Unfulfilled Wish (5) - Slander

Seeing Doctor Cui's unseeing face, Yu Xing paused for a moment, then reached out and touched the still-sitting corpse.

... Regardless of what was speaking to him just now, this was indeed Doctor Cui's body.

No, a corpse.

Yu Xing never expected that the first person to die would be Doctor Cui.

He thought it would be someone insignificant. After all, although Doctor Cui disapproved of the Master's behavior in private, he hadn't had a direct conflict with the Master yet, and even had to help the Master make medicine. His death was too sudden.

To be honest, if this scene hadn't already happened and wasn't an unchangeable part of history, he would have felt sorry for Doctor Cui for a while. After all, in any era, kind and humble Doctor are always well-liked.

It's a pity that good people are always the ones who die young.

Yu Xing confirmed Doctor Cui's death, she quickly stood up and retreated to a corner near the window.

Before he entered, he could only sense a faint aura of death, which confirmed that something was amiss in the room. Now, that aura of death had vanished with the fall of Doctor Cui's head, indicating that it had left.

He glanced at the light in the room, and was certain that the light source had cast his and Doctor Cui's shadows completely onto the translucent doorway.

What killed Doctor Cui, then forged a note to summon him, just to make him appear at the scene?

This thought naturally came to mind, after all, the Fang Mansion was not only home to ghosts, but also to a multitude of human hearts.

Sure enough, as soon as he opened the window, he heard hurried footsteps outside. It sounded like four or five people were rushing towards him. One of them had a loud voice and shouted, "Look! That shadow on the window... it looks like it has no head!"

Without hesitation, Yu Xing pushed open the window and jumped out.

"Ah! A shadow flew out!"

The person called out again.

Yu Xing climbed outside and found a dark path that was not easily noticed, heading towards her servants' quarters. Sure enough, after taking only a dozen steps, she heard several terrified screams coming from Doctor Cui's room.

A look of keen interest appeared in his eyes; he wondered which genius or cunning person had killed him and was now trying to frame him.

Unfortunately, if it were Xiao Jin, he would have been terrified and frozen in place, but he wasn't, and he wouldn't just stand by and watch himself fall for such a trick.

Of course, the one who framed him might be one of the three vengeful ghosts. This incident was a test. If so, he had a way to cover it up and even find traces of the vengeful ghosts among the people who had close contact with him, based on the condition that someone would suspect him.

Running silently, Yu Xing saw that the people in the nearby courtyards were startled by the screams coming from the fifth courtyard and opened their doors or windows to look out.

Then, upon hearing that someone had died, everyone became agitated and, without knowing whether it was true or not, put on their clothes and rushed to the scene.

Yu Xing returned to his bedroom before the news reached the servants' quarters. His three "roommates" were still asleep. He opened and closed the door, got into bed, and covered himself with the blankets in one smooth motion.

He had already checked and found that only his face had been splashed with the scalding hot medicine; not a drop had gotten on his clothes. However, the smell of medicine was a bit strong on him. Without making a sound, he took off his outer garment, changed into an odorless one, and then wiped the stinging burns on his face.

The body's recovery ability has been greatly suppressed; this burn will probably take five or six minutes to heal.

Within minutes, chaos erupted outside, with voices everywhere and some people, eager for a spectacle, started shouting.

Anyway, it was late at night, and even if the host wanted to blame someone for being impolite, they wouldn't be able to tell who shouted it.

The noise finally woke up the three people who were fast asleep in Yu Xing's room. They rubbed their eyes, covered their dazed heads, and got out of bed in a daze, turning on the light.

"What's going on?" There was a crowd of people outside. A Gui had never seen anything like this before. She worriedly picked up her coat and looked at Yu Xing, who had just woken up and was peeking out from the door. She could only see that Yu Xing was standing far away from the light and that she couldn't see the expression on his face clearly.

"Something happened, don't let it bother us." The two young men on the other side finished dressing, yawned, pushed Yu Xing aside, and walked out casually.

"Hey, hey, hey, Xiao Jin is still injured! Are you crazy?!" A Gui hurriedly supported the swaying Yu Xing and cursed at the young man's back.

"Let's go out and take a look," Yu Xing said.

Almost all the servants got up, unaware of what had happened, and could only stay in the courtyard, waiting for an explanation.

They whispered among themselves.

"I heard someone died."

"Who is it? It's so late at night... It's creepy."

Who killed him?

"I don't know, it seems to be over there..."

"That's not the direction..."

Finally, someone cried out in a piercing voice, "Doctor Cui is dead!"

Those who were there to watch the spectacle with this mindset were rendered speechless upon learning that the deceased was Doctor Cui, as if a pause button had been pressed.

Most of them stared in disbelief, desperately wanting a denial.

Watching this scene, Yu Xing sighed inwardly, "Doctor Cui always does good deeds, and people are indeed on his side."

The only question is who killed Doctor Cui.

That's right, he doesn't believe that the Master killed Doctor Cui. Just as he analyzed before, the Master has no reason to deal with Doctor Cui now.

About half an hour later, the butler walked into the servants' courtyard with a gloomy face and scanned everyone's faces.

Immediately afterwards, a richly dressed woman, a young man of about eighteen or nineteen, and a man wearing a half-mask also walked in.

A personal servant followed behind, and among them was the pretty young girl that Yu Xing had seen during the day.

Yu Xing, positioned at the back of the crowd, discreetly observed the three individuals. She noticed that the butler treated them with utmost respect, while the woman herself, though possessing a slender waist and a swaying gait—a still alluring beauty—carefully supported the young man beside her.

The young man Yu Xing, had seen the portrait.

The young man before me was clearly more vivid, his face pale, sickly, and extremely weak.

Clearly, these two are Madam and Young Master Fang.

The one with half a mask is even more noteworthy. The Master exudes composure in every gesture, but the darkness makes him appear somewhat eerie, clearly not someone to be trifled with.

The lower half of his face looked different from the Lingren's. Sure enough, the Lingren had left and was no longer involved in his team's deduction process.

After the three arrived, Yu Xing did not see the master. He had learned during the day that the master was away on business. Since the distance was not long and the value of the goods was not too high, the steward stayed at home.

The fact that these masters and servants came to the Fang residence so late at night was clearly not because they had nothing better to do. The lady's beautiful face paled slightly in the evening. She glanced at everyone and slowly said, "As you all know, Doctor Cui was murdered at the Fang Mansion."

With a loud bang, as if pouring uneasy atmosphere into a pot of oil, the crowd, which had just quieted down, started making noise again. However, the Master's aura was too strong, and he only chuckled lightly, suppressing everyone's thoughts.

The lady's gaze was indifferent, clearly indicating her accustomed to being domineering. She continued, "I won't waste any more words. Who killed him?"

"..."

The servants were as quiet as chickens.

Who asks that?!

Madam, if you ask that, do you expect the murderer to just step forward and confess?

"Who killed him? Step forward now, and I might hear your reasons and send you to the authorities. But if the Master has found out..." The woman's tone was cold, like a Female Ghost, "You'll regret this."

As he said this, Yu Xing keenly noticed that the lady was looking at him.

He made no comment, because he didn't know whether his wife was aware of the Master's arrangements, nor did he know whether tonight's events had anything to do with her.

He merely frowned slightly, then bent down and rubbed his injured leg as if he had difficulty standing.

Most of the people in the Fang Mansion knew about the Master's abilities. In this era, superstition had not been completely eradicated, and everyone trembled at the mere mention of the Master's abilities.

Ultimately, no one admitted it.

Just as the event was about to end, a maid suddenly sobbed and knelt down. "Madam! I know who killed the Master!"

The lady immediately looked at him. "Speak."

Looking at the girl who was crying so fakely, Yu Xing had a premonition.

It's him!

The next moment, the kneeling maid pointed at Yu Xing, with an expression that said, "I must protect you, Madam, it took a lot of courage for me to point this out." When Yu Xing looked at her, she withdrew her finger in fear, acting very convincingly.

"Me?" Before the crowd could disperse and create a safe space, Yu Xing pushed through the throng and limped forward. At this moment, no one bothered with small formalities like greeting the host; everyone was flustered and disoriented. Yu Xing, too, skipped the formalities, her surprise more evident than her anger. "You're saying I killed Doctor Cui?"

The lady's lips curled into a smile, "Interesting, why do you say it's Xiao Jin?"

The maid sobbed, "I saw him sneaking down the corridor to his quarters. If he didn't kill anyone, what was he doing out so late?"

"Which eye did you see that with?" Yu Xing confidently, seemingly an innocent bystander who had been pulled in at the last minute, acting more professionally than a maid. "Then why are you out here in the middle of the night, watching the corridor? To admire the moon?"

He was quite certain that he wasn't seen by anyone on his way back.

This maid was either acting on the orders of the guy who killed Doctor Cui, or she's a wicked troublemaker.

"I..." The maid blushed slightly, "I'm going to the outhouse."

"Why can't I go to the toilet just because you can? Besides, I haven't left the room at all. I went to bed early, and so did the other three people in my room. What evidence do you have that it was me?" Yu Xing Xiao Jin, used to hold a very high position. When pressed, she revealed some of her former self.

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"Cough cough cough..." Young Master Fang, who had been mostly silent, started coughing. Madam quickly patted his back and asked, "What's wrong? Did you catch a cold?"

The young master weakly shook his head and looked at Yu Xing, saying, "A Cui is my maid. I know her; she wouldn't lie."

Yu Xing: "..."

So you killed Doctor Cui?

I never expected this.

But thinking about it, he's the villain now, on the same side as the Master. The young master was murdered, so he's definitely his enemy. It's just that Doctor Cui seems to have offended this young master somehow.

Moreover, his head was severed so cleanly, yet this young master is still alive and already wields such power...

She really is just like Liang Erni, exceptionally talented; no wonder she was chosen by the Master to be his medium.

"Young Master, your maid may not lie, but she can make mistakes." Yu Xing remained calm and said steadily, "If I remember correctly, A Cui has very poor eyesight. She said it herself at dinner today; she can't see many things clearly from a distance."

"Furthermore, A Cui is not your personal maid, so you probably don't know her very well."

Young Master Fang gave him a deep look, his dark pupils flashing with an eerie light.

"Besides," Yu Xing added, "I was injured during the day and my legs are weak. It was Doctor Cui personally applied the medicine for me. He's been very kind to me. Why would I do something so immoral and ungrateful?"

"Your leg is injured?" After watching the show for a while, the Master finally spoke, remaining calm and collected. He had clearly heard about Yu Xing's injury before, but now acted as if he knew nothing. "Let me see?"

Yu Xing didn't hesitate much and pulled up her trouser leg.

The top is covered with patches of dark green, freshly shaped material.

The Master glanced at it and slowly said, "In terms of severity, he really can't walk properly. Xiao Jin probably wouldn't do such a thing when he's so incapacitated; he wouldn't dare."

This sentence seemed to be a final verdict. Young Master Fang lowered his eyes, coughed a few more times, and did not utter a word of rebuttal.

The maid, A Cui, knelt there, somewhat bewildered.

The Master said softly, "As for the young master's maid... perhaps she was truly blinded by darkness and wrongly accused an innocent person."

The lady smiled and said, "The Master is right."

Although she was still supporting Young Master Fang, anyone could see that she was prepared to listen to the Master.

With the master absent, the madam is the one in charge, and no one can change her decisions.

Afterwards, since the murderer refused to confess, the Master went back to perform divination, and the others went back to their rooms to sleep for the time being, saying that they would talk about everything tomorrow.

As for Doctor Cui's death, the Fang Mansion did not report it to the police. Such a large merchant family had connections with many powerful forces. In order not to let public opinion affect their business, they could suppress the death of a person as soon as possible.

With the comfort and support of A Gui, who was even more aggrieved than him, Yu Xing returned to the house. This time, the two young men didn't cause any more trouble; they even asked with concern, "Hey, are you alright? Getting into this mess would have been disastrous. Luckily, the Master spoke up for you."

In their minds, theft and murder are not the same thing. Even if Xiao Jin is dishonest, to accuse him of murder would be a complete loss of conscience.

Yu Xing feigned anger and shock, yet still tried to maintain appearances, and reluctantly thanked them for their concern.

The lights went out, and people went to rest.

In the darkness, Yu Xing lay on her pillow, not sleepy at all. Listening to the wind outside the window, she became more and more awake.

This time point should be skipped... However, it was a very fruitful night.

Yu Xing, who wasn't worried at all about being framed by NP or evil spirits, revealed a smile that could only be described as wicked.

He will definitely make the progress of truth-seeking increase rapidly.

As for the evil spirits... they're in the way, let's just kill them.