Under the scorching sun, many people gathered in the main hall of the City Lord’s Mansion, sitting and standing, all watching the excitement.
Lou Muge was still dressed in spotless white, sitting on the host’s seat in the lobby. The white fan in his hand swayed slowly and casually, but the hanging copper bell made no sound.
Below the host’s seat, there were two rows of secondary seats. And Liang Yanbei sat on the left while tapping his slender fingers lightly on the table.
Wen Chan sat next to him, holding his head in his palms and yawning quietly, with red veins spread up in his eyes.
After working until midnight last night, he was called here again early this morning. Wen Chan, who was severely sleep-deprived, felt that his eyelids were extremely heavy.
Seeing him yawn again, Liang Yanbei tapped his fingers hard, making four heavy thudding sounds, and said impatiently, “How long do we have to wait?”
Lou Muge raised his eyes and asked, “Where is he?”
“City Master Lou, my father missed Er Di1Second younger brother yesterday so much that he stayed up all night in pain. That’s why he is a little late now. I hope City Lord can forgive him.” A man on the right side of the seat answered.
Tan Qiong, Yun Yongxu, and the others sat in the row on the right.
The man who spoke had a slight resemblance to Yao Yanming in his features. When they first met, he had already mentioned his name. He was Yao Yanming’s eldest brother, Yao Yanfei.
“When he falsely accused someone before, his actions were very agile and fast. Why is it that when they want to tell him the truth now, he hasn’t come yet?” Liang Yanbei seemed nonchalant.
Yao Yanfei heard his words of disdain and glared at him sharply.
Liang Yanbei raised his eyebrows slightly. He was not afraid of his look at all and even asked, “What?”
Those surnamed Yao were no better than those surnamed Liang. So Yao Yanfei did not continue and looked away silently.
“I can’t wait anymore.” Lou Muge, who seemed to be more patient than anyone else, was the first to give up waiting and said directly to Liang Yanbei, “If you have found out anything in the past two days, just say it and end the matter as early as possible.”
“That’s right.” Yun Yongxu said, “Who killed the Second Young Master of the Yao family? Have you found out?”
“Of course.” Liang Yanbei said, “If we didn’t find out, wouldn’t we have to serve as scapegoats for others for nothing?”
Tang Yixiao said sarcastically from the side, “I indeed saw that. Brother Yanbei has been so busy these past two days that he almost got up and rushed over flying.”
Liang Yanbei himself hadn’t said anything yet, but Tang Qin said, “You can say a few words less.”
“Hurry up and speak quickly.” Wen Chan was so sleepy, and he didn’t want to see everyone arguing. So he urged him.
“Okay.” He responded first and then asked Tan Qiong, “Sect Master Tan, you said before that your daughter personally saw our people go to Second Young Master Yao’s residence, right?”
Tan Qiong did not expect that she would be the first to be singled out as the point of attack. She was stunned for a moment and said, “That’s right.”
Liang Yanbei said, “Then let me tell you straight away that your daughter is the real murderer of Second Young Master Yao.”
“Nonsense!” After hearing this, Tan Qiong got furious on the spot and banged the table with a loud bang, “Young Master Liang, you must have evidence for what you say!”
Wen Chan was startled by this sudden action and frowned slightly, “Since he said it, there must be evidence. You don’t need to yell like this.”
Tan Qiong glared at him, “My daughter and Yan Ming have been engaged since childhood. They grew up together and have a love for each other that is as deep as the ocean. How could she do such a thing?”
“Your daughter doesn’t show the slightest sign of a love that is as deep as the ocean.” Liang Yanbei sneered, “I’m afraid she has been planning to kill him for a long time.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Tan Yuji, who was standing in the crowd, started crying and threw herself into Tan Qiong’s arms, “Why are you here in broad daylight, slandering people? Are all Liang people so unreasonable?”
Tan Qiong’s sister, Tan Xian, was not much different in age from Tan Yuji. Seeing her crying pitifully at this time, she also said angrily, “Master Liang, please give us a good explanation!”
“My biaoge hasn’t finished speaking, and you started crying and saying that you were wronged. How do you explain that?” Dan Ke slapped the chairs and shouted, “Shut up and listen to my biaoge!”
In the past two days, because of Liang Yanbei’s matter, he had a very hot temper and had small blisters on his mouth. He found no one to be pleasing to the eyes.
“Invite him up,” Liang Yanbei said.
In just a moment, He Zhiyi, who had been waiting, walked in wearing the official robe, and everyone in the room stared at him.
There were still some bruises on his face that had not disappeared, which looked a little funny.
After exchanging glances with Liang Yanbei, he cupped his hands in greeting Lou Muge and said, “Lord Lou, this official only came here to take office just two days ago. I couldn’t spare time to meet you previously. I hope you’ll forgive me.”
Lou Muge also stood up, “The Magistrate must be joking. Please sit down.”
“There’s no need to sit down. This official is just here to say a few words.” He Zhiyi put on an act and said.
He was sleeping soundly in the middle of the night yesterday when he was suddenly frightened to death by Liang Yanbei and Wen Chan, who appeared beside his bed. Only after listening to Liang Yanbei’s words did he understand their purpose.
After sending the people away, He Zhiyi hardly slept for the rest of the night, and he was quite tired at the moment.
He felt that most of these two people were mentally ill, and even if they didn’t sleep well in the middle of the night, they would run to other people’s bedsides to scare them2Poor Magistrate, he has been suffering since he met our cutie pie.. They were really bad people.
“Your Excellency, County Magistrate, please speak.” Lou Muge sat down again.
He Zhiyi looked around at the people in the room, and his eyes fixed on Tan Yuji. Even before he could speak, Tan Yuji began trembling.
“Master He, do you recognise her?” Liang Yanbei asked.
“It’s her.” He Zhiyi pointed at Tan Yuji and said, “She went to the Yamen to pick commelina benghalensis two nights ago.”
After listening to what he said, Tan Yuji was horrified now, and immediately blurted out, “I didn’t!”
“This officer saw it with his own eyes.” He Zhiyi said with certainty.
In fact, he didn’t see it. And in fact, he was still trembling in the mountain bandit’s den that night, cursing the person who deliberately pointed him the wrong way. But Liang Yanbei woke him up in the middle of the night last night, precisely for this matter.
He wanted him to personally identify the girl who had gone to the Yamen to pick commelina benghalensis.
He Zhiyi also learned later that this matter was not fabricated out of thin air. But rather, it was seen by a bailiff, and Liang Yanbei wanted to declare it with his mouth.
It was possible that the words of a County Magistrate could carry much more weight than the words of a bailiff.
Tan Yuji insisted on denying it, “I didn’t! I didn’t! You may have seen it wrong.”
He Zhiyi’s face sank, and he said fiercely, “Are you saying that this official has an eye problem?”
Wuyue Island had always been under the power of Yao Tan and the three most powerful forces in Jile City. Tan Yuji was not afraid of County Magistrates at all, let alone a young County Magistrates. So she said, “You must have seen it wrong, or you are ganging up with others to slander me!”
Even Tan Qiong put pressure on him from the side, “The County Magistrate needs to think clearly about who you saw that day?”
Those vicious looks succeeded in scaring He Zhiyi.
Upon seeing this, Liang Yanbei suddenly slapped a jade tablet on the table, making a lot of noise and attracting everyone’s attention.
They saw that the jade plate was translucent and made of high-quality material. And on the top was the large Chinese character — “皇3Emperor” — engraved with gold wire.
The lobby, which was originally filled with whispers, suddenly became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
“Don’t think that just because the sky is high and the emperor is far away, you can ignore the law and commit crimes. Officials are still officials and will always be superior to the citizens.” Liang Yanbei’s eyes were filled with coldness. Although he was smiling, it was as sharp and bone-chilling as the wind of a blade in the twelfth lunar month, “Do you know what the charge for insulting an official of the imperial court is?”
Tan Yuji shrank in fright due to him. Her face turned red, but she did not dare to refute it.
In any case, Tan Qiong was elderly and was not frightened by these few words. But her face did not look very well, “Is Master Liang trying to use his identity to force my daughter to confess?”
“Force?” Liang Yanbei said with a smile, “If I want to inquire about your crime, why use force? As Palace Master Yun said, destroying your Tan family is just a matter of moving a few fingers. So why bother going to such great lengths?”
“Under the wide heaven, all is the king’s land. This land that you are standing on belongs to the sovereign king, and there is no room for your lawlessness.” Wen Chan chimed in from the side.
From time immemorial, Jianghu and the royal family have been at odds with each other. Most of the people standing here were Jianghu people. They felt uncomfortable hearing these words, but no one dared to stand up and contradict them.
They just hoped that the big sects above would be the ones to get out of this predicament.
But no one from Yao Tan’s family spoke, the Fang family didn’t come at all, and Yun Yongxu was being a wallflower4sb who goes whichever way the wind blows again.
But the City Lord Lou Muge had a look of approval, and no one dared to say anything for a while.
He Zhiyi was supported by a big man, and he became quite arrogant at this time. He said, humming and laughing out loud, “Don’t quibble. If this official says it’s you, then it is you. My eyesight is clearly good.”
Tan Yuji gritted her teeth, and her gaze for help subconsciously turned to Yao Yanfei, but the latter dodged it.
“Two nights ago, you guys gave Second Young Master Yao a drink. The wine had poison in it. One of the herbs in it was commelina benghalensis. The medicinal effect of commelina benghalensis only remains for a short period of time and needs to be used immediately. That’s why you went to pick the herb in the middle of the night, but unexpectedly, you happened to be seen by the County Magistrate.” Wen Chan frowned, his expression serious, and the pressure of the person who had always been in power was visible without actually taking shape, making many people hold their breath.
“Yao Yanming died of two poisons in his body. You didn’t directly kill him, but you were also one of the murderers.” He said.
Even though he had the face of a sixteen-year-old boy, such a Wen Chan, who was calm and composed, was still hard to be underestimated.
Liang Yanbei’s eyes were staring straight at his side, and his fingers were still tapping slowly, but there was a smile on his careless face, like a silent approval.
Just as everyone was still immersed in what Wen Chan was saying, Dan Ke alone noticed his biaoge’s expression.
Still saying there was nothing wrong? Those eyes were so gentle that he almost burst into tears. When has Liang Yanbei ever looked at a man like this?
This problem was huge!
“Still not confessing truthfully!” Dan Ke was heartbroken and shouted, taking all his anger out on Tan Yuji, “You are such a vicious-hearted woman. You ruthlessly plotted against your husband-to-be, whom you grew up with. You are really devoid of any conscience!”
After scolding her, he felt that something was wrong again. What did Yao Yanming’s death have to do with him? Why did he speak for that trash? So he said again, “It’s enough to kill someone, but you actually also framed and made false charges against another. Do you think everyone else is a fool5Yeah, ask her! Did she think that she was the protagonist?!?”
When had Tan Yuji been scolded like this? Her eyes were full of tears. She said pitifully, “I really didn’t. The day before yesterday, I gave brother Yan Ming wine because I knew he loved drinking. It happened that I got a jar of good wine. So I sent it to him. But I don’t know how the wine had poison in it……”
“Mom, you have to believe me!” She turned to Tan Qiong for help.
“Don’t worry. Mother certainly believes you.” Tan Qiong couldn’t bear to see her daughter crying pitifully.
“You just say you don’t know, and you can just push the matter away? How can it be that easy?” Tang Yixiao gave her a cold look. The impatience on his face was about to overflow. He tapped his finger on the table twice and said, “Stand up.”
He said this sentence without a head or a tail, and no one knew what it meant. Just when everyone was puzzled, they saw Yao Yanfei stand up from his seat, walk two steps into the hall, and kneel down in front of Lou Muge.
No one expected that he would do this, and they all started to talk and speculate in surprise.
“Er Di was killed by Yu’er and I. She put poison in the wine, and I put poison in the wine glass. If the two poisons are used separately, they will not cause death. But if they are mixed together, they will become a highly toxic blood coagulation poison, and there is no medicine to treat it.” He said stiffly.
As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar in the large hall. Some people scolded the two for being a cheating couple, some lamented that someone was able to kill their own kin, and some refused to believe it. They all said everything at once.
Wen Chan glanced at Yao Yanfei and wondered why he was willing to admit it on his own. Just as he was thinking about it, he saw that his eyes were blank and his expression was dull. He was completely different from his usual self now.
The colour of Tan Yuji’s face faded, and it turned extremely pale. She stared at Yao Yanfei in horror, “You…… What are you talking about?!”
However, no one cared what she said anymore.
Lou Muge was not surprised when he saw this and asked indifferently, “Why did you want to kill him?”
“He has been favoured by our father since he was a child. I am obviously the eldest son! But my father gave him everything. He spoiled him so much that he raised him into a notorious trash. What’s the use of keeping him? Besides, Yu’er and I are in love with each other. If he dies, Yu’er can marry me.” Yao Yanfei continued.
“Kill him, and everything will be fine,” He said.
Although he didn’t know why Yao Yanfei threw himself into the trap at this time, Wen Chan quickly accepted his kindness and said, “Did you guys hear it all? It was the two of them who killed Yao Yanming. I was just framed!”
“This is impossible……” Tan Qiong couldn’t believe it. She looked at Yao Yanfei and then at her daughter, not knowing how to argue.
“I was wrongly accused!” Tan Yuji was almost going crazy. She gathered strength in her palms and pounced on Yao Yanfei, ready to fight.
Liang Yanbei reacted quickly. He cut off her hand with a single movement and twisted it back to release her strength, causing her to scream in pain.
He took advantage of the situation and threw something into Tan Yuji’s mouth before pushing the person to the side and causing her to almost fall to the ground.
Tan Yuji pulled at her throat in fright. But when the thing entered her mouth, it turned into liquid. She swallowed it with a grunt and couldn’t spit it out at all. She was scared and angry, “What did you give me to eat?!”
“You can’t mess with anyone. Since you are brave enough to provoke me, you should know what the consequences will be.” Liang Yanbei said.
Tan Yuji’s face was covered with tears of discontent. Her facial features were distorted, and she screamed, “Are you trying to kill me?! What poison did you give me?!”
The voice was rough and harsh, making it unbearable to listen to.
“Okay, now that the whole truth is revealed. Let’s drag these two murderers out.” Lou Muge reached out to press his ears and called out hurriedly.
He had no intention of solving the case seriously. He already knew who the murderer was, but there were always troublesome people who wanted to get to the bottom of it and would ask for the reasons.
Now that the truth had been told, Lou Muge didn’t want to hear the twists and turns. So he wanted to detain and take the people away first.
Tan Qiong didn’t want her daughter to be arrested. So she hurriedly opened her arms to protect her, “City Lord Lou, there must be some misunderstanding. My daughter has been well-behaved and sensible since she was a child. What kind of murderers report themselves for killing? I hope City Lord Lou will investigate better.”
“What else is there to investigate? The witnesses have all come out. So don’t waste time.” Lou Muge didn’t give her any chance to make excuses.
The subordinates of the City Lord’s mansion stepped forward and easily caught Tan Yuji and Yao Yanfei. Even Tan Qiong, who wanted to fight them, was easily restrained, and the three of them were dragged out of the main hall amidst shouts and curses.
Translator’s corner
Thank you so much for reading the chapter. If you liked my translation and wanna support me, you can comment down your thoughts or send me a Kofi.
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