Chapter 82: Suicide Poem

"You're lying!" Su Fengzhang interrupted his crying with a cold voice.

"Although Changqing is a man of few words, he's not one to utter a single word of ill will. That day, you tore up the manuscript left to him by his late father, and he didn't hurl at you. How could he possibly hurl at your father just because he refused to return home?"

"Besides, you said you wanted to persuade Changqing to return home with you, but you kept delaying it until the afternoon of New Year's Eve. Even if Changqing agreed now, it would be too late for you to rush back home."

"If you're worried about your father being upset, then you can't go back for the New Year. Isn't that putting the cart before the horse?"

"Sir, this man is full of lies and sophistry. He is framing Changqing despite overwhelming evidence. Isn't he just trying to trick Changqing into believing he's already been killed and can no longer stand up and defend himself?"

"He keeps saying he didn't do it on purpose, but he's subtly misleading us. It makes it seem like Changqing is to blame, completely shirking responsibility. It's clear he's a vicious person. He's confessing now simply because he's seen the evidence and knows the Lord is so discerning and will definitely not let him off the hook, so he's confessing to try to reduce his sentence."

County Magistrate Lu was already extremely disgusted with Mu Wei and shouted, "Keep beating him until he tells the truth."

But this time, Mu Wei gritted his teeth and cried out, "Sir, I am telling the truth. Heaven and earth can bear witness to this."

But the two lords and the common people were no fools. Some even spat and cursed, "Bah! How dare you talk about heaven and earth? If God has a spirit, he should send down a thunderbolt to strike you to death."

After more than a dozen blows, blood was already oozing from Mu Wei's buttocks, but he insisted that this was the fact and was willing to drag down Lin Changqing's reputation even if he died.

Su Fengzhang tried hard to recall the scene of that day, and suddenly shouted, "No, you said you killed someone in a rage, but the wounds on Changqing's body were caused by multiple blows."

"The wound is on the back of his head, which shows that you attacked him from behind, knocking him to the ground. Changqing must have been unable to fight back at that time, but you didn't give up. You chased him, squatted down, and smashed him to death. That's why you are covered in blood."

"After killing him, instead of running away, you searched the room for something. What did you take from his room?"

"I didn't take anything! You were not there at the time, how do you know what happened?" Mu Wei roared.

Su Fengzhang said, "Changqing is usually very clean and always keeps his things tidy. Everyone in your house knows this. On New Year's Eve, the other three were not at home, so why would Changqing let his house be so messy?"

"We had an argument and pushed each other a few times, and that's why the house is in chaos."

Su Fengzhang sneered, "Did you push him onto the bed and mess up the books on his bedside table?"

Everyone laughed, and the constable who had checked the scene also said, "The books next to Lin Changqing's pillow are indeed in disarray, but they are just books, and we didn't notice anything missing."

"Furthermore, please look at this inkstone. Just now everyone suspected that the murder weapon was an inkstone, but the inkstones of the four people in the room are all here. This inkstone has a melon-like texture and a golden sound with a jade-like quality. It is a fine piece of She inkstone, and it is definitely not something Changqing could possess."

"There's only one possibility. This She Inkstone was brought by Mu Wei. Why did you bring a precious inkstone with you when you tried to persuade Chang Qing to return home on New Year's Eve? And why did you end up using it to kill someone?"

"If I'm not mistaken, the truth is exactly the opposite of what you just said. You didn't come here to persuade Changqing to return home, but you have a favor to ask of him. Knowing that he likes Sheyan, you brought it with you on purpose, hoping to get his help!"

"You don't have to answer. Please send someone to search the Mu family again. Since he was willing to kill someone to take something like that, he certainly wouldn't just throw it away. It must be hidden somewhere unexpected."

"You were looking through Changqing's books, so I suppose that thing must be related to books. Is it a manuscript or a rare edition?"

County Magistrate Lu couldn't hide his disgust on his face and shouted angrily, "Come here, go and move all the books from the Mu family here."

"Keep beating me! If you don't tell the truth, I'll beat you to death!"

Hearing this, Mu Wei, who had been trying hard not to say anything, spat out a mouthful of blood and shouted hoarsely, "No need to go. I'll tell you everything."

County Magistrate Lu signaled the bailiff to suspend the punishment, but Mu Wei remained in the posture of being tortured, tears streaming down his face. It was unclear whether he finally regretted his actions or was just afraid.

"Lin Changqing was indeed my servant in the past, but who knew that he was just an auditor, and his talent for studying was far superior to mine? His father died young, and his mother was frail and sickly. How could he afford the money to take the imperial examinations?"

"But there's an uncle in the clan who values ​​his talent and is willing to support him financially."

"Why do you think he supported Changqing? It was because he was having an affair with his widowed mother. He was quite a man of integrity, fearing that he would drag his son down and drown himself. Otherwise, with such a mother, Lin Changqing wouldn't even be able to enter the Imperial Examination Hall."

"I'm obviously the young master, and he's just a companion. The teacher praises him, his classmates praise him, and everyone thinks he's better than me. But he never thinks that if it weren't for my family, how could he learn to read and study?"

"Not only is he not grateful to me, but he is hostile to me and trying to frame me at every turn!"

"When the imperial examination came, he passed with flying colors, but I failed. After finally getting into the county school, I was ridiculed everywhere. My status as a student was looked down upon. If he hadn't refused to help me, how could I have failed to even pass the exam to become a scholar?"

County Magistrate Lu was so angry that he laughed: "You want him to help you cheat!"

"I gave him the opportunity, shouldn't he be my slave?"

Mu Wei knew he was doomed, but he no longer felt lonely. He continued, "Back in the county school, every time I saw him, all alone, dressed in shabby clothes, eating only cold steamed buns every day, I was so happy."

"He deserves it. If he is willing to help me, how can the Mu family treat him unfairly?"

"But I didn't expect that such a shameless person like him would have friends. Maybe they are birds of a feather."

Su Fengzhang couldn't understand his train of thought. "I've finally seen what it means to be so shameless as to confuse right and wrong."

County Magistrate Lu also shouted, "Let's get to the point. Do you still want to be beaten?"

Mu Wei then continued, "I saw him teaching Su Fengzhang how to write poetry, and how he made rapid progress in just a few months. I was quite interested and wanted to study with him."

"But he refuses to teach me. He would rather help an outsider than teach me. I don't know if he has some secret dealings with Su Fengzhang. Who knows? Maybe he likes Su Fengzhang's good looks."

"Don't slander me. I also learned to write poetry with Mr. Lin, but it was too hard and tiring and I couldn't persist. He was unwilling to teach you. Why don't you reflect on how hateful and annoying you are!" Liu Xiong scolded.

"If you hit me again, you still want to drag others into this, you will never change your bad habits!" County Magistrate Lu shouted.

Sun Zhubu also questioned, "Is it because he was unwilling to teach you that you harbored resentment and killed him?"

Mu Wei suddenly burst into laughter. In the midst of his wild laughter, he recited a line of poetry: "Year after year the flowers are the same, but year after year the people are different. Life is endless from generation to generation, but the moon over the river remains the same year after year."

When the scholars outside heard this, they couldn't help but recite it aloud. Even Liu Xiong was surprised and said, "When did this Mu Wei have such poetic talent? No, that's not right. This isn't a poem he wrote himself."

Mu Wei laughed wildly and asked, "Is this poem good? Can it be sung through the ages? Is it worth a She inkstone?"

"A She inkstone is worth a hundred taels of silver. Lin Changqing has always wanted it, and he often goes to the study just to take a peek. I'm going to trade this fine She inkstone for a short poem. Why wouldn't he be willing to accept such a good deal?"

"It would be fine if he didn't want to, but he even called me a born fool and said I was only fit to be a student for the rest of my life. How could he be so vicious?"

"Sir, I killed him, but he deserved to die. His life was given to him by our Mu family. He was just a dog raised by our Mu family. Not only did this dog not help guard the house, but it also bit its owner. What do you think, should he be beaten or killed?"

Su Fengzhang looked at him in disbelief. He had thought of many possibilities before, but he had never imagined that it would be such a ridiculous reason.

"You killed a man just for a poem?" Su Fengzhang asked in disbelief. "Lin Changqing is a human being, not a dog you can summon and dismiss at will. His current fame and success were all earned through his own hard work. Why, why would you do this?"

Not only Su Fengzhang thought it was ridiculous, most of the people present thought it was extremely ridiculous. They all admitted that it was a good poem, but why would they kill people for a poem? They were all students and did not make a living by writing poetry!

Mu Wei was already laughing crazily. He no longer looked like a normal person. Yes, a normal person would not kill someone for a poem, and it was even more impossible for him to kill someone and then frame another classmate.

Suddenly, Mu Wei didn't know where he got the strength from, he pulled out a knife from his arms, turned over and rushed towards Su Fengzhang, shouting: "You die with him!"

"Feng'er!" Su Zhaoshi could no longer care about anything else and rushed over here. She loved her son so much that her movements were even faster than those of the men around her.

Mu Wei beat the drum to protest his injustice, but no one expected that he was carrying a knife.

County Magistrate Lu was so frightened that he shouted for help, thinking that Mu Wei was simply crazy for daring to kill someone in public.

Everyone thought that Su Fengzhang would follow in Lin Changqing's footsteps this time, but they saw him quickly disperse and kick Mu Wei in the heart, kicking him out and hitting him directly on the bench used for beatings.

Several constables quickly subdued Mu Wei, not caring whether he was vomiting blood or not, and they just wanted to tie him up.

Su Fengzhang wanted to go up and kick her again, but gave up when he saw the constable's actions. He held Su Zhaoshi's cold hand and comforted her, "Mom, don't worry, I'm fine."

Su Zhaoshi's hands and feet were still cold. After confirming that her son was fine, she suddenly knelt down and shouted, "My Lord, this Mu man dared to kill someone in front of everyone in the court. He is so cruel and vicious. You must not let him go!"

County Magistrate Lu also shouted, "The evidence is solid that Mu Wei murdered Lin Changqing. He killed someone just to steal a classmate's poem. His nature is vile and his crime is extremely heinous. Come, have all the witnesses sign their names. We can close the case when Lord Cai returns."

If it was a minor matter in the countryside, County Magistrate Lu could make the decision himself, but he could not make a ruling on a murder case and could only wait for Lord Cai to return. This was the rule of the court.

At this moment, a voice came from outside: "I am here!"

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The author has something to say: The second update is complete~