Chapter 297: Tell a Story of a Noble

Everyone was caught up in Gu Kang's words, not realizing that the dying Gu Kang was both reciting poetry and telling stories, obviously stalling.

Xiao Ting felt he was being toyed with by Gu Kang; killing intent flared on him, and he stared fixedly at Gu Kang, saying: "Gu Kang, do you think it's fun to toy with this prince?"

Gu Kang kowtowed again to Xiao Ting: "I dare not, I am merely telling a story to His Highness the Crown Prince."

Did Gu Huai use money to bribe the servant beside me?

Framing me and even not sparing Mr. Wen's life—these things cannot be made clear.

Furthermore, just because a few banknotes came from my maternal grandfather Du family's draft bank, it doesn't mean I killed my teacher for money.

If I really wanted money, my elder sister, Princess Consort of Rui, could easily take out several hundred taels of silver.

Why would I need Mr. Wen's life for just a few hundred taels of silver?

The people around suddenly understood: it's not about the money, but that Gu Kang was recognized as a disciple by Mr. Wen, which was a great opportunity.

At this point, ruining one's future over a mere few hundred taels is obviously inappropriate.

Moreover, even if Gu Kang wanted to steal Mr. Wen's money, it's unnecessary; if he needed money, he could just ask his elder sister.

Now Princess Consort of Rui Gu Jiu Ling has opened dozens of shops big and small throughout Shang Jing, and the profit from any one shop far exceeds a few hundred taels.

Everyone's gaze turned to Gu Huai kneeling on the ground; obviously someone wanted to frame Gu Kang and utterly destroy him.

Gu Cheng sneered from the side: "Gu Kang, you probably forgot something."

"Back in the Gu family, you repeatedly schemed against your elder sister, and even over a few taels of silver you wanted to sever your sibling bond."

"You two siblings have already become enemies; when you severed your sibling bond back then, not only did our Gu family see it, the whole Jing Cheng was abuzz with the news."

"How could you have severed ties with your elder sister before, yet now you can borrow money from her? Go ahead and borrow some."

Gu Cheng's words made Gu Kang's face turn even paler, a flicker of regret flashing in his eyes.

The thing he regrets most in this world is not listening to his elder sister and repeatedly harming her.

Gu Kang finally suppressed the bitterness in his heart, raised his head, and looked at Xiao Ting, saying: "Your Highness, please let me finish my words."

"If today we are to determine my guilt, we should also see which of us two is truly the great villain."

"Who is the beast in human guise?"

"Who is the person whose character has sunk to the lowest point?"

Gu Huai finally turned his head in anger and shouted at Gu Kang: "You're talking nonsense!"

"You envy me and my elder brother for our good studies, envy our father for favoring us two brothers, and constantly trip us up."

"And now you still want to pin Mr. Wen's case on me."

"My good elder brother, what have I done to disappoint you? Why must you frame me like this?"

"And you talk about character? Hmph! Ask the commoners of Shang Jing—whose character is better or worse between us is obvious to all!"

"People's eyes are not blind!"

Gu Huai's words also hit the mark, and the murmurs of the observing students around grew louder.

If we truly compare character, Gu Kang's character has sunk to the lowest point.

He once bullied men and women, framed his own elder sister, even committed the grave crime of murder, and was driven out by the Gu family.

But Gu Huai is different—he is an outstanding student at the academy, his writings famous throughout the land; how could Gu Kang compare?

Xiao Ting's eyes flashed with impatience: "Come! Apply torture!"

Xiao Yin chuckled softly from the side: "Your Highness the Crown Prince, are you trying to extract a confession?"

"Right and wrong ought to be made clear for us to see; why won't you let people speak?"

Xiao Ting, left speechless by Xiao Yin's retort, coldly stared at Gu Kang: "Fine, I'll give you a chance to quibble; if you keep stirring up trouble, you'll face severe punishment."

Gu Kang took a breath, endured the sharp pain from his wound, and said slowly: "In Jing Cheng there is a noble young master, born into an illustrious family, especially talented in learning……"

Having said that, Gu Kang paused his speech and let out a light laugh, a mockery audible to anyone.

"But almost all of that noble young master's famous writings were actually penned by someone else."

"That noble young master only excels at poetry, lyrics, songs, and rhapsodies; when it comes to policy essays and writing articles, he's utterly incompetent."

"It so happened that, during a trip to Jiangnan, he met a youth from a humble family."

"That youth's writings were superb to the extreme; even the noble young master, upon seeing them, was astonished."

"But that youth came from a poor background; his father died, leaving only a widowed mother and a younger sister."

"That widowed mother brought her daughter to the city to do embroidery work to earn a little money to support her son's studies."

"Just because that youth's mother and sister did excellent embroidery, they barely managed to support the family."

"It's a pity that youth possessed astonishing talent, yet encountered a devil."

"That noble young master saw the youth's astonishing talent, couldn't help but harbor malicious intent, and actually ordered people to poison the youth's mother and sell his sister to a human trafficker—in an instant the youth's family was destroyed."

"Yet that noble young master appeared as a benefactor, saying he would take the youth to Jing Cheng, perhaps even meet some high officials and nobles, and help him seek out the murderer of his mother and the trafficker of his sister."

"How could a pitiful youth born in the countryside have seen the wickedness of the world?"

"Although he had no father, his mother had protected him too well; he foolishly trusted that devil beside him, followed him to Jing Cheng, only to be locked up by the youth in a compound."

"Thus the youth became the household slave of that noble young master, constantly helping him write those articles."

"In those early years at the academy, that noble young master rose to fame quickly relying on the youth's few articles."

"Little did he know he would commit such heinous acts; later the youth sensed something was wrong, clamoring to leave him and go out to find a way on his own."

"The noble young master realized he couldn't keep him confined, so he tempted the youth to write another essay on current affairs."

"The youth wasn't completely foolish; he wrote one essay but secretly copied another, hiding that copy in a tree trunk."

"He increasingly suspected that the person who killed his mother and sister was definitely that noble young master, but he could find no shred of evidence, and he was also placed under house arrest by that person."

"Thus he wrote this final essay; the noble young master planned to recite it from memory when taking the spring imperial examination."

"After obtaining the essay, that youth was naturally killed as well, buried beneath the third tree to the side of the path in the Peach Blossom Forest!"

"That person, fearing retribution from the vengeful spirit, actually chopped off the corpse's head and all around it! They buried the parts separately, so the spirit could never be reborn!"

With a clatter, Gu Huai suddenly collapsed to one side; so flustered was he that he even accidentally bumped into the wooden baton held by a nearby yamen runner.

Everyone present stared in astonishment at Gu Huai.

Gu Jiu Ling, too, was left heart‑pounding with fear upon hearing this story.

Gu Kang slowly turned his face, looked at the pale‑faced Gu Huai, and let out a soft laugh: "Gu Huai, if you want no one to know, then don't do it."

"You've done too many things that hurt heaven and reason; even Heaven can't bear to watch."

"I had planned to wait until you took the provincial exam before making this case known to the world, but since you've forced my hand like this…"

Gu Kang turned about, thrust forward with a thud, and kowtowed to Xiao Ting, saying: "Your Highness, please investigate clearly Gu Huai's murderous deeds, the cheating in the provincial examination, and give justice to the tragic student who died."