Chapter 304: Chapter 122 New Year_4
"So what?"
"We are just a common family, and so our lives are to be dismissed just like that? On what grounds?"
She gave a bitter laugh, her voice cold, "Only in the eyes of you nobles do people have ranks. In the eyes of Yama, there are only the living and the dead."
"To kill is to pay with one’s life, a principle as old as heaven and earth."
Truly ignorant of the world’s ways, Pei Yunmeng furrowed his eyebrows slightly, "Don’t you want justice?"
"Justice?"
Lu Tong lifted her head.
Her eyes, distinct in black and white, shone with an astonishing lucidity beneath the dim lamplight, making her seem resolute and defiant. Just like when she was pushed down and injured, she wouldn’t cry out in pain but immediately charged back into the fray; and now, shackled in this wretched state, she didn’t show any sign of weakness.
She simply gazed coldly at the person in front of her.
Lu Tong said, "Your Honor is well aware that even if this case were taken to the high court, it would make no difference."
She remembered a lawsuit from years ago in Changwu County that had been straightforward; anyone with clear sight could see the truth. But in the end, the Magistrate had declared the gentry not guilty. The girl who was violated carried a woodcutter’s knife to kill the gentry but was beaten to death with sticks. Her aged father ended up hanging himself over her grave.
Lu Tong clenched her fist tightly, her fingertips digging fiercely into her palm.
She would not be the lamb led to slaughter.
"He is the son of the Grand Preceptor; there are plenty of scapegoats willing to take his place. Even if he were found guilty, the punishment would be light—behind closed doors, they’re all in the same circle."
"He won’t die."
"The truth doesn’t matter; clearing my family’s name doesn’t matter. As long as they live, there will never be justice."
"Justice?"
She scoffed bitterly, her tone tinged with the desperation of someone at their wit’s end, "Let me tell you what justice is—Qi Yutai killed my sister, I killed Qi Yutai, one life for another, that is justice."
"I don’t need help, I can find justice myself."
Pei Yunmeng looked at her.
She knelt rigidly on the ground, her voice calm, with a hint of a cry that she struggled to hide. He knew very well that this cry was not because her secrets had been discovered nor because of her current state of helplessness, but for the people buried in this earth.
Lu Tong lowered her head.
In her medical box, there still lay that rusted Silver Ring; if she were to take it out, perhaps she could gain a moment of Pei Yunmeng’s sympathy.
But sympathy is always fleeting. He now knew all the secrets, and whether he was friend or foe was unclear.
Only the dead keep secrets.
She could use the moment she reached for the Silver Ring to lower his guard, either poison his tea or stab a poisoned needle into his acupoint... There were poisons hidden all around this room, and in her sleeve lay a packet of poison powder that could blind him.
Laughter and firecracker sounds softly drifted in from the distant streets, carried by the wind into the small courtyard.
Lu Tong looked at the timepiece on the table.
It was almost midnight; Ah Cheng said that to celebrate the festival, Dechun Terrace would set off fireworks tonight.
The moonlight quietly climbed on the plum branches outside the window, casting its light on the curtain. On New Year’s night in Shengjing, commoners and nobles alike share in the glorious spectacle of the peaceful era, without distinction of rank.
"Tick-tock—tick-tock—"
The sound of the water clock dripping.
Soon, it would be midnight.
Her fingers had already touched the poison powder in her sleeve. She was peeling the paper wrap bit by bit, about to feel that fine, gray dust...
Suddenly, a handkerchief embroidered with a soaring hawk was extended in front of her.
Lu Tong’s hidden hand tensed.
"Boom—"
In that instant, from the distant Dechun Terrace, fireworks splendidly burst into the night sky over Shengjing City, like ten thousand lanterns lighting up in the heavens, their dazzling patterns unfolding in myriad colors.
The little courtyard was illuminated by this moment of splendor.
Lu Tong squinted slightly against the glare.
New Year’s night, the fireworks of the spring stage.
It was now the start of a new year.
She looked up blankly.
Pei Yunmeng stood before her, the festive lights of the fireworks outside the courtyard illuminating his handsome brow and eyes, softening the sharpness and coldness that surrounded him, making him appear bright and gentle.
The young man bent down, bringing the handkerchief even closer, suggesting that Lu Tong bandage her still-bleeding finger.
"Wipe it off," he said, turning his face away, his voice neutral.
"You’ve convinced me."