History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 388 The Steward's Confession

Before the cause of Gao Zhao's death is determined, everyone in the house is a suspect. How can he exclude the two dukes from the suspicion just because the Duke of Chengcheng and the Duke of Bohai are Gao Zhao's younger brother and nephew?
So Wang Xian changed his words: "Report this only to me and Vice Minister Wei."

Upon entering the house, the sobbing of the Gao clan members intensified the chill in the courtyard.

The Tiger Warriors and neighborhood officials patrolling the nearby streets were quite dutiful, arriving early to guard the courtyard where Gao Zhao drowned. Unfortunately, several important members of the Gao family were weeping over Gao Zhao's body, and the footprints around the well were messy, making it very difficult to find clues from the shoe prints.

The saddest of all were Gao Zhao's sons, Gao Zhi and Gao Zhan.

When the young girl Gao Ying saw Wei Yao arrive, she seemed to see someone to rely on. She grabbed Wei Yao's wrist and gasped, "My...my fourth uncle is dead, and my fifth uncle has locked himself in his room, sob—"

Several members of the Gao family showed expressions of hatred when Gao Ying mentioned "Fifth Uncle," which was very unusual!
Wei Yao and Wang Xian exchanged a knowing glance. She was more familiar with the Gao family than the other party, so she asked, "Did any of you witness or hear about what happened to the Duke of Pingyuan?"

The Gao family members shook their heads. Bohai Gong Gao Meng said, "When Fourth Uncle had the accident, only the steward of his courtyard was guarding outside the gate. The steward overheard some conversations, so I had the clansmen lock him in the woodshed. That woodshed is next to Fifth Uncle's courtyard."

Wei Yao nodded slightly to him: "Well done."

Wang Xian left two of his subordinates to help the coroner examine the body, while he and Wei Yao followed Gao Meng to interrogate the steward.

Upon seeing Wei Yao, the steward ignored Wang Xian beside him and, with tears streaming down his face, kowtowed and cried out, "It's not that I didn't call for help for Lord Pingyuan in time, it's just that my winter clothes were too heavy and difficult to retrieve after being soaked in water, please spare my life, please spare me..."

Wei Yao loudly stopped the other party from rambling on: "This is an official sent by the palace to investigate this matter. Tell me the truth as you know it. If you conceal anything, it will not only be a capital offense, but it will also bring disaster to your family!"

The steward quickly told Wang Xian, "Everything happened the same as usual today. Duke Chengcheng returned home and came to report to Duke Pingyuan. Duke Pingyuan reprimanded Duke Chengcheng..."

Wang Xian asked, "What were you reprimanding?"

The steward said, "It's just another reprimand for Lord Chengcheng's idleness, nothing else."

Wang Xian asked doubtfully, "Or is it? Does the Duke of Pingyuan always reprimand the Duke of Chengcheng?" As he asked this, his gaze shifted slightly towards Wei Yao.

Wei Yao said frankly, "I know nothing about this matter."

Gao Meng spoke up to testify: "Fourth Uncle does indeed often criticize Fifth Uncle."

Wang Xian ordered the steward: "Continue."

"Yes. In the past, when Duke Pingyuan reprimanded Duke Chengcheng, I would always make the maids in the courtyard step back a few steps like me. But this time, after Duke Pingyuan scolded Duke Chengcheng a few times, he told all the maids to leave, leaving me alone to guard outside the courtyard gate. I gradually couldn't hear the sounds outside anymore, and I thought it was the two dukes talking as they walked towards the side courtyard." The steward said this, and then slapped himself hard. "It's all my fault for being timid and too obedient. I was still standing there like an idiot outside the main courtyard."

The courtyard where Gao Zhao lived in Pingyuan was divided into two parts, with the well located in the smaller side courtyard.

Wang Xian didn't ask any questions, so the steward continued to recount the events of that time: "I felt like there wasn't even a moment before the Duke of Chengcheng came running over as if he had been slapped, with a handprint on his face, saying that the Duke of Pingyuan had fallen into the well. I was really scared at the time, and I could barely walk. I had never experienced anything like this before, so I did something stupid. I ran into the courtyard to call for the Duke of Pingyuan and looked into the well. I didn't expect there to be any movement in the well! I hurriedly called for help, but... but it was too late."

Upon hearing this, Gao Meng squatted down and sobbed in a muffled voice, "It's so hard to pull Uncle Si out of the well! Waaah, when I looked for Uncle Si this morning, he was perfectly fine. How could he suddenly be gone! How could our Gao family have to suffer such a thing!"

How could a sensible adult easily drown in a well? Such an accidental death, which should never have happened, is far more difficult for loved ones to accept than dying from illness.

On their way here, Wei Yao and Wang Xian had already learned from Gao Meng that the Duke of Chengcheng had not participated in the Duke of Pingyuan's salvage operation. Wang Xian asked, "When you were guarding the courtyard gate, did you only hear the Duke of Pingyuan reprimanding the Duke of Chengcheng? Or were the two arguing?"

Without hesitation, the steward replied immediately, "As long as I can hear them talking, it is always the Duke of Pingyuan instructing the Duke of Chengcheng."

Wang Xian: "Did the two dukes often quarrel in the past?" Not only did the steward shake his head at this question, but Gao Meng, as the nephew of Gao Zhao and Gao Xian, also shook his head. He then answered: "My fourth uncle reads the books that Vice Minister Wei sent all day long. He is strict with himself and only complains that we are lazy. We all know that our fourth uncle is doing it for our own good, so we listen to whatever he scolds us. But who knew that our fifth uncle... sigh!" He helplessly scratched his hair.

Wei Yao and Wang Xian exchanged a glance. It seemed that not only Gao Zhao's son suspected Gao Xian of being the murderer, but Gao Meng, his nephew, also had the same suspicion.

That was all the overt interrogation. Next, Wang Xian dismissed Gao Meng and asked the steward, "Do you still remember the handprint on the Duke of Chengcheng's face? Does it look more like he slapped himself, or was it someone else who slapped him?"

The steward stared blankly for a moment, not daring to lie: "I only remember that the slap was on the left cheek of Duke Chengcheng, quite obvious, it doesn't seem like... he slapped himself."

Wang Xian: "When Duke Chengcheng told Duke Pingyuan that he had fallen into the well, was his expression mostly one of shock? Most of the time, or was it something else, such as panic, hatred, or resentment?"

The steward trembled and lowered his head to the ground as he replied, "Lord Chengcheng is very flustered."

Wang Xian: "When you served the Duke of Pingyuan, did you ever leak information about the Duke of Chengcheng to him?"

The steward confessed, trembling, "It happened, only once."

"What information was revealed?"

"Duke Chengcheng had his steward give me money, wanting to know if Vice Minister Wei shows favoritism every time he comes here, only teaching Duke Pingyuan about official matters?"

Wei Yao spoke up: "I think I'd better leave."

"No need, I trust Vice Minister Wei's character." Wang Xian looked back at the steward and asked, "What did you say to the Duke of Chengcheng?"

“I would like to inform you that… whenever Vice Minister Wei came, he did not show any favoritism. Every time, he would first ask if the Duke of Chengcheng was in the mansion, and before leaving, he would ask the Duke of Pingyuan to pass on his message to the Duke of Chengcheng.”

"Did the Duke of Pingyuan relay the message to the Duke of Chengcheng?"

"No, no."

"Let me ask you again, when Vice Minister Wei came, was Duke Chengcheng really just out by chance, or was he sometimes in his residence?"

"I only know that Lord Chengcheng has been going out frequently lately, but I don't know when he returns to the mansion. Whenever Vice Minister Wei comes, I really don't know whether Lord Chengcheng is in the mansion or not."

"Did the Duke of Pingyuan allow you to inquire about the Duke of Chengcheng? Or to bribe the Duke of Chengcheng's servants?"

The manager stammered even more: "I...I bribed them."

Wang Xian: "What have the bribed maids done?"

"In the middle of the night, I pretended to be a raccoon dog and howled, to scare Lord Chengcheng."

Wang Xian pressed further, "Anything else?"

"And, and... leave a winter jujube, a gift from the palace, outside the door or at the base of the wall."

"Jujubes again!" Wei Yao lowered her eyelids and immediately guessed Gao Zhao's malicious intentions. If this fellow was indeed pushed into the well and killed by his younger brother, he deserved it!