Chapter 306
Yang Shoucheng had originally only asked Zhan Feiyu to comfort Yang Xu. He himself had never considered that Zhou Shuyao's death might have been a murder. They say even a tiger doesn't eat its cubs; this was his own mother, his own maternal uncle.
If Zhou Shuyao was indeed killed by Zhang Minxian, then forget helping and looking after the Zhang family; Yang Shoucheng wished Yang Xu would stay as far away from the Zhang family as possible. Such a vicious and ruthless person would absolutely stab them in the back for their own benefit.
Yang Xu's shock was understandable. His mind, which had been slightly calming down, now ached dully, as if tiny figures were hammering inside his head.
After a long while, Yang Xu looked at Zhan Feiyu with a blank face and asked, "Xiao Yu, do you have any evidence?"
"Do you think Zhou Shuyao was the type to commit suicide out of guilt?" Zhan Feiyu didn't mention the jade rabbit pounding medicine patterned gold and jade earrings. Based on her brief interactions with Zhou Shuyao, Zhan Feiyu didn't believe a daughter of an official family, a fourteen-year-old girl, would commit suicide.
Yang Xu opened his mouth, but he was convinced by a third.
Zhou Shuyao, as the eldest legitimate daughter of the Zhou family, and Zhang Minhua, the mistress of the household, were both cunning and capable. Zhou Shuyao had been raised in luxury since childhood, learning music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and was known as a talented woman in Linzhou Prefecture.
Due to her family background, Zhou Shuyao possessed a degree of pride and dominance in her nature. However, under Zhang Minhua's tutelage, she had also mastered the rules of social interaction.
Previously, at the teahouse, there was a conflict over tea. Zhou Shuyao had acted like an arrogant and overbearing young lady of a noble family. But after learning that Zhan Feiyu was a disciple of Scholar Gu, someone the Zhang and Zhou families could not afford to offend, Zhou Shuyao immediately humbled herself and apologized to Zhan Feiyu.
Not to mention later, in order to please Yang Xu, Zhou Shuyao had cast aside the dignity and pride of an official's daughter, showing great care and affection to her cousin Yang Xu. When interacting with Qiu Jinyu, she was also graceful and dignified, displaying the demeanor of a noble lady.
For such a pampered young lady like Zhou Shuyao, who had never experienced great hardship, to choose suicide for the sake of her family's future? Even the naive Yang Xu found it impossible.
Therefore, if it wasn't suicide, it could only be murder. Thinking back to his argument with his cousin Zhou at the time, Yang Xu's dark little face became solemn, making him look like a miniature Yang Shoucheng.
"Xiao Yu, did Cousin Zhou intend to scare me by committing suicide? But in the end, she was harmed by someone!" Although Yang Xu was not skilled in schemes and tricks, he was not brainless. Now that he had thought through everything, Yang Xu understood.
Zhan Feiyu nodded. Seeing that Yang Xu could still handle the emotional strain, she continued, "I also deduced this. She deliberately argued with you, and after you left, she pretended to commit suicide, only to be saved in the end. This way, you would still feel guilty and remorseful, and Zhou Shuyao's objective would be achieved."
However, she had thought it out well, but never expected to actually lose her life at the hands of a close relative. A fourteen-year-old girl, not yet of age, had passed away.
Yang Xu thought for a moment. If he had known that his cousin Zhou committed suicide because of Fu Langhuan's death, even if she hadn't died, he would still feel guilty. After all, Cousin Zhou had been drugged with gui cao, and in her delirious state, she had strangled Fu Langhuan.
She had already endured too much gossip, and he had also had a big argument with her. If she were to commit suicide, Yang Xu felt he would be the last straw that broke the camel's back.
"Xiao Xu, you should go back and get some rest." Yang Shoucheng looked at Yang Xu, whose eyes were bloodshot. After all, he was just an eight-year-old child. Little Xu had endured a lot during this time, and he deserved some relaxation.
His head felt dull and painful. Yang Xu glanced at Yang Shoucheng and Zhan Feiyu, understanding that his father must have more to say to Xiao Yu, and was deliberately keeping him out of it.
But Yang Xu didn't think he could handle any more stimulation, so he stood up, "Father, Xiao Yu, I'll go back first."
"A Nuan, go and make some calming soup for Yang Xu." Zhan Feiyu couldn't help but say. Looking at Yang Xu's small retreating figure, she inexplicably felt a sense of guilt, like she was pulling up seedlings to help them grow. In her previous life, he would have been a first-grader, but now he was facing one human life case after another.
"Yes." He Nuan replied and followed Yang Xu out. The distraught Young Master Xu was indeed a bit pitiful.
"Uncle Yang." Zhan Feiyu knew that Yang Shoucheng wanted to ask about the evidence, so she didn't hide anything and told him about the earrings.
After a moment of silence, Yang Shoucheng's expression returned to its usual cold and stern demeanor. His low voice, devoid of emotion, sounded, "So Zhang Minxian incited his niece to use suicide to scheme against Xiao Xu, and he then took the opportunity to kill Zhou Shuyao."
"Zhou Shuyao was fond of Qiu Jinyu, but the Zhou family's status was far inferior to the Qiu family of Qianzhong Circuit. Although there was the marriage alliance with the Yang family, everyone in Longyou Circuit knew that the Zhang and Zhou families had taken advantage of the Yang family's misfortune back then. Therefore, even if the Yang family helped the Zhang and Zhou families rise again, they would gain no benefit. It was already generous of the Yang family not to seek revenge."
Zhan Feiyu's fair, round face was calm, and her orderly words made her seem more like Yang Shoucheng's peer than a nine-year-old girl. "Zhou Shuyao desperately needed to restore her relationship with her cousin Yang Xu. This was her capital for smoothly marrying Qiu Jinyu."
Therefore, Zhan Feiyu inferred that Zhang Minxian used this point to persuade Zhou Shuyao to commit suicide.
A maiden's heart is full of poetry. When Zhou Shuyao was holding scissors to her neck, all she thought of was to make a cut, then Yang Xu would feel guilty towards her, even grant her every wish, and she would marry Qiu Jinyu as Yang Xu's cousin.
Everything was so beautiful and happy, until the sharp scissors actually cut her neck, creating a deep wound, and blood gushed out.
At that moment, Zhou Shuyao must have regretted it, but unfortunately, she had already fallen to the ground and could not call for help, eventually dying from excessive blood loss.
Yang Shoucheng suddenly looked up, his gaze complex and deep, "Won't the Imperial Guards intervene?"
The imperial decree had not yet been issued, and the Yang family had not yet been restored. Therefore, Yang Shoucheng was restricted in his actions, and some things could not be investigated simply by sending people.
But if the Imperial Guards intervened, it would be different. The Imperial Guards had the right to execute first and report later, and could even arrest Zhang Minxian directly. Then, they wouldn't be afraid of him not confessing.
Although Magistrate Zhu had issued a gag order, the outside world believed Zhou Shuyao had committed suicide out of guilt. However, on that day at the villa, Yang Xu and Zhou Shuyao's argument was very loud, and the servants had all heard it, and Zhang Minhua also knew.
So, setting aside Zhang Minxian, at least in Zhang Minhua's eyes, Yang Xu was the murderer of her daughter. The Zhou and Zhang families would also think so. Once this news spread, Yang Xu would owe the Zhang and Zhou families a life. In the future, these two families would not need to be overly friendly with Yang Xu; others, fearing the Yang family, would naturally fawn over the Zhou and Zhang families.
"Uncle Yang, the Imperial Guards never interfere in local affairs unless there is an imperial decree or an oral command from the Emperor." Zhan Feiyu said apologetically. Perhaps outsiders would misunderstand that Yang Xu had forced Zhou Shuyao to her death, but between Yang Xu and Yin Wuyan, Zhan Feiyu could only choose the latter.
After a moment of stunned silence, Yang Shoucheng understood and said sternly, "I was asking too much."
It was already a great help for Xiao Yu to reveal the evidence of Zhou Shuyao's murder, at least Yang Xu would no longer feel so guilty and remorseful. Asking Zhan Feiyu for further help, Yang Shoucheng felt he was being too shameless.
Zhan Feiyu smiled indifferently. Uncle Yang was indeed a kind person. If he were to resort to moral blackmail, Zhan Feiyu would have to worry about her teacher's cooperation with the Yang family. Although it was mutually beneficial, one in the court and the other at the border, one a powerful Grand Secretary and the other a general with military power.
But cooperation was cooperation, mutual exchange, equality, and freedom. If one party became greedy, then this cooperation would cease to exist.
...
As the Fu family held their funeral and buried Fu Langhuan next to the Fu family's ancestral graves, Zhang Minxian also took Zhou Shuyao's body and left Xiangwu County the next day to return to Linzhou Prefecture. After all, the person was dead and needed to be buried.
...
"Yes." He Nuan replied and followed Yang Xu out. The distraught Young Master Xu was indeed a bit pitiful.
"Uncle Yang." Zhan Feiyu knew that Yang Shoucheng wanted to ask about the evidence, so she didn't hide anything and told him about the earrings.
After a moment of silence, Yang Shoucheng's expression returned to its usual cold and stern demeanor. His low voice, devoid of emotion, sounded, "So Zhang Minxian incited his niece to use suicide to scheme against Xiao Xu, and he then took the opportunity to kill Zhou Shuyao."
"Zhou Shuyao was fond of Qiu Jinyu, but the Zhou family's status was far inferior to the Qiu family of Qianzhong Circuit. Although there was the marriage alliance with the Yang family, everyone in Longyou Circuit knew that the Zhang and Zhou families had taken advantage of the Yang family's misfortune back then. Therefore, even if the Yang family helped the Zhang and Zhou families rise again, they would gain no benefit. It was already generous of the Yang family not to seek revenge."
Zhan Feiyu's fair, round face was calm, and her orderly words made her seem more like Yang Shoucheng's peer than a nine-year-old girl. "Zhou Shuyao desperately needed to restore her relationship with her cousin Yang Xu. This was her capital for smoothly marrying Qiu Jinyu."
Therefore, Zhan Feiyu inferred that Zhang Minxian used this point to persuade Zhou Shuyao to commit suicide.
A maiden's heart is full of poetry. When Zhou Shuyao was holding scissors to her neck, all she thought of was to make a cut, then Yang Xu would feel guilty towards her, even grant her every wish, and she would marry Qiu Jinyu as Yang Xu's cousin.
Everything was so beautiful and happy, until the sharp scissors actually cut her neck, creating a deep wound, and blood gushed out.
At that moment, Zhou Shuyao must have regretted it, but unfortunately, she had already fallen to the ground and could not call for help, eventually dying from excessive blood loss.
Yang Shoucheng suddenly looked up, his gaze complex and deep, "Won't the Imperial Guards intervene?"
The imperial decree had not yet been issued, and the Yang family had not yet been restored. Therefore, Yang Shoucheng was restricted in his actions, and some things could not be investigated simply by sending people. Although Magistrate Zhu had issued a gag order, the outside world believed Zhou Shuyao had committed suicide out of guilt. However, on that day at the villa, Yang Xu and Zhou Shuyao's argument was very loud, and the servants had all heard it, and Zhang Minhua also knew.
So, setting aside Zhang Minxian, at least in Zhang Minhua's eyes, Yang Xu was the murderer of her daughter. The Zhou and Zhang families would also think so. Once this news spread, Yang Xu would owe the Zhang and Zhou families a life. In the future, these two families would not need to be overly friendly with Yang Xu; others, fearing the Yang family, would naturally fawn over the Zhou and Zhang families.
But if the Imperial Guards intervened, it would be different. The Imperial Guards had the right to execute first and report later, and could even arrest Zhang Minxian directly. Then, they wouldn't be afraid of him not confessing.
Although Magistrate Zhu had issued a gag order, the outside world believed Zhou Shuyao had committed suicide out of guilt. However, on that day at the villa, Yang Xu and Zhou Shuyao's argument was very loud, and the servants had all heard it, and Zhang Minhua also knew.
So, setting aside Zhang Minxian, at least in Zhang Minhua's eyes, Yang Xu was the murderer of her daughter. The Zhou and Zhang families would also think so. Once this news spread, Yang Xu would owe the Zhang and Zhou families a life. In the future, these two families would not need to be overly friendly with Yang Xu; others, fearing the Yang family, would naturally fawn over the Zhou and Zhang families.
"Uncle Yang, the Imperial Guards never interfere in local affairs unless there is an imperial decree or an oral command from the Emperor." Zhan Feiyu said apologetically. Perhaps outsiders would misunderstand that Yang Xu had forced Zhou Shuyao to her death, but between Yang Xu and Yin Wuyan, Zhan Feiyu could only choose the latter.
After a moment of stunned silence, Yang Shoucheng understood and said sternly, "I was asking too much."
It was already a great help for Xiao Yu to reveal the evidence of Zhou Shuyao's murder, at least Yang Xu would no longer feel so guilty and remorseful. Asking Zhan Feiyu for further help, Yang Shoucheng felt he was being too shameless.
Zhan Feiyu smiled indifferently. Uncle Yang was indeed a kind person. If he were to resort to moral blackmail, Zhan Feiyu would have to worry about her teacher's cooperation with the Yang family. Although it was mutually beneficial, one in the court and the other at the border, one a powerful Grand Secretary and the other a general with military power.
But cooperation was cooperation, mutual exchange, equality, and freedom. If one party became greedy, then this cooperation would cease to exist.
...