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Chapter 70: The Deep Pond
"General Cao, don't be impulsive. Calm down!" Lu Ze also looked nervous. After all, with his frail body, it was a bit presumptuous for him to try to stop Cao Tianbao. "We're all here for your birthday today. Whether it's in the courtyard or outside the gate, there are so many people around, and so many people talking.

We heard it clearly, but people outside don’t know it.

If something really happens and it gets out, people will say that General Cao is bullying people by abusing his power and forcing merchants to death.

Don't blame it on you for not being able to explain yourself. My brothers and I are here too. If someone accuses us of being complicit in the persecution of civilians, we won't be able to explain ourselves!"

If it were any of the other older princes, they might not be able to say what he said. Only Lu Ze, the youngest prince, dared to say it so bluntly.

After hearing what he said, Cao Tianbao, no matter how reluctant he was, could not leave him and Lu Qing and rushed over to make things difficult for Zhuang Zhi.

When he was angry, he didn't want to care about what others said about him, but when the reputation and face of several princes were involved, it was a different matter.

Seeing someone holding Cao Tianbao back for him, Zhuang Zhi seemed to gain a bit more courage. He held the knife against his neck without releasing it and continued, "They say that the emperor is guilty of the same crime as the common people. My daughter was killed by Cao Chenfeng, who was only the nephew of the general and had not yet made any achievements. I have no way to appeal. Is there any law in this world?!"
Is it true that just because he's the general's nephew, my poor daughter must be killed in vain?!
As long as I am still breathing today, I will demand an explanation no matter what. Otherwise, it was my poor daughter who was killed, and I don’t know whose daughter will suffer in the future!

Zhuang Zhi was very emotional when he spoke. The skin on his neck was cut by the sharp blade during the slight movement, and blood was oozing out, but he seemed to be completely unaware.

Lu Zhang's face was full of worry when he saw this scene. He wanted to speak several times, but was stopped by Duke Yan without a word. Now he saw that Cao Tianbao and Zhuang Zhi were in a stalemate and there was no room for private questioning. It seemed that if this matter was not clarified today, someone would be killed, so he became even more restless.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally ignored the look his grandfather gave him and said to Cao Tianbao, "General Cao, please don't get angry.

Our Dajin has always been strict in enforcing the law and the king's law is clear. We will neither shield the evil nor wrongly accuse the good.

Today, Mr. Zhuang's words and actions certainly concern the reputation of the family of the Auxiliary General. I think he should make his words clear.

If he is just talking nonsense, I will stand up for the general today and severely punish this villain. I will parade him through the streets and let everyone know the consequences of insulting General Cao.

But if there really is something hidden here, even if it's just a misunderstanding, we still have to listen first."

Lu Zhang's words were quite polite. No matter how reluctant Cao Tianbao was, he still had to give Lu Zhang face. So he could only snort coldly and pointed at Zhuang Zhi: "Okay! Go ahead! I want to see what nonsense you can come up with!"

Upon hearing this, Zhuang Zhi knelt down on the ground without saying a word, kowtowed several times to Lu Zhang, and then he knelt straight up and said loudly in a tearful voice: "My lords, my wife passed away young, and I have only one daughter, Zhuang Lanlan, at home, whom I have always cherished very much.

Because I run a winery, my family is inevitably large and diverse, so a few years ago, I built an embroidery building by the river and raised my daughter there. I usually let her practice piano and calligraphy there. I would visit her every ten days with food, clothing and other daily necessities, and by the way, see how her needlework practice was going.

As a result, a few days ago, I went to deliver something to my daughter as usual. I went there early in the morning, and when I pushed the door open upstairs, I found my daughter... She was lying on the ground, naked, with a knife stuck in her chest, and the blood... the blood was all over the floor..." When Zhuang Zhi said this, he burst into tears, covered his face and cried for a while, then he suppressed the grief in his heart and continued: "I was so scared at the time that I didn't know what was going on. It took me a while to come to my senses and call the maid over.

The maid was so frightened after seeing all that that she nearly fainted. Only under my questioning did she finally tell the truth.

She said that my daughter lived alone in the embroidery building and felt lonely after a long time. She liked to stand on the balcony and look into the distance, watching the boats coming and going on the river.

One day she accidentally dropped her handkerchief, which fell into the river and was picked up by a man. After that, the man had some other thoughts about my daughter, and he repeatedly took a boat to deliberately pass by the embroidery building just to see my daughter.

The maidservant said, "My daughter saw that the man was tall and strong, and she fell in love with him. After that, the two of them had a secret relationship. Whenever the man came to date my daughter, my daughter would drive away the maids and servants and not allow them to go upstairs to the embroidery building."

After hearing what Zhuang Zhi said, some people on the side showed disdain on their faces. Some sneered in low voices, while others frowned and shook their heads. They were all laughing at the daughter of a merchant family for being shameless and having a secret meeting with a wild man of unknown origin in the embroidery building.

Some people, whether out of genuine resentment or a desire to curry favor with Cao Tianbao, even sarcastically said, "Your daughter is frivolous and shameless. She has done something so immoral that it's shameful enough. If something goes wrong, it's her own fault!"
If she had stayed in the embroidery building properly and not come out to cause trouble, she would not have encountered such a thing!
Even if someone doesn't kill them, they should be arrested and thrown into the abyss!"

Zhu Yu stood behind Lu Qing, looking coldly at the person who spoke up, his heart full of disdain.

Putting aside the issues of propriety, morality, and integrity, the secret meeting was not one in which Miss Zhuang Lanlan of the Zhuang family sent someone to forcibly abduct the person to the embroidery building. It required the initiative and participation of the man to make it happen.

Now, the sanctimonious little man with a goatee kept saying that Zhuang Lanlan had it all her own fault, and he almost said "she deserved to die". On the contrary, he didn't ask or mention the man who had a secret meeting with Zhuang Lanlan.

"Master Zhang is absolutely right." Lu Qing suddenly spoke at this moment, with a faint smile on his face, and nodded to the person who spoke.

Lord Zhang, whose position was unknown, probably didn't expect that King Xiaoyao would agree with his words. He was flattered for a moment and hurriedly bowed to Lu Qing.

Lu Qing continued calmly, "This kind of private meeting is indeed unreasonable and immoral. It's not unreasonable to arrest Shen Tan.

But... Boss Zhuang's daughter is no longer alive. As the saying goes, the dead are the greatest, and there is no need to sink the dead again.

If you ask me, find out who that man is who was having the secret meeting, and then, after catching him, follow Master Zhang's wishes and let him drown in the abyss."

(End of this chapter)