Admission Of Guilt (2)

In that moment, Sang Zheng wasn’t sure what Zhao Zhi knew anymore. Did he know or not? He couldn’t figure it out.

Sang Zheng fell silent for a while as he looked away before he let out a chuckle and looked back at Zhao Zhi. “That’s right, I gained some illicit riches and it was a boat along the waters. But it wasn’t along the area with the boats for tourists. It was… along the Green Gang’s shipping route.”

“Madam Wei was in Qingxian to accompany Count Zeng after all, so I would only accompany Madam Wei when the count wasn’t around. When both of them were busy together, I would find a quiet spot on one of the courtesan boats to relax by myself. I wasn’t supposed to be found in the vicinity and I didn’t want to get in their way either. Everything was going peacefully until… that day.”

Sang Zheng was still smiling as he turned to look at Zeng Deyong. “For some reason, Count Zeng had become obsessed with this pattern for a tiny wooden box. He couldn’t find anyone to make it in Bianliang, so he got a very famous craftsman to meet him in Qingxian. I continued to patronize courtesans and found out by accident that they had arranged to meet on the boat that I was on and they were very close by.”

“At that time, I didn’t know that Count Zeng already found out about my affair with Madam Wei, so I was afraid he would find out and so, I had to switch spots. Count Zeng was being extremely cautious and behaving very secretively, which was rather strange. But I was more concerned about not being found out, so I just ran in a panic and ended up finding myself on a large ship.”

Sang Zheng had an especially pleased smile on his face as he spoke about this ship. “This ship displaced a lot of water, so it must contain a lot. But there were very few people on it and it was especially quiet. A wave came along and I couldn’t keep my balance, so I stumbled backward and hit a box. The cover was knocked open and it was filled with gold pieces…”

“I sensed something was amiss when I saw the gold pieces, because there was so much of it too. But I soon heard voices from afar, perhaps because they were changing shifts. There was no time to waste. The only thought I had in my mind was that this was a rare opportunity. Since heaven allowed me to get to this place, that meant it didn’t want me to miss this chance. I quickly grabbed a few large pieces, then hopped off the boat and ran away before the crew was done changing shifts.”

“I was really lucky. I didn’t get injured and didn’t drown either. I swam to the shore in one piece. The gold pieces I’d taken were of very high quality, so I ended up becoming very rich. In hindsight, I’m glad I acted so decisively and ran off with the gold without anyone noticing. Otherwise, if I had waited around a little longer, I might have vanished that very night.”

Sang Zheng recounted what happened back then very seriously and included every detail. He answered all of Zhao Zhi’s occasional questions with ease and without much hesitation or thought, finally concluding with the summary above.

“I had quietly become very rich, but while I was really excited, I also sensed that something wasn’t right. Why did such a large ship appear in that place? And it displaced so much water too. Was the entire ship just filled with gold? That thought alone was too scary, so I dared not think about it further, did not dare to show off my wealth, and definitely did not dare to tell anyone about this. It has become a real burden to me. And based on the way you were questioning me, this is the only thing I can think of.”

Zhao Zhi remained silent after Sang Zheng finished his piece. He didn’t do anything for a long time.

This silence lasted for quite a long time, so it made the atmosphere very tense, like a bowstring pulled back completely.

Sang Zheng seemed relieved that he had finally told someone about this secret, so he seemed much more relaxed and didn’t look uneasy at all.

Finally, Zhao Zhi said, “So, this was a coincidence.”

Sang Zheng smiled faintly. “If I hadn’t gone through it myself, I wouldn’t have believed such a story either.”

His stance was too earnest, too honest. Song Caitang and Wen Yuansi noticed that and went into deep thought.

“The amount of money I got from selling the gold was huge. I was very careful and didn’t dare to use it rashly, so I ended up using it to buy a lot of presents for women to make them happy. I also bought some plainer items for Madam Wei. After all, she was used to using high quality items and she knew I didn’t have money. The simpler the items I gave her, the more sincere I seemed and the more loving I would seem to her… Indeed, she liked that very much. That was one incredible night.”

The more he said, the more he sounded like he was mocking the other man in the room. At the end, he turned toward Zeng Deyong and gave him a knowing smile. “I really have to thank you, Count Zeng. Come to think of it, the good luck I’ve had all these years were pretty much all from you. A beautiful woman, a son, my wealth – thank you for giving me so many opportunities.”

“AHHHHH! Sang Zheng, you bastard!” Zeng Deyong suddenly bellowed angrily.

He did really hate Sang Zheng very much, and he did already have a plan to take revenge. He had wanted to really torture Sang Zheng and make his life a living hell. But today’s interrogation had ruined everything.

They were on the verge of breaking into a fight earlier, but because Zhao Zhi was trying to question them, he did his best to suppress his anger. But these last words were the straw that broke the camel’s back. His eyes instantly reddened and his veins began to bulge.

He had already shown that he didn’t care about anything anymore when he admitted to killing those two people. And now, Sang Zheng was still boldly antagonizing him! Since Sang Zheng was asking for it, he was going to give it to him!

In that split second, Zeng Deyong flicked his wrist and a silver dart flew out from his sleeve, landing in the spot right between Sang Zheng’s jaw and neck.

Nobody anticipated that at all.

Zhao Zhi, Song Caitang and Wen Yuansi were still thinking about the case. The suspects had just given them a lot of new information, so they had to process it and analyze it. They couldn’t react in time at all. There were plenty of guards around the hall, but they were all stationed outside. Zeng Deyong knew martial arts and launched an attack very suddenly, so they wouldn’t have reacted in time either.

Sang Zheng’s eyes were wide and round as he instinctively reached for his neck, but it was no use. That dart had cut a major artery and blood was spewing everywhere.

“You…” His throat gurgled and he couldn’t say more than that.

“I’m not going to meet a pretty end, so you’re not going to either! I don’t care about anybody else, but I’m not going to let you live for sure! I’m going to die, so you have to go down with me! HAHAHAHA!”

Zeng Deyong’s gaze was filled with immense hatred and he laughed very loudly as he watched Sang Zheng collapse onto the floor. But he didn’t look like he was relieved or enjoying the moment.

He was still so full of hatred. A hatred that would not fade even after he killed the other man.

Sang Zheng used the last bit of energy he had to spit a mouthful of blood straight onto Zeng Deyong’s face.

It was as though he was using this to insult Zeng Deyong. He couldn’t speak anymore, but he made his stance clear. He had humiliated Zeng Deyong and he wasn’t the least bit sorry!

As Sang Zheng’s body hit the floor, Zhao Zhi leaped over and pressed his hand against the man’s neck in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

The guards came running to hold Zeng Deyong down too.

Song Caitang ran over to see how Sang Zheng was.

Zhao Zhi sounded a little anxious. “Can he be saved?”

Song Caitang checked his pulse and state, but shook her head. “I’m sorry.”

A major artery had been injured and the bleeding refused to stop. Sang Zheng was covered in blood in no time. He had lost too much blood in too little time, so without modern blood transfusion technology, he simply couldn’t be saved. She couldn’t save him.

Sang Zheng died very quickly. He stopped breathing just a few seconds later.

While everyone was still reeling in shock, Zeng Deyong started convulsing.

He suddenly reached for his own throat and let out a cry of pain with a terrified look on his face.

Everyone turned around to see that his lips were turning blue, his face was pale, while his nose, mouth and ears were all bleeding…

He had been poisoned!

And it was poison that took effect immediately and sealed one’s throat!

Just before this, everything was perfectly fine. And now… Everyone turned to look at Sang Zheng, who was already lying on the floor motionless.

He must have given Zeng Deyong poison. It was in the blood he spat at Zeng Deyong’s face earlier!

This man had been a truly vicious character too!

Zhao Zhi’s expression darkened.

There were only a few types of poisons that both targeted one’s airway and took effect so quickly, especially a poison one could hide in their teeth. It was usually used by those who were prepared to kill themselves in the event they failed in their secret mission and were forced to say something they should not say.

Sang Zheng did not mean to commit suicide at all, but Zeng Deyong dealt him a fatal blow. He didn’t want to go down without a fight, so he used the last bit of strength he had to make sure Zeng Deyong went down with him.

And that was exactly what Zeng Deyong had wanted too. Since he was going to die, he was going to bring the other man down as well.

The poison took effect very quickly, so Song Caitang turned toward Zeng Deyong to take a look at him. But Zeng Deyong took several steps back and laughed heartily.

“Sang Zheng, you’re a real sneaky bastard! But let me tell you now – there’s no way I’m letting you kill me! Even if I die, I’m not dying at your hands!”

Right after he said that, he pulled out another knife from his sleeve. As the guards retreated warily, he used the knife to stab his neck without hesitation.

He stabbed himself hard and accurately.

Fresh blood instantly spurted everywhere as his body fell to the floor with a loud thud. He died even quicker than Sang Zheng.

In just a matter of seconds, the two suspects died one after another. The stench of blood filled the entire hall. It was too much for even the wind to disperse, even though the doors and windows were open.

Everyone was too shocked to speak. This… wasn’t what anybody expected.

The commotion and the intense smell of blood made Qi Yan regain consciousness.

He sat up, opened his eyes and stared in horror at the completely lifeless Zeng Deyong. His eyes reddened and he leaped onto Zeng Deyong’s body. He disregarded all the blood and grabbed hold of Zeng Deyong’s collar. “No! You can’t die now! I still have more questions for you! You’re not allowed to die! Did you hear me?! Hello?!”

Clearly, Zeng Deyong could no longer answer him.

The veins on the back of Qi Yan’s hands bulged as his hands trembled slightly, before he suddenly burst into tears.

The man who killed his uncle had finally been found, but he still felt so awful.

Wen Yuansi closed his eyes and shook his head. Life was often filled with regrets, and so were such cases.

But Zhao Zhi was furious. Both suspects had died right under his nose! One used a hidden weapon and the other spat poison! How was he going to answer for this!

Song Caitang, however, felt that this was not Zhao Zhi’s fault at all.

Everything had happened too quickly and the two men had been standing too close to one another. There was no way anyone could have done anything to prevent this tragedy.

“It’s not your fault,” she patted Zhao Zhi’s shoulder.

The feeling of a soft, small hand on his shoulder that belonged to not just any woman, but the woman he liked…

Zhao Zhi’s expression relaxed a little, but his lips were still tightly pursed. He was still very unhappy.

Song Caitang looked at him with a bright smile. “We’ve cracked the case and the killers have been brought to justice. Isn’t that still cause for celebration?”

Zhao Zhi looked at the bright-eyed face in front of him that seemed to reflect the sunshine. He stared at her for a moment, then said softly, “It is.”

The case had closed in a completely unexpected manner, but the truth had finally come to light. After everyone recovered from their initial shock, they started doing what they needed to do.

There were still procedures that had to be completed. Zhao Zhi and Wen Yuansi also had other work to do. The runners outside kept coming in with documents for the two men to check and sign.

It had been many years, but Qi Yan had finally found the remains of his beloved uncle and the person who killed him had been brought to justice. The great burden on Qi Yan’s heart had been lifted, but he still did not feel very relieved. He was going to be busy for a while too. He was going to bury his uncle’s bones, so he had to dig up the burial mound, make a new gravestone for his uncle, and… he had to get to know his uncle all over again.

Song Caitang didn’t have anything to do at the moment, so she returned to the courthouse and walked into the mortuary where only coroners were allowed.

Fourth Missy Gan’s body was here.

Now that the case had come to a close, the body had to be returned to the family so that they could make funeral and burial arrangements. The administrative staff would take care of this and Song Caitang did not need to be around, but she came anyway.

Fourth Missy Gan had not died in a glamorous manner and there were bruises all over her body. But once she was properly clothed and most of the bruises were covered, she looked almost just as pretty as she did when she was alive.

She had been a really pretty woman who had been virtually untouched by time. Besides her well worn hands, her face remained as exquisite as ever. The additional wrinkles around her eyes did not reduce her beauty either, giving her a more mature charm instead.

It had been many days now, so the tears on her face were already dry. Her beautiful face was turning pale green already, unlike the healthy pink she had when she was alive.

Song Caitang wasn’t sure if she was just overthinking it, but she felt that the angle of her eyes and lips did not seem to reflect pain. They seemed to exude peace, as though she had been relieved or even happy to leave this world.

She felt a little cold when her fingers brushed against the white cloth over the body. She looked down and noticed some dirt on Fourth Missy Gan’s sleeve.

She fetched some warm water and a cloth, then wiped the dirt off gently.

The room was very quiet. There was only the sound of the cloth being wrung, the water falling back into the basin, and the sound of cloth wiping against cloth.

The brilliant spring sun shone in through the window and swayed very slightly as it landed on the floor, as though the floor was covered in gold bits, as though it brought warmth to the room.

But the temperature in the room did not rise even a single bit. It was still as cold and unfeeling as ever.

Song Caitang’s head was bent and her hair cascaded past her shoulders and over her chest. Her jet black hair against her fair skin was so beautiful.

She wiped the sleeve one stroke at a time with a serious look on her face.

“What else… do you know? Did you also know a man named Song Yi?”

Perhaps it was because the floodgates of her memories had opened and they kept coming back to her recently. She wasn’t affected when she was awake, but once she fell asleep, she would start dreaming and these memories would hit her like an avalanche. The amount of information was too much for her to take in all at once, to the point where she wasn’t always sure which parts were real and which parts were just a dream.

Her memories were a lot and complicated, and they included some strange moments and some moments of danger. She had to take time to slowly digest them, but she never thought of just running away from it all.

There were several parts that were just made up of short snippets or images. For example, she remembered that her father, Song Yi, would occasionally have contact with a woman. She had never seen the woman before, but she had seen a portrait her father kept.

Paintings meant as artwork were often more impressionistic and did not always look like the actual subject. Song Caitang didn’t remember anything special about the woman in the painting, so she figured that even if she met this woman, she wouldn’t identify her as the woman in the painting. But she could see the message that the painting was conveying about the subject. This was a woman with gentle features, porcelain skin, and very beautiful. She was probably around Fourth Missy Gan’s age too.

Each time Song Yi received a letter from this woman, he would sit by himself in the room for a long time and he would be in a poor mood for several days after that too.

Song Yi would think about the contents of her letter for a long time. He would read it several times, hesitate for a long time, and then… burn the letter.

His actions were very odd, so Song Caitang couldn’t help but imagine why he was behaving like this.

Her mother had already passed away for many years and it was hard for her father to be all alone. She didn’t mind if he remarried and told him so very early on. But Song Yi was very insistent on remaining a widower and he would even get angry if Song Caitang talked about this subject. Song Caitang could not understand and she also remembered that this woman in the painting existed.

But such moments were not many in her long memory of more than ten years. Song Yi only received three letters from this woman and Song Caitang had found out each time.

There were no clues or other signs to prove that this woman was Fourth Missy Gan or had anything to do with Fourth Missy Gan. Song Caitang also understood that she was making a pretty big leap by connecting the two, since there was really no evidence to think this way. But the timing was really strange and it caused her to remember this matter.

She would really have loved to ask Fourth Missy Gan about it and get an answer, but it was too late.

The memories had returned to her too late, and Fourth Missy Gan had died too early, so she missed her chance.

There wasn’t that much dirt on the sleeve, so it didn’t take Song Caitang long to clean it off. She kept the basin and cloth, then came back to look at Fourth Missy Gan again.

She wished the rumors about her among the commonfolk were true. If only she really was a relative to the Lord of Hades. If only she was really able to go to the nether world to talk to the dead. That would have been great.

The sun shining through the window only illuminated the room on one side, so it did not shine on Fourth Missy Gan.

Song Caitang suddenly felt a little depressed.

Actually, Fourth Missy Gan was a very resilient and intelligent woman who had her own goals in life and was willing to work for them. But she didn’t know how to bring her son up.

She had gone through so much over the years and did her best to avoid danger. She dedicated her life to her son. For her son, she was willing to give up everything, even her own life. She had suffered all her life, tired herself out. Yet, nobody could really understand her and nobody would be able to see the ending she wanted…

“Was it worth it?”

Of course, Fourth Missy Gan wasn’t going to answer her. She continued to lie quietly on the table.

Song Caitang shook her head, wondering if she had lost her mind. Why was she asking a corpse a serious question?

She picked up the corners of the white cloth and pulled it back over Fourth Missy Gan.

But just before she covered Fourth Missy Gan’s face, she paused and thought of what happened just before Fourth Missy Gan died.

Fourth Missy Gan had found herself in an unsafe place, but she did not leave. She knew that she had nowhere to run and she was scared, but she told herself to endure it. She did not consent to having intercourse with Zeng Deyong and she protested from deep inside her heart. But because the man doing this to her was Zeng Deyong, the father of her son… Even though she was filled with hate and was an unwilling party, and she knew he was going to kill her, she still didn’t want to leave any evidence behind.

She wanted to do one last thing for her son.

It was very stupid, but it was also very pure.

Song Caitang had been single both in her past life and her current one. She had never been married and never had children, so she couldn’t understand the love a mother would have for their child. But in this life, she had a mother. Her mother died when she was very young, but her body could still remember the love her mother had for her.

It was a very considerate and intense love that was at all places at all times, as though her daughter was the most precious thing to her, and she wanted nothing but the best for her. Her love was immense, but she never felt burdened by it. She was allowed to do anything she wanted, and her mother encouraged her instead of being repulsed by her behavior.

To her mother, her daughter could behave like this because her daughter was in a safe place.

Her daughter could behave like this because life was smooth sailing and life was blissful. If her daughter looked miserable all the time, that meant that life was difficult. That would make her mother miserable too.

A lot of times, the love that adults had toward their children and grandchildren were irrational. Mothers like Fourth Missy Gan were a dime a dozen.

But not every child grew up to become someone like Gan Zhixuan.

Gan Zhixuan grew up to be such a disappointing young man. Didn’t Fourth Missy Gan pick that up at all?

No, she was a clever woman, so she definitely realized this. And because she realized it, she blamed herself even harder for it.

Perhaps… she felt that her son had turned this way because of her.

And so, she did all of this for him.

She could even accept dying like this…

Song Caitang stared at Fourth Missy Gan’s peaceful countenance and sighed quietly.

“As long as you feel peace in your heart and you have no regrets, then it’s worth it.”

She pulled the white cloth slowly over Fourth Missy Gan’s beautiful face and said in an exceptionally gentle voice that sounded like the wind in spring, “Farewell, Fourth Missy Gan. I hope you find peace.”

A breeze blew past the window and across Song Caitang’s face, making her hair fly slightly.

Unlike the spring sun, the wind was a little chilly, and sounded like a sigh.

As though it was answering her.