TGCFNM -Chapter 135 I Have No Attachments

Early the next morning, just as Chu Ling was preparing to return the jewelry box to Taoniang’s family, they arrived on their own.

Zhang Dong looked at Chu Ling and asked, “Sir, should we have them come here?”

“Bring them to the front hall,” Chu Ling instructed.

After Zhang Dong left, Chu Ling looked at Taoniang with furrowed brows and asked, “Do you hate them? If they had let you go home, maybe you would still be alive.”

Taoniang shook her head bitterly with a smile. “Sir, the person is dead. There’s no point in thinking about what if.”

“Love and hatred, in the end, only hurt yourself. It’s better to let go,” the Ghost Scholar said softly, his eyes gentle as they rested on Taoniang. “May your next life be one of ease and freedom.”

Taoniang bent slightly in a bow. “Thank you, sir.”

Chu Ling no longer lingered on the past; her expression relaxed slightly. She picked up the jewelry box and headed to the front hall.

Inside, Xu Gensheng sat on a chair, visibly anxious. Beside him, Madam Xu’s face seemed calm, but her legs trembled uncontrollably.

Zhang Dong poured each of them a cup of hot tea, but by the time the steam rose, neither dared to take a sip. They merely licked their dry lips occasionally, growing ever more nervous.

When Chu Ling approached, she saw the two extremely unsettled figures. Thinking that Taoniang herself had let go, her tone softened and steadied: “You came to see me today—do you have something to discuss?”

Chu Ling said nothing about the jewelry. She placed the box down first, then sat.

Xu Gensheng grabbed Madam Xu, and with legs shaking, the two of them suddenly knelt, knocking their heads on the floor together. “Your servant pays respects to the sir!”

“Speak while standing,” Chu Ling said.

Xu Gensheng wanted to rise, but his knees were weak. He straightened as best he could and said, “Sir… you’re investigating my sister’s case, right?”

Chu Ling nodded. “Yes.”

Xu Gensheng took a deep breath, about to speak, when Chu Ling suddenly looked at him and asked, “You brought Taoniang’s body back, didn’t you?”

“Yes, it’s back at home, kept in the room, waiting for burial after seven days,” Madam Xu said nervously. “But today, it wasn’t convenient to wear mourning clothes to see you, so we didn’t.”

Chu Ling raised an eyebrow. The two of them had done well—not rushing the burial.

“Sir… actually, your servant wanted to ask… about the case,” Xu Gensheng said, his eyes red. “Your servant… your servant wronged my sister.”

“Sir, this is my fault, my fault!” Madam Xu cried out. “I… I didn’t want my sister-in-law to return home. I knew the house was built with her silver, but I… I was too selfish.”

Chu Ling tilted her head at Madam Xu and asked, “Since the Xu family benefited from all of Taoniang’s kindness, why, after she redeemed herself, did you still refuse to let her enter the house?”

Taoniang stepped forward, about to speak, but Cui Xi pulled her back. “Miss Taoniang, you must understand why—they owe you this.”

Madam Xu wept, her face streaming with tears. “My lord, my son wants to study, my daughter is grown and will soon marry. If there is an elder in our family who came from a brothel, how are they supposed to live with dignity? Yes, I know that the Xu family’s survival is all thanks to my elder sister, but even if we can accept it, what about the neighbors’ gossip? My lord, this world is like this—just one person’s spit can make you never stand tall again.”

Xu Gensheng cried, “It’s us who have wronged our sister. We were afraid of being pointed at, and even more afraid our children would suffer because of us. To put it plainly, my lord, we were selfish and vile, worse than pigs and dogs.”

Chu Ling lifted her eyes and glanced at Taoniang, who was still crying, then spoke softly, “If she hadn’t been sold back then, none of you would have survived. She was so little, didn’t understand anything, only knew that if she didn’t go in, her younger brother would die.”

Xu Gensheng let out a heart-wrenching cry, as if his very insides were being torn apart. He clenched his teeth through his tears, “But my lord… the drought back home, nothing grows, and the court still raised taxes. We couldn’t survive… we couldn’t survive…”

“Why did the court raise taxes?” Chu Ling frowned. “In times of drought, they should have suspended taxes for a year.”

“My parents said… everyone knew the former crown prince was plotting rebellion and needed to amass wealth, so the taxes were raised to secretly buy grain and weapons,” Xu Gensheng wiped his tears and hoarsely said, “My lord… so many people died back then. My parents said that if they sold our sister, she would survive, and I would survive too.”

Chu Ling felt a sharp pain in her chest, struggling for breath.

“The people suffered, there was nothing to be done, truly nothing,” the Ghost Scholar shook his head with a sigh.

Chu Ling took several deep breaths to calm herself before looking at the two of them. “If you are asking about the progress of the case… right now we only have suspicions. No one has been caught yet.”

“No, no,” Madam Xu hurriedly patted Xu Gensheng.

Xu Gensheng snapped out of his daze, reaching into the front of his clothes to pull out a cloth bundle. Layer by layer, he unfolded it to reveal some pieces of broken silver.

“My lord… this is… this is what we’ve saved up, to give the officers some wine,” Xu Gensheng said nervously, holding out the silver, eyes anxiously fixed on Chu Ling.

Chu Ling was momentarily stunned. Was she being bribed with a few pieces of broken silver?

“My lords have worked hard on the case. Please, take this to buy yourselves some wine,” Madam Xu said, flustered.

Chu Ling choked on her own words, coughing. “…No need. Investigating the case is my duty. Keep the silver, don’t let it tarnish the name of my impartiality.”

At the end, Chu Ling’s expression grew stern, startling Xu Gensheng. He quickly gathered the silver, opening his mouth as if to say something, yet unsure what to utter.

Chu Ling lifted her eyes to look at Taoniang again. She saw the faint smile on her lips, though her figure was beginning to fade. An indescribable feeling rose in her chest.

“During the autopsy, the coroner Su noticed Taoniang’s body was not in good condition,” Chu Ling said softly. This was why Taoniang could redeem herself—due to her health, she didn’t have long to live, which is why the madam let her go.

“She originally wanted to go home, but probably realized her situation, so she thought to save some money and rented that cheap place,” Chu Ling continued, handing the brocade box to Xu Gensheng. “It should be something she saved for you.”

Xu Gensheng took it with trembling hands. As he opened the brocade box, tears immediately fell.

“She probably does not hate you,” Chu Ling said, looking at Taoniang, whose face was filled with joy and relief, her voice tinged with emotion. “Otherwise, she would not have spoken of her brother with such happiness, nor would she have saved these things to leave for you.”

Xu Gensheng could no longer hold back and cried out loud.

Taoniang bowed deeply to Chu Ling, tears in her eyes. “Thank you, my lord. I have no attachments left. I also believe that you will surely catch the culprit and stop the evil from continuing through me.”