#129: The Pearl

As he spoke, the layers of black cloth were gradually removed, and daylight once again illuminated the crowd. After their eyes adjusted to the brightness, Li Shimin said, “Night watchman, take another look. Who exactly is standing out there?”

The night watchman raised his eyes, and in the next moment, his face turned deathly pale. Standing several zhang away were not Jiang Caiping and Wu Meixue, as he had claimed, but two bailiffs. “How… how could this be?” he stammered.

Li Shimin spoke sternly, “At the fourth watch, it was still very dark, and there was no light along this road except for the moonlight and your lantern. Even young people with good eyesight would struggle to see someone standing several zhang away. How could you, a man nearing sixty, possibly see clearly? Therefore, I had Zhihong recreate the original scene by covering it with black cloth and secretly replaced the individuals standing there. As I expected, you couldn’t see anything—you lied!”

Upon hearing this, the night watchman immediately panicked, dropping the lantern. He ignored the flames licking up from the fallen lantern and frantically exclaimed, “No, I didn’t lie!”

By now, Jiang Caiping had led Yunyi out from a nearby room. Hearing the night watchman’s words, she grew furious and pointed at him, shouting, “You old fool! Even after Second Young Master exposed your lies, you’re still denying it! Tell the truth—did the Feng family bribe you to falsely accuse Elder Sister Wu?”

The night watchman hastily defended himself, “I swear on heaven and earth! I’ve never harmed anyone in my sixty years of life!”

Meanwhile, Feng Cheng stepped forward and grabbed the night watchman by the collar, growling menacingly, “Didn’t you tell me you saw everything clearly? How can you suddenly claim you couldn’t see anything now, you old bastard? Are you deliberately playing with me? Do you believe I won’t beat you until you’re begging for mercy?”

Seeing the situation escalate, Magistrate Qin immediately intervened, barking, “Feng Cheng, restrain yourself and step back!”

Although Feng Cheng was accustomed to throwing his weight around in Shuangqiao Village, he dared not act rashly in front of Magistrate Qin and Li Shimin. After glaring fiercely at the night watchman, he released him and retreated to his original position.

“I… I truly didn’t mean to wrong Meixue,” the night watchman said, glancing nervously at Feng Cheng and grimacing. “Earlier, Feng Cheng kept pressing me about who Chunxiu was talking to that night. But it was so dark—I couldn’t see anything clearly. I only recognized Chunxiu by her voice, and the other person never spoke.”

“If that’s the case, why did you insist it was Meixue?” Li Shimin pressed.

At this point, the night watchman dared not conceal anything further and confessed honestly, “Chunxiu was speaking very quickly, and I couldn’t make out what she was saying. But she mentioned ‘Meixue’ more than once, so… I assumed the person she was talking to must have been… Meixue.”

Jiang Caiping laughed bitterly, “You assumed? On what basis did you jump to such a conclusion? And yet you swore on the witness stand that it was definitely Elder Sister Wu. She nearly died because of your lies!”

Li Shimin gestured for Jiang Caiping to step back and fixed his gaze on the visibly frightened night watchman. “If you weren’t certain, why didn’t you just tell the truth?”

“The truth is, I told Feng Cheng everything clearly, but he refused to believe me. He insisted I name the person Chunxiu was talking to, threatening to beat me to death if I couldn’t. I was terrified and thought about what I’d heard earlier, so I guessed it must have been Meixue.”

Wu Laosan exploded with anger, “How could you do this? Meixue has grown up under your watch since she was little. Whenever I hunted something good, I always shared it with you. How could you slander her so recklessly? If it weren’t for Second Young Master’s keen insight, Meixue would have died because of you! If she had died, could your conscience bear it?” For Wu Laosan, Meixue was everything—more precious than his own life. Seeing her wrongfully accused made him unable to contain his fury.

The night watchman, knowing he was in the wrong, didn’t dare argue back and let Wu Laosan vent his anger. After a while, he glanced at Li Shimin and muttered, “I was pressured by Feng Cheng. Please forgive me, Second Young Master.”

Feng Cheng, already seething with rage, couldn’t hold back any longer and roared, “You wretched old fool! You spread lies and blame me for forcing you? You deserve a beating!”

The night watchman shrank back, cowering under Feng Cheng’s menacing glare. Li Shimin observed all of this silently and then calmly remarked, “Since the night watchman couldn’t clearly identify the person Chunxiu was speaking to, and Meixue never left the Taishou’s mansion, it’s clear she isn’t the murderer!”

Feng Chunming immediately interjected, “Even if the night watchman couldn’t see clearly, the pearl is undeniable evidence. Wu Meixue must be the killer!”

Li Shimin nodded noncommittally and said, “I remember that box of pearls—it was a gift from me on behalf of my elder brother, totaling sixteen pearls.”

Jiang Caiping chimed in, “Elder Sister gave me five of them to bring home for my family. My mother said we had enough, so she used those five pearls to weave me a red ribbon.” With that, she extended her arm, revealing a bracelet-like red ribbon adorned with five pearls on her left wrist.

Li Shimin glanced at it and continued, “That means if the box found at Wu Laosan’s house contains eleven pearls, the one from the crime scene couldn’t have belonged to the Wu family. Am I right, Magistrate Qin?”

Magistrate Qin understood his implication and replied, “I didn’t count them carefully earlier. We’ll need to return to the county office to verify.”

“Then let’s hurry back,” Li Shimin urged. The group returned to the county office. As they approached the magistrate’s bench, Magistrate Qin tripped but was quickly steadied by Li Shimin before he could fall.

After thanking Li Shimin, Magistrate Qin retrieved the box from the desk, opened it, and carefully counted the pearls inside. There were exactly eleven—no more, no less. In other words, the pearl found at the crime scene didn’t belong to the Wu family.

“Well, both the so-called eyewitness testimony and physical evidence have been thoroughly investigated. It’s clear that Meixue didn’t commit the murder—she’s innocent.” Upon hearing this, Wu Laosan and his group sighed in relief, while the Feng family members looked utterly incredulous, including Li Feng.

“This can’t be!” Feng Chunming was the first to snap, rushing forward and snatching the box from Magistrate Qin’s hands. He counted the pearls repeatedly, but no matter how many times he recounted, there were always eleven. He muttered, “There’s no way the Wu family’s pearls totaled eleven. I distinctly remember taking one…” Suddenly, he stopped mid-sentence, his mind racing. At the same time, Li Feng’s cold, silent gaze landed on his face.

Li Shimin gave a faint smile and uttered a statement that sent chills down the Feng family’s spines: “You took one, didn’t you?”

Feng Chunming paled, his hands trembling slightly. He set the box down and hid his hands behind his back, stammering weakly, “I… I didn’t take anything. Second Young Master, don’t falsely accuse an innocent person.” His heart raced. He had taken one pearl, so how could the box still contain eleven? Was it haunted?