Chapter 147: Not Willing to Dirty Her Own Hands
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“Still, he is your father after all, and a man at that. With your abilities, you’re incapable of killing him,” Yu Zhi Yi stated plainly. “Besides, you don’t want to dirty your own hands.”
“Just as you lay awake, unable to decide what to do, Li Guang Zhu appeared.”
“All these years, he’s remained unmarried. The women with better prospects look down on him, and those with lesser conditions he dismisses. Over three years, his life only worsened; he has little money, and his appearance grows increasingly disheveled. You’ve even felt a twisted sense of relief—relief that your father broke the match back then. Otherwise, who knows how much hardship you’d be enduring now.”
“Unlike him, you’ve only blossomed further over the years. When Li Guang Zhu ran into you again by chance, he developed ideas, wanting you to leave your family and be with him.”
“Inwardly, you mocked his delusions, thinking, ‘He dares? How could he possibly deserve me?’ Yet outwardly, you played along. You said you weren’t doing well, that you were dissatisfied with your husband and longed to leave with him. But you didn’t dare act, afraid of your father.”
Hearing this, Li Guang Zhu became enraged. “So, all the while you’ve been smiling at me, you were cursing me in your heart?”
Wang Chun Juan shrank back behind the constables, guilt written all over her face. “I… I didn’t.”
Yu Zhi Yi ignored her denial and continued. “Back when your father broke up your relationship, Li Guang Zhu developed a deep hatred for him. Now, hearing you mention the past again and learning that your father is the only obstacle between you two, he was immediately consumed by murderous intent.”
“And so, he took action.”
Li Guang Zhu immediately denied it. “Don’t spout nonsense! I didn’t!”
Yu Zhi Yi seemed deaf to his protest, her tone calm. “First, you asked Wang Chun Juan for fifty copper coins to buy knockout drugs and wine. Then, you climbed over the wall into the Wang family courtyard and placed the wine bottle on Old Man Wang’s table.”
“Old Man Wang, being addicted to alcohol, spotted the wine on the table. Although he found it odd, he assumed one of his daughters had brought it for him. That night, he drank the wine with his dinner.”
“Not long after, the drug took effect, and he collapsed.”
“You had been lurking in the shadows. When you saw him fall, you cleared the food off the table, dragged him into his bedroom, and laid him on the cold floor. Then, you struck him eighteen times.”
Official Sun frowned. “Why go to such lengths? Facing an unconscious man, wouldn’t one or two strikes suffice? And killing him at the dining table would have been quicker and easier.”
Official Peng nodded in agreement. “Exactly. The more he did, the higher the chance of being exposed.”
Yu Zhi Yi explained, “Because he knew that no one ever visited Old Man Wang. Ever since his daughters married off, his drinking habit worsened, and he stopped bothering to hide it. Outsiders assumed his wife’s death and his lonely existence made him turn to drink out of frustration. Whenever he drank too much, he argued with people.”
“Initially, neighbors would drop by, but as his drunken arguments became more frequent, they gradually stopped coming at night.”
Yu Zhi Yi continued, “That’s the first reason. The second is that Li Guang Zhu often loitered outside teahouses, listening to storytellers. Sometimes, the storytellers narrated suspenseful tales of ghostly encounters or crime-solving. Having heard many of these stories, he retained some ideas.”
Before committing the murder, Li Guang Zhu meticulously planned every step. He was fully aware that if he simply killed Old Man Wang, the authorities would launch a thorough investigation, and he might be implicated. The best solution was to stage a scene that would mislead everyone—for instance, a sealed room.
“Indeed,” remarked Official Peng. “Wasn’t the room where Old Man Wang was killed a sealed room?”
Official Sun chimed in, “We’ve already inspected it. The doors and windows of the room were all locked. If Li Guang Zhu really committed the murder, how could he have left the room?”
Li Guang Zhu nodded vigorously. “Exactly, exactly! I neither possess the ability to turn invisible nor can I fly. If I truly killed someone, there’s no way I could’ve gotten out.”
Yu Zhi Yi shook her head. “You indeed lack the skills to turn invisible or fly, but… who said that room was truly a sealed one?”
The crowd exchanged puzzled glances. “What do you mean?”
Li Guang Zhu’s face paled. “The authorities have already inspected it thoroughly. Don’t make baseless accusations!”
Yu Zhi Yi glanced at him coolly. “The person responsible for breaking into the room that day was you. You pretended to struggle, but in truth, you had practiced the motion countless times beforehand. On that day, amidst the chaos and the crowd’s distraction, no one scrutinized your actions closely.”
Turning to Official Peng, she continued, “Li Guang Zhu’s crime unfolded as follows: first, he purchased knockout drugs and liquor, placing them in Old Man Wang’s house. Then he returned home to wait, using the time to tamper with the latch of his own door.”
“Once Old Man Wang was incapacitated, Li Guang Zhu carried out the next steps. He took the clothes from Old Man Wang’s cabinet and scattered them in the courtyard, fabricating the appearance of a robbery. Then he entered the room to kill Old Man Wang.”
“Afterward, he removed the latch from Old Man Wang’s courtyard door and propped it against the door to make it appear shut. This way, the neighbors would believe the old man had locked up and gone to bed.”
“The next morning, he arrived early to push the door open and hid nearby, waiting for someone to notice something amiss in the courtyard. He then rushed out, pretending to be the first to discover the scene. He ran to the room’s door and faked struggling to open it, making everyone think the door had been locked from the inside, before dramatically breaking it down.”
“Since everyone knows he does heavy labor and has great strength, no one questioned his ability to break the door in one go.”
Li Guang Zhu’s face turned ashen. How could this woman recount his actions with such uncanny accuracy, as if she had witnessed the crime herself? She even read his innermost thoughts with startling clarity!
Yet, he refused to admit guilt. “Nonsense! I did none of this! You’re fabricating lies!”
Yu Zhi Yi smirked. “Would I accuse you without evidence?”
Her voice was icy, laced with disdain for someone so callous, treating human lives as worthless. She felt the stench of his soul’s depravity.
“I mentioned the liquor and knockout drugs. The liquor jar is buried beneath the old locust tree in your courtyard. Though covered with soil, the remnants of the knockout drugs will still be detectable. All it takes is some water and an experienced coroner to test it.”
“More importantly, the knife you used to kill Old Man Wang is the very one hidden in your bundle. A comparison of the knife with the wound will provide undeniable proof.”
Official Peng issued a stern command. “Men, seize the suspect!”
Li Guang Zhu turned and bolted. Unfortunately for him, the constables on the scene were battle-hardened and quick to react. While they might not have been highly skilled martial artists, they were adept at handling criminals. Li Guang Zhu was soon pinned to the ground.
The subsequent search for evidence and its verification were no longer Yu Zhi Yi’s concern.
She returned to her residence.
Meanwhile, at the Chancellor’s Mansion, a shadowy figure stealthily entered Du Zi Heng’s Radiant Harmony Courtyard.