Chapter 122: Paramour
Rong Niangzi asked her son in surprise, “Lang’er, how did you know about the clue?”
“Mother, it wasn’t me, it was Er Pang.” Yuan Lang pulled another little boy’s hand. “The day before yesterday, Er Pang saw Aunt Gui fighting with a man in the reed marsh. Er Pang, am I right?”
Er Pang was Wu Mingli’s eldest son, eight years old this year. He actually wasn’t fat at all; his little frame didn’t look as sturdy as Yuan Lang beside him.
Seeing everyone looking at him, Er Pang lowered his head in some fear.
Wu Mingli’s wife Chen Shi walked over and touched her son’s head, asking softly, “Did you really see it?”
Facing his mother, Er Pang wasn’t so afraid anymore. He grabbed Chen Shi’s hem and nodded, his voice very small. “Mother, I saw it.”
A constable wanted to step forward and pull the child out to explain clearly, but Dan Dajun stopped him with a glance. His expression was mild as he asked Chen Shi to help question him clearly.
Under Chen Shi’s patient guidance, Er Pang slowly recounted the events of that day. Although some parts were slightly jumbled, overall it was coherent, and it was clear Er Pang wasn’t lying.
Dan Dajun stepped forward two paces and asked, “If you hear that man’s voice again now, can you still recognize it?”
Er Pang hid a bit behind his own mother, and under Chen Shi’s encouragement, he poked out his little head again and nodded to Dan Dajun. “I recognize it.”
Dan Dajun was delighted; didn’t this mean that man was right here?
He asked urgently, “Who is it?”
Er Pang didn’t answer but looked up at Chen Shi. “Mother.”
Chen Shi smiled encouragingly and touched his head.
Only then did Er Pang point toward the middle. “It’s him!”
Everyone looked in the direction of his finger and saw Lin Jianshan with a face full of shock.
Shang Wan let out a yo in her heart.
“It wasn’t me.” Lin Jianshan waved his hands in panic. “People’s voices are similar; how can you take a child’s word seriously?”
Dan Dajun stared at him and asked sternly, “Where were you when the crime happened? What were you doing?”
“I… I…” Lin Jianshan stammered and couldn’t speak, so anxious that Zhou Shi kept pinching him.
It was such a time; hurry up and speak! If he didn’t, the murder charge would stick!
Liu Shi also anxiously urged, “Eldest, hurry and speak.”
Village Chief Lin’s face was grim as he scolded, “Just say whatever it is; why hem and haw!”
Under everyone’s gaze, Lin Jianshan’s face turned red from holding back, his fist clenched tight, but he still didn’t utter a word.
Every member of the Lin Family was anxious like ants on a hot pan.
Dan Dajun gave a look to two constables, telling them to watch Lin Jianshan closely and not let him run.
He turned his head and continued asking Er Pang, “Besides the voice, did the man you saw have anything different from others?”
Er Pang gripped his mother’s hand tightly, looked up to recall, and Yuan Lang beside him anxiously whispered a reminder, “Injury, injury.”
“Ah!” Er Pang instantly remembered. “I saw that man’s right arm was scratched, several long gashes, and… that person has a mole here.”
He touched the spot where his nape connected to his neck and turned to show Dan Dajun.
Immediately, two constables stepped forward and grabbed Lin Jianshan. Dan Dajun walked over and rolled up his right sleeve; sure enough, there were several scabbed scratches on his forearm. Then looking at his nape, there was a mole.
It all matched.
Dan Dajun’s face was as dark as water. “Now with both witness and evidence, still not confess honestly!”
“Officer, my son is innocent; you can’t wrong a good man.” Liu Shi cried and lunged forward, grabbing Dan Dajun’s official robe.
The other Lin Family members also pleaded for mercy; Zhou Shi even knelt directly to cry injustice for Lin Jianshan.
Village Chief Lin never imagined the fire would burn to his own family; he hurriedly pleaded.
“Do you want to hinder this constable from handling the case?” Dan Dajun’s face was cold and stern as he drew his official saber with a swish, scaring Liu Shi into quickly letting go and dodging back.
Whether Lin Family members or those helping out, they all fell silent one after another; no one wanted to taste the official saber.
Dan Dajun snorted coldly and kicked Lin Jianshan in the knee bend.
Lin Jianshan cried out in pain and involuntarily dropped to one knee.
Dan Dajun shouted, “Speak! What was your relationship with the deceased? Why were you fighting fiercely with the deceased in the reed marsh?”
Lin Jianshan gritted his teeth and refused to speak until after Dan Dajun kicked him two more times, then he opened his mouth, demanding everyone leave and only the officials remain before he would confess.
Dan Dajun sneered repeatedly; did this guy think he was someone important? A murder suspect making demands!
“If you won’t speak, we’ll drag you back for a spanking with the plank.” Dan Dajun ordered his men, “Put him in the cangue and take him back for interrogation.”
“No! I didn’t murder!” Lin Jianshan knew that if he was really taken to the county yamen prison, he wouldn’t die but would shed a layer of skin. He struggled hard and shouted, “I’ll speak! I’ll speak!”
“Speak quickly; last chance.” Dan Dajun waved his hand, and the two constables stopped.
Lin Jianshan’s gaze swept over his family members but avoided Zhou Shi.
He licked his dry lips and said softly, “I didn’t murder; I am… I am… Gui Shi’s paramour.”
The words “paramour” were almost mumbled in his mouth, but everyone was listening intently with ears perked.
The crowd instantly erupted in clamor; Zhou Shi’s face turned ghastly pale as she collapsed to the ground, staring incredulously at her own man.
Her man is actually Gui Shi’s adulterer!
That old woman’s age is enough to be his mother!
“What did you say?” she asked shrilly, her voice breaking.
Lin Jianshan didn’t dare look at Zhou Shi’s eyes, lowering his head and saying: “I didn’t want to, it was just a momentary lapse of reason… just a few times, it was Gui Shi who begged me, that’s why I… that’s why… Anyway, I didn’t kill her, and there’s no reason to kill her.”
“The day before yesterday, we had a fight in the reed marsh, but it wasn’t really a fight; if we really fought, she couldn’t beat me. We just had a little dispute. She asked me for silver to go somewhere else to settle down, I didn’t give it, she threw a tantrum, scratching and clawing at me, and threatened to tell everyone, so I got angry and fought back.”
Dan Dajun said: “So to protect your reputation, you killed Gui Shi to silence her?”
“No! I really didn’t kill her!” Lin Jianshan retorted urgently. “I went to see her today to give her that silver hairpin.”
“You took the silver hairpin?” Zhou Shi’s voice trembled, her eyes red. “For that slut?”
“I… I…” Lin Jianshan’s lips quivered, his face flushing, he explained in a small voice: “I originally didn’t intend to give it, but seeing her in difficulty, I took it to help her out temporarily.”
“You didn’t want to, could she have held a knife to your neck and forced you?” Zhou Shi pointed at the corpse covered with white cloth. “When she died, her clothes weren’t even properly on—did you sleep with her again, or not?!”
Lin Jianshan was secretly annoyed that Zhou Shi didn’t leave him any face, his face flushing purple with suppressed anger. Under everyone’s gazes, he nodded with difficulty.
“She seduced me, that’s why I… But when I left, she had already put her clothes on properly.”
“You heartless cad!” Zhou Shi’s eyes were red. Unable to hold back any longer, she lunged at Lin Jianshan, scratching and clawing. “I bore your children, served your parents, managed the household, and yet you went outside to find a mistress! What’s wrong with me?!”
