Ning Dao Covered with Snow

Chapter 147 Substituting one thing for another
Fang Zhiyou was furious: "Nonsense! What does the matter between me and Lingniang have to do with Fuxue? Even if she objects, so what? She is just a child and cannot interfere with Lingniang's decision at all. Why should I make things difficult for her?!"

Yan Ciwan stared at him closely, his eyes were sharper than ever before, and every word he spoke was more hurtful than the last.

"Lingniang only has Fuxue as her child. It is impossible for her to completely ignore Fuxue's feelings. If Fuxue firmly objects, Lingniang will most likely be influenced by her."

"Who said Lingniang only has one child, Fuxue?!"

When these words were spoken, everyone present was shocked again.

Du Lingzhou couldn't help but ask, "What do you mean by that? Could it be that Ling Niang has other children?"

At this point, Fang Zhiyou simply stopped hiding it and frankly admitted: "Ling Niang is pregnant with my child. Anyway, Master Chu won't live long. When he dies, I will marry Ling Niang. As for Fu Xue, if she is obedient, I will treat her as my own daughter. But if she insists on obstructing me and Ling Niang, then I will have to find her a husband and marry her far away."

When he said this, his expression was very serious, but the corners of his mouth showed a slight upward trend.

Yan Ciwan felt a secret sense of complacency from him. He was very confident in his plans, as if everything in the future was under his control.

It seems that he really doesn't take Fu Xue seriously. Even Ling Niang is just a chess piece in his hand.

Yan Ciwan suddenly put away all his sharpness and returned to his gentle and harmless appearance.

She then asked, "How much do you know about the past of the Mandarin Duck Thief and Feng Wulang?"

When Xiao Wang heard this, he glanced at her inconspicuously.

She asked this question quite cleverly. It seemed that she already knew about the affairs of the mandarin duck thief and Feng Wulang and others. Now she asked Fang Zhiyou specifically in order to fill in the gaps.

But in fact, she still cannot be sure whether the Lian brothers and sisters are the two thieves, and she knows nothing about Feng Wulang's identity.

When Fang Zhiyou heard her mention the Mandarin Duck Thief and Feng Wulang, his expression changed slightly and he blurted out, "You know everything?"

Du Lingzhou opened his eyes wide, his face full of clear stupidity.

What is the Mandarin Duck Thief? What is Feng Wulang? Who are these people? Why has he never even heard of them?

Yan Ciwan reminded: "Now I am asking you."

Fang Zhiyou was not sure how much she knew. He was confused and spoke carefully.

"Back then, I was first deceived by them, and then I was coerced by them. I hate them so much, and I know very little about their past."

Yan Ciwan said: "Just tell me as much as you know, and don't worry about the rest."

The more calm and composed she was, the more unsure Fang Zhiyou felt.

He hesitated for a long time before he said, "Both the Mandarin Duck Thief and Feng Wulang are famous bandits in the underworld. The difference is that the Mandarin Duck Thief usually only steals property and rarely kills people, but Feng Wulang is not only greedy for money, but also likes to kill. When he was a pirate in the past, he led his brothers to rob passing merchant ships. As long as the ships fell into their hands, no one survived without exception. Finally, the court couldn't stand it anymore and sent troops to suppress them. The entire water stronghold was wiped out. Feng Wulang was captured alive and imprisoned, and was soon sentenced to death."

Yan Ciwan narrowed his eyes slightly. The invitation from Chu Wangshan was sent to Feng Wulang, which meant that Feng Wulang was still alive and Chu Wangshan knew about it.

A criminal who should have been executed long ago is still alive today, which shows that the criminal who was executed back then was not innocent.

It is very likely that someone used a trick to replace Feng Wulang with someone else and was sentenced to death. The real Feng Wulang escaped and lived to this day under a different name.

Yan Ciwan silently recited the names Feng Wu and Feng Wulang in his heart.

Could they be the same person?
She asked, "Why did you burn down the Lingdie Temple back then?"

Fang Zhiyou shook his head to indicate that he didn't know.

Seeing that the other party didn't believe him, he immediately explained: "I was forcibly tied up and brought aboard by them halfway. From the beginning to the end, they didn't treat me as one of their own. They were very wary of me and wouldn't tell me many important things." Yan Ciwan asked: "Who is the leader among you?"

Fang Zhiyou hesitated for a moment before saying, "It should be Chu Wangshan."

Yan Ciwan raised an eyebrow: "Should?"

"He is the oldest among us, and everyone gives him respect. He looks like the leader, but his attitude towards He Chunzhuo is a little different."

Yan Ciwan asked with interest: "How is it different?"

"I can't explain it specifically, but I feel like he seems to be afraid of He Chunzhuo. He Chunzhuo doesn't express his opinions most of the time, but as soon as he opens his mouth, Chu Wangshan's attitude becomes more cautious."

Yan Ciwan took the opportunity to ask, "How much do you know about He Chunzhuo and Zhou Qi?"

"I only know that He Chunzhuo and Zhou Qi are both from the Changming Chamber of Commerce, and I don't know anything else."

Yan Ciwan knew that Fang Zhiyou must be hiding something, but the clues she had in her hands could only get this much information out of him for the time being.

She glanced at Xiao Wang and Chao Lu and said, "Let's go."

The two nodded in agreement.

Seeing that they were finally leaving, Fang Zhiyou secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Du Lingzhou didn't want to let Fang Zhiyou go so easily. He felt that Fang Zhiyou was highly suspicious, but he didn't have solid evidence. If others didn't help him, it would be difficult for him alone to make Fang Zhiyou confess.

In the end, he could only leave Guipuyuan with others with reluctance.

As soon as they walked out of the courtyard, Du Lingzhou immediately complained to Yan Ciwan.

"Fang Zhi is very likely the real culprit of the two murders. Why don't we arrest him and hand him over to the Grand Councilor for disposal?"

Yan Ciwan pulled up his hood, put his hands into his sleeves, and spoke calmly.

“We have no evidence.”

"But he had a very good motive!"

Yan Ciwan said: "Other people also have motives for committing crimes. We can't label one person as the murderer just because he has a motive."

Seeing that she was actually speaking in Fang Zhiyou's favor, Du Lingzhou became even more dissatisfied: "Didn't you just keep saying that Fang Zhiyou had committed murder? Why did you suddenly change your opinion of him now? It is said that women are fickle, and the ancients were right!"

He thought Yan Ciwan would be very unhappy after his ridicule, but unexpectedly she looked at him with a loving look.

This made him feel very uncomfortable.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Yan Ciwan sincerely sighed: "You must have been well protected by your family since you were a child, otherwise you wouldn't have such an innocent and simple personality."

Xiao Wang heard the subtext in her words. She was making fun of Du Lingzhou for being too stupid.

But Du Lingzhou didn't hear it. He thought the other party was praising him, and his tail immediately rose up to the sky.

"Humph, I am the only child of the Du family, so my grandmother naturally loves me very much!"

(End of this chapter)