Zhen Niang pursued Ge San’er as he left.
“San’er, wait up! Let’s talk about the river embankment. I’ll treat you to tofu soup,” Zhen Niang called out after catching up.
Ge San’er looked at Zhen Niang, tilting his head in contemplation for quite a while. Just then, his stomach growled loudly, and he patted it before responding, “Fine then. Later, I’ll take a bowl back for my sister.”
Zhen Niang had Ge San’er wait by the embankment while she ran to a small stall selling tofu soup: “Uncle, one bowl of tofu soup.”
“Right away!” The elderly vendor cheerfully lifted the steaming pot lid, ladled out a bowl of soup, and sprinkled various seasonings on top, creating an enticing aroma.
“Uncle, I’ll eat by the embankment and bring the bowl back later,” Zhen Niang said after paying and taking the bowl.
“That’s fine!” The elderly vendor nodded. Zhen Niang had paid extra anyway, and the crude bowl wasn’t worth much – he wouldn’t mind if it wasn’t returned.
Zhen Niang smiled and carried the tofu soup to the embankment. Ge San’er, seemingly impatient, snatched the bowl from her hands, squatted down, and began eating with great relish.
Zhen Niang sat on the embankment, watching him eat. Soon enough, Ge San’er finished the entire bowl. He then cast a sideways glance at Zhen Niang and after a while asked, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“You know who killed Huang Lang, don’t you?” Zhen Niang finally spoke.
“Mm.” Ge San’er nodded firmly, then gave her another sideways glance before saying carelessly, “I killed him. No matter, just buy me another bowl of tofu soup, and I’ll go tell my sister to clear things up. Then she’ll be fine.”
Hearing these words, Zhen Niang’s expression showed that this was exactly as she had expected. If she hadn’t been entirely certain at first, Lu Ping’s questions had confirmed her suspicions.
Ge San’er was indeed Huang Lang’s killer, but because he had always been considered simple-minded, no one had thought to suspect him.
“Do you know you could be beheaded for this?” Zhen Niang looked at Ge San’er’s simple expression, realizing this foolish young man didn’t grasp the severity of the situation.
“Why should I be beheaded? That Huang fellow tried to kill me first, so I killed him,” Ge San’er replied indignantly.
“Can you tell me what happened?” Zhen Niang asked, more curious after hearing this.
“Why should I tell you? You’re not the magistrate,” Ge San’er responded bluntly. Due to Ge Qiu’s situation, he naturally wouldn’t have a good attitude toward Zhen Niang.
“If you don’t tell me and just go ahead, not only will you fail to save your sister, but you’ll lose your own life too. If you tell me, I can at least help you think of a proper solution, at minimum to help your sister get free,” Zhen Niang replied.
After today’s commotion at the Huang residence, she suspected she wouldn’t be the only one suspicious of Ge San’er. At the very least, Lu Ping already had her doubts, or she wouldn’t have asked such questions at the end.
Another was Third Uncle Huang. Though his conversation with Ge San’er had been interrupted by Zhen Niang, he would surely realize the suspicious nature of it afterward. Ge San’er was rather simple and didn’t know how to conceal things.
Therefore, even if Ge San’er didn’t go to the yamen voluntarily, they would likely come to arrest him before long.
Originally, once the real killer was revealed, Ge Qiu and Li Zhengping could have been cleared of the ledger matter. But now it turned out to be Ge San’er – given his closest relationship with Ge Qiu, this wouldn’t absolve them of suspicion regarding the ledger. At worst, it could become a case of a three-person conspiracy.
That would be troublesome. So after suspecting Ge San’er, Zhen Niang had been pondering this matter. She believed Ge San’er shouldn’t voluntarily go to the yamen. After all, a simple-minded person actively confessing would inevitably make people wonder if someone was using him as a scapegoat, which would complicate matters further.
Therefore, Zhen Niang thought it better to let the yamen officials come to arrest Ge San’er first.
Additionally, she wanted to understand the specific circumstances of that day to arrange an explanation regarding the ledger beforehand.
Although she had already given the ledger to the Princess, outsiders didn’t know this and still believed it was with Ge Qiu and Li Zhengping. On this point, as long as Ge San’er’s testimony was handled well, there would be a way to clear up the ledger matter. After all, when a simple-minded person told even a small lie, others wouldn’t immediately suspect it – like children’s innocent words.
Of course, the specific approach would depend on Ge San’er’s account of what happened.
So Zhen Niang asked Ge San’er about the exact circumstances.
Hearing Zhen Niang’s words, though simple-minded, Ge San’er wasn’t truly foolish and understood matters of life and death. So he recounted everything in detail.
It turned out that on the afternoon of the fourth, Huang Lang went to Wei Baiwan’s mansion for drinks and became intimate with Wei Baiwan’s concubine. By nightfall, the concubine secretly passed this ledger to Huang Lang. Initially, Huang Lang didn’t think much of it, assuming it was just some private gift from the concubine. He just continued drinking and dallying until midnight. It was during a midnight trip to the privy that he heard about the concubine being caught and beaten to death. Only then did he sense something was wrong with what she had given him. He unwrapped the red cloth and opened it to find this ledger. He immediately felt disaster approaching, so he made an excuse about his wife being jealous and not daring to stay out all night, then took his leave.
Because of this ledger, he felt he couldn’t stay in Nanjing anymore. So he planned to return home for some valuables and go to the capital, where this ledger might help him secure an official position. Thus he secretly returned home.
Of course, the simple Ge San’er didn’t know any of this.
It was just that at midnight, Madam Cao, seeing Huang Lang hadn’t returned and fearing he might have drunk too much and fallen asleep somewhere – something he had done before – prepared to send someone to fetch him. However, Madam Cao didn’t dare send her maids, as that would just give Huang Lang opportunities for misconduct. So she went to wake Ge San’er and asked him to fetch Huang Lang.
However, Ge San’er was deep asleep. Though Madam Cao woke him, he still lay in bed. Seeing she couldn’t rouse him, she left while cursing under her breath.
But actually, it wasn’t that Ge San’er couldn’t be roused – he just reacted slowly. After groaning for about half an hour, he finally responded, put on a padded jacket that had belonged to Ge Da’na, and went out to wait at the gate.
Just then, Huang Lang returned. Truth be told, Huang Lang hadn’t planned to alert anyone at home, fearing Wei Baiwan’s investigation. He just wanted to grab some money and leave. Unexpectedly, just as he reached the gate, it opened and Ge San’er came out.
In the depths of night, it was pitch black, and even the gate lantern was nearly out of oil, its light dim and flickering. With Ge San’er wearing Ge Da’na’s clothes, and Huang Lang having been drinking and dallying, though his mind was clear, the alcohol hadn’t worn off. His vision was unsteady, and he mistook Ge San’er for Ge Da’na coming to trouble him. Without a word, he drew his knife and stabbed at Ge San’er.
Ge San’er was startled, but though simple and foolish, he possessed considerable strength. Moreover, Huang Lang was drunk and slow. As a result, Ge San’er instead caught Huang Lang’s hand.
By then Ge San’er was furious. His mother had sent him to fetch someone, yet this person tried to kill him. Additionally, when his father died, his sister told him that Huang was their father’s murderer. Thus, in his surge of anger, he grabbed the knife and stabbed Huang Lang three times for good measure. He also snatched Huang Lang’s money pouch, and without checking whether Huang Lang was dead or alive, returned to his room and closed the main gate. In Ge San’er’s mind, he was just preventing Huang Lang from entering – he hadn’t even considered that Huang Lang might be dead.
The ledger had fallen to the ground when Huang Lang tried to use it as a shield during the struggle, only to have it knocked aside by Ge San’er.
Back in his room, Ge San’er felt uncomfortable with the blood all over him, so he went to the well. Being stout and strong, he wasn’t afraid of the cold and took a cold bath to wash off the blood. Then he returned to his inner room with Ge Da’na’s bloodied clothes wrapped around the knife and threw them under his bed before going back to sleep.
Throughout all this, Ge San’er did not attempt concealment, actually leaving quite a few traces. However, early the next morning, someone discovered Huang Lang collapsed at the gate and raised an alarm. Madam Cao was the first to wake Ge San’er and have him carry Huang Lang inside. She also called for Physician Gong to see if there was any hope of saving him.
Thus, whatever traces might have existed were explained away by this. Combined with his simple-mindedness, no one thought to suspect him.
However, after realizing Huang Lang was dead, this simple fellow felt something was wrong. So that night, he made a fire in the courtyard, and while roasting sweet potatoes, he pulled the bloodied clothes from under his bed and openly burned them in the courtyard.
Passing by, Lu Zhu even joked that he was celebrating Huang Lang’s death for Ge Da’na’s spirit in the underworld.
Thus, remarkably, no one connected Huang Lang’s death to Ge San’er.
Ge San’er himself didn’t worry about it. Though he felt somewhat bad, he believed Huang Lang deserved death for striking first. Even when Ge Qiu was arrested, Ge San’er wasn’t too concerned. In his mind, since his sister hadn’t killed Huang Lang, she naturally wouldn’t be in trouble. It wasn’t until these past few days when everyone was saying Ge Qiu would be beheaded, that he became worried. So he declared he would go to the yamen to clear things up.
Hearing Ge San’er’s account, Zhen Niang finally understood the whole incident. It was truly just a misunderstanding, but one formed from the interweaving of multiple conflicts.
If Huang Lang hadn’t first caused Ge Da’na’s death, and if he hadn’t been so nervous about carrying the ledger that he attacked Ge San’er directly, Ge San’er wouldn’t have killed Huang Lang. It could only be called fate.
In the whole affair, though Ge San’er was guilty, his crime certainly didn’t warrant death. If the Ge Da’na case were brought up again, Ge San’er’s punishment might be even lighter.
“How about this – you don’t need to go tell the yamen yourself. I think they’ll surely come looking for you in the next few days. When they do, you should say this…” Zhen Niang lowered her voice and instructed Ge San’er what to say, finally adding, “This way, your sister can be released, and you won’t lose your life.”
Ge San’er stared at Zhen Niang blankly before responding, “Alright then, let’s do it that way.”
With that, he walked away, shoulders swaying as he went.