Seeing no more leads to pursue, everyone took their leave. He Jie was quite friendly, saying if there was anything more they needed to ask him, they could send someone to find him anytime.
Everyone rested at a nearby tea pavilion. Murong Xin pushed away the tea brought by the server, saying impatiently: “There are no leads at all, no breakthrough. How can this case be investigated further?”
Lian Yue said “Calm down” but also frowned. Miao Yin, Wu Yan, and Shuangcheng temporarily set aside their animosity to discuss the matter.
Shuangcheng picked up her cup, about to drink but stopped: “Though He Jie didn’t say much, I always feel he’s hiding something from us.”
Su Zhen had been mostly silent, but suddenly interjected: “If that’s just your feeling, it can’t be a reason. Do you have evidence?”
Shuangcheng smiled and said calmly: “I have no evidence, but since he was able to notify He Shu about the Gu family coming to snatch the bride, he’s clearly not a cold-hearted person. He shouldn’t have just abandoned He Shu and gone home like that.”
This reasoning immediately gained Miao Yin’s approval: “Exactly. Moreover, this person is different from other villagers. Though he was afraid and didn’t help He Shu to the end when the incident occurred, he dares to express his own thoughts, dares to say Old Father He isn’t the murderer. His sincere affection for his friend doesn’t seem fake, but this very fact makes it difficult to press him.”
Wu Yan added: “Most importantly, we have no evidence proving he’s lying. There are no obvious loopholes in his words.”
Lian Yue raised an eyebrow: “He’s very clever – say less, err less. With one sentence about leaving halfway, he cleared himself of everything. Even if you want to catch him in an error, there’s nowhere to grab, because he said nothing at all – there’s simply no place for you to find mistakes.”
Lian Yue was right. Though everyone had different thoughts, with nowhere else to go, they finally had to take the road to the Gu mansion.
The gatekeeper, hearing the report, dared not neglect and immediately went to inform his master. Soon the steward came out, saying the master was taking an afternoon nap but would get up immediately, asking the honored guests to the main hall for tea first.
The servants had just served tea when Gu De hurried out. This was a tall, robust man in his forties with fierce features and cunning light in his eyes. But this kind of “cleverness” was completely different from Philanthropist Liao’s scheming – it was full of murderous intent.
Gu De didn’t beat around the bush. After greeting everyone, he said directly: “Honored officials, the steward has already told me the situation. Ask whatever you want freely. However, Gu helps reason, not relatives. Though that short-lived He fellow has the hatred of competing for my wife, since my father-in-law committed a crime, seeing the previous trial had solid evidence, judge as it should be judged. I also hope you can quickly produce results. After all, we merchants do business and don’t have much leisure time at home. Though willing to assist, this is truly beyond our ability.”
Everyone’s expressions darkened. Su Zhen thought: Good heavens, this Gu De is another difficult character. Philanthropist Liao was cunning and scheming, Cheng Qizhu was deep and calculating, but this man was sinister. His seemingly rough and bold appearance had nothing to do with his true nature.
Lian Yue was no pushover either, laughing: “Speaking of murder suspects, Boss Gu is no less suspicious than Old Man He. I’m afraid Boss’s lack of ability won’t work.”
Gu De laughed instead of getting angry: “If that’s truly the case, just take Gu away with you.”
Lian Yue was slightly surprised by his retort. Shuangcheng stepped forward with a “please” gesture, also smiling: “Boss Gu, if you’re so cooperative, then please.”
Only then did Gu De show some restraint: “That would require evidence.”
“You’re absolutely right, Boss Gu. Without evidence we wouldn’t speak carelessly. Now the prefecture office has actually received a witness who claims to have personally seen Boss Gu commit the crime, saying Boss Gu is the real murderer of He Shu.” Shuangcheng continued, with an imposing momentum.
Everyone was secretly alarmed – this was completely fabricated. Where did a new witness come from? Not to mention there wasn’t one, even if He Jie was ultimately afraid of trouble and truly concealed He Shu’s real whereabouts, it couldn’t prove anything. At most it would show He Shu had indeed been to the Gu mansion. But as for witnessing Gu De commit murder, this possibility was extremely small.
Because Gu De wouldn’t spare anyone who came with He Shu. Old Man He was used as a scapegoat and thus escaped.
However, this did somewhat intimidate Gu De. He asked coldly: “May I ask what kind of witness that is? Could you have him come for a face-to-face confrontation with Gu?”
Su Zhen’s lips moved as if to say something, but she held back.
Shuangcheng’s lips curved in a smile: “A proper court confrontation – now isn’t the time. If Boss Gu considers himself innocent, you’d better explain that day’s situation properly. We don’t want to wrongly accuse good people either.”
Gu De’s expression was somewhat uncertain, his eyes flickering for a while before finally saying calmly: “Very well, I’m naturally willing to cooperate with the officials.”
He picked up his teacup and drank several mouthfuls. He seemed to be a martial artist – his finger bones were thicker than ordinary people’s, his skin somewhat dark, only the area around his thumb knuckle was quite pale. His eyes narrowed slightly, as if recalling that day’s situation.
“Since my father-in-law was greedy and accepted my betrothal gifts yet still planned to leave with that He Shu family, I, Gu, though usually easy-going, cannot yield on matters concerning lifelong happiness. Someone in the village told me about this, so I went to fetch the bride a day earlier than agreed. Originally, according to custom, I shouldn’t have gone personally, but fearing some mishap, I went myself. Of course, my father-in-law later felt guilty and sent my fifth concubine onto the bridal sedan.”
Everyone thought: Half this man’s words are lies. How was Old Man He guilty? That wasn’t sending – she was clearly beaten onto the sedan.
They heard Gu De continue: “After bringing the new bride back, I began preparing for the wedding ceremony. How would I have time to kill that short-lived wretch? Never mind killing – I didn’t even have time to see him.”
Wu Yan pressed: “Did you ever hear servants report that He Shu had come looking?”
Gu De sneered: “Never.”
Miao Yin, catching Wu Yan’s signal, immediately followed up: “According to the coroner’s report, He Shu died around the wei hour (1:00-3:00 PM) on Boss Gu’s wedding day. What were you doing then?”
“I had just finished the ceremony and returned to my room to rest. I was hosting a great feast for relatives and local gentry. This wedding banquet ran from noon to evening as a flowing feast. I still had to go out to toast guests – many were famous families from Min Province, people I do business with. Could I neglect them? This required considerable energy. If I didn’t rest and eat something first, how could I manage?”
“So during this time, Boss Gu was alone? You didn’t go to the new bride either?” Lian Yue’s gaze was sharp as a precious dagger.
Gu De remained calm: “Correct, I rested in my own room. The bridal chamber is for tonight. I entered the room around the beginning of the wu hour (11:00 AM-1:00 PM). Two personal servants usually attended outside, bringing tea and water.”
“If you don’t believe it, I can certainly have them brought for you to confirm.” He gestured to the steward, who responded “Yes” and withdrew. Soon he returned with two alert-looking young men.
Wu Yan and Miao Yin deliberately separated the two for detailed questioning, but their testimonies were basically consistent. They said the master had some lunch in the bedroom, then slept until near the end of the wei hour before coming out to toast guests. During this time he never left the room.
This circumstantial evidence was unlike when Su Zhen had interrogated Pei Fengji. This was the Gu family compound – everyone was new here and couldn’t possibly set traps to catch them in lies. As long as the other side prepared a little beforehand, nothing could be learned.
However, there was one point everyone confirmed: when He Shu died, it was precisely when Gu De wasn’t appearing before the banquet guests. This was probably more than coincidence.
Gu De looked at everyone sideways, curling his lips: “How about it? Does this prove my innocence?”
Shuangcheng said: “Both servants are Boss Gu’s own people – isn’t there suspicion of fabricating witness testimony? Actually, no one can prove Boss Gu didn’t meet with He Shu.”
Gu De suddenly laughed and said sternly: “But at the same time, no one can prove that He fellow came to my mansion. How could I kill him? Or are you saying I had my men kill him outside then dump the body in the lake to frame Old Man He? Do you have evidence? Who saw it? Your witness? Might as well say how he testified. It can’t be just ‘I saw that Gu De killing someone’ – without specific evidence proving what he said is true, even if there really is such a so-called witness, it can’t convict me!”
By this point, everyone felt at a disadvantage, unable to shake Gu De one bit. Shuangcheng frowned and quickly switched to another person: “What the witness said, you’ll know in time. Boss Gu, we want to ask someone a few questions. Please have her brought over. She’s Old Father He’s daughter, now your wife and concubine, and someone who received He Shu’s betrothal gifts. We want to ask her something – that should be acceptable?”
Gu De seemed to have expected this and without much ado, directly instructed the steward: “Go bring Fifth Concubine over.”
However, when the steward brought over the stunning beauty Fang Rui, whom they had only heard of but never seen, everyone was shocked.