I Don't Agree to the Terms
Chapter 243 - 147: Finished, I’ve Become the Scapegoat!_2

Chapter 243: Chapter 147: Finished, I’ve Become the Scapegoat!_2

Seeing this, Gu Shanhai squeezed his way through the crowd and saw the other party lying on the ground with blood flowing from all seven orifices, no longer breathing. For a moment, the Yuzhu Pavilion descended into chaos.

Soldiers outside, hearing the commotion, streamed in and began to secure the scene. After a glance, Gu Shanhai then sat back down.

He feared that danger was looming.

He didn’t know what had happened. Now with a mortal body, he naturally had no recollection of the recent event, but it looked like a high chance of poisoning.

The scene was quickly secured, with officials from the prefectural government and city authorities arriving. Normally, a death wouldn’t cause such a commotion, but it had occurred in Yuzhu Pavilion, and the victim was a scholar about to sit the examination. This certainly alarmed the Crown Prince and even the Emperor.

A small issue had escalated into a major incident, and there was the suspicion of poison.

The scholars present were all uneasy, given that they had all eaten the same meal and now feared they too had been poisoned.

Gu Shanhai followed the crowd, feigning a similar expression.

The investigation proceeded swiftly, with numerous officials getting involved and scholars subjected to searches.

"..." Gu Shanhai’s heart skipped a beat. He had three tubes of black gunpowder hidden on him; being searched and found out would be problematic.

As he pondered a solution, he reached into his pocket and his expression froze.

Not for any other reason but because, at some unknown time, a small packet of something had appeared in his pocket.

He was certain that, before coming to Yuzhu Pavilion, he hadn’t put anything other than black gunpowder on himself.

"F***, am I being framed? No way, they don’t have the capability to frame me." Gu Shanhai’s first thought was that someone had poisoned the victim and was framing him. But on second thought, that packet was placed alongside the black gunpowder in the pocket he had custom-made for convenience.

If the framer was that capable, there’d be no need to resort to poison...

Hence, Gu Shanhai had one piece of good news and one piece of bad news.

The good news was he didn’t need to steal the examination questions from the Ministry of Rites nor worry about the imperial examination. The bad news was that he might soon face imprisonment and a potential beheading after the autumn tribunal.

The reason was simple: the person who did the poisoning could very likely be ’him’, his original identity, as part of an inheritance test.

The other party had once done this, a certain development in history that, even if he did nothing, the world would nonetheless move to achieve it.

As for why Geng Wu was killed, Gu Shanhai guessed there might have been a case of mistaken identity. ’He’ intended to kill Deng Zhida, because during the poem and drinking contest, it was Deng Zhida who stood out the most, while others were merely noted as fellow scholars. Moreover, Deng Zhida had been specially mentioned as coming with him to the examination in ten days.

So... there could have been some previous enmity between the two, or ’he’ might have simply been jealous. Gu Shanhai shuddered at the thought.

Whether Gu Shanhai had acted was irrelevant; history would unfold, and unless he found a way to break the pattern, death seemed inescapable.

What? ’He’ could change history? But Gu Shanhai wasn’t ’him’, and without self-rescue, he would perish.

Even self-rescue seemed to clash with forceful constraints of the destined path.

Hence Gu Shanhai decided to test the flexibility of this inheritance mechanism. If flexible, he could maneuver more freely; if rigid, a head-on clash was inevitable.

He discreetly took out the packet of poison, and sure enough, a prompt materialized in his mind.

Pigeon blood powder, colorless and tasteless, causing the person who ingests it to bleed from all seven orifices unto death.

"Sure enough, it’s this thing..." Gu Shanhai muttered to himself, then quickly stuffed it into a hidden pocket of his outer garment, a pocket he had recently sewn, originally intended for a dagger. It was incredibly discreet; the problem or bulge was imperceptible from the outside. Unless someone had sewn it themselves, like he had, it was practically impossible to discover.

After putting it inside and sealing it back up, even if someone were to pick it up and shake it, they wouldn’t notice anything. And as for the three tubes of black gunpowder in his hand, he needn’t worry. The reason was simple: he could just blame the peace charm if asked. Consuming it wouldn’t result in death with blood flowing from the seven orifices.

Now, he had to pick the lesser of two evils.

Of course, if he ended up being targeted for a dramatic kill, he would have to resort to the black gunpowder to make his escape.

The examination soon came to him. After a lot of fuss, they did not find the pigeon blood powder. They also questioned him about the three tubes of black gunpowder, which, after Gu Shanhai provided his answers and verification, they found were not poison.

Ink could kill if drunk in excess, but that didn’t make it poison.

After returning his items to him, they moved on to inspect the others.

The other scholar examinees also whispered among themselves. With the case at Yuzhu Pavilion surfacing, the upcoming imperial examinations might even be postponed.

"Could it be that the murderer still hasn’t been caught after striking?" Gu Shanhai thought about this possibility.

If unexpected developments kept arising and more deaths occurred, it would mean ’he’ had not only escaped capture but was also bold enough to strike more than once.

"It’s not that kind of thinking where one believes that killing a rival secures their own first place, is it?"

With this commotion, most of the night had passed, and most of the scholar examinees had been released. A few remained for further interrogation, suspected of involvement. Deng Zhida was the most unfortunate of all, as he had been drinking with Geng Wu and was naturally the prime suspect.

"The original situation must have been similar. The wrong person was killed by proxy; not only did it dispose of the notorious Geng Wu, but it also conveniently dealt with Deng Zhida, who held a grudge against the murderer."

Now, the culprit surely wouldn’t be able to take part in the imperial examinations. Even his future eligibility was doubtful. His career prospects were ruined.

If they couldn’t find the real murderer, he would be the scapegoat. Forget fame and fortune; death would await him.

Committing murder in another location might have allowed for preservation of life through stripped status, but killing someone within the Crown Prince’s Yuzhu Pavilion? That was a blatant slap in the face—not just to the Crown Prince, but also to the local government, city officials, and many others.

On the way back, the scholar examinees were escorted by guards, as they were thoroughly concerned about further troubles. One death had already caused a significant stir; another would provoke the Emperor’s wrath at tomorrow’s morning court.

Gu Shanhai returned smoothly. Along the way, the multitude of scholar examinees were very silent. Whether from shock or fear of speaking, Gu Shanhai couldn’t tell, but he was lost in his own thoughts.

"This puts an end to any ideas of stealing exam papers; there will definitely be a lockdown for a while." Gu Shanhai felt somewhat helpless. Had he known, he wouldn’t have risked working with black gunpowder. Fortunately, he hadn’t brought a dagger this time; otherwise, it might have been even more troublesome.

"I hate puzzle books!"

By now, he had realized that this was absolutely a puzzle book, and a difficult one at that. If it weren’t for his superior skill, he would have fallen earlier.

"This mastermind is an intelligent criminal at the start, skilled and determined, with a ruthless touch. It’s just not clear where the turning point lies."

Gu Shanhai had no talent for puzzle books, especially under the condition of having no memory, which put him even more at a disadvantage. Unless the puzzle players came in. Not only did they have the digital assistance of the "First Epoch", but also the corresponding skill sets. Certainly, they would not be starting from scratch like him.

Gu Shanhai had experienced a similar situation in his previous life, where he was temporarily deprived of his abilities, yet data tracking was still intact, and he could gradually unlock his abilities by completing tasks and gathering clues. With the "First Epoch’s" interference, it was naturally biased towards the players. Would it favor the colonized worlds?

Players were the favorites and the hardworking employees soaring up the ranks, while the colonial worlds were just fodder—holding completely different statuses.

Gu Shanhai was devoid of such privileges. As a temporary worker, he should cast aside his wild thoughts and keep his feet on the ground.