Chapter 56: Mystery
But... what lies before her now is another bloody murder, another crime, and she must defeat all these disguised evils without interruption.
Therefore, after a moment of feeling her mind turn cold, she forced herself to calm down, temporarily putting aside her mother's affairs, and continued speaking -
"However, the weapon coming out is only a minor issue. When you had your back to us, you pretended to be panicked and failed to pull Yu Guangling out of the water several times. In fact, you were taking out the knife handle that you had removed earlier and putting it back on.
"Then, you let Yu Guangling's body fall back into the puddle, took two steps back, and pretended to fall into the puddle with your legs weak. You couldn't move your hands and feet for a long time and couldn't get up. This is because you had to tear the bamboo rake apart to scatter the bamboo pieces, and then grab the bamboo pieces and hide them on your body to cover up the traces of your murder method - after all, you were covered in mud and blood, so no one would notice what you hid. Unfortunately, because the rope binding the bamboo rake broke, the bamboo pieces scattered instantly, and you were in too urgent a time, so you inevitably missed one or two and failed to pick them up. Zheng Junshan picked them up, which caused the mistake.
"Because the alley was narrow, our vision was completely blocked by your back, so we had no idea what was happening behind us. We just thought you were panicking and wasting time!"
"Damn it, this bastard is so scheming!" Jin Tang jumped up angrily, pointing at Jian Anting and cursing, "Killing one person and blaming two people, this is such a vicious way of killing two birds with one stone... No, three birds with one stone! Four birds!"
He spoke without thinking in anger, clearly comparing himself to a bird.
But at this time, Qiandeng analyzed the truth and broke the deadlock in one fell swoop. Everyone was so excited and shocked that no one could care less to laugh at him.
Qian Deng completely exposed Jian Anting's carefully planned scheme. He staggered dejectedly, leaning against the wall with a pale face, unable to utter a word.
The officers who were watching him from behind immediately stepped forward and held him down to prevent him from escaping or hurting others after his crime was exposed.
Jian Anting looked defeated, but he still fought on like a trapped beast. "Impossible! How could I possibly kill Yu Guangling? He's my best friend. We've said countless times that we'd become pillars of the country together, supporting each other to rise to the top..."
"It's a shame that it's Yu Guangling who's about to rise to prominence, not you," Cui Fufeng said coldly. "When the news came that Yu Guangling was about to become the Princess of Lingling County, you kept saying you supported him. But in reality, have you ever thought about how you're inferior to Yu Guangling? You're both students at the Imperial College, both top academic achievers, and you're equally good-looking and have similar personalities. Even your birthdates differ by only a few days. Why should he be superior to you in the future, becoming an official at court and achieving great success, while in this lifetime, even if you work hard, your chances of catching up to him are slim to none?"
Qian Deng walked up to him, lowered his eyes and stared at him, saying slowly, "Even if most people are depressed about this, they would just feel bad in their hearts. But you, on the day the Chang'an dam collapsed, heard what Yu Guangling's parents said and knew that you actually had a chance to take his place..."
That day, outside Yu Guangling's house, Yu's parents were happily discussing their son's fate. They mentioned Luo Lingtai and said that if Yu Guangling was born three or five days later, it would be a perfect match for everyone, as he was destined to be a perfect match for the county lady.
"And you, without a doubt, are the one whose birthday is only three or five days different from his." Qian Deng raised his hand to take the evidence handed over by the officers, turned to Zheng Junshan's homework, and displayed it in front of everyone.
The date of birth was written in a sloppy but clear manner: the tenth day of the ninth month of the second year of Zhide, the end of the Mao year. The mark where the mark was crossed out was where the mark had been altered.
"This is Yu Guangling's birth date and time. Zheng Junshan wrote it on the back of his homework. The teacher even scolded him for it, but he didn't take it seriously at the time. He even laughed out loud at the birth date and time and said, 'So that's it!'"
Everyone looked at the altered birth date in amazement, but Qian Deng had already pointed at the area that had been crossed out and said, "Why did Zheng Junshan deliberately erase the date? And then he suddenly realized, 'So that's why?'" No one knew at the time, but only one person, Jian Anting, who had ulterior motives, understood what he meant.
"Zheng Junshan is obsessed with fortune-telling and physiognomy, so it might not be difficult for him to deduce that your fate is more suitable for me than Yu Guangling's. And you, with ulterior motives, naturally paid attention to him. You went out with the students and discovered that he was meeting Shangluo in front of Shengfa Casino. From the vague information revealed, you realized that Zheng Junshan might have seen you setting up the alley. Combined with the horoscope he calculated in class, he might have realized that you were the murderer. So, before we arrived, you killed him with an inkstone and put the blame on Meng Lanxi.
"Jian Anting, this is the entire process of your murder. Do you have anything to refute?"
The truth was revealed and the evidence was conclusive. Jian Anting had no way to deny it. He could only stare blankly at Qian Deng, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something, but in the end his eyes turned red and he broke down in tears.
"This world... is so unfair..." He muttered, his eyes unfocused. "Why... why do I work so hard, yet in the end, I gain nothing and can only become a humble, ordinary person with no future... And you, you were born with everything. Your parents paved the way for you, your family prepared a bright future for you. Only I... even though I've endured humiliation and used all my scheming, I'll never get the chance to soar to the top..."
Until that day, he learned from Yu Guangling's parents the reason why Yu Guangling could become the county lord's husband, and he also knew that he should have had someone better to rely on.
He looked at his friend who was about to become successful, and also at the county lord who was so close yet so unattainable. At that moment, he knew that his face must be very ugly, as if he was possessed by an evil spirit.
Because there was a thought roaring in his heart, making his whole body cold, except for a little burning sensation in his heart, as if it was about to burn his chest.
He watched the county lady leave, and the endless rain in Chang'an poured down again. The cold raindrops hit his head and face, as if the heaven and earth were whipping him.
He walked to the door of his home but did not push it open. He did not want to go back to the place that could barely shelter him from the wind and rain, because there was a disgusting smell left by Sun Lushi.
Sun Lushi...The first time this person appeared in Jian Anting's life was also because of a heavy rain.
On a rainy autumn night, his father received news that the water level in Qujiang River had risen sharply and was about to break the embankment.
His father, wearing a straw raincoat and a straw hat, rushed to check the situation in the dark. When the rain subsided at dawn, his mother went to Qujiang Lake with a lunch box to bring her husband a hot meal.
However, because the road was slippery due to rain, my mother fell down with her food at the edge of the water. She was limping when she was seen by Sun Lushi who was on patrol. He took the opportunity to send her home and later often came to ask about her well-being when he had nothing to do.
One night he heard his parents arguing in low voices in the room. His mother's sharp and suppressed voice was particularly piercing in the dark night: "Jian Taiping, are you a human being? Are you a man?"
My father's muffled voice was extremely suppressed. "Okay, I'm not a man. I'm just a lowly foreman who was recently promoted to a foreman and now earns a living as a government employee. Now, to show my manliness, I'm going to beat up my boss for a woman like you."
The mother said resentfully, "At most we can go back to our hometown. It's not like we have no way out..."
"What nonsense are you talking about! My Jian family has been river engineers for eighteen generations, and I'm the only one who got recommended and got a job in the Ministry of Works in the capital. My son also worked hard and was accepted into the Imperial College. You want us to abandon our future and go back to the countryside to be peasants? What do you want Anting to do? When we left, the village threw a banquet to see us off. Now, after only a year or two, we're going back in disgrace. Where can I put my face?"
The mother was angry and anxious, but unable to refute, so she could only cover her face and cry.
"Stop arguing! Keep the door closed from now on, and don't go out unless necessary. If you can't afford to offend us, we can afford to hide!"
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