CHAPTER 122: CHAPTER 122: HOMICIDE

Jiang Shaohua, surrounded by a group of trusted aides, quickly arrived outside another courtyard gate. Chief Historian Chen and Chief Clerk Wen were also awoken and hurried over.

The Posthouse Minister came out from the courtyard, pale-faced, just in time to meet the Commandery Princess and her entourage.

In the dead of night, a murder had unexpectedly occurred at the post house, even alarming the Commandery Princess!

The Posthouse Minister was filled with regret, his knees buckled, and he knelt down trembling, saying, "I have disturbed the Commandery Princess’s rest, I deserve punishment!"

Jiang Shaohua frowned, her voice cold and stern: "At such times, why speak nonsense? What exactly happened, explain clearly."

The nearly fifty-year-old Posthouse Minister trembled slightly, and spoke more fluently: "To report to the Commandery Princess, the person who previously moved into the post house is a wealthy merchant from Luyang County who came to Ye County to buy silk and hemp. This merchant brought his wife and daughter along. Tonight, the couple had a dispute, and the merchant laid hands on his wife. Unexpectedly, the daughter suddenly took a knife and stabbed it into his chest."

"The knife pierced directly into his back, causing blood to gush out. By the time I arrived, the merchant had already breathed his last..."

Everyone collectively drew in a sharp breath, instinctively looking towards the Commandery Princess.

It turned out to be a patricidal case!

For some reason, everyone recalled Lu Junma from the Nanyang Prince Mansion, feeling a somewhat indescribable subtlety in their feelings.

Yin Zhu and Tu Bai each held a lantern, with the night wind blowing, causing the light from the lanterns to flicker uncertainly.

Jiang Shaohua’s face was lit half in light, half in shadow, her gaze deep and inscrutable. After a moment’s silence, she quickly commanded, "Make way, I must personally go in and take a look."

The Posthouse Minister dared not obstruct, hurriedly got up, and made way.

The Commandery Princess’s heroic demeanor at the bandit suppression in Li County was vivid in memory. Such a mere murder scene was hardly enough to frighten the Commandery Princess. Song Yuan thought silently and did not stop her.

However, Chen Zhuo, elderly and cautious, immediately spoke up: "Commandery Princess, your esteemed self need not be sullied by such matter. Better to return and rest! Commander Song and I are more than enough here."

Jiang Shaohua glanced at Chief Historian Chen and said indifferently, "Since I have encountered it, how can I not deal with it? Chief Historian Chen, don’t worry! I will not favor anyone, and will definitely judge impartially."

The issue is not about favoritism or otherwise. The patricide matter is too shocking. With the Commandery Princess’s delicate and indescribable relationship with her own father, it’s already quite unfit for her to inquire into this case.

But who could stop the Commandery Princess determined to "see with her own eyes"?

Chen Zhuo sighed inwardly and no longer spoke, casting a glance at his granddaughter.

Chen Jinyu recovered from her shock quickly and followed closely behind the Commandery Princess into the courtyard.

Ten soldiers had surrounded the inside and outside; the servants brought by the merchant knelt all over the ground, the door was wide open.

A middle-aged man lay on the ground, a dagger completely embedded into the back except for the handle left outside. Underneath him lay a shocking pool of blood. His face was turned sideways, eyes wide open, unwilling to die.

Probably at the very moment before death, he was still shocked that his daughter could actually stab him from behind.

Beside the man’s corpse was a pale-faced middle-aged woman and a young girl with an insufficient stature. This young girl appeared tender and young, her face pale, yet there was no regret in her expression, kneeling upright on the ground.

Upon entering, the middle-aged woman immediately kowtowed heavily, breaking her forehead after just a few times: "It was I who acted, accidentally killing my husband. I am willing to trade my life for his! This matter has nothing to do with Ying Niang, I beg the Commandery Princess for mercy, spare Ying Niang."

While kowtowing, she cried and pleaded, the sound of her crying was sorrowful, arousing pity.

Although it was the daughter who killed the father, this mother was still trying to cover up her daughter’s crime, willing to use her own life in exchange for that of her daughter.

The young girl named Ying Niang bit her lip hard, suddenly speaking loudly: "I killed my father; it has nothing to do with my mother. Whatever punishment you want to give, let it come to me."

The middle-aged woman trembled, unable to continue crying, hurriedly said, "Ying Niang, don’t talk nonsense. You’re just a young girl, where would you find the strength to kill someone? It was I who acted! Commandery Princess, understand, it was I who acted!"

The last two sentences were full of plea.

Even a heart of stone would soften seeing this.

Jiang Shaohua remained unmoved, indifferently said: "To see who did the harm, just look at the position of the dagger stabbing into the back, then it’s clear."

Everyone looked and found that the position of the dagger was indeed much lower than what a normal adult could reach.

Also, the young girl’s chest was splattered with a lot of blood, while the middle-aged woman had no blood stains on her body.

Who the perpetrator was, was clear.

The middle-aged woman’s eyes revealed a look of despair, yet she refused to give up, continuing to kowtow heavily. Within just a few times, her forehead was nearly broken.

The girl saw her mother in such a state and finally started crying: "Mother, I killed this bastard, not regretting at all. He was married into our Zhou Family, transforming from a poor boy who couldn’t afford food into a wealthy lord, for years grandfather and grandmother have not treated him poorly, mother treated him gently and considerately."

"But how did he treat mother? At first, he was somewhat well-behaved, but after grandfather and grandmother died a few years ago, his true nature appeared, forcibly taking over more than half of the Zhou Family’s property. He even kept a concubine and a child outside, and shamelessly tried to have mother acknowledge the child and put him into the Zhou Family genealogy! Why?"

"Why should Zhou Family’s property be given to outsiders? Am I Ying Niang not of Zhou Family blood? The wealth accumulated by the Zhou Family ancestors, not passed to me but given to an outsider’s child?"

"Mother did not agree, so he constantly reprimanded and insulted mother, often assaulting her. When I protected mother, he would hit me too. Such a person is not fit to be my father!"

"I had long secretly hid the dagger on me. I swore in secret, if he ever dared to strike mother or me again, I would kill this ingrate!"

Everyone: "..."

This speech, made the audience’s expressions increasingly subtle.

The married-in son-in-law, outside child, family property, ingrate... the Zhou Family’s story, indeed sounded quite familiar!

The woman surnamed Zhou cried till she was completely hoarse: "Ying Niang, you’re muddleheaded! No matter how bad he is, he is your father, killing him is a crime worthy of beheading!"

"As long as I firmly refuse to acknowledge, he can never have his way. He only uses me as a punching bag when he is angry, endure it and it will pass. How could you use a knife to kill someone!"

"You’ve just turned ten years old, still so young, your good life hasn’t even begun... he is not worth losing your life over! If anyone is to act, it should be me perishing together with him!"

Ying Niang reached over and patted her mother who was crying nearly to unconsciousness, then raised her head to look at the Commandery Princess: "Commandery Princess, the person was killed by me Ying Niang, I will pay for his life! Please spare my mother, spare the Zhou Family."

Jiang Shaohua gazed at the young resolute Ying Niang.

Everyone’s gaze moved back and forth between the Commandery Princess and Ying Niang.

If the Commandery Princess did not have the Nanyang Prince Mansion, nor loyal subordinates to protect her, would she be in the same situation as Ying Niang?