Jian Zhaoxing

Chapter 280 Details Determine Success or Failure
Staking out in advance?

impossible.

No one was sure who had called out to Lin Yangyang.

This only proves one thing: the murderer made up his mind to act only after Lin Zhiqing instructed Aunt Mu to go find someone.

So, the only people who knew that Lin Zhiqing had instructed Aunt Mu to go find Lin Yangyang were...

Lin Zhiqing looked at Chaoyan, his brows slowly furrowing:

"Zhaoyan, didn't I tell Aunt Mu to go find my cousin and tell you to inform the rest of the Lin family not to move around?"

“Miss, this is indeed true.” Asagao nodded.

"Then let me ask you, did you properly notify them at the time?" Lin Zhiqing continued to ask.

Asagao's eyes darted to the upper left, then fixed on a point in the void. After a moment's thought, she answered:
“Miss, I went to the East Courtyard first to inform the First Master, then the Fourth Master and Young Master Jiu Si in that order.”

"After I finished informing everyone in the house, I returned to Shuqing Pavilion, and Miss Yangyang sent someone to inform my aunt about the accident."

“After that, I never left Shuqing Pavilion.”

“That’s right.” Lin Yangyang nodded, confirming her statement.

"During this time, did you tell anyone else about Aunt Mu's whereabouts? At that time, only you and I knew that Aunt Mu went to see my cousin." Lin Zhiqing's eyes were very sharp.

"No." She spoke slowly and in a low tone, unaware of Lin Zhiqing's intentions, still immersed in the grief of Aunt Mu's death.

No one else knew... Lin Zhiqing slowly sat down.

Asagao's eyebrows were lowered, her eyelids were half-closed, and her expression and movements were perfectly normal.

Lin Zhiqing frowned slightly: "Not many people know about Aunt Mu looking for my cousin. I'm afraid someone took advantage of my trip to Dali Temple to do it."

"The person who knows this news is very likely the murderer, Asagao, think about it carefully."

As Lin Zhiqing said this, he stared intently into Chaoyan's eyes.

Upon hearing Lin Zhiqing's words, Asagao lowered her head slightly, frowned slightly, and pursed her lips tightly.

This indicates that she is under a lot of pressure.

It was as if she couldn't find the murderer unless she thought about the key to it.

This was Lin Zhiqing deliberately putting pressure on Chaoyan.

Because people are more likely to reveal their true thoughts when under high pressure.

If this matter is related to Asagao, she will certainly give some feedback.

The problem was that Lin Zhiqing couldn't see any expression on her face related to guilt or nervousness.

What went wrong...

Seeing that Asagao still couldn't figure it out, Lin Yangyang couldn't help but get a little anxious:
"Asagao, if you can't figure it out, does that mean only you know? Could it be that you're tipping off the murderer?"

Upon hearing this, Asagao immediately stood up, her brows lowering towards the midline of her face, while the outer corners of her eyebrows arched diagonally upwards to the sides of her face.

"Miss Yangyang, what you're saying makes no sense. The person who died was none other than my own aunt!"

Her anger was tinged with grievance, but there was no sign of being embarrassed or furious.

Lin Zhiqing did not stop the two from talking.

The reason she consistently used gentle language to guide Asagao was because she was unsure whether Asagao had actually committed any acts of betrayal. If she had truly misunderstood Asagao, the growing estrangement between mistress and servant was clearly not a good thing.

Fortunately, Lin Yangyang stepped in. With one playing the good cop and the other the bad cop, they might actually be able to get some information out of them.

Lin Yangyang, unaware of Lin Zhiqing's thoughts, blurted out, "Then tell me, what did you do that day? How am I supposed to know if you're lying if you don't tell me?"

Asagao also became anxious: "That day, when I received Yunfeng's message, I went to the garden to report to Miss immediately. At that time, only Miss, Aunt and I were present."

"Wait a minute." Lin Yangyang interrupted her, "I didn't ask you where you found them, so why are you saying this?"

Having spent a lot of time with Lin Zhiqing, Lin Yangyang has unconsciously learned some techniques of mind-reading.

When people are describing something, they usually only remember the issues related to that thing and are unlikely to point out a specific location.

Asagao stood up: "The reason I said garden is because I fell down back then, and I still have some bruises on my arm, so it's a vivid memory."

As she spoke, she rolled up her sleeves.

There was indeed a bruise on her wrist.

Lin Yangyang was always jumping around, and her body was often covered in bruises, so it was easy to see that the injury on Chaoyan's wrist was indeed caused by a fall.

However, precisely because she was always running around, she was very familiar with every brick and tile of the Lin family's house:
“When I was a child, I often played in the garden. My father was worried about my safety, so he specially ordered people to replace the garden path with bluestone slabs.”

“There are people who regularly clean that area of ​​the garden to prevent small stones from tripping people up. It’s such a big flat area, how did you happen to slip and fall?”

"you are lying!"

Upon hearing this, Asagao also became somewhat anxious:

“Miss Yangyang, I also found it strange at the time. I had never fallen when walking on the path in the garden before, but that day, for some reason, it was as if I stepped on something and fell.”

"The message was very important at the time. I didn't have time to think about what tripped me up. I was just in a hurry to deliver the message to the young lady."

"What did you say?" Lin Zhiqing, who had been so nonchalant just moments before, suddenly changed her expression and spoke first:
"Asagao, think carefully again about how you tripped and fell, and try to describe it in detail."

Lin Zhiqing was well aware that the Lin Family Garden was special.

When she first arrived in Dasheng, she discovered that someone was plotting to murder Lin Yangyang by flying kites in the garden.

The maids liked to play here because the place was very flat, and unless it rained and the road was slippery, the chances of them falling were not high.

Although this cannot be used as a basis for judgment, Lin Zhiqing did not want to ignore the possibilities brought about by these details.

Upon hearing Lin Zhiqing speak, Chaoyan's voice sounded slightly aggrieved:
"When I got to the garden, I found the young lady and her aunt on the other side of the pond, so I quickened my pace to try to get around them."

"After jogging for about ten steps, I felt something under my feet."

"However, before I could take a closer look, I fell down."

"When I was about to look at what was under my feet, my aunt and young lady found me. I was worried about the message from Yunfeng, so I quickly got up and didn't pay attention to what was under my feet."

"That's the whole story."

After Asagao finished speaking, her eyes reddened slightly: "Miss, I really have never revealed Aunt's whereabouts to anyone. You must believe me."

Lin Yangyang was still puzzled: "But if you didn't tell anyone, how would anyone know that Aunt Mu went to see me?"

"You're the only one who knows about this."

"No, she might not be the only one," Lin Zhiqing said slowly.
"If there were still people in the garden at the time, someone would certainly have had the motive to do it."