Turns out Yang Xiaoâan is dead!
Yes, you read it right; you heard it right: Yang Xiaoâan is dead.
He died on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Yang Chuxia canât help but recall an old saying often heard in these parts, that those who die on the first or fifteenth of the month are heavily laden with misdeeds and are destined to descend all eighteen levels of hell.
Yang Chuxia is forced to admit that she can hardly believe it. She only intended for him to languish a bit longer in prison, but she never thought of actually engineering his death.
How did it come to this?
It was Ye Ziâan who asked, "Uncle Hong, are you sure heâs dead? Exactly how did he die?"
Constable Hong shook his head and explained, "You remember Yang Xiaoâan, whose arms were both broken in jail last time, right? He didnât receive any medical treatment afterwards, and so his arms became very feeble. Usually when itâs mealtime, he relied on the goodwill of those who delivered meals. Theyâd put his food on the ground for him to eat in a prone position. But what you may not know is that Yang Xiaoâan, even in such a condition, still didnât hold his tongue. He offended his cellmates over minor verbal clashes. From then on, whenever the meals came, they would deliberately knock his food over."
He paused, then continued, "This happened day after day, until ultimately, Yang Xiaoâan starved to death. His predicament was discovered by the meal deliverers on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival. However, as it wasnât exactly good news, nobody reported it on that day."
"So thatâs what happened!"
Constable Hong continued, "Yang Xiaoâan simply wouldnât learn a lesson. He assumed that, even in jail, he was still considered a Cultivated Talent. Iâve heard stories of him constantly giving orders and acting arrogantly. People have been saying that if he didnât change his ways, he would meet his end in there. I didnât expect it to actually come true."
This news brought by Constable Hong led to another silence in Yang Chuxiaâs household.
Death isnât something to be taken lightly, especially for Old Yang, who watched Yang Xiaoâan grow up. As for Dachuan, he genuinely treated Yang Xiaoâan like a brother, How could they take such news lightly?
"Please accept my condolences."
After these words, Constable Hong was ready to leave.
But before he could depart, he was caught by the sound of lamenting. Yang Chuxia looked closely and saw it was Ms. Ye and her two children, Yang Lichun and another, wailing their way over.
Upon seeing Constable Hong, Ms. Ye called out, "Constable Hong, not to impose but could you help us seek justice?"
Having just left Ms. Yeâs household, Constable Hong recognized her. He couldnât help saying, "Madam, the deceased is indeed gone. I hope you take care of yourself."
"No, Constable Hong, I know my husband is dead and is never coming back," Ms. Ye responded through teary eyes. "But my husbandâs death had to have been caused by something, or someone. Regardless of anything else, his broken arms were the result of a beating."
With a sudden change in her tone, Ms. Ye pointed at Yang Chuxia and said, "It was her. She bribed someone to break my husbandâs arms, which eventually led to him starving to death in jail. And her victimization didnât end there. Look at my little sonâs legs, she bribed someone to break them too."
Seeing her finger pointed straight at Yang Chuxia, Constable Hong didnât seem pleased. After all, accusations needed proof; you couldnât just point fingers at whoever you pleased.
Ms. Ye, you must have evidence when making accusations. These are not things to be said lightly."
Ms. Ye only kept crying. When Constable Hong asked for evidence, she couldnât provide an answer.
It was Yang Qingwen who then said, "Constable Hong, before my dad and I had our limbs broken, Yang Chuxia came to see us. But as soon as she left, something bad happened to my dad and me. She was definitely involved in all this."