Yongcheng Yamen.
Outside the yamen's main hall, a crowd of curious onlookers had gathered. Dong Qing, seated on the high platform, looked at Lu Wuxie, who was seated on the right, and asked, "Your Highness, can the court session commence?"
Lu Wuxie glanced at Lin Jin.
Lin Jin cupped his hands towards him in a gesture of respect.
He nodded, signaling Dong Qing to proceed.
Dong Qing raised the gavel in his hand and declared, "Bring forth the prisoner, Meng Yuan!"
With the clanging of chains and shackles echoing within the hall, Meng Yuan appeared before the crowd.
"Is this the head of the Meng family?"
"No way, look at what he's wearing. Neither man nor woman, so unnatural!"
"And look at his face, so ugly."
"Heh… isn't that right?"
...
Meng Yuan stood in the hall. Hearing the whispers behind him, he angrily twisted his head, his crimson pupils fixed on the young ladies who were mocking him. His scarlet tongue extended from his mouth, licking his dry, chapped red lips. "Little ladies, do you also wish to become my exhibits?"
"Ah! How terrifying!"
"Wuwuwu..."
As soon as Meng Yuan spoke, the young ladies who had been ridiculing him were so frightened that they huddled together, trembling.
"Meng Yuan, how dare you be so presumptuous and rude in court?" Seeing this, Dong Qing struck the table with his gavel to issue a warning.
Meng Yuan turned his head and looked directly at Dong Qing.
Stared at by him, Dong Qing felt a chill crawl up his spine and subtly averted his gaze.
"Hmph, as expected, a useless old man," Meng Yuan sneered.
"You!" Dong Qing trembled with anger, his fingertips quivering.
Meng Yuan, ignoring him, slowly walked towards Zhong Li, who was seated nearby.
Lu Wuxie glanced at Lin Jin.
Lin Jin stepped on the chain binding Meng Yuan. Meng Yuan's neck was pulled taut, making it impossible for him to move his feet.
"Miss Zhong," Meng Yuan stepped back slightly, making himself more comfortable, and looked at Zhong Li. "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Meng Qian. We meet again."
Zhong Li looked at Meng Yuan. She knew this was Meng Yuan's other personality, the murderer of all the women.
"So your name is Meng Qian. A pleasure," she said.
Meng Qian raised an eyebrow slightly, his eyes filled with admiration as he looked at Zhong Li. "After all these years, you are the first to discover me."
"It wasn't difficult, actually," Zhong Li said, not playing games with him. "Meng Qian, you like black tea, you like wearing red clothing, you appear to be refined and courteous on the surface, but in reality, you are petty and vindictive. Am I right?"
Meng Qian nodded and gave Zhong Li a thumbs-up. "Indeed, Magistrate Zhong is very intelligent. It's a real pity I didn't kill you. After all, it's so hard to find a confidante in the vast Southern Yue Kingdom. I must cut off her head and have her keep me company at night to relieve my boredom."
"Oh? What a pity, you'll never have this chance," Zhong Li scoffed.
Meng Qian sighed, his face full of regret.
"Speak! Why did you kill these people, from Zhu Yin to Yu Zhen, then to Qi Shuishui, and the body of Ding Xianglan, whom you did not dispose of in the secret chamber just now?" Zhong Li, weary of looking at Meng Qian's face, which was more repulsive than any demon's, asked in a chilling tone.
Upon hearing this, Meng Qian looked at Zhong Li. Before he could speak, the Ding couple, who had come to attend the hearing, heard about Ding Xianglan's body and were so grief-stricken that they cried out and their legs trembled.
"Why? Because… they would look even better in red." Meng Qian spoke as casually as if he were answering whether he would be home for dinner.
However, these words were not received the same way by the surrounding villagers. Killing and decapitating, cutting off limbs, painting faces with heavy makeup, and wearing red shoes – wasn't this the work of a demon?
Yongcheng had produced a demon!
"Silence!" The villagers' hushed whispers filled the air. Dong Qing looked at Meng Qian, recalling their past interactions. Suppressing the lingering fear that made his skin crawl, he mustered his courage and struck the table with his gavel.
Immediately, the surroundings fell silent again.
Zhong Li, no longer bothering to inquire about Meng Qian's motives, stepped forward a few paces and looked down at him. "Meng Qian, are you perhaps doing this because you see them as another version of yourself, or perhaps your mother?"
Meng Qian, who had been acting nonchalant and arrogant, frowned intensely at Zhong Li's words, glaring at her. "What did you say? I'm telling you, you are not qualified to speak of my mother, not qualified!"
Saying this, he, with a strength he seemed to have conjured from nowhere, threw off Lin Jin, who was restraining him, and lunged towards Zhong Li.
Zhong Li, having anticipated this, raised her foot and kicked Meng Qian forcefully in the chest.
Despite being a murderer, Meng Qian was only formidable against defenseless women. Against someone with Zhong Li's skills, he was like a weakling. If not for Feng Niannian's sudden appearance in the secret chamber, he would have already been captured.
"Not qualified? Meng Qian, your mother's head is still in the niche in the secret chamber. I believe she was the first person you killed?" Zhong Li retorted.
Meng Qian, sprawled on the ground, let out a cold, sinister laugh. His head twisted at a seemingly unnatural and eerie angle.
As his laughter grew louder, many villagers surrounding the hall began to show expressions of pain and suppressed agony.
"Muzzle him, muzzle him!" Dong Qing, seeing Meng Qian, trembled and ordered.
As his words fell, a dozen yamen runners stepped forward. Only one, emboldened by courage, stepped out and pulled off his sash, preparing to cover Meng Qian's mouth.
The moment his hand touched Meng Qian, Meng Qian's body began to twitch. The officer, terrified, dropped the sash and retreated to his original position.
Lu Wuxie narrowed his eyes, watching the 'performance.' He stood up and walked to Meng Qian's side. His voice was deep as he said, "I advise you to get up."
Meng Qian seemed not to hear him, his twitching intensifying.
Lu Wuxie let out a cold laugh and raised his foot, stepping on Meng Qian's head.
Simultaneously, Meng Qian's body became immobile. His face was distorted by the sole of Lu Wuxie's shoe, making him look like a toad smeared with rouge.
Lu Wuxie slowly crouched down, resting one elbow on his knee, and playfully looked at Meng Qian. "Continue, keep up the act."
Meng Qian stared at him, still trying to twitch, but found that no matter how hard he struggled, his head was firmly pressed down, preventing him from achieving his goal.
The next moment, Meng Qian's eyes rolled, and a sentence blurted out from his mouth: "Your Highness, it's me, Meng Yuan. What are you doing?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Wuxie glanced at Zhong Li in surprise.
Zhong Li, staring at the expression on Meng Qian's face, guessed that this was Meng Yuan.
"Meng Yuan?" she murmured.
Meng Yuan nodded.
Zhong Li signaled to Lu Wuxie. Lu Wuxie walked back to his original seat and sat down.
Meng Yuan awkwardly righted himself, looked at Zhong Li, then at Lu Wuxie, and said, "Since the matter is settled, this humble subject pleads guilty."