Chapter 20: Clearing the Wrongful Accusation

Chapter 20: Clearing the Wrongful Accusation

Long Qiao was stunned.

Jiang Yunxin spoke, "Jing Fenghua is left-handed. His left arm is much stronger than his right, whether it's in a fight or carrying something heavy. He always relies on his left. I'm very clear about this. If you don't believe me, look at Feng Li's shirt. He struggled with Jing Fenghua today, and the tear on his shirt isn't symmetrical; the left side is significantly more torn than the right."

Long Qiao examined it and found that she was right. The embroidery on the left side of the shirt was even somewhat frayed.

"So if Feng Li was pushed down by Jing Fenghua, he must have been pushed to the right with Jing's left hand. It wouldn't make sense for him to push with his right hand to the left, or even his left hand to the left. That would defy logic."

Long Qiao tried pushing with his left hand to the left and realized that it would result in an impossible wrist position.

Jiang Yunxin let out a long sigh.

"Therefore, Feng Li didn't fall because of Jing Fenghua; there's another perpetrator at the scene."

Until now, no one had considered the possibility that someone else killed Feng Li because only he and Jing Fenghua were present in that cluster of bushes. The dozen other students were all at a distance, each serving as eyewitnesses.

One can doubt the words of one person, two people, but not those of a dozen.

These dozen individuals weren't an invincible clique; they couldn't have conspired together to lie.

But now, things were different.

The small red dot on Feng Li's ankle likely resulted from being struck by a tiny object from a distance, causing him to lose balance and fall into the rock.

Only this could explain how his fall was in the exact opposite direction of Jing Fenghua's push.

And the direction from which the attacker came coincided with where the dozen student witnesses had been standing.

Jiang Yunxin exchanged a glance with Long Qiao. It seemed someone deliberately framed Jing Fenghua, and the culprit was among the eyewitnesses.

Straightening her posture, Jiang Yunxin exhaled, "Excellent, Brother Long. Where is the Lord? I'll report this discovery to him right away."

Truly, just when it seemed like there was no way out, a new path appeared.

With Jing Fenghua out of trouble, Jiang Yunxin felt genuine joy from within.

As for the identity of the murderer, that was secondary to her; she'd leave the pursuit of justice to the other officials in the Criminal Bureau. She was just a helpless and weak coroner, after all.

Long Qiao suddenly smiled, leaving Jiang Yunxin puzzled about the reason behind it.

Then, Long Qiao's gaze shifted to the side. Raising her head, Jiang Yunxin noticed someone standing there, none other than Fang Mingyan, whom she was eager to locate immediately.

Fang Mingyan strolled over slowly and clapped his hands.

"Coroner Jiang is indeed impressive, very meticulous."

Seeing Fang Mingyan's confident demeanor, Jiang Yunxin couldn't help but inwardly scoff.

If not for her own seasoned experience in the workplace, she might have been fooled into thinking he had everything under control.

In reality, he must have just figured out the situation as well. After all, they didn't share the same information. Apart from those at the academy, no one knew that Jing Fenghua was left-handed, hence they wouldn't have thought of that detail.

Regardless, receiving applause and praise from her future boss was an excellent occurrence.

Jiang Yunxin's face bloomed into a bright smile. "Lord Fang, why aren't you resting at such a late hour?"

See how considerate he is towards his superior, subtly flattering without any trace, like a gentle stream that keeps flowing.

Fang Mingyan said, "You and Jing Fenghua are close friends. Now that he's in trouble, possibly facing imprisonment, I imagined you'd be unable to sleep tonight. Hence, I came to check, and indeed, you didn't disappoint my expectations. You did well."

Jiang Yunxin looked at this young man, whose actual age was at least a decade younger than his mental maturity, as he spoke such encouraging words with an old-fashioned tone. She felt a thousand inner curses racing through her mind.

Yet, she could only express gratitude on the surface, "Thank you for your trust, Sir."

Indeed, people in the workplace often have dual personas. They always show others what they want to see, while the true self can only roll its eyes inwardly.

The group continued their discussion.

Fang Mingyan promptly sought out the Headmaster, who was also tossing and turning in bed. Fang roused the elder, and the two held a midnight conversation by candlelight, identifying a new suspect.

The academy was a place to learn various skills, and each student had their own focus. There were those like Jing Fenghua, who excelled in everything except academics. Then there was Jiang Yunxin, proficient only in autopsies. Naturally, there were also students who lacked in scholarly pursuits but possessed physical strength.

When the incident occurred yesterday, a dozen students had just finished their classes and passed by the scene.

They were about 20-30 meters away from where Jing Fenghua and Feng Li were engaged in a scuffle. Not too far, yet not particularly close, it would still be challenging to silently hit Feng Li's ankle with a tiny, hard object from such a distance.

Thus, the most suspicious individual now was the student among them who was the most skilled in hidden weapons. Coincidentally, this person had a rather tumultuous relationship with Jing Fenghua and Feng Li.

He had both the motive and the ability.

Considering their positions relative to Feng Li, an attack from that direction would only hit the left ankle. Moreover, under such pressing circumstances, not everyone would have the time to think through every detail.

In his view, as long as the target was knocked down, it might not have been intentional to cause fatal harm. Let alone would they have considered that Jing Fenghua was left-handed and which way he would fall when pushed.

After Fang Mingyan's explanation, the dean finally saw the light and subsequently flew into a rage.

Without delay, he led a group to rouse the culprit from sleep.

The student, whose name was Zhong Kaile, hadn't actually been asleep; he had just pretended to be, for fear of arousing suspicion by staying awake all night.

When the dean and his team shook him awake in the middle of the night, he couldn't hold back his tears before they could even ask any questions.

"I really didn't expect him to die," Zhong Kaile sobbed. "I just wanted him to stumble and give everyone a good laugh."

Jiang Yunxin let out a long sigh of relief. Now, it was truly, truly over for Jing Fenghua.

In the middle of the night, Feng Li and Jing Fenghua's families, equally restless, sprang up upon receiving the news in disarray.

To Feng Li's family, their son was already gone. They sought to find the murderer and avenge him. Whether the culprit was Jing Fenghua or Zhong Kaile made little difference to them.

His relationship with both households was neutral – no special camaraderie nor enmity. There was no reason for them to single out one family over the other.

But it was an entirely different story for Jing Fenghua's family. They joyfully went to fetch him, inevitably displaying filial piety and parental affection. The mother and son embraced, weeping together, sorrowful for their son's unjust suffering.

Yet, they did not hold Feng's family accountable?

It had been a false alarm for them, but Feng's family had genuinely lost a son. It would be insensitive to further torment them.

The academy had become intolerable; even before dawn, Jing Fenghua's parents insisted on taking him home that very night.

Having experienced such a dramatic swing of fortune, they naturally needed much comforting.

Jing Fenghua scanned the crowd, told his mother to wait a moment, then swiftly ran off to find Jiang Yunxin.

"Are you alright?" Jiang Yunxin asked. "This time, it was all because of me that you were caught up in this unforeseen calamity."

"So what?" Jing Fenghua chuckled. "Am I supposed to just stand by and watch as others slander you without saying a word? Are we still brothers or not?"

"Yes," Jiang Yunxin nodded. "Of course we are."