Chapter 35: News About Her

At the same time, Cao Deping, who had been following closely behind Cao Chengwen, froze in place, a chill running through his entire body.

It was over.

Things had reached this point; the evidence was as solid as a mountain, leaving no room for denial!

Many people in the surrounding crowd noticed his arrival, their expressions varying as they began to whisper among themselves.

"Isn't that Boss Cao?"

"The eldest son killed the second son. Sigh, whatever family goes through this is truly cursed!"

"Whose fault is it? It's because Cao Deping himself was biased and favored one over the other that this disaster happened!"

"Exactly! Besides, who knows if he was involved in this? They say a father knows his son best; Cao Chengwen killed Cao Chengwu—others might not know what happened, but how could a father like him not sense something was wrong?"

Hearing this, many people's eyes filled with suspicion.

Cao Deping shuddered, and in that very instant, he made his decision.

"You unfilial wretch!"

He let out a sudden, violent roar, his face turning ashen.

"Chengwu respected you as his elder brother more than anyone! Have your conscience been eaten by dogs? To actually deal such a lethal blow to him!"

As soon as these words were uttered, the vast execution ground fell silent.

Cao Chengwen turned back in disbelief: "...Father?"

What did those words mean? Was he being forced to confess directly!?

Cao Deping pointed a finger at him, his face full of rage and resentment: "If you dare to kill your brother behind my back today, you could kill me tomorrow! From this day forward, our father-son relationship is severed! I, Cao Deping, will act as if I never gave birth to a son like you!"

Standing behind the crowd, Ye Chutang quietly admired this scene, almost wanting to applaud.

If nothing else, Cao Deping was indeed a ruthless character.

Seeing that this son could not be saved, he did not hesitate to push his own son into the abyss just to wash his own hands clean.

Previously, seeing how much effort he had put into protecting Cao Chengwen, one might have thought he cared deeply for his son; but in reality, when the critical moment arrived, the only person he truly cared about was himself.

Rather than being suspected and investigated, it was better to strike first!

Cao Chengwen thought he was hallucinating.

He looked at that familiar face below the execution ground, but at this moment, it felt more foreign than ever.

He truly never imagined that when he fell into desperation, the first person to abandon him would be his own flesh and blood.

Yang Zhen narrowed his eyes: "Cao Chengwen, now, do you have anything else to say?"

The witnesses and the evidence were all present; the outcome was decided!

Cao Chengwen's hands, hanging at his sides, slowly clenched into fists, his heart feeling nothing but desolation and absurdity.

He actually laughed.

"Father."

His expression was strange, and his eyes were faintly reddened.

"After all these years, you still haven't changed. From beginning to end, it was always I who was the fool."

The smile at the corners of his mouth grew wider, until he finally burst into laughter.

"It was me who killed him! So what! He deserved to die! A useless idiot like him—why should he have competed with me!"

An uproar erupted!

Even though everyone could see by this point that Cao Chengwen was definitely the culprit, hearing him admit it so bluntly was still shocking.

Suddenly, a sharp, resentful scream pierced through the air.

"You murderous bastard! Give me back my son's life!"

The crowd turned around to find that it was none other than Madam Cao of the Cao family!

Ever since the incident with Cao Chengwu, she had fallen seriously ill and had not appeared for a long time.

Cao Deping's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately stepped forward: "Didn't I tell you to stay home and recover? Why—"

Madam Cao shoved him aside, staring at him with venomous eyes: "Don't you dare act here! You knew about him killing Chengwu a long time ago, didn't you!"

She looked haggard, with dark circles under her eyes, clearly having endured immense pain and torment.

"If you hadn't blindly shielded him, how would he have had such audacity! He should have died long ago! Go and be buried with Chengwu!"

Cao Deping's breathing became unstable, and he immediately barked in anger: "Are you mad? What nonsense are you talking about here!"

Madam Cao gritted her teeth and cursed, "You dare say you didn't!? Besides Chengwu, there were those three—"

Hearing this, Cao Deping's eyelid twitched violently, and without thinking, he raised his hand and delivered a heavy slap to her face!

*Slap!*

The loud sound of the slap rang out with startling clarity in the quiet execution ground.

Cao Deping's face was extremely ugly with rage: "Get back home!"

He had used full strength for this slap, and half of Madam Cao's face immediately swelled and turned red.

This completely enraged Madam Cao. She began screaming and cursing loudly: "You won't let me speak, will you? I'll say it anyway! Cao Deping! Do you think everything you do is seamless!? That day, I was in the side room and clearly heard you promise to give Cao Chengwen banknotes so he could go to the gambling den to find people! And then, just a few days later, those people died in Cao Chengwen's courtyard!"

Madam Cao spat out a mouthful of blood, completely indifferent to the commotion her words caused in the surroundings.

The temples of Cao Deping's head throbbed; he knew that if he didn't stop her now, he would be finished here today as well!

Without a word, his face grim, he stepped forward quickly, grabbed Madam Cao by the wrist, and attempted to drag her away immediately.

However, with the crowd layered thick, how could they get out?

As she was being dragged, Madam Cao felt a burning pain across her body.

But she didn't care.

Her son was dead, and her only reason for living had been murdered by such people; she had nothing left to live for!

She might as well drag everyone down to hell with her!

She screamed piercingly, "You and Cao Chengwen know best exactly how those three people died!"

...

Up in the teahouse, a gentle breeze drifted, lifting the curtains only for them to flutter back down.

A figure appeared silently opposite Shen Yanchuan.

It was Xie Anbai.

He seemed to have rushed there; as soon as he sat down, he picked up a teacup and gulped it down.

Only after his thirst was quenched did he let out a long sigh, set the cup down, and look out the window, unable to help but smile and applaud.

"What a truly magnificent drama!"

Shen Yanchuan finally glanced at him sideways.

Xie Anbai had only arrived in Jiangling yesterday; in less than a day, he already knew the ins and outs of these matters. One could only say—

"You really do love a spectacle."

Shen Yanchuan gave a calm and objective assessment.

When Xie Anbai was in the capital, he loved snooping around for information, especially family secrets; he could talk about them with great authority.

To think that even after coming here, he still had the same habit.

Xie Anbai, of course, knew this wasn't a compliment: "Hey, what's with you? I just asked around a little bit. Is that really necessary?"

Suddenly, he paused, a smug smile appearing on his face.

"By the way, I happened to dig up some news regarding that Great Physician Ye. Do you want to hear it?"

Shen Yanchuan's eyelashes flickered slightly, and he finally gave him his full attention.

"What?"

*Swish!*

Xie Anbai leaned back, opened his folding fan, and raised his chin quite arrogantly.

"Want to know? Then, what are you willing to trade for it?"