Chapter 684 Sixth-Rank Prefect He
"She is definitely not the murderer."
Cheng Wanwan stood in the courtyard and spoke calmly.
"The reason she got involved in this case is because the person behind it wanted to smear me. She was indeed implicated without cause."
The woman was moved to tears: "I am truly innocent. Thank you, Ms. Sui Shu, for redressing my grievances!"
The constable had already keenly sensed that the woman in front of him, Sui Shuren, seemed to have a clear understanding of the entire case.
From the time the victim's family reported the case to the authorities until now, only about an hour has passed. He is still here struggling to investigate the cause of death and search for clues, and is still in a state of confusion. How did Sui Shuren manage to figure out the ins and outs of the case so quickly?
Cheng Wanwan said calmly, "Bring the suspect in."
Cheng Jia accepted the order, went out, and brought in a man.
If anyone present had been a local resident at the dock four days ago, they would have recognized the man as the thug who threw rotten eggs and vegetable leaves at Cheng Wanwan that day.
Cheng Jia stepped on the man's shoulder: "Tell me, what did you do!"
The man, his face bruised and swollen, had clearly been tortured before arriving and was no longer able to resist. He knelt on the ground and said, "Yesterday afternoon, I bought a packet of rat poison at De'an Hall. Last night, I secretly came to the Wan family's house and poured it into Wan Guangyuan's mouth... I did kill him, sir, please arrest me and put me in jail..."
He would rather go to jail than be tortured by this person again.
He appeared to be bruised and swollen, seemingly only suffering minor injuries, but only he knew what he had gone through in the previous fifteen minutes.
It felt like I died once, no, I died countless times, died and came back to life, barely managing to come back to life, only to experience the feeling of being on the verge of death again...
He hoped the constables would arrest him and throw him into prison so he could be saved.
The crowd was buzzing with discussion.
"Isn't this Huang San'er, who hangs out at casinos every day? I thought he was just a petty thief, but I never expected him to kill someone!"
"But he had no grudge against Wan Guangyuan, so why would he kill him?"
"Wan Guangyuan has some money on him, he's probably after the Wan family's assets..."
"He wouldn't even look at the Wan family's meager wealth," Cheng Wanwan chuckled softly. "A few days ago, someone asked him for a favor, which is why he threw mud at me at the Yangzhou docks. He said just a few words, and the other party gave him five hundred taels of silver. He tasted the sweetness of success, so naturally he's willing to do anything the person behind him asks for. According to his own confession, as long as he kills Wan Guangyuan, that person will give him five thousand taels of silver. Do you think Huang San'er, a mere hoodlum, can resist such temptation?"
The crowd took a step back in surprise.
Hiring someone to commit murder!
This matter is more complicated than they imagined!
Madam Wan rushed over and grabbed the thug Huang San'er by the collar: "Who, who told you to kill my man? Tell me, tell me!"
Huang San'er knelt on the ground, his lips parted, but he didn't dare to speak.
Although he had been forced to reveal the person behind him before, it was because he was in too much pain and could only escape the pain by revealing the name... But now that so many people are watching, if he says that name again, he is afraid... afraid that he will be killed in prison to silence him.
“Let me speak,” Cheng Wanwan said, her eyes flashing with coldness. “It’s Lord He, the sixth-rank magistrate of Yangzhou City.”
This Lord He is named He Tongji, an illegitimate son of a collateral branch of the He family in the capital. Many years ago, he was transferred to Yangzhou to serve as an official. Although he was only a sixth-rank sub-prefect, he was doing very well in Yangzhou because the main branch of the He family had great influence in the capital.
When He Ling suffered humiliation and left in a sorry state in Dahe Village, she knew that the He family would not let it go so easily.
In the past two years, not many eyes have been on He Ling, so he devised this series of events.
They framed her for murder, stripped her of her title and the court's protection, and then killed her without anyone knowing...
The plan was good, but unfortunately the people carrying it out were so incompetent that they made mistakes everywhere, giving others ammunition to find fault with them... If they really wanted to bring her down, they should have sent the He family's assassins to kill her. That way, even if she used the Ten Great Tortures of the Qing Dynasty, she probably wouldn't be able to pry any useful information out of the assassins.
Oh, right, she remembered. It was said that when He Ling led fifty assassins into Dahe Village, news of this reached the capital, and countless people impeached him. Those assassins had long since been dealt with by the Emperor…
"Lord He?" Madam Wan's lips parted in disbelief. "Why did he kill my man..."
For the common people of Yangzhou, Prefect He was far more famous than Lady Sui. Although he was only a sixth-rank official, he had the He family as his backing, so even the Prefect of Yangzhou treated him with great respect. Merchants in Yangzhou fawned over him in every way. The common people dared not offend him, or they would be in deep trouble.
Even if her husband was indeed a womanizer, he hadn't offended Lord He, so why was he murdered...?
"I heard someone is trying to smear me?"
An angry voice rang out from outside the crowd.
The constables and others looked up and saw the Yangzhou Prefect and Vice Prefect He Tongji walking in one after the other, and they quickly bowed.
"I wondered who was slandering an official of the court in broad daylight, it turns out to be Lady Sui Shu." He Tongji stepped forward, a fake smile on his face, and bowed. "This humble official greets Lady Sui Shu. Since arriving in Yangzhou, Lady Sui Shu has been busy treating the sick and saving lives. I have been looking for an opportunity to visit her, but I never expected to meet her here. I am a timid person, I would not even dare to step on an ant, how could I have committed murder? I beg Lady Sui Shu not to believe what others say."
Cheng Wanwan watched his performance quietly.
Currently, there is only Huang San'er as a witness, and no other physical evidence has been found. It is extremely difficult to convict He Tongji.
However, since He Ling's goal was to ruin her reputation, she would repay him in kind, doubly so.
He Tongji kicked the man on the ground: "Speak! Who exactly told you to slander me? You even believed Sui Shuren! If you don't explain yourself clearly, I will never let you go!"
Huang San'er was kicked to the ground, face up, looking terrified.
Just then, a small knife gleaming with a cold light suddenly flew from above, striking Huang San'er squarely between the eyebrows and embedding itself deeply.
Huang San'er didn't even have time to scream or close his eyes before he died.
The constable was shocked and immediately knelt down to check the injuries: "He's dead..."
The prefect of Yangzhou was furious: "Immediately seal off the alley and close the city gates! To kill someone in broad daylight to cover it up, they have no respect for me!"
The constables in the courtyard acted swiftly to cordon off the scene and track down the murderer.
Cheng Wanwan's lips twitched. This He Tongji was both stupid and vicious!
Without physical evidence, no matter what Huang San'er says, he cannot be convicted, yet he insists on killing someone in public.
He would incite public opinion, and so would she.
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