20demayo Chapter 264 List
Chapter 264 List
Chapter 264 List
The side hall of Shuntian Prefecture was tightly closed, and the atmosphere was tense. Chunyu Jing sat in a chair, looking down at the woman kneeling on the ground whose face had been burned beyond recognition by the fire. His eyes were extremely cold.
"Your name is Zheng Yan?" he asked.
The kneeling woman replied, "Yes."
“Tell me everything you know truthfully. If what you say is true, I can take charge of this case and present it to the Emperor to seek justice for you and those unjustly killed girls. But if you dare to fabricate lies and slander court officials, don’t blame me for being ruthless once I find out,” Chunyu Jing said coldly.
“I am not from the capital, and I have no roots or support here. What good would it do me to slander an official of the court?” Zheng Yan said with a light laugh. “I’m afraid that after the Fourth Prince learns of the list, he will choose to protect the officials on it and fabricate a charge to put me to death.”
Chunyu Jing smiled, but his gaze turned even colder: "Very good, you have backbone. You are the second woman to dare to talk back to me like this. Speak, I am becoming more and more curious about the list you mentioned."
“Back then, Master Zhao and Madam She lured me to that mansion, drugged me, and forced me to give myself to a man. After losing my virginity to him, I had thoughts of suicide, but I was unwilling to let these evil people get away with it so easily. So I pretended to please the man and Master Zhao, and thus I was able to stay in that mansion and gradually gain their trust.”
Zheng Yan's strange voice echoed in the sealed room, sending a chill down one's spine.
"That man was a regular at the villa, coming every now and then for some new entertainment. And each time he came, he brought a different group of people with him. Master Zhao and Granny She were always very respectful to him and his companions, as if they dared not offend them. I found this strange, so I found an opportunity to get him drunk, and that's how I managed to get him to reveal the truth. I never imagined that he was actually a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Revenue!"
Feng Ling was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously glanced at Chunyu Jing beside him.
Everyone knows that Chunyu Jing is in charge of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Rites. If what Zheng Yan said is true, once the identity of this fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Revenue is found out, Chunyu Jing himself may also be implicated.
As expected, upon hearing Zheng Yan's words, Chunyu Jing frowned deeply: "What is the name of this fifth-rank official from the Ministry of Revenue you mentioned?"
Zheng Yan sneered, "I only know that his surname is Xu, and that Master Zhao sometimes calls him Shengxiang."
Chunyu Jing's pupils suddenly contracted, and his eyes narrowed dangerously. Xu Ziyi, courtesy name Shengxiang, was a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Revenue, under the jurisdiction of the Jingxi Qingli Division. This man's official rank was not high, and he had not had much contact with him, but he had met him once or twice, so he had some impression of him.
“Master Zhao holds an eighth-rank official position in the Ministry of Revenue; he must have gotten this position through connections,” Feng Ling said from the side.
Chunyu Jing remained noncommittal, instead saying, "Zheng Yan, is this the list you spoke of? Without proof, how can I believe you?"
Zheng Yan's expression suddenly became somewhat agitated: "Of course not! Back then, those high-ranking officials, relying on their positions, were feared by everyone. When they went to the villa for pleasure, they never paid a cent. They only told Master Zhao and Madam She that they would settle the bill later. Master Zhao was afraid that they would deny it in the end, so he made an account book and registered everyone's names. This Lord Xu was just one of them!"
Chunyu Jing pressed, "Then where is the ledger you mentioned?"
Zheng Yan paused for a moment and said, "Back then, I stole the account book and tried to escape, but I was caught and brought back. Master Zhao and Madam She were afraid that I would reveal the secrets of the villa, so they threw me and the account book into the fire in an attempt to destroy the evidence. Later, although I was lucky enough to escape, the account book was burned to ashes in that fire."
That means the most direct evidence is no longer available?
Feng Ling felt a pang of disappointment.
“However,” Zheng Yan suddenly laughed again, a laugh that was indescribably eerie. “I had long suspected they would kill me to cover their tracks, so I had already prepared a backup plan. None of them know that I made a copy of the ledger and hid it in a place no one would expect.”
Feng Ling immediately said, "Then there is no time to lose. Please take me to the account book as soon as possible."
Zheng Yan remained silent, but slowly stood up from the ground, turned her back, and in front of Chunyu Jing and Feng Ling, untied her belt and slowly took off her clothes.
Feng Ling was shocked by her actions and exclaimed, "Miss, you—" However, when he saw the marks on Zheng Yan's body, he was so shocked that he couldn't speak.
Because of the fire she had experienced, most of Zheng Yan's skin was burned beyond recognition. The crisscrossing scars looked so bad that from a distance, one could almost smell the charred meat.
"Lord Feng, may I borrow a dagger?"
Zheng Yan's voice startled Feng Ling. He looked up, glanced at Zheng Yan with a complicated expression, then took a dagger from his body and handed it to her.
After taking the dagger, Zheng Yan plunged it into her leg with a backhand motion. Blood spurted from the wound, and a strong smell of blood immediately filled the air. However, Zheng Yan seemed to feel no pain. After making a cut on her leg, she even stuck her finger into the wound and pulled out a piece of paper stained with blood.
No one would have imagined that she would hide a copy of the account book inside her body. Even if Master Zhao had suspected something at the time, he probably wouldn't have found any evidence. This woman's intellect and perseverance were beyond imagination, even terrifying!
Zheng Yan then used a dagger to remove the rubbings of the account books from several places on her body. When she finally collected all the account books, her body was covered in blood and riddled with holes.
"Lord Feng," Zheng Yan said, collapsing to the ground and shoving the ledger into Feng Ling's hands. "This is a copy of the ledger... I've done some special treatment. After washing away the blood, I heated it over a fire, and then I could see... see... the writing. Lord Feng... please... please help us... get..."
Zheng Yan stared intently at Feng Ling, her grip incredibly strong, but her voice grew weaker and weaker. Before she could finish her last sentence, she fainted.
Feng Lingxin was terrified. He immediately took off his official robe and draped it over her shoulders, then shouted urgently towards the door, "Someone! Someone!"
The constables guarding the door burst in at the sound of the door being opened. Before they could react, Feng Ling shouted sternly, "Quickly, go and fetch a doctor!"
The constable only had time to glance at the shocking blood on the ground before he quickly nodded and ran away.
Chunyu Jing walked slowly to Feng Ling's side, took out a medicine bottle from his bosom, and said, "Lord Feng, I have some medicine here that can stop bleeding. You can use it on her first, so that she doesn't lose her life."
"Thank you, Fourth Prince!" Feng Ling said gratefully. As he was about to take the medicine bottle, he found that he was holding the account book that Zheng Yan had dug out of his body in his hand.
Chunyu Jing smiled slightly, extended his other hand, and said, "Lord Feng, hand over the account book she mentioned to me."
Upon hearing this, Feng Ling handed over the account book, then took the medicine and hurriedly began to treat Zheng Yan's wounds.
After Chunyu Jing got the account book, he found a basin of clean water in the room, washed the bloodstains off the account book, lit a candle, and placed it over the fire to heat it.
Although it was daytime, the flickering firelight cast shadows on Chunyu Jing's face, making his expression appear particularly gloomy.
A foul odor wafted up, and moments later, writing gradually appeared on the blank ledger. He squinted as he scanned the list one by one, and when his eyes fell on one name, his heart skipped a beat. He turned sharply to look at Zheng Yan, who was lying in Feng Ling's arms, his eyes filled with an indescribable terror.