TGCFNM -Chapter 136 Right Beside Me

As Taoniang slowly faded away, Xu Gensheng and his wife helped each other up and stood upright.

“Sir, we will take our leave now.” Xu Gensheng bowed deeply, a look of shame on his face. The sir had rejected the entire chest of jewels, yet he still had the audacity to bribe him with silver.

Chu Ling looked at the way he was holding the jewelry box and suddenly asked, “Why are your fingernails so dirty?”

“Sir, I’ve recently been painting furniture at my new employer’s place. It gets all over my nails, and I can’t seem to clean them completely.” Xu Gensheng shrank his hands a little, embarrassed.

“Is coloring all you do?” Chu Ling asked.

Xu Gensheng nodded. “The employer has everything arranged, everyone has their own duties. I’m in charge of painting.”

Madam Xu added, “I’ve seen that employer when I delivered meals. He seems easy to get along with, but if he gets angry… he’s terrifying.”

“That’s because someone touched the employer’s treasures. He values his little things the most and usually won’t let anyone even touch them,” Xu Gensheng said, shivering. “But that gaze of his… it really is frightening.”

Chu Ling asked sharply, “What little things?”

“Wooden figures. Each one looks exactly like a real person,” Xu Gensheng explained. “But the employer doesn’t sell them, only keeps them to play with himself.”

“Only the rich would play with those. Such expensive wood, carved into human figures, and he won’t sell them? Such a waste,” Madam Xu said, incredulous.

Chu Ling suddenly stood up, her heart racing. “Your employer… is he tall and thin? Does he usually work with his left hand?”

Xu Gensheng nodded, puzzled. “Yes… sir, how did you know? The employer’s right hand was once hit by a piece of wood when he was young. He said he was slightly injured.”

“I’ve searched the entire city of Changzhou and couldn’t find such a carpenter… and he was right beside me all along?” Chu Ling’s anger flared, and she was about to rush out and call for someone.

“The employer said he no longer works as a carpenter. So he doesn’t sell what he makes, he just hires a lot of people,” Xu Gensheng said.

Chu Ling slapped her forehead, teeth clenched in fury. “That bastard is clever.” No wonder she had been looking for a carpenter and couldn’t find one at all.

Before Xu Gensheng could react, Madam Xu, panicked, grabbed his hand. “Sir… are you asking… if it’s the murderous ghost?”

Xu Gensheng froze, shock spreading across his face. When Chu Ling gave an affirmative nod, his eyes burned red with rage.

“I’m going… I’m going to personally kill him! Kill him!” Xu Gensheng shouted, his anger surging uncontrollably.

“If you want to kill him, it should be done in a proper trial, according to the law. If you act rashly, you will be breaking the law,” Chu Ling said, patting his shoulder firmly. “But I allow you to personally lead people to capture him.”

“Yes! Sir!” Xu Gensheng gritted his teeth.

“Did you hear? Sir has found that evil ghost!”

“Yes, yes! He’s going to hold a trial!”

“I saw Master Wan taking someone away myself!”

“Me too… I never would have guessed… never!”

“My hair is standing on end… who could have thought it was him?”

“…”

Chu Ling sat upright beneath the signboard, her expression severe. She struck the gavel.

“Bang—”

“Bring in the accused: Jiang Zisheng!”

Soon, the crowd outside made way, and Jiang Zisheng was escorted in by Han Jin and Han Yin, forced to kneel on the ground.

Madam Jiang rushed forward, but Wang Wei and Wang Yan blocked her with their long staffs, keeping her outside.

“Your honor, my husband just returned home! How could he have killed anyone? Your honor!” Madam Jiang cried out in anguish.

Chu Ling glanced at her calmly. “Whether he killed anyone or not, I will find out with just one question. Do not disturb the court.”

Jiang Zisheng turned back and spoke gently to comfort her, “It’s alright. Wait here calmly for me; we’ll go home together soon.”

Xu Gensheng’s eyes reddened with anger. “You still think about going home? You actually still think about going home!”

Madam Jiang shouted furiously at Xu Gensheng, “How could you do this to my husband? He has treated you so well, yet for your own selfish gain, you falsely accuse him! Tell me, whose money did you take? Was it Carpenter Wang’s money?”

“Don’t talk nonsense!” Carpenter Wang objected. “In business, of course there’s competition. Saying a few bad things about you doesn’t mean I’d pay anyone.”

Chu Ling struck the gavel sharply a few times. “Silence!”

Jiang Zisheng broke free from Han Jin and Han Yin, standing tall and proud. “Your honor, I don’t understand what crime I’ve committed. Xu Gensheng’s sister’s death has nothing to do with me. I do not know her, nor have I ever met her.”

Chu Ling rose from behind the table, walked around Jiang Zisheng, inspecting him, and then returned to her seat, handing a piece of paper to Wan Sanjin.

Wan Sanjin placed the paper on the ground, then had Han Jin and Han Yin press Jiang Zisheng’s feet onto it.

“Perfect match,” Wan Sanjin said. “The footprints at Taoniang’s house match your feet.”

“So what? People with feet as big as mine aren’t rare. Ask around—there are dozens just like them,” Jiang Zisheng said, utterly confused. Was this an attempt to coerce a confession?

Wan Sanjin then lifted his hands, examined his palms and nails, and nodded toward Chu Ling.

Chu Ling gave the next order: “Bring Zhang Ercai here.”

Zhang Ercai, having grown thinner from his time in prison, quickly kowtowed upon seeing Chu Ling. “Your honor, I’ve told everything I know! I really didn’t kill anyone, I swear!”

“Look at the people around you,” Chu Ling instructed.

Zhang Ercai glanced carefully and immediately tried to run, but Han Jin restrained him.

“Your honor, it’s him! It’s him! I saw clearly—it’s him!” Zhang Ercai said, trembling with fear.

Chu Ling looked at Jiang Zisheng. “According to Zhang Ercai’s confession, the facts that night were likely as follows: Zhang Ercai, while meeting his lover secretly, saw dark figure scaling the wall into Taoniang’s house. He thought Taoniang was secretly meeting a lover, unaware that the figures were only scouting the place.”

“So he acted recklessly, sneaking into Taoniang’s house at night. When he climbed through the window, he accidentally made a noise. Taoniang, fearful, came to observe, and he mistook her for meeting a lover and lunged at her. At that moment, the person who had been observing from the beam jumped down, wielding a carved knife, knocked Zhang Ercai unconscious, and strangled Taoniang with a cloth-wrapped wire.”

“When Zhang Ercai woke at dawn, he saw Taoniang brutally killed, her body slashed open, and panicked, fleeing immediately. According to his testimony, the perpetrator had large hands, dirty nails, and sharp, terrifying eyes… All these details match you precisely.”

Jiang Zisheng looked at Zhang Ercai in disbelief. “In the darkness, you recognized me?”

“That night the moon was bright, and there was light inside the house,” Zhang Ercai immediately explained.

Jiang Zisheng asked, “So you saw me with this face?”

“There was a mask, so the face wasn’t clear. The eyes… the eyes didn’t look quite right either,” Zhang Ercai admitted, doubting himself, though the build was definitely similar.

“Your honor!” Jiang Zisheng knelt. “I believe Zhang Ercai is trying to escape responsibility and deliberately framing me.”