Chapter 1449 - Interrogation
Yang Xinwu's face turned ashen, as if he'd been caught helping someone cheat and dragged to the Academic Affairs Office during his school days. Seeing his dramatic change in expression, Zhang Zhixiang wondered if he had actually done something embarrassing like pushing down a female student, and the Administrative Office was calling him in for a disciplinary talk. But that didn't seem to fall under the Administrative Office's jurisdiction.
Zhang Zhixiang made an instant decision: if this were truly the case, he would have to immediately purge this "degenerate" from the school. How much effort had he expended to clear out that group of transmigrators with ill intentions who wanted to use their positions to pursue girls? The school's atmosphere must not be compromised!
Yang Xinwu noticed the principal's expression suddenly darkening and thought, This is bad. He could only force a few dry laughs to cover it up.
The following day, Yang Xinwu arrived at the designated location on the notice: the Farm Teahouse.
The teahouse was virtually empty during the day. The moment he showed his membership card, a server led him to a salon private room on the third floor. Xiao Zishan was already waiting there.
Salon private rooms were mostly used as meeting rooms. A conference table stood in the center, surrounded by straight-backed chairs, with rattan sofas lining the walls.
Besides Xiao Zishan, several other transmigrators sat around the conference table, all wearing expressionless faces. Only one woman was familiar to him—Ming Lang's wife.
"Come, come, have a seat!" Xiao Zishan used his characteristic warm manner to invite him to sit on the opposite side of the conference table—directly facing these people.
On the table were neatly arranged notebooks, pencils, and several glasses filled with clear water. The glasses were so clean and gleaming they were almost dazzling.
"Let me make some introductions first." Xiao Zishan cleared his throat. "This is Mu Min representing the National Police... This is An Xi representing the Arbitration Court..." Finally, he mentioned himself. "I'm attending this meeting on behalf of the Administrative Office."
Yang Xinwu maintained his composure and greeted each person, though inwardly he was trembling. What is this setup—are they going to put me under Shuanggui?
Seeing that introductions were complete, Xiao Zishan took a document envelope from the table, opened it, and extracted a document.
"Comrade Yang Xinwu, on behalf of the Senate, I now inform you: At the request of National Police Headquarters, with approval from both the Senate Standing Committee and the Executive Committee, we have some questions for you and hope you will answer truthfully." He continued, "From this moment on, the entire proceeding will be audio-recorded. This is the authorization letter jointly issued by the Standing Committee and the Executive Committee. You may review it." He pushed the document toward him.
"No need." Yang Xinwu didn't touch the paper stamped with several large seals. "Is this an interrogation?"
"No, this is an inquiry." An Xi, the Arbitration Court representative, explained. "We simply want to understand certain circumstances. You may decline to answer questions."
"This means I have the right to remain silent, I take it?"
"Yes, though it's the right in the broad sense, not the narrow legal sense. You are neither a suspect nor a defendant. We've come here hoping you can provide some useful leads." An Xi explained.
"Is this about the Lin Xiaoya case?" He noticed An Xi and Mu Min exchange a glance.
"Yes." Mu Min confirmed. "Do you know Lin Xiaoya?"
For a moment, Yang Xinwu considered saying nothing—he wanted to protect Yang Jihong. But he immediately realized that Mu Min had mobilized such a significant operation specifically to find him; she must have already gathered sufficient leads. Whether he remained silent or not would change nothing.
"Yes, I know her." He nodded.
Over the next hour or so, Mu Min asked him many questions, including about Yang Jihong's relationship with Lin Xiaoya and how she came to receive his recommendation. Yang Xinwu answered everything without reservation. However, he repeatedly emphasized that he "saw nothing" and "heard nothing."
Finally, Mu Min asked: "I hope to collect the water glass you've used as physical evidence for this case. May I?"
"Of course." Yang Xinwu noticed his fingerprints were clearly visible on the glass and suddenly understood. No wonder this glass was so new, so clean! This was probably a way to save him face—after all, having one's fingerprints collected wasn't exactly honorable. "Please go ahead."
"Thank you." Mu Min put on white gloves and carefully picked up his glass, placing it in a manila envelope.
"If there's nothing else, may I leave now?" The deeply embarrassed Transmigrator Yang was eager to escape this awkward situation.
"We will summon Yang Jihong for questioning early tomorrow morning," Mu Min said. "She is the primary suspect in this case—I hope you can understand. The summons will be conducted in secret. If she is ultimately proven innocent, no lasting impact will result."
Yang Xinwu could tell from her tone that this wasn't a negotiation—just a notification.
"What if I don't agree?"
Mu Min glanced at An Xi, who said: "In that case, the matter will be submitted to the Senate Standing Committee for discussion. If the final outcome is to suspend the investigation, we will not issue the summons. Otherwise, the Standing Committee will order mandatory compliance."
"It seems I have no choice."
"Transmigrator Yang, this is a matter of life and death."
"Very well, I understand. Do as you must." Yang Xinwu bowed his head as if under a crushing weight. After a moment, he looked up: "Don't... don't torture her..."
"We certainly won't. You can rest assured," An Xi quickly said. "Our Arbitration Court's jurisprudential philosophy emphasizes evidence over confessions."
Transmigrator Yang waved his hand—whether to express disbelief or indifference was unclear—and stood up listlessly. "I need to go."
"Quickly! Get a car ready for Transmigrator Yang!" Seeing his poor complexion, Xiao Zishan hurried to open the door and called to a server outside.
"Should we arrest Yang Jihong immediately?"
"Let's give them some time," Xiao Zishan said. "One day as husband and wife is a hundred days of devotion..."
"Since when have maidservants counted as wives in your eyes?" Mu Min said with a cold laugh. "Even legally wedded wives can be cast aside on a whim."
Xiao Zishan smiled slightly and didn't take offense. He raised his hands. "Alright, alright, I won't interfere in your affairs."
The fingerprints lifted from Transmigrator Yang's glass confirmed Mu Min's deduction: the prints on the railing weren't his. In fact, based on the spacing between fingerprints, Salina had already roughly deduced these were a woman's prints. This made Yang Jihong highly suspect. A subsequent comparison with Yang Jihong's fingerprints confirmed they were hers.
Mu Min pressed on, beginning her questioning of the now-detained Yang Jihong. Since this was the first time interrogating a transmigrator's maidservant, and it might touch on sensitive topics of "transmigrator interests and secrets," the entire questioning was recorded to prevent anyone from finding fault, and an Administrative Office staff member was present to supervise.
Even so, the experienced Mu Min needed little effort before Yang Jihong admitted that on that night, she had beaten Lin Xiaoya with the railing on the rooftop and ultimately forced her to the edge where she fell to her death.
"It was my fault. I only meant to teach her a lesson, to make her stop pressuring me..." Yang Jihong buried her face in her hands and sobbed. "I never thought she would fall..."
"Weren't you best friends, close like sisters? Why would you attack her so viciously?" Mu Min pressed for motive.
"Best friends?!" Yang Jihong stopped crying and spoke through gritted teeth. "Having her as a 'best friend' was eight lifetimes of bad luck!"
"What exactly did she do?"
Yang Jihong started crying again. From her fragmented account, Mu Min pieced together the general situation.
Completely different from what she had imagined, the case had nothing to do with maidservants competing for a man's affections, nor did Lin Xiaoya have any intention of "replacing" her.
Yang Jihong and Lin Xiaoya had been roommates at the maidservant school and got along well there. After Yang Jihong was assigned out, the two maintained correspondence. Just a few months ago, Lin Xiaoya took leave to meet with Yang Jihong. After they met, Lin Xiaoya made a request: she wanted Yang Jihong to get Yang Xinwu to recommend her for senior elementary school.
"We were very close back then. I thought wanting to study and improve herself wasn't a bad thing, so I went to ask the Chief. The Chief was generous and agreed immediately. I was very happy and wrote to tell her the Chief had agreed."
Unexpectedly, Lin Xiaoya asked her out again. This time her demand was far more serious—she wanted Yang Jihong to persuade Transmigrator Yang to sponsor her tuition and living expenses. Yang Jihong seemed reluctant, so Lin Xiaoya produced something.
"What was it?"
"Letters." Yang Jihong immediately burst into tears. "I was such a fool!"
The letters were ones Yang Jihong had written before entering the maidservant school. The recipient was a fellow villager, also a refugee who had been taken in. Back on the mainland, they had come from similar backgrounds—both from minor landlord families in the countryside, both literate, and they had always harbored feelings for each other.
Yang Jihong's family had been destroyed; she had wandered destitute. When things finally settled down slightly, she happened to see that her fellow villager had also come to Lingao and was living in the quarantine camp.
Having survived such hardship, alone in the world, suddenly seeing an old acquaintance—and one she had mutual feelings for—the tender affection in her heart naturally blossomed.
They had met a few times during work assignments. Since work assignments didn't allow long conversations, they communicated through letters.
Later, Yang Jihong entered the maidservant school, with its strict curfews, and the matter gradually faded. But as they learned they would all become "the Chief's women," Yang Jihong grew fearful again. The letters between her and her fellow villager, if exposed, would completely destroy her future. The ones he had written to her she could obviously burn. But the ones she had written to him might still exist somewhere. In her fear, she consulted Lin Xiaoya.
"I never imagined she could be so wicked—she tricked me out of my letters!"
Lin Xiaoya had given her an idea: give her a token, and she would sneak out to find the fellow villager and have him destroy all the letters. That way everything would be safe.
(End of Chapter)