Chapter 675: Evidence

Song Xiang looked at Zhang Yu and nodded, her gaze full of tenderness, but her tone was unusually firm as she said, "Alright, I understand. I'll handle this matter."

"You must be careful—don't let them discover our trail too early." After thinking for a moment, Zhang Yu instructed with a grave expression, "If something really goes wrong, the Joseon king should send us a request for aid, and then we'll have much more room to maneuver."

"I understand." Song Xiang nodded again and said.

Meanwhile, at the front gate of Park Jeong-yang's residence.

Approaching the Park family gate with its white couplets once more, Zheng Xuhong's mood was very different from before, and even his expression had turned somewhat unpleasant.

The doorkeeper at the entrance had long since been replaced by Zheng Xuhong's men, all of them held in custody together.

Stepping into the Park residence, Zheng Xuhong saw the people here and also felt the atmosphere of the place.

Unlike the original grief and solemn killing intent, the current atmosphere carried something strange, and more than that—a heavy gravity.

Clearly, no matter who was present, everyone understood in their hearts that this matter was difficult to handle. Just moments ago they had been in the mood to watch the excitement, but now none of them had that leisure anymore.

When Zheng Xuhong arrived at the mourning hall, there were the most people here, and no one had the heart to burn spirit money anymore. The funeral banners at the side had increased somewhat, swaying slightly in the wind.

Kim Jeong-min had already taken a position at one side of the mourning hall, expressionlessly staring at Park Jeong-yang lying on the funeral bier.

Park Jeong-yang's corpse had a face of waxy yellow; though not vastly different from his living appearance, one could tell at a glance that he had been dead for some days.

At this moment, no one could tell what Kim Jeong-min was thinking.

"I pay my respects to Lord Kim." Zheng Xuhong said softly after walking inside.

Kim Jeong-min nodded, turned his head to look at Zheng Xuhong, his expression unchanged, his tone without any menace, only speaking gently: "I hear that the case of Park Jeong-yang being murdered is under Lord Zheng's investigation."

Zheng Xuhong hurriedly replied, "In answer to Lord Kim, it is indeed I."

Kim Jeong-min turned to stare at Zheng Xuhong, not beating around the bush, and asked directly: "When I arrived just now, I already examined the body. My student was indeed killed by someone—the wound on his back is very obvious."

"I'm told you found something in Park In-yong's room. May I ask what it was? Would you be willing to tell this old man? If it's the key to solving the case, this old man might be able to help."

His heart sinking, Zheng Xuhong's expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

Was the old fellow sharp enough to sense something, or had he truly thought of something? If he really knew something, then things would become rather difficult to handle.

Zheng Xuhong said, "It's just some evidence of Lord Park's corruption and bribery—nothing significant."

This was what he had planned before coming; this excuse was sufficient. Whether Kim Jeong-min would be suspicious didn't matter. Even if he was suspicious, what could he do about it?

There were all sorts of messy affairs in this world; it wasn't as if every suspicious person could find solid evidence. Suspicion without evidence could only remain suspicion.

"Is that so?" Kim Jeong-min turned to look at Zheng Xuhong, eyes narrowing slightly as he said, "Is what Lord Zheng says true?"

These words were provocative enough.

Zheng Xuhong's eyebrows rose slightly as he smiled and said, "Of course it's true. Standing before Your Lordship, how would I dare speak falsely? Moreover, since it concerns the cause of Lord Park's death, I wouldn't dare talk nonsense."

"I see." Kim Jeong-min nodded and continued, "So you're saying that what you took has nothing to do with Park In-yong, and nothing to do with my student's murder case either?"

"That's not quite it." Zheng Xuhong shook his head and said, "It indeed has nothing to do with Lord Park Jeong-yang's death, but it does have something to do with Park In-yong's death."

"Park In-yong used his uncle's name these past years to engage in business and trade, committing corruption and bribery under his uncle's banner, associating with disreputable people, and forcibly seizing many family properties. All of this is verifiable."

Zheng Xuhong's tone was very assured, with an air of "this is simply how the facts are."

"Originally I intended to return and continue interrogating Park In-yong to get to the bottom of these matters. But because it involved Lord Park Jeong-yang, and now Lord Park has been murdered as well, this subordinate had no choice but to be more cautious."

"Lord Park's body is not yet cold. If I were to investigate his nephew now, it would inevitably make people think this subordinate lacks human feeling, and that the King does not remember Lord Park's contributions. That would not do."

"I simply never expected that Park In-yong would commit suicide out of guilt before I returned—truly regrettable. The King had actually instructed me that, in consideration of Lord Park Jeong-yang, Park In-yong's crimes should be treated with leniency—so long as he returned the money and property of his victims, he would not be dealt with further."

"But who could have imagined he would be so afraid as to take his own life?! Truly a pity."

Kim Jeong-min glanced at Zheng Xuhong, his eyes narrowing slightly.

This rising star of the young faction was truly remarkable!

With this bearing, this expression, anyone would take it for the truth—who could possibly think it was false?

As for Park In-yong's death, even a fool knew it wasn't suicide. But now the manner of his death was poisoning—one could say he was poisoned by someone else, or one could say he took poison himself. In this regard, there was simply no clear way to define it.

Zheng Xuhong was stubbornly insisting that Park In-yong had committed suicide out of guilt by taking poison. But in Kim Jeong-min's view, Park In-yong had most likely been silenced. As for who did it, Kim Jeong-min didn't need to think to know.

Nodding, Kim Jeong-min didn't want to dwell on this matter either, because there was no point anymore. Reopening the case for someone like Park In-yong simply wasn't worth it.

As for the evidence Zheng Xuhong mentioned, producing it wouldn't take much effort—even if he couldn't dig it up, couldn't he just fabricate it?

So on this matter, there was no point in pressing further. The King's words—just treat them as hot air.

If Park Jeong-yang were still alive, the result would absolutely not be what it was now. As the saying goes, when a man dies, it's like a lamp going out; continuing to press the matter would only make oneself look bad.

"Regarding this matter, let it be handled as Lord Zheng says!" Kim Jeong-min said directly.

"Yes, my lord." Zheng Xuhong acknowledged, and at the same time breathed a sigh of relief, continuing, "As for Park In-yong's funeral arrangements, the King has also given instructions—his crimes will no longer be pursued. His property will be inventoried, and aside from what goes to the victims, the rest will all go to his family."

"This task was originally to be carried out by this subordinate, but now it can be handed over to Lord Kim."

This was plainly offering a benefit.

Kim Jeong-min glanced at Zheng Xuhong.

Over these years, the uncle and nephew of the Park family had amassed a great deal of property. If it were really distributed this way, whoever handled the matter would rake in a fortune, and no one would care.

After all, the important figures of the Park family were all dead, leaving only the old, weak, women, and children. Even if these old, weak, women, and children took that much property, they wouldn't have a very good ending—in the end, they might even be stripped clean.

All one needed was to find someone to marry Park In-yong's wife, and the wives and concubines of both uncle and nephew would all belong to that person, along with the property. Someone would definitely be willing to do such a good deed—it would absolutely be a case of taking everything down to the last scrap.

Such a great benefit, and Zheng Xuhong gave it away just like that.

No, that wasn't quite it—he didn't have that kind of authority. It should be said that it was the King, and this was to appease Kim Jeong-min. Take the benefit and stop making trouble; let this matter pass.

Kim Jeong-min let out a cold snort. There was no way he could accept this condition.

He was old now—even if it were all given to him, he wouldn't have much use for it.

What use did he have for so much money? Take it to the coffin with him?

Leave it to his descendants?

His own descendants weren't short on money either.

As for those women, what use would he have for them? At over seventy years old, what could he still do? Have children?

He couldn't anymore.

The descendants of his own family were hardly lacking in women—with his family's power and position, what kind of woman couldn't he have?

The problem now was that what he wanted was even greater power. The members of the elders faction were all watching him from behind; he couldn't just take his fill and walk away clean.

If he truly only looked out for himself, then those people behind him wouldn't support him either, and he would fall into an abyss of utter ruin.

As for the property of the Park uncle and nephew, if he actually took it and gave it to these people, how much would each of them even get?

These people truly wouldn't care—for the elders faction, this benefit was far too trivial.

Kim Jeong-min looked at Zheng Xuhong and said, "I can take on this matter. Lord Zheng may return and report to the King—I will certainly handle it properly."

"Then I shall trouble Lord Kim." Zheng Xuhong nodded, looking as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

But in his heart, he was bleeding.

These things, this kind of good fortune—all of it should have been his. And now? Nothing at all! It was heart-wrenching!

"Now that we've finished with these matters, let's talk about something more serious." Kim Jeong-min narrowed his eyes and continued.

Hearing this, Zheng Xuhong's face was full of disbelief as he raised his head to look at Kim Jeong-min.

The meaning was obvious: you old bastard, you still want to stir up trouble?

The benefits were just given to you, and you've already accepted them!

Kim Jeong-min's gaze carried a thick layer of mockery as he looked at Zheng Xuhong, who was on the verge of exploding in rage.

Kid, playing games with me—you're still too green.

The benefits I'll swallow down—after all, even a mosquito's leg is still meat—but I want more too.

Kim Jeong-min said, "Regarding the case of my student's murder, I happen to have some evidence here."

Zheng Xuyang's expression instantly turned very ugly.

The situation he least wanted to see had come to pass. Sure enough, whether it was arranged by someone behind the scenes or done on a whim, this matter was going to become very troublesome.

Zheng Xuhong thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "I wonder what evidence Lord Kim has?"

"After I arrived, my student's steward handed me a box, along with a letter from my student. In the letter, my student said that if anything happened to him, he would have the steward give this box to me."

"After I opened it and looked through it, I did discover some rather interesting things."

As he spoke, Kim Jeong-min raised his hand.

An old man beside him walked out carrying a box and placed it directly beside Kim Jeong-min.

"Inside this box is some evidence—mainly evidence of Zhang Fu and Park In-yong colluding with each other."

"The two of them secretly conspired to do business together, and what they dealt in was human trafficking—they privately sold people to Japan. The two of them did many such things; these are all facts my student had gathered."

"Their method was also quite simple: they worked together to fabricate cases, then had the convicts exiled. Those exiled people were then directly resold by them into slavery."

"The evidence here is quite substantial. Beyond that, there is also evidence of their plot to murder my student—they had already agreed to eliminate Park Jeong-yang. Originally my student planned to report it up the chain, but perhaps they discovered that the matter had been exposed, so they struck first."

"What a pity for my student—serving the nation loyally, reporting to the sovereign, and yet ending up with such a fate." Saying this, Kim Jeong-min let out a sigh and continued, "Now my student is dead, killed without clear cause, and Park In-yong is also dead without clear cause. So I believe this matter still needs to be properly investigated, to give everyone justice. Lord Zheng, what do you think?"

Zheng Xuhong's face was dark as coal, his gaze falling upon that wooden box, his eyes flickering uncertainly.

So someone really had been plotting in the shadows—the evidence in that box was certainly critical.

Turning to look at the stooped old steward, Zheng Xuhong's gaze turned venomous.

This old bastard had actually been holding such important evidence in his hands, yet he hadn't given it to me!

He glanced again at Park Jeong-yang's corpse lying there. Could it really have been Park Jeong-yang who left those instructions?

Now Zheng Xuhong couldn't be certain of anything anymore—he didn't even know whether Zhang Fu had lied or not.

If the evidence was conclusive, the matter would become very difficult to handle. The key issue was that he didn't know whether Zhang Fu had actually done these things.

What kind of mess was this?

Setting aside the killing of Park Jeong-yang, just the matter of fabricating cases and trafficking people—if investigated, it would be a shocking major scandal.

"I wonder if Lord Kim could let me take a look at the evidence?" Zheng Xuhong looked at Kim Jeong-min and said.

"That's certainly no problem." Kim Jeong-min nodded and said, "After all, you are an official appointed by the King, specifically tasked with investigating this case. It's only right that you see these things."

Having said this, Kim Jeong-min waved his hand once more.

The old steward picked up the box, and this time came directly to Zheng Xuyang's side, handing the box to him as he said, "Lord Zheng, please."

Zheng Xuyang nodded without speaking and reached out to take the box.

Opening the box, he saw the evidence inside.

There were several letters, and account books—even the locations of all the stockpiles were listed, written out in complete clarity.

After flipping through it all, Zheng Xuhong's face turned ashen.

Judging from the evidence before him, the matter was actually true—Zhang Fu really had joined forces with Park In-yong.

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen the King in quite some time."

Zheng Xuhong's expression was very ugly. Kim Jeong-min was clearly showing that he didn't trust him, while also putting pressure on the King.

But here, in front of everyone, Zheng Xuhong had no choice but to quickly say, "That's certainly no problem. Lord Kim, please go ahead."