Chapter 271 Imperial Edict of Conviction
After the deceased passed away, the body was kept for seven days before being buried.
The filial son leads the way, scattering paper money along the way to guide the deceased to their final resting place.
Despite the rumors circulating these past two days, many people still spontaneously followed the procession to see off Master Wan.
"Father, may you rest in peace!"
Wan Ziyan raised a handful of paper money.
The paper money drifted in the wind and scattered everywhere.
One of them drifted down and landed on Wan Qiqi's shoulder.
She walked alongside Chen Yongnian, watching Wan Ziyan's lonely figure, and couldn't help but sigh in her heart.
Regardless of what Master Wan did during his lifetime, he has now passed away and can be laid to rest.
If he really did what happened in Yuzhuang, then let him go down and apologize to the people of Yuzhuang.
But was it really only the one time Wan Tingsheng caused trouble?
Wan Qiqi's left eyelid kept twitching, which made her very uneasy.
She tugged at Chen Yongnian's sleeve and whispered, "Husband, please walk slower and pay more attention to your surroundings. I feel like something is not right."
"Okay, be careful." Chen Yongnian slowed down and quickly fell behind the group.
Wan Qiqi always felt that Wan Ziyan's condition was not right.
When he woke up that day, he didn't ask about Wan Tingsheng's matter, as if nothing had happened.
Tao Ran remained silent about Wan Yuanwai's affairs, as if he had tacitly agreed to some things.
The procession quickly traveled from Wanjia to the entrance of Hefeng Town.
The people who came to see them off stopped and watched from a distance as the procession departed.
At the same time, a group of people suddenly appeared in front of the procession.
Upon closer inspection, they turned out to be yamen runners dressed in county government uniforms!
Behind them was a sedan chair, and Fang Ziming stood beside it.
The road ahead was blocked, and the procession stopped.
Wan Ziyan looked up at Fang Ziming, raised his hand in a salute, and said, "Greetings, Lord Fang."
When the magistrate appeared, everyone stopped and knelt down to pay their respects.
Wan Qiqi looked at the wet, muddy ground, unwilling to kneel down.
For some reason, she had a feeling that the visitor was up to no good.
Fang Ziming didn't look like someone who was seeing someone off at all; he looked more like someone who was there to cause trouble.
Everyone knelt down, except for Wan Ziyan and Wan Qiqi.
Fang Ziming seemed not to see Wan Qiqi at all, never raising his eyes to look at her, but staring at Wan Ziyan and the coffin behind him.
He waved his hand, signaling everyone to stand up.
Today, when seeing Master Wan off, Wan Ziyan tidied himself up and gave him a presentable send-off.
However, the grief he has been experiencing lately has made him look very haggard.
The dark circles under his eyes looked like he had been punched twice, and they lingered for a long time.
Seeing Wan Ziyan's words, Fang Ziming hesitated, his brows furrowed.
The usually sensitive Wan Ziyan seemed numb with grief at this moment, not noticing Fang Ziming's strangeness, and was only thinking about why Fang Ziming was not making way.
Upon seeing this, Wan Qiqi stepped forward and said, "Lord Fang, the county is very busy, yet you still took the time to come and see me off. I thank you on behalf of my brother."
As she spoke, she looked up at the dark clouds and said, "Sir, perhaps you could move aside."
Fang Ziming's lips moved twice, but no sound came out.
"Lord Fang, what are you dawdling for? Why aren't you reading the imperial edict?"
A sound suddenly came from inside the sedan chair.
It was clearly a man's voice, but it sounded somewhat shrill.
For some reason, Wan Qiqi suddenly thought of eunuchs.
If there really were eunuchs, they should speak like the people inside the sedan chair.
Then, Wan Qiqi suddenly realized that she had missed the point.
Imperial edict?
What imperial edict?
What kind of imperial edict would stop the funeral procession from being read aloud?
Wan Qiqi subconsciously interrupted, "Lord Fang, it's not appropriate for us to be halfway there... How about we wait until we've buried Master Wan before we come to receive this imperial edict?"
Wan Ziyan seemed a little slow to react, but after hearing Wan Qiqi's words, he nodded slowly.
Fang Ziming closed his eyes and said loudly, "This imperial edict must be read aloud now!"
Wan Qiqi tried to stop him, but Wan Ziyan grabbed her arm.
She turned her head and stared into Wan Ziyan's eyes, vaguely feeling that he seemed to know something, but she didn't know it.
"Wan Ziyan accepts the imperial decree."
Wan Ziyan knelt down, and the people behind him also knelt down.
Even Chen Yongnian, who had rushed over, knelt down.
Wan Qiqi stood alone in front, looking particularly out of place.
In the end, she gave in and knelt down.
"By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees that, after a joint investigation by the Court of Judicial Review, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Justice, Wan Rong of the Wan family in Hefeng Town, Yunhe County, is implicated in the Yuzhuang case twenty-three years ago. After several investigations, it has been confirmed that Wan Rong is the murderer who killed 381 people in Yuzhuang Village..."
Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed.
Master Wan is truly the murderer who killed everyone in Yuzhuang!
Wan Ziyan's face was pale, and he bit his lower lip tightly, as if he was enduring something.
His eyes glistened with tears, and his eye sockets were red.
He was deeply immersed in grief, but that doesn't mean he knew nothing.
Ever since Lu Tongfu left, he had already begun to have a vague suspicion.
He even seemed to guess that Tao Ran wanted to say something he didn't want to hear, so he simply ignored him.
Rumors were flying everywhere, even the servants in the house were talking about it, how could he not hear them?
With his intelligence, how could he not guess the connection?
However... as long as no one draws a conclusion, all of this is just speculation.
But Fang Ziming's imperial edict abruptly pulled him back to reality.
It seemed as if someone was grabbing him by the collar and telling him that everything Master Wan had done was fake, and that his adoption was also fake!
Upon hearing this, Wan Qiqi was about to get up, but Wan Ziyan and Chen Yongnian forcefully pressed her back down.
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