Chapter 146

Chapter 146: Lust Leads to Murder, Gambling Breeds a Thief

Yu Zhi Yi stepped out of the shadows and looked at the man and woman in front of her.

Two assistant ministers followed behind her.

Lord Peng had come because he was in charge of this case; in theory, he had to oversee and take responsibility for all of Yu Zhi Yi’s actions. Lord Sun had come because he wanted to expose Yu Zhi Yi’s lies. He did not believe that a young miss who was even younger than his granddaughter could solve a case just by calculation; he thought: [If solving cases were this easy, then what did all my years of learning and experience mean?]

The constables held bright torches.

The torchlight lit up the couple’s faces. Seeing the woman, Lord Sun frowned and said: “Isn’t this Old Wang’s daughter?”

Lord Peng also nodded, puzzled as he said: “Young Madam Wang, meeting a man here in the middle of the night, are you not afraid your husband’s family will be angry if they find out?”

Since they were handling the case, they had naturally investigated everyone related to it, including the Wang clan’s two daughters and their households.

As an experienced official in the Court of Judicial Review, he had seen many eloping couples and did not find such things strange. The only strange part was that Young Madam Wang’s own father had just died, yet she was about to elope with a lover. Even in the world of elopement, that was shocking.

Wang Chun Juan and the man had already been startled by the sudden arrival. Face pale, Wang Chun Juan rushed to Yu Zhi Yi and the others, pointed at Li Guang Zhu, and said: “My lords, it was not that I wanted to run away with him. This villain threatened me and said if I did not go with him, he would kill me and my whole family!”

Lord Peng’s expression hardened as he asked: “Is that true?”

“It is absolutely true!”

The moment Wang Chun Juan ran out, Li Guang Zhu’s face had already changed. Hearing her words, he almost burst with anger as he shouted: “Vile woman! You were the one who said you would go with me!”

Wang Chun Juan gave a cold laugh and said: “My husband may not be a high official, but he is a proper junior steward in a wealthy household. He earns two taels of silver every month. We have a son and a daughter and live a happy life. Why would I be so foolish as to elope with you?”

“You are a useless layabout. How would you feed me? Are you even worthy?”

“Vile woman!” Li Guang Zhu snapped as he said: “That is not what you told me. You said your husband treats you badly, your two children only bring you misery, and your mother-in-law is vicious to the extreme. You said you cannot live even one more day in the Zhang clan! If not, how would I…” He suddenly choked and swallowed the rest of his sentence.

The others thought he meant to say, “How would I take you to elope?” But Yu Zhi Yi calmly finished it for him as she said: “If not, ‘how would I have killed your father.’ That is what you meant to say, correct?”

Li Guang Zhu’s face changed.

Wang Chun Juan stared with shock and fear, eyes wide as she said: “What? You killed my father?”

Lord Peng was also shocked as he said: “So this is the killer?”

Yu Zhi Yi gave him a helpless look and said: “Who else? If he were not the killer, why would we wait here for him in the middle of the night like hunters waiting for prey?”

Lord Peng gave an “ah,” not sure what to say for a moment. The gossip he had just heard had made him forget the main point.

Lord Sun barked coldly as he said: “Where is the evidence? In the Court of Judicial Review, we solve cases with evidence.”

Yu Zhi Yi nodded and said: “There is evidence. It is the knife inside the bundle on his back.”

Everyone froze.

Even Wang Chun Juan was stunned as she said: “There is a knife in his bundle?”

Yu Zhi Yi nodded, her look turning strange as she said: “You were talking nonsense just now, but one sentence you guessed right. He did plan that if you did not come out tonight, he would rush in with a knife and kill your whole family.”

The color drained from Wang Chun Juan’s face as she said: “How could that be…”

Yu Zhi Yi smiled and said: “Why not? Lust leads to murder, gambling breeds a thief. You used romance to string him along. You should have known that a man with nothing to lose is not afraid of people like you who have something to lose. At worst, he would go down with you and wreck everything.”

“Besides, under your lead he already killed your father. With blood on his hands, if he could not get what he wanted, he would rather kill you all. He thinks his life is already over, so dragging a few more with him means nothing.”

For a moment, Wang Chun Juan’s face twisted. She had too many emotions and did not know which to show.

In the end, she said: “What do you mean I told him to kill my father? Don’t talk nonsense! How could I ever do that?”

Yu Zhi Yi said: “You and your sister grew up under your father’s iron fist. You even watched him beat your mother to death. You have long hated him. What pushed your hatred to the limit was what happened back then between you and Li Guang Zhu.”

“You were starved of a father’s love and longed for someone to take you out of that pit and to give you warmth. Then Li Guang Zhu came to you and poured out his heart. He said he would treat you well for life, and you were moved.”

“But your father looked down on Li Guang Zhu. The man lost his parents young and survived only by heavy labor, earning just a handful of copper coins each day. Your father felt this man was not worthy of you. More importantly, he could not pay a decent bride price, so your father would gain nothing.”

“Later, through a matchmaker, your father found the husband you have now.”

“At first you refused. You thought anyone chosen by your father could not be a good family.”

“For that, you hated your father even more.”

“You did not expect your husband to be different from your father. He is gentle, can read, write, and do accounts, and he brings home two taels of silver every month. He gives half to his parents, and he hands all the rest to you. He keeps only five copper coins on him each day for emergencies.”

“He dotes on you. Your in-laws are kind too. When your first child was a daughter, they did not blame you. They told you it was fine, you were still young, and there would be more chances. They even comforted you by saying that if a son never came, it only meant their family had no fate with sons, and you should not feel pressured.”

“The more they treated you like this, the guiltier you felt, so you put your heart into having a son.”

“Heaven was not unkind. With your second child, you bore a son, and your husband’s family treated you even better.”

“To you, this happy life felt like a gift from heaven, and you would not allow anyone to ruin it.”

“Including your father.”

Yu Zhi Yi looked into Wang Chun Juan’s eyes and said: “The only obstacle to your happy life was your father. He loved to drink, but he did not earn money. So he came to you for money every few days.”

“Though one tael a month from your husband is not little, it could not keep up when your father wanted ten coins today, twenty tomorrow, and thirty the day after. His appetite kept growing, and you could no longer stand it.”

“So a thought grew in you.”

[If he were gone, that would be best.]