A Crime They Were Determined to Pin on Him

With a series of metallic clangs, seven or eight long blades instantly leveled at Chen Zhuo.

The sun had just risen, and the light reflected off the blades fell squarely on him.

The skin, muscles, and bones all over Chen Zhuo's body tightened at once.

"Anyone uninvolved, stand aside."

At the yamen runners' sharp command, the space around Chen Zhuo cleared in an instant.

Even Sun Fei, whose face had gone pale, had somehow been forcibly hauled away by the arms.

The eyes of the hundred or so people on the Drill Ground all turned toward Chen Zhuo in unison.

"Squad Leader Huang, may I ask what crime my subordinate has committed?"

Suppressing his shock, Chen Zhuo looked at Huang Yuan'er with a dark expression.

But Huang Yuan'er met his question with a scoff.

"You know perfectly well."

Huang Yuan'er said expressionlessly, "Last night, you killed Huang Sanyou."

Huang Sanyou was dead?

Chen Zhuo's pupils contracted sharply. He instinctively opened his mouth to explain, but Huang Yuan'er's voice rang out again before he could speak.

"We confirmed it this morning. Huang Sanyou died at midnight last night. You were the only one who didn't return to the dormitory, and the dagger that pierced Huang Sanyou's heart was found beneath your pillow."

At this, Huang Yuan'er waved a hand. "Bring them up."

At his order, seven battered prisoners were brought before the raised platform.

Chen Zhuo shifted his gaze and took a closer look. These were the roommates who hadn't appeared at Morning Assembly.

"Tell the three officials everything, from beginning to end. Do that, and your death sentence may be commuted. Otherwise, you'll be treated as accomplices."

Huang Yuan'er's voice seemed to fill the seven men with tremendous fear.

They scrambled to their knees. One square-faced man raised his hand and pointed at Chen Zhuo.

"Him! The killer has to be him. Not only did he stay out all night, but he came back with blood on him and hid the dagger under his pillow. He thought we were all asleep, but I saw everything with my own eyes."

The moment his words fell, an uproar swept across the Drill Ground.

"That bastard's a savage. He dares to kill someone inside the yamen, then goes right back to bed as if nothing happened."

"I remember him. Wasn't it him who brought Huang Sanyou in yesterday? How'd he end up butchering him that same night?"

"Maybe he's a vicious brute by nature. Didn't you see how he was covered in blood yesterday..."

As the crowd murmured, a yamen runner hurried up onto the platform and handed Huang Yuan'er a wooden box.

Huang Yuan'er opened the box and held its contents up for everyone to see.

It was a bloodstained dagger.

"My poor great-uncle. He fell beneath this dagger. It breaks my heart to see it."

Looking at the dagger, Huang Yuan'er wore a deeply mournful expression. After a heavy sigh, he turned and cupped his hands toward Magistrate Liu and the other two seated officials.

"The witnesses and evidence are all here. The case is clear enough, but though this criminal is only a White-Uniform Runner, he is registered with the yamen. I ask the three officials to decide how he should be dealt with."

Registrar Wang and Chief Clerk Sun said nothing, merely turning their eyes toward the magistrate.

Magistrate Liu, a dignified-looking man who resembled a middle-aged scholar, pondered for a moment, then said with a frown, "Who would have thought such a brazen criminal could be found within the yamen? Deal with him according to the laws of Great Yong."

"Lord Sun."

"Your subordinate is here."

Magistrate Liu said evenly, "Next time you select people, tell your men to keep their eyes open."

Chief Clerk Sun, built like a mountain, rose and bowed slightly. "This subordinate was at fault. I ask Your Lordship to punish me."

Magistrate Liu flicked his sleeve. "Let this be the last time."

"This subordinate will remember Your Lordship's instruction."

Chief Clerk Sun cupped his hands in salute, returned to his seat, and waved a hand. "Proceed as Lord Liu instructed."

Huang Yuan'er nodded and turned around, a faint smile curling his lips. "Chen Zhuo, do you plead guilty?"

His voice wasn't loud, yet it pierced Chen Zhuo's chest like a sharp sword.

It felt as though someone had clamped a hand around his heart, leaving him almost unable to move.

Fast!

Too fast!

The moment Huang Yuan'er made his move, one attack followed another, so quickly that no one could keep up.

First, he'd seized the initiative. Then the witnesses and evidence had followed, easily saddling Chen Zhuo with a capital crime.

At that moment, a yamen runner approached Chen Zhuo with a written confession and an ink pad, and handed them to him.

"Sign and make your mark."

Chen Zhuo lowered his head to look at the confession. His fingers clenched until they turned white.

Every move he'd made, from the incident itself to what came after, had been recorded on the page in full.

It all fit together seamlessly, leaving not the slightest room for rebuttal.

Clearly, the other side had prepared in advance.

But a lie was still a lie.

"I won't plead guilty."

Chen Zhuo lifted his head and slowly uttered those three words.

Huang Yuan'er's smile grew brighter. "The witnesses and evidence are right here. You still want to deny it?"

"Huang Sanyou was the one I brought to the yamen. What motive would I have to kill him?"

"Besides, I spent the entire night in Master Yan's courtyard and never left once. Not only can Master Yan prove it, so can he."

Chen Zhuo's voice was low. He raised a finger and pointed toward Dunzi and Xiao Liu from the kitchen. "This morning, he went to see Master Yan and watched me walk out of Master Yan's courtyard with his own eyes."

In a flash, everyone's gaze shifted to Yan Ming and Xiao Liu.

Could there be a reversal after all?

Yan Ming looked at Huang Yuan'er expressionlessly. "I can testify—"

"You're Xiao Liu, right? Is what Chen Zhuo said true?"

Before Yan Ming could finish, Huang Yuan'er cut him off and questioned Xiao Liu instead.

Xiao Liu glanced at Chen Zhuo, then turned back and cupped his hands toward Huang Yuan'er. "I did go to see Master Yan early this morning, but I never saw Chen Zhuo. He was the only one in Master Yan's courtyard the whole time."

His words stirred up a thousand waves.

Yan Ming's brows drew together. He glanced at Xiao Liu, then shifted his gaze to Huang Yuan'er. Gradually, his brow relaxed, but a layer of frost settled over his face.

At last, killing intent showed in Huang Yuan'er's smiling face.

"Now that things stand this way, what else do you have to say?"

Registrar Wang's shrill, grating voice rang out as well.

"Stubborn to the bitter end. If he won't confess, execute him on the spot."

Chen Zhuo stared blankly at Huang Yuan'er, then shifted his gaze to Registrar Wang.

The skinny old man gave a few cold laughs and licked his lips in a strange manner.

He looked at Chen Zhuo as if he were prey already within reach.

You old bastard...

Chen Zhuo suddenly laughed.

His gaze swept over the crowd.

Besides the murderous Huang Yuan'er and Registrar Wang, he saw Magistrate Liu's indifference, Chief Clerk Sun's apathy, Xiao Liu's ugly face, and the fear in the eyes of the seven White-Uniform Runners who had shared his dormitory, along with the faintest hint of remorse.

Finally, the regret on Yao Xiong's face made Chen Zhuo's tightly clenched fist slowly loosen.

He suddenly understood.

It was just like the deal Fatty Sun had mentioned not long ago.

This carefully contrived trap was probably one part of the bargain between the two sides.

He was nothing more than an insignificant pawn.

By solving a murder case with such ruthless speed, they could silence anyone who might question his sudden promotion to squad leader.

Besides, he and Huang Yuan'er had a grudge to begin with.

Two birds with one stone. What could be better?

Chen Zhuo understood that there was no need to defend himself anymore.

The case itself didn't matter.

He just wondered how much they'd sold him for.

Chen Zhuo drew a deep breath, then slowly let it out. His chest rose and fell like a hill.

"Set out to condemn a man, and no pretext is too far-fetched."

As his words fell, his right hand was already resting on his waist.

With a metallic clang, his long blade left its sheath.

Huang Yuan'er, go fuck yourself!