“If you hadn’t used it, where did this thing come from? I never imagined that you would actually…” Yue Linze’s voice rang out, and Tao Yu’s eyes instantly narrowed.
The steward’s aged voice slowly came: “I was careless.”
“This isn’t about being careless!” Yue Linze’s voice was mixed with anger and pain. “Why did you do this? Why kill someone? If I hadn’t come to you with this, would you have never told me that Zhou Ying was killed by you?”
Tao Yu’s eyes suddenly widened, her mind instantly in chaos. What did he mean?!
After a long silence in the courtyard, the steward slowly said, “Believe me, he wasn’t a good person. I had reasons for killing him. Besides, now that you’re asking me, I’m telling you everything. If I wanted to hide it, I could have said the shell fell accidentally. There was no need to tell you about Zhou Ying.”
“The shell appearing before me is no coincidence. Someone must have discovered it was yours and deliberately brought it to remind me…” Yue Linze’s voice was still tough, but gradually became choked. “You’re my only relative. How could you do such a thing…”
The steward lightly laughed, “City Lord, you still have your wife. Even if I’m discovered, you’ll have someone to take care of you.”
“So what? Just because I have someone to take care of me, you can do whatever you want?!” Yue Linze’s voice rose. “I didn’t know before, but now that I know Zhou Ying’s death wasn’t an accident, I absolutely won’t let you go free!”
The steward fell silent, and Yue Linze’s voice now had a crying tone: “Why? Why did you kill Zhou Ying? What did he do wrong?”
Tao Yu’s ears perked up. After a long time, the steward coldly said, “Because he deliberately tried to make you look bad during your wedding.”
Tao Yu was stunned. Yue Linze seemed equally shocked, and after a long time, he said incredulously, “Just because of this?”
“Isn’t that enough?” the steward countered, then paused and said solemnly, “He could have lived, but that night when I was sending guests home, I heard him speaking disrespectfully, with intentions to overthrow your position as City Lord. I absolutely would not allow such a scourge to exist in this world.”
“…Perhaps he was just talking nonsense,” Yue Linze said painfully.
The steward laughed, “City Lord, don’t be so naive about people.”
“Hand over that iron thing, and don’t touch it again,” Yue Linze said. “As for your crimes, everything will be handled by the government office.”
Tao Yu immediately realized the “iron thing” was likely a gun. Indeed, the steward said, “That thing was something I picked up, so it’s mine. I’m afraid I won’t hand it over.”
“If it was picked up, it must have an owner. How can it be yours? Hand it over quickly!” Yue Linze frowned.
The steward fell silent again, then slowly said, “City Lord, I taught you to make laws and rules because you wanted to make Wuhuan City better. Killing Zhou Ying was also to help your wish come true. Isn’t it strange that I still remember your wish, but you seem to have forgotten?”
“…Just hand it over,” Yue Linze said more calmly, his voice tough again.
The steward’s voice softened, with a hint of a sigh: “City Lord, how have you become like this?”
Then came a long silence. In the quiet, Tao Yu felt something was wrong and couldn’t help but peek from behind the wall, just in time to see the steward slowly reaching into his chest, seemingly about to take something out, while Yue Linze, still angry, didn’t notice his movement.
In a split second, Tao Yu cried out, “Linze, be careful!”
Both the steward and Yue Linze were startled. Yue Linze instinctively dodged, but the steward had already pulled out his gun. Tao Yu’s eyes widened as a gunshot rang out. Everything seemed to play in slow motion as Yue Linze’s body trembled and then fell to the ground.
“Linze!” Tao Yu’s voice cracked as she rushed towards him. In this moment, the steward, holding the gun, had already escaped.
She rushed to Yue Linze’s side, trembling as she checked on him, and let out a sigh of relief when she saw the wound on his arm, then slumped to the ground. Yue Linze, enduring the intense pain from his wound, looked at Tao Yu nervously and in surprise: “Why are you here? I wasn’t…”
“Shut up!” Tao Yu glared at him with reddened eyes, supporting herself on her weakened legs and reaching out to pull his uninjured arm.
Yue Linze bit his lip to suppress a groan of pain, and after standing up, said weakly: “I can explain…”
“Explain what? Explain the steward killing Zhou Ying?” Tao Yu looked at him coldly, her gaze pausing when she saw his expression, then lowered her eyes, “I’ve already heard about it. Let’s not discuss this now, let’s treat your wound first.”
Yue Linze didn’t dare to speak, following her back to the room. Tao Yu originally wanted to find a doctor, but he firmly stopped her. To avoid delaying wound treatment, and considering the local doctors might lack experience with gunshot wounds, Tao Yu didn’t argue and found tools to help him remove the bullet.
By the time everything was settled, dawn was breaking. They sat in silence for a long time before Yue Linze said dejectedly: “I just found out about the steward killing Zhou Ying.”
“You mean just now?” Tao Yu looked at him, waiting for him to nod before asking, “So you didn’t know before. But why did you suddenly want to ask the steward about this, and drug me?”
Yue Linze looked at her in surprise. Tao Yu curved her lips slightly, then quickly dropped the expression: “Whether I’m tired or something else, I’m certainly clear-headed.”
Yue Linze gave a bitter smile, pulling out a shell casing from his pocket: “Because of this.”
Tao Yu glanced at the shell casing, her heart skipping a beat, waiting silently for his explanation. Yue Linze’s eyes reddened: “This is from the weapon that just injured me. Only the steward in the entire Wuhuan City would have such a thing. I saw it at the tavern today and found it suspicious, so I came back wanting to ask the steward.”
“And when you went, the steward directly admitted to killing Zhou Ying?” Tao Yu continued.
Yue Linze was silent for a long time, finally nodding, his eyes filled with painful struggle: “The steward had repeatedly warned that the existence of this thing was a secret, that no one could know. So I could only drug you first and then go ask the steward, but I never expected to uncover such a secret…”
Tao Yu patted his shoulder consolingly: “It’s not your fault, don’t overthink it… Since the weapon is a secret, why was the shell casing at the tavern, and conveniently found by you? Could someone have done this intentionally?”
Yue Linze shook his head slightly, still immersed in sadness: “Only the steward and I know what this is. No one else is aware. Perhaps someone thought it was interesting and picked it up before leaving it there.”
“Is that so? If no one knows, why were you so nervous after discovering the shell casing?” Tao Yu wrung out a towel, gently wiping the blood from his arm.
Yue Linze gave a bitter smile: “How could I not be nervous? Only after a weapon like this has been used would such a thing fall out. From the moment I discovered this, I knew the steward must have done something, but I was unwilling to believe it, and yet…”
Everything now made sense. All his previous actions were explained, and the steward perfectly matched the mysterious person she had imagined earlier, seemingly flawless.
Tao Yu’s fingertips moved, suddenly feeling nauseous, and rushed to the door to vomit. Yue Linze hurried after her: “What’s wrong?! Someone! Go find a doctor!”
Tao Yu vomited violently. When she gradually regained consciousness, she was already lying on the bed, held by Yue Linze, whose wound had started bleeding again due to his sudden movements.
“Linze…” Tao Yu frowned at the bright red blood.
