The Dramatic Crown Princess Wants to Poison Me!-Chapter 98: Is There Some Misunderstanding?

"It’s not me, I’ve said it’s not me, they’re framing me!" Liu San took advantage of Butcher Zhang’s moment of surprise, suddenly broke free, and quickly retreated far away, out of Zhang’s reach, shouting at Xia Wenjin, "Even if you’re Lord, you can’t just spew false accusations!"

Butcher Zhang was about to charge over, but several villagers held him back, telling him to observe before acting.

Of course, they trusted their fellow villager more. Even though Xia Wenjin and Huangfu Jingchen came as government officers, in their eyes, they were still outsiders.

"Spew false accusations?" Xia Wenjin said leisurely, "I have no grudge against you, why would I frame you?"

"Who knows?" Liu San retorted stubbornly, "Maybe you want to use me as a scapegoat, to go back and claim credit!"

"Oh, impressive! You even know about scapegoating to claim credit. You seem quite knowledgeable!" Xia Wenjin smiled casually. "But unfortunately, I saw it with my own eyes, just last night. You were sneaking around, which made me suspicious, so I followed you for a while."

The more casually Xia Wenjin spoke, the more panic appeared in Liu San’s eyes. Finally, he shouted angrily, "Things I haven’t done, no one can pin them on me. I don’t want to talk to you all, I haven’t slept all night, I need to go back and sleep!"

Xia Wenjin stood in place, smiling warmly as she watched.

The village chief said, "Official Lord, Liu San was born and raised here, he probably wouldn’t do such a thing, is there some misunderstanding?"

Seeing Xia Wenjin not chasing after him, Liu San breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he walked out of this door, he would escape far away, with the world vast and the Emperor far away, who could catch him?

He had already retreated to the door, and he suddenly turned his head, intending to rush out.

However, his head was pushed back by a strong force, Huangfu Jingchen stood at the doorway, his hand open, fingers gripping, pressing Liu San’s head, pushing him back into the house.

Xia Wenjin threw a look of appreciation towards Huangfu Jingchen.

Huangfu Jingchen averted his gaze, indicating her intention was to guard the door, knowing someone would try to escape. Last night they suspected someone in the village had issues, she and Xia Wenjin acted separately, he found nothing, unexpectedly Xia Wenjin had already identified the suspect.

Xia Wenjin said leisurely, "If it’s not you, why are you trying to run?" 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Liu San, pushed back, stumbled and fell, he lifted his face with effort, shouted loudly, "Where am I running? I just don’t want to be forced to confess!"

"Sure is stubborn!" Xia Wenjin laughed, "So you won’t admit, huh?"

Liu San shouted angrily, "I didn’t do it, why should I admit? Everyone knows those government officers are just grabbing people randomly to complete their tasks, but you can’t deceive everyone here. They won’t be fooled by you!"

Quite a few villagers spoke up, "Liu San is usually quite helpful and willing to assist others, it’s probably not him."

Xia Wenjin laughed, "Seems you have a good reputation!" Her gaze swept over the villagers, "Since none of you believe it, send people to search his home. As they say, people don’t rise early unless there’s a gain, if there’s no benefit, Liu San wouldn’t be so hardworking."

Liu San shouted angrily, "What gives you the right to search my house? I’ve said I didn’t do it, are you just going to take whatever you want from my home and force me to take the blame?"

Xia Wenjin looked at the village chief, "Send someone to search his house."

The village chief looked at Liu San, then at Xia Wenjin, hesitantly said, "What exactly should be searched for?"

Xia Wenjin said, "In the interest of fairness, you bring the villagers to search, I won’t be involved. Anything you find suspicious, bring it to me. If there’s nothing suspicious, come back and inform me, and I’ll apologize to him!"

Seeing Xia Wenjin’s assurance, some thought maybe the government officer had some basis for saying this, a few volunteered to go with the village chief.

Liu San was shouting his grievances there, the village chief felt perhaps only after searching can Liu San’s innocence be proven. The official Lord said it after all, as long as nothing suspicious is found, he will apologize to Liu San.

The village chief was cautious, he didn’t go himself, sent five people there, Butcher Zhang of course was going, the village chief particularly instructed the villagers accompanying him to watch him! This was to prevent Butcher Zhang from developing preconceived notions after listening to Xia Wenjin and falsely accusing Liu San.

Huangfu Jingchen took the initiative to get involved, saying, "I’ll take a look too!"

Xia Wenjin smiled, observing the traces of doubt in Huangfu Jingchen’s eyes, clearly, he wanted to see for himself whether Liu San was truly suspicious or wrongly accused.

That’s fine, after all, he too is in the "government officer" role, contributing where able is faultless!

The village chief stayed along with four people here.

Firstly to watch Liu San, secondly, also to ensure Xia Wenjin doesn’t harm Liu San.

Xia Wenjin had no interest in harming Liu San. If it weren’t for so many missing women being innocent, just because these villagers wanted to sink a living person in the river, she wouldn’t want to get involved in this matter.

Liu San kept shouting his grievances, which annoyed Xia Wenjin, she said to the remaining four, "Watch him, if he runs, you’ll be judged with the same crime!" Then she went into the courtyard, the village chief quickly followed.

Xia Wenjin asked casually, "Village chief, what does Liu San do for a living?"

The village chief said, "He does peddler work, going from village to village, inside and outside the village, has been to the city, even the provincial city, quite a capable person."

Xia Wenjin looked back and said, "The villagers seem to have a good impression of him!"

"Well, they are from the same village, he often brings some rare things from outside for the villagers, willing to help others, he’s a good person!" The village chief glanced at Xia Wenjin cautiously, "Official Lord, is it a mistake? Liu San really shouldn’t be harming the villagers."

Xia Wenjin calmly said, "Is it a mistake? Didn’t you send people to search? Besides, this Liu San goes around villages, has been to other villages, right? It’s worth investigating if women have gone missing in other villages too."

The village chief paused, then unnaturally laughed, "Lord, shouldn’t be such a thing. Liu San is clever, runs his business well, lives comfortably, why would he do such things? It doesn’t make sense!"

Xia Wenjin said, "Village Chief sent people to search didn’t he? These are trusted people, right? Actually, think about it, the missing women are from your village, Liu San is also from your village, this matter, if not out of duty, has nothing to do with me, it’s no loss to me, I’m helping find the culprit, if then considered the culprit by the village chief, that’s ridiculous."

Being told truthfully, the village chief said awkwardly, "That won’t happen, that won’t happen, the Lord works hard, I am aware."

Xia Wenjin laughed, "Why don’t we bet on it!"