Wife is hell

Chapter 21 The Game with Wu!
It seems no one expected that Yan Qingshan would resort to desperate measures and suddenly attack people.

But the timber from Jiangmu arrived.

The moment Madam Wu questioned Yan Qingshan, he quietly approached Yu Zhengqing.

Seeing Yan Qingshan draw his sword and charge, Jiang Mu didn't hesitate at all. His body moved with the agility of a fish, and he dodged behind Yu Zhengqing, even thoughtfully reminding him:
"Be careful, Manager Yu!"

Yu Zhengqing cursed the kid inwardly for being cunning, but his reaction was quick.

With a flick of his wrist, a folding fan appeared in his palm.

The fan unfolded with a "whoosh".

He gently waved his hand at Yan Qingshan, who was rushing towards him.

A thick layer of frost quickly formed around Yan Qingshan's body, causing his movements to suddenly freeze in place.

A spirit object?

Jiang Mu looked at the fan in Yu Zhengqing's hand, feeling surprised.

However, considering that the other party was, after all, a deputy commander, it was normal for him to possess spiritual objects.

"Take it!"

Yu Zhengqing's face was ashen as he gave orders to the guards.

The guards then realized what was happening and hurriedly stepped forward to chain Yan Qingshan up.

Once the frost on his body melted away, Yan Qingshan had completely lost the ability to resist and looked utterly dejected.

His former close colleague asked him with great anguish, "Old Yan, why did you do this?!"

Others also felt sorry.

After all, we've been colleagues for many years, so there's bound to be some bond between us.

Yan Qingshan gave a bitter laugh, spat out a mouthful of bloody foam on the ground, and glared resentfully at Yu Zhengqing and Tang Jinxian, cursing:

"I've risked my life in the patrol office for so many years, and in the end I'm just a minor hall master."

"And you young girls and pretty boys who rose to power because of your family backgrounds, what gives you the right to ride roughshod over me? What gives you the right?!"

"I refuse to accept this! I refuse to accept this!"

"But you shouldn't have harmed those innocent women!"

Tang Jinxian slammed her hand on the table and angrily rebuked them.

Yan Qingshan closed his eyes, exhaled a deep breath, and sneered:
"Hmph, the victor is king and the loser is villain, there's no point in saying more. Since I've been defeated by you, I accept it. At worst, I'll just pay with my life."

Tang Jinxian stared at him with fierce eyes:
"This spiritual disaster was committed by two people. Who is your other accomplice?!"

The crowd, who thought they had caught the real culprit, were stunned.

Is there another murderer?

The crowd erupted in uproar upon recalling Wu's previous arrest.

Yan Qingshan, however, said expressionlessly:

“I didn’t have any accomplices; I did the whole thing by myself. The thunderbolt that caused the explosion when you were in danger in the cave was also set by me.”

"You want to take all the blame yourself?"

Tang Jinxian furrowed her beautiful willow-leaf eyebrows, leaned forward slightly, and applied pressure.

"Yan Qingshan, since I've had people monitoring you for a long time, it means I already have evidence of your crimes. What are you still stubborn about now?"

Yan Qingshan sneered repeatedly:
"Since Chief Tang has the evidence, why not just arrest him? Why bother asking me? I, Yan Qingshan, take full responsibility for my actions. It was I who did it!"

Tang Jinxian was speechless for a moment, and the situation reached a stalemate.

Just as she hesitated about whether to torture Wu again, Jiang Mu suddenly spoke up:

"Sir, may we bring the suspect Wu here?"

Tang Jinxian was taken aback and looked at Jiang Mu with a puzzled expression.

Seeing the other party's burning gaze and confident demeanor, she was slightly moved and immediately gave the female official Xiuxiu a look.

Xiuxiu understood and left immediately.

Before long, Wu was led into the hall.

To prevent another incident of him suddenly attacking and injuring someone, the guards put him in heavy handcuffs.

"Son!"

Madam Wu cried out in anguish and rushed over.

Upon seeing his mother, Wu's eyes instantly reddened, and he said in a tearful voice:
"Mother! I am innocent! I have no idea what I did wrong, yet they forcibly detained me here and subjected me to torture! Mother, please save me!"

"Don't be afraid, son. With your mother here, I will never let you suffer any injustice. They won't dare to do anything to you."

Mrs. Wu was in tears and hugged her son tightly.

Wu seemed somewhat relieved, and only then did he notice Yan Qingshan, who was chained up to the side, and said in astonishment:

"Cousin? What happened to you? Why were you arrested too? What's going on?"

Jiang Mu observed the expressions on their faces.

Yan Qingshan did not look at Wu once from beginning to end.

Jiang Mu asked Wu, "Wu, do you really not know what your cousin has done wrong?"

"What happened to my cousin?"

Wu looked completely bewildered.

Madam Wu glared fiercely at Jiang Mu: "Since Yan Qingshan has already confessed, what does it have to do with my son?!"

"Madam Wu, please calm down." Jiang Mu smiled calmly. "Whether your son is guilty or not, the facts will speak for themselves, not something that you and I can decide with a single word."

He looked at Wu again, his tone calm:

"The desires of beasts arise naturally and are openly displayed under the sun. The desires of human beings are hidden within propriety and righteousness, and surge within the skin."

Just as you once said, all of us here, stripped of our 'etiquette', are actually beasts.

Wu, after wearing a mask for so long, don't you ever start to feel like you're really a person?

Wu retorted indignantly, "Officer, I don't know what you're talking about, and I've never uttered such a blasphemous statement to you. I, Wu, have studied the classics since childhood and know—"

"OK OK."

Jiang Mu raised his hand to interrupt him, "I'm not going to argue with you about these empty platitudes."

I just want to tell you that excessive pride and arrogance will lead you to a dead end. You are too arrogant, and unfortunately, your abilities do not match your arrogance.

Wu opened his mouth to argue, but Jiang Mu raised his hand to stop him again:
"For example, after killing someone, the murderer might deliberately display the victim's body for people to see, to provoke the authorities and their incompetence, and at the same time to frighten someone they care about."

Jiang Mu, his gaze deep and unfathomable, stepped forward and stared into Wu's eyes:
"For example, some serial killers habitually take a 'souvenir' from their victims and carefully preserve it. This allows them to relive the glory and satisfaction of controlling the lives and deaths of others. Wu, what about you? What is your 'souvenir'?"

Wu's pupils contracted.

Noticing this subtle change, Jiang Mu realized that his guess was correct and immediately felt relieved.

He turned abruptly to face the assembled officials and said loudly:
"My lords, all the victims are missing something. Have you noticed?"

Something is missing?
The group looked at each other, trying to recall the details of the body.

Tang Jinxian pondered for a moment, then suddenly looked up and blurted out:

"nail!"

Only after her reminder did everyone realize that all the female corpses' fingernails had been pulled out without exception.

"That's right, it's fingernails!"

Jiang Mu affirmed, then asked, "Then may I ask, Lord Chief, have you ever found these removed fingernails at any scene, whether it was the place where the body was disposed of or the cave used for the torture?"

Tang Jinxian shook her head slightly: "No, not a single place was found."

"so……"

Jiang Mu's gaze returned to Wu. "Where did those victims' fingernails go?"

"I...I don't know."

Wu shook his head blankly, "What fingernails? What are you talking about?"

Jiang Mu's lips curled into a mocking smile:
"Wu, you're too arrogant. So arrogant that you thought you could outsmart us even in prison. But too bad, you messed up. You're both incompetent and a player—that's exactly what you are!"
"If I were in charge of planning all this, I would have done it ten times better than you, believe me?"

Wu's lips moved as if he wanted to retort, but when he met Jiang Mu's mocking gaze, he subconsciously clenched his fist.

Jiang Mu stopped looking at him and turned to Yu Zhengqing to ask:

"Deputy Commander Yu, the Commander previously ordered you to search the Wu residence. Did you go?"

Huang Kezi, who was standing next to Yu Zhengqing, said:

“At that time, Deputy Chief Yu needed to urgently rescue Madam Yan, so he sent me to search the Wu residence. I did not find any of the victim’s fingernails.”

"Everywhere has been searched?"

Jiang Mu asked.

Huang Kezi was somewhat displeased with Jiang Mu's questioning and snorted coldly:

"We've searched every nook and cranny, inside and out; we've practically torn the ground up to check. Could it be that Officer Mu thinks we've been negligent and overlooked something?"

Jiang Mu stopped arguing with him and bowed to Tang Jinxian, saying:

"My lord, I humbly request that the Wu residence be searched again, and that Wu be taken along with us."

"can."

Tang Jinxian clenched her fists, somewhat excited.

The woman realized that this Mu Jiang could bring her a great surprise.

-

-

The group headed to the Wu family's residence in a grand procession.

Tang Jinxian even brought Yan Qingshan along, clearly intending to make him completely give up and confess his crimes.

Upon arriving at the Wu family residence, the patrol officers immediately launched a second round of search.

Jiang Mu stood next to Wu the whole time, observing his expression.

"It seems you don't think we can find the souvenirs you've hidden?"

Jiang Mu smiled.

After calming down, Wu said coldly:

"This is nothing but a fabricated charge. If you find nothing today, I will strip you of your scholar's degree and go to the capital to appeal to the emperor!"

Madam Wu, her face ashen, angrily said:
"Son, you don't need to appeal to the emperor. Your mother will get justice for you! And you too!"

Madam Wu glared at Jiang Mu with resentment, "You lowly yamen runner, you've repeatedly framed my son! I'll make you pay the price! I'll make you wish you were dead!"

Upon hearing this, Tang Jinxian, who was directing the search, flew into a rage.

How dare you threaten my Lord... Bah, how dare you threaten my people?
"presumptuous!"

Tang Jinxian's pretty face was frosty. "A mere fifth-rank lady dares to openly intimidate and threaten government officials handling cases?"
"Madam Wu, do you believe I will draft a memorial right now and submit it to His Majesty, accusing you of contempt of court and stripping you of your imperial title!"

Madam Wu's expression changed drastically, and she still wanted to argue.

But considering Tang Jinxian's background and status, he ultimately didn't dare to say anything more.

Time passed by minute by minute.

However, as squads of guards reported that the search had yielded no results, the atmosphere gradually became oppressive.

Jiang Mu's brows gradually furrowed.

Tang Jinxian couldn't help but feel worried.

Having caused such a commotion and gone through so much trouble, it would be much more difficult to interrogate Wu by torture now.

This kid shouldn't mess things up.

Having previously lost face, Huang Kezi couldn't help but sneer:
"Officer Mu, I told you long ago that there were no victims at all. You insisted on doing things your own way and making a big fuss. Now, you've just become a laughing stock."

Young people, it's better to be more down-to-earth and not always thinking about showing off.

Jiang Mu ignored his sarcasm, rubbing his chin with one hand as he looked around the room.

When Jiang Mu's gaze fell on Madam Wu, he inadvertently caught a glimpse of something, and a flash of inspiration struck him like lightning.

He suddenly laughed: "Yes... I should have thought of that sooner."

"What are you thinking about?"

Tang Jinxian quickly asked.

Jiang Mu walked up to Wu and looked him straight in the eye:
“Wu, I’ve already guessed where you hid those ‘souvenirs’.”

Wu snorted coldly, not bothering to speak.

Jiang Mu said quietly:
"You are an extremely arrogant person, so proud that you are almost paranoid. You certainly wouldn't hide them too deeply, like underground or inside walls. Nor would you be foolish enough to put them on yourself or someone else."

Therefore, you would naturally place them in the most conspicuous spot, where everyone can see them. Right?

Upon hearing this, Wu's expression finally changed.

(End of this chapter)