The woman before him was surprisingly cautious and meticulous. It seemed she was a practical one. “So, is it natural decay?” Lu Lingyun stood up, patted the dust off her hands, and nodded in agreement. “It is.” The staircase handrail was indeed damaged, not caused by human intervention. In her previous life, she had followed Li Wenxun to serve as a local official in Jiangnan for over a decade, handling everything personally. She had some experience and judgment in this regard. “Then what else do you have to say?” Liu Shu Hui snorted, acting as if he had been right all along.
Then Lu Lingyun calmly spoke, “The handrail being naturally decayed is fine, but whether the person fell accidentally is unknown.” “I saw it with my own eyes! My fellow villager was just touching the handrail when he fell! What else could it be but an accident!” “I heard that he was arguing with someone at that time.” “Yes, just a normal debate.” It was only natural for students to argue with each other. “Then maybe someone discovered the decaying staircase beforehand, deliberately lured him there, and then, while provoking him, he touched the handrail and fell, or… he knew about it all along, argued with someone, became enraged, and, burdened by the pressure of the exam, broke the railing and jumped to his death.” Lu Lingyun listed each possibility.
It wasn’t that she deliberately wanted to protect her own people. After being in a local position for over a decade, Lu Lingyun had come to understand one thing: you could always use the worst possible motives to interpret anyone’s actions, because the truth behind events was often unimaginably evil. Anything was possible. However, her words fell on deaf ears. Liu Shu Hui was so furious that he stomped his feet. The first part of her words made sense, but what was that last bit about? “You’re talking nonsense!” “Does Mr. Liu have any evidence to prove that my speculation is wrong?” “Then what evidence do you have to prove what you’re saying!” “That’s right.” Lu Lingyun, under her straw hat, looked at him calmly. “Mr. Liu, I am also saddened by the news of your friend’s passing, but the truth of this matter is shrouded in mystery. Neither of us can prove what happened to him. Why don’t we settle this privately? I am willing to offer the most sincere compensation.”
“Ha! You are indeed here to protect your own people! I’m telling you, that’s not going to happen. You’re just saying things that can’t be proven, but your people’s negligence is a clear fact. They must be held accountable!” “You are right, but in this world, every action should bear corresponding responsibility. A thief only steals, you cannot behead him to compensate. If you break a box that holds precious pearls, you cannot be made to compensate for the value of all the pearls. Everything has its degree.” Lu Lingyun spoke calmly and slowly. “My shopkeeper was careless. He didn’t repair the stairs in time and didn’t ensure safety, but he didn’t intentionally kill anyone. He should only bear the responsibility he should bear, not be condemned to death. We are willing to compensate for his responsibility.”
Liu Shu Hui listened to Lu Lingyun’s words, feeling stifled, but she was undeniably right. After struggling for a long time, he stubbornly said, “I don’t want money. He’s dead! No matter how many people there are, he’s still dead. When someone dies, someone should pay with their life!”
Upon hearing this, Lu Lingyun changed her tone and said forcefully, “You just said that you have no evidence to prove my speculation. If you insist on demanding a life for a life, then please provide evidence first, refute all my speculations, and then convict my shopkeeper. Otherwise, even if you take this to the Magistrate’s office, I will not admit it.”
After finishing her words, Lu Lingyun immediately turned and left with Dongsheng. Leaving Liu Shu Hui standing there alone.
Previous Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter