Chapter 177: Chapter 177: "Murder!—
"Murder! Murder!"
What followed was utter pandemonium.
If the narrow Xinghua Alley hadn’t been packed with so many people, some would have turned and fled in terror the moment Xie Ruijing grabbed a nearby harrow and brought it crashing down on Xie Ruiyang’s head.
But the alley was narrow, and with people packed in on all sides, a chaotic surge of pushing and shoving erupted among the onlookers.
Xie Ruijing, the one who had struck the blow, stood frozen to the spot, the weapon still in his hands. The harrow’s tines were iron and sharp. Now, they were stained scarlet, dripping thick, steaming blood onto the ground drop by drop.
Xie Ruijing was scared senseless.
He certainly had his hands in plenty of dirty business, and some of it had even led to people’s deaths. But those were matters he had always casually ordered his underlings to handle. When had he ever killed someone with his own hands?
Worse still, he hadn’t just committed murder in full public view—the person lying in a pool of blood was his very own brother.
The moment Ming Chengyu heard shouts of "Murder!" from the crowd, he acted decisively, immediately telling Xiao Chun and Wu Zhao Yi to pack up their small pushcart.
"You two, head to Qujiang now," Ming Chengyu ordered.
If this were just people rubbernecking, Xinghua Alley would be noisy at worst.
But if a murder had truly occurred, officials from Jingzhao Mansion would soon arrive to cordon off the alley, and then no one would be able to leave. What’s more, with so many onlookers crowded together, Ming Chengyu was very worried a stampede could break out.
He sent Xiao Chun and Wu Zhao Yi away first, of course, because he didn’t want them getting caught up in the trouble and chaos.
But he couldn’t leave.
After all, he bore some of the responsibility for everything that happened today.
The moment the first cry of "Murder!" went up, Xie Jupu had already decided to turn and leave.
"My lord?" his long-serving personal attendant asked when he saw this. "Are you going to find some help to get Second Young Master Xie out of this mess?"
He could be the one to arrange it.
Xie Jupu’s expression turned grim. The lines on his brow and around his mouth deepened, making him appear even more somber and severe.
"Why would I bail out such a fool!"
Unsure if his master was speaking in anger or being serious, the attendant didn’t dare make another sound.
Xie Jupu was, of course, serious.
If he hadn’t committed murder, Xie Ruijing could have simply returned home and become a recluse, staying out of worldly affairs. The Xie family could afford to support an idle man.
But now, the situation was different.
Whether Xie Ruijing had struck by accident or with intent, he was now accused of murder, and the officials at Jingzhao Mansion would not simply let the matter slide.
Xie Jupu had no idea how many days this case would cause an uproar in the Capital City. The Xie family’s reputation couldn’t be tarnished further by two degenerates from their own clan.
"Oh man, I’m exhausted." At Ming’s Restaurant, Du Xuan sat down, holding a bamboo basket that was already half-empty.
He looked far more disheveled than he had when he first arrived at Ming’s Restaurant that morning.
"No rice for me today. Just bring me a pot of Jiangnan Three Whites Stew," Du Xuan said. "Your family’s zongzi are just too substantial, and so big. I ate three in one go. Then I saw Xiao Chun’s stall outside Xinghua Alley and bought two drinks. I don’t even feel hungry yet."
Wu Zha’er, who was tall and sturdy, stood before him. His face looked quite simple and honest, but his words were rather peculiar.
"If you’re not hungry, Mr. Du, maybe you should just skip lunch today."
Du Xuan replied, "Does your Boss Ming know this is how you treat customers?"
Wu Zha’er: "..."
’Wasn’t he just worried that if Mr. Du ordered food and didn’t finish it, it would be a waste of Her Ladyship’s culinary skills?’
Du Xuan didn’t feel offended in the slightest. On the contrary, he felt the staff at Ming’s Restaurant were all exceptionally sincere. ’Isn’t he just trying to save me some silver?’ How could he know what Wu Zha’er was really thinking?
Du Xuan let out a laugh, gestured for Wu Zha’er to go place the order with the kitchen, and then turned to chat with the people at the next table.
It was lunchtime, and Ming’s Restaurant was especially crowded with diners.
However, at a glance, the diners at Ming’s Restaurant today could be roughly divided into two types.
One type consisted of young men like Zhang Zhidong and Liu Lingxing, who were dressed neatly and showed no signs of dishevelment. The other type was made up of people like Du Xuan and Mrs. Wei.
Though normally well-dressed, this afternoon they looked quite disheveled, as if they had just fled a disaster.
This group of disheveled-looking people, whether they knew each other before or not, soon fell into conversation. A careful listener would realize they were all discussing the same matter.
"Hey, you guys have no idea. This morning, I was in the first group to get away, so I ended up right outside the courtyard where Second Young Master Xie was fooling around with that catamite."
"Me too! Look at the blood on my clothes! This splashed on me when that Second Young Master from the Xie family hammered his own brother to death!"
Someone at one of the tables said this, drawing a wave of shocked gasps from the surrounding crowd.
The ones who still looked put-together, like Zhang Zhidong, were mostly scholars who had come to Ming’s Restaurant to register for the poetry competition on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival.
They hadn’t been part of the morning’s commotion in Xinghua Alley, and some of them had no idea what had even happened.
Now, inside Ming’s Restaurant, hearing the discussions all around them, a curious Zhang Zhidong turned to inquire with the people at the table behind him.
"What’s this about a murder? How do you all know about it?"
Beside him, Liu Lingxing also pricked up his ears to listen.
"You haven’t heard?" someone immediately chimed in, then enthusiastically recounted the fresh news from that morning.
The group of scholars, who had come to Ming’s Restaurant merely to submit their poetry, listened in stunned silence.
"Hey, those of you who were at the very front, tell us—what’s the situation with Mr. Xie Jiu now? Was he really beaten to death?"
"I was one of the last to be questioned and released. I heard a few of the government officials from Jingzhao Mansion say the man’s still breathing. But, they figure his chances of ever waking up and recovering to his former self in this lifetime are next to none."
"I know, I know! Our neighbor, Da Niu—it must have been four years ago—got hit by a carriage. He’s been unconscious ever since. The man isn’t dead, still breathing and all, but it’s no different from being dead. It’s a real tragedy."
"Now that’s what you call brothers turning on each other. The way I see it, no matter what crime Mr. Xie Jiu committed, that brother of his is just too vicious."
"Hahaha, how could he not be vicious? If you ask me, that blow was meant to kill," someone declared with conviction.
