The Duke's Pampered Darling is So Scheming

Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Quite Fierce

It was noon, and the sun was already blazing. Yet, as Cao Chengwen stood rooted to the spot, he was ice-cold all over.

The surrounding crowd stared at him, their expressions a mixture of shock and suspicion.

The countless gazes felt like needles on Cao Chengwen’s back. He panicked instantly, shouting, ”No! Your Honor! I misspoke just now! I was wrong! That silver note isn’t mine! It has nothing to do with me!”

Yang Zhen snorted and slammed the silver note on the table!

”The fingerprints are a perfect match. With such irrefutable evidence, you still dare to argue!?”

Cao Chengwen was utterly stunned and swayed on his feet.

”How can this be... How is this possible!”

’He clearly gave Liu Si silver ingots, so where in the world did this silver note come from!?’

...

In the teahouse above, Shen Yanchuan watched the scene unfold, a brow slightly raised.

’So that’s how it is.’

’No wonder she was out for so long yesterday. She must have been arranging this.’

’The case was already decided. To overturn it, one needs irrefutable evidence.’

’And even if there was none, with Ye Chutang’s abilities, she would eventually produce some.’

Lian Zhou, standing behind him, was also stunned. ”I can’t believe that Liu Si is so clever! To think he kept such irrefutable evidence! And he deliberately chose to reveal it in public at the execution ground! This way, the county magistrate will have to investigate for the sake of his own reputation. Once they find that ring and the silver note, Cao Chengwen won’t be able to deny it, no matter how hard he tries.”

Shen Yanchuan sipped his tea. ”If he’d really planned to do this, he wouldn’t have confessed in the first place.”

Lian Zhou froze for a second. ”You’re right!”

I heard that less than a day after Liu Si was taken to the government office, he confessed. And later, when Mrs. Zhou accused Cao Chengwen of being involved, the matter was dropped, and Cao Chengwen walked free from the government office.

That proves Liu Si never intended to drag Cao Chengwen down with him from the start.

”Then why the sudden change of heart?”

Shen Yanchuan smiled faintly. ”He was willing to die before exposing Cao Chengwen, which means he was either bribed or threatened. But if Cao Chengwen can do that, so can someone else.”

Lian Zhou’s gaze swept across the crowd below when a thought suddenly struck him. ”Mrs. Zhou and her son aren’t here!”

He hadn’t paid it any mind at first, assuming Mrs. Zhou didn’t want her child to witness such a scene. But she had been willing to risk everything for Liu Si outside the government office before, so why would she be afraid of this?

Unless... someone deliberately prevented her from coming!

Lian Zhou muttered in disbelief, ”Could it be... Ye—”

He didn’t finish his sentence, but it was perfectly clear whom he meant.

”What a brilliant move! Without lifting a finger, she forced Cao Chengwen to expose himself. Now, he’ll have a hard time washing his hands of Cao Chengwu’s murder!”

A sliver of admiration bloomed in Lian Zhou’s heart.

Ye Chutang seemed gentle and serene, but in reality, her strategic cunning was second to none!

Shen Yanchuan stroked the bone china cup in his hand, his eyes on the slender, graceful figure standing apart from the crowd below. The corners of his lips curved slightly.

”The real show is likely yet to come.”

...

Ye Chutang tilted her head up slightly, glancing at the sun.

’Yesterday, when she spoke with Mrs. Zhou, she had something on her hands. She had also added a little something to the box of Furong Cake she gave them, ensuring they would sleep soundly until noon today.’

’Everyone thought she excelled at medicine, but no one knew her true, deeper expertise was in the use of poisons!’

’It was just that since her rebirth, she’d never had a chance to use this skill and had nearly let it go to waste.’

’Fortunately, everything went smoothly.’

’By her calculations, Mrs. Zhou and her son should be waking up in another quarter of an hour.’

’It would take them another quarter of an hour to get here, and by then, things here should be just about wrapped up.’

When she went to the prison to see Liu Si yesterday, she told him only two things.

First: Cao Chengwen wanted to kill Mrs. Zhou and her son to silence them.

Second: she could help him take care of Cao Chengwen.

Though Liu Si was timid by nature, he was a man who would fight to the death for his wife and child.

So, he agreed to Ye Chutang’s plan without hesitation.

At the time, he had been worried there wasn’t enough evidence to prove Cao Chengwen’s connection to the matter, but Ye Chutang simply told him not to worry; she had a way.

He had indeed hidden the Jade Ring, but even he had no idea where Ye Chutang had gotten that silver note.

...

Cao Chengwen couldn’t figure it out, either.

His mind raced, knowing that if he didn’t find a way to clear his name now, he’d never get another chance!

”Your Honor! I want to see that silver note!”

Yang Zhen frowned and commanded, ”Since you refuse to confess, then see for yourself! Someone, show it to him! Let him have a good look!”

Wu Xu held up the silver note for Cao Chengwen to see.

”You should recognize your own fingerprint, shouldn’t you?”

Cao Chengwen stared intently at the silver note. Suddenly, his eyes widened.

This silver note was indeed his, but the crucial part was—it was the payment he had given to those gamblers!

He knew the handwriting and the seal on it better than anyone! There was no mistaking it!

He had given the three of them a total of five hundred taels to secretly abduct Ye Chutang. He never expected that the next day, Ye Chutang would be completely unharmed, while the three gamblers would turn up dead in his own courtyard!

If his cousin, Liu Yiyi, hadn’t helped him out, he’d probably be in prison by now.

He had been so panicked at the time, focused only on distancing himself from those three men, that he hadn’t even examined their bodies closely.

But who could have known that the silver note he had given them would now be in Liu Si’s hands!

This... this—

Cao Chengwen suddenly understood. He whipped his head around!

Ye Chutang!

’It had to be her!’

At that same moment, Ye Chutang, who was standing behind the crowd, seemed to sense Cao Chengwen’s gaze. She didn’t flinch or look away, simply meeting his eyes.

Her dark, gentle eyes curved into a beautiful crescent, yet her pupils held a chill that ran down the spine.

An invisible, immense pressure washed over Cao Chengwen, almost suffocating him.

For a moment, he felt a surge of panic and fear, stumbling back a step.

Ye Chutang’s red lips curved into a slight smile.

’How do you like my return gift?’

...

Cao Chengwen had never been so terrified.

He opened his mouth, wanting to defend himself, but he forced the words back down.

’I can’t say it!’

’If I tell them, the case of those three deaths will be dredged up and pinned on me!’

’But if I don’t say anything... if I don’t say anything—’

BAM!

Yang Zhen slammed his hand on the table and bellowed, ”Cao Chengwen! Do you confess or not!”

...

Shen Yanchuan’s gaze lingered on Ye Chutang for a moment, his eyes deepening.

’To everyone else, it looks as though she’s done nothing. But in reality, she laid this trap from the very beginning, just waiting for Cao Chengwen to walk right into it.’

’Now, there are only two paths before Cao Chengwen: death, or a gruesome death.’

Shen Yanchuan tapped his fingers lightly on the table and chuckled.

”Quite vicious,” he murmured.