Chapter 65: No Intent To Attack Personally
“This humble scholar has never bullied Miss Fang.” Lu Chengjing stated flatly, “Shopkeeper Ge invited this humble scholar to the backyard to discuss matters. After drinking the tea, this humble scholar lost consciousness. Upon waking, he became the villain in this Miss Fang’s mouth who bullied her.”
Lord An’s gaze darkened slightly as he looked toward Shopkeeper Ge, “Are Lu Xiucai Scholar’s words true?”
“My lord, please see clearly. This lowly one did indeed invite him to drink tea, but did not put any drugs in the tea. This lowly one drank the tea too.”
Shopkeeper Ge hurriedly defended himself, “This lowly one went to the toilet for a bit, and when I came back, he was gone. This lowly one thought he had already left, but unexpectedly he had sneaked into the side room and harmed Cailian.”
Lord An frowned, “Lu Xiucai Scholar has injuries on both legs and moves inconveniently. How could he go to the side room alone? And how did he know there was someone in the side room?”
“This lowly one does not know.” After Shopkeeper Ge finished speaking, he secretly gave a glance to the pockmarked-faced shop assistant at his side.
“My lord, it was… it was this lowly one’s fault.” The pockmarked-faced shop assistant bowed deeply to Lord An and said remorsefully, “This lowly one was blinded by greed for money and thus became the accomplice of the villain.”
Fang Bao stared in surprise, “Xiao Fei, how could you…”
“Brother Fang Bao, I’m sorry.” Xiao Fei was too ashamed to look at him.
“Why did you harm me? Why harm me!” Fang Cailian lunged at Xiao Fei with bloodshot eyes, pounding and hitting him, her voice like weeping blood, “Why? I treated you like a dear brother with respect. Why harm me like this?!”
Xiao Fei let Fang Cailian tear and hit him, holding his head and apologizing repeatedly.
Seeing his own lord’s face growing darker, Shen Qi hurriedly stepped forward to pull the two apart and ordered them to kneel properly again.
Lord An glanced at Lu Chengjing, whose expression was as usual, and continued asking Xiao Fei, “You say you coveted Lu Xiucai Scholar’s money and thus became Lu Xiucai Scholar’s accomplice. How much money did Lu Xiucai Scholar give you?”
“Two taels of silver.” Xiao Fei pulled out the silver from his bosom to show Lord An, adding, “He said he would give me ten more taels after the deed was done. With this money, I could marry a wife.”
“My mother washes clothes every day, her hands all worn out, just to save money for me to marry a wife. I didn’t want to see my mother work so hard, so I took a wrong turn and became an accomplice. I beg my lord for forgiveness.”
Lord An examined the silver bar. Dan Dajun walked in to report, “My lord, the coroner has checked the brought-back tea and tea set. Everything is normal.”
Hearing this, Shang Wan looked toward Shopkeeper Ge.
The rice shop is this fellow’s turf. If he intended to set up a trap, how could he leave such obvious evidence as the tea for inspection? It had probably been swapped long ago.
“The silver bar has no markings. Based solely on your word, it cannot prove this belongs to Lu Xiucai Scholar.” Lord An looked at Xiao Fei, “Do you have any other evidence to prove what you just said?”
Xiao Fei instinctively looked toward Shopkeeper Ge, who stared straight ahead, pretending not to know.
Xiao Fei had no choice but to steady himself, his demeanor becoming even more deferential.
“Reporting to my lord, this lowly one has no other evidence. But, but this lowly one dares to guarantee with my life that every word this lowly one said is true. I beg my lord to investigate clearly!”
Lord An observed his expression and already had an idea in mind.
He looked toward Lu Chengjing, “Lu Xiucai Scholar, do you have anything to say?”
Lu Chengjing’s lips curved into a wry smile, “This humble scholar was expelled from the family due to the previous county magistrate’s poisoning incident and did not take away a single coin. Recently, all expenses have relied on my wife. My lord need not laugh, let alone two taels of silver, this humble scholar doesn’t even have two copper coins.”
Everyone: “…”
Lord An did not expect Lu Chengjing to be so honest, admitting to living off a woman in public. He coughed twice and sought confirmation from Shang Wan about the truth of the matter.
Shang Wan naturally nodded. It was not that she did not give Lu Chengjing silver, but even if she did, he had nowhere to spend it.
This morning when going out, among the family of five, except for Yuan Yuan the nursing baby, only Lu Chengjing had no money on him.
Yuan Yuan liked playing with the money bag and always put it in her mouth to gnaw. Lu Chengjing worried she would swallow the silver, so he simply did not carry the money bag. Now it conveniently became evidence of self-proof.
Shen Qi stepped forward to search him and indeed found not a single copper coin.
Everyone was speechless. It seemed living off a woman was real.
Lord An seized the moment to slap the gavel, glaring angrily at Xiao Fei, “Bold rogue, daring to deceive this official!”
“This lowly one dares not.” Xiao Fei was frightened into prostrating on the ground, his mind racing as he urgently said, “The money was really given by Lu Xiucai Scholar. Perhaps he only had two taels on him. To buy this lowly one to help him succeed, he deliberately deceived me.”
Lu Chengjing looked at him, his tone clearly laced with doubt, “You say I bought you off. Let me ask you, how did I know there was a woman resting in the side room?”
Xiao Fei answered without thinking, “Naturally, I heard it from people in the shop.”
“Fine, suppose I heard about it.” Lu Chengjing continued, “I have no prior acquaintance with this Miss Fang, not knowing if she is beautiful or ugly, fat or thin. Why would I suddenly decide to act, dragging my crippled body to buy you off to make it happen?”
Hearing this question, Xiao Fei instead calmed down and retorted, “You’re lying. Two months ago, you and the young master came to the rice shop together and happened to run into Cailian. You stared at her then, surely harboring intentions since that time.”
“My lord, this common woman has something to say.” Shang Wan raised her hand to indicate.
Lord An waved his hand, “Speak.”
Shang Wan pointed to herself and Fang Cailian, asking Xiao Fei sincerely, “Between me and her, whose appearance stands out more?”
No need for Xiao Fei to answer; anyone with eyes could see it.
Although Fang Cailian was not bad-looking, compared to Shang Wan, she was instantly outclassed.
Faced with such a vast gap and under everyone’s gaze, Xiao Fei could not tell an obvious lie and could only answer, “You.”
“Let me say first, I have no intention of personal attack, just stating facts.” After declaring this, Shang Wan pointed to Lu Chengjing, “He and I have been married for nearly two years. Even on our wedding night, facing this face of mine, he never stared.”
Everyone could understand her meaning.
His own wife was a rare great beauty. Facing such a face every day raised his aesthetic standards. How could Lu Chengjing possibly stare at Fang Cailian?
However, some wondered inwardly: what if Lu Chengjing was tired of delicacies and wanted to taste plain porridge and side dishes?
Fang Cailian, feeling insulted: “…”
Shang Wan continued, “To put it bluntly, twelve taels of silver could get you a clean-kept courtesan in a brothel. Transaction complete, no disputes. Isn’t that easier than picking roadside wildflowers?”
Everyone turned to look at Lu Chengjing. Oh, you go to brothels?
Lu Chengjing could not help but darken his face. When had he ever gone to such messy places?
Shang Wan comfortingly pinched her own fox’s beautiful paw and said to everyone, “Just an example. I testify that my husband has never been to a brothel!”
These words sounded suspiciously like protesting too much.
Lu Chengjing: “…”
If Shang Wan kept talking, who knows what strange fetishes she might assign him. He had to speak up to divert everyone’s attention.
“My lord, all in the rice shop follow Shopkeeper Ge’s lead and are prone to covering for each other. Similarly, this humble scholar’s two witnesses are his close kin and prone to favoritism. This humble scholar has another method that may verify the matter.”
