TMBIABHL: Chapter 34

 Glossary

·Cao Chengwen (曹成文): The Eldest Young Master of the Cao family. The primary antagonist targeting the Ye family.

·Yang Zhen (杨真): The Magistrate of Jiangling county.

·Shen Yanchuan (沈延川): The Marquis of Dingbei. Currently recuperating at the Ye Clinic.

·Lian Zhou (连舟): Shen Yanchuan's attendant and guard.

·Ye Chutang (叶初棠): Female protagonist. Heir to an ancient medical family. Runs the Ye Clinic.

·Liu Si (刘四): Zhou Shi's husband. A servant in the Cao household. Confessed to murdering Cao Chengwu.

·Zhou Shi (周氏): Auntie Yang's niece. Wife of Liu Si.

·Wu Xu (吴旭): A yamen runner who owes Ye Chutang a favor.

---

Chapter 34: Quite Ruthless

The noon sun was growing intense, yet Cao Chengwen stood frozen in place, his entire body icy cold.

The people around him were all staring, their expressions filled with shock and suspicion.

Those countless gazes felt like needles pricking his back. He instantly panicked and hurriedly cried out, "No! Your Honor! I misspoke just now! I said the wrong thing! That banknote isn't mine! It has nothing to do with me!"

Yang Zhen let out a cold snort and slammed the banknote down onto the table with force!

"The fingerprint is identical! The proof is irrefutable (meaning: ironclad), and you still dare quibble here!?"

Cao Chengwen's mind went completely blank, his body swaying slightly.

"How is this possible… How can this be!?"

What he had given Liu Si back then were indeed silver ingots. So where had this banknote come from!?

...

Up in the teahouse, Shen Yanchuan watched the scene from a distance, a slight arch to his eyebrow.

"So that's how it is."

No wonder she had been out for so long yesterday. It seemed she had been busy with this.

The case had originally been settled. To overturn it, one needed conclusive evidence.

Even if there wasn't any, with Ye Chutang's capabilities, there eventually would be.

Lian Zhou, standing behind him, was also somewhat astonished. "I wouldn't have thought Liu Si had the brains to preserve such ironclad proof in advance! And to deliberately reveal it publicly at the execution ground! This way, the magistrate, considering his own reputation, would definitely send someone to investigate. And once the ring and the banknote were found, Cao Chengwen wouldn't be able to deny it anymore."

Shen Yanchuan took a sip of tea. "If he had truly intended to do this, he wouldn't have confessed in the first place."

Lian Zhou was taken aback for a moment. "Right!"

He had heard that Liu Si had confessed to his crime less than a day after being arrested. Later, when Zhou Shi accused Cao Chengwen of involvement, it had ultimately come to nothing, and Cao Chengwen had walked out of the magistrate's office unscathed.

That proved Liu Si hadn't initially intended to drag Cao Chengwen down with him.

"Then why did he suddenly change his mind?"

Shen Yanchuan gave a faint smile. "He would rather die than implicate Cao Chengwen. It was either enticement or threat. But if Cao Chengwen could do such things, of course others could too."

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

Lian Zhou's gaze swept over the crowd below, and he suddenly thought of something. "Zhou Shi and her child aren't here!"

At first, he hadn't paid it much mind, thinking perhaps Zhou Shi didn't want to bring her child to such a scene. But previously, Zhou Shi had been willing to risk everything outside the magistrate's office for Liu Si's sake. Why would she fear this now?

Unless… someone deliberately prevented her from appearing!

Lian Zhou murmured with some disbelief, "Could it be… Ye—"

He didn't finish the sentence, but who he was referring to was perfectly clear.

"This move is truly masterful. Without lifting a finger, she forced Cao Chengwen to expose his own guilt. Now, the matter of him killing Cao Chengwu will be very difficult to wash clean!"

A trace of admiration grew in Lian Zhou's heart.

Ye Chutang appeared gentle and quiet, but in reality, her strategies and methods were first-rate!

Shen Yanchuan gently rubbed the bone china teacup in his hand, his gaze resting on the slender, graceful figure standing apart from the crowd below. The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

"The main event is probably still to come."

...

Ye Chutang looked up slightly, glancing at the sun.

Yesterday, when she was speaking with Zhou Shi, she had something on her hands, and the box of hibiscus cakes she gave her had also been treated with a little something extra, ensuring they would sleep soundly until noon today.

Everyone thought she was skilled in medicine, but they didn't know her deeper expertise was actually in poisons!

It was just that after her rebirth, she never had the chance to use those skills and had nearly let the craft go rusty.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly.

Calculating the time, Zhou Shi and her child should wake up in about another quarter of an hour.

It would take them another quarter of an hour to get here, by which time matters here should be just about resolved.

Yesterday, when she went to see Liu Si in prison, she only told him two things.

First: Cao Chengwen intended to kill Zhou Shi and their child to silence them.

Second: She could help him deal with Cao Chengwen.

Although Liu Si was timid by nature, he was willing to fight for his wife and child.

So he agreed to Ye Chutang's plan without hesitation.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot) 

At the time, he had still been somewhat worried about not having enough evidence to prove Cao Chengwen's involvement. Ye Chutang had simply told him not to worry; she had her own methods.

The jade ring was something he had hidden, but as for that banknote, even he didn't know where Ye Chutang had managed to find it.

...

Cao Chengwen couldn't figure this out either.

His mind raced frantically. He knew if he didn't find a way to clear himself now, he would never have another chance!

"Your Honor! I wish to see that banknote!"

Yang Zhen frowned and ordered, "Since you refuse to admit it, see for yourself! Someone, show it to him clearly!"

Wu Xu took the banknote and held it up for Cao Chengwen to see.

"You should recognize your own fingerprint, shouldn't you?"

Cao Chengwen stared fixedly at the banknote. Suddenly, his eyes widened.

This banknote was indeed his, but the key point was—this was the payment he had given to those gamblers!

The handwriting and seal on it were all too familiar to him! He could not possibly mistake it!

He had given those three men five hundred taels in total to secretly kidnap Ye Chutang. But who could have guessed that the next day, Ye Chutang was safe and sound, while those three gamblers ended up dead in his own courtyard!

If it hadn't been for his cousin, Concubine Liu, helping him from within, he would probably be in prison by now.

At the time, he had been utterly panicked, thinking only of cutting ties with those three as quickly as possible. He hadn't even carefully examined their bodies.

But who could have known that the banknotes he gave them would now appear in Liu Si's hands!

This… this—

Cao Chengwen suddenly understood. He whirled around!

Ye Chutang!

It had to be her!

At the same moment, Ye Chutang, standing at the back of the crowd, seemed to sense Cao Chengwen's gaze. She didn't avoid it but instead lifted her eyes to meet his.

Her dark, warm eyes curved into a beautiful arc, yet their depths held a chill that made one's spine go cold.

An invisible, immense pressure surged over, nearly suffocating Cao Chengwen.

For a moment, he felt genuine panic and fear, stumbling back a step involuntarily.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

Ye Chutang's red lips curved up into a slight smile.

—Do you like this return gift?

...

Cao Chengwen had never felt such fear before.

He opened his mouth, wanting to explain clearly, but the words reached his throat only to be swallowed back down.

He couldn't say it!

If he did, the case of those three lives would also be reopened and pinned on his head!

But if he didn't say it, if he didn't—

Smack!

Yang Zhen struck the table and reprimanded in a deep voice, "Cao Chengwen! Do you confess, or not!?"

...

Shen Yanchuan's gaze lingered on Ye Chutang for a moment, the depths of his eyes darkening.

In the eyes of everyone, she seemed to have done nothing. But in reality, from the very beginning, she had set the trap, waiting only for Cao Chengwen to walk right into it.

Now, only two paths lay before Cao Chengwen: death, or a miserable death.

Shen Yanchuan tapped his fingers lightly on the table and chuckled softly.

"Quite ruthless."

(End of Chapter)

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