Chapter Fifteen: The Traitor in Our Midst

  Under the leadership of Housekeeper Liang Xingchu, Master Zhou Shiming and his party arrived at a remote house in the southwest corner of the Zhou Mansion. Housekeeper Liang introduced to Zhou Shiming: "This man is called Ma San Gunzi, he has been in our Zhou Mansion for over a year, usually likes to come and go alone, known as a miser, not very sociable..."

  "Let's go in and take a look," said Zhou Shiming.

  Liáng Xīngchū gently pushed open the door and walked into the room, seeing Mǎ Sān Gùnzi sitting alone on the edge of the kang, lost in thought. When he saw the butler leading Old Master Zhōu and several servants into the house, his expression became somewhat tense, and he hastily got up from the edge of the kang.

  "This time, the butler wanted to change his questioning method and went straight to the point: 'Ma San Gunzi, where did you go at three o'clock last night? Did you go to Master's room?' After finishing speaking, he stared at Ma San Gunzi with a severe gaze."

  Ma San's expression changed from shock to relaxation: "Manager Liang, what am I doing in Master's room? Has Master lost something?"

  "Don't pretend anymore," shouted Liang, "tell me what you were doing at midnight the night before last?"

  "I was drinking at home the night before last, when did I have time to commit a crime?"

  To gain the trust of Zhou Zhuang's master and Guan Jia, Ma San Gunzi said: "There is someone who can prove that I was not at the scene, because we were drinking together at that time!"

  "Who is it?" asked Liang Guanjia.

  "It's Liu Ergui." Ma Sanguan said very calmly.

  The master of Zhou's house gave a hint to the servant standing beside him. The servant understood, nodded slightly and quickly walked out of the door...

  Before long, Liu Ergui was brought into the house. The steward asked: "I'll ask you a few questions and you must answer truthfully. Giving false testimony will be punished!"

  "I understand, I understand!" Liu Ergui nodded his head.

  "What were you doing last night?"

  "The day before yesterday evening, I was drinking with San Gunzi." Liu Ergui replied straightforwardly without thinking.

  "What time did you start drinking?" the butler continued to ask.

  "It was before two watches of the night, I remember drinking for a while before striking the second watch." Liu Ergui replied.

  "Take Liu Ergui out!" Master Zhou Shiming instructed his servants to take Liu Ergui away.

  Zhou Shiming turned around and asked Ma Sangong: "How did you all meet?"

  "It was I who invited him for a drink. These days have been busy at the mansion, and having some wine can help relax." Ma San said.

  "What time did you drink till? Where did Liu Ergui sleep? Why did you start drinking so late? Didn't you eat the meal at the mansion?" Zhou Shiming asked a string of questions.

  "I simply ate a little at the government office, but it's been a long time since I drank. After deciding to finish dinner and have some fun with several people, we ended up drinking late into the night. It was after the second watch that I didn't leave my room again."

  Zhou Shiming and Liang Guanjia walked out the door with their servants, Liang Guanjia stepped forward and whispered: "Do you think Liu Ergui's words are credible?"

  "I think Liu Ergui didn't lie, and the two of them are also very consistent. However, I still have a few questions that need to be asked separately to Liu Ergui." Zhou Shiming said as he walked up to Liu Ergui who was outside, "Liu Ergui, I'll ask you a few more questions."

  "Ah!" Liu Ergui responded.

  "Tell me in detail about that night's situation, don't miss a single detail!" Zhou Zhuang's voice was low, but his tone was very solemn.

  "Alright, old master. That night after I finished dinner, I went back to my room and started drinking by myself. After finishing the drink, I fell asleep without even taking off my clothes. I don't know when, but Ma Sanbang woke me up and asked me to go to his place to continue drinking, so I went. We drank for a while until it was almost midnight, then I got drunk and couldn't make it back, so I had to spend the night at his place." Liu Ergui thought he had explained very clearly.

  "Think again, is there anything missing? I'm asking you, did Zhang Sanpang go out in the middle?" Zhou Shiming asked sternly.

  Liu Ergui thought for a moment, scratched his head, and suddenly froze: "Yes, yes, I have been out..."

  "When? How long will it take?" Liang Guanjia also couldn't help but ask anxiously.

  "I had just arrived at his house and we chatted for a short while before he went out, saying he was going to the toilet. But it only took him as long as it takes to smoke one packet of cigarettes... The time wasn't long..." Liu Ergui said, "He came back after the second watch."

  "How did you know?" asked Zhou Zhuang's master.

  "It wasn't long after the second watch that he came back. Not a long time, not a long time..." Liu Ergui repeated.

  Not a single flaw, Old Master Zhou fell into deep thought... He thought for a moment, then called out to Liang the housekeeper, saying: "Go and summon the night watchman who was on duty two nights ago, quickly..."

  Li Guanji ran quickly and brought back two night watchmen. The master asked the night watchmen: "Were you two on duty last night?"

  The two men exchanged a glance and nodded. Old Zhou said in a low voice, "You two have been together all along, haven't you left each other?"

  "Yes, sir, we've been together all along, and so were the night watchmen on their way back." said a night watchman.

  "Alright, you all follow the same route as last night and hit the second watch again. Pay attention to the volume of your voices too." Zhou Zhuang ordered.

  The two of them responded in unison and then left...

  Zhou Shiming and others returned to Ma San Gunzi's house again...

  After a while, the two night watchmen returned and said to Zhou Shiming: "Master, we have finished our second shift!" After finishing speaking, the two lowered their heads waiting for the master's instructions.

  "Alright, you two can go back now!" said Zhou Zhuangzhu to the pair.

  "Yes!" The two of them left.

  Zhou Zhuang turned around and asked Liang Guan: "Xing Chu, did you just hear the sound of striking the second watch?"

  Liáng Guǎnjiā shook his head, not understanding what the landlord's question meant.

  At this time, Zhou Zhuang's master sternly ordered someone to say: "Come and tie up Ma San Gunzi!"

  Ma San Gunzi was shocked and said: "Master, what's going on? This is a miscarriage of justice, a miscarriage of justice..."

  "Is this all you've done, and yet you still need me to tell you? A smile appeared on Zhou Zhuang's face. "The sound of the second watch that Liu Ergui heard was made by you, wasn't it? You also saw just now, your house is located in a relatively remote location, and you couldn't hear the sound of the night watch from inside your house at all. Then how did Liu Ergui hear the sound of the night watch?"

  Ma San Gunzi stuttered and said: "Is it Liu Ergui who is framing me, Master? You, you can't wrongfully accuse people!"

  "It was the third watch of the night when you entered my room, and after returning, in order to find someone to testify for you in the future, you thought of the drunkard Liu Ergui who didn't know what time it was, and called him into your room to continue drinking. Meanwhile, you yourself ran outside and struck the second watch, making Liu Ergui mistakenly believe it was the second watch... Do you have anything else to say?"

  Ma San Gunzi was so frightened that his face turned pale, and he kept kowtowing, "Master, spare my life! Master, spare my life..."

  "Speak up! What really happened that night? Whose instructions were you following? If you don't speak, you won't live to see the light of day!" Liang Guanjia saw that the case was taking shape and he himself gained momentum.

  "That night, at the third watch, I received a note saying that a masked man had arrived at the Zhou family's place and asked me to keep an eye on him and try to eavesdrop on his conversation with Master. I followed you and the masked man to the main hall, saw you both enter the secret room, and was about to leave when my curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to take a peek inside. Luckily, the door wasn't fully closed, and there was a gap...I overheard Master's conversation, wrote it down on a note, and hid it under a rock behind the fake mountain...Later, I was afraid of being discovered by Master, so I came up with an excuse to wake up Liu Ergui, the drunkard, to drink together, and then pretended to patrol outside during the second watch...Who knew you would still see through my plan?" Ma Sanbang finished speaking and kept kowtowing...

  "Who told you to do this? Speak!" the steward shouted.

  "I really don't know who that person is... I've never... never seen him, it's all been him... he uses paper... strips to command me, I... I was forced... " Ma San Gun's face turned pale, he panted heavily, his whole body weak, his breathing getting smaller and smaller, white foam spitting from his mouth...

  "This is terrible, the kid has been poisoned..." Manager Liang Xingchu exclaimed in shock. It turned out that when no one was paying attention, Ma San had licked a poisonous button on him with his mouth.

  Everyone rushed to rescue him, but it was too late, Ma San died.