Ye Chutang's brow furrowed.
"What did you say?"
'Cao Chengwu is dead? But yesterday, Yan clearly said they only had superficial injuries and would be fine after a few days of rest. How could this—'
Mrs. Cao was wailing hysterically, "My poor son! You died such a wrongful death! If Ye Yunfeng hadn't beaten him half to death yesterday, why would he have died so suddenly! A life for a life! Hand over Ye Yunfeng right now! He'll pay for my son's life with his own!"
The surrounding crowd was also stunned.
"The Cao Family's second young master is gone?"
"Isn't this too sudden? I saw him just yesterday morning, and he looked fine! How could something like this happen in the blink of an eye?"
"Didn't you hear her? The Ye Family's fourth son beat him to death! That kid isn't old, but he's full of brute strength. He doesn't know how to hold back. It's not impossible that he killed someone by accident! What a pity for Boss Cao and Mrs. Cao! To raise their precious son for so long, only for something like this to happen!"
"Yeah! You can tell just by looking at him that the Ye Family's fourth son is trouble. He's only twelve and he's already taken a life! What's he going to be like when he grows up?! People like him must be sent to the government!"
The crowd buzzed with discussion.
Ye Chutang's expression darkened, her mind racing.
'Although A Feng is impulsive and fierce, he's always known his limits. And with Yan there, it's even less likely he would have been allowed to strike a heavy blow.'
'There's definitely something suspicious about Cao Chengwu's death.'
With that thought, she took a step forward and said, "Mrs. Cao, we are also deeply saddened by your son's death, but we would never dare accept the charge of murder without any proof."
Mrs. Cao was overwrought. "What more proof do you need?! Many people at the academy saw Ye Yunfeng fight with my son yesterday! They are all witnesses! After Wu went home, he died suddenly in the middle of the night without any warning! If it's not Ye Yunfeng's fault, whose could it be?!"
"In the middle of the night?" Ye Chutang keenly latched onto her words. "Are you saying that when he first went home yesterday, he was actually fine?"
Mrs. Cao choked for a moment, then retorted loudly, "Who said he was fine?! He had several injuries on him at the time! We even hired a doctor to bandage them! Ye Yunfeng is so young, yet so vicious and cruel, to lay such a heavy hand on his own classmate! If he didn't do it, who did?!"
Standing beside Mrs. Cao, Cao Chengwen tried to soothe her while looking at Ye Chutang with a troubled expression.
"Miss Ye, you should just hand over your brother! This has nothing to do with you. We won't make things difficult for you!"
Ye Chutang didn't yield an inch, her voice firm. "You have no proof at all, yet you want to seize my brother. There's no such logic in this world."
Cao Chengwen seemed to grow annoyed. "Why are you protecting a murderer like this!?"
Ye Chutang stared at him with her dark eyes. "Young Master Cao, watch your words. Even the government hasn't convicted my brother. For you to say such a thing… could it be that you have more authority than the government?"
"You!" Cao Chengwen's expression flashed with panic for an instant. "I didn't say that! Don't twist my words!"
Mrs. Cao's gaze went past Ye Chutang, looking toward the gate. She ground her teeth. "Why won't he come out?! Is it because he's a murderer with a guilty conscience?!"
BANG! The gate was shoved open, and Ye Yunfeng, unable to hold back any longer, strode out.
"I didn't kill anyone!"
Ye Chutang glanced back at him. The boy's fists were clenched, his chest tight with pent-up frustration. "Sis! I only punched him a few times! I didn't kill him!"
When Mrs. Cao saw him, she became even more agitated, screeching, "If you didn't kill him, who did?! Give me back my son!"
As she spoke, she lunged forward.
Ye Chutang shifted slightly, shielding Ye Yunfeng behind her. Her voice was not loud, but it was resolute.
"Mrs. Cao, if my brother truly did kill your son, you won't need to do a thing. I will personally send him to prison! But if he didn't, I won't be so polite to anyone who tries to sling mud at him!"
Mrs. Cao's eyes widened. "Ye Chutang! What do you mean by that? Are you suggesting I'm deliberately framing you?!"
Ye Chutang said, "Since you insist my brother killed your son, then I must at least see for myself. Don't you agree?"
Mrs. Cao was stunned. "What—what do you mean?!"
Ye Chutang stepped forward, coming to a stop before the black coffin.
"A Feng, open the coffin!" She said, word by word, "Take a good look and see if this is the man you killed!"
No one had expected Ye Chutang to do this, and for a moment, they were all dumbstruck. Although Ye Yunfeng didn't understand why she was doing it either, he had always listened to his sister. So without any hesitation, he strode to the coffin, placed his hands on the lid, and pushed with all his might!
The heavy coffin lid was actually opened by a boy of only twelve!
"Ah!"
The crowd stepped back in alarm but couldn't resist craning their necks for a curious look.
At that moment, Mrs. Cao finally snapped back to her senses and lunged forward with a shriek.
"Ye Chutang! You—"
Ye Yunfeng immediately blocked her way. His aura was so imposing that Mrs. Cao was momentarily intimidated and didn't dare to move forward.
Ye Chutang stood her ground, turning her head to look at Mrs. Cao. "This hemorrhagic purpura on your son's body… did A Feng cause this too?"
Mrs. Cao was at a loss for words. "Wh-what?"
Ye Chutang lifted her chin. "He has large purple blotches on his face and body. These clearly weren't caused by a beating. For you to conclude that he died at A Feng's hands based on this is, I'm afraid, far too rash."
Stunned by the question, Mrs. Cao rushed over and pushed up Cao Chengwu's sleeve. Sure enough, she saw large purple blotches spreading across his skin.
These were definitely not marks that would appear from a fight.
"This… this…"
When she heard from the servants this morning that her son was dead, she had fainted on the spot. Upon waking, only one thought consumed her—it had to be Ye Yunfeng's fault for fighting him yesterday!
At first, when she saw the few purple spots on her son's face, she had simply assumed they were from the fight and hadn't paid them much mind. It was only now, with Ye Chutang pointing it out, that she realized her son had the same marks on his hands and body.
Anyone could see that this was absolutely not normal!
Some of the bolder onlookers also peeked in their direction, murmuring amongst themselves.
"Th-this… something's not right! I remember seeing Cao Chengwu on his way home yesterday. He had injuries on his face, but they didn't look like this…"
"If the Ye Family's fourth son caused all this, wouldn't he have killed him on the spot?"
"Exactly! If Cao Chengwu's face and body looked like this yesterday, there's no way the Cao Family would have let it go and waited until today to cause trouble. I bet something happened after he got home that made him turn out like this!"
Ye Yunfeng quickly looked at Ye Chutang. "Sis, I didn't do this!"
He too was stunned by the sight of Cao Chengwu, and he immediately understood that something fishy was going on!
"I know." Ye Chutang gave him a reassuring look, then turned to Mrs. Cao and asked, "Mrs. Cao, was your son ever allergic to anything?"