Water Margin: Did we kill Zheng Tu today?

Chapter 83 Clarification

Inside the Lion Tower.

Zheng Tu and Wu Song had already left the main hall and moved into a quiet, secluded private room upstairs.

Although this room was not as spacious as the one where Ximen Qing had hosted the banquet, it was still quite elegant. Several landscape paintings and calligraphy hung on the four walls, and in the center was a square mahogany table with two armchairs.

Zheng Tu and Wu Song sat at the table.

Zheng Tu asked the shopkeeper to brew a pot of hot tea and then dismissed him, leaving only the two brothers sitting facing each other.

Zheng Tu picked up the pot, poured a cup, and slowly pushed it in front of Wu Song.

"Second Brother, there were too many people and too much chatter in the main hall just now, so it was inconvenient to go into details. Now it's just the two of us, so please tell me everything that happened."

Wu Song sat in the chair, and most of his murderous aura had subsided, making him less intimidating than before.

Although his eyes were still bloodshot and his face was sallow, his expression had eased somewhat.

He stared at the rising steam from the teacup in front of him, took a deep breath, and then spoke in a hoarse voice:

"Brother...sister-in-law...are both dead."

Although Zheng Tu had already sensed something amiss from Wu Song's earlier actions and had a bad feeling, hearing Wu Song utter these words still shocked him so much that he stood up abruptly and exclaimed:

"How could this be?! When I visited him a couple of days ago, Brother Wu was still ill, but his condition had improved, and Sister-in-law was perfectly fine too... How could this happen so suddenly?!"

I was both surprised and suspicious.

Wu Song's face was ashen, and he slowly said, "Today, after I saw my brother and sister-in-law's bodies, I met a child selling pears at the street corner who blocked my way. He stammered and couldn't explain clearly. At the time, I thought it was just a naughty child playing around and didn't pay any attention. But when I went inside and saw the terrible scene, I realized something terrible had happened... So I quickly turned back and chased after him to ask him what was wrong."

At this point, Wu Song looked up at Zheng Tu: "Brother, do you know what that monkey said?"

"Could it be... related to me?"

Wu Song nodded, his voice growing even deeper: "That monkey said... Brother, you have an affair with my sister-in-law."

Zheng Tu's face stiffened.

Once that mud pot is placed on your head, it's really not so easy to wash it off.

Fortunately, Wu Song didn't look at him, but shook his head to himself and said, "But Wu Er isn't someone who can't distinguish right from wrong, so why would he easily believe such nonsense? This little monkey is cowardly and greedy, and his words are full of resentment towards his brother. He must have offended him before. How much can you trust the words of such a person?"

"not to mention……"

He paused, then looked intently at Zheng Tu with his fierce eyes.

"Just from the fact that you came looking for me even when you were drunk at Jingyang Ridge, and that you charged fearlessly to the front lines when you encountered the Twin Tigers, I know your courage and character!"

"Such courage and loyalty are not qualities possessed by those petty scoundrels who covet their brothers' wives! No matter what others say, Wu Er knows the truth in his heart!"

Zheng Tu blushed with shame upon hearing these words, lowered his head, and said, "Brother... I truly do not deserve such high regard from you, Second Brother..."

"No! Even if it were anything else, I, your brother, would be willing to do it!"

Wu Song interrupted Zheng Tu decisively, waving his hand and continuing, "Wu Er knows that although this silly story is untrue, he can glean some information from it. My sister-in-law is exceptionally beautiful, so it's inevitable that she'll attract unwanted attention. Wu Er intended to start from this point, and went back to his elder brother's house to investigate carefully..."

"The room reeked of medicine. Upon examining my brother's body, there were no external injuries, and his complexion was normal. He did not appear to have died of suffocation. Therefore, it is concluded that he must have died of poisoning! And not from a potent poison, but from a slow, cumulative poisoning that eventually led to his death!"

Zheng Tu frowned: "Second Brother means... someone poisoned the medicine?"

Listening to Wu Song's analysis, Zheng Tu felt a little uneasy.

You should know that the medicinal herbs that Wu Da has been using to brew the medicine these days have all been delivered to him daily by Ximen Qing's servants!

Upon closer examination, however, it is not entirely impossible.

Ximen Qing was known for his cunning and treacherous nature, and he had a history of poisoning people in his previous life. Could it be that... he mistakenly believed that Ximen Qing had an affair with Pan Jinlian, and in order to help his sworn brother win her heart, he secretly poisoned the medicine?

If that were really the case, I would truly be caught in the middle, pleasing neither side.

But that doesn't make sense either; why did Pan Jinlian die?

Although Zheng Tu's face remained calm, his heart was in his throat.

Unaware of the turmoil in his heart, Wu Song continued, "Thinking of this, Wu Er went to find all the neighbors and inquired carefully—have you and your sister-in-law made any enemies or grudges with anyone these days? And who have you had any dealings or close interactions with in your daily life?"

As he spoke, he took out a roll of folded paper from his pocket, slowly unfolded it, laid it flat on the table, and pushed it in front of Zheng Tu.

Zheng Tu reached out and took it, then stared at it intently and couldn't help but gasp.

The thin paper was covered with names, neatly arranged, and a rough count revealed more than a hundred names!

"How can we screen all these people?"

Before Zheng Tu could even open his mouth to ask...

Wu Song then took out another piece of paper from his pocket and placed it next to the first one.

There were significantly fewer names on this paper, only about twenty or thirty.

However, each name was simply marked in fine print: Li Wenqing, who had quarreled with Wu Da over a stall several times; Zhang Shan, who owed Wu Da half a month's worth of pancakes and still hadn't paid back; and Li Si, who loitered around Wu Da's gate every day, always gossiping.

……

Wu Song pointed to the second note and said in a deep voice, "This first note contains all the people Wu Er has contacted. This second note contains those Wu Er has identified as having a grudge against."

"But after further investigation, I found that these people were either commoners or families with children, too cowardly to use poison; or although they were hooligans and idlers, they hadn't been in contact with you for a long time. There were only three to five truly suspicious people."

Wu Song pointed them out one by one, and Zheng Tu followed his finger and saw that among the three or five people were "Jiang Zhushan", "Ximen Qing" and "Wang Qilang".

Wu Song looked directly at Zheng Tu: "Brother, I believe you, but this matter is suspicious, and there may be a hidden hand behind it. I know you've been getting close to Ximen Qing lately, I wonder if you've made an enemy of someone, or... offended someone in some way?"

Zheng Tu's mind raced, flashing through images of sheets of dough.

If we're talking about enemies, I've only had interactions with three groups of people since I came to Qinghe County.

One group consisted of Wang Qilang and his dissolute youths, whom he had no further contact with after knocking them to the ground. The other group was Zhang Laizi and his gang, who had vandalized Ximen Qing's pharmacy. They were later taken away by the officials, and it's unknown how Ximen Qing dealt with them after sobering up.

As for the last one...

Zheng Tu thought of Huang Silang's sinister words before his death and felt a chill run down his spine. Could it be him?

As for people like Jiang Zhushan, they also had the opportunity to commit such a heinous act, but what was their motive? Was it simply because they had intimidated him?