Immortal of the Nine Realms

Chapter 172: Don’t Do It If You Don’t Want Others to Know

The Auspicious King’s expression tightened up. He gestured for Wu Zhanghuan to continue with his story.

Wu Zhanghuan nodded. “That woman told me that Huang Xin sensed that he was going to be silenced after helping one of the powerful figures in the school with a favor, so he wanted to flee with her. However, they were attacked while making their getaway.

“This matter is related to Zhao Yan’s case because Huang Xin told that woman that the task involved him placing a wooden brooch into Zhao Yan’s cloth bag!”

An uproar broke out amidst the crowd. Doesn’t this mean that Zhao Yan was framed? But who was the one who framed Zhao Yan then?

By instinct, the crowd turned to look at Yu Zhang. Yu Zhang’s face turned pale.

Zhao Yan trembled in excitement, such that his aura billowed uncontrollably. It was only when Fang Chen glanced at him that he slowly calmed down.

He knew that there was no need for him to worry anymore—Fang Chen had taken care of everything!

“Your words lack credence. How can we know you aren’t weaving a huge lie to acquit Zhao Yan of his crime?” Yu Zhang spoke up.

“That’s right!” the students exclaimed in agreement.

“I don’t believe Huang Xin would frame his fellow classmate for his own interest,” Master Chen spoke up. “Wu Zhanghuan, your words have serious consequences. If there’s any falsehood in your words, I’ll report this matter to the capital and have them eradicate your Flying Crane Sect! We, scholars, might be incapable of martial arts, but we won’t stand still as others slander us!”

Wu Zhanghuan was intimidated by those words. He instinctively glanced at Huangfu Jie and saw the latter standing calm and confident. That bolstered his courage.

He spent a moment in thought before finally continuing on, “I have taken that woman as my wife. Let her be the judge of whether I’m lying or not. Right, she also said that Huang Xin didn’t know that that wooden brooch would bring such a calamity upon Zhao Yan. He thought that it was just a prank from a fellow classmate to sully Zhao Yan’s reputation. It was already too late for regrets by the time he heard Zhao Yan was apprehended by the authorities.”

“It’s a pity he was implicated in this.” Zhao Yan suddenly sighed. “He often had a frown on his face back then. I’m guessing it might be because he has sworn his life to someone, but he, like me, had no money and name to his name, so he was distressed that he didn’t have the means to raise a family. If only I knew about this earlier…”

Just then, a sobbing sound could be heard.

The crowd turned over and saw a woman dressed in simple clothes hesitantly walking in with a girl who was around three to four years of age.

The woman was crying. She looked at Zhao Yan with guilt-ridden eyes as she said, “M-Mister Zhao, we did you a great injustice! You suffered such a great grievance for so many years…”

“Ah!”

The crowd assessed the woman. So, this is the woman who swore her life to Huang Xin but later married her savior, Wu Zhanghuan?

“It’s you…” Zhao Yan widened his eyes in realization.

“Is she… Miss Zihe from the Jade Emerald Palace?” Xia Yan exclaimed.

That enlightened the crowd to the woman’s background. They finally understood why she and Huang Xin could only privately swear their lives to each other… It was because this woman was from a brothel!

Reputation was extremely important to scholars. If it became known that Huang Xin, a student of the South Mountain School, married a woman from a brothel and even had a child together, his future would be ruined!

“Mister Zhao, he made a grievous mistake because of me, a prostitute, and he paid for it with his life. You suffered for so many years, while the true beast cloaked in human skin roams free from the reach of the law…” The woman was filled with self-reproach as she said those words.

All of a sudden, she pointed her finger at Yu Zhang and hollered, “You! You hypocrite! You were the one who killed those innocent women! You were the one who ordered Huang Xin to put that wooden brooch into Mister Zhao’s cloth bag! You killed Huang Xin and framed Mister Zhao!”

Yu Zhang’s face turned pale as he staggered two steps back.

The Auspicious King and the others turned to look at Yu Zhang. They didn’t expect Fang Chen to hit the nail on the head. The real culprit was not Zhao Yan but the South Mountain School’s chief student, Yu Zhang!

The civilians plunged into silence. Disbelief, confusion, and shock could be seen reflected in their eyes, but those quickly morphed into unstoppable wrath.

Yu Zhang had taken everyone in the South Immortal Commandery for a ride!

The victims’ families trembled with rage. As if it was not enough for them to lose their close kin, they learned that they had been cursing the wrong person all this time!

Master Chen’s face turned pale. His lips quivered, and all of a sudden, he spewed fresh blood.

“Don’t you malign me!” Several emotions clouded Yu Zhang’s face. In the end, he gritted his teeth and roared at the woman, “You said that you have sworn your life to Huang Xin—how can you prove that? What would become of Great Xia’s law if a random woman is allowed to strut into the magistrate court and utter whatever gibberish she wants?”

At this point, Fang Chen suddenly sighed. “There’s indeed no evidence to prove that this woman has sworn her life to Huang Xin, and there’s no way to verify that her testimony is true.”

The crowd was stunned. Why did Fang Chen suddenly change his attitude?josei

Yu Zhang was overjoyed to hear that. “Imperial Duke Fang, your words ring true!”

Zhao Yan’s face turned grim, but he continued to hold faith in Fang Chen. The woman’s arrival in the magistrate court was proof of that!

“But I thought of a problem last night,” Fang Chen suddenly said. “If Zhao Yan isn’t the culprit, and the culprit is still roaming scot-free in the South Immortal Commandery… is there a chance that he’s still committing such crimes?

“When I reviewed the case scrolls, I can’t help but think that the culprit is a beast who relies on such cruel means to vent his perverse desires. What he did to the victims isn’t just a simple act of murder and framing—he appears to relish in the process too. If that’s the case, there’s a high chance that more innocent women had died in his hands.

“This also suggests that the culprit is a very careful man, and it’s unlikely that anyone would suspect him too.

“After Zhao Yan became a scapegoat for his crime, there’s a good chance that the culprit might be overcome with glee and go even further to vent his perverse desires. The failure to indict him might have lulled him into a sense of security, convincing him that no one else would think that he’s the culprit anymore.”

Those words left the crowd with ominous feelings in their hearts.

“Imperial Duke Fang… are you saying that the culprit has been hurting more innocent women over the last few years?” the Auspicious King asked hoarsely.

If Fang Chen was right, and such a thing happened in his fief, right under his watch, he would have to take huge responsibility for it.

“Indeed. Once we find these victims, the evidence will follow,” Fang Chen said. “If it's convenient with all of you, allow me to take you somewhere.”

The crowd gasped. Yu Zhang’s complexion turned increasingly awful.

“Imperial Duke Fang… could it be that you already know who the culprit is?!” the Auspicious King asked.