22 Incident
"Officer Lu, are you arresting me out of justice or personal favor?"
Honghua discovered something.
Old Ding never reappeared after going to the back mountain. Although Old Ding usually wandered around and stole chickens and dogs, her intuition told her that this time was different.
What exactly is the reason...?
"You must concentrate when reading."
Ying Jianhua tapped the table, bringing her back to reality. Honghua said "Oh," and without writing two words, she asked him while biting her pen, "Dr. Ying, what were you doing in the back mountain yesterday?"
Perhaps Dr. Ying knows where Old Man Ding went?
Ying Jianhua pulled out the paper she had hidden under her arm and, under her nervous gaze, checked it while answering, "We've run out of firewood at home."
"Then you can come to my house to get them. I have plenty more at home." Honghua was most afraid of him checking her homework, so she quickly changed the subject.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. Doctor Ying still used a red brush to outline two large characters: "永" (yong) and "岁" (sui).
Honghua's expression immediately turned to pain. She let out a scream and collapsed listlessly onto the table.
Ying Jianhua demonstrated how to write the two characters for her, and told her to practice carefully at home. Honghua reluctantly agreed and put all her little brushes and inkstones into the bamboo basket.
This bamboo basket was specially made for her by Uncle Huang, and she loves it! Carrying it makes her look like a scholar going to the capital for the imperial examinations. As for the writing implements inside the basket... her family couldn't afford them; they were a gift from Doctor Ying.
On the fourth day after Sister Mu left, Doctor Ying suddenly asked her if she wanted to learn to read. At that time, she felt sorry for Doctor Ying, who was all alone, and agreed on a whim. Little did she know that this one wrong step would lead to eternal regret, and she would embark on a path of no return to writing large characters.
Out of curiosity, Honghua asked Doctor Ying where these calligraphy brushes and inkstones came from, and received an unexpected answer—
He said he bought it with her money.
This "she" obviously refers to Sister Mu. I don't know why, but Dr. Ying never calls her by her name. When she does mention her, she uses the ambiguous "she".
Honghua didn't understand. All she knew was that after her sister left, Doctor Ying had become less and less talkative. Although he hadn't spoken much before, she just felt that Doctor Ying had changed!
They became more silent, even somewhat... frightening.
She consciously took on the heavy responsibility of caring for the entire Wuling Village, which of course included taking care of Doctor Ying. Even though she hated writing, Honghua still diligently came to read every day.
As the sun set, it was time for her mother to call her home for dinner. Honghua packed her schoolbag, said goodbye to Doctor Ying, whom she "disliked," and also said goodbye to the osmanthus flowers in the porcelain vase.
She already knew it was something her sister had left behind, and she would secretly water it every day, trying to bring it back to life, but unfortunately, she hadn't succeeded.
"Dr. Ying, I'm going back for lunch now. I'll come again tomorrow."
She stood by the door and waved to him, a "finally free" smile on her face.
Ying Jianhua suddenly spoke up: "Honghua, what did you see on the back mountain yesterday?"
Huh? What did you see?
Honghua shuddered, desperately trying to clear her name: "Nothing much! I just went home and practiced calligraphy, the one you circled earlier!" Did Doctor Ying think she'd sneaked in to play?! If her mother found out, she'd be in big trouble!
After she finished speaking, she waited anxiously for a long time, but did not receive a reply from him.
Unable to contain her curiosity, she peered inside: "Ying Da..." But the last word died in her throat the moment she saw the man clearly.
As dusk settles, the setting sun paints the sky with its last crimson hue. Ying Jianhua stands at the boundary between light and shadow, the eaves casting shadows that divide his figure into two halves, one of light and one of darkness.
One of his eyes was bright, the other dim, which split his whole being, making him half human and half ghost.
Overwhelmed by fear, she tried to retreat home, but found herself unable to move at all. Her legs suddenly felt weak and powerless, and she could not obey her commands.
Honghua recalled how Sister Mu had taught her to distinguish between humans and demons. Just as she was about to make her own judgment, she heard Yingjianhua say, "It's nothing, you can go back now."
Without thinking twice, she took off running and banged on the door.
Aunt Huang opened the door, shouting, "Who's knocking so urgently? Debt collectors?!" Seeing it was her daughter, she frowned and said irritably, "Your mother isn't dead yet!"
Honghua didn't have time to explain to her mother. She stepped on the stone against the wall and cautiously peeked out, revealing her eyes to observe the neighbor's house.
Dr. Ying hadn't entered the house yet; he was still standing at the door.
She glanced at him, then glanced again, and finally determined that Doctor Ying had neither a tail nor ears nor a beard, and that he had a shadow.
She sat down on the ground, exhausted, and let out a long sigh of relief, as if she had survived a disaster.
Thank goodness, Dr. Ying is a human being, not some demon or monster.
————
The officials have come to Wuling Village again.
At that moment, Honghua had just been dragged out of bed by her mother, who warned her not to go out that day.
She was still half asleep, her eyelids were glued together, and she grumbled, "Don't I have to go to Doctor Ying's to practice calligraphy today?"
Aunt Huang remained silent.
Upon hearing that she didn't need to write large characters, Honghua instantly woke up, threw off the covers, and rushed outside to see what was going on: "What happened? What happened!"
When she excitedly ran into the courtyard, she found Doctor Ying surrounded by a group of officials.
The one in the lead was none other than Constable Lu, who had repeatedly harassed Sister Mu before.
Ying Jianhua noticed that she was looking at him, shook his head, and gestured for her not to come closer.
Aunt Huang caught up with her and hugged her tightly, not allowing her to take another step forward.
Lu Ping recognized her as the girl who used to always be by Du Zhijin's side. He hesitated for a moment, then pretended not to see her and said to his subordinate, "Take him away."
"Sir, is there some misunderstanding?" Uncle Huang asked cautiously with a forced smile, trying to slip a small piece of silver under his sleeve.
His leg was cured thanks to Dr. Ying. The two families have been neighbors for so many years, and now that his daughter is learning to read at the Ying family's school, he should stop her from doing so, both morally and logically.
To his surprise, Lu Ping refused to accept the bribe. Not only did he refuse, he also scolded him: "Do you know the consequences of bribing government officials?"
What consequences could there be? Hasn't everyone done it this way before?
Ordinary people are naturally at a disadvantage when facing government officials. Uncle Huang dared not stop them any longer and sheepishly retreated to his wife's side.
Even though Uncle Huang is gone, we still have Uncle Zhao.
He was more shrewd and thoughtful than Uncle Huang: "Sir, didn't you send someone to inquire about that matter before? Why are you making this trip again? Has the higher-ups summoned another doctor?"
Lu Ping glanced around and, seeing that he had been surrounded by villagers from Wuling Village, frowned. "Get out of the way. Are you surrounding us to attack the officials?"
"No, no, we wouldn't dare," they said, but no one actually backed out.
He had a bad feeling; he hadn't realized Ying Jianhua had such a reputation in Wuling Village. He only had three men with him; how could the four of them possibly deal with dozens of villagers?
The village chief of Wuling Village was also a member of the Zhao family. Because of his age, he rarely showed his face, but he was forced out by this commotion: "Your Excellency has graced us with your presence. May I ask what brings you here?"
Lu Ping glanced at the composed Ying Jianhua, as if it were someone else, not him, who was about to be detained.
Upon receiving his gaze, Ying Jianhua raised her eyes and a mysterious smile appeared on her lips.
He gripped the token at his waist and said in a deep voice, "Regarding the sudden deaths of Prince Chengduan and his heir, the county magistrate has ordered the arrest of the suspects." He paused, deliberately emphasizing his words, "Someone has confessed that this matter is related to Doctor Ying."
As soon as he finished speaking, an uproar erupted. The villagers all said it was impossible, but finally, Village Chief Zhao stepped forward to summarize: "There is probably more to the story than meets the eye, sir. You may not know this, but Doctor Ying lost both his parents when he was young and was raised by the villagers. Therefore, he has never left Jinxi City all these years, just to repay everyone's kindness in raising him. He would never do such a heinous thing."
“Village Chief Zhao is right. Everyone has witnessed Doctor Ying's character! If you have a headache or fever, you go to him, and he won't even charge you for the medicine!” “Yes, yes, sir, please don't arrest the wrong person!”
"Both parents are deceased." Lu Ping was not swayed by the villagers' comments. "May I ask, Doctor Ying, what caused the death of your parents?"
"this......"
Seeing the silence of the crowd, he suddenly drew his sword from his waist and said in a loud voice, "His parents died because of Prince Chengduan. This man is a wolf in sheep's clothing, lying in wait for many years, all for the sake of revenge! Men, seize Ying Jianhua!"
The three constables behind him drew their swords in response. The villagers were momentarily intimidated by the swords and dared not step forward, but they did not leave either.
When the two sides were deadlocked, Ying Jianhua suddenly spoke up: "If we use past grudges as evidence, I'm afraid the prisons in Jinxi City won't be full."
Prince Chengduan committed numerous evils, and countless families lost their relatives and friends because of him. The people of Jinxi City all wished they could devour his flesh alive.
With these words, the silent villagers of Wuling Village found a new direction and argued vehemently: "That's right! Anyone who has been wronged by Prince Chengduan is a suspect, so why arrest only Doctor Ying?" "Don't any of you officials have wives, daughters, or sisters who have been taken into the Prince's mansion as slaves?"
Some even shamelessly claimed, "Prince Chengduan wasn't murdered at all. He committed grave sins and was taken away by the King of Hell!"
There are demons and ghosts in this world. The former master of the back mountain died at the hands of a demon, so the people of Wuling Village believe in "karma and retribution." The version that Prince Chengduan and his heir died because of demonic chaos is also the most convincing one.
After all, they truly deserved to die. Whether the one who killed them was a human or a ghost, wasn't it all done on behalf of Heaven?
Sensing his subordinates' growing interest, Lu Ping's expression darkened, and he continued to present evidence: "But it is clear that someone saw you leave Wuling Village more than ten days ago and disappear without a trace, which coincides with the whereabouts of the thief 'Doctor Mo'."
"Ha, I thought Officer Lu could produce some solid evidence. It's just a few unfounded rumors from who-knows-who." Ying Jianhua suddenly laughed, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.
"Officer Lu, are you arresting me out of justice or personal feelings?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
