Wei Shuxuan walked over and helped Ying'er up. "I know it has nothing to do with you. We're just here to take your statements. We're not saying you're the murderers. Everyone can rest assured. Just tell me everything you know."
The girls looked at each other, their carefully made - up faces showing a hint of confusion.
Just then, a girl stood up. She wasn't very pretty, but she had an air of boldness.
"Come on, what are you still afraid of? That woman is already dead. We don't have to be at her mercy anymore," said the bold girl. Then she turned to Wei Shuxuan. "Sir, whatever you want to know, I can tell you."
"This kind of cooperation is great, isn't it?" Wei Shuxuan gave the girl an appreciative look.
At night, in the inn room, Wei Shuxuan was organizing the statements she had taken from the girls in Cuiqing Tower today. She didn't expect those girls to hate that Mama Zhang so much.
From the very beginning, Mama Zhang had somehow managed to bring in many young girls. Some of the more stubborn ones refused to work in the brothel and resisted Mama Zhang. However, every time they resisted, they would end up getting a severe beating.
Some girls, seeing those who resisted being beaten half - dead, dared not resist anymore. But at the same time, they were also unwilling to prostitute themselves in the brothel. In the end, unable to bear the humiliation, they all hanged themselves.
So far, there had been many deaths in Cuiqing Tower, most of them by hanging. Despite this, Mama Zhang brought in more and more girls from outside. Such callous disregard for human life made many girls in the tower indignant, but they could do nothing and had to pretend they saw nothing.
"Do you still remember when the last death occurred in your tower?" Wei Shuxuan asked, her head down as she carefully took notes.
"Of course I remember. It was just a few days ago. The girl who died was less than fifteen years old. No one knew where Mama Zhang found her. When she first came, she was all dirty. She might have been picked up from a bunch of beggars."
"How did she die?" Wei Shuxuan still didn't look up.
It was still the bold girl who answered. "This girl was very stubborn. No matter how Mama Zhang tried to persuade her, she refused to receive customers. So, of course, she was beaten. After the beating, Mama Zhang had someone take the girl to a customer's room. Then, the girl jumped from the building. Falling from such a height, when we went to pick up her body in the yard, her limbs were all broken. Oh, it was so tragic..."
"Okay, then how did you deal with the girl's body?" Wei Shuxuan continued to record seriously.
"I'll tell you..." Just as the bold girl was about to continue, suddenly a very petite girl popped up from behind.
"Stop talking, Sister Yan. You've talked for too long. Let me talk. I know this better."
The petite girl plopped down next to Wei Shuxuan. She was wearing a slightly sheer red dress, which added a bit of beauty to her.
"Sir, let me tell you. It's not unusual for a girl to die in our tower. The most unusual thing is that three days after the girl died, a beggar came looking for someone. He was looking for the dead girl. He said she was his sister. After he learned that his sister had died, he said he wanted to take her back for a proper burial."
When Wei Shuxuan heard that a beggar had come to Cuiqing Tower looking for someone, she immediately looked up at the red - dressed girl sitting next to her.
"And then? Did Mama Zhang agree to let the beggar take his sister?" From this statement, Wei Shuxuan sensed something amiss.
"Humph, of course not. That Mama Zhang was really crazy. She even wanted to make money from a dead person. She asked the beggar to pay for his sister's body. Can you believe how disgusting that is?"
At this point, the red - dressed girl still looked indignant. "Mama Zhang set a price of a hundred taels and asked the beggar to bring a hundred taels to buy his sister's body."
Wei Shuxuan nodded. "What happened later? Did the beggar come?"
"At that time, I thought he was going to give up. After he heard that Mama Zhang wanted him to pay a hundred taels, he turned around and left. Mama Zhang even cursed him from behind, saying that if he had no money, he shouldn't come to her place and bring bad luck."
The red - dressed girl paused for a moment. There was a hint of pity in her beautiful big eyes. "A few days later, the beggar really brought a hundred taels. But his leg was lame."
"Lame?" Wei Shuxuan looked at her in confusion.
"Yeah, his legs were fine the first time he came, but the second time, one of his legs was lame. He might have been beaten lame."
Then, after receiving the money, Mama Zhang let the beggar take his sister away. Fortunately, it was winter, so even after a few days, his sister's body hadn't decayed much and looked just the same as when she had just died.
Wei Shuxuan flipped to the last page of the statement record book, which had a piece of paper sandwiched in it.
It was a portrait.
After hearing the red - dressed girl say that the beggar had a lame leg, Wei Shuxuan suddenly remembered the uneven footprints in the room where the murder had occurred. So, it was very likely that the beggar was the culprit.
"Is there anyone among you who can draw? Can you draw the beggar's appearance for me?" Wei Shuxuan asked the girls loudly.
"I can draw, but I haven't seen the beggar."
A yellow - dressed girl raised her hand voluntarily.
"I've seen him. I've seen him twice. Jing'er, how about I describe him and you draw?"
"Okay."
They found a piece of white paper in the interrogation room. Wei Shuxuan asked the yellow - dressed girl named Jing'er to come and draw the beggar's appearance.
Wei Shuxuan unfolded the portrait. The beggar didn't look particularly special, but it would still be quite troublesome to find him in such a large town.
So, at this moment, she thought of Xin Zizhao who was staying in the next room. It seemed that she had to swallow her pride and ask for his help.
Xin Zizhao, who was polishing his sword in the room, heard the knock on the door. His alertness immediately kicked in. He said coldly, "Who is it?"
"Xin Zizhao, it's me. Open the door. I have something to tell you."