Chapter 25: Chapter 25 Confrontation [Thanks to alliance head Fengya]
“Was it really because of you?”
Miss Yu exclaimed in shock.
As far as her coachman was concerned, she definitely trusted him more, and now that he had admitted it, it must be true.
Feng Jin couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, his eyes gleaming as he clasped his hands and bowed. “Miss, this coachman brother has confirmed it in person, please order immediately to punish Zhang Xuan…”
Mo Yanxue furrowed her brows and looked over, “Do you have anything else to say?”
“I… causing death by mistreatment?”
Zhang Xuan clenched his teeth, a look of grievance on his face. He suddenly turned his head to the coachman, “Firstly, you and I just met today. How would you know if I’ve mistreated any horses? Secondly, since you’re certain that Suxiang died because of my mistreatment, may I ask how it actually died? And exactly when did it die?”
“This…”
Caught off guard by his detailed questioning, the coachman dared not meet his gaze and shrank back, his tone somewhat unconfident, “It was just after you and the miss left, it couldn’t endure and died…”
“No!”
Zhang Xuan immediately interrupted before he could finish, “Just now Housekeeper Feng clearly said it was two timings after we left that it couldn’t endure and fell dead. How come according to you, it died just after we left?”
This was a common strategy used by police in former lives to create divisions during interrogations.
Sitting in the carriage, he knew that this coachman had colluded with Housekeeper Feng. The conversation just now had already revealed that they hadn’t discussed the detailed process of Suxiang’s death in depth. With this in mind, he could break through from here.
As expected, upon hearing this, the coachman was taken aback and then awkwardly said, “I remembered wrong…indeed, it died two timings after you left.”
“Miss Yu, Miss Mo, and I went into the campus and it didn’t last two timings altogether. Are you implying that we already came out and the horse hadn’t died yet?”
Zhang Xuan said.
“That, that… it died after you left…” The coachman visibly started to panic.
“It’s over…”
Feng Jin turned pale as he hadn’t expected Zhang Xuan to react so quickly.
Knowing that the other party had become unconfident, Zhang Xuan did not continue to press him, but instead turned around and clasped his hands, “City Lord, Miss, Miss Yu, as you can see, this coachman’s words don’t hold, he must be lying. I kindly ask you all to clear my name!”
Mo Yanxue raised her fine eyebrows, turning to look at Miss Yu.
Anyone who wasn’t foolish could now see that the coachman was problematic.
Understanding her best friend’s intentions, Miss Yu burst out angrily, “What exactly is going on? If you dare to utter another piece of nonsense, would you believe that I could have someone throw you out and beat you to death right now?”
Yu Longqing also flicked his sleeve, “You should know the rules of the City Lord Residence, I need not elaborate further!”
Thump!
Seeing the miss and the city lord both getting angry at the same time, the coachman could no longer hold back and immediately knelt down, trembling as he pulled out a handful of copper coins from his pocket, “Reporting to the city lord, reporting to the miss, this is 50 Origin Currency that Housekeeper Feng gave me. He asked me to say these things, I really didn’t want to wrong anyone…”
“You, stop spouting nonsense here, tarnishing someone’s reputation…”
Feng Jin almost cried, also kneeling down, waving his hands again and again, “Miss, I didn’t, he’s lying. How could I possibly give him money…”
“Shut up! It’s not your turn to speak.”
To her dismay, Mo Yanxue found that her Mo Mansion’s major housekeeper had done such a thing, feeling utterly humiliated. She turned her head towards the distant coachman, “What exactly happened, and why did Suxiang die? Explain everything in detail!”
“Yes!”
Realizing he could no longer hide it, the coachman dared not waste words any further and hurriedly told everything he had seen, “After you left, Housekeeper Feng thought that since Zhang Xuan could tame Suxiang, he could do it too. So, he went over to harass it, and Suxiang, unable to bear the humiliation, smashed into a pillar to demonstrate determination with death. What happened after that, I didn’t see anymore…”
“It’s you who harassed, your whole family harasses, stop falsely accusing people…”
Feng Jin was almost driven to tears.
“I was just trying to tame it. Why would you accuse me of ‘flirting’? The term seems so charged with inappropriate intent,” he said.
To have inappropriate intentions toward a horse… and it’s even a male!
Am I insane?
“It’s true!”
The coachman nodded, “Not only did I see it, but there were also at least hundreds of others who saw it clearly, the city lord and young lady. If you don’t believe it, you can ask anyone at random. The Suxiang horse committed suicide, its neck was broken…”
Hearing his explanation, official master teacher Liao approached the Suxiang horse and touched its neck, confirming that the neck bones were fractured. He then looked to the city lord and nodded, “Indeed, it died by crashing into the wall…”
“Feng Jin, do you still have anything to say?”
Clasping her fists tightly, Mo Yanxue’s voice carried the coldness of harsh winter.
At this moment, she was truly furious.
She had never dreamed that this highly trusted steward could do such a thing.
“Miss, I…”
Pale-faced, Feng Jin collapsed to the ground.
The other party had spoken in such detail that he felt saying more would also be indefensible.
“As a steward, enjoying the Mo Family’s great kindness, not only did you fail to repay it, but you also killed my Suxiang horse and pinned the crime on someone else. This is a grave sin…”
With a gesture of her jade hand, Mo Yanxue’s voice was tight with tension.
“Miss, I am innocent…”
Feng Jin cried out, “The Suxiang did die by crashing into the wall, I admit I had my faults… But the injury was real, especially the abdominal wound. I swear to heaven, I did not inflict it.”
Mo Yanxue, “If not you, then who?”
Feng Jin, “After the Suxiang crashed into the wall and died, Wu Xiang and I were handling the body when we discovered that it had been severely wounded beforehand, its abdomen cut open. It had been stitched up before, so it had gone unnoticed… I believe it was definitely Zhang Xuan who did it trying to tame it. Unable to withstand the physical and mental pain, the Suxiang crashed into the wall and died after I touched it…”
“Even now, you’re still trying to pin this on me…”
Zhang Xuan said, “Since you claim, this wound is not yours, do you have proof? Or else, you say it’s mine, do you have proof?”
“I…”
Feng Jin fell silent, then turned his head, “Wu Xiang can testify!”
“Yes, I can testify, what Housekeeper Feng said is true…” Wu Xiang hastily said.
“You’re testifying too? Didn’t you also say it was me who killed the Suxiang?”
Zhang Xuan shook his head, “You two are in collusion. Your words can no longer be taken as evidence!”
“Miss…” Wu Xiang hurriedly looked up.
Mo Yanxue, “Zhang Xuan is right, your words can no longer be taken as evidence. Feng Jin, if you don’t have any other evidence, then the wound is indeed left by you!”
Feng Jin tried to explain, but found indeed no way to do so. Anxious, he suddenly spoke, “Miss, think about it, since the Suxiang horse is already dead, why would I cut open its belly? It would only bring me trouble. Therefore, this wound must have been there before…”
“Irrelevant?”
Before Mo Yanxue could speak, Zhang Xuan glanced sharply over, “If I recall correctly… the Suxiang had swallowed a Moyun jade stone, right? I wonder if that could be a reason or… relevance!”
“That’s right! The Moyun jade is very precious. Liu Mingyue lost it and was so upset she cried. Whoever gets it can sell it for a tremendous price!”
Yu Xiaoyu quickly nodded in agreement.