Duan Yelin didn’t understand how Xu Hang was related to this matter, but since he came to Xiaotong Guan in person, it must be something serious, so he said, “Let him in.”
After hanging up the phone, Qiao Song called the beggar from the corridor outside in. The beggar was about thirty years old, dressed in rags. As soon as he came in, he kneeled three times and kowtowed nine times to the people in the room.
Duan Yelin got straight to the point: “I heard that you saw someone rescue Old Man Ruan? What did he look like? Do you know him?”
The beggar nodded, then shook his head: “It was dark that night, and that person kept his head down, so I couldn’t see his face clearly.”
“Then how did you see Ruan Xiaodie’s father clearly?”
The beggar patted his legs and said, “Aiyo, they are father and daughter who walk around the streets performing. We are all old acquaintances. With the way they are dressed, I can recognize them from a distance. There is no mistake!”
Yuan Ye changed his mind: “Then tell me about that person’s features.”
“Features… features…” The beggar narrowed his eyes, as if he was thinking seriously. At this moment, the door opened and closed, and Xu Hang walked in from outside. The beggar suddenly had an idea and pointed at him and said, “Anyway, he is thin and weak, roughly like this Young Master.”
He didn’t realize what he meant by that. Qiao Song was shocked and immediately frowned and coughed: “Cough, cough, how can you talk like that!”
The beggar was startled, probably thinking that this person was not a simple person, and hurriedly pretended to slap himself in the face: “Yo, Young Master, please forgive me! I was just talking nonsense! I…”
“Don’t scare him, he’s not wrong.” Xu Hang stretched out his hand to stop Qiao Song, then took a step calmly and said in a very natural tone, “It’s not someone like me, but—that person is me.”
With a click, Yuan Ye’s pen fell to the ground. Duan Yelin sat up straight, and everyone looked at Xu Hang, as if he had said something horrifying.
“What did you say?”
“I was the one who saved Ruan Xiaodie’s father. I’m here to make this clear.”
Duan Yelin’s breathing became heavier, and his tone hardened: “No matter how big or small the matter is, explain it clearly.”
Xu Hang’s tone was as flat as a monk chanting sutras. He really just explained seriously, “The day after the Governor’s birthday banquet, I knew that he had robbed a young girl. I rescued Old Man Ruan from behind the City God Temple and brought him back to the medical hall to treat him. He left quietly two days ago. Until today, I had heard rumors on the streets that the Governor’s concubine had killed someone. I was afraid that there was a connection between them, so I thought I should explain it.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
Yuan Ye touched his nose and said, “After he left, you didn’t know where he was? Didn’t he tell you about his plans?”
“No.”
There seemed to be no valuable clues. It was nothing more than confirming Ruan Xiaodie’s motive for murder. However, it felt like this new story had not been fully explored.
The butler maliciously speculated: “Is it that simple? If you have no ulterior motive, why would you save him?”
The butler now really wanted to find the murderer. His urgency did not come from his heart, but from wanting to make the governor’s death final as soon as possible. He had signed a lifelong contract. The governor had no children, so his death would invalidate the contract, and he could leave the mansion and seek a new life.
But if the case is not closed, he will not be able to get away with it, so he doesn’t care who the real murderer is, and he doesn’t care whether it is an injustice or not. The most important thing is to let the commander catch someone and put the matter to rest as soon as possible.
Xu Hang was silent for a moment: “Heh…”
The butler was puzzled: “What are you laughing at?”
Xu Hang stared at him coldly: “I was just laughing. When some people commit murder, start fires, and force women into prostitution, no one questions them, yet I’m blamed for saving a life and doing nothing wrong. Is there any logic to this in the world?”
“You… you…” The butler was frustrated and hesitated. Finally, he became fierce, “Why didn’t you tell the Governor that cinnabar is both a medicine and a poison? And the amount of cinnabar used is truly staggering as well!”
Xu Hang took out a few bills from his pocket and said, “This is serious. I prescribed the cinnabar, but the quantity to be purchased was set by the Governor himself. It just so happens that I also thought that this case would be investigated in the medical hall sooner or later. I also brought the prescription and order here so that you guys can check it at will.”
He put the thing on the table, then squinted his eyes and looked at the butler with a bit of disdain: “As for it being poisonous… you’re not the Governor’s ear, so how do you know I didn’t say anything? Besides, the Governor is dead, and no one can prove whether I said it or not. It’s easy to accuse someone of an unfounded crime like this.”
It was just a sentence, and there was no evidence for what he said. No one could prove it except the deceased governor. This was a very simple truth, and if the butler insisted on it, it would be very troublesome.
“You… Humph, I can’t argue with you. Anyway, you have been in contact with Ruan Xiaodie’s father, so you must be a suspect! Commander, you must find out where he was last night?!”
Duan Yelin took a look at the prescriptions and orders. Each one had the governor’s personal seal. Every shipment of medicine into the mansion had followed the rules. Even the abnormally large amount of cinnabar was approved by the governor himself.
Knowing that Xu Hang didn’t like to be involved in messy things, Duan Yelin wanted to speak up to help Xu Hang and get him out of the situation, but Xu Hang actually spoke up himself.
He said, “It was such an unfortunate coincidence that when the Governor got into trouble, I was with someone else and was too busy to commit the crime.”
The butler looked up with his nose in the air: “Who ah? Who can prove it?”
Xu Hang said, “Miss Gu, Gu Fangfei.”
Yuan Ye quickly flipped through his notes and asked, “Were you with her until half past nine last night?”
“I was a guest at the Gu’s mansion last night. Miss Gu broke her necklace, so I went to Donglai Alley to ask Master Sun to repair it. It was already midnight when I got home.”
“Please tell me the exact time.”
“I left the house at around 7:30. I stayed at Master Sun’s place until 9:30. I was picked up and dropped off by the Gu family’s driver.”
Yuan Ye thought about the distance and time carefully. Donglai Alley was not far from the Governor’s Mansion. “If this time is true, then it is absolutely impossible.”
The butler jumped up and said, “Hey, hey, we can’t just listen to his empty words! We need witnesses!”
It is easy to hide from the King of Hell, but it is hard to deal with little devils.
Duan Yelin was also afraid that this devil would go out and talk nonsense, he had to convince him, so he gave an order: “Yuan Ye, go check it out for him.”
T/N: Climbing and biting in the title could metaphorically suggest actions of attacking or causing harm in a persistent manner.
