Can a System Have Bad Intentions? - Chapter 116

Zhou Jing looked at Lu Tang, still in shock at his release.

“Are you really free? What about Xie Jin?”

Lu Tang smiled, “He’s a murderer. Even though he failed, it’s still a crime. Of course, he’s been locked up. His exact sentence hasn’t been decided yet.”

Zhou Jing’s dry lips parted, his vacant eyes staring at Lu Tang. After a long moment, clarity returned to his gaze, and tears streamed down his face. He knelt before Lu Tang, “I’ve been wronged.”

Lu Tang quickly squatted down, reaching through the bars, “Uncle, what’s your situation?”

Zhou Jing then recounted his case to Lu Tang in detail, which matched the information the system had given him, but the details were even more infuriating.

“You said you were close friends with Xie Jin’s father?” This surprised Lu Tang.

Zhou Jing slumped against the damp ground, leaning against the cell door. “His father is the Minister of Works. When he retired and returned home, he lived next door to me.”

Lu Tang listened silently as he continued.

“Their eldest son fell ill with a strange disease. The couple neglected him, so Xie Chengnian took the boy to live elsewhere, leaving the couple with only their second son. The day I got into trouble, he had invited me to a restaurant on Wulin Street. On the way, I encountered that situation and had to help, not knowing it was a trap.  In court, the third-party witnesses were him and his son, Xie Jin. Xie Jin was only ten then, and his testimony carried more weight because of his age.”

Lu Tang sighed inwardly. No wonder Zhou Jing reacted so strongly to the word “friend.” No wonder he was so agitated when Xie Jin was mentioned.

“Didn’t your family appeal?”

Zhou Jing shook his head with a bitter smile. “After my incident, my mother couldn’t take the shock and passed away, followed by my son…”

He looked at Lu Tang sorrowfully. “My son, the one you mentioned with good grades but poor character, expelled from the academy.”

Lu Tang pretended to be shocked.

Zhou Jing’s eyes were filled with pain.

“My son was always well-behaved. How could he have poor character? He was implicated by me. After I was imprisoned, he tried to appeal several times but was driven away. He lost his promising future because of me.  After being expelled from the academy, how could he…”

Zhou Jing’s simple words painted a heartbreaking picture.

He wept uncontrollably.

Lu Tang felt stifled and depressed.

But time was short, and she couldn’t always come to see Zhou Jing. “Did you offend Xie Jin’s father?”

Zhou Jing, still grieving, shook his head. “I’ve been in here for three years, constantly reflecting on the past, but I can’t find a reason he would want to harm me. My family is neither rich nor powerful, with no one in the government. My son and his have no competition due to their age difference. I run a guesthouse, and he is a scholar with no conflicts between us.”

He paused, licking his lips and sighing.

“If I had to find a reason, it might be because three days before the incident, I mentioned his eldest son’s illness. Otherwise, I can’t think of anything else. I’ve been too busy with the guesthouse to see him much.”

Lu Tang’s heart raced, sensing this might be the key.

“What happened then?”

“Xie Yu was said to be ill, and I believed it. But then a guest who was a doctor mentioned it sounded like poisoning. I was excited and asked if he could cure it. He said he had to see the patient first. Fearing for Xie Yu’s health, I immediately informed his father. We agreed he’d bring Xie Yu to the guesthouse that evening, but something happened, and they didn’t come. The next day, the guest left. On the third day, I was in trouble.”

Lu Tang’s heart pounded. She realized her situation before the incident was similar to Zhou Jing’s.

She had visited Xie Chengnian and talked about helping Xie Yu with poisoning.

So, both cases revolved around Xie Yu.

She asked Zhou Jing, “Did anyone visit you after you were imprisoned?”

“Besides my family, no one came. Even my family stopped coming after a few visits. My son and his mother were forced to leave Yuhang.”

“Did they mention the doctor?”

After three years of reflecting, Zhou Jing remembered clearly. “My son asked about the doctor three out of four visits. But he was just a guest; I only knew his name.”

Lu Tang asked, “Did you tell your son the name?”

Zhou Jing nodded, grabbing Lu Tang’s arm through the bars. “Is it wrong? Is the doctor suspicious?”

Having been wronged for three years, his family’s ruin made every detail crucial.

Without evidence, Lu Tang didn’t want to add to Zhou Jing’s burden with her suspicions. She shook her head and smiled, “I don’t know. I’m just asking everything I can think of to see if I can help.”

She stood up.

“Uncle, I can’t promise to clear your name. I’m just trying. If I fail, don’t blame me.”

Zhou Jing also stood slowly, “Thank you, young man.”

As Lu Tang left the cell, Qin Mo was waiting at the door, talking to the jailer. She caught a mention of Xie Jin but couldn’t hear the details.

Seeing her, Qin Mo stopped talking and approached quickly. “Let’s talk outside.”

A carriage awaited outside. Once inside, Lu Tang told Qin Mo everything Zhou Jing had said, almost word for word, including her suspicions.

“Zhou Jing was imprisoned because he discovered Xie Yu’s poisoning. The Xie family doesn’t want anyone to know or for Xie Yu to be cured. That’s why they targeted me; I also said I’d help Xie Yu. But how did they know what I told Xie Chengnian?”

Grabbing Qin Mo’s sleeve, she asked, “Do you think the doctor might already be dead?”

Qin Mo glanced at her hand on his sleeve.

“After three years, we can only try to find him. It’s not easy with just a name. As for how they knew, we’ll have to ask Xie Yu.”