TGCFNM -Chapter 107 Deep Affection

Chu Ling looked at Zhen Mingzhu standing in the hall. She had never expected to encounter a ghost who hadn’t died unjustly, which already spoke volumes about how strong Mingzhu’s attachment must be.

Chu Ling exhaled lightly and continued with the investigation.

She glanced at the testimony: “The Zhen family parents doted on their daughter and were indeed prepared to find a husband for her, but the original choice was Mingzhu’s distant cousin.”

According to the Zhen family servants, their young lady hadn’t initially refused. The reason she later opposed it was that on one trip to the temple to pray for blessings, she returned crying and insisted on breaking off the engagement.

“Your Lordship, Xiao Lian, has been brought in; she was about to run.” Wang Wei said, escorting the girl inside and stepping aside.

Xiao Lian looked fearfully at Chu Ling sitting above and instinctively knelt at Ma Yuansheng’s feet. “Master… Master… my mother is sick at home; I must rush back, Master…”

Chu Ling struck the judge’s gavel, startling Xiao Lian.

“I’ll ask a few questions. Answer honestly, and I’ll let you go,” Chu Ling said.

Xiao Lian quickly kowtowed. “Lord… I-I have seen Lord.”

“Your young lady broke off her engagement with her distant cousin because of that temple prayer. Why did she change her mind?” Chu Ling asked.

Xiao Lian stole a glance at Ma Yuansheng, her eyes darting around, uncertain.

“Your young lady… your master and mistress are all dead. What’s there not to say?” Chu Ling smiled, but her eyes were cold. “Isn’t that so?”

Finally, Xiao Lian mustered courage. “When Miss returned, she saw Master helping an old farmer by the roadside gather firewood. Afterward, Miss had us inquire about Master’s whereabouts… and later, the engagement was broken off.”

Chu Ling pondered. “So it wasn’t that Master Zhen picked a husband from the list—Miss Zhen knew about Ma Yuansheng from the start, right?”

“Yes…” Xiao Lian lowered her head, avoiding Ma Yuansheng’s gaze.

“Good. Let me ask further,” Chu Ling tilted her head toward her. “The apothecary testified that you were the one who bought the fān yè [foreign leaves]. Did Miss Zhen ask you to buy them?”

“Yes… yes…”

“What were the leaves for?” Chu Ling demanded sharply.

Xiao Lian turned pale with fright and suddenly raised her head. “Miss… Miss wanted to put them in the medicine jars! I—I didn’t know the leaves were poisonous, Lord, I truly didn’t… I didn’t know, didn’t know!”

Chu Ling’s eyes turned icy. “How did your master’s wife fall?”

“Steps… the steps were oiled… Miss—Miss had never been pregnant. My mistress was considering whether to divorce and remarry, but Miss wouldn’t agree.” Xiao Lian broke into fearful sobs. “Miss… Miss is terrifying… truly terrifying.”

Chu Ling’s gaze shifted to Zhen Mingzhu beside Ma Yuansheng.

Mingzhu lifted her veil, her eyes cold. “And if it is so?”

“Poisoning your own parents with your own hands—an unforgivable crime!” Chu Ling thundered.

“I have long been dead. Do you still intend to try a dead person, my lord?” Zhen Mingzhu said with a bitter laugh, turning her head but still gazing at Ma Yuansheng.

Ma Yuansheng’s expression was dazed, disbelief in his eyes as he looked at Xiao Lian. “What you’re saying… it’s all true?”

“Miss… Miss has always loved Master… indeed, it was all done by Miss,” Xiao Lian cried.

“That’s not all!” Lu Jinyao shouted, her eyes red with tears. “Master Zhen himself came to my home, forcing my parents to cancel my engagement, or else our whole family’s lives would be at risk. Then he said that if I agreed to break off the engagement and marry someone else, he would give me a generous dowry. My parents were unwell, my younger brother was sick, so I had no choice but to obey.”

“Later, when he came to my house, he asked me, but what could I say? How can an ant shake a great tree? What could I do? I could only marry someone else,” Lu Jinyao wept. “After my mother died of grief over the broken engagement, I knew I would never gain his forgiveness in this lifetime.”

Chu Ling asked again, “Then why did you come back?”

“My husband drowned after losing a gambling bet. My in-laws said I was cursed, seized my dowry, and forced me to leave. Helpless, I returned home… only to find my parents and brother were already gone. I had nowhere to go, and on the road I met him,” Lu Jinyao looked up at Ma Yuansheng, love still in her eyes. “He didn’t hold past grudges, gave me money, and helped me.”

Chu Ling smiled at her. “Are lotus pastries tasty? I heard they’re your favorite snack.”

Lu Jinyao froze. “How does my lord know that?”

Chu Ling crossed her legs and sighed. “I must say, in this vast world, there is nothing strange… today I’ve truly seen it all.”

Her random remark left everyone staring at her in puzzlement.

Chu Ling cleared her throat. “Let me summarize this case for you: First, Miss Zhen met Ma Yuansheng on her way to the temple to pray. To obtain him, Master Zhen forced Lu Jinyao to break off her engagement. After Ma Yuansheng passed the imperial examination, he was taken as a son-in-law by the Zhen family.”

“After marrying Ma Yuansheng, Miss Zhen remained childless. Master Zhen wanted her to divorce and remarry. But Miss Zhen’s love for Ma Yuansheng was steadfast, so she refused, subsequently poisoning Master Zhen and Madam Zhen.”

“Miss Zhen had always been in poor health, suffering from heart disease, so she was unable to bear children. Later, due to her failing health and misuse of medicine on her face, she ultimately died.”

Chu Ling finished speaking and looked at the people standing below.

The gathered villagers began to murmur: “So Miss Zhen killed her parents and then herself… it’s retribution, isn’t it?”

“Exactly, and she even ruined someone else’s marriage.”

“Yes, Master Ma had passed the imperial examination. Such a bright future!”

“Alas!” Chu Ling’s gaze fell on him. “Yes, Ma Yuansheng, Master Ma, passed the imperial examination. But with Master Zhen’s death, he had to mourn at home.”

“My lord means… my wife did all this just to keep me…” Ma Yuansheng couldn’t even bear to think further, feeling both stunned and uneasy.

Wan Sanjin asked, “My lord, so this is the whole case?”

Chu Ling shook a finger. “Not quite.”

“After Lu Jinyao returned, she learned of Ma Yuansheng’s plight. Still bound by her old feelings, she deliberately arranged a meeting with Zhen Mingzhu to help Ma Yuansheng escape his suffering,” Chu Ling pointed to the testimony. “The housekeeper can attest: in the time they met, lasting only a cup of tea, Zhen Mingzhu requested gold-infused medicine to treat a birthmark on her face, which caused her skin to rot and her heart disease to worsen, leading to death.”

In other words, bacterial infection caused unbearable skin pain and itching, and seeing her own horrifying appearance triggered a fatal heart attack.

Lu Jinyao closed her eyes. “I did it… I admit it. My lord, punish me as you see fit, but I have no regrets.”