A female coroner arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Chapter 205: It was all an act from beginning to end!
The candlelight in the cell was dim, but the fleeting panic on Zisong's face did not escape Mu Qingcheng's eyes!
After a few breaths, Zisong still did not utter a word.

Mu Qingcheng said, "Young Master Zisong, didn't you have something to say to Liu Xiao? Why are you silent?"

"I...I'm not sure if he...is he Liu Xiao?" Zi Song's tone was not as firm as before, and it was obviously nervous.

Mu Qingcheng glanced at the man in the cell, her expression indifferent. "What, you suspect he's a fake Liu Xiao? But Young Master Zisong has never met Liu Xiao before, has he?"

"me……"

"Does Young Master Zisong have any evidence to support his suspicions?"

"No, I have no suspicions, I'm just being cautious."

"Alright." Mu Qingcheng nodded. "Then let's begin the questioning. No more than fifteen minutes. You are not allowed to approach the cell door."

Zi Song pursed his lips and asked in a very halting manner, "Liu, Liu Xiao, why, why..." In the end, he struggled for a long time but couldn't come up with a useful sentence.

Mu Qingcheng smiled slightly, "How about we talk to Madam Liu?"

“Okay!” Zisong agreed immediately, without even thinking.

Mu Qingcheng's calm eyes gradually turned cold. "Zisong, you didn't come for Liu Xiao. Your target is actually Madam Liu, isn't it?"

Zisong was startled and subconsciously took half a step back, but was pressed down on the shoulder by the yamen runner.

Mu Qingcheng's gaze was piercing. "You are Li Yunyao's backup plan, a grand gift from Li Yunyao to Madam Liu, aren't you?"

"How did you know?" Zisong asked in surprise.

Mu Qingcheng suddenly smiled, "I didn't know before, but I know now!"

Zi Song was incredulous. "Master Mu, you...you deliberately tricked me?"

"Yes!" Mu Qingcheng readily admitted, "I did arrange for other prisoners to impersonate Liu Xiao, just to test you. Obviously, your skills are too shallow, and you are really no match for me."

After saying that, she waved her hand and ordered, "Take Zisong to the interrogation room! Ask Secretary Lin to come over and take a statement."

"Yes!"

The constable obeyed and twisted Zisong's hands behind his back. Zisong slumped down and said to himself with a self-deprecating laugh, "Indeed, it's all fate!"

Mu Qingcheng did not respond.

She dislikes reasoning with people, or standing on the sidelines and condescendingly criticizing those involved for their stupidity, in order to demonstrate her own wisdom and insight and gain admiration.

Because some things, whether to do them or not, are not about understanding the principles, but about being obsessed with them. They will never turn back until they hit a wall.

……

Interrogation room. Mu Qingcheng did not put shackles on Zisong and allowed him to sit while answering questions.

Her face was expressionless, showing neither the joy of thwarting a criminal's plot nor the sorrow of Zisong going astray. She simply looked at Zisong quietly and asked, "How do you plan to harm Madam Liu?"

Zi Song said, "Li Yunyao has put a Gu poison on Madam Liu, but it won't kill her. After the Gu worm awakens, it will bite Madam Liu's throat, making her unable to speak again."

Upon hearing this, Mu Qingcheng and Lin Shuban exchanged a glance, both surprised and curious. "When did Li Yunyao plant the Gu? How do you activate the Gu worm?"

Zisong sighed and said regretfully, "If you hadn't exposed me, you could have witnessed it with your own eyes."

“Li Yunyao sent Xia Yu to issue me a challenge, how could I not accept it? How could I let her schemes succeed and have everything go her way?” Mu Qingcheng suddenly shouted sharply, “The laws of the Great Zhou are not a game that anyone can control!”

Zisong was greatly alarmed!

Only then did he feel fear, not because of the various torture instruments in the interrogation room, but because of the kind of fear emanating from Mu Qingcheng that sent chills down one's spine and made one's scalp tingle!
Physical pain was nothing to someone like him, someone who had risen from the ashes of life. The truly terrifying person was someone who could see right through you, dig up what was hidden deep within your heart, and crush it!

Under Mu Qingcheng's intense gaze, Zisong finally confessed and explained: "Li Yunyao met with me the day before her suicide. She told me that Wantang was already dead, and that Madam Liu had tacitly allowed Liu Changqing to take Wantang away to use as a medicine man. Liu Changqing and Liu Pei will definitely be sentenced to death, but Madam Liu will not die. That would be too easy for her. Therefore, Li Yunyao wanted to be the mastermind, putting a Gu poison on the clothes she wore when she committed suicide. As long as Madam Liu dared to touch her body, the Gu poison would burrow into Madam Liu's blood vessels and lie dormant. It wouldn't need to be activated; when the time came, the Gu poison would automatically awaken!"

"Which day?" Mu Qingcheng suddenly stood up.

Zisong hesitated for a moment, then said, "It's today. Probably in about half an hour."

Mu Qingcheng immediately ordered the yamen runners, "Report to the lord at once!"

The yamen runners rushed out of the door.

Mu Qingcheng sat back down in her chair, puzzled, and asked, "Then why did you want to see Liu Xiao? Did you really want to chat with him?"

Zisong lowered his head and chuckled, "There's nothing to talk about. Neither condemnation nor curses can bring Wan Tang back to life. However, I still want to tell Liu Xiao that his mother was also one of the murderers who killed Wan Tang, so that Liu Xiao will hate his mother for the rest of his life! Secondly, I estimate that Madam Liu and Liu Xiao are not far apart. Perhaps while I'm with Liu Xiao, I can see or hear the horrific effects of Madam Liu's Gu worm attack. What an exciting scene that would be!"

Mu Qingcheng angrily said, "So, you've met Liu Xiao before, you knew all the details of the case all along, and you asked me and the magistrate to help you find Wantang outside the South Prison Gate... From beginning to end, you've been acting, you've been deceiving me?"

“I did meet Liu Xiao, I recognize his face, and I do know about Wan Tang’s death, but that’s all. I don’t know anything else about the case. Also, I didn’t completely believe Li Yunyao’s words at the time, which is why I asked you to help me find Wan Tang. I need to verify the truth.”

At this point, Zi Song suddenly looked up and smiled at Mu Qingcheng, "Perhaps, I'm not a backup plan left by Li Yunyao, but a living move to help you break this game? Now that I think about it, Li Yunyao revealing the plan to me in advance and asking me to witness it on the spot didn't really mean much, did it? Perhaps, by bringing me into your sights, Li Yunyao gave you the opportunity to decide Madam Liu's fate!"

After a moment of contemplation, Mu Qingcheng had to agree with Zisong's point of view.

Li Yunyao is truly a rare woman in the world, possessing great wisdom and strategic acumen!
As she got up to leave, Mu Qingcheng left behind a sentence: "Zisong, I won't hold it against you for lying to me and scheming against me, but you have betrayed Zhizhi's pure heart that regards you as a friend!"

Zisong's face suddenly turned bluish-white, and his pupils were slowly covered with water.

When Mu Qingcheng arrived at Madam Liu's cell, Song Shuyu had already arrived and brought Imperial Physician Jin with him.

My darlings, please vote! This case is coming to an end; it's time to start the next big one!
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(End of this chapter)