Snow falls and the wind blows

Chapter 87

Even if you write seven or eight articles, I'll still give you points, and the more words you write, the more points you'll get!

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Chapter Thirteen: Questioning the Human Heart • Every Sentence a Critique...

The next morning, after having breakfast at the Prince's residence, the group headed to Kaifeng Prefecture. At Duan Chen's instruction, Zhou Yufei had someone bring over the shop assistant whose younger brother had recently died. The interrogation wasn't held in the main hall of the prefectural government, but rather in a relatively spacious ordinary room.

Neither Zuo Xin nor Xiao Changqing were government officials, and Lord Cao, being quite understanding, arranged for them to sit in the next room. There were holes in the wall, allowing them to hear everything clearly, but they couldn't participate in the trial. Lord Cao and the newly appointed registrar, as was customary, observed the proceedings, while Zhao Ting and the others found their seats. The young man was brought up and knelt in the center of the room, head bowed, saying nothing. Duan Chen sat opposite him, also silent, watching him quietly for a long time.

The young man slowly raised his head, stole a glance, and met Duan Chen's cold gaze. He quickly lowered his head again, his shoulders hunched slightly, appearing somewhat timid.

Duan Chen curled his lips into a smile and asked slowly, "What's your brother's name?"

The young man stiffened, his lips pressed tightly together, remaining silent. Zhou Yufei sat to the side, legs crossed, and said lazily, "Are you deaf? Or do you want a beating? Answer my questions now!"

The young man kept his head down, his voice low and trembling slightly: "Su Wan."

Duan Chen stared intently at the man: "After doing so much for your brother, do you feel satisfied?"

The young man quickly replied, "This humble subject does not understand what you mean, sir."

“Raise your head and look at me.” Duan Chen and Zhao Ting exchanged a glance, then gently shook their heads, signaling them not to interfere.

The young man was pale, which made his eyes appear even darker, like midnight. His slightly chapped lips trembled slightly as he slowly said, "This humble subject is ignorant; please enlighten me, sir."

Duan Chen smiled slightly, leaned forward slightly, and locked his eyes on the man: "Oh? You've learned quite well! What else did that person teach you? How to use a knife, how to administer drugs, how to use sweet words to please those adults, and how to debase yourself and submit to men?"

With each word Duan Chen spoke, the man's face grew paler, his chest heaving more violently. As he finished speaking, the man suddenly roared, "I didn't! Not every man is attracted to other men, and I haven't always used my body as bait! I—"

"You said it yourself, not every man is lustful. Do you think you're always killing people who deserve to die, doing good deeds and punishing evil? Apart from the first person you accidentally killed, who might have truly deserved to die, do you even know the character of the next four? Do you still remember your original intentions?"

The man, who had been kneeling and looking indignant, turned pale and then flushed as Duan Chen launched into a barrage of questions. His body went limp, and he collapsed back to his knees. He shook his head repeatedly, muttering, "You don't understand. You don't understand how hard things are for us… Those bastards don't even treat us like human beings…"

Zhou Yufei, unable to bear watching any longer, sat up straight and interjected, "You can't say that. You signed that contract voluntarily. When you made that decision, you should have expected the worst possible outcome. You put yourselves in that situation, so you can't blame others for mistreating you. Besides, those customers paid money to buy food, and the rule of tasting raw pufferfish was set by your restaurant owner. If you really want to resent someone, you should resent your owner, not those customers."

Lord Cao and the registrar, who were a little further away, nodded. Although the words were a bit harsh, they were reasonable.

The man sneered, glancing at Zhou Yufei with a sharp look: "What do you know? If those people were just eating properly, what complaints could we possibly have? You officials are all just protecting each other, living comfortably while you bully us poor folks for your own amusement! My brother is only sixteen. He only helped that guy surnamed Guo taste a piece of raw pufferfish, and he got dirty thoughts about him. While my brother was in the back alley emptying fish scraps, he tried to do something indecent to him. If I hadn't noticed something was wrong with his expression, my brother..."

Zhao Ting frowned, somewhat puzzled: "Didn't your brother die from eating poisonous pufferfish?" As he spoke, he glanced at Duan Chen again. Was there something more to this?

Duan Chen gently shook his head, signaling him to continue listening.

The young man gritted his teeth, a malicious glint in his eyes: "That plate of fish was made in a great hurry, all because that Guo kept urging us. After it was served, it wasn't Awan who was in charge of that table, but he insisted on calling Awan over. My brother was terrified of that man because of what happened the night before, and he was also afraid of getting into trouble and having his wages docked by the boss, so he ate that piece of pufferfish meat."

Zhan Yun, who had been listening intently, frowned slightly and exchanged a glance with Duan Chen. That Guo fellow certainly had character flaws, but no matter how you looked at it, Su Wan's death seemed like an accident, and Su Chen's thinking was far too extreme.

Duan Chen nodded slightly, then looked at Su Chen: "So, you premeditatedly killed Guo Fulai?" However, judging from the wounds on the corpse, the perpetrator seemed to be quite flustered at the time, and the murder weapon was left in the back alley, just an ordinary stone.

Su Chen's eyes flashed, and he nodded, gritting his teeth as he said, "It was all part of my plan. The other four deserved to die!"

Seeing the strange look on his face, Duan Chen said calmly, "Then tell me, in your opinion, why did those four deserve to die?"

Su Chen quickly explained, "The first two people, like that Guo guy, are no good! They were rude to me when I served them the dishes. As for the other two..." Su Chen bit his lip, his eyes darting around, and stopped after saying only two words, his speech stammering and disjointed. Everyone present could tell he wasn't telling the truth, so they turned their gaze to Duan Chen.

Duan Chen gave everyone a reassuring look, signaling them to wait patiently. He picked up a cup and took a sip of water, then remained silent, staring blankly at Su Chen.

After Su Chen finished speaking, he glanced at Duan Chen again. The long silence made him more and more uneasy. In the short time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, he looked up at Duan Chen three times, and his hands were rubbing the fabric on his legs back and forth.

After a long pause, Duan Chen looked into Su Chen's eyes and slowly asked, "In your heart, is that person really that remarkable?"

Su Chen was taken aback, his eyes flickering and his gaze shifting, his lips trembling as he tried to argue. Duan Chen continued, "You think he's amazing, don't you? He can force those people to reveal their ugly sides, and he can kill someone with a single blow, killing all the bad guys. Have you ever considered that perhaps it's not those people who are the problem, but rather the pills he gave you that are the problem? Anyone who takes that kind of drug will become manic and indulge in sensual pleasures."

Su Chen's teeth chattered as he shook his head repeatedly: "You're lying, you're lying."

Duan Chen looked at him quietly, his expressionless face more sarcastic than any other expression: "Do you think I would have any reason to lie to you? If you don't believe me, why don't you take one and try it yourself?"

Su Chen moved her hand slowly to her chest with some doubt, then quickly pulled it back: "I'm not going to fall for your tricks!"

Duan Chen curled his lips into a smile, his eyes cold and clear: "Are you afraid of being fooled, or afraid of knowing the truth? Or perhaps you already have a vague suspicion, and you're afraid that after seeing the truth, you'll despise yourself?"

"If what I'm saying is true, and what you believed before was false, then your so-called revenge, justice, and punishing evil have all become a huge joke. And you yourself are no longer the great savior you imagined, but just a killing tool being manipulated by others." Duan Chen's tone was calm and his expression was composed, but his words were enough to send the person in front of him to the deepest abyss, never to be reborn.

Su Chen knelt there blankly, tears welling up in his eyes. He stopped shaking his head and denying it vehemently, but his body began to tremble violently.

Lord Cao, watching from the side, nodded repeatedly. This young master's words were pearls of wisdom, each sentence hitting the nail on the head; he was truly extraordinary! As he thought this, he glanced at Zhao Ting and Zhou Yufei, smiled and cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to the two of them, and quietly sighed, "Where did you two find such talented individuals? You are truly remarkable!"

Zhou Yufei raised one corner of his mouth, about to speak, when Duan Chen glanced at him and he quickly shut his mouth, pointing to Su Chen kneeling on the ground, signaling Lord Cao to continue listening.

Zhao Ting scoffed, his face cold: "What's the use of regretting it now that it's already done!"

Zhan Yun seized the opportunity, gently persuading, "Su Chen, now that you know the truth, why continue to protect that person? He's the one who truly committed these crimes; you're just blinded by hatred and being used. Revealing that person's name and helping us bring him to justice is the only thing you can do now, isn't it?"

Zhou Yufei chimed in, "And what about those people you killed? Some of them had elderly mothers in their eighties, some had babies just a month old, some were newlyweds whose wives had become widows shortly after they married. As compensation for those innocent people you implicated, you should honestly confess who killed them."

Su Chen remained silent for a long time, then a large tear slid down her cheek and she said softly, "I've never seen that person's real face. He always wears a mask, and he always comes to see me at night."

Su Chen slowly raised his head and looked at Duan Chen: "All I know is that he is not from the Central Plains. Because his eyes are blue."

Duan Chen frowned slightly, but his face remained expressionless: "Is there anything else?"

Su Chen thought back carefully for a moment: "On the back of his hand, near his wrist, there was a circular black brand. The pattern was blurry, it looked like an eagle or something..."

After inquiring about some details, and with the registrar having recorded most of it, Lord Cao ordered Su Chen to be taken away and properly detained, with a trial to be held on a later date. Zhou Yufei, along with Lord Cao and the registrar, went out to handle the follow-up matters. Zhan Yun got up and walked to Duan Chen's side, added some hot water to his cup, and asked in a low voice, "You slept so late last night, weren't you too tired?"