TEFSCBSS Chapter 18

Chapter 18: The Final Segment (Part 1)

After Su Li left, the crowd began to whisper among themselves. After all, they were ordinary folk, not accustomed to interrogations and lacking any real experience.

Logically speaking, Wang Boke, a young master from a prestigious family, should have been quite experienced. However, his face was pale, as if he were on the verge of collapsing. Han Yueyi barely managed to help him into a chair and had his servant, Er Tong, stay close to attend to him.

It wasn’t that Han Yueyi didn’t care about him; it was just that Wang Boke’s pale face, combined with his excited expression, made it clear that there wasn’t much of a problem. He was probably just exhausted from the scare.

Returning to the crowd of players, Han Yueyi felt a rare sense of pressure as he faced the sharp-eyed “detectives.”

(After all, he was mute. What could he possibly do?)

Eventually, after some discussion, it was decided that scholar Wang Qingmu and the chief constable, Brother Song, would take the lead and try to understand the questions everyone had.

Brother Song, the chief constable, was named Song Dadou. He often helped when there weren’t enough jailers and had been to the prison a few times. He’d even helped interrogate petty criminals and considered himself somewhat experienced.

Song Dadou lifted his chin and slapped the table. “Speak. Did you kill the victim?”

He was addressing Li Tiezhu, who had just performed a dramatic scene at the graveyard.

Li Tiezhu slumped in his chair. Honestly, it was a miracle his bulky body even fit in the seat.

“Ah, yes, yes, you’re right, it was me,” he said.

…?

Why was he so brazen about admitting to murder?

Song Dadou’s face turned dark. It was good that he admitted it, but the rushed manner in which he did so felt off.

Wang Qingmu narrowed his eyes and stepped forward. “Brother Song, don’t be hasty. Let me ask a few questions first.”

“Li Tiezhu, were you in love with Yanran?”

Li Tiezhu rolled his eyes. It wasn’t that he was being rude; anyone who had been drilled by Boss Zhao for half an hour to perform a melodramatic love story between a human and a ghost would act the same.

He had been shy at first, too, too nervous to speak to anyone. Now, though, he was exhausted and had let go of his inhibitions, caught up in a ridiculous plot that shattered his worldview.

He put on a mechanical smile. “Ah, yes, yes.”

… Ah, he wanted to punch someone. What if his fists got too hard?

Wang Qingmu’s forehead twitched with veins, but he was a cultured man, so he could tolerate it.

“Li Tiezhu, you say that Xiaohong killed Yanran. Do you have any evidence?”

Evidence? Li Tiezhu blinked, his brain still a bit muddled. He slowly flipped through his character’s profile, read over the prompts a few times, and then responded, “Oh, Yanran told me herself?”

Huh?

Everyone perked up their ears, and even Wang Boke, who had been lying down, straightened up.

“Yanran is dead. How could she have told you? Did you see her at the scene of her death? Did you find any clues she left behind?”

Wang Qingmu frowned, though the answer was unexpected. He quickly found the underlying logic behind it.

Han Yueyi gave him a look of appreciation.

Now, Han Yueyi thought that Su Li’s script-murder game was quite good. He planned to have his subordinates try it someday. It wasn’t easy to remain calm and think clearly when faced with such a complicated case. This could be a great way to train them.

Li Tiezhu, without hesitation, answered Wang Qingmu’s question. “Yes, Yanran told me herself, in person.”

“That evening, I was at home, reminiscing about Yanran with her token when I suddenly heard the sound of wind and rain hitting the window.”

“Creak, creak, patter, patter.”

“I didn’t want to pay it any mind, but I happened to see a woman’s figure at the window. From her shape, I knew it was Yanran.”

“She was wearing the silver hairpin I gave her!”

“Silver hairpin?” Everyone gasped, turning to look at the outhouse. Could it be the weapon from the victim’s body?

Li Tiezhu smirked at their expressions. “That’s right, the weapon was the silver hairpin I once gave Yanran.”

“That night, she hesitantly told me about the mistreatment she endured at the hands of Xiaohong, and how she wasn’t allowed to leave the yard or meet anyone. So, before that, no one had seen Yanran.”

“Only when their mother died did we, her friends and family, get to attend the funeral. That was the first time I saw Yanran.”

“I went with the groom, ha, I was so loyal to him back then, but years later, when he returned from business, he had become such an unkind, ungrateful man.”

“Yanran told me that Xiaolang not only refused to give up his engagement to Xiaohong, but also tried to seduce Yanran, claiming he wanted to marry her.”

“At first, I thought Xiaolang only treated Xiaohong like a sister, and that he, like me, had fallen for Yanran.”

“One was a brother I grew up with, the other was the first woman I had feelings for. I was too cowardly, so I chose to step aside and give them my blessing. I gave Yanran the silver hairpin as a wedding gift.”

“After all, I had heard that Liu, the butcher, was a good father and had agreed to let his daughter marry someone who truly loved her.”

“I thought they were going to get married.”

“I planned to leave once I saw them settled. But, instead, I waited and waited, only to hear the news of Yanran’s death!”

“She was poisoned at home!”

“I did suspect that the ghostly figure I saw was just an illusion, but I asked everyone, and that night, only Yanran and Xiaohong were in the yard. Tell me, if Xiaohong didn’t kill Yanran, who did? My investigation proves that Yanran was wronged, her soul is wandering, unable to reincarnate!”

Li Tiezhu finished his monologue and confessed everything.

“Heh, I hope Yanran is at peace, at least, at least free of resentment. I wish her a carefree life in her next life.”

“That’s why I listened to her plan. She told me that if, at the groom’s wedding banquet, I saw a pair of pink and white embroidered shoes, I should trick the groom into the outhouse, and then everything would be over.”

Finally, after finishing his performance, Li Tiezhu slumped back into his chair, acting as though he was too heartbroken to answer any more questions, wanting to be with his beloved in the afterlife.

Su Li, from across the room, quietly gave Li Tiezhu a thumbs up. He was truly talented. If he didn’t have a master and a day job, she would have tried to recruit him as an NPC.

After hearing this long, intricate tale, Wang Boke finally recovered. He grabbed a chair and moved it to Wang Qingmu’s side, apparently forgetting all about Han Yueyi, who had been attending to his comfort.

“Sigh, scholar, what do you think? Do you have any ideas? Could it be ghosts?”

Wang Qingmu frowned. “It shouldn’t be. As I said, if it were ghosts, Yanran could have appeared to tell Li Tiezhu her story, but why not just kill the groom directly?”

“Do ghosts need good timing and favorable conditions to kill someone?”

“Or is it that the groom has some sort of treasure that repels ghosts, so the only way to do it is through a trap?”

The questions Wang Qingmu posed were crucial. Of course, the most important question was about Liu the butcher, but his eyes kept darting to the silver in the display above, and he didn’t dare ask. After all, it was his twenty taels of silver.