PNB Chapter 360 Night Trial
Chapter 360 Night Trial
As the spring breeze warms, it coaxes the flowers in the garden to bloom.
As I walked through the garden of the He family mansion at night, I was enveloped in the sweet dream of peonies.
He Jinglan walked alone, without a lantern or any maidservants following her.
Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were downcast, and she smiled, lost in thought, but clearly in a bright mood.
Just as she reached the flower pavilion, a voice called out to her, "Jinglan."
He Jinglan was startled and looked up, a hint of guilt flashing across her face.
"Brother, what are you doing here?"
“It’s my turn to ask you,” He Jinghui said, his eyes probing, “what are you doing running around in the garden so late at night?”
He looked behind He Jinglan and asked, "You came from the direction of the side gate. Did you go out tonight?"
He Jinglan's heart was racing, but she forced herself to remain calm. "No, it's just that the flower viewing banquet is coming soon, and Lianxing told me during dinner that the peonies and bauhinia were blooming one after another, so I came to take a look."
He Jinghui nodded.
The siblings depended on each other for survival, and their mutual trust and understanding were beyond question.
But for some reason, he felt a vague unease tonight.
He Jinghui glanced at the corner of the door again and said with a smile, "Aren't you inseparable from Boss Gu? Why didn't you invite her to come see the flowers?"
He Jinglan naturally noticed He Jinghui's subtle actions.
She glanced at him sideways and said, "Don't pry into girls' affairs, brother!"
Then, turning defense into offense, he said, "You've come here to ambush me. If you didn't have something to say, do you think I'd act like those talented scholars and beautiful women in popular novels, meeting by the moon above the willow branches in the garden?"
After saying that, He Jinglan deliberately put on a stern face and pretended to be unhappy.
He Jinghui chuckled and helplessly begged for mercy, "Alright, alright, you've been smart since you were little and know your place. How could my sister, He Jinghui's sister, learn such low-class practices?"
He Jinglan certainly hadn't done anything disreputable, and said with a smile, "So, what did you want to say to me, brother?"
The brother and sister slowly walked back.
He Jinghui recounted what he witnessed: Gu Xixi single-handedly poisoned and slaughtered the kidnappers, his expression complex.
He Jinglan chuckled softly.
"If even my brother, who is so knowledgeable, is so surprised, I really want to see how scared Dou Rongshan must have been."
He Jinghui asked in surprise, "How come you also know about Boss Gu's abilities?"
He Jinglan disagreed, "Not only do I know, but back in Huachidu Village, I even worked with her to deal with a vicious assassin."
"It was Master Liu who led the men to dispose of the body. What, brother, you didn't know?"
He Jinghui gritted his teeth, "That Mu Qixiu, he keeps it a complete secret even from his own people!"
He Jinglan patted her brother sympathetically, comforting him, "He probably thought that the fewer people who knew, the better Xixi would be at protecting herself in a crisis. Besides, Xixi herself doesn't want anyone to know..."
He Jinglan smiled and said, "Actually, before Mu Nanzhao was cured of the poison, he and Xixi were alone at the border and were chased by Beili soldiers. They escaped death by relying on more than just Mu Nanzhao's soft sword."
He Jinghui was taken aback.
It turns out that Gu Xixi had already started using poison back then.
He Jinglan continued, "At that time, Mu Nanzhao was critically ill due to the poison. It should be that Xixi killed a Beili archer hiding in the shadows, and then she hid Mu Nanzhao in a snow ditch to avoid the search of the Beili soldiers."
"I only heard about this later..."
She paused, avoiding Meng Chengping's name, and said, "I heard it from the people in the Northwest Army who went to handle the aftermath."
He Jinghui looked solemn.
At first, he thought that Mu Nanzhao was just having a moment of passion when he was down on his luck.
When he met Gu Xixi in person, he felt that she was quite capable and had a temperament that was different from ordinary women, so it was normal for Mu Nanzhao to be attracted to her.
But now...
He Jinghui sighed, "The kindness of taking me in, the grace of saving my life, and this bond of sharing life and death."
"To have such a woman is the greatest fortune of three lifetimes."
"Let alone Mu Qixiu, anyone should not let her down."
He Jinglan teased, "Brother, didn't you say he was blinded by love before? You said that after going to the Northwest, he became a different person."
He Jinghui was embarrassed, "It was my prejudice, I shouldn't have, I shouldn't have."
Back at Yuzhuyuan.
He Jinglan dismissed everyone around her and said to Gu Xixi, "That matter has been taken care of."
"It's just that if we step in, it's easy for people to gossip, which makes the matter seem unfair."
"Let Miss Lü handle this herself tomorrow."
This was something the two of them had already agreed upon.
Gu Xixi remained noncommittal, saying, "I just wonder how the investigation is going over there?"
"Did Lord He reveal anything to you?"
He Jinglan shook her head, "My brother is busy fighting locusts and hasn't been to the Prince's Mansion today."
"However, I guess, given Mu Nanzhao's efficiency, there should already be a result."
The Regent's residence, the dungeon was brightly lit.
A man, soaking wet, was dragged away by the jailers.
On the table was a stack of fresh confessions, the red fingerprint on the top one still wet.
Two jailers dragged in another one. "Your Highness," they said, "this is the last one."
The prisoners being tried today are all from Nan Yi County.
There was a family surnamed Fan with many servants and stewards.
There were also constables, head constables, and county magistrates from Nan Yi County.
The one who was just dragged away was the magistrate of Nan Yi County.
Although the county magistrate was not of high rank, he was still an official appointed by the imperial court through the imperial examination system.
Logically speaking, even the Ministry of Justice should not torture him without solid evidence.
Unfortunately, this time it was the Regent himself who was interrogating them.
From sending people to arrest someone in Nanyi County yesterday morning to starting the trial tonight, everything happened swiftly and decisively.
The magistrate of Nanyi County, without any prior warning, was arrested and taken to the capital while taking his afternoon nap.
On the way, he wondered what he had done wrong and who would dare to arrest him directly.
But just now, the magistrate confessed and signed the document, officially becoming a prisoner.
As for the last suspect, he had been watching the interrogation process the whole time and was so scared that his crotch was wet.
Mu Nanzhao sat upright behind the desk.
He picked up the teacup, smelled the blood all around him, frowned, and then put it down.
The official in charge of the trial shouted, "How dare you, Fan Dongping! Everyone in the county government of Nan Yi County testifies that you bribed the county government and have been bribing the county magistrate for many years to cover up your crimes. And at your behest, you have repeatedly silenced the victims."
"Murder, robbery, seizing farmland, abducting women, smuggling tea—confess all these crimes!"
Fan Dongping was suddenly startled awake from his daze.
Even if he were stupid, he would know that if he confessed to the crimes mentioned above, he wouldn't be satisfied even if he died several times over.
His will to survive compelled him to muster his courage.
"I didn't! I never did it!"
Just as the presiding judge was about to erupt, Mu Nanzhao said calmly, "No rush."
"Let's go through the procedures first."
The presiding judge understood and gave him a wink.
Two jailers swiftly lifted Fan Dongping up, hung him on a slowly rotating wheel, and bound him with iron chains.
As the rollers turned, Fan Dongping hung upside down, his head submerged in the water.
Besides the feeling of suffocation after entering the water, he noticed something wriggling and wrapping around his face.
It's cold and slippery...