Chapter 314: Chapter 219
"Silence!" Pei Shu shouted loudly and then couldn’t help but sneer, "Those villains committed crimes, and you two who helped dispose of the bodies are no better. Weren’t you the ones who threw that mother and daughter’s corpses down there?"
Pei Yuqing didn’t intend to go inside. He just stood outside the door, staring fixedly inside. Upon hearing this, his lashes trembled slightly, and his lowered eyes were exceptionally cold.
That glance made the two servants fall to the ground in fright.
"Spare us, noble sir!"
They knew that everyone else on the merchant ship that day had been sunk in the lake, and only they had been saved by this mysterious nobleman. Now their lives and fortunes hung on his whim, and they kept begging for mercy, "We were just following orders. If we didn’t listen to the steward, we would be the next ones thrown into the lake."
Working on the ship, dying in the lake was all too normal. No matter the reason, it could always be explained away as accidentally falling into the water.
Once back on land, if the family of the deceased came to make a fuss, the owners with some conscience might compensate a little, but most would pretend it never happened, untroubled even if the family caused a scene, since they had already bribed the officials well.
The collusion between officials and merchants meant the local officials were never going to side with the common folk.
It’s just one of the million injustices ordinary people suffer.
Be it aiding evil or serving as accomplices, they just want to survive.
Perhaps driven by desperation, having committed too many heinous acts, sensing their own demise, one servant collapsed completely on the ground, crying bitterly with tears flowing freely.
"I have moments of compassion too, I am not wholly heartless."
"That mother and daughter were completely naked. I felt sorry that even as ghosts, they might suffer humiliation after death, so I wanted to put clothes on them. But their bodies were already stiff, so I didn’t remove the quilt covering them and at least didn’t let them be naked as they went down."
"Losing a quilt, I was docked half a month’s wages by the steward. That was the greatest kindness I could manage," he sobbed tearfully, "If they seek vengeance, they should seek it on those wicked souls, those are the ones who deserve to die."
The two deckhands of the Li Family merchant ship were snot and tears as they kept speaking, as if they might not see another day’s sun, panic-stricken and afraid, screaming in collapse.
Pei Shu was about to step forward to interrupt, but Pei Yuqing raised his hand to stop him.
He had interrogated the details of that night countless times, and each time concluded that Wanwan indeed jumped into the lake.
And this unfortunate mother and daughter on the other side of the wall had been mentioned repeatedly.
Something about comrades calling, leading the men indulging their beastly desires to leave in a hurry, with them naked...
Something flashed quickly in his mind, Pei Yuqing suddenly stepped forward, striding quickly to the two servants collapsed on the ground, and said in a deep voice, "You just said, that mother and daughter were wrapped in a quilt?"
His face was as calm as water, his voice taut, and his presence was overwhelmingly oppressive.
The two servants nodded repeatedly, confirming, "Yes, wrapped in a quilt."
Pei Yuqing squatted down, staring intensely at the two, "Was there anyone who went in before you?"
"This..." The two servants exchanged a glance, showing hesitation.
"Speak truthfully," Pei Yuqing took a deep breath, making an effort to maintain calmness and said, "I only want the truth. After speaking, you two can leave."
Upon hearing this, one servant reluctantly said, "We followed the steward’s orders and came up after dawn, but there were many guests on the ship that day. The night’s events were so gruesome; could it be that a guest who loves to watch chaos went in first? We wouldn’t know."
