Seventeen, Interrogation

  "Murder! Yang Chao has killed Qi Guan Shi!" Zhu Yuanzhang's voice still echoed in the quiet night, and the Ma family courtyard suddenly boiled over. Many houses lit up their lights, and someone shouted loudly: "What happened?"

  "What's wrong? Who's yelling at this ungodly hour?"

  "It's murder... It was Zhu Ba Ge's voice, he's not someone who shouts for no reason..."

  "Go out and take a look..."

  The rural men usually live a dull life, but when they heard that someone had been killed, one was more excited than the other. The courtyard of the Ma family was suddenly in an uproar, with countless people rushing out.

  "I... I didn't kill anyone, I just threw a stone at him..." Yang Chao's mind was a bit dizzy.

  Zhu Yuanzhang walked slowly towards Yang Chao, saying as he went: "You two brothers on the side, if you get involved in the private affair of Zhang's family in Cheng City, it's just a small matter. Even if things get out of hand, you'll only get a beating. But now that Yang Chao has killed someone, taking a life for a life is the natural order of things. If you get mixed up in this and are convicted as accomplices, your lives will be ruined... I advise you to stand aside and not get involved."

  Yang Chao's two sworn brothers were already scared silly the moment Qi Guan Shi fell to the ground in a pool of blood. In the dead of night, they were relatively far away and didn't see Zhu Ba use his shoulder to knock Qi Guan Shi down, nor did they see Zhu Ba kick a stone to prop up Qi Guan Shi's head from behind. They thought everything was Yang Chao's doing, and now only wanted to clear themselves of any blame, without regard for the bond between sworn brothers. The two men covered their heads and crouched to one side, shouting loudly: "It has nothing to do with us..."

  Zhu Yuanzhang continued to walk towards Yang Chao and said in a cold tone: "Yang Chao, come with me to surrender."

  "Go to your mother..." Yang Chao shouted loudly, his eyes red with rage. He grabbed another stone from the ground and threw it at Zhu Yuanzhang. At this point, he had nothing to lose, having already killed someone. If he could kill Zhu Bajie too, he might still have a chance to escape under cover of night; otherwise, surrendering would be a dead-end road.

  Zhu Yuanzhang was well-prepared, how could he let him hit? He slightly shifted his body to the side, letting the stone pass by, and then took a big step forward, standing in front of Yang Chao. Originally intending to punch Yang Chao's stomach, but just as he was about to strike, he hesitated for a moment, and with a hook punch from bottom to top, he fiercely struck Yang Chao's jaw.

  Yang Chao was speaking, when his lower jaw took a punch, the teeth in his lower jaw suddenly clashed with those in his upper jaw, producing a loud "crack" sound. He had been speaking and his tongue was just protruding, so when the upper and lower jaws came together, half of his tongue was bitten off. Fresh blood spurted out of his mouth with a "plop" sound, flying far away. His body bounced up and then fell backwards, landing on the ground with a thud, four limbs in the air, eyes rolled back, and he fainted.

  Zhu Yuanzhang looked down at his own fist, slightly satisfied with the power of this punch. This body had already recovered to the strength of an ordinary person based on his persistent practice every night, much stronger than when he first transmigrated and possessed it.

  At this time, many people from the Ma family's side yard had already run out, with Bai Shui Wang Er running at the front. He was originally a straightforward and generous person, and he also had the responsibility of being a bodyguard, so he arrived the fastest when something happened. He still held a simple lantern in his hand, which was occasionally used for night patrols. After rushing to the scene in three strides, he only took a rough glance at the situation on the scene, then lifted up the two Yang Chao loyalists who were squatting on the ground, and shouted: "What happened?"

  Those two dead parties were so scared that their gallbladders were broken, and they hurriedly said: "It's Yang Chao... He hit Qi Guan with a stone... I didn't expect Qi Guan to be hit by a stone and fell down without making a sound... It seems like he was hit on the back of his head... It has nothing to do with us, really nothing to do with us."

  "Is Zhu Ba Ge brothers?" Wang Er asked loudly.

  Zhu Yuanzhang nodded solemnly: "That's right, that's what happened. I wanted to capture Yang Chao and bring him to justice. He was so brazen as to throw stones at me, so I knocked him unconscious with a casual blow. When he wakes up, we'll question him and get to the bottom of things."

  At this time, the long and short workers who ran fast had already surrounded them. In the distance, there were still people running towards this side without stopping. The black and shiny rice fields were full of surging heads everywhere, and many rough-handed and big-footed peasant women also followed their husbands to run out and watch the excitement.

  The commotion in the side courtyard was so great that it couldn't be hidden from the front and inner courtyards, and the noise spread quickly. Soon, everyone in the Ma family knew that a murder had taken place. The blue-clad servants with small hats who were usually only seen in the front and inner courtyards began to appear, and some of the Ma family's direct descendants and born sons also rushed over.

  When the house servants arrived, the long and short workers of the Pianyuan hastily opened up a path to let them in. Seeing Qi Guan's blood-soaked corpse, the house servants also became flustered, shouting: "It's Qi Guan who has died, he was in charge here at Pianyuan... Quickly go invite Second Young Master over."

  Innumerable lanterns were running in the dark night, and inside the courtyard was a loud noise. Then someone shouted in the darkness: "The second young master has arrived, everyone be quiet..."

  Only six figures emerged from the side door of the inner courtyard, with the second young master walking in the middle, his eyes drowsy and disheveled. A little maid with two braids was busily helping him tidy up his clothes, buttoning up the buttons that had not been fastened yet. As they walked, she was hurrying to button them up one by one, but due to her haste, she couldn't manage to button up one of them properly. In front of and behind the second young master and the little maid, there were four house servants, each carrying a lantern to light up their surroundings.

  These four lanterns were very bright, and in the dark night, they were particularly dazzling. The long and short workers by the side of the field fell silent, watching as Young Master Two and his entourage walked over from afar. The crowd parted to make way for him, and Young Master Two entered the circle with a look of impatience on his face. The servants in green robes and small hats pushed the workers aside, shouting: "Move back, don't squeeze against Young Master!"

  The crowd dispersed a bit, surrounding the corpse of Qi Guan Shi, the unconscious Yang Chao, two frightened dead party members, and Zhu Yuanzhang with a gloomy face in the center.

  "Speak, what happened! In the middle of the night, not letting people rest." The second young master glanced at Qi Guan Shi's corpse, and his eyes did not show any emotions such as regret, pity, sadness, or grief. He had managed the Ma family's side house for fifteen years, without any achievements but also some hardships, but in the second young master's eyes, it was no different from a dog dying.

  Zhu Yuanzhang furrowed his brow and recounted the events in a calm tone, from their decision to go to Cheng City to capture Zhang's family, to Yang Chao's decision to betray them, to Li Chunjiu's abandonment of his dark past and his joining of Zhu's side, and finally to how he and Qi Guanshi arrived at Tian Ge's place to capture Yang Chao, only for Yang Chao to kill Qi Guanshi in desperation... The whole series of events was recounted clearly and logically.

  The second young master listened and twitched the corner of his eye, instructing: "Wake up Yang Chao, I'll ask him if what you said is true."

  Wang Er poked Yang Chao's Renzhong acupoint, and after a few manipulations, he actually woke up Yang Chao. Unfortunately, this person's tongue was already cut off, and there was no way to speak, so he just yelled "yi yi ya ya" a few times, gesturing with his hands and feet towards Zhu Yuanzhang, unable to say anything.

  The second young master was extremely impatient, and turned his head to ask the two Yang Chao loyalists who were kneeling on the ground: "Yang Chao can't speak anymore, so I'll ask you, is it like Zhu Ba said?"

  "It's like this......" The two dead parties didn't have the guts to lie, one side kowtowed and detailed what they had done today, finished crying: "Second young master, we are not as good as pigs and dogs, was stirred up by Yang Chao this scoundrel, almost did a thing that betrayed the Ma family, second young master you just punish us, we dare not have half a word of complaint. But we didn't kill anyone! The one who killed is Yang Chao alone, has nothing to do with us two." They were eager to clear themselves of the crime of murder, as for betraying the Ma family, they couldn't care less about admitting it.

  The Second Master listened to the confessions of these two men and no longer had any doubts. He waved his hand and said, "Now that things are clear, bring people over and beat Yang Chao, this murderer, to death with rods, let him pay for Qi Guan Shi's life."

  "Second Master, isn't this inappropriate? Aren't we becoming reckless with private punishment? Isn't the county magistrate already at odds with us? This is not the time to give him a handle." A middle-aged man wearing a long shirt, who looked like he was in charge, squeezed out of the crowd and bowed his hands to the Second Master: "This humble servant thinks it's better to hand him over to the authorities. After all, he has committed murder, and the authorities will still sentence him to death. Why get our own hands dirty?"

  He was originally the steward of the front yard, named Ma Qianjiu, 48 years old this year. He is a house-born slave of the Ma family and has grown up with the young master of the Ma family, Ma Zhi Xiong, since childhood. After Master Ma handed over the management of the Ma family to the young master, Ma Qianjiu became the steward of the front yard, managing all the affairs of the Ma family's front yard. This time, Young Master Ma went to Xi'an Prefecture and was worried that his younger brother was too young and reckless, so he left Ma Qianjiu to assist him.

  Ma Qianjiu also knew that Second Master had been up to something lately, but Second Master was taking a detour, and the people he was moving were not direct members of the Ma family, but rather letting the servants in the side house handle things, so he didn't intervene. He didn't expect it to suddenly turn into a murder case, and seeing Second Master about to recklessly issue orders again, he hastily came out to stop him.

  The second young master also seemed to be somewhat wary of Ma Qianjiu, after all, he was his elder brother's trusted confidant and it wouldn't do to offend him casually. So, using his rusty brain, he thought for a moment before saying: "Alright, tie up Yang Chao and throw him into the woodshed. Tomorrow, we'll take him to the county office and let the magistrate deal with him."

  Zhu Yuanzhang thought to himself: This Ma Qianjiu is indeed a mature and steady person, with great influence in the Ma family. I must be careful about him in the future.

  At this time, the second young master stretched out his hand and pointed at Yang Chao's two dead parties, instructing: "Beat these two killers a hundred times, and after beating them, drive them out of the Ma family. Hum! How dare they betray me. This time, it caused a case of human life, tomorrow on the public trial, the county magistrate will try Yang Chao's case, and when the news spreads, how can I secretly calculate Zhang's people? It's infuriating to kill me."

  Several men in green robes and small hats, holding wooden clubs, went over and pressed the two to the ground, beating them severely. The sound of the clubs hitting their buttocks echoed through the night sky with a loud "pa pa pa".

  At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly gave a wink to Li Chujin beside him. The latter understood and stepped forward, saying to the second young master: "Second young master, Qi Guan is dead, but the work of the Biyuan cannot be stopped. Starting tomorrow, who should we listen to?"