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“Your movements are quite nimble.”
A voice echoed softly, followed by the sudden illumination of lanterns and torches. The previously dark night was almost turned into daylight by the brightness.
The intense light made it hard for the shadow to keep their eyes open. Instinctively, they shielded their face with their sleeve and hastily dropped the shovel and other items, trying to flee.
At this point, would Li Zhongan let the person escape?
With a swift gesture, a runner beside him pounced, swiftly and efficiently binding the fleeing figure.
As the captured person was brought closer, Li Zhongan recognized their face.
“You are…” Li Zhongan paused, “a student from the Wende Academy?”
The number of students at the Wende Academy was not large. Being scholars and potentially future scholars in the county, Li Zhongan held them in high regard and often visited the academy. As a result, he had a good recollection of the students there.
After a moment of recollection, Li Zhongan was fairly certain, “You are Zhang Yaosheng, aren’t you?”
After searching his memory, Li Zhongan was almost certain and said, “You are Zhang Yaosheng?”
Captured and realizing escape was futile, Zhang Yaosheng no longer struggled to break free and simply nodded, “Yes, that’s me.”
“Admitting it at last,” Li Zhongan snorted coldly. “As a scholar, you should have been diligently studying, aiming to become a pillar of the nation and work for the well-being of the people. Instead, you engaged in such thievery, which is truly disgraceful and a shame to scholars everywhere!”
“I don’t quite understand what you mean, sir,” Zhang Yaosheng said, looking puzzled.
“Don’t understand?” Li Zhongan shouted angrily. “The items in your possession are the belongings recently stolen from others. With this evidence before us, how can you claim not to understand?”
“I truly don’t understand,” Zhang Yaosheng replied confidently. “I heard some noise in the night and saw a shadow acting suspiciously outside. I followed to investigate and upon reaching here, the shadow disappeared. I found the buried items here and when the shadow fled upon seeing me, I dug them up, intending to hand them over to the authorities.”
Upon hearing Zhang Yaosheng’s explanation, Li Zhongan’s mouth twitched slightly. “Are you saying that you were trying to catch the thief?”
“Exactly,” Zhang Yaosheng nodded emphatically.
“But you didn’t actually catch the thief. How can you prove that what you’re saying is true?” Li Zhongan challenged. “Since you followed the thief here, you must have seen their physical appearance clearly. Can you describe them?”
“In response, I saw clearly that the thief was none other than the owner of this residence, Song Jingyun,” Zhang Yaosheng replied.
“But I have confirmed with witnesses that when the thefts occurred recently, Song Jingyun was in the Jiang family village, with many able to testify to his presence,” Li Zhongan narrowed his eyes. “Why do you insist that Song Jingyun is the thief?”
“Because I saw it clearly—it was indeed Song Jingyun!” Zhang Yaosheng insisted. “Moreover, many households nearby lost items, yet Song Jingyun’s home remained untouched. Don’t you find that suspicious?”
“If it were someone else stealing, why would they only place the stolen items in Song Jingyun’s home? You might suspect someone is framing him, but why would they frame Song Jingyun and not others?”
“After careful consideration, many peculiarities arise, but if Song Jingyun is the thief, it all makes sense.”
“Indeed, it does make sense,” Li Zhongan nodded, raising his hand. “Take him away!”
Upon receiving the order, the runners responded with a “yes” and proceeded to drag Zhang Yaosheng, already bound like a rice dumpling, out of the premises.
Initially startled, Zhang Yaosheng then exclaimed, “Sir, I am innocent! It was Song Jingyun who stole the items!”
“Shut your mouth!” A nearby runner couldn’t bear it and gave Zhang Yaosheng a slap, scolding him.
“Why should I be silent? Everything I said is the truth!” Zhang Yaosheng retorted.
“With such foolishness, it’s a wonder how you ever became a scholar!”
“So true, they think they’re so clever.”
“Is their brain filled with pudding?”
“Who knows, maybe they’ve read themselves silly…”
Was he foolish?
Where was he being foolish?
Even if he had average abilities and wasn’t as naturally gifted in studying as others, he was still a scholar, a successful candidate in the imperial examinations. He had to be more intelligent than these low-ranking runners!
To be mocked as foolish by them was infuriating!
Zhang Yaosheng seethed with anger, his teeth grinding loudly. “You are the fools here! You probably haven’t even read the Four Books and Five Classics, don’t even know what the Spring and Autumn Annals are, and yet you dare to call me foolish?”
“Whether we know those things or not is not the issue here. The real problem is your comical level of foolishness.”
“Exactly, when Scholar Song openly mentioned his losses of paintings and medicinal herbs, everyone knew his home had been targeted. How did you miraculously know his home was untouched? Only the thief would have that knowledge.”
“Furthermore, you claim to have seen a shadow in the night and followed it. Yet, the authorities have already announced the thief’s capture. How can you be so sure that shadow was the thief and still decide to pursue it?”
“Trying to frame Scholar Song in such a manner shows a misguided attempt at cleverness.”
“All those years of schooling might have been for naught, perhaps all that knowledge went straight into the dogs’ bellies?”
“Or maybe it ended up in the pigs’ bellies…”
“…”
As the runners mocked and taunted him, Zhang Yaosheng’s face turned as red as a pig’s liver.
Upon reflection, Li Zhongan and the runners had been aware of the entire situation from the beginning, while he had futilely argued and struggled.
Upon closer inspection, Li Zhongan had purposely waited at Song Jingyun’s home, anticipating his arrival. It seemed they had orchestrated this to make him believe the thief had been caught, hoping to lure him into incriminating himself by not finding the stolen items.
Combining this with Song Jingyun’s deliberate spreading of rumors about his own losses, was Song Jingyun aware from the start that someone was trying to frame him? Perhaps he knew it was him all along?
Zhang Yaosheng’s face transitioned from crimson to a ghostly white, then to a grim shade of grey.
After a moment, his expression turned livid.
Song Jingyun, relying on his cunning, to play games with others like this? Such a person was truly despicable, deserving of divine punishment!
“Crack!”
In an instant, a lightning bolt struck down from the sky, directly towards Zhang Yaosheng.