Admission Of Guilt (1)

“So, what happened after you killed Jing Yan? What did you do?” Zhao Zhi asked Zeng Deyong.

Zeng Deyong flashed a wicked grin. “The next thing I did was to fling his body into Qiu Wenkang’s yard, of course. I was going to frame him for the murder and make sure he paid for what he did!”

Zhao Zhi tapped his fingers against the table. “Because you suspected he was romantically involved with Fourth Missy Gan?”

“I wasn’t suspicious – I was very sure! These two were definitely more than mere acquaintances!” Zeng Deyong snickered. “They thought I didn’t know, huh. 18 years ago, during that bandit raid on Beiqing Mountain, Qiu Wenkang already got to know Fourth Missy Gan! They didn’t have many chances to spend time together, but as long as they saw each other, they would definitely make eyes at one another, as though they had a million things to say. If I didn’t quickly make Fourth Missy Gan my concubine back then, who knows whose woman this Fourth Miss Gan would be today? I can’t even be sure whose son Gan Zhixuan is!”

Zhao Zhi went on, “So, Fourth Missy Gan had more than ordinary contact and dealings with Jing Yan and Qiu Wenkang.”

“That’s right!” Zeng Deyong glowered. “Why else would I want to kill them?”

Fourth Missy Gan had more than ordinary contact and dealings with Jing Yan and Qiu Wenkang…

That was news to Song Caitang and Wen Yuansi.

Jing Yan’s identity was shrouded in mystery and he definitely wasn’t just another ordinary guy on the street as described by Qi Yan. The incident 18 years ago was also shrouded in mystery, and it was definitely hiding a secret of sorts. After throwing in Lu Guangzong, Zeng Deyong, Sang Zheng, the box with secret drawers, its blueprint, and the shipment of gold, it just felt like it had to be connected to the whole thing about someone within Da’an committing treason.

Fourth Missy Gan had something to do with all of these people.

Who in the world was she? Why did she look up all these people?

Or perhaps the right question was, what in the world did she know? Had she been trying to hide but couldn’t hide anymore and was finally killed after all?

Did Zeng Deyong happen to strike at just the right time? Was it purely a coincidence?

“I wanted to kill two birds with one stone. After killing Jing Yan, I threw the body into Qiu Wenkang’s yard, hoping that it would get him mixed up in a murder case that he wouldn’t be able to get out of. But somehow, he managed to escape all of that. Jing Yan’s body turned up in Fourth Missy Gan’s yard instead.”

The more he spoke, the more Zeng Deyong got angry. “It has to be because she was feeling guilty, right? Otherwise, why would she agree to live so near another man travelling on his own? Why would she secretly bury the body in her yard instead of reporting it to the authorities? And after that, she even risked her life to get out of the city as quickly as possible… My guess was right! Those men deserved to be killed!”

“Also, after Fourth Missy Gan died, I was feeling really good about it and I had already planned to kill Qiu Wenkang next. But you acted too quickly and I couldn’t get to him in time so he managed to get away again!”

Zhao Zhi asked, “You killed Jing Yan, you killed Fourth Missy Gan, and you also planned to kill Qiu Wenkang, plus you wanted to humiliate Madam Wei. So why didn’t you kill Sang Zheng? Shouldn’t you hate him the most?”

Zhao Zhi asked this question in a very slow voice, as though he was insinuating something.

Zeng Deyong made a face. “That’s a different thing altogether.”

“In what way?” Zhao Zhi clasped his hands and used them to hold his chin up as he stared intently at Zeng Deyong. “You respected Madam Wei so much and married her properly, yet she gave birth to another man’s son and claimed that he was yours. Her actions are way worse than Fourth Missy Gan. So why do you seem to hate the men who are involved with Fourth Missy Gan more?”

Zeng Deyong laughed. “You’ve definitely never been married and so you don’t understand how women work. You think that Fourth Missy Gan is weak-willed and softhearted, so everyone rushes to help her. Actually, she’s a very stubborn and fierce woman inside. If she doesn’t truly choose you, she won’t go with you, because…”

“…She has me in her heart and she always remembers me. Madam Wei, on the other hand, just looks like she’s been with me since we were children. But actually, she’s an adventurous one who has space in her heart for anyone else but me.”

“Besides… how do you know I don’t want to kill Sang Zheng?”

Sang Zheng scoffed. “Who do you think you are!”

“I’ve even been able to kill an insanely skilled man like Jing Yan. Who do you think YOU are?” Zeng Deyong smiled. “I didn’t do anything to you for such a long time because I’m in no hurry to kill you. You’re the one I want to torture the most, so I can’t let you die so easily. I want to have enough fun first.”

Everything made sense after Zeng Deyong explained things.

Zhao Zhi asked another question, “What about the jade pendant? How did Jing Yan’s jade pendant land in your hands? Did you take it after you killed him?”

Zeng Deyong replied, “No, I got this from Fourth Missy Gan.” He gnashed his teeth angrily and snapped, “That slut! Not only did she have a change of heart, but she kept one of his belongings even though he was already dead! Of course that made me mad! I had to take that away! But before I could find a good time to get rid of it, you found it.”

The hall was silent for a long time after Jing Yan’s death was fully accounted for.

Zhao Zhi finally broke the silence, “How did Fourth Missy Gan die? Tell me what happened in full detail.”

“Just like you guessed, Madam Wei had set up a trap, but I also saw Sang Zheng walk toward the room because he was prepared to kill Fourth Missy Gan, and I knew this was my chance. So just after Sang Zheng walked into the room, I created some noise outside to force him to come out, then I walked in.”

Zeng Deyong spoke more calmly now, “I made plans to frame him for her death for some time now, so I already had the poison and that bottle on hand. Regardless of whether Sang Zheng really did anything or not, whether he left any clues behind or not, I had already prepared a way to get around all of it.”

And so, no matter how mysterious and complicated the case seemed, the killer was basically one man. Zeng Deyong.

He was the one who forced Fourth Missy Gan to drink the poison and he was also the one who raped her. There was no second man in the room.

After listening to Zeng Deyong recount what happened, Song Caitang sighed heavily inside. The truth of the matter had really turned out the way she had thought…

Zhao Zhi continued asking, “Since you had feelings for Fourth Missy Gan all this time, why did you assault her?”

“Because she wasn’t willing!” Zeng Deyong got angry again. “It had already come to a point where I owned her, but she was still thinking of other men… Ha! She’s my woman, who gave birth to my son, so she’s mine both while she’s alive and when she’s dead! How dare she hanker after other men! Madam Wei had so thoughtfully burned some aphrodisiac incense in the room anyway, so if I didn’t take the chance to teach her a lesson, to show her who’s really her man and do her one last time, both of us would lived for nothing, don’t you think?”

Song Caitang shut her eyes and nearly sighed out loud.

In other words, Zeng Deyong had really liked Fourth Missy Gan. He liked her for being different from other women and for being such a headstrong woman. But he also wanted to kill her, because her uniqueness and resilience did not belong to him anymore. Fourth Missy Gan no longer had a place for him in her heart.

“She’s just a woman anyway. There are so many of them in this world and I can get one at the snap of my fingers. So what if she’s dead? She’s nothing!”

Zeng Deyong then glared at Song Caitang. “You’re nothing too!”

He was now like a dog that had gone mad and was just biting anyone he saw because he was angry.

He thought that Song Caitang would get angry or cry because most young women would get upset if someone yelled at them like that. But to his surprise, she didn’t get angry and she even smiled sadly at him, as though she pitied him.

Zeng Deyong yelled, “What do you mean by that?”

Song Caitang picked up her teacup calmly. “What do you think?”

“How dare you look down on me! How dare you pity me!”

“No, no, Count Zeng. I’m afraid you’re the one who’s been looking down on yourself all these years.”

She really had nothing to say to someone like Zeng Deyong.

The details of the case had all been accounted for. Zeng Deyong’s statement made perfect sense and nobody could find any loopholes.

The two murders had been committed solely by Zeng Deyong. There was no possibility that he was taking the rap for someone else.

One could cook up stories, but it was hard to make sure the details were all correct. Jing Yan’s autopsy report was only made known to Zhao Zhi and his team and the contents could not have leaked. The fact that Zeng Deyong’s detailed statement matched the report proved that the killer could only be him.

But was that really all to it?

Everyone had the same question in mind and there was now no point in masking their other intentions. Song Caitang, Zhao Zhi and Wen Yuansi exchanged glances, and decided to go ahead with their other questions.

Zhao Zhi retrieved the box with secret drawers and its pattern, then asked Zeng Deyong, “Do you recognize these two items?”

Zeng Deyong nodded immediately. “Of course. I got these from Lu Guangzong.”

“Lu Guangzong?” Zhao Zhi frowned and pretended he didn’t understand.

Zeng Deyong chuckled, then whispered mysteriously, “The case you took charge of some time ago! Lu Guangzong, the pacification commissioner in Luanze!”

Zhao Zhi relaxed his brows and nodded.

Zeng Deyong went on, “Like I said earlier, this Fourth Missy Gan was never devoted and went around seducing other men. This Lu Guangzong was one of them. She must have really made him want her, since he took such good care of her. To the point where even my son, Gan Zhixuan, nearly thought Lu Guangzong was his father!”

“I didn’t know at first, but once I found out, I couldn’t possibly just leave things alone. I went to investigate Lu Guangzong secretly and found out that this man was hiding secrets. He was only pretending to be an upright official and pretending to be a gentleman. He secretly accepted a lot of bribes and committed all sorts of crime without even batting an eye. My first thought was to use one of these things to threaten or control him…”

“I found this little box and pattern that seemed extremely precious to Lu Guangzong, and he hid it really well. I suspected there were more secrets behind this box, but before I could get any answers and take revenge on him, he was found dead! What a pity!”

Zeng Deyong looked really upset about this.

Zhao Zhi narrowed his eyes. “But you were found to have come across this pattern five years ago, while Lu Guangzong only died last year. So, you spent four years trying to figure it out?”

“Exactly!” Zeng Deyong started grumbling, “I don’t know what’s going on either. It looks like a very ordinary box, but nobody seemed to understand how it worked. I looked up several woodworkers and all of them said they couldn’t make it. Lu Guangzong seemed to notice that his pattern had gone missing, so he started investigating and became very vigilant. I didn’t dare to show it to others anymore and hid it for some time. Then last year, I figured that things had blown over, so I took it out again to take a look. And then, Lu Guangzong was found dead!”

Zhao Zhi asked, “You got hold of something that even you felt was very important, yet you didn’t do anything about it and just waited patiently for years?”

“My family, including myself, might not be very capable people, but we’re number one in self-preservation. If we notice any sign of trouble, we’re the first ones to go into hiding. Waiting four or five years is nothing! I was prepared to endure Madam Wei and her behavior for another decade!”

Zeng Deyong said these words rather earnestly.

Song Caitang was a little surprised.

Zeng Deyong had given an account of how he committed murder with complete and accurate details. The connections he had with each person in the cases as well as his attitude toward what happened were very logical and normal. Even how he got hold of the questionable items in the case and why he dealt with them the way he did sounded perfectly logical. She couldn’t find any loopholes at all.

“The current emperor values anyone with great talent and integrity,” Zhao Zhi bowed toward the palace before looking back at Zeng Deyong. “I can see that you’re a clever man with a clear purpose. You already live in Bianliang and you knew so much about a corrupt official. Why did you continue to keep a low profile?”

He was just short of saying that Zeng Deyong’s position wouldn’t have stirred up too much controversy or trouble, unlike someone like himself.

The emperor wasn’t that petty.

“Well you see, I’m lazy. My ancestors have accumulated so much wealth, I can get by even if I literally do nothing at all. So why should I work so hard?” Zeng Deyong spoke even more earnestly, “Being in the company of a ruler is like being in the company of a tiger. When a ruler gets angry, they can throw an entire nation into turmoil and kill thousands in their rage. We’ve seen that throughout history, both here and elsewhere. I don’t want to live in fear all the time.”

Zhao Zhi raised an eyebrow and said icily, “You’ve killed one person after another, though. I think you enjoy being busy…”

“That’s different! That’s because those people made me angry!” Zeng Deyong waved his arms about. “I don’t want to anger the emperor!”

Zhao Zhi folded his arms and shifted his position. “Alright then, let’s talk about what happened 18 years ago, during the bandit raid on Beiqing Mountain. Why were you on the mountain that night? Just a coincidence?”

“Well, I’m not familiar with politics and I don’t have any interest in it either, so I didn’t know there was about to be a raid at all,” Zeng Deyong shrugged. “If I had known, I wouldn’t have gone anywhere near that mountain! I’d have stayed far, far away!”

“That night was really dangerous, and that’s coming from someone like me who knows martial arts and enjoys a high status. If I were just a little unluckier, I would have died there and then. Do you think I would be stupid enough to go there if I knew about this?”

Zhao Zhi asked, “That’s all?”

“That’s all.”

“Did you run into anyone you found strange or special?”

He was basically asking if perhaps he ran into the person who helped Madam Gu and disappeared after that, the person whom Lin Feizhou from the previous case was looking for, the person who carried the same symbol as Jing Yan…

Zeng Deyong replied, “There were people fighting the whole night in the thick forest and setting the place on fire. A battle between the authorities and the bandits was already a rare sight to begin with. What other strange things do you expect me to have witnessed?”

Zhao Zhi didn’t say anything.

Zeng Deyong shut his eyes to think, then said, “I really felt that everything happening at that time was out of the ordinary. Also, that was when I first saw Fourth Missy Gan. The bandits had a whole room of beautiful women, and they were beautiful in different ways. But after scanning the entire room, I found Fourth Missy Gan the most endearing and brought her home…”

“How did you get hold of Sang Zheng’s bottle?” Zhao Zhi changed topics. “On the day you murdered Fourth Missy Gan, you made a noise after Sang Zheng walked into the room, so he walked out again and left. He had a bottle of poison on him as well. How did you get hold of that?”

Zeng Deyong replied, “Commandery Prince Zhao has forgotten again. I know martial arts.”

While it was true that martial artists felt that using their skills to steal from others was beneath them, it was easy for them to do such a thing if they so wished to.

That concluded that section of questioning. Zhao Zhi turned to ask Sang Zheng, “Five years ago, you were also at Qingxian but you covered your tracks well and kept a low profile, as though you didn’t want anybody to know that you were also there. Why?”

He didn’t ask directly about the ship containing gold pieces and decided to sound Sang Zheng out first.

Sang Zheng replied, “Madam Wei had gone to Qingxian with her husband for a holiday, but she was annoyed that Zeng Deyong did not show her much concern and would disappear from time to time, so she invited me to come along. I did not have any other good reason to go to Qingxian, so surely you don’t expect me to go around announcing to the world that I was there to have fun with someone else’s wife, do you?”

The veins on Zeng Deyong’s forehead threatened to burst again as he pointed a finger at Sang Zheng. “Why, you—”

“What?” Sang Zheng looked down as he dusted his sleeve off. “The commandery prince is here and he represents the Justice Department. I’m just telling the truth as it is and I don’t mean to be offensive. I hope you can understand.”

The way he responded both made sense and made him look like he hadn’t done anything wrong, which only made Zeng Deyong angrier.

Zhao Zhi glanced at both of them as though he hadn’t noticed the tension between them and continued asking Sang Zheng, “Did you go to the river and take a boat ride?”

“The lotus boats of Qingxian are a beautiful sight during the 7th month, and it’s a popular activity among women. Madam Wei was with me, so of course I went to take a boat ride with her. The scenery along the waters was truly beautiful,” said Sang Zheng with a faint yet insinuating smile. “I really have to thank Count Zeng for giving me this opportunity.”

Zeng Deyong yelled, “Sang Zheng, you’d better behave while I’m still nice!”

“Oh, I was able to have so much fun precisely because you were so nice,” Sang Zheng blinked a few times. “Do you… regret it now?”

Zhao Zhi put his teacup down on the table loudly to interrupt their conversation. He glared at Sang Zheng with an authoritative look in his eyes. “That’s not all, right?”

Sang Zheng paused. “What do you want to hear then?”

“Since you put it like that,” Zhao Zhi slowly unfolded his arms and rested his chin on the back of his hands with a faint smile on his lips, “it means you already know what I want. There are details you haven’t shared and they’re very sensitive details too. You know I want to hear about those.”

Sang Zheng coughed for a while, but recovered quickly. “You’re very clever, Commandery Prince Zhao.”

“Thanks.”

“If my guess is correct, I suppose you know that I was involved in a matter, one that gave me some illicit riches?”

Their equally intense gazes met like a storm was brewing…

Zhao Zhi raised an eyebrow as he slowly scanned Sang Zheng and said in a rather slow and aloof voice, “Oh? You gained some illicit riches?”