HH Chapter 25

Cheng Ye stared at the sketch of Li Xiaoyan, his facial muscles contorted in confusion. “Wait… wait, I’m a bit lost here.”

He continued, “If Li Xiaoyan is the murderer, how do you explain her initial confession, which you deduced was fake? And how did she shift the blame onto Tian Yunxin later?”

Cheng Ye threw the paper on the table in frustration. “What kind of mess is this?”

Pei Qinghuai gently rubbed his thumb against his knuckle, the muscles around his eyes twitching slightly. “A middle school-educated working woman, how could she possibly use logic to think through these problems?”

He lowered his head. “Li Xiaoyan’s fear of Tian Mingwei was genuine. Don’t you want to know how she got Tian Yunxin to voluntarily take the blame? This woman might be more despicable than you imagine.”

As Pei Qinghuai spoke, a blueprint was already forming in his mind, though it was still a hypothesis. He looked up. “Let’s settle this once and for all.”

When they entered Li Xiaoyan’s interrogation room, Jiang Fei and Fang Yuan were still pressing her for answers. However, Li Xiaoyan appeared more composed than before. After a brief greeting, Fang Yuan and Jiang Fei left.

Upon seeing Pei Qinghuai, Li Xiaoyan’s expression became slightly unnatural.

“Do you want to know what Tian Yunxin said?” Pei Qinghuai began.

Li Xiaoyan looked worried, wringing her hands together. “What did she say?”

Pei Qinghuai smiled. “She said that you orchestrated all of this.” His tone was calm and unhurried, but to Li Xiaoyan, it felt like needles pricking her ears.

Whether she was acting or genuinely panicking, Li Xiaoyan’s breathing became heavier, her eyes wide open. “It’s a lie! No, I didn’t!”

“What evidence do you have to prove you didn’t?” Pei Qinghuai pressed.

Li Xiaoyan’s eyes blinked uncontrollably as she looked around nervously. She opened her mouth. “I’ll tell the truth…”

She took a deep breath. “It’s all Tian Mingwei’s fault. He found me that day… and said if I lured my daughter out, he’d let me go.”

“So, you didn’t go grocery shopping that day. Instead, you delivered Tian Yunxin into Tian Mingwei’s hands?” Cheng Ye’s tone carried a hint of anger.

Li Xiaoyan couldn’t bring herself to look Cheng Ye in the eye and only nodded with her head down.

“Bastard!” Cheng Ye slammed the table, making Li Xiaoyan jump and shrink back.

“And then?” Pei Qinghuai’s voice turned icy. “How did you convince Tian Yunxin to confess?”

Li Xiaoyan, trembling, didn’t dare lie anymore. “When they were almost done, I pretended to return from grocery shopping. I…” She hesitated, feeling ashamed. Li Xiaoyan pursed her lips.

Pei Qinghuai continued, “You then pushed Tian Mingwei away and protected Tian Yunxin, playing the hero? You certainly picked the right moment to play the good person.”

He added, “To make Tian Yunxin completely trust you, you staged a scene with Tian Mingwei, and that’s when you got your ear injury, right?”

Li Xiaoyan’s eyes widened, her hands clenched tightly, and after a moment, she weakly nodded.

Cheng Ye, beside himself with anger, wanted to slap Li Xiaoyan but restrained himself with gritted teeth.

Pei Qinghuai raised an eyebrow. “You made Tian Yunxin unconditionally trust you and take the blame for you. Quite the plan.”

“I didn’t kill anyone! I just wanted to get away from Tian Mingwei. I didn’t kill anyone!” Li Xiaoyan suddenly became agitated, her eyes red with anger.

“Calm down!” Cheng Ye shouted, but it was like hitting cotton; Li Xiaoyan only yelled louder.

At this moment, Pei Qinghuai glanced to the side, a slight sneer on his face. Within seconds, Fang Yuan and Jiang Fei brought someone in.

It was Tian Yunxin. Her eyes were bloodshot, lips trembling. To her, Li Xiaoyan, though having abandoned her as a child, was also the one who had saved her. But now, the glaring truth hit her hard: she was merely a pawn in Li Xiaoyan’s self-directed play.

“Mom…” Tian Yunxin’s shaky voice squeezed out. Seeing her, Li Xiaoyan tensed up but then seemed to have an epiphany, her gaze growing bolder.

“Don’t call me mom!” Li Xiaoyan shouted. “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be like this! I should have strangled you at birth!”

Fang Yuan, about to rush forward, was held back by Jiang Fei, who struggled to pull him back.

“Enough,” Cheng Ye ordered. “Take her out.”

Fang Yuan, after punching the air in frustration, turned to escort Li Xiaoyan out. They met Yan Ya, who was bringing in evidence. Fang Yuan, biting his lip in anger, asked, “How is it?”

Yan Ya replied, “Almost there. The evidence chain is complete.”

Fang Yuan: “Good.”

Yan Ya handed the evidence to Cheng Ye. “Captain Cheng, all the evidence is here.”

Cheng Ye smiled. “Great, thanks.”

“Let’s go over your crime step by step,” Pei Qinghuai said calmly.

“One month ago, Tian Mingwei assaulted Tian Yunxin, resulting in her pregnancy. Instead of feeling guilty, he demanded even more from her.”

Pei Qinghuai placed his hands on the table. “Realizing Tian Mingwei would never let you or Tian Yunxin go, you chose May 31st to lure him out with Tian Yunxin as bait and killed him.”

Li Xiaoyan’s face remained indifferent, but Pei Qinghuai continued. “It was the rainy season, so you weren’t worried about leaving evidence.”

He turned to Cheng Ye. “But nothing goes unnoticed.”

Cheng Ye pulled out the forensic report, walked up to Li Xiaoyan, and slapped it in front of her. “Explain this. If you didn’t kill him, why are your fingerprints at the crime scene?”

Li Xiaoyan’s eyes widened in shock. “Fingerprints?”

Cheng Ye raised an eyebrow. “Unlucky for you, there are plenty of trees and leaves in the back hills, and your fingerprint was found on one of those leaves.”

Li Xiaoyan stared at her hands in a daze, and after a long pause, her lips trembling, she admitted, “I… I admit, I killed Tian Mingwei.”