Chapter 113 Pan An and I are in love
Amidst the many confused discussions, Yao Yi spoke: "The matter of Zhou Ding is indeed related to me. Please be quiet for a moment and listen to me tell you the truth——"
He held an official position and had prestige, so as soon as he said this, the surroundings immediately became quiet.
Yao Yi said solemnly: "This matter starts with my ex-wife Pei."
The surroundings were still quiet, but people were exchanging glances more and more frequently.
The changes in the Pei family were still fresh in our minds. It had never been a secret that Pei, who was once the wife of the Minister of the Dali Temple, was punished by the order of the saint in the Dayun Temple.
It is also well known that Pei killed Chang's wife because she suspected that she was Yao Tingwei's illegitimate daughter.
But before, it was just hearsay, and at most people just talked about it in secret.
And at this moment today... I can actually hear Yao Tingwei, the real boss, speak about it in person?
Without spending a penny, they could enter Dengtai Tower to drink and recite poems with high-ranking officials and scholars, with plenty of ice basins and cold drinks. Not to mention the incident of bumping into Madam Chang, now they could even listen to Yao Tingwei talking about private matters in person to satisfy their curiosity...
Is this what they deserve to hear?
How could we be so worthy! The scholars felt flattered and at a loss, but this did not stop them from standing on tiptoe and listening carefully, fearing that they would miss something.
"Earlier, Pei poisoned the idol in Dayun Temple and ruined the blessing ceremony. His motive was to murder and frame Chang's wife. After his plot was exposed, he was punished by the saint and imprisoned in Jingye Temple. I'm sure you have all heard about this."
As the Minister of Dali Temple, he was very logical in his speech, so Yao Tingwei kindly gave him some brief introduction of the previous situation.
But it is not only a summary of the previous situation, it also serves as a prelude to the next.
"But you may not know the details. Pei had already secretly planned to kill Madam Chang before the trip to Dayun Temple. He had already hired someone to kill Madam Chang..." Yao Yi said solemnly, "The person he hired was Zhou Ding."
The sounds all around shook.
It turns out that he is not a lover... but one of the murderers? ! "No... Impossible!" The man was horrified and shook his head to deny: "My nephew would never do such a thing!"
Yao Yi said: "The case was later handed over to the Beijing government for trial. People around Pei have already confessed in detail. Zhou Ding had already attacked Madam Chang on the night of the Lantern Festival, but Madam Chang luckily escaped. Later, General Chang returned to the capital. Pei investigated Zhou Ding's fault for his incompetence, and did not want to leave any troublesome clues, so he killed him and then threw his body into the moat-"
As he spoke, he looked at the man with scrutiny, "Zhou Ding's parents hadn't seen him for a long time, so they went to the Beijing government to report the case. Later, the Beijing government found out Zhou Ding's whereabouts through Pei's case, and sent people to salvage the body but failed. However, they told the Zhou family that Zhou Ding had committed a crime and died. Don't you know about this?"
Because the case had been personally judged by the Saint in Dayun Temple, the details were not made public after the subsequent trial in the Beijing court. However, those involved in the case all knew the details. The Chang family knew, the Yao family knew, and Zhou Ding's parents also knew.
But the man in front of him obviously didn't know.
His knowledge of his nephew's whereabouts was still at the level of "missing for a long time".
Cold sweat rolled down the man's face. He was shocked and then he realized something belatedly.
When my brother and his wife came back from the government office in Beijing that day, they seemed frightened and never mentioned looking for their nephew again.
Afterwards, my sister-in-law fell ill and before she could recover, the couple moved away in a hurry.
He was very puzzled about this, until one day a person who looked like a maid found him and told him that his nephew was involved with the lady in General Chang's mansion, and that his nephew's disappearance must be related to the Chang family.
At that time, he thought that his brother and sister-in-law were afraid of the power of the Chang family and did not dare to investigate the whereabouts of their nephew...
Now he knew that there was something else going on? Did the people who found him not know about this, or did they deliberately hide it from him? After all, if he had known that his nephew had tried to harm the Chang family's wife, he would have run away with his brother and his wife!
His brother and sister-in-law were also very dishonest. In order to cover up their nephew's scandal of murder, they didn't even tell him. The couple just abandoned him and ran away... Are they his real brother and sister-in-law?
The man was groaning in his heart and regretting his decision, but there was no way out at this point. He could only do as the man told him, otherwise he would be doomed!
He hugged the bag tightly in his arms, as if he had regained confidence. Facing those shocked and angry comments, he shook his head and said, "...It's impossible. My nephew has already achieved fame and had a bright future. How could he take the risk to do something that harms others!"
Yao Yi said coldly, "This man is addicted to gambling. On the day of the accident, he lost money and was caught gambling by his fiancée's younger brother. In order to protect the marriage, he even tried to kill the child to silence him. It's not surprising that such a person is hired to kill for money."
In order to let him avoid suspicion, the Emperor of Shengce never let him interfere in the case of Pei Family and Pei's family from beginning to end. However, in order to prevent any omissions in the Beijing government and leave any future troubles, he carefully understood and secretly investigated the case.
And because he knew the details of Zhou Ding's affairs, what he said at this moment was clear and reasonable in every aspect, making it more convincing.
On the other hand, the man was obviously getting more and more flustered. Under Yao Yi's sharp gaze, he didn't dare to be stubborn any longer: "Even if...even if my nephew was tempted by money and used by others to do stupid things...but, but it is a fact that he and the lady of the Chang family are in love with each other, and I didn't lie about this!"
This is his only reliance now! As long as he can prove that this is true, the Chang family can't do anything to him in front of so many people! And as long as he can leave here and complete the man's instructions, the man will abide by the agreement to ensure his safe departure and give him a large sum of money...! No matter what his nephew has done, as long as he appears here today, he has offended the Chang family to death. This is what he has prepared for a long time... The other party promised him so much money, how could he not take risks! Thinking of this, the man felt as if he was holding a heavy load of gold and silver in his arms, and his courage grew again.
"So, your coming here to look for your nephew's whereabouts today was fake, and your deep uncle-nephew affection was fake—" Chang Suining finally spoke again, looking at the man who was still biting at her and Zhou Ding's affection, and said, "The only real thing is to destroy my reputation."
She did not show any anger or emotion, but asked calmly: "Since you said that Zhou Ding and I were in love, then why would he be engaged to another woman?"
"That... that was the marriage that his brother and sister-in-law forced him to arrange, just to make him stop dreaming!"
Chang Suining looked at him with amusement: "Since he has feelings for me, why would he be afraid of not having money? And why would he oppose me killing him just for a little money?"
The man cried, "Who knows what your Chang family did to force a good scholar like him to take this path... He is gone, so of course I can't confront you face to face. You can only tell the right and wrong by you!"
"He killed my sister, but in the end it was our Chang family who forced him to do it? Who would believe such a ridiculous statement? How dare you say that!" Chang Sui'an had obviously never heard of such shameless words. For a moment, he just thought that the other party's nickname must be Qiu Gao, which made him so angry!
If he didn't have a shred of rationality left, he would have wanted to punch this scoundrel to see his nephew! Chang Suining sneered silently.
A scoundrel? Yes, he is.
Is this absurd? It is indeed absurd.
But if such absurd words are spread, there will still be people who believe them - when rumors spread, people are always willing to believe what they like to hear. For those who listen to the excitement, the more absurd the rumor, the more exciting it is.
Just like those scripts and plays that cannot withstand close scrutiny, there are many things that don’t make sense, but they are still talked about and even passed down to later generations.
And if her today's events were to spread out in such an unclear way, in the eyes and mouths of those strangers, it would be no different from a storybook. It might not be long before people would think that Zhou Ding's act of killing her was out of love and hatred for her.
Once something has something to do with the relationship between men and women, there are always people who like to lead it into emotional entanglements.
However, the other party's reliance should not only be these unsupported and absurd words... If he dares to appear here and openly destroy her reputation, he should at least have the confidence that he can get away with it.
Chang Suining's eyes also fell on the bundle the man was holding.
Judging from the angle at which the bundle is propped up, there should be a long object inside.
Covering it up for so long is nothing more than wanting to attract more attention——
Chang Suining looked around.
Very good, even the guests on the third floor were alarmed, and some were rushing to the second floor, while others were standing by the inner railing, looking down at the situation on the second floor and talking in low voices.
Well, it’s time to take out the things in this bag.
But after all, it is a place where scholars gather. It is undeniable that people who read books have a clearer mind and are more organized. They cannot be deceived by those absurd words.
Perhaps because they felt that they had benefited from someone else's kindness, many voices of doubt were raised at this time.
"This person has ulterior motives. He chose to cause trouble today. It's really suspicious..."
"This is about a girl's reputation. There is no evidence except his words. How can you believe it?"
"That's right. You keep saying that you are in love with each other. If anyone believes that, then I can still say that Pan An and I are in love with each other!" Yao Xia said unbearably.
"..." Many eyes turned to look at her.
A look of annoyance flashed across Mrs. Xie's eyes.
It is true that birds of a feather flock together for an unmarried girl to make such shameless remarks in public.
A man sitting on the ground next to the ice basin said thoughtfully: "By analogy, I can say that Taibai and I are in love with each other?"
Those eyes that were on Yao Xia then turned to the man.
The young man was still sitting behind the ice basin. He raised his hand and smiled, looking at the man who was still kneeling on the ground: "I just said what I felt. Just like what the visitor said, there is no evidence. Don't take it seriously-"
Chang Suining took another look at the young man.
"Every word I said is true!" The man still cried, "Even if my nephew did something wrong, the facts are still facts. Why don't you think about it? If my nephew has nothing to do with this Chang family lady and they don't know each other, why did the murderer choose my nephew?"
"When did I say that I didn't know Zhou Dingsu?" Chang Suining did not deny this: "Of course I have met him. Not only that, I also helped him because he claimed that his family was too poor to support him to study for the imperial examinations--"
Xier, who had been holding back for a long time and dared not speak, finally took over the conversation: "That's right, my girl is kind-hearted and generous. She has not only helped him, but you can go and ask around. Is there any beggar outside Xingningfang who has not received charity from my girl?"
"Over the years, there must be at least eighty people who have received help from my Chang family. We do our best to help without expecting anything in return, but it is really chilling and disgusting to see such ungrateful people!" Chang Sui'an clenched his fists.
He now wanted to jump into the moat, pull Zhou Ding out and beat him up! He harmed his sister when he was alive, and now he's dead and still can't stop!
There was discussion again.
"I was helped by Madam Chang..."
"Isn't this just like a greedy person who repays kindness with hatred?"
"You are talking nonsense!" The man became excited. "If it is really as frank and simple as you say, then why would Madam Chang give the painting to my nephew?"
"You are talking nonsense!" Xier said firmly, "When has my daughter ever given him a painting?"
The occasional letters between the girl and the man surnamed Zhou were all delivered by her. The girl had never sent any paintings to Zhou Ding!
Moreover, the letters from the girl were pure and innocent, without any trace of speculation! Even so, the day after Zhou Ding's accident, the girl asked Jian Tong to sneak into Zhou Ding's residence and retrieve all the letters to avoid unnecessary trouble later.
But I didn't expect that trouble would still arise, and it was such a slander that was not true!
"This is the painting, this is the evidence!" The man climbed up and hurriedly opened the bundle, revealing a rolled-up scroll inside.
The scroll soon unfolded and dropped in the man's rough and dirty hands, coming into view of everyone.
The man cried and said, "This painting has always been hanging above my nephew's bed. How could it be fake?"
The sword boy frowned.
What nonsense is this? He turned Zhou Ding's house upside down. If it was hung on the head of Zhou Ding's bed, how could he not see it?
Where did you find that thing that dares to slander his girl?
Xier's expression changed slightly.
No, this painting...
Chang Suining also looked over.
The painting depicts a girl in a green dress holding a cat. The girl looks up at the red beans of lovesickness that occupy half of the painting.
There is a signature at one end of the painting, with the year, month and name detailed. The year and month is the winter of last year, and the name is Chang Suining.
Chang Suining's eyes moved slightly.
She had just arrived, and in order to avoid people noticing anything unusual, she secretly learned Ah Li's handwriting, and for this purpose she looked through many of Ah Li's previous calligraphy and paintings.
Therefore, it is not difficult to see at this time that this painting... was indeed painted by Ah Li.
And this painting is not an ordinary painting, but it is filled with red beans, which symbolize lovesickness.
No wonder...
No wonder you dare to come here.
It turns out that there is really something in my hand.
Compared with those previous shameless words, this painting is obviously the real killer.
"Look..." The man was eager to prove his innocence and showed the painting to the people around him.
Good night everyone (pretend to forget about asking for leave yesterday) (End of this chapter)
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