Chapter 28 Right and Wrong
"Meng Lanxi seems to be a man of good character on the surface, but I've heard Shangluo talk about his daily behavior in the Imperial College. I get the feeling he's a cold-hearted person, not someone who's easy to get along with." Having already spoken ill of him behind his back, Xue Xiyang simply added fuel to the fire. "Weren't his father and grandmother buried in the tea garden during the mudslide? I heard their remains are still there, never dug out. After his mother died, a teacher at the Imperial College suggested he carry the coffin back to his hometown, retrieve his father's remains, and bury them together properly, but Meng Lanxi ignored them. The students at the Imperial College all said—"
Xue Xiyang drew out his words, looking at Qian Deng's slightly furrowed brows, and said with a hint of gloating, "It's said that Meng Lanxi was worried that he wouldn't be able to find his father's remains for a year or two after returning, which would delay his efforts to show his affection to the county lady. So he simply forgot about his parents and focused solely on the county lady."
Qiandeng remained silent, and Cui Fufeng stopped writing and did not record what he said.
Seeing that none of them responded, Xue Xiyang was not embarrassed and just smiled: "Of course, these are all rumors from outside. Let alone the County Princess and Cui Shaoqing, I actually don't believe that Mr. Meng is such a person."
Qiandeng knew that Xue Xiyang had been hanging around in the streets for many years, making friends with all kinds of people, and there was almost nothing he didn't know about.
A thought struck her, and she said, "Actually, I find this strange, too. Ling Tianshui once said that Madam Meng had been very kind to him, and that's why he took extra care of Meng Lanxi. But he has people under his command, so sending a few soldiers to help search for the remains shouldn't be difficult, right? Why didn't these two people think of going there?"
Cui Fufeng looked at Qiandeng meaningfully, but did not say anything.
Xue Xiyang became excited. "That's right. If you ask me, the relationship between Ling Sijie and Meng Lanxi is indeed a bit strange. Apart from anything else, among all the gentlemen in the backyard, who has such a close relationship as them, inseparable and practically moving in together? They're closer than brothers!"
Brothers...
When Qiandeng heard these three unintentional words, a pair of deep and round dimples suddenly flashed before her eyes.
That belongs to Madam Meng, Meng Lanxi, and also... Ling Tianshui.
The guess that had vaguely flashed through her mind now rolled past her ears like a huge wave, making her fall into a trance for an instant.
Xue Xiyang looked at Qian Deng, who was still in a trance, and finally just smiled and said, "Of course that's impossible. Ling Tianshui's cousin is Ji Linyou."
Cui Fufeng glanced at Xue Xiyang, then calmly lowered his eyes. He said calmly, "I remember Xue Lecheng was gifted, with hearing far superior to that of an average person. I wonder if he heard any unusual movements outside around three o'clock last night?"
When he asked, Xue Xiyang immediately answered, "Yes! Around midnight, I heard someone open the door and what seemed like footsteps in the corridor, but there were only a few light footsteps. However, it should have been the third watch at that time, which is a good time for sleep, so I drifted off to sleep and didn't pay much attention to it."
This statement is consistent with Meng Lanxi's testimony.
Cui Fufeng then asked, "Can Xue Lecheng tell who opened the door?"
Xue Xiyang thought for a moment and said, "It should be to the left of my house. It's either Ji Linyou or Meng Lanxi."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course. Because Ling Tianshui and Jin Tang are next door to me on my right. If Jin Tang opened the door, how could Ling Tianshui, such a powerful person, who lives closer than me, not hear the noise? And if Ling Tianshui came out in the middle of the night, ordinary people like us shouldn't be able to hear the noise, so it must have been made by the person living on my left, who is farther away from Ling Tianshui, so he didn't hear it, but I did."
These words were well-founded and Qian Deng and Cui Fufeng both agreed with them. After all, they were well aware of Ling Tianshui's skills.
Seeing that his opinion was affirmed by the county lady, Xue Xiyang immediately became energetic, and his slightly upturned phoenix eyes became even more lively: "I said Meng Lanxi was a serious suspect, right?"
"But, according to Meng Lanxi, he also heard the sound of someone opening the door in the middle of the night."
"He heard it too. Could it be that..." After Xue Xiyang finished talking about Meng Lanxi, he immediately turned his attention to Ji Linyou and pointed to Ji Linyou's room next door.
Cui Fufeng's tone remained calm: "The case is still under investigation, so it's hard to say."
"Even so, but... Mr. Cui, I remember something else. Although I have some contact with Ji Linyou, I don't believe he would do such a thing..."
Xue Xiyang's personality was such that although he said he had a friendship with Ji Linyou, how could he let him go so easily?
"The County Lady and Cui Shaoqing both know that I specialize in music and am very sensitive to sound. When that person opened the door last night, I didn't get up to check, but the creaking of the door was accompanied by the sound of a wooden hinge jolting. I wonder if this could be considered a clue?"
The sound of wooden shafts clacking...
Qian Deng and Cui Fufeng were still puzzled by Xue Xiyang's statement, but they both thought of the goatee in the ruined temple who had died under the blade just like Uncle Fu.
The person most likely to attack this group of soldiers and bandits is naturally their "benefactor".
Among all the candidates for her fiancé, whether present or absent, the most suspicious one was Ji Linyou, who was not in the ruined temple but was skilled in the art of killing.
"There's another thing I find strange." After talking about Meng Lanxi and Ji Linyou, Xue Xiyang brought up Mingjiu again. "I don't know if this is related, but... when we were trying every possible way to open Jintang's sealed room, and everyone was anxiously worried about his safety, I occasionally turned my head and saw Prince Mingjiu behind the crowd. The expression on his face was full of gloating smiles, as if he knew Jintang was dead..."
Qiandeng lowered his eyes silently, thinking to himself that given Mingjiu's personality, it was inevitable that he would gloat over Jintang's misfortune after discovering that something had happened to him.
Seeing the county lady's calm expression, Xue Xiyang lowered his voice again and said softly, "I thought it was strange at the time, so I moved closer to him. Because when I traveled to various places in the northwest to learn various music, I learned some simple languages of various ethnic groups, so I heard what he said -"
As he spoke, he recalled something and uttered two Uighur words.
"I think these two words here should be cousin and revenge." Xue Xiyang was not in the temple yesterday, so he was unaware of the feud between Jintang and Mingjiu. He only repeated it curiously before asking, "So Jintang's cousin offended Prince Mingjiu, so they don't get along?"
"This is the grudge between the Jin family and the Huihe people. We still don't know the details." Cui Fufeng brushed it off and asked as usual, "So, how do Xue Lecheng interact with Jin Tang on a daily basis?"
"What good is there for me to do with him? I'm skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and I work at the Imperial Music Bureau. My life is filled with romance and romance. He, on the other hand, is a businessman, extravagant and vulgar. Even his parrot sings in a strange tune. We can't even talk to each other, and we're just acquaintances."
This is the truth. They did not have much contact with each other in the past. Even when Jin Tang had enemies on all sides, Xue Xiyang was the only person who had no disputes with him.
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