Chapter 683 Who is the Murderer?
These past few days, Yangzhou has been in turmoil.
Previously, there was the crayfish poisoning incident, which caused widespread panic. Just when things had calmed down, news broke that someone had died from poisoning.
The alleyway of the Wan family was surrounded by constables. A man covered in bruises lay on the ground in the courtyard. A coroner was carefully examining the cause of death and recording it in a register. At the same time, another constable and several constables were searching the house for suspicious clues...
Madam Wan was not allowed to stay in the courtyard either. She stood at the gate, covering her mouth and sobbing uncontrollably.
A large crowd of neighbors gathered at the entrance, whispering among themselves.
"Wan Guangyuan was only in his thirties, how could he have died so suddenly?"
"His body was covered in bruises, it was terrifying. He must have been poisoned. Who could be so vicious?"
"Madam Wan, has your husband offended someone...?"
Madam Wan stopped crying, her red and swollen eyes widening: "If I had to name someone I've offended recently, it would only be Lady Sui! That day she came to treat Old Wan's illness, and I threw a stone at her, accidentally hitting her son's head... Is that why Lady Sui deliberately poisoned my man...? I was wrong, I shouldn't have crossed Lady Sui, why was I so reckless..."
People nearby echoed his sentiments.
“I happened to be there that day. Madam Wan, you really are something. Of all the things to throw, you had to throw stones.”
"Sui Shuren's son was covered in blood, it looked terrifying. No mother could bear to see her son injured like that."
“When Nanyang City was flooded, Sui Shuren went to the most dangerous flood area herself and risked her life to save her child, which shows how much she loved her son.”
"Could it be that Sui Shuren deliberately poisoned Wan Guangyuan to vent her anger?"
"It must be Sui Shuren, it must be her!" Madam Wan exclaimed angrily. "Sir, arrest Sui Shuren immediately! She killed someone and must pay with her life!"
The bailiff in the courtyard said coldly, "It's uncertain whether the murderer is Sui Shuren, but many people have seen Sui Shuren come to the Wan family and have been alone with the deceased for about half an hour. The prefect will definitely summon Sui Shuren to cooperate with the investigation, so you can rest assured about that."
As they were talking, the person searching for clues inside the house came out: "The soil in this flowerpot is strange; it seems to be poison."
The constable in charge of the case stepped forward, sniffed, and said with a grim expression: "The deceased's face was distorted, and she must have struggled before she died. After the murderer forcibly fed her the poison, he poured the remaining poison into the flowerpot. Didn't Madam Wan hear anything?"
Madam Wan shook her head: "I'm so tired from taking care of him every day, making sure he takes his medicine and eats. He slept very soundly last night and didn't hear anything."
Another constable searching for clues came in from the backyard: "Sir, we found footprints outside the backyard wall. They are a woman's footprints. This woman must have come late at night and climbed over the wall to enter. However, there are no signs that the window was pried open. She must have knocked on the window to enter the deceased's bedroom."
"A woman's footprints! The murderer is indeed a woman!" Madam Wan screamed. "It's Lady Sui! She's the murderer! My husband died such a tragic death! I beg you, sirs, to bring justice to my husband! She is Lady Sui, a third-rank official's wife. I shouldn't have offended her. I'm willing to kneel down and apologize to her, I'm willing to be her slave, as long as she can vent her anger. How could she kill someone? How are we, a widow and her children, supposed to live..."
She collapsed to the ground and burst into tears.
The onlookers initially didn't believe that Su Shu-ren would commit murder, but as clues pointed to the killer's gender, they began to waver.
Gradually, other voices arose from the crowd.
"Sui Shuren's act of treating patients is just a pretense; she's only trying to gain a good reputation so that the Emperor can promote her further."
"She will stop at nothing to make money and get promoted. Does such a person deserve the love and respect of the people?"
"An ordinary citizen merely injured her son by accident, yet she dared to kill him to vent her anger. She is utterly unworthy to be the Lady of Sui in the Great Yu Dynasty!"
"Is that so?" A cold voice came from behind. "Whether I am worthy of being Sui Shuren is not for you to decide, and whether I have committed murder is not something that can be determined by a simple clue!"
Everyone turned around and saw Cheng Wanwan walking from the other end of the alley.
Her face was solemn, and she exuded an aura that kept strangers at bay. Those present involuntarily took a step back and made way for her.
Madam Wan suddenly stood up and rushed towards Cheng Wanwan: "You murderer, I'm going to kill you..."
Cheng Yi grabbed Wan Niangzi's wrist and said coldly, "If you dare to disrespect Lady Sui again, don't blame me for being impolite."
After saying that, he shoved her away violently. Madam Wan lost her balance and almost fell to the ground. Her face was full of anger, but she didn't dare to rush over again.
The constables, coroners, and yamen runners in the courtyard hurriedly came over and bowed: "Greetings, Lady Sui!"
Seeing these people so respectful to Cheng Wanwan, Madam Wan's heart sank... In the past, when people said that officials protected each other, she would scoff at it, but now...
She covered her lips and couldn't help but burst into tears.
Cheng Wanwan spoke calmly: "Finding a woman's footprints and then claiming that I killed the victim? Tell me, do you think I'm that stupid? I am a third-rank official's wife, with so many loyal people under my command. To kill one person and then have to climb over the wall myself in the middle of the night? Don't you find that ridiculous, Madam Wan?"
Madam Wan sobbed, "Because you didn't want anyone to know you were an executioner..."
“Madam Wan is so heartbroken, yet I feel sorry for you.” Cheng Wanwan shook her head. “You’ve been married to Wan Guangyuan for over ten years. Do you really know what kind of person he is?”
Madam Wan stopped crying: "What do you mean by that? Don't try to smear my man!"
Cheng Wanwan looked up at the crowd of onlookers: "Neighbors, why don't you all tell us what you think? Let Madam Wan see the true colors of her man!"
The neighbors exchanged glances and immediately started talking.
“Madam Wan, I told you seven or eight years ago that Wan Guangyuan was out there indulging in debauchery. You didn’t believe me, and you even scolded me for being a busybody. So I never brought it up again.”
"That's right. Several nights in the middle of the night, I saw Wan Guangyuan flirting with prostitutes in front of your house. I wanted to tell you, but with your personality... well, I didn't dare to say anything."
“You always say that Wan Guangyuan cares about you and the children, and that he is the best man in the world... You are only fooling yourself.”
"When the constable just said that he found a woman's footprints in the backyard, I thought to myself, 'It must be some vixen from outside climbing over the wall to have a secret rendezvous with your man. How could you smear Sui Shuren like that!'"
"Nonsense! You're all talking nonsense!" Madam Wan roared uncontrollably. "Wan Guangyuan only loves me. He would never have affairs with other women. You're all just jealous of me. Shut up!"
Cheng Wanwan clapped her hands: "Bring them in."
Cheng Jia brought a woman in through the courtyard gate, threw her to the ground, and the woman, whose mouth was gagged, kept sobbing.
Cheng Jia opened his bundle and took out a pair of shoes covered in mud: "Could you please check the footprints, sir, to see if these are the shoes?"
The constable looked grave and immediately ordered his men to carry it out.
The constable returned quickly and nodded, saying, "That's right, the shoe print matches."
The constable said coldly, "Take the cloth out of her mouth. I need to ask her questions."
As soon as the cloth was torn off, the woman shouted, "Injustice...injustice! It wasn't me, it really wasn't me! I did come to see Wan Guangyuan last night, but since Madam Wan was sleeping in the outer room, I climbed into his bedroom through the window. He was perfectly fine then, full of energy, and we even did 'that'...after that, I left. I really didn't kill anyone! Your Honor, I'm innocent, truly innocent!"
Upon hearing the woman's words, Madam Wan's face turned deathly pale.
The constable turned around and gave the yamen runner a look, and the yamen runner immediately went out of the courtyard to investigate the woman's name and her behavior over the past few days.
A short while later, the constable returned: "She's been staying in the Hundred Gardens Garden for the past few days. Last night at midnight, she sneaked into the Wan family's house, left half an hour later, went straight back to the Hundred Gardens Garden, washed up, and went to sleep. She didn't even bother to take care of any of her clothes or shoes..."
The constable frowned.
Without leaving the Hundred Flowers Garden, it would be difficult to purchase poison without anyone noticing.
Moreover, if someone had truly committed murder, they would have tried every means to dispose of the evidence, rather than sleeping soundly... It seems there's more to this case than meets the eye.
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