TGCFNM -Chapter 108 Good Advice Hard to Heed

Ma Yuansheng wept in anguish. “Why must you do this? I’ve told you, Zhu’er… Zhu’er is a good person.”

“A good person?” Lu Jinyao threw her head back and laughed, tears welling in her eyes. “Why did your mother fall ill? Why did she die of anger? And why was I forced to marry someone else?”

“All because… the Zhen family wanted to take you as their son-in-law!”

Cui Xi looked utterly stunned, muttering to herself, “I’ll never believe in true feelings in this world again.”

Chu Ling smiled faintly. This was only the beginning; there’s more to come.

Ma Yuansheng knelt on the ground in torment. “Zhu’er, you’ve deceived me so cruelly.”

Zhen Mingzhu, panic-stricken, shed tears that stained her wedding gown with blood, looking at him with a heart-wrenching expression. “Don’t cry. Don’t cry… your eyes are weak; tears will only hurt them. It’s all my fault. I’m already dead… dead. Don’t quarrel with someone who’s already gone.”

Lu Jinyao, with tears in her eyes, looked at Ma Yuansheng. “Even though you help me without holding grudges, I still owe you a debt. If there is a next life, let us continue our bond then.”

“No!” Zhen Mingzhu glared at her fiercely. “Go die! Just go die!”

Chu Ling casually glanced at Wan Sanjin beside her and asked, “Ma Yuansheng, Master Ma, you passed the imperial examination, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” Wan Sanjin said. “What’s wrong with that?”

“An imperial scholar… so naïve?” Chu Ling’s smile carried a chill as she looked at Ma Yuansheng. “The temple where Miss Zhen offered prayers is Yunlan Temple. That place is remote and sparsely visited. Because of the birthmark on her face, she insisted on going there. Aside from Yunlan Temple, there were hardly any houses nearby.”

“So, Master Ma… Scholar Ma, can you tell me where that old farmer lived—the one you helped gather firewood? Oh, right, there aren’t any mountains nearby to collect firewood.”

Ma Yuansheng froze and began thinking rapidly.

“No need to think.” Chu Ling had already obtained testimony from Zhen Mingzhu’s cousin. “A distant cousin of the Zhen family came to Changzhou to study. He was your classmate, but he despised your cousin for her looks. After drinking with you, he revealed this information, which led to that so-called chance encounter at the temple. You went there deliberately.”

“The Lu family lived not far from yours, and few knew about your engagement to Lu Jinyao. But the money you spent buying books came from the embroidery Lu Jinyao sold. Yet, to avoid future worries, you disclosed it to the Zhen family. Otherwise, how would they have known about your engagement?”

“Your mother suffered from tuberculosis and didn’t have long to live—you knew this yourself,” Chu Ling said coldly. “When you first met Zhen Mingzhu, you probably didn’t dare raise your eyes to her. You were afraid, yet you wanted to climb higher—you had to marry in. Later, when you passed the imperial exams, what were you thinking? Bring Zhen Mingzhu to the capital so you could make your mark there, free from the Zhen family’s threats, right?”

Chu Ling struck the judge’s gavel and stood, coldly staring at him, tossing all the evidence before him.

Ma Yuansheng’s eyes widened in rage. “Sir, you cannot arbitrarily convict me!”

Chu Ling snorted coldly. “I had people visit the neighbors of the Ma and Lu families, questioned the Zhen family’s servants, and confirmed everything with Zhen Mingzhu’s cousin. Now both witness and material evidence are in place. What more can you say?”

Ma Yuansheng’s breathing grew rapid. Several times he tried to speak, but his mind went blank.

“Lu Jinyao liked lotus pastries. You bought them for her. Did you ever complain about the hardships you endured?” Chu Ling sneered. “Zhen Mingzhu could only eat bland food. You bought lotus pastries for her every day—didn’t you think she couldn’t eat them?”

Wan Sanjin froze, speechless. “What… is this called, taking advantage of both sides, deceiving both?”

Zhen Mingzhu gave him a wealthy life, but her appearance was considered ugly—how could she become the wife of a scholar?

Lu Jinyao had already married someone else. If she returned seeking to renew her bond, it would be troublesome. But if he used Lu Jinyao to eliminate Zhen Mingzhu, and Lu Jinyao got imprisoned, he would be perfectly free.

With the Zhen family fortune in hand and as an imperial scholar, once he was appointed to important positions, his future would be limitless, rising swiftly without obstacle.

Lu Jinyao shouted, “No, no, he didn’t know anything! He only bought my favorite lotus pastry because he felt sorry for me!”

Zhen Mingzhu also rushed forward, shouting, “It’s not his fault! I’m the one who killed myself. He didn’t kill anyone—how could it be his fault? He did nothing wrong!”

Chul Ling looked at Xiao Lian. “How did Zhen Mingzhu, a young lady raised in a secluded inner chamber, know that the fan leaves would react with the medicine in the jar?”

Xiao Lian said, “Once, when I was preparing medicine, I accidentally mixed in fan leaves. The Young Master saw it and scolded me, and that’s when the Miss realized the fan leaves were poisonous.”

Zhen Mingzhu gazed at Ma Yuansheng with deep affection. “He cares about me. That’s why he personally took care of my medicine. If it weren’t for him, I would have been dead long ago. He loves me.”

Bai Su suddenly recalled a phrase: “Good advice rarely persuades a damned ghost.”

“A son-in-law who passed the imperial exams would surely be mocked and criticized, wouldn’t he, Scholar Ma?” Chul Ling looked at him. “What more evidence do you want? How could you even deny it now?”

“Master… Master, he…” Lu Jinyao knelt a few steps forward. “Master, he didn’t hurt anyone. It was all me—I was the foolish one.”

“Of course, you were foolish,” Chul Ling said, pointing at her eyes. “Your eyes are dark and lifeless, there are red spots on the backs of your hands—you’ve been poisoned, and you don’t have many days left to live.”

“How… how could this be?” Lu Jinyao looked at her hands, then suddenly turned, staring at Ma Yuansheng in disbelief.

“The lotus pastry wasn’t poisoned. I ate some myself,” Ma Yuansheng said calmly.

“It was the wine… only the wine I drank!” Lu Jinyao recalled. He had said he needed to study and couldn’t drink. She, tormented alone, had finished all the wine he brought.

Ma Yuansheng slowly stood and looked at Chul Ling. “Master Chul, may I ask—have I ever personally killed anyone?”

“Never,” Chul Ling replied.

“Since I’ve never killed anyone, Master, you’ve finished your questioning. I may leave now,” Ma Yuansheng said, turning to walk away.

Wan Sanjin pointed at Ma Yuansheng’s retreating back. “Using others as a weapon… after killing so many people, he’s just leaving?”

“Wait!” Chul Ling shouted.

“What else do you want, Master?” Ma Yuansheng asked sharply.

Chul Ling took a deep breath. “The deaths of Old Master Zhen and Lady Zhen were at Zhen Mingzhu’s own hands. I don’t have evidence to detain you for that—after all, Zhen Mingzhu is already dead. But Lu Jinyao is still alive. And you still want to leave?”

Ma Yuansheng looked down at Lu Jinyao. “Do you have anything to say?”

Lu Jinyao opened her mouth, suddenly remembering he had mentioned knowing where her brother was.

“…I… I have nothing to say. All of this is my own fault,” Lu Jinyao said, bowing her head in anguish.

“Master, may I leave now?” Ma Yuansheng even asked with a hint of pride in his smile.

Chul Ling smiled too. “She didn’t finish the wine. I had it examined by the doctors. And I also have proof of who bought the wine, when, and where it went. If Lu Jinyao refuses to speak, that’s fine—there are plenty of people willing to talk.”

“Men! Seize Ma Yuansheng!”

“Yes, Master.”