Qin Yonghui's eyes widened, her pupils filled with a mixture of fear, unease, and regret, all coalescing into despair.
She had followed the Second Madam's instructions, repented before the Buddha for twelve years, and prayed for the Qin family for twelve years. Why wasn't her sin washed clean?
The nine-linked rings in Qin Xinyao's hand had been solved at some point, and he leaned back in his chair, head bowed, his eyes reddened, his hands clutching the rings trembling uncontrollably.
After losing his parents, the only elder who had shown him warmth and meticulously cared for him in the Qin family was the murderer of his father!
The murderer who caused him to lose his parents, become an orphan, and pretend to be foolish to eke out a living in the Qin family!
She had been right in front of him every day, and he hadn't known a thing!
What was this supposed to be?!
A penance?
Or was she just watching him make a fool of himself?!
In the monitoring room, Yu He's gaze was unnervingly calm, so calm that Qin Beiting found it somewhat terrifying.
Even if she were sad, upset, or angry, any emotion would have allowed him to understand her feelings.
"She asked me to help her. She said she didn't want to go to jail. She also said that if it wasn't for Sixth Brother instigating Third Brother to give up his position as family head, she wouldn't have become so agitated. It's all Sixth Brother's fault! If I don't help her, she'll... she'll..."
Qin Yonghao's voice in the recording suddenly faltered.
Before Qin Old Master passed away, when he was drafting his will, there were rumors that he intended to pass on the position of family head to Third Master. However, it had not been finalized when this news spread through the inner courtyard of the Qin family.
Yu He had some recollection of this matter. During the years she was still in the Qin family, her adoptive father had a good relationship with Third Master Qin, and the Third and Sixth branches often dined together.
At that time, Third Master Qin had even joked after a few drinks at dinner, saying that if Old Master truly passed the position of family head to him, and he didn't want it, could he let his adoptive father take it.
In Yu He's memory, her adoptive father, like Third Master, was someone who enjoyed freedom and disliked scheming. He always said that being the family head was too tiring and involved too many responsibilities, so it was better not to be one. Therefore, he had voluntarily given up the competition.
Thus, how could her adoptive father have instigated Third Master to give him the position of family head?
This was why Yu He had always firmly believed her adoptive father was framed. Yet, she wanted to exonerate her adoptive father, but he wouldn't cooperate!
"She'll what?" Chen Yongyue's voice rang out from the recording.
Qin Yonghao hesitated for a moment before finally saying, "She'll reveal my secret embezzlement of public funds to Eldest Brother."
"..."
Qin Yonghao continued, "I was forced to help her devise a plan.
"It just so happened that that afternoon at Ya Yuan, I heard that Sixth Brother and Third Brother had met. They had an argument for some reason. Quite a few servants heard about it at the time. We cleaned up the scene, erased the evidence, deliberately left Sixth Brother's traces, and shifted the blame to him.
"The police happened to find that trace and pinned the murder on Sixth Brother. Coupled with the fact that he had argued with Third Brother, he had a motive."
Yu He listened, her right hand unconsciously clenching into a fist.
Sensing her emotional fluctuation, Qin Beiting unclasped her fist and interlaced his fingers with hers.
"If it's too much, we can stop listening," he whispered.
"No!" Yu He refused.
She had to hear it all!
At this point in the recording, Chen Yongyue asked, "Was anyone else at the crime scene that day?"
"Yes..." Qin Yonghao continued his confession. "After we cleaned up the scene, we discovered movement in the closet. When we opened it, Qin Xinshu... that girl Yu He was hiding inside. We had no idea when she had hidden there or what she had seen.
"What's more, that girl refused to speak no matter how we questioned her.
"If she had just been obedient and told the truth, I wouldn't have had her locked up and forced to confess!"
"How long did you keep her locked up?" Chen Yongyue asked.
"Two days and a night, or perhaps three days and two nights, I don't remember the exact duration. The police were investigating Third Brother's matters at the time, and no one paid attention to that girl. Later, I don't know how she escaped... Bang..."
Qin Yonghao's voice in the recording was suddenly interrupted by a loud noise, followed by a cacophony of sounds.
Among them was Chen Yongyue's劝导: "Seventh Master, don't be impulsive. If you kill him, there will be no witness to bring the murderer to justice."
Yu He's breath hitched.
Just as Qin Xinyao had suspected, she had witnessed the entire event at the crime scene!
Yet, she couldn't recall anything, and Qin Beiting had even had her memory altered!
She turned her head to look at Qin Beiting, who lowered his head and kissed her forehead, holding her with one arm.
"Baby, I'm sorry. That memory was too gruesome, and I didn't want it to affect you for the rest of your life, so I selfishly had Freud fade it from your memory."
"..."
This excessive protection made Yu He feel suffocated.
If it weren't for him, perhaps she would have remembered sooner?
But this was not the time to dwell on it. Yu He broke free from his arm. "I'll settle this with you later!"
Qin Beiting: "..."
He suddenly had a bad premonition.
In the interrogation room.
Chen Hao turned off the recording pen and looked at Qin Yonghui. "Qin Yonghui, do you admit to what Qin Yonghao said?"
Qin Xinyao looked up, his eyes blazing as he stared at her.
The calm demeanor Qin Yonghui had once possessed was gone. As if knowing she couldn't escape, a suffocating pressure hung over her.
She felt a pair of burning gazes fixed on her from behind. She knew they were Qin Xinyao's, but she lacked the courage to look back.
Her lips moved, as if giving up the struggle, and she uttered two words: "I admit it."
"Shu Yun'er's death, did you order Huang Ying to do it?" Chen Hao asked again.
Qin Yonghui shook her head. "No, I didn't intend to harm her. It was the Second Madam. She said she would help me solve this problem and told me not to worry."
"Confirm this," Chen Hao said into his earpiece, connected to the monitoring room.
Chen Yongyue immediately ordered the interrogation of the Second Madam Qin to begin.
In interrogation room 4.
While waiting for confirmation, the assistant suddenly noticed that the nine-linked rings in Qin Xinyao's hand had been solved, and exclaimed in surprise:
"Wow, you actually solved this nine-linked puzzle! This is an upgraded version of the intelligence test nine-linked rings. It seems your intelligence isn't low at all!"
He had spent a month studying this puzzle and had only managed to solve up to the seventh ring, getting stuck after that. This seemingly foolish young master had solved it all in just a few tens of minutes!
Hearing this, everyone looked at Qin Xinyao, especially Qin Yonghui, who was utterly shocked.
Previously, to cultivate his intellect, she had bought him various children's intelligence toys, including the nine-linked rings, but he couldn't solve them then.
How had he solved them now?
She suddenly thought of something and asked with disbelief, "Yao'er? Were you pretending all along?"