I became the Counterpart of the Winner in a Period Novel-Chapter 295 - 280: Black Phoenix (Part 3)

However, this person had been brainwashed by her parents. The family treated her differently, and she didn’t think there was a problem. Until four months ago, the second sister-in-law was about to give birth. In the past, it was always at home, but the second sister-in-law found some underground doctor who saw that this child was another son. With a little plan in her heart, she didn’t want to give birth at home and insisted on going to the hospital, but the family couldn’t come up with the money.

Li Youcai was a big gambler, and usually, any money he had was gambled away. Life was already tough, and with someone gambling, where could they find extra money? The second brother and second sister-in-law set their sights on Li Hongmei, wanting to marry her off for a bride price. Li Hongmei was good-looking and fair-skinned, attracting many suitors. But the Li Family only considered money when choosing a match. Although Li Hongmei had been brainwashed, she had her own little plans.

She didn’t want to marry the old man her parents picked for her, and she set her eyes on Chen Dong.

"Chen Dong?" Jiang Mingyue remembered, after all, it was Li Hongmei and Chen Dong—hard to forget.

Chen Dong was once a brother of Xie Yunhai.

The incident at the entrance of the cousin’s cinema was due to Chen Dong leaking the information. Although Chen Dong didn’t do it intentionally, he let down his guard because of his affection for Li Hongmei, and the information was pried out by her. She then passed it along to someone higher up, which led to her cousin’s mishap.

Jiang Mingyue didn’t dare to hide it and explained the details to An Jian.

An Jian: "..." He was stunned!

"Duke of Thunder, Hongfei, you two go find Chen Dong."

"Yes."

"Who owns the courtyard?"

"Still investigating. When we arrived, there wasn’t a single living thing in this courtyard. After checking around, we also didn’t find any signs of others living there."

Jiang Mingyue used spiritual power to scan the area, but found nothing suspicious either.

"The cleaner it’s wiped, the more there is a problem. I think the Li Family needs a thorough investigation."

This questioning did indeed yield some insights. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Great! The Eldest Sister-in-law Li secretly reported that Li Hongmei lived in this courtyard with a man. Her father-in-law, Li Youcai, frequently came to ask for gambling funds. Both father and daughter hid it from the family. She only paid attention after accidentally discovering it."

Jiang Mingyue: "...Then Li Youcai is very suspicious!"

"Let’s go meet this Li Youcai."

In the interrogation room sat a middle-aged man with a face full of pockmarks. If you ignored his eyes, he seemed like a simple man, but focusing on his shifty eyes completely reversed his demeanor.

"Li Youcai, your eldest daughter-in-law has identified you as the murderer. How do you plan to defend yourself?"

The rat-eyed man jumped up immediately. "What nonsense! How could I harm my own daughter? Anyone with half a brain wouldn’t say such a thing. Officer, don’t believe her. The eldest daughter-in-law is just jealous of my bias toward the second family and deliberately wants to see me dead!"

The two exchanged a glance: This man is not honest!

"Li Youcai, I’ll give you one more chance."

Li Youcai’s eyes flickered, but he said nothing, though his legs shook.

"Tell us, who did Li Hongmei associate with regularly?"

Li Youcai knew he couldn’t fool the police any longer, or there would be consequences.

After weighing his options, he dejectedly confessed everything he knew.

"Liu Er?"

"I have seen the household register in his hands. It’s indeed Liu Er."

Both surnamed Liu, inexplicably, Jiang Mingyue thought of Liu Chu, who was also the second child on another household register.

After three days of continuous investigation and inquiry, the truth came to light.

The landlord confirmed based on portraits that Liu Er was Liu Chu.

Goodness, the fugitive they’ve searched for over half a year was right under their noses.

When Chen Dong was found, he had already jumped into the river, and only his body was retrieved, with a Black Phoenix tattoo on his left wrist.

Forensic Doctor Dong’s examination revealed the substance of the tattoo ink differed from regular tattoo ink. It was very special; after twelve hours post-mortem, the tattoo would disappear, leaving no trace, though it could be detected through examination.

Testing the sub-skin tissue on Li Hongmei’s left wrist confirmed the presence of that substance.

"That explains it. Li Hongmei, when cornered by her family, joined the Black Phoenix, which improved the Li Family’s circumstances later on."

"Based on current clues, the person Li Hongmei associated with was Liu Chu. According to investigation records, Li Hongmei was not only Liu Chu’s subordinate but also his lover."

"Both Li Hongmei and Chen Dong may have been dealt with by Liu Chu’s people. To obscure evidence, the Black Phoenix people deliberately used a blunt weapon from the courtyard to attack Li Hongmei. As for Chen Dong, they found another person’s shoe prints on the grassy riverbank, suggesting he was pushed and the prints were covered up, though the grass was overlooked."