Kiyomi Tsuki and His Fox - Chapter 125
Lu Qingcheng asked directly, "Xu Lan, the Grand Lord said that the assassin was Li Zhen. Can you prove that?"
"Yes, Lord of the Fortress." Xu Lan said calmly, "Li Zhen's mother, Madam Li, was a couple with Zhong Wan'an before she married into the Li family. Later, because of Madam Tong's interference, Zhong Wan'an became the live-in son-in-law of Baishi Manor, while Madam Li married into the Li family in despair and gave birth to Li Zhen."
Su Haibo suddenly realized and said, "So that's how it is."
"Madam Li gave birth to Li Zhen only six months after marrying into the Li family, which was a great disgrace to the Li family. However, Baishi Manor was a well-known wealthy family in the area, and with the Lu Family Fort as its backing, even the Li family could not afford to offend them. Unable to get rid of Madam Li, Master Li's dislike turned into hatred, and he abused Madam Li and her child every day. It can be said that Li Zhen's childhood was extremely tragic and dark. When Li Zhen was eight years old, Master Li celebrated his father's birthday. That night, Master Li, the old master Li, Master Li's four concubines, Master Li's three sons, and two daughters were all poisoned to death. They bled from all seven orifices, and their deaths were extremely gruesome."
Those present were all shocked upon hearing this.
"Because of their lowly status, Madam Li and her son were not allowed to attend the banquet, thus escaping the disaster. The authorities investigated for a long time but could not find out who poisoned them, and the matter was eventually dropped. Madam Li then rightfully inherited the Li family's property. It was thought that they would finally have a good life, but Madam Tong used every means, coaxing and deceiving them, to lure Madam Li and her son back to Baishi Manor, and then seized the opportunity to take over the Li family's property. From then on, Madam Li and Li Zhen resumed their old ways." Xu Lan sighed sadly, "Li Zhen lived in that kind of environment."
“Li Zhen survived in such an environment, which shows that his mind and personality had long been twisted and abnormal. No wonder he would use such methods to take revenge on the Tong Kang and Tong Lei brothers.” Although Cai Bo’an was filled with pity deep in his heart, it did not hinder his analysis and reasoning of the case. “I have a question: how did he learn his martial arts and swordsmanship?”
"His martial arts and swordsmanship were taught to him by me," Xu Lan said.
Cai Bo'an nodded and said, "That makes perfect sense now. The assassin's martial arts and swordsmanship are similar to yours. But why is even his back view so similar to yours?"
“That’s because Li Zhen’s build is similar to mine,” Xu Lan said. “My younger sister once said that his back view is extremely similar to mine.”
"Now that you mention it, I do remember," Su Haibo said. "Li Zhen often hunches his back. Once, I looked at his back and thought, if this young man straightened his back and held his head high, he would definitely be no worse than Zhou Jie and Du Ping."
“I took pity on him, so I secretly taught him martial arts and swordsmanship, hoping that one day he could stand before the Tong brothers like a human being.” Xu Lan shook his head and said, “But I never dreamed that he would use the martial arts and swordsmanship I taught him to kill the Tong brothers. Although I despise the Tong brothers’ character, I do not approve of his actions.”
"This is also why Li Zhen framed you," Cai Bo'an said. "Since that's the case, why don't you expose him?"
“First, you won’t believe it.” Xu Lan smiled slightly.
No one spoke. Indeed, at that time, everyone was quite hostile towards Xu Lan, so how could they believe his explanation?
“The most important thing is,” Xu Lan sighed, “that I pity him. Besides, since the dead are wicked people like Tong Kang and Tong Lei, I don’t want to expose them.”
“You’re wrong,” Lu Qingcheng said in a deep voice. “Because of your leniency, he almost killed innocent people.”
Xu Lan replied with shame, "Yes."
"Why did he poison Jian Yue?" Lu Qingcheng asked sharply. "What grudge did Jian Yue have against him? Why did he treat Jian Yue with such a vicious method?"
"To be precise, Li Zhen's target for poisoning was not Young Master Jianyue," Xu Lan said. "The person he wanted to poison was you, Lord of the Fortress."
Lu Qingcheng's expression changed drastically. He suddenly remembered that if it weren't for urgent matters, he would have drunk the duck soup with Jian Yue. Xu Lan was right; Li Zhen really wanted to poison him.
“There’s another reason why he poisoned the Lord of the Fortress,” Xu Lan said sadly. “It’s because of my younger sister. She has been in love with the Lord of the Fortress since she was twelve years old. She came to Lu Family Fortress this time because I wanted to help her fulfill her wish, so I agreed to be the lady’s bodyguard.”
Lu Qingcheng asked blankly, "Twelve years old?"
“The Lord of the Fortress must have a bad memory,” Xu Lan said. “When the Lord of the Fortress was fourteen years old, he visited White Stone Manor. Tong Lei coveted my younger sister’s beauty and harassed her many times, and I beat him black and blue each time. That day, he spent a lot of money to hire six martial arts masters to attack me, and he also molested my younger sister, trying to distract me. If the Lord of the Fortress hadn’t come to save my younger sister in time, I might have died under their attack that day.”
Lu Qingcheng finally remembered, "Yes, that's right. I almost forgot about it if you hadn't mentioned it."
Xu Lan continued, "After hearing about this, Madam summoned Tong Lei and gave him a severe scolding, warning him not to make any advances towards my younger sister. Madam said that she had already arranged for my younger sister to marry the Lord of the Fortress. In fact, this was all because Madam cherished her subordinate's martial arts skills and didn't want him to be ruined by the Tong Kang brothers. However, it was also because of Madam's words that my younger sister developed inappropriate thoughts about the Lord of the Fortress."
Upon hearing this, Lu Qingcheng's emotions surged like a turbulent sea.
Xu Lan said, "Li Zhen has long harbored feelings for my younger sister. He has proposed to her many times, but she has always refused. The last time was the day before yesterday, when she said that she would only ever love one person in her life, and that was the Lord of the Fortress."
Lu Qingcheng's hand, which was resting on the coffee table, trembled slightly.
Seeing this, Qingfeng solemnly issued the order on behalf of Lu Qingcheng: "Please, Your Excellency, arrest the culprit."
Cai Bo'an stood up and said, "Your subordinate obeys."
The little sparrows and crows went in and out, carrying water in and out, busy as bees. In the courtyard, Zhou Jie paced back and forth in the wind and snow, his hands tucked into his sleeves. Thinking of He Yunya inside, his heart burned like a fire, and he couldn't bear to leave.
Suddenly, a flash of silver light swept past his feet, startling Zhou Jie. Xiao Qian, holding up her skirt and sweating profusely, came running after her. Zhou Jie wondered why she was only arriving now.
"Little crow, what happened to Young Master Yue?" Xiaoqian was out of breath and could barely finish a sentence.
"Ha, why did you only come now?" The little crow, carrying a basin of steaming water, opened its mouth wide and said angrily, "My master loves you so much, and even took out his own salary to help you with this and that, but when trouble comes, you hide like a turtle and only come over when the tea has gone cold."
Xiaoqian lowered her head sadly, tears welling up in her eyes.
"What are you doing?" the little crow said angrily. "I only said one thing to you, and you're giving me that attitude."
The white fox scratched at the door with its paws, making anxious cries. The carved door opened silently, and the fox darted inside. Xiaoqian hurriedly looked up, tears streaming down her face. The little sparrow came out, and Zhou Jie couldn't help but move closer. The little sparrow gently scolded, "Little crow, Miss Xiaoqian is late; there must be a reason."
The little crow cried out, "Did I say something wrong?"
“I didn’t say you were wrong,” the little sparrow said calmly and gently. “I meant that you’re wronging innocent people by insulting them without knowing the facts.”
The little crow pouted.
A strange feeling rose in Zhou Jie's heart. This girl named Little Sparrow, as a maid, possessed a level of refinement and demeanor completely different from that of a maid. He couldn't help but recall what had happened earlier, becoming even more certain that this girl named Little Sparrow and Miss He inside were no ordinary people.
"Young Master Jianyue...Young Master Jianyue..." Xiaoqian choked with sobs, tears welling up in her eyes as she looked at the little sparrow, her heart tormented by pain, anxiety, and relentless suffering.
Seeing her so grief-stricken, the little sparrow couldn't help but feel sad for her and smiled as she comforted her, "It's alright. Young Master Jianyue is fine. Miss Xiaoqian, you don't need to worry."
In an instant, Xiaoqian's pale face flushed a beautiful rosy hue, as if she had drunk some wine. She exclaimed in surprise and delight, "Is this real? Little Sparrow, is this real?"
"It's true." Little Sparrow smiled. "Young Master Jianyue is alright. Miss He is inside helping him detoxify. If you're worried, you can come in with me to take a look. However, you must be careful not to make any noise, otherwise Miss He will scold you."
Xiaoqian was extremely excited. "I won't make a sound. I just need to take a look. Thank you, thank you."
"No need to thank me, come with me." The little sparrow took her hand and led her into the room.
The little crow opened its mouth wide in disbelief, then stomped its foot, "I'm so angry! Little sparrow, how could she, how could she do this?"
"What's wrong?" Wang Jie asked.