Chapter 124 Revenge

"puff!"

An extremely slight unusual sound.

It was like something thin and crispy was suddenly squeezed and broken.

Chuntao's eyes suddenly widened, and were instantly filled with pain.

She stared straight ahead, as if she had seen something extremely terrifying, but her vision was completely unfocused.

Then, without any warning, two streams of sticky scarlet liquid suddenly burst out of her nostrils.

"Ho...ho ho..." Chuntao's throat erupted with the last few rapid and broken breaths, like a dying fish struggling in vain on the shore.

This unexpected change happened in a flash!

"Ah——!" Liu Yueli let out a shrill scream.

She seemed to be hit hard by an invisible hammer, and her whole body collapsed backwards, her fingers digging into the ground tightly, her nails instantly bent, and she was unaware of the blood oozing out.

He just stared at Chuntao with a look of horror.

"What's going on?!"

"Oh my God!" The yamen runners in the hall were instantly in an uproar, with exclamations and gasps of surprise filling the air.

They retreated subconsciously, the water and fire sticks in their hands clanging and the originally orderly formation instantly became disorganized.

Some people turned pale, some covered their mouths in horror, and more instinctively tightened their weapons and looked around in confusion.

"Chun Tao!" The chief clerk was the closest to the scene. He was so frightened that he subconsciously wanted to step forward and support the shaky little body.

"Don't touch her!" A deep shout sounded like thunder, bringing with it a powerful pressure that instantly suppressed all the chaos in the hall.

It’s Pei Ji.

He didn't know when he had stood up from the high seat.

The tall figure cast a shadow in the candlelight, instantly covering most of the open space in front of the hall.

The face that was usually as calm as water was now as tense as iron. Only the eyes, gleaming with cold light, were fixed on Chuntao's body.

He stepped down the steps in front of the high seat in one step. His movement was so fast that it brought up a gust of cold wind, and the hem of his black official robe rustled.

He rushed to Chuntao who was lying on the ground and squatted down. His movements were as fast as lightning, but with caution.

Chuntao's small body was curled up and still twitching violently. With each twitch, more black blood gushed out of her mouth and nose, quickly spreading a large sticky stain on the bluestone slabs on the ground.

Her eyes were wide open, the whites of her eyes were covered with spider-web-like bloodshot, and her pupils had begun to dilate.

Pei Ji's fingertips stopped an inch away from Chuntao's wrist and did not touch it again.

His gaze swept from the black blood flowing from her seven orifices, across her twisted limbs, and finally stopped at her right hand that hung limply on the edge of the pool of blood.

The hand was withered and covered with tiny scars and calluses, belonging to a low-class maid who had worked for a long time.

At this moment, several fingers were slightly curled up, and the fingertips seemed to unconsciously dig into the cracks of the bluestone slabs beneath him.

Deep in the cracks of the nails, something extremely faint seemed to be reflected in the candlelight.

A little blue.

Cold and eerie, like phosphorescence from the depths of hell, fleeting.

Pei Ji's pupils suddenly constricted.

He suddenly raised his head, his eyes like lightning, shooting straight at Liu Yueli who was lying limp on the ground a few steps away.

Liu Yueli was being half-supported and half-held by two yamen runners who had reacted. Her body was as soft as a puddle of mud, and her head drooped weakly in the arms of one of the runners.

Her long eyelashes covered her eyes, casting a heavy shadow, and she was trembling violently.

She seemed unable to bear the huge blow and fell into a semi-comatose state of collapse. Only the slightly rising and falling chest proved that she was still alive.

She portrayed the grief-stricken and horrified reaction of a master who witnessed the sudden death of her trusted maid vividly and flawlessly.

However, Pei Ji's eyes were fixed on her hand that was tightly clutching the collar of her clothes over her chest.

That forceful gesture, rather than grief, felt more like repression? A kind of control, using all one's strength to hold something down and prevent it from bursting forth?

The candlelight in the hall was bright, illuminating every subtle expression on Liu Yueli's face.

Highly poisonous!

The sudden and bizarre deaths of her first two husbands and the "accidental" death of her young brother, all of which were vague in the files, now turned into the shocking black blood stain before his eyes, hitting him fiercely with enormous force.

Coincidence? Once is an accident, twice is coincidence, three... four times?

When all the accidents happen precisely around the same seemingly weak and helpless woman, this in itself is the biggest accident!

He stood up slowly, and the wide sleeves of his black official robe fell, covering his hands that were quietly clenched into fists.

"Seal off the lobby! Everyone, stay where you are and do not move without permission!" Every word Pei Ji spoke was like ice beads hitting the bluestone slabs, instantly freezing all the whispers in the hall.

The yamen runners subconsciously straightened their backs and clenched the water and fire sticks in their hands.

Pei Ji's gaze was fixed on Liu Yueli who was kneeling in the hall.

She seemed to be frightened by the sudden solemn atmosphere. Her shoulders shrank slightly and her head drooped even lower, revealing a white neck.

"Liu Yueli." Pei Ji said in a cold voice, "Raise your head and look at me."

Liu Yueli seemed to hesitate for a moment before timidly raising her head.

Her eyes were big and watery, filled with innocence at the moment, like a frightened deer, and anyone who saw them would feel pity.

"Sir..." Her voice was thin and weak, with a tremor.

"Wang Laizi, do you know him?" Pei Ji went straight to the point without any nonsense.

Liu Yueli blinked blankly and shook her head: "My Lord, I don't know any Wang Laizi."

"Oh? Don't you know him?" Pei Ji's lips curled up in an extremely cold arc, as if he was smiling, but there was no warmth in his eyes.

"Then why are you in Tianshui Lane in the north of the city at three o'clock in the morning today?"

Liu Yueli's face revealed a hint of confusion at the right moment: "Tianshui Lane? My Lord, I have never been to the north of the city. I live in the south of the city. I usually walk around the south of the city and do odd jobs to make a living..."

As she spoke, her eyes turned red again, "Your Excellency, please understand. I really don't know anything!"

"Don't know?" Pei Ji slammed the gavel hard. There was a loud "bang", which made the whole hall buzz and scared Liu Yueli so much that she trembled all over.

"I saw it with my own eyes! The piece of cloth Wang Laizi was clutching in his hand before he died was the exact same material and color as the dress you're wearing! How dare you quibble?"

The bailiff immediately stepped forward and handed the piece of bloodstained cotton cloth as evidence to Liu Yueli.

Liu Yueli looked at the piece of cloth, her face suddenly turning pale, her lips trembling, "This is impossible... My Lord! This is unfair! I bought this dress at Wu's Clothing Store a few days ago. This material is very common, and people all over the street wear it! How can you say it's mine based on a piece of cloth? The night watchman must have seen it wrong! It was so dark..."

Her defense sounded reasonable and her grievance was acted perfectly.

But who was Pei Ji? He had interrogated at least eight hundred prisoners, if not a thousand, and his greatest skill was finding the smallest flaws.

He noticed that when Liu Yueli mentioned "Wu Ji Garment Shop", her eyes flickered slightly for a moment.

Moreover, although she acted scared, there was no real panic in the depths of her eyes. It was more like a deliberate performance.

"The streets are full of people walking through it?" Pei Ji sneered and pressed on. "Well, let me ask you, before Zhang Baiwan died, did you sprain your ankle in the alley behind his house?"

"It was a coincidence..."

"Did you have an argument with Mr. Li from the Ministry of Rites in the teahouse before he fell into the water?"

"He is unreasonable..."

"Were you just coming out of Mr. Hu's shop before he was killed?"

"I just went to buy some dried flowers to smoke the house..."

"Before Wang Laizi was killed, the night watchman saw you in Tianshui Lane. How do you explain this? Could it be that these four people were just people you happened to meet, and then they all happened to die? Liu Yueli, are you the only one who has encountered all the coincidences in the world?!"

Pei Ji's voice became louder and sharper, like a sledgehammer, smashing down on Liu Yueli.

Liu Yueli was speechless after being asked this question. Her body trembled like a leaf in the autumn wind. Tears fell down her face. She just kept repeating: "I am innocent... I really don't know anything..."

At this moment, a yamen runner who was in charge of searching Liu Yueli's temporary hut ran in quickly, holding an inconspicuous small cloth bag in his hand: "Sir! We have found something!"

Everyone's eyes were instantly focused on the past.

The yamen runner opened the cloth bag. Inside was no gold, silver, or jewelry, nor any weapons or poisons, but a few ordinary things:

A small bag of cheap dried flowers, the same as those sold in Boss Hu's shop, a small porcelain bottle with the words "Zhang's Pharmacy" printed on it, very similar to the bottle Zhang Baiwan used to deliver medicine for injuries, a few copper coins, and a neatly folded handkerchief, one corner of which was obviously torn off!

Pei Ji picked up the handkerchief, then picked up the evidence, and matched it with the missing corner, making it fit perfectly!

"Liu Yueli!" Pei Ji raised the pieced-together handkerchief and shouted, "The evidence is here! What else do you have to say? Is this handkerchief yours? Is the torn corner in Wang Laizi's hand?"

The evidence is irrefutable!

There were suppressed exclamations and gasps in the hall.

The eyes of the yamen runners changed as they looked at Liu Yueli, filled with shock. This woman was so terrifying!

The four murders were actually related to her!

Liu Yueli looked at the pieced-together handkerchief, the color on her face completely drained away, even her lips turned gray.

He slowly raised his head and looked at Pei Ji.

The big eyes that were filled with tears just now now looked like two bottomless ancient wells, and all the water had disappeared.

She did not cry out for justice or make any excuses.

He just looked at Pei Ji quietly, and the corners of his mouth seemed to twitch upwards very slightly.

This change in his expression made Pei Ji feel alarmed!

No! Absolutely wrong! This is absolutely not the right reaction to catching someone red-handed!

She was so calm, abnormally calm!

"Tell me! Who are you? Why did you approach these people? Did you plan their deaths?" Pei Ji pressed on.

Liu Yueli remained silent. Her gaze passed Pei Ji and seemed to be looking at the gray sky outside the lobby, but it also seemed as if she was not looking at anything.

The look in his eyes was so empty that it made people's heart palpitate.

Just as Pei Ji was about to order torture to pry open her mouth, Liu Yueli suddenly spoke:

"Your Excellency is a master at solving cases. I admire you." She nodded slightly, as if she were greeting him. "However, Your Excellency only knows one side of the story."

"Oh?" Pei Ji narrowed his eyes. "Then tell me, what is the second one?"

"Have you ever thought about why these four people died?"

Pei Ji's heart trembled. This was exactly his biggest doubt.

These four people have very different identities and status and seem to have nothing to do with each other.

He said coldly, "That's exactly what I want to ask you!"

"Because they all deserve to die." Liu Yueli's voice was soft, but it was like a poisoned needle, piercing everyone's ears.

"Zhang Baiwan, seemingly benevolent and charitable, but secretly lending money at high interest rates has driven countless families to ruin? My sprained ankle wasn't real, but the fact that I slipped a copper coin soaked in Zuimengsan pollen into his butler's sleeve was real. That pollen, mixed with the medicine he gave me, seeped into his skin bit by bit. He must have died peacefully, right?"

"Mr. Li? Oh, what a hypocrite! He took advantage of his little power to make advances on me in a teahouse. Did he complain that I didn't sing well? Did he complain that I wouldn't obey him? Did he fall into the water? I put something in his tea that made his hands and feet weak and his eyes dizzy. The riverbank was slippery, and he couldn't stand still. Who can he blame?"

"Boss Hu? It's bad enough that his spice shop sells inferior spices as genuine ones, but to steal business from his competitors, he actually hired someone to set it on fire in the middle of the night! And that fallen flowerpot? I paid a few copper coins to have a urchin in the alley bump into the already loose flower stand as he passed by. It's God's will, isn't it?"

"As for Wang Laizi..." Liu Yueli's eyes suddenly turned icy cold, filled with an inextricable hatred. "He's a scumbag! A beast! He forced my only sister to death. I've been looking for him for a whole year. Every time I stabbed him, I was avenging my sister's debt! He deserved death!"

Pei Ji was also shocked. He didn't expect the truth to be like this!

Is this Liu Yueli actually a victim who bears a deep blood feud?

"Even if they deserve to die, it's not your turn to resort to lynching! The country has its own laws!" Pei Ji suppressed the shock in his heart and said sternly, "If you feel wronged about your sister, you can report it to the authorities! Why do you have to go to such extremes, violate the law, and take someone's life?"

"Report it to the authorities?" Liu Yueli felt as if she had just heard a huge joke. "Sir! You are the Junior Minister of the Dali Temple, you are so high and mighty! Do you know what reporting it to the authorities means for a commoner like us who have no money and no power? It means falling on deaf ears, it means being bitten back by those jackals! It means dying silently like my sister, without even a splash!"

"Law? The law protects nobles like you, not us, worthless people! My sister was raped by Wang Laizi and hanged herself! I reported it to the authorities, but what happened? Wang Laizi gave the officer some money and falsely accused my sister of seducing him and committing suicide! Officials have two mouths, so what can we, ordinary people, use to fight them?"

Her words were like a heavy hammer hitting Pei Ji's heart, and also the hearts of many yamen runners in the hall.

Reality is often so cruel.

"So this is how you take revenge?" Pei Ji's voice sank, with a complex emotion of anger, helplessness, and even a hint of compassion.

"Yes!" Liu Yueli straightened her back. "They harmed people, so they should pay the price! Since the law is unfair and Heaven won't take them away, I, Liu Yueli, will take them away on Heaven's behalf. One life for another, it's fair!"