Chapter 146: Betrayal and a Gambler’s Demise
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Yu Zhi Yi stepped out from the shadows, her gaze landing upon the pair before her—a man and a woman standing close yet exuding palpable tension. Following behind her were two Junior Ministers of the Court of Judicial Review.
Official Peng’s presence was expected. He was tasked with overseeing this investigation and, by protocol, had to manage and coordinate all of Yu Zhi Yi’s actions. Official Sun, however, had tagged along for an entirely different reason. He was determined to expose what he deemed to be Yu Zhi Yi’s lies. A young woman barely older than his granddaughter, solving a case through mere divination? To him, it was absurd. If solving crimes were so simple, then what was the worth of all his years of training and accumulated experience?
The constables held torches, their flames casting flickering light over the faces of the couple. Upon recognizing the woman, Official Sun’s brows furrowed. “Isn’t this Old Man Wang’s daughter?”
Official Peng nodded in agreement, his tone laced with curiosity. “Lady Wang, meeting a man in secret at this hour? Aren’t you concerned about how your husband’s family might react?”
As investigators, they had already examined everyone connected to the case, including the two daughters of the Wang family and their relatives. To an experienced official like Peng, who had seen countless cases of elopement, the situation was odd but not shocking. What struck him as peculiar was the timing. Old Man Wang had only recently passed, and now his daughter was allegedly planning to run off with another man? Even among scandalous affairs, this was astonishing.
Wang Chun Juan and her male companion were visibly startled by the sudden appearance of Yu Zhi Yi and the others. Pale-faced, Wang Chun Juan darted toward the group, pointing a trembling finger at the man beside her. “Sirs, I’m not trying to elope with him! This scoundrel threatened me! He said he’d kill me and my entire family if I didn’t go with him!”
Official Peng’s expression hardened. “Is this true?”
“Absolutely!” Wang Chun Juan insisted, her voice trembling with conviction.
The accused, Li Guang Zhu, turned livid as he heard her accusation. “You wretch! You were the one who suggested running away together!”
Wang Chun Juan sneered coldly. “My husband may not be a wealthy noble, but he’s a steward for a prosperous family, earning two silver taels a month. We’ve been blessed with two children and live a happy life together. Why on earth would I throw that away to elope with you?”
She pointed at him with disdain. “You—a lazy, good-for-nothing vagabond. How could you possibly support me? What could you offer?”
Li Guang Zhu, nearly exploding with rage, barked back, “Don’t lie! You told me your husband mistreated you, that your two children were nothing but burdens, and that your mother-in-law was the devil incarnate! You said you couldn’t bear another day in that household. If not for that, why would I…”
His voice faltered as he stopped himself mid-sentence, swallowing back his words.
While the officials assumed he had intended to say, “Why would I plan to elope with you?” Yu Zhi Yi interjected with a calm, cutting remark. “If not for that, ‘why would I kill your father?’ That’s what you wanted to say, isn’t it?”
Li Guang Zhu’s face drained of color.
Wang Chun Juan’s eyes widened in a mixture of terror and disbelief as though she had just heard the most horrifying revelation. “What? You killed my father?”
Official Peng was equally stunned. “This is the murderer?”
Yu Zhi Yi looked at him, exasperation flickering in her expression. “What else? If he weren’t the murderer, why would we be out here in the middle of the night, waiting for him to walk into our trap?”
Official Peng let out a startled “Ah,” clearly at a loss for words. The gossip he’d overheard earlier had momentarily distracted him from the pressing matter at hand.
Official Sun, however, interjected sternly. “Where’s the evidence? At the Court of Judicial Review, we rely on evidence to handle cases.”
Yu Zhi Yi nodded. “Evidence? Naturally, we have it. It’s the knife in the bundle he’s carrying.”
The crowd collectively froze, their faces etched with astonishment.
Even Wang Chun Juan was stunned. “He has a knife in his bundle?”
Yu Zhi Yi’s gaze grew sharp and knowing. “Yes. Although your earlier remarks were mere guesswork, you accidentally hit the mark on one point: if you hadn’t shown yourself tonight, he was prepared to storm in with that knife and slaughter your entire family.”
All color drained from Wang Chun Juan’s face. “How could this be…”
Yu Zhi Yi smiled faintly. “How could it not? When passion turns deadly and betrayal sours to vengeance, desperate people do desperate things. You played him with promises of love, but he’s a man who has nothing to lose. The barefooted fear not the shod. If worse came to worst, he’d gladly drag you all down with him.”
She continued, her voice calm yet cutting. “Moreover, you guided his hand to kill your father. He’s already a murderer, his hands stained with blood. If he couldn’t have what he wanted, he’d sooner destroy everything. His life is already forfeit, so taking a few others with him means nothing to him.”
Wang Chun Juan’s expression twisted momentarily, her emotions too chaotic to choose just one. At last, she blurted out, “Guided his hand? You’re speaking nonsense! How could I do such a thing?”
Yu Zhi Yi’s gaze bore into her. “You, your sister, and your mother grew up under the iron fist of your father’s abuse. You watched him beat your mother to death. Your hatred for him had long since taken root. What pushed your anger to the breaking point was your past with Li Guang Zhu.”
She recounted the story with precise clarity. “Deprived of paternal affection, you longed for someone to rescue you from the nightmare of your home. Li Guang Zhu appeared, promising you love and care. He vowed to cherish you forever, and you fell for him.”
“But your father disapproved. He dismissed Li Guang Zhu as an orphan with no family, a man who scraped by on meager labor, earning only a few copper coins a day. Such a man wasn’t worthy of you in his eyes. More importantly, he couldn’t pay a substantial bride price to benefit your father.”
Yu Zhi Yi’s voice softened, then sharpened again. “Eventually, your father arranged a marriage for you to your current husband. At first, you resisted, convinced that anyone your father approved of couldn’t be a good match.”
“But your husband turned out to be different. He’s gentle, literate, skilled at accounting, and brings home a steady income of two taels of silver each month. Half goes to his parents, and the rest he gives entirely to you, keeping only five copper coins for emergencies. He dotes on you, and his parents treat you kindly. Even when your first child was a daughter, they didn’t blame you. They reassured you, saying you were still young and could try for a son later. They comforted you, saying that if no son came, it simply meant their family lacked such fate.”
“Their kindness made you feel guiltier and more determined to bear a son. Heaven smiled upon you, and your second child was indeed a boy. Your in-laws cherished you even more after that.”
Yu Zhi Yi’s gaze pierced through Wang Chun Juan. “Your life became a heaven-sent blessing you couldn’t allow anyone to ruin—least of all, your father.”
“The one dark cloud over your happiness was your father. A drunkard who refused to work, he constantly demanded money from you. Though one tael a month isn’t insignificant, it couldn’t withstand his escalating greed. Ten coins today, twenty tomorrow, thirty the next—his appetite grew insatiable, and so did your resentment.”
“And then, an idea took root in your mind: if only he disappeared, everything would be perfect.”