Chapter 218:
“Silence!” Pei Shu shouted loudly, then couldn’t help but mock, “Those few villains committed evil deeds, how much better could you two be, the ones helping to dispose of the bodies? Weren’t it you who threw that mother and daughter’s corpses overboard?”
Pei Yuqing had no intention of going in. He just stood at the door, staring fixedly inside. Hearing this, his eyelashes trembled slightly, and his downcast eyes were exceptionally cold.
This one glance scared the two servants into kneeling on the ground with a thud.
“Spare our lives, noble one!”
They knew that everyone else on the merchant ship that day had been sunk into the lake, and only they two had been saved by this noble one with a mysterious background. Now their lives were in his hands, so they kept begging, “We little ones were just following orders. If we didn’t obey the steward’s commands, we’d be the next ones thrown into the lake.”
On the boat, making a living, dying in the lake was too normal. No matter the reason, it could always be called an accidental fall into the water.
Once back on shore, a master with a shred of conscience might compensate with a bit of money to settle it, but more often it was treated as if it never happened. Even if the deceased’s family came to make a fuss, there was no panic at all, since the officials had already been well bribed.
With officials and merchants colluding, the parents officials would never stand up for poor commoners.
This was just one of the countless injustices suffered by the bottom commoners.
Whether aiding a tyrant or doing a tiger’s bidding, they only wanted to survive.
Perhaps driven to desperation and having done too many heaven-defying wicked deeds, feeling death was imminent, one servant collapsed limp on the ground, weeping bitterly.
“This little one also felt some reluctance in his heart. This little one is not utterly heartless.”
“That mother and daughter were completely naked. This little one couldn’t bear for them to suffer further insult even as ghosts after death, so he wanted to put some clothes on them. But their bodies were already stiff, so he didn’t remove the cotton quilt wrapped around them, at least so they wouldn’t go down naked.”
“For missing one cotton quilt, this little one was even docked half a month’s wages by the steward. That was already the utmost kindness I could show.” He wept bitterly. “If they want to claim lives, let them claim those villains’. It was those villains who deserved to die.”
The two Li Shi merchant ship’s laborers were snotty and tearful, keep talking nonstop, as if they wouldn’t see tomorrow’s sun, panicked and terrified, breaking down in shouts.
Pei Shu had originally wanted to step forward immediately to interrupt, but he was stopped by Pei Yuqing raising his hand.
He had interrogated the details of that night countless times, and every time the conclusion was that Wanwan had indeed thrown herself into the lake.
And this mother and daughter separated by just a wall, who had met their end, had also been mentioned repeatedly.
Something about because his accomplices called, the man who was venting his beastly desires left in a hurry, and they were completely naked…
A thought flashed quickly through his mind. Pei Yuqing suddenly strode forward, quickly walking up to the two servants collapsed on the ground, and said in a deep voice, “You just said that mother and daughter were wrapped in bedding?”
His face was as dark as water, his voice even tighter, his aura oppressively intense.
The two servants nodded repeatedly, confirming, “Yes, wrapped in bedding.”
Pei Yuqing squatted down, his eyes burning as he stared at the two, “Before you, had anyone else gone in?”
“This…” The two servants exchanged a glance, their faces showing hesitation.
“Just tell the truth,” Pei Yuqing took a deep breath, striving to maintain calm as he said, “I only want to hear the truth. Once you finish, you two can leave.”
Hearing this, one servant said troubled, “We little ones only got the steward’s orders to come up after dawn. But there were many guests on the boat that day, and that night’s events were extremely tragic. Might some guest who loved watching the excitement have come in first? We little ones don’t know.”
Thanks to dear ones for the rewards. These days there have been many reviews and quite a few rewards. Can only say the reputation is polarized—those who like it really like it, those who don’t extremely dislike it… It has that flavor of when Heart Lock Love was serializing, though Heart Lock Love didn’t have this book’s popularity back then, and there weren’t this many haters. Author has been about to shatter these past couple days…
Really about to shatter…
