FBC – Chapter 123 Human Life is No Trivial Matter

“Human life?”

Gu Yuan and Wang Heng jumped up together, faces fierce and menacing, as if they wanted to tear Gu Hua apart.

Mu Junyan took a step forward and stood protectively in front of Gu Hua. His cool gaze swept over them as he spoke slowly, “Don’t the two of you believe it?”

Seeing how Mu Junyan was protecting her, Wang Heng didn’t dare to act rashly.

He turned to glare angrily at Gu Yuan. “Don’t you even know your own woman? How many lives has she taken?!”

Gu Yuan’s face flushed crimson—his ancestors in the grave were probably ready to rise and beat him for this humiliation.

He stammered, “They were just servants. It’s not illegal to beat a few to death if they made mistakes.”

Gu Hua let out a mocking laugh.

“Yinzhi’s parents and Jin Kui were slaves, yes, but the coachman Lao Liu wasn’t. And neither was the son of the private tutor, Ji Xuanyu!”

“So just because you flap your lips a bit, you think you can accuse me of murder? Do you have any evidence? Yinzhi’s so-called blood-written letter accuses me of killing her parents? What a joke.”

Concubine Pei burst out laughing wildly, “And besides, the coachman Lao Liu was executed by your father’s order. Are you planning to report your father to the magistrate?”

Gu Yuan roared, “Lao Liu was executed for trying to assault you! How can you say Concubine Pei killed him?”

Gu Hua’s voice turned cold. “Because it was Concubine Pei who arranged for Lao Liu to sneak into my room. Then she used Father’s hand to kill him. If Father is willing to take the blame for her, by all means.”

Gu Yuan was so furious he couldn’t speak.

“Bring them in,” Gu Hua commanded.

Her body trembled slightly with rage, but she stood tall and straight.

Before coming, Mu Junyan had gone over all the witness testimonies and physical evidence with her in detail.

She was deeply grateful for how much he had done for her behind the scenes.

But she couldn’t hide behind Mu Junyan forever—she needed to learn how to face things on her own.

Otherwise, her past life would have been in vain.

Soon, Chi Yan and a few guards brought in several people along with a pile of evidence.

Chi Yan had been in charge of the entire investigation, so he was the one who knew all the details.

Without waiting for Gu Hua to speak, Chi Yan calmly reported everything.

“This couple lived next door to Yinzhi’s family. They heard fighting inside the house the night her father died. Peeking through the door crack, they saw Granny Lu leading two strong men out of the house. They had always been on good terms with Yinzhi’s parents, so they pushed the door open out of concern and found her father strangled to death on the bed.

“But they were too afraid to speak out. Not long after, the Marquis of Wenchang’s household sent people to hastily conduct a funeral, telling the neighbors he had died of sudden illness. That same night, the servant woman from the marquis household who worked there vanished without a trace.”

Concubine Pei’s eyes bulged blood-red with fury: “You took silver and now you spew filth!”

“That’s right. On the day of the funeral, Granny Lu gave each neighboring household a tael of silver, telling them not to spread rumors.”

Chi Yan then pulled out a written testimony. “This was written by Yinzhi’s mother. Knowing someone would come after her, she committed suicide the next day to protect her daughter, leaving behind this blood-written letter to reveal the truth about the murder of her and her husband.”

Chi Yu took the letter and unrolled it in front of Gu Yuan and Wang Heng. Their expressions changed instantly.

“As for Ji Xuanyu, he did fall off a cliff—but he was rescued by a local hunter. The hunter kept his bloodstained robe. We found the hunter, who said the injured man told him someone had lured him to the edge and then pushed him down.”

Gu Hua continued: “Brother Ji was harmed because of me. Concubine Pei didn’t want him to take me away from her grasp. She wanted me to continue suffering. Ji Xuanyu was a tongsheng (child student). You both should know the punishment for attempting to kill a tongsheng, right, Uncle and Father?”

Mu Junyan’s expression darkened slightly.

Brother Ji.

What an affectionate way to call him.

Killing a servant was one thing—but attempting to murder a tongsheng was a serious crime.

Gu Yuan and Wang Heng were both speechless, cold sweat trickling down their backs.

Wang Heng bitterly regretted accepting the wedding banquet invitation, and even more so attending in hopes of currying favor with the Duke Yong. If only he hadn’t come, he wouldn’t be caught up in this mess.

“And… Mother.”

Gu Hua turned to her mother, who was sobbing softly in Granny Zhou’s arms.

“If I hadn’t brought Miss Shen, who specializes in poison, back to the manor and discovered that Mother had been poisoned, then today, she might already be beyond saving. Mother holds the title of a fifth-rank court lady. What’s the crime for poisoning an imperial honoree?”

Gu Yuan and Wang Heng’s faces turned ashen.

Madam Wang sobbed even harder upon hearing this.

Her daughter—despite suffering so much herself—still thought of her, an unworthy mother.

Gu Hua suddenly smiled, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes as she looked at Gu Wanru.

“Elder Sister, how many people have you killed?”

Gu Wanru stared at her in terror. “I didn’t kill anyone! It was all Concubine Pei—it had nothing to do with me!”

Concubine Pei’s wild laughter turned into sobbing.

The daughter she had schemed so hard to raise and protect—at this moment—only knew how to throw all the blame on her.

Suddenly, Concubine Pei dropped to her knees, her bloodshot eyes fixed on Gu Hua. She laughed and cried, looking utterly deranged.

“Wanru hasn’t killed anyone. She really didn’t know anything. She always thought she was a legitimate daughter. It was all me—all me! But was I wrong? I am the legitimate eldest daughter of the Pei family, the wealthiest clan in Jiangling! Why should I be a concubine?

“So many noble sons proposed to marry me as their principal wife, yet the Pei family forced me to give up happiness to be a lowly concubine! Who could I complain to? All of you pretend to be virtuous, yet you took my silver and still looked down on me. Why?!”

Gu Hua ignored her ramblings and cut straight to the point with a sneer.

“Oh? Then who arranged for me to be lured outside and kidnapped? What about Jin Kui? Was she also killed by you? If no one had arranged the kidnapping, she wouldn’t have died. I’m just curious—who were the kidnappers after? Who sent them?”

Gu Wanru’s face turned ghostly pale as she looked at Concubine Pei, signaling her to take all the blame.

Concubine Pei’s gaze slowly shifted to her daughter, full of despair.

She slowly nodded, tears streaming as she spoke, “Yes, I bribed the kidnappers. I told them to abduct you. Jin Kui died because of me. Blame it all on me—it’s all my fault, all of it!”

Gu Wanru bit her lip hard, tears falling in streams as she looked away from Concubine Pei.

Gu Hua’s voice suddenly rose: “Oh? But Jin Kui was killed by Gu Wanru—I saw it with my own eyes.”

“No! Don’t you dare frame my daughter!”

Concubine Pei suddenly lunged at Gu Hua like a madwoman, clawing at her face with her sharp nails.

Before she could get close, Mu Junyan waved his arm, and a blade of wind sliced toward Concubine Pei’s face.

A scream rang out—she was thrown to the ground. Guards rushed in and tied her up. A loud crack sounded—her arm was broken. Her screams of pain echoed through the room.

Chi Yu frowned, stepped forward, and grabbed her jaw. With a twist, her jaw dislocated. Then he stuffed a cloth into her mouth. Her whole body trembled in agony, but she couldn’t make a sound anymore.

“No! I didn’t kill Jin Kui! Why would I kill her? She grew up with me…”

Gu Wanru was desperate now, sobbing.

“Yes. Both she and Yinzhi grew up with you. One was nearly beaten to death, the other was murdered by you.”

Gu Wanru’s cries came to an abrupt stop. She looked at Gu Hua as if she were a stranger.

No—like a demon from hell, back for revenge!

Gu Hua’s tone was calm. “The kidnappers were after the young madam. You pushed me forward as a scapegoat. Jin Kui screamed that I wasn’t the young madam—so you killed her.”

“What? The kidnappers were after Gu Wanru?” Gu Yuan and Wang Heng finally snapped out of their daze.

Mu Junyan looked at the girl.

She was throwing everything away for revenge.

And Gu Hua really was.

But she bet none of those present would dare speak of it afterward.

Because none of them would risk opposing the Duke’s household.