Chapter 20 Disputes
The pattern was carved very shallowly. If Ling Tianshui hadn't happened to touch it due to the sudden movement, it would have been covered by the accumulated dust. After a period of time, when the red lacquer faded and was repainted, it would be hidden forever and no one would notice it.
Ling Tianshui asked, "Is Ji Linyou's whereabouts clear on the day Madam was in trouble?"
Cui Fufeng recalled the events of that day: "We all arrived at the manor together. Ji Linyou, Xue Xiyang, and Yan Penglai lived in the same room, and were assigned to guard the east gate together. Judging from Xue Xiyang's subsequent behavior, he didn't seem to have done anything strange."
After all, Xue Xiyang is a very troublesome person. He will stir up a big fuss even without any wind, and will not let go of any small movement of other gentlemen. If Ji Linyou had made any unusual moves at that time, how could he bear not to say a word?
"So..." Ling Tianshui asked slowly, "What about everyone's whereabouts after Madam's accident?"
Qian Deng and Cui Fufeng were naturally unaware of this period. They had left the village to seek treatment from Doctor Liao, and this was the most likely time for the murderer to strike.
After all, with the enemy rampaging outside and his wife critically injured inside, the manor was already in turmoil. Although there were over a dozen guards in the East Palace, they were naturally focused on the Crown Prince. How could they care for an unconscious woman?
During that gap, anyone from the village could have sneaked into the water pavilion and thrust the severed arrowhead half an inch deeper into her mother's heart, easily taking her life.
As the three of them were pondering over the mark, there was a commotion in the front yard. In the darkness, they could faintly hear the sound of banging on the door and someone shouting. The sound was particularly clear in the dark night, so much so that they all on the corridor could hear that it was Meng Lanxi shouting out of control.
Ling Tianshui frowned, turned around immediately, and walked quickly towards the courtyard where the young men lived.
Qiandeng and Cui Fufeng looked at each other and followed closely.
Ling Tianshui's steps were long and fast, and Qiandeng had a foot injury, so when Cui Fufeng accompanied her there, they saw Ling Tianshui standing in front of Jintang's door with her face covered with frost. Although Jintang didn't open the door, a voice was clearly coming from behind: "Let's talk about it tomorrow. My legs hurt, I need to go to bed!"
Outside his door, Meng Lanxi was holding a curled up white object in one hand and holding a hand oil lamp in the other, her face full of grief and anger.
Because both of his hands were occupied and he couldn't free them, he had completely lost his usual gentle and elegant demeanor. He kicked the door in front of him fiercely and shouted angrily, "Open the door and come out!"
Ji Linyou, Ming Jiu and Xue Xiyang in the courtyard were alarmed and opened the door to check.
Inside the house, Jin Tang was still hesitant, but Qian Deng had already walked up to Meng Lanxi, looked at the curled-up rabbit in his hands, and asked, "What's wrong?"
"County Lady, it was in vain..." Meng Lanxi's eyes were filled with grievance when she saw her, and even her voice was choked with sobs, "It was killed by Jintang!"
Qian Deng cried out "Ah!" and turned his surprised and bewildered eyes to the rabbit in his arms. Sure enough, he saw that its neck was drooping and it was dead.
Jin Tang peeked through the crack in the door and saw the county lady coming. He quickly unbolted the door and flung it open. "Your rabbit is dead. What does it have to do with me?"
Seeing him finally show up, Meng Lanxi was filled with grief and indignation. He stepped into the house, put down the oil lamp in his hand, and approached Jin Tang with the rabbit in his hands: "Who else would harm it except you?"
The rabbit that was still alive and kicking half an hour ago now had its spine and neck broken and showed no signs of life.
Jin Tang saw the dead rabbit's head facing him and turned it away in disgust: "Take it away, it's disgusting!"
Qiandeng silently examined the rabbit's body. Half of its body was covered in mud, and there was a muddy shoe print on its neck. It was obvious that someone had stepped on its neck and killed it.
"I know you hate me and Baibai, but it's just a rabbit. How can it bother you? Why do you treat it like this?"
"Nonsense! I was inside the house the whole time. How could I have the time to go to your room and kill a rabbit?"
"I put the rabbit out to graze on the steps outside the courtyard gate and then went to clean the room. Did you kill it at that moment?"
Jin Tang touched his leg and felt aggrieved: "My leg is injured, and the county lady told me to stay in my room. How could I have the audacity to step on your rabbit with an injury?"
"So, besides you, who else here would deliberately kill a rabbit?"
Jin Tang was speechless for a moment.
Because Baibai is quite loved by the county lady, other people, even if they don't like small animals, will play with the rabbit when they have nothing to do - except him who is trying to curry favor with Jin Tuantuan.
Seeing that he remained silent, Meng Lanxi hugged Baibai's cooling body and demanded hoarsely, "If you have a problem with me, you could just come after me. Why did you attack Baibai? Baibai hasn't ever gotten in your way. Is it just because the County Master likes it, because it can create a small opportunity for me to please the County Master, that it has to die of jealousy?"
Jin Tang had no way to defend himself. He turned around in a hurry and saw the county lady looking at the rabbit with a gloomy look. His face turned red.
Looking back, he saw the dead rabbit in Meng Lanxi's hand almost pressing against his face. He was so annoyed and angry that he couldn't control himself and yelled, raising his hand to push it away fiercely.
Meng Lanxi was caught off guard and fell heavily to the side, hitting the table.
The small table was suddenly overturned, and the oil lamps, cups, and other items on it all fell to the ground with a crash, making the room a mess.
Qiandeng looked at the rabbit's corpse, then at Meng Lanxi who had fallen to the ground, not knowing how to persuade them.
Ling Tianshui grabbed Meng Lanxi's arm and pulled him up: "Alright, the rabbit is dead. There's no point in pursuing it. Let's leave it at that."
Meng Lanxi stood up unwillingly, but when his eyes swept across Jin Tang's feet, he seemed to suddenly discover something. He grabbed the extinguished oil lamp that fell to the ground, lit it on Qian Deng's lantern, then leaned over to shine the light on Jin Tang's boots, and said in anger and grief: "It's you, it's you!"
Everyone's eyes followed the direction he was pointing and looked at Jin Tang's feet.
He wore intricately stitched black leather boots, embroidered with gold thread and beads. Under the bright light, a few soft white hairs on the black leather trembled slightly.
Jin Tang looked down, a look of panic flashing across his face, but he still insisted: "I... I was just annoyed by the rabbit, so I kicked it down the stairs. My foot is injured, I can't use any strength at all, how can I possibly crush it to death!"
Seeing his outwardly timid appearance, everyone stopped asking questions. Ling Tianshui sternly urged Meng Lanxi, "Alright, even if this rabbit means a lot to you, it's still just a rabbit. If it dies, what's the big deal about giving you another one? Don't do such a meaningless thing."
Meng Lanxi actually knew very well that it would be easy for Jintang to compensate him with one hundred or one thousand rabbits. He could only suppress his anger, hug the little body of Bai Bai that was gradually stiffening in his arms, and turned around and walked out angrily.
Qiandeng sighed and looked back at Jintang, who was looking at her aggrievedly, still saying, "County Lady, I swear, I didn't step on that rabbit to death!"
He said it carefully, and Qian Deng could only say, "Okay, I understand."
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