Chapter 211:
In the hall, following Pei Yuqing’s question, everyone’s line of sight turned over, including Lu Ziyan’s who held the horsewhip.
This impending storm-like scene made the few thugs who usually only bullied villagers and raped lone women panic.
“Sir, please see clearly,” the moment their gagged mouths were freed, the few wept bitterly and begged for mercy, “This item was on an old woman. Looking at her, she was clearly a fugitive slave from some wealthy household who stole her master’s possessions and fled. We few happened to run into her.”
Old woman, fugitive slave.
Lu Ziyan flicked the horsewhip in his hand, directly looping it around one’s neck and dragging him before him, sternly demanding: “Where is that old woman!”
His eyes were bloodshot red, his whole body filled with violent fury, as if he were about to devour someone, looking utterly terrifying.
The few thugs were scared limp on the ground, stammering: “That old woman… jumped into Da Yang Lake.”
Jumped into Da Yang Lake…
Pei Yuqing, still squatting on the ground, swayed, his face deathly pale. Suddenly, he gripped one’s arm on the ground tightly, “What did that old woman look like? What dispute did you have with her? What words were spoken? Confess truthfully. If there’s half a lie… you won’t want to know the consequences.”
With that, he said to the prefect beside him, “Capture all the passengers on that boat, every single one.”
He wanted to know exactly what had happened.
Though the prefect did not know Pei Yuqing’s identity, seeing him dare to step forward before Lu Ziyan, this killing god, he knew this was also absolutely not a figure he could afford to offend. Without another word, he ordered his men.
Some of the retainers Pei Yuqing had brought also followed along.
The thug whose arm he gripped was precisely the one Xie Wanning had wounded with the dagger. The wound was gripped exactly, causing him to scream in agony as blood seeped from his thick cotton clothes, begging for mercy nonstop.
The scream was interrupted by Lu Ziyan’s overhead whip lash, “Speak!”
That thug wept bitterly, unable to care about anything else, and quickly said: “That old woman hid her face, this lowly one did not see her appearance. But she had some skill, and carried a dagger on her. Taking advantage of our carelessness, she wounded one of our brothers fatally and slashed this lowly one’s arm… As for speaking, she seemed like a mute and never once opened her mouth from start to finish.”
As that person kept speaking, the officials in the hall listened and gradually sensed something was off.
Hid her face, refused to speak, carried a sharp blade, had jewelry, and some skill.
How could such a person be an ordinary fugitive slave.
Even… was she really an old woman?
‘Clang.’
It was the sound of Lu Ziyan’s horsewhip falling to the ground. He let the fine iron handle smash onto the floor, his expression dazed for an instant, “What did you do to her?”
How had they driven her to jump into the lake.
On such a cold day, the icy lake water…
Soon, they would know exactly what had happened that night.
The passenger ship’s destination was Lu Zhou. The passengers on the ship that day numbered less than a hundred in total, and they were all now in Lu Zhou City.
Pei Yuqing’s men worked with great efficiency. In less than two hours, they had brought all these people back.
That night had been such a commotion, on a two-deck merchant ship, there was no one unaware.
The hall could not hold these people, so they were all made to stand in the courtyard.
Upon hearing they were captured over the matter on the boat the previous night, no interrogation was needed—these people began discussing it among themselves one after another.
