Zhong Li sat in a dark room, looking at the man kneeling silently opposite her.
"Zhao Min, do you know your crime?" she asked.
Zhao Min raised his eyes to look at Zhong Li and snorted, "Despicable methods!"
Hearing him say this, Zhong Li found it utterly ridiculous. She asked, "Despicable? Three women from the Marquis's estate met their end at your hands. How can you compare to me in terms of despicableness, Zhao Min?"
"Hmph! They brought it upon themselves!" Zhao Min shot Zhong Li a disdainful glance and spat, "You wouldn't know about those matters back then, so you'd naturally speak well of them. This is what is called 'officials protecting officials'!"
Zhong Li narrowed her eyes, looking at Zhao Min. She had always felt that no matter how much, this man had once been the second-ranked scholar. To be so learned, he must have known the hardships of life and worldly principles. But now, it seemed not.
"Zhao Min, I should be grateful that you didn't come to Jincheng to accept imperial favor and take office ten years ago," she scoffed coldly.
"What do you mean?" Zhao Min frowned, his ugly features contorting into a particularly eerie expression.
"The Southern Yue Kingdom has a saying: all women, children, and the weak are vulnerable. You, a robust man in your early thirties, have successively killed three defenseless women. What kind of conduct is this? Secondly, since you once took the imperial examinations, you must know the law. Regardless of what the three masters of Anping Marquis's estate did, the law would punish them. What concern is it of yours?" Zhong Li said.
"The law?" Zhao Min sneered upon hearing this. "If the law were truly as you say, then the entire Anping Marquis's estate would be dead, not just a single person!"
Zhong Li knitted her brows. She thought that having experienced so much, Zhao Min could remain hidden in Anping Marquis's estate for so long and commit murder, his heart must have been twisted. She just hadn't expected him to be so extreme.
"Changsun Tang is already dead, and she married into the Marquis's estate willingly. Why must you be so persistent?"
Zhao Min acted as if he had heard a joke, letting out a wild laugh. "Tang'er was forced. She was pregnant with my child back then. How could she possibly marry into Anping Marquis's estate?"
"She was pregnant back then?" Zhong Li was stunned. She hadn't expected Changsun Tang to marry the Anping Marquis while pregnant with Zhao Min's child.
"Otherwise?" Zhao Min said, then sank to his knees dejectedly.
Zhong Li lowered her gaze, remaining silent. After a while, she spoke, "Do you know about Changsun Tang falling ill?"
"I know. She told me she wasn't feeling well back then and that she married him because the Anping Marquis saved her. But don't think I don't know that Tang'er has always been healthy since childhood. Even if she fell ill, it was only a minor ailment. The Anping Marquis must have threatened her with something else!" Zhao Min said, his eyes filled with indignation.
"A minor ailment? You don't know what illness she had?" Zhong Li continued to ask.
"No."
Hearing Zhao Min's reply, Zhong Li had already guessed what had happened back then to make Zhao Min like this.
"What if I told you that Changsun Tang's illness was incurable back then, and she also knew that her body could not bear your child? She married the Anping Marquis simply because she didn't want to burden you and wanted you to give up. Even if the concubines in the Anping Marquis's rear courtyard didn't harm her, she didn't have long to live. Do you believe this?" she asked.
"Impossible!" Zhao Min exclaimed excitedly upon hearing this, looking at Zhong Li. "Impossible! Impossible!"
"Why is it impossible, Zhao Min? Changsun Tang had consumption back then. How many people in the Southern Yue Kingdom do you think could survive? If you don't believe me, you can ask Changsun Tang's mother, Madam Qian, or go to the medical clinic where Changsun Tang received treatment back then and ask if what I said is true!" Zhong Li slammed the gavel in her hand onto the table coldly, and reprimanded him.
"Con... consumption?" Zhao Min was completely dumbfounded upon hearing the word.
"Yes, consumption. Otherwise, why would she, who was so fond of you, be willing to break off the engagement?" Zhong Li said, taking a hairpin from her sleeve and placing it in front of Zhao Min. "This was given to me by Madam Qian when I visited the Changsun family. The 'Min' character on this hairpin is shiny, which suggests it was often handled."
Zhao Min lowered his gaze to the hairpin on the ground, picking it up as if it were a treasure. He held it carefully and slowly closed his eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, the hatred that had filled them moments before had completely vanished. He let out a self-mocking laugh. "She was gravely ill, and I couldn't be by her side. Not only that, but I kept causing trouble at the Anping Marquis's estate demanding to see her, bothering her. I don't know how much suffering she endured, and I stubbornly believed she was coerced. Hah... I am truly a scoundrel."
Zhong Li remained silent, waiting for him to continue.
"More than nine years ago, I was rescued from a great fire by my family. A few months later, my injuries healed. Knowing my appearance was disfigured, I realized that taking an official position was impossible. So, I decided to go to the Anping Marquis's estate, at least to be closer to her.
Coincidentally, the Anping Marquis's estate was looking for gardeners that year. I knew a little about plants, so I applied. I was soon hired. Elated at the thought of seeing Tang'er, I discovered that Tang'er had already died. Even the courtyard where she lived had been cleared out," Zhao Min said.
Upon hearing this, Zhong Li recalled what the Marquis's estate cook had said. Zhao Min must have gone at the time when Chang Ji replaced most of the Marquis's estate staff.
"And then?" she pressed.
"I thought Tang'er had died accidentally, and in my despair, I often went to the courtyard where she lived to space out, at least feeling that I was closer to her. Until a few days ago, I received a letter. That letter revealed the truth of Tang'er's death.
It turns out Tang'er didn't die accidentally; she was murdered by Madam Tao and Madam Lei working together. Lei pretended to be good friends with Tang'er and stole the medicine Tang'er usually took. Tao added arsenic to her medicine. Tang'er died of poisoning after drinking it. As for Madam Nian, even though she knew the concubines in the rear courtyard intended to kill Tang'er, she turned a blind eye. That's why I decided to make them pay with their lives!" Zhao Min said.
"A letter?" Zhong Li seized upon the key point in Zhao Min's words.
"Yes, a letter."
"Who gave it to you?" she pressed.
Zhao Min shook his head. "I don't know. It was anonymous."
"And you believed it?" Zhong Li found it somewhat amusing. Even if it were true, Zhao Min shouldn't be so careless.
As expected, Zhao Min shook his head. "I didn't believe it at first, until I cornered Madam Nian while she was strolling alone in the courtyard and questioned her. She actually admitted it. That's when I knew the letter was true."
"So, you took advantage of the opportunity when Madam Nian was taking medicine to please the Marquis, bribed the physician who prescribed her medicine to increase the dosage, causing her to hallucinate. Then, under the influence of the medicine and with your guidance, she unconsciously walked to the rock garden. You also paved the rock garden with many slippery rain pebbles.
You knew that Madam Nian's son, Chang Yan Zhi, liked to collect rain pebbles. When Madam Nian saw those things, she would desperately want to pick them up due to missing her son. Moreover, Madam Nian was already fat and easily unstable. Coupled with her fear of heights, on the rock garden that could only accommodate one person, even if she were sober and panicked, she would trip on the rain pebbles at her feet while trying to get down. No matter what, her outcome would be to fall down the mountain.
And you, knowing a bit of medicine, knew that a rock garden just over ten feet high wouldn't kill a normal person from falling. But Madam Nian was different. She was heavy, so even if her mind was clear, her internal organs would rupture from the impact, causing her death. Isn't that right?"