It’s hard to break a phoenix’s destiny

Chapter 645: Retrial of Neighbors

Liu Yao's face darkened, and his deputy general Guo Jin naturally took up position. The followers following him all carried knives, and one of the younger ones lost his patience and directly drew out his own sword, which was extremely threatening.

Jin Xi took a step back, and Jin Zhun had already shouted: "What are you doing?"

"It's just a routine question, why should Lord Jin be afraid?" Liu Yao looked at him with a squinting eye, and had no intention of asking his attendants to put away their swords. Seeing this, several other guards also drew out their long swords, which were shining coldly and were a bit frightening.

Yang Xianrong tugged at Liu Yao's sleeve and said softly, "Brother Liu, quickly ask the guards to put away their knives. What are you doing? Lord Jin is here to help you."

"Oh." Liu Yao responded, then waved his hand, and the guards put away their swords and stood in place. The scene returned to the way it was before, but everyone's mood was different.

Jin Zhun said nothing and stood back.

Yang Xianrong simply said to Liu Yao, "Since the guests have left, the neighbors should still be able to be called over for questioning. Let the guards call the neighbors over first. Call all the neighbors on this street, young and old, whoever is here now, call them over. By the way, don't be so aggressive, the neighbors are not bad people, they just want to understand the situation."

"Yes." Liu Yao nodded, "Wait a minute, I'll do it right away."

"Brother Liu, please don't go in person. You will scare people." Yang Xianrong laughed again, her eyes full of charm. Liu Yao resisted the urge to touch her little face and turned around to give orders to his guards.

Jin Zhun glanced at them, then turned to look at his nephew. As expected, Jin Xi stared at Yang Xianrong, as if he had never seen a woman before, and even revealed the appearance of a pervert. Jin Zhun was so angry that he punched him, which scared Jin Xi so much that he quickly bowed and asked, "Uncle, what's wrong?"

"Go, help the general compile a list of the inn's neighbors, and let your yamen runners follow along, so as not to miss anyone." Although Jin Zhun felt that Yang Xianrong's approach was meaningless, since she said so, he had to do it.

Jin Xi responded quickly and ran out with Guo Jin and the others, looking flustered and not having the bearing of a prefect of Chang'an. Even Jin Zhun sighed in his heart, wondering if he had arranged this child in this position too early. But if he hadn't made arrangements in advance, it would have been too late.

Liu Yao had returned to Yang Xianrong's side, whispering to her softly. For some reason, Jin Zhun suddenly thought of the words "a tough guy with a soft heart". This Liu Yao was really loyal, especially to Yang Xianrong. Much better than Liu Cong, right? However, why were Liu Cong's four queens so similar to Yang Xianrong? For a moment, he was at a loss.

Guo Jin moved quickly and brought the proprietress of the nearest rouge and powder shop. The woman was really beautiful, but she was so frightened by the sight of so many officials and sword-wielding guards standing here that she trembled all over and could not speak at all. She knelt there and did not dare to raise her head.

Yang Xianrong pushed Liu Yao, signaling him to go and question him.

Liu Yao pursed his lips and whispered, "I don't like talking to women." "Oh~" Yang Xianrong's eyes lit up, and she pushed him again.

Liu Yao took two steps forward and said in a deep voice, "Don't be afraid. This general is just asking a routine question. Tell me everything you know about the murder of the innkeeper in detail."

"I told the officials everything that day." The proprietress of the perfume and powder shop stole a glance at Liu Yao. She found that he was such a heroic man. For some reason, she was no longer afraid and started to talk. "I really told the officials everything. I went to bed early that day. My husband's family died a long time ago. I am the only one left with my mother-in-law and two daughters. That day, my mother-in-law was not feeling well and went to bed early. It was not until we opened the shop the next day that we found out that the innkeeper had been killed."

"Did you hear any noise before?" Liu Yao continued to ask.

"What's that noise?" The proprietress raised her head, her beautiful eyes actually had some alluring meaning. Liu Yao frowned slightly, and a cold light flashed in his eyes. The woman lowered her head and said, "This inn is doing good business, there are often many people, and it is very lively. Sometimes, those who are drunk will make a lot of noise for a while, and there will be no peace in the middle of the night. So, the general asked about the noise, I really don't know."

"Just tell me what you heard the night before the incident?" Liu Yao's voice was filled with impatience.

"That's true. It should be the same as usual." The proprietress pursed her lips and said, "That night, many customers came. There were also many women who came to my cosmetics shop to buy perfume, so I closed a little later that day. I saw Xie An came to ask if there was a room, and also asked if there was food... Later, Shuanzhu went to greet him and brought him a lot of wine and food to his room... That's all I remember."

"Who else saw it?" Liu Yao asked again.

"My mother-in-law, and the other female guests at that time." The proprietress was still talking when the guards brought in an elderly woman. She immediately shouted, "Oh, mother-in-law, don't worry, be careful not to fall."

She didn't care about anything else and stood up to help the old woman. The woman looked to be in her sixties or seventies, her legs were not very good, and she walked crookedly.

The lady boss helped my mother-in-law to kneel on the ground with great effort, bowed to Liu Yao, and then whispered a few words to her. My mother-in-law immediately said, "We were in the store at the time and saw the murderer. What a sin! Xiuying is still so young, how is she going to live in the future? How did this boss Mou offend him? He actually did such a cruel thing."

"How is Mou Huaizhong's health on a daily basis?" Liu Yao asked again.

"It's pretty good. Anyway, I think he has a loud voice, and he's quite powerful when he yells at his young wife. Tsk tsk tsk, the young wife was completely subdued by him. Men should always have some strength." The boss's mother-in-law curled her lips, "The couple is really noisy. Oh, if Xiuying hadn't returned to her parents' home for a few days, she might have been killed this time. It's really terrible."

"How do you know that Li Xiuying went back to her parents' home?" Liu Yao asked very carefully.

"She goes back to her parents' home every now and then. Before she leaves, she would definitely ask us to buy some rouge and powder for her sisters from her parents' home. Naturally, we all know about it." The mother-in-law knelt for a long time and her legs had no strength, so she sat on the ground.