Jiangshan Fengwuzhi

Chapter 31 Burden
The sky above Frost Maple Mountain was covered with red leaves, and a long bell rang out from Chongjing Academy. Song Zhang once again stood under the plaque that read "The True Vein of Heaven's Way".

The lecture hall was filled with people wearing white clothes as white as snow. He glanced casually and saw the disciple he would see in a few days sitting in the corner.

"Today I will talk about the "Great Master" in the "Inner Chapters of Zhuangzi". Those who know what Heaven does and what people do are the most accomplished..."

More and more people in the hall were falling asleep, but Song Zhang didn't care. He kept talking about the Queen Mother of the West "sitting in a small space, no one knew where she started and where she ended." Suddenly, he changed the subject and started chatting casually with his disciples.

"Yesterday someone asked me how to achieve immortality. Today I will tell you a story about a man who asked the Queen Mother of the West for the elixir of immortality."

"Everyone says that the Wo people are immortal. In fact, the Wo people were originally mortals with weak strength. They only worshipped Nie Long and hid in his underground palace for a living. Later, Nie Long was killed by the underground dragon. Their ancestors went through hardships and traveled to the Woye, and then they were called the Wo People."

"The fertile plain is where the phoenix lives. There are two treasure mountains, one is Fruit Mountain and the other is Flower Mountain. Fruit Mountain has a body of gold, a ridge of silver, and bronze trees, and bears red exotic fruits; Flower Mountain is full of exotic flowers, hundreds of miles long, and they never fade in all four seasons."

"After that, the people of Wo encountered a powerful enemy, so they had no choice but to seek refuge in Kunlun, and presented the two treasure mountains to the Queen Mother of the West. They picked the rare fruits from the fruit mountain and the first dew of the blooming petals from the flower mountain to serve in front of her. Finally, they were granted the magic medicine and established an immortal fairyland."

"As for how the mortals in Zhongzhou can control the aliens, it is just like this. For example, there is a blue bird under the tent of the Queen Mother of the West, which fetches food and delivers messages for her. The blue bird clan has been eating exotic fruits and drinking morning dew since they were served by the people of Wo. If their descendants come to Zhongzhou, they will not survive without fruits and dew..."

Another class passed by in the midst of these anecdotes.

When the bell rang, Song Zhang still did not stop and left.

Gu Jingnian put away the books, returned to the cellar, opened his bag, and took out a bloody piece of clothing.

This was the clothes he was wearing when he was stabbed before dawn today. There was a pool of blood on the chest. He used scissors to cut off that part and buried it in the mud behind the cell. Then he picked up the needle and thread and began to sew clothes.

Just as he had mended his clothes, a servant from the academy came over and asked him to go to the mountain gate, saying that someone from Shuyang Prefecture was looking for him.

Gu Jingnian knew what was going on and left the academy calmly.

In front of Luming Terrace, there were two middle-aged men in black clothes, with swords and chains on their waists.

"Gu Jingnian?"

"Yes."

"We are the fast squad detectives from the Fuyang government office. We found a body in Xiejing Lane this morning. A witness identified you as the murderer. Come with us."

Gu Jingnian was a little surprised and asked, "Who died?"

"A martial artist from the Gu Mansion, Liu Chuang."

"He? How did he die?"

"A knife stabbed me in the heart."

Gu Jingnian asked: "Why do you doubt me?"

"Of course someone saw you committing the crime. Please."

"it is good."

Gu Jingnian was quite honest and followed the two officers down Frost Maple Mountain.

The Shuyang government office was located in the southeast corner of the city. It was already dark when the three men arrived, but the law officer in charge of prisons still interrogated Gu Jingnian as soon as possible.

He was a thin old man who called himself Yuan Wei and had an expression as if he had seen through everything.

"I will not use torture. The evidence is irrefutable. Mr. Gu has signed and sealed it himself. Just admit it. It is not a serious crime for a master to kill his servant."

Gu Jingnian knew that Liu Chuang was not a servant of the Gu family but a hired martial artist. Yuan Wei's words were nothing more than an attempt to induce a confession.

This lawyer has obviously been bribed.

"The Gu family was involved in a conspiracy case not long ago, and the case has not yet been resolved. Today, an unrelated person seems to have died, but there is a lot of water behind it." Gu Jingnian asked, "Are you sure you want to get involved?"

Yuan Wei's face changed slightly, he stroked his long beard and remained silent for a long time.

"Who sent you money?" Gu Jingnian asked in a low voice.

"Mr. Gu, please don't talk nonsense."

"Then I'll show you a way. You can't handle this case, so move it to the Kaiping Division as soon as possible and hand it over to the investigating officer... Wang Qinghe."

Gu Jingnian hesitated for a moment, but finally chose between Pei Nian and Wang Qinghe, and chose a position that was more inclined towards the Gu family.

Yuan Wei rolled his eyes and thought quickly. In the end, he did not torture Gu Jingnian or force him to sign. He just stood up and left.

Not long after, someone walked into the detention room.

It’s Pei Nian.

"I have sent someone to inform Gu Si Niang that I will protect you so that she won't come to Shuyang City again while pregnant."

"Thank you very much."

"I didn't expect us to meet again so soon."

Pei Nian said this casually, and first walked along the wall to see if there were any ears.

Afterwards, she moved closer to Gu Jingnian and spoke in a low voice.

"This is a critical moment to close the case. You must tell me what happened."

"I don't know." Gu Jingnian said, "Pei Jishi must know more than me."

"The maid Cui'er said she saw you kill martial artist Liu Chuang."

"After I returned home, I saw them working in my room. Maybe Cui'er was afraid that I would expose her, so she killed Liu Chuang and put the blame on me?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"That's all I know."

Pei Nian said: "Then guess who wants to deal with you."

"I believe that Pei Jishi's ability to investigate the case will prove my innocence."

Gu Jingnian had obviously guessed it, but he was not sure whether Pei Nian would cover up for him after finding out that he had killed someone, so he simply pretended to be stupid.

"Let's go." Pei Nian said, "We'll talk again when we get back to Kaiping Division."

The two men pushed the door open and Gu Jingnian immediately felt Huang Hu's enthusiastic and worried eyes.

Then, Wang Qinghe gently waved his folding fan and stepped in.

"What are you doing here?" Pei Nian asked, "The death of a person is not enough to alert the two Kaiping police officers."

"Not two." Wang Qinghe said, "but three."

"what for?"

"I have good news and bad news for you." Wang Qinghe said, "The good news is that I have roughly found out the truth. It was Gu Jiye. He bribed Liu Chuang to kill Gu Jingnian but failed, and then instructed Cui'er to make a false accusation." Pei Nian had expected this and was not surprised. He said calmly, "What about the bad news?"

"You are also involved."

"what?"

"Gu Jiye pointed out that you killed Liu Chuang to protect Gu Jingnian."

Pei Nian couldn't help but frown when he heard this.

She had never heard anything so ridiculous.

The next moment, a group of people rushed in, led by Xie Ding, another investigator from the Kaiping Division.

"According to the order of the Commissioner, bring the murder suspects Pei Nian and Gu Jingnian to justice."

Hearing this, Pei Nian's men became furious.

How is it possible that the Kaiping Police Department would arrest someone for allegedly killing a small martial artist?
Huang Hu cursed loudly, "Xie Ding! If you want to pick a fight, why don't you fight with me instead of showing off here!"

"Go against the superiors and take him down!"

"Calm down, everyone."

It was Wang Qinghe who spoke up, and whispered to Pei Nian, "Don't be impulsive. The pacification envoy has gone to Wanchun Palace. Liu Jikun is here prepared. If you take action, he will have a reason to kill you. I am here to save your life until the pacification envoy comes back."

"Take it!"

Xie Ding shouted loudly, and his men immediately surrounded him.

"I'll go by myself."

Pei Nian threw the sword in his hand to his men and did not resist arrest.

She used to work with Xie Ding under the Inspector Liu Jikun. Recently, she switched to the Pacification Envoy Min Yuanxiu because of the Gu family case. Liu Jishen wanted to settle accounts with her, and she was mentally prepared.

Wang Qinghe looked at Gu Jingnian again and said, "What I said to you in the carriage yesterday is still ringing in my ears. It has come to this, it's really..."

He didn't know how to describe Gu Jiye for a moment and shook his head.

--------

Gu Mansion.

Zong Huan went to bed early today. Thinking that the Gu family had been saved from danger thanks to her son's success, she slept soundly.

But at night, an anxious call was heard outside the door.

"Aunt! Something terrible has happened!"

The maid in the main room hurriedly opened the door, only to see Zong E rushing in with disheveled clothes, throwing herself in front of the couch and starting to cry.

"Jiye... was taken away by Kaipingsi!"

"what?!"

Zong Huan sat up with a start as if struck by lightning.

"They said they wanted him to be a witness." Zong E said, "That bastard has caused trouble again. It seems he had an affair with a female detective and even caused a murder."

"What a jerk!"

Zong Huan could not help but feel great hatred, thinking that the Gu family was a little better off, but there was such a burden. He only regretted that he had not killed him in his early years.

"Aunt, someone is waiting in the inner hall and wants to talk to you."

"I'll see you right away."

Zong Huan was so worried about his son that he didn't even notice that Zong E's face was still blushing. He also didn't think about why Gu Jiye was asked to leave. Zong E was the first to know about it.

She immediately put on her clothes and rushed to the inner hall, only to see a middle-aged man sitting in the hall, wearing a Kaiping Division brocade robe.

"Where did you take my son?!"

"Madam Gu, please be patient. Nothing will happen to your son. Once we have collected enough evidence, we will release him."

"What evidence?" Zong Huan asked cautiously, "Are you trying to frame my master again?"

"No, I admire General Gu the most in my life, how dare I frame him? This time, I'm investigating a case in which Pei Nian and Gu Jingnian conspired to steal treasures from Wanchun Palace and kill people."

After hearing this, Zong Huan had some doubts but was inclined to believe it.

She initially heard Gu Jiye's speculation about Gu Jingnian's collusion with Pei Nian.

She trusted her son's judgment.

"What evidence do you want?"

"We have to search Gu Jingnian's residence, and we also need the testimony of Gu's servants, preferably the testimony of Gu's family members."

Zong Huan hesitated and said, "Can you guarantee that if you find evidence, it won't implicate my son?"

"As long as we find evidence, we will release Master Gu Shi immediately."

--------

Kaipingsi Yamen, Tisi Hall.

Liu Jikun had a stern expression on his face and was pacing back and forth.

"Ti Si." Xie Ding came over quickly and said in a cheery voice, "We have captured Pei Nian."

"That's not the key point." Liu Jikun said, "There must be enough evidence to prove that Pei Nian, Gu Jingnian, and Lu Yanning colluded to overturn their testimony."

For him, the situation has become urgent. He must take down the Gu family as soon as possible and force Gu Beiming to rebel, otherwise the case will be overturned.

"Don't worry, Tisi, we have evidence, and the Gu family will testify for us."

"Destroying the walls themselves, are they that stupid?"

"Have!"

Xie Ding was very sure.

"Gu Jiye bribed Liu Chuang to kill Gu Jingnian, leaving too many loopholes. If my people hadn't been keeping an eye on him, he would have almost let Wang Qinghe take the large sum of money and the servants who delivered the message. Right now, Gu Jiye is scared to death, and will do his best to help us testify against Pei Nian and Gu Jingnian. If we can prove that these two people are colluding, we can prove that Pei Nian's file was a false testimony to help Gu Jingnian."

(End of this chapter)