Love

Although Qingzhu Village had "village" in its name, its specialty green bamboo drew a great flow of travelers, and its scale was no smaller than that of an ordinary town. There were quite a few gambling dens as well. With no other choice, the constables split up to search, while Zhou Yi sat at a tea stall drinking tea.

By noon, several constables finally brought back word. They had found Scholar Li in a gambling den called Qianjin Terrace. They had not alerted the enemy; after locating him, they sent one constable to notify Zhou Yi, while the rest remained in the gambling den to keep an eye on Scholar Li.

When Zhou Yi arrived at the gambling den, he saw Scholar Li throwing around silver by the handful.

Where did Scholar Li get so much silver? Zhou Yi pondered inwardly. He then had several constables quietly bring over the gambling den's manager.

"May I ask what this official needs of me?" the manager asked Zhou Yi cautiously upon seeing him.

"It has nothing to do with you. Do you know where that Scholar Xu got his silver? Did he win it here?" Zhou Yi asked.

Hearing that they were not here for him, the manager secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After all, no one in this line of work had clean hands.

The manager straightened his clothes and said to Zhou Yi, "This man is one of our regulars. He was never this lavish with his spending before."

After hearing the manager's answer, Zhou Yi had a rough guess in mind. He had several constables step forward and take the man back to the jail first. This was not the Blue Star of his previous life, where the law was well established. Here, the yamen represented absolute violent authority.

Seeing constables approach, the gamblers around the table scattered at once. Scholar Li, engrossed in the game, did not notice anyone approaching him at all. It was not until one of the constables placed a hand on his shoulder that he turned around with an impatient expression.

When he saw that they were constables, as well as the wide empty space around him, Scholar Li's impatience instantly vanished and was replaced by a fawning smile. "What do you gentlemen need with me?"

Wang Er stepped forward and said to Scholar Li, "Nothing much. There is a case, and we would like you to come back and assist with the investigation."

After Wang Er spoke, he gave the two constables beside Scholar Li a look. They immediately understood and promptly dragged Scholar Li outside.

Seeing this display, Scholar Li panicked at once. He struggled and shouted, "Sirs! Sirs! I haven't committed any crime! You mustn't arrest the wrong person!"

Scholar Li's shouting became unbearable to Wang Er, so he stepped forward and stuffed a piece of cloth into Scholar Li's mouth.

Seeing Scholar Li dragged away by the constables, the people in the gambling den began discussing what crime he had committed.

It was not until the gambling den manager came out that the commotion died down. Before long, everyone threw Scholar Li's affairs to the back of their minds and turned their attention back to the gambling tables before them.

After taking Scholar Li to the jail and locking him up, Zhou Yi gave the constables some silver and told them to go eat lunch first. As the saying went, even the King of Hell did not dispatch hungry ghosts. These constables had followed him around all morning and were exhausted.

After sending the constables away, Zhou Yi was just considering interrogating Scholar Li when Li Yuanfang hurried back from outside. Upon seeing Zhou Yi, Li Yuanfang said solemnly, "Sir, Master Gui is dead. He died in bed. When I arrived, I found a puddle of water beside him, but it quickly vanished before my eyes."

Hearing Li Yuanfang's words, Zhou Yi could not help thinking of last night. If he had merely been an ordinary person, would he have met the same end as Master Gui?

This lingering thought had actually begun killing people. It had likely already turned into resentment. Once it combined with Yin Energy, who knew what kind of uncanny thing it would become.

At that moment, Scholar Li, who was nearby, heard how Master Gui had died. His expression suddenly turned terrified, and his entire body began trembling violently. With his mouth blocked, he could only make muffled "mmph, mmph" sounds.

Zhou Yi and Li Yuanfang turned to look at Scholar Li.

"Looks like you know something. Speak. If you tell us, perhaps you can keep your little life." Zhou Yi had not expected that just as the clue from Master Gui had snapped, Scholar Li would offer a new lead.

Zhou Yi tore the strip of cloth from Scholar Li's mouth.

Once the cloth was removed, Scholar Li, who had been struggling moments ago, suddenly quieted down. His eyes darted back and forth, clearly weighing something in his mind.

Seeing this, Zhou Yi hardened his tone. "If you refuse to speak, I'll 'invite' Miss Liu over."

Upon hearing this, Scholar Li no longer dared entertain any further thoughts. He hurriedly told Zhou Yi the whole story.

It turned out that Li Ji, Scholar Li, and Xu Tianlin, Scholar Xu, had once been classmates. Perhaps because they were both children of humble families, Xu Tianlin regarded Li Ji as a true confidant. Yet what Li Ji envied was that Xu Tianlin had a childhood sweetheart, Jiang Yu'er.

The childhood sweethearts had made an agreement: if Xu Tianlin still failed to pass the Juren examination, he would return to Qingzhu Village and marry Jiang Yu'er, then spend the rest of his days as a teacher there.

Having failed to become a Juren, Xu Tianlin was disheartened. Yet thinking of the childhood sweetheart in Qingzhu Village who still longed for him, he returned home and prepared to marry Jiang Yu'er. What he never could have imagined was that the childhood sweetheart waiting for him had become a corpse.

When Xu Tianlin arrived home, he found Jiang Yu'er hanging in his room. Yu'er's hand was tightly clutching the token of love he had given her: an Autumn Rabbit Hair brush.

Because Xu Tianlin was poor, the Autumn Rabbit Hair was the only thing he possessed that he could present with any pride. Before leaving, he had broken it into two halves, giving one half to Jiang Yu'er as their token of love while keeping the other half himself.

At the sight of Jiang Yu'er's corpse, Xu Tianlin was on the verge of a mental collapse. If he had not learned the reason for Yu'er's death from her final letter, he might have followed Jiang Yu'er into death.

Once he learned that Shopkeeper Liu, Liu Yuantong, was responsible for Jiang Yu'er's death, Xu Tianlin's mind was completely consumed by hatred. But with Scholar Xu's strength, not enough to tie up a chicken, he would likely have been stopped by the Liu Mansion's servants before even entering.

After calming down, Scholar Xu decided to make long-term plans. Although Jiang Yu'er was already dead, Xu Tianlin still dressed her in bridal clothes. He placed the brush in his hand together with the brush in Yu'er's hand, then buried Jiang Yu'er.

After burying Jiang Yu'er, Xu Tianlin still had his aged mother at home. He took out all his savings and asked his friend Li Ji to care for her on his behalf. He also told Li Ji his plan. Li Ji was filled with righteous indignation upon hearing it and patted his chest, promising to keep Xu Tianlin's secret.

With his affairs settled, Xu Tianlin set his mind at ease and began carrying out his plan. Perhaps Heaven favored him, for he easily found work at the Liu Mansion, copying books for them. But as he copied and copied, Xu Tianlin learned that Shopkeeper Liu never came to the study. Thus, he had no choice but to alter his plan and begin with the Liu family's young lady.

Miss Liu also loved reading, and Xu Tianlin had approached her with a purpose. The two quickly developed feelings. Just when Xu Tianlin was preparing to use Liu Xue to get close to Shopkeeper Liu, he never imagined that Shopkeeper Liu would discover his plan. Shopkeeper Liu then had Xu Tianlin drowned in the river.

At this point, Zhou Yi suddenly shouted at Li Ji, "How could Shopkeeper Liu have known Xu Tianlin's plan?"

Li Ji's expression changed. He stammered for a long time without managing to say a single word.

Li Yuanfang suddenly sprang up from the side and kicked Li Ji, shouting as he did, "If you still refuse to tell the truth, I'll have you torn apart by five horses!"

"Stop hitting me, stop hitting me! I'll talk!" Li Ji cried.

Hearing Li Ji speak, Li Yuanfang stopped.