CHAPTER 72: CHAPTER 71: SECRET EXCHANGE

That Lord Zhang never expected Lu Qing to respond like this, and for a moment, he was at a loss for words.

Behind Lu Qing, Zhu Yu lowered her eyelids and slightly bowed her head to avoid being seen holding back her laughter.

"My lords, although my daughter secretly meeting a man is inappropriate, it is by no means as scandalous as you claim! The man promised to marry my daughter, which is why she was deceived!"

Zhuang Zhi, his face full of grief and indignation, took the opportunity to explain, "My daughter’s personal maid said that the man once told my daughter that he came from a distinguished background and that his family wanted him to focus solely on preparing for the soldier exam. Everything else was to be discussed only after he gained fame in the exam.

Though my daughter is beautiful and comes from a wealthy background, she is, after all, a merchant’s daughter. Before he gains any title, it’s impossible to reveal their relationship.

He repeatedly promised my daughter that once he did well in the soldier exam, he would immediately confess to his family and then marry her.

My foolish daughter was so taken by his sweet words that she succumbed to his advances!"

When Zhuang Zhi mentioned "distinguished background" and "preparing for the soldier exam," others couldn’t help but glance surreptitiously at Cao Tianbao.

Cao Tianbao’s face had turned as dark as the bottom of a pot.

Everything Zhuang Zhi just said didn’t explicitly mention his nephew Cao Chenfeng, but it seemed as if every word was implicating him. Whether it was a grand and imposing figure or a distinguished background, every characteristic matched Cao Chenfeng.

"You’ve said so much, but all it proves is that there was indeed a man who secretly met with your daughter. It doesn’t prove that the man is General Cao’s nephew, Cao Chenfeng," Lu Zhang, having listened for so long, believed he found a key point, "Every session of the soldier exam brings many men of good family background to the capital to take the test.

Those who participate in the soldier exam are all tall, strong, and vigorous. If based on what you just said, wouldn’t any participant in the soldier exam potentially be the murderer of your daughter?"

Faced with this question from Lu Zhang, Zhuang Zhi didn’t rush to answer but turned around and clapped his hands toward the strong men behind him.

The strong men quickly opened the coffin they had brought in, while the General Mansion’s guards beside them held their hands on their swords, fearing that something terrible might be dragged out from the coffin.

In front of everyone’s eyes, they pulled out a woman with disheveled hair from the coffin. This woman had probably been frightened, as the tear marks on her face hadn’t dried, and her body was trembling like leaves in the autumn wind.

Judging by the style of her clothes, she seemed to be a young maid. It wasn’t hard to guess that she was originally by Zhuang Lanlan’s side.

Sure enough, the strong men pulled the young maid out and threw her on the ground. Before she could kneel down trembling, Zhuang Zhi spoke to Lu Zhang: "This noble is absolutely right!

This maid served my daughter and is named Little Tao’er. She always knew about the secret meetings between the man and my daughter and even helped my foolish daughter to hide it.

After the incident, I intended to either beat her to death or sell her to a human trafficker as punishment. However, my daughter’s death was unclear, and Little Tao’er was the only one who had seen the man. Hence, I had to suppress my anger and keep her at home."

Having said that, he carefully pulled out a paper from his pocket and unfolded it, revealing a drawing sketched with simple ink strokes.

The skill of this portrait was clearly not great, appearing to be the work of a poor scholar who made a living by writing and drawing for people in the marketplace.

Though the strokes lacked detail, they were sufficient to sketch out the main features of a person in just a few lines.

As Zhu Yu unfolded the portrait, the expressions around changed instantly, suggesting that the man resembled Cao Tianbao’s nephew Cao Chenfeng by at least sixty to seventy percent.

"This portrait was made by an artist I hired based on Little Tao’er’s description of the man’s appearance!" Zhuang Zhi stretched out his arm, holding the portrait high, "I even took this portrait to the river and asked the ferrymen, one of whom recognized the man in the portrait, saying that this gentleman often hired him to ferry across the river at night. After frequent occurrences, he remembered him!

At first, I didn’t recognize who it was. Thankfully, Little Tao’er mentioned that this person had a dispute with my daughter before, got her angry, and she scratched his face. I then had the artist draw several copies and distributed them to the servants at the tavern, asking them to inquire around.

It didn’t take long before my people returned, informing me that someone recognized the person in the portrait as Cao Chenfeng, the nephew of the current Assistant General Cao Tianbao.

Initially, I couldn’t believe it either. General Cao’s reputation was so renowned that even a small merchant like me had heard of it. I was reluctant to believe that someone from the Cao family could commit murder. Therefore, I took the portrait to check secretly, and indeed, he looked exactly like the person in the portrait.

When I saw him, the scratch on his cheek hadn’t healed, and I was even more certain it was he who harmed my daughter."

Overcome with grief, Zhuang Zhi began to cry again while narrating, "When I confronted him, he tried to hide, showing a guilty conscience. I grabbed him, and he pushed me down hard. I couldn’t get up after falling to the ground and was bedridden for two days. Only today could I barely get up.

I didn’t know today was General Cao’s birthday. But after my daughter’s death, the government stonewalled me upon learning of my intention to accuse General Cao’s nephew, showing no willingness to handle the case.

With nowhere to appeal, I came to seek justice from General Cao.

I came here resolved to die, bringing a thin coffin for myself, without any intention to ruin General Cao’s birthday!

If the General handles this matter justly and gives an explanation for my daughter’s wrongful death, even if he can’t suppress his anger later and wishes to beat me to death, I would have no complaint!"

Cao Tianbao was initially stunned when he saw the portrait in Zhuang Zhi’s hand, then his expression grew increasingly grim.

The man in the portrait truly resembled his most promising nephew, which filled his heart with unease in addition to anger.

Yet if he hadn’t let Zhuang Zhi speak just now, nor had the portrait been shown, this matter might have been less complicated. But now, having reached this point, he had to get to the bottom of it. Otherwise, rumors could spread uncontrollably. Today, the people present were more than enough to stir public opinion, and the Cao family’s reputation might not survive such indiscriminate tales.