Chapter 177

Chapter 177: Do You Know How Your Parents Died?

The orphan girl cried out and said: “N… no way!” She could not believe the refined man before her was so heartless.

Yu Zhi Yi glanced at her and said: “You may have heard of it. Thirty years ago there was a shocking case where a whole family was wiped out. The killer was a member of that family. On the very night he became a licentiate, he killed all seven in the household. The next day, he escaped during transfer, killed the yamen runner escorting him, and got away.”

The orphan girl gasped again and said: “I… I’ve heard of it.”

Her eyes widened in shock. She stammered and said: “How could Uncle Miao be that kind of cruel man? It’s impossible!”

Yu Zhi Yi looked at her oddly and said: “Do you know how your parents died?”

“Ah?” The orphan girl froze and said: “Didn’t they die of illness?”

After the family settled in the county, her parents’ health had been poor. Her mother, after getting caught in a heavy rain, worsened day by day. No medicine helped. After three years, her mother passed away. Less than a year later, her father, depressed with grief, declined fast and died soon after.

“No,” Yu Zhi Yi said, her gaze cold as it shifted to Li Qing Miao, and she said: “Your Uncle Miao killed them.”

“What?!” The orphan girl could not accept it and said: “That’s impossible!”

Yu Zhi Yi was not surprised she didn’t believe it. She spoke evenly and said: “Your parents had more than once said in public that they would never let you get involved with Li Qing Miao, correct? They even warned you in front of others that unless they were both dead, there would be no chance for you and Li Qing Miao.”

“You… how do you know that?”

Those scenes were years ago. She had almost forgotten them. Only when Yu Zhi Yi mentioned them did she pull them out of the corners of memory.

“That,” Yu Zhi Yi said, “is why he killed your parents.”

“This man is deeply vengeful. Though he would now and then turn his charm on you and draw you in, he believes he never promised you anything. So when your parents publicly showed their dislike of him, he took it as them looking down on him.”

“After he killed his own family, he came to enjoy striking at the sorest spot of his enemies.”

“Your parents said even if they died, they still wouldn’t let you be with him. So he chose to lure you after they died.”

“And when you thought happiness had finally come, he planned to kill you.”

The orphan girl recalled the man in a black robe thrusting a knife at her. She covered her mouth and shook her head and said: “Why? My parents didn’t like him, but all they did was stop me from being with him. They never made trouble for him. How could he be so cruel? And even if he hated my parents, what does that have to do with me?”

Yu Zhi Yi sighed and said: “Because your existence is why your parents took a stand against him. So he included you in his hate.”

“But… but didn’t my parents die of illness?”

Yu Zhi Yi shook her head and said: “They didn’t. They were poisoned.”

The orphan girl cried out: “Ah! How could that be!”

“Your parents worked outside to support the family. Your father worked as a bookkeeper. Your mother washed clothes for others. They spent long hours away from home.”

“Later your mother fell ill and could no longer work, but your father still had to go out. You took your mother’s place washing clothes to earn money. Li Qing Miao stole a key from you, had a smith make a copy, then used the time when none of you were home to add a slow-acting poison to your mother’s medicine packets.”

“That poison was not strong. Taking it once or twice did little and would pass out of the body. But taken every day, it could not be cleared and would build up. The poison accumulated until, one day, the body could no longer bear it. Then it struck and killed.”

“Your father died the same way, by slow poison. This time, the drug was mixed into the tea leaves he loved most.”

His purpose was clear. To kill the mother, he only dosed the medicine. To kill the father, he only poisoned the tea, knowing the girl disliked tea and usually drank plain water. So even though she lived around poison during those months, she was barely affected.

“Speaking of which, you did come into contact with that poison,” Yu Zhi Yi added, studying the girl’s face, and said: “Once you saw Li Qing Miao drinking tea. You thought the way he held the cup looked calm and elegant, so you copied him and started drinking tea too.”

“And during that time, you felt unwell every day.”

The orphan girl swayed. Many things she had ignored before now showed their edges. It had only been a few years, not decades. She had even told a close friend once that during the days before her father’s death, she herself felt sick. If not for that, she might have noticed sooner that something was wrong with her father, and maybe he wouldn’t have died. That stretch of constant discomfort had always been a thorn in her heart: [So it wasn’t just me feeling off. It was poison.]

Li Qing Miao tried to sneer and said: “Official Yu, do you solve cases with nothing but your mouth? Tap your lips together and a man is guilty? Then I must doubt your ability, and whether the cases you solved before were fair. Perhaps they were all wrongful convictions?”

“You don’t get to muddy the waters to dodge blame,” Yu Zhi Yi replied, steady and cool, and said: “When the Court of Judicial Review handles a case, we follow the evidence. Without evidence, even the most flowery words will not win a seal to close the case.”

“And it is not hard to test what I say. We open the coffins and examine the bodies. Though the dead have been gone for years, that does not stop an examination. Those who die by poison show traces on the bones. No matter how many years pass, those marks do not fade.”

For the first time, a flicker of panic crossed Li Qing Miao’s face, but he forced calm and said: “You think you can just open coffins because you say so? That is a grave insult to the dead!”

Yu Zhi Yi did not argue that point. She turned to the orphan girl and asked: “Miss Wei, do you not want justice for your parents?”

Miss Wei stood stunned. Of course she wanted the truth. But she was afraid the truth was exactly what this Official Yu said it was. If so, wouldn’t that mean it was her fault her parents died? [Was it me? If I hadn’t… would they still be alive?] Yet her parents had opposed her being with Li Qing Miao for her own good…

Watching Miss Wei’s shifting expression, Li Qing Miao grew anxious. No matter what, he could not let her agree. He tried to coax her to refuse, but when he opened his mouth he found he couldn’t speak at all.

So he could only watch while, after Yu Zhi Yi’s patient urging, Miss Wei parted her lips and said: “I agree.”