Zhong Li looked at Meng Yuan, who was staring blankly at her.
He blinked, his face a mask of disbelief and panic.
“Temple Official Zhong, where is this? This…”
“Meng Yuan, are you still pretending?” Zhong Li had no patience for his games and reprimanded him coldly.
Meng Yuan’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Temple Official Zhong, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Where is this place? How did I end up here?”
“Hmph!” Zhong Li scoffed, watching Meng Yuan’s act. “Meng Yuan, I have to say, you’re quite the actor. With that idiotic expression you’re putting on, you might fool Feng Niannian, but you’re too green for me.”
Hearing this, Meng Yuan’s hands, hidden beneath his red embroidered robe, clenched slightly, but his expression remained one of bewilderment. “Temple Official Zhong, you’re saying…”
“Meng Yuan, are you going to claim you’ve lost your mind and don’t remember anything you did before, right?” Zhong Li interrupted, no longer wanting to watch his performance.
Meng Yuan remained silent, a hint of his usual gentleness on his face.
“But I know your secret. You have two Meng Yuans in your body, don’t you? The businessman Meng Yuan is you, and the killer Meng Yuan is another you,” Zhong Li said with a mocking smile.
“Do you know how I found out? Because you used two different methods to dispose of the bodies. The killer you didn’t have your memories, and he didn’t know Zhu Yin’s body had resurfaced, so he still threw Qi Shuishui’s body into the lake.
The businessman you, who acted like a good husband, is the original. You possess all the memories of the original body and the killer you. You knew that bodies thrown into the lake would resurface within days, which is why the businessman you buried Yu Zhen’s body.”
“You… How do you know?” Meng Yuan was stunned, looking at Zhong Li in disbelief.
Zhong Li narrowed her eyes and slowly said, “There were many carp belly-up in the Meng family’s waterside pavilion. That should have been the other you discovering Qi Shuishui’s body found in the southern suburbs. In his ignorance, he repeatedly tried the same method in his own waterside pavilion.”
Meng Yuan staggered, his eyes filled with despair. He took a deep breath, a helpless smile tugging at his lips. “Temple Official Zhong, you know, actually, I…”
“Miss Zhong!”
Just as Meng Yuan spoke, a desperate female cry echoed from the entrance of the secret room.
Zhong Li glanced sideways and saw Feng Niannian stumbling in, carrying a red lantern.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, frowning, and brandished the dissection knife in her hand threateningly towards Meng Yuan’s neck.
“No, don’t kill him!” Feng Niannian, seeing the knife about to slit Meng Yuan’s throat, threw caution to the wind, dropped the lantern, and fell at Zhong Li’s feet. “Temple Official Zhong, please, don’t kill him, don’t kill Meng Lang.”
“Why?” Zhong Li looked at Feng Niannian in disbelief. Was this woman mad? Her husband was not only a murderer but also schizophrenic.
Feng Niannian raised her delicate, tear-streaked face and shook her head frantically. “Meng Lang is just sick. He didn’t want to do it. Besides, I have no family left. If Meng Lang also leaves… Ah…”
As Feng Niannian pleaded, drawing Zhong Li’s attention, Meng Yuan seized the moment the dissection knife on his neck loosened, raised his hand, and forcefully struck Zhong Li’s wrist. He then grabbed the defenseless Feng Niannian, who was kneeling on the ground, picked up the dissection knife, and held it to her throat.
“Don’t come any closer, Zhong Li, don’t come any closer!” Meng Yuan held Feng Niannian captive, the dissection knife pressed against her jaw, and shouted.
Zhong Li reacted and tried to rush forward, but his warning stopped her.
“Meng Yuan, what are you doing?” she demanded, her brows furrowed.
“Zhong Li, I know if you discover this, there’s only one path for me – death. But I can’t. I’ve worked so hard to reach the top, how can I die so easily? I’m telling you, if you push me further, I’ll kill her!” Meng Yuan tightened his grip on Feng Niannian, who was already flushed red in his embrace.
“Meng Yuan, are you crazy? I could have killed you just now. If not for Madam Feng, do you think you’d still have a chance? She’s your wife, how could you…”
“She’s just a woman. I have money, I can marry an entire mansion!” Meng Yuan interrupted Zhong Li’s words and roared.
Zhong Li froze, her gaze falling on Feng Niannian’s face.
Feng Niannian seemed as surprised as Zhong Li by such heartless words. In her bewilderment, her eyes were filled with despair.
“Fine, tell me what you want!” Zhong Li closed her eyes, took a deep breath to calm herself, and then asked.
“Give me the token at your waist!” Meng Yuan said.
Zhong Li lowered her gaze to the official token at her waist. This token symbolized the official rank of those who served the court, and if the court wasn’t strictly investigating checkpoints or blockading cities, it allowed free passage anywhere within the territory of the Southern Yue Kingdom.
“Alright!” Without a second thought, she pulled the jade token from her waist and threw it on the ground.
Meng Yuan, seeing this, quickly picked it up and ordered, “Now, go out. Get out!”
Zhong Li nodded and retreated step by step towards the secret room’s entrance.
It was past midnight, and the entire city of Yongcheng was immersed in silence, with only a bright, pure moon peeking at the sins hidden in the darkness.
The Meng family’s backyard was vast and expansive. The servants within the manor had mysteriously disappeared.
Zhong Li looked at Feng Niannian, knowing this must be her doing. After all, no one wanted others to see their husband’s ugliness.
“I’m out. What else do you plan to do?” She retreated step by step, her movements becoming increasingly quick and light as Meng Yuan wasn’t paying attention.
“Why are you backing away so quickly? Go to the Meng family’s stables, fetch a fine horse, and take me to the carriage…”
“Whoosh!”
“Mmph…”
Meng Yuan’s words were cut short as a whistling sound whizzed past Zhong Li’s body, slicing through the night.
Meng Yuan felt a sharp pain in his wrist, and the dissection knife fell from his grasp.
Startled, he tried to see what had hit him. The next moment, a pebble struck his forehead directly.
“Damn it, you have help?” Meng Yuan realized, clamping one hand around Feng Niannian’s neck and crouching down, he reached for the dissection knife to retreat back into the secret room.
Zhong Li wouldn’t give him that chance.
She called out to the person behind her, “Young Master!”
At the same time, another pebble struck Meng Yuan’s already swollen wrist.
Zhong Li moved swiftly, picking up the dissection knife from the ground before Meng Yuan could. She aimed it at his ankle and slashed.
Meng Yuan, being extremely cunning, pushed Feng Niannian into Zhong Li’s arms and quickly dashed into the secret room. Simultaneously, a figure descended rapidly from a nearby large tree and pursued him. Sounds of fighting erupted from within.
In the process, Zhong Li, seeing the dissection knife about to plunge into Feng Niannian’s abdomen, quickly twisted her wrist, turning the blade inward. Although she had made the best choice, her index finger was still cut.
“Hiss…” she gasped in pain.
“Are you alright?” Feng Niannian, though not skilled in martial arts, reacted quickly. She rolled away, careful not to press against Zhong Li.
Zhong Li shook her head, checked Feng Niannian to ensure she was unharmed, and then turned back towards the secret room.
Before she had taken a few steps, rustling sounds came from the secret room. Meng Yuan was then unceremoniously kicked out, bound hand and foot. Lu Wuxie walked out slowly, hands clasped behind his back. “With such little skill, you still wanted to kill people?”