Chapter 189: Cooperation
When Xiao Yanci heard that Cui Rong was involved in a murder case, he remembered something that happened in his previous life.
In his previous life, Cui Rong also encountered this matter, but the difference was that no one testified for him, he couldn’t clear his suspicion, and the government office could only hand him over to several Imperial Procurement Officers.
Those several Imperial Procurement Officers took him to the capital city, imprisoned him in the Ministry of Justice prison on the charge of murderer. The Cui family spent a huge sum to redeem him, but by the time he came out, he was already deranged, and not long after, he fell into the river and drowned. The Cui family moved the entire household because of this and later went to a neighboring country, becoming a major merchant there.
In her previous life, Su Yaoguang worked in the rouge shop, exhausted like a top all day, with no opportunity to go out, so of course she didn’t meet Cui Rong. In this life, Su Yaoguang’s small effort not only proved that Cui Rong was not at the scene during the murder case, but the time of the victim’s death didn’t match the time Cui Rong left, so Cui Rong was released without charge.
With the government office’s current investigation progress, it’s obviously not that easy to find the real murderer. However, Xiao Yanci had experienced it once and knew who the murderer was. If he passed this news to the Cui family, it would count as doing them a favor, so if he wanted to make a living from the Cui family, earn silver to sustain his livelihood, and go to the capital city for the imperial exam, it probably wouldn’t be difficult.
“I want to see your young owner,” Xiao Yanci said.
“Our young owner is not in the mansion,” the shop assistant said. “What do you want?”
“Tell your young owner that I know who the murderer is, I can help him find the murderer, and completely clear his suspicion.”
“So that’s why you’re here.” The shop assistant, upon hearing Xiao Yanci’s words, said, “Then no need to trouble yourself. Our young owner has gone out to catch the real murderer.”
“He knows who the murderer is?” Xiao Yanci was shocked. “Impossible.”
“Why impossible?” The shop assistant, upon hearing this, was displeased. “Our young owner has already found evidence and is now taking government office people to capture the real murderer.”
Xiao Yanci didn’t believe Cui Rong could find the murderer; even he only learned of this secret by chance later. According to the previous life’s situation, that murderer was hidden very deeply and wouldn’t show up easily.
But when he arrived at the government office, the case had already been tried.
The real murderer was no other than Cui Rong’s brother-in-law.
In the end, it was just those matters in the inner residence of a wealthy family.
The Cui family was big and powerful, but had only Cui Rong as the sole heir. If Cui Rong was gone, his brother-in-law would become the only heir. Such a large family business, how could it not tempt someone? So, upon learning of the entanglement between Cui Rong and Gong Cai Mai Shi, after Cui Rong left, he immediately arranged for his confidant subordinate to kill Gong Cai Mai Shi and frame it on Cui Rong.
“This case is closed, court dismissed,” Magistrate Chen pronounced on the spot.
Cui Rong walked out of the county office and looked toward Zhou Wangshu not far opposite, cupping his hands toward him.
Standing beside Zhou Wangshu was the Cui family’s old manager. The manager took out a stack of silver notes from his bosom and handed them to Zhou Wangshu with both hands. The latter casually stuffed them into his bosom and turned to leave.
Xiao Yanci happened to see this scene, his face unsightly.
It seemed this matter was related to Zhou Wangshu.
How did Zhou Wangshu know who the real murderer was? Could he also be reborn?
Xiao Yanci thought that in his previous life, there was no such person as Zhou Wangshu, and in this life, he didn’t know where he came from; ever since he appeared, he had replaced himself.
“Old manager, how did you know who the murderer was?” Xiao Yanci asked.
The old manager sized up Xiao Yanci, his smile not reaching his eyes: “Why is Young Master asking about this? Does this have any relationship with Young Master?”
“I’m just curious. The government office couldn’t find the real murderer for so long, but you found the murderer yourself; this is really unbelievable.”
“What’s so strange about it? As long as it’s done by a person, there will be traces left. This is thanks to that Young Master Zhou from Peach Blossom Workshop. If not for his reminder that the murderer was very likely targeting Young Master, we wouldn’t have suspected those around us.” After speaking, the manager said to Cui Rong, “Boss Su saved Young Master, and Boss Su’s young man gave guidance to Young Master; this is twice a great kindness. Young Master should prepare generous gifts to thank them.”
Cui Rong said awkwardly, “We wanted to invite her to dinner, but she refused.”
“Young Master needs to show more sincerity; refused once, we can invite again. Once Boss Su feels Young Master’s sincerity, she will naturally agree.”
“Young Master Cui, chief manager, does Jin Le Fang lack an accountant? I have some knowledge of arithmetic and can keep accounts.”
Seeing the two about to leave, and his previous goal unattainable, Xiao Yanci could only directly offer his services.
“Our shop doesn’t lack an accountant; look elsewhere!” The chief manager said, then pulled Cui Rong away.
Cui Rong’s voice came from behind: “Don’t we just lack an accountant?”
“The accountant position is very special and can only be held by a confidant. This person has some small reputation in the city, but it’s all bad reputation. Young Master must remember that no matter how important a person’s ability is, character is more important. If character has flaws, they might trip you up behind your back at any time.”
The city is not big, nor small, but if there’s any disturbance, it spreads to everyone before long, especially bad news, which spreads faster than the wind.
Su Yaoguang had just heard customers in the shop talking about the county office trying the case and was still glad she hadn’t saved the wrong person when a thick stack of silver notes appeared before her.
Su Yaoguang looked up along the silver notes and saw Zhou Wangshu’s magnified handsome face.
“What is this?”
“Take a look.”
Su Yaoguang took it, counted the amount of silver notes, and said in astonishment, “One thousand taels, how is it so much?”
“I helped Young Master Cui find the murderer; this is the reward he gave me.”
“How did you know who the murderer was?”
“Do you remember Feng Chaoyang?” Seeing her nod, Zhou Wangshu continued, “He happened to be at the theater that day and coincidentally saw someone enter that dormitory room after Cui Rong left. Although he didn’t see clearly who it was, based on the figure, it could be confirmed to be a man. Additionally, that man disguised himself as Cui Rong, making others think it was Cui Rong who did it. The Imperial Procurement Officer surnamed Gong had just come to the county town and probably had no enemies, so such an obviously premeditated matter was naturally aimed at Cui Rong. A young master like Cui Rong has many small flaws, but not many people want his life. As long as we focus on those with benefit entanglements with him, clues won’t be hard to find.”
“I sold him this news, helped him sort through the people around him, and with a little investigation, I could guess about seventy to eighty percent. Since I solved such a big problem for him, of course he had to give me a reward.”
“Since it’s your reward, you keep it; it might come in handy later.”
“I eat from the family and use the family’s; now that I’ve earned money, of course I should contribute it to the family.” Zhou Wangshu said, “Am I supposed to eat soft rice forever?”
He wanted to earn money and had plenty of ways to do so. Other silver couldn’t be brought out openly, but this silver had a clear source, so of course he had to hand it to her to show off.
