunni's breathing became heavy: "I don't accept this! You say I'm Liu Jiulang, what proof do you have?"
"Just because of the few wounds on my arm? What do you mean by a stand-in? What does that have to do with me? Besides, they're already dead!"
"If someone claims to be Liu Jiulang, who can vouch for that?"
Yan Ruyu clapped her hands lightly, and a person walked in from outside.
Chunni looked closely and recognized her as the maid who had served her when she was staying at the governor's mansion.
However, the maid had changed her clothes, wearing a tight-fitting outfit and a knife hanging at her waist.
She stepped forward to greet them, then turned her head to look at Chunni. At this moment, all traces of innocence had vanished, replaced by a cold and sharp gaze.
Chunni's heart skipped a beat, her expression quickly changed but then returned to normal.
The maid's voice was clear: "She asked me what happened at the governor's mansion tonight. I said we were going to arrest the Liu family and find the treasure. She immediately asked about the treasure, without mentioning the Liu family at all."
Chunni immediately chimed in, "This further proves that I am not Liu Jiulang, not a member of the Liu family. Otherwise, why would I not care about the life or death of my own family?"
Yan Ruyu sized her up: "Others may be, but you Liu family members are not."
"You are cold-hearted and ruthless, adept at judging the situation, and able to use anything that is beneficial to you while quickly discarding anything that endangers you."
“Those old people in the Liu family were, those three doubles were, and even Liu Balang, when he heard that he was going to the Su residence to turn himself in, it was you who sent people to kill him.”
Chunni's chest heaved, but she still gritted her teeth: "This is just your guess."
Yan Ruyu sighed softly, "It seems you won't shed a tear until you see the coffin."
"Have you forgotten that we've already caught Liu Balang? He's your brother."
"Blood kinship testing is not only for fathers and sons, mothers and sons, but also for brothers."
In fact, Yan Ruyu did not believe in blood kinship testing at all. There was no scientific basis for it. She relied on, of course, not just inference, but on the blood sample reports in the space.
Upon hearing about the "blood test for kinship," Chunni felt a slight difficulty breathing.
His previously impeccable expression finally cracked slightly.
"I don't know him at all, so what kind of kinship do we have?"
Huo Changhe said coldly, "That's not up to you."
"We'll prepare to take you back later."
"Liu Jiulang, whether you admit it or not, as long as the evidence is conclusive, you can be convicted."
Chunni's breathing quickened, and fear flashed in her eyes.
Upon hearing this, Su Zhenhai looked at Chunni in disbelief, then turned to look at Prefect Ding, his eyes full of inquiry: "But why did she kill Prefect Ding?"
Governor Ding and the Liu family had a close relationship; they were partners and shared common interests.
If we're talking about hatred and the desire to kill, then Liu Jiulang should be more interested in killing Su Zhenhai.
Yan Ruyu smiled meaningfully and turned to Governor Ding: "You'll have to ask Governor Ding about that."
Governor Ding was even more bewildered. He spread his hands, his face full of confusion: "Me?"
Yan Ruyu's tone was unmistakably sarcastic: "She wants to silence you. You've been working with her for so long, you should know the most secrets about the Liu family, right?"
Governor Ding looked embarrassed, his face turning pale and then flushed: "Before... that was true, but I mostly obeyed her orders. However, she had the gold medal, so I had no choice but to do it."
Yan Ruyu raised an eyebrow slightly: "Oh? That's really interesting. She even went so far as to fabricate a story of her family's destruction in order to kill you. She really put a lot of thought into it for you."