Chapter 12 The Amazing Lychee Garden (Part 12) The suspect is also a suspect you raised...
The door to the east wing creaked shut, the sound not loud, but the distorted, drawn-out melody gave one a strange feeling. Xu Bai's heart trembled slightly in his chest, and he could feel goosebumps rising on his arms.
He watched as Jiuli turned around with a smile, her hands still behind her back, bracing against the door. Her eyes gleamed with a cunning light, like a Persian cat playing tricks in the night, cute yet with a touch of wickedness.
Her expression changed so quickly; the displeasure from before was gone. He wanted to offer some words of comfort but didn't know where to begin, so he could only politely smile and ask, "Did you need something from me, Miss?"
"Are you going to ask Sister Rouge?" Jiuli hurriedly came over. "I'll go with you!"
Xu Bai smiled and raised an eyebrow. "You also know that Miss Rouge?"
She was a little smug. "I was the one who told my uncle about Rouge and Guanzhan."
He lowered his head and smiled, "Then I should thank you, Miss. However, this is a matter for the government, and it seems unnecessary for you to trouble yourself."
Jiuli scoffed, "How can it not trouble me? As long as the case isn't solved, I'll remain a suspect. Is it considered me meddling in my own affairs? Don't try to be like my uncle, restricting people by forbidding this and that."
"You're even copying your uncle in this? What do you mean?"
She copied him, sporting a mole under her eyebrow. But that wasn't really his fault. Jiuli awkwardly turned her eyes to the side. "Anyway, I'm going with you," she paused, then looked back, "Let me go with you? Huh? I'm so bored I'm practically crawling with lice!"
A sliver of pale golden sunlight shone through the gauze window, making the fine downy hairs on her cheeks appear even more vivid and clear. He glanced at her, whetting her appetite, and was about to reply when suddenly someone ran out from the inner room, shouting, "Me too! Me too!"
It turned out to be Du Zhong. Xu Bai felt inexplicably embarrassed, like a thief caught red-handed. He awkwardly adopted the posture of a gentleman, saying, "I cannot agree to this matter. I must ask Mr. Yu before it will be considered."
Jiuli pushed Du Zhong, saying, "You're just making things worse! Let someone go home and get the medicine first."
Du Zhongye said, "You're ordering me around with this kind of 'disobeying orders and defying authority' thing? What if my master gets angry?"
"Trust me, he won't blame you. If he does, just pin it on me. Hurry up, only with the pills will Sister Rouge tell the truth."
Du Zhong then opened the door and went out to find the yamen runner. Xu Bai was somewhat confused and asked, "What pills? What do they have to do with Rou Ge?"
She had a confident smile on her face. “I’m not saying your government office is useless. Think about it, you asked everyone in this garden a couple of days ago, including Sister Rouge. She didn’t say anything then. How do you know she’ll talk this time? You’ll have to win her heart before she’ll speak.”
"Are these pills for her?"
"No, the pills are for Xiao Ajin."
"And who is Xiao Ajin?"
It was too early to explain to him, so Jiuli had to go find Rouge first and talk to her on the way. She pulled him open the door and suddenly saw seven or eight strangers standing in the courtyard.
The leader was a tall, thin man in his early fifties with a long beard, dressed in thick brocade robes and a square scarf, exuding an air of officialdom. Apart from the constable Zhang Dajiu, whom they recognized, the rest of them were all dressed in plain clothes, surrounding the old man and weeping. There were men and women, young and old.
The crying annoyed the old man, who loosened his hand from his mouth and nose and instructed Zhang Da, "Go in first and announce our arrival." He then turned to the crying people and said, "Master Lin and Madam Lin, please stop crying. Don't worry, we're here to take someone away. I will give you an explanation, I will give you an explanation!" After saying this, he quickly covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief.
The constable Zhang Da sneaked into Yu Qi's room. Jiu Li, fearing that Yu Qi would come out and see him, closed the door again and climbed onto the bed to peek through the window.
“It’s Magistrate Wang.” Xu Bai stood beside her at the window, looking out.
Jiuli squinted, "Judging from the voices, the ones crying are Lin Mo's family? Oh dear, Lord Wang said he's here to arrest people, could it be me and Du Zhong?"
"Are you scared now?"
Jiuli didn't answer, only leaning against the screen window with a smug smile. What was there to be afraid of? With Yu Qi around, he wouldn't easily allow them to be taken to court by the authorities.
A short while later, Yu Qi came out of the north room and greeted Lord Wang with clasped hands under the eaves.
Lord Wang returned the greeting and said, "Originally, Mr. Yu was invited by Vice Minister Zhao to treat the sick and save lives. I shouldn't make things difficult for Mr. Yu. However, this murder case occurred in Liyuan Garden. According to both reason and law, the yamen cannot ignore it. Now that we have questioned two suspects, we should bring them to the yamen for trial. I informed Magistrate Qi of this matter the day before yesterday, but the yamen has not yet seen the suspects. Therefore, I had no choice but to come in person. Please forgive me, Mr. Yu."
Before Yu Qi could even speak, the Lin family members surrounded him, hurling insults and abuse. "So you're the one who condoned your family's murder? You're a doctor, saving lives while killing people—are you doing good or evil? Hand over those two murderers from your family!"
"Hand it over! We don't care which official you're friends with!"
"Well said! Anyway, none of us in the Lin family are officials. At worst, we'll give up all our wealth to seek justice!"
Master Lin still had some reservations, so he pulled his family members aside and persuaded them, "Let's talk this out properly. Lord Wang is here and will surely uphold justice for us."
Lord Wang and Vice Minister Zhao had never had a close relationship. Although they were both officials in Nanjing, they went their separate ways. Relying on his connections in Beijing, Lord Wang did not take the Vice Minister of Personnel in Southern Zhili seriously, and naturally did not take Yu Qi seriously either.
However, it's best to let others say the things that might offend people, so he turned to ask, "Officer Zhang, didn't you say that Lord Qi had come over here? Where is he?"
"Yes, I was speaking in Lord Qi's room at that time. It was Mr. Yu who sent someone to invite me. Have I gone back now?"
Yu Qi finally spoke up, "You haven't seen him?"
Zhang Da shook his head, "I didn't see him."
Yu Qi then turned his gaze to the gauze window of the east room and happened to see two blurry figures. His expression turned sharp, and he walked to the east room, leaving everyone behind. Just as he was about to knock on the door, the door opened from the inside first, and Jiu Li stood inside the threshold with her head down. "I have something to ask Lord Qi, so I held him up for a while."
Xu Bai stepped forward and bowed, but Yu Qi didn't even look at him, only staring at Jiu Li, "What do you have to ask?"
"It's naturally about the case."
"I've already said, this is none of your business."
As Jiuli stepped out of the door, he saw Lord Wang and the Lin family coming from the corridor. He took the opportunity to point and said, "Look, they're here to arrest me for questioning. Doesn't that concern me? Does taking my life not concern me?"
“Your life is mine. Anyone who wants it will have to ask me first.” Yu Qi said, then turned to Lord Wang with a smile. “Lord Wang, I think there’s no need for a trial. You say my family members are suspected of murder. Do you have any witnesses or physical evidence?”
Lord Wang was momentarily stunned. Indeed, although the two so-called suspects were somewhat unclear, the yamen had neither found the murder weapon nor any other witnesses or physical evidence. Even if they were forced to confess, it would be difficult to close the case based solely on their confessions, and people would laugh at his incompetence and foolishness.
Honestly, the Lin family members almost made me lose my mind from crying!
He secretly thought he shouldn't have let the Lin family persuade him to come here today. Not only would he have failed to arrest anyone, but he also risked catching the disease. However, since he was already here, he couldn't just leave empty-handed. He had to give the Lin family an explanation, so he turned to Xu Bai and asked, "Yes, Lord Qi, you've been here for several days. Have you found anything else?"
Xu Bai cupped his hands and said, "I was just about to report to you, sir, that a female patient named Rouge in this garden saw something on the night of the incident. I was just about to go and question her when you arrived, sir."
Lord Wang nodded repeatedly and said to the Lin family, "Did you hear that? We've made some progress. Don't worry, this is a matter of life and death, and I won't slack off. I specifically ordered Lord Qi to move to this garden, wasn't it to find the real culprit as soon as possible? Lord Qi is a young master from a prestigious family, and he's willing to risk contracting the disease to investigate in this garden every day. Isn't that enough to show the determination of the yamen to catch the culprit? On the other hand, I've always been conscientious in my duties. Although Mr. Yu's family is somewhat suspicious, without solid evidence, I can't easily arrest them."
A woman from the Lin family said, "But didn't they admit to poisoning our Third Master? Doesn't that mean they had the intention to kill him?"
"It's a laxative, a laxative!" Jiuli hurriedly argued, "It just means going to the outhouse a few more times, it won't kill you."
Several women surrounded her again, crying and shouting. Master Lin tried to reason with them, pulling them aside and saying, "Alright, alright, stop crying. Today, Lord Wang led us in, and we know the situation here. The yamen has not been shirking its duties; Lord Qi is diligently performing his duties here."
He turned to Lord Wang and bowed, "But Lord Wang, this case can't be investigated indefinitely. You have to give us a time limit so that our whole family can be at ease. Besides, our third brother's body can't stay here forever and never rest in peace, can it? I won't make things difficult for the yamen. Let's set a time limit of one month. If the real culprit isn't found after one month, the Yu family must pay with their lives no matter what!"
Lord Wang, disregarding right and wrong, only cared about extricating the Lin family from their entanglements, so he readily agreed, "Very well, one month, just one month! Lord Qi, did you hear that? Mr. Yu, I'm already being lenient. If we can't catch the other criminals within a month, then we'll have no choice but to bring your family to court for questioning."
Yu Qi remained silent. Xu Bai noticed that although his expression was somewhat unpleasant, he seemed to have a plan in mind. At noon, he had analyzed Rou Ge in great detail, showing that he was meticulous and perceptive, making him a good candidate for solving murders.
Unfortunately, solving cases wasn't Xu Bai's forte. Given Lord Wang's pressure, Yu Qi, for the sake of his family, couldn't simply ignore it. Thinking this, Xu Bai smiled, bowed, and agreed to Lord Wang's request. He and Zhang Da then saw him off.
As soon as the courtyard quieted down, Jiu Li leaned close to Yu Qi's eyes and chuckled, "Uncle, Lord Wang has set a deadline. If we can't catch the real culprit within a month, Du Zhong and I will really have to go to court. We'll be walking through the streets and alleys in shackles and chains. Even if we're cleared of wrongdoing afterward, we'll still be subject to a lot of gossip. Aren't you worried?"
Yu Qi glanced at her with a cold smile, "I see that you, the suspect, aren't even in a hurry, so why should I be?"
"The suspect is someone you raised with all your hard work. Think back to those poor years when you didn't eat a single piece of meat to save for me, and you didn't spend a single tael of silver to save for me. You went through so much trouble to raise me. You can't just stand by and watch a young girl like me end up with a ruined reputation, can you?"
Yu Qi gritted his teeth inwardly, thinking, "I should have sold you to that slave trader back then."
A note from the author:
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Thank you for reading.
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