The light of the sword is like the moon reflecting on Kyushu

Chapter 2039 Where We Don't Meet Again

Yuan Zishan said, "One fell and shattered under the stage, one was suffocated in the incense room, and another... hung from the beam of the study, like a kite with its wings cut off."

Chili's eyes widened: "Wow! That's scary!"

Yuan Zishan rolled her eyes at her, "So, are you still going to listen?"

Chili immediately grabbed Yuan Zishan's sleeve, "Listen!"

"The first concubine to die was named Liu Ying, whose given name was Yu Lichun. She was originally a female lead in an opera troupe. After marrying into the Lian family, she would sing in a hoarse voice every night, which annoyed many people. On the Lantern Festival, the general was summoned to the palace, and the mansion invited a makeshift troupe to perform 'The Peony Pavilion.' In the final scene, Liu Ying dressed up as Du Liniang and climbed onto the small pavilion for the stage setting. When she sang, 'Do you know that my lifelong love is for nature,' the wooden board cracked! She fell like a broken string of pearls, and her throat happened to hit a jade-inlaid Kunwu knife on the table—that knife was a tribute that the general had obtained after suppressing the rebellion. The blade was not sharpened, and the handle was inlaid with a raised white jade Pixiu, which wedged three inches into her throat bone!"

Chili said, "What a coincidence?"

Yuan Zishan said, "The steward at the time said it was an accident, that the tenon of the wooden ladder had rotted. But the old coroner, Chen Zhong, picked out the rosin from Liu Ying's fingernails and said, 'This guy has been climbing ladders for half his life. If the tenon is loose, his hands must be covered in fresh mud to prevent slipping.' So he picked up the cracked ladder beam and saw that the tenon joint was as smooth as a mirror. He said, 'It's obviously cleaved with a knife. It was cleaved nine-tenths of the way through, and it only snapped when someone stepped on it!' After he said this, the whole courtyard was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Only Liancheng was playing with a green-headed parrot in the corridor, saying, 'The other day, Dad said the storeroom was missing a wood-chopping knife, so I went to get it to chop some withered vines.' He was only ten years old, but his tone was as indifferent as if he were talking about the weather. All of the old coroner Chen Zhong's speculations could no longer be pursued, because the murderer had already admitted that he had gone to get the knife to chop some withered vines. Even a fool would know that if they continued to investigate, they could only trace it back to Young Master Lian!"

Chili said, "So, coroner Chen Zhong gave up?"

"Yes, it can only be left unresolved! Even if my uncle knows it was my cousin who did it, he can't get angry! He can't possibly kill his only son for a concubine, can he?"

"How did the second woman die?"

"The second one, hehe, bones charred and fragrance faded!"

"What do you mean? The bones... are burnt?"

"The second woman was a tribute girl from Miao territory named Lianxiang. She was skilled in perfumery and used an ice cellar to store flower stamens. On the sixteenth of the second month, her birthday, a maid went to the ice cellar at noon to deliver some snacks and stumbled upon thick smoke billowing from the incense room! The door was locked from the inside. When it was broken open, Lianxiang was found lying on the sandalwood table for a long time. There were no burn marks or scorch marks on her body, only fine black blood beads oozing from her seven orifices, like poisoned spider webs. Beside her was a silver incense burner with a mythical beast design, and a few pieces of dark blue incense cakes inside were still sizzling."

The incense burner was filled with her own concoction, "Toad Embracing the Moon." Chen Zhong probed the ash with a silver needle, saying it contained toad venom, borneol, and styrax, but was not poisonous. He then raised the lamp to illuminate the roof beams and found several strands of wet mud stuck in the seams of the nanmu beams. He asked, "Last night, during the heavy rain, who climbed onto the roof in wet boots?" The old servant, terrified, immediately knelt down and said, "Last night, young master said that icicles had formed on the eaves, so he borrowed a ladder to remove them..." Chen Zhong immediately pried open the floor tiles and saw that the seams were filled with half-burnt flower petals. He said, "This stuff emits black smoke when burned, a deep, cold mist that accumulates three feet deep and is impenetrable." Then, pointing to the gold powder under Lianxiang's fingernails, he said, "She should have struggled and scratched at the wall before she died, but the gold powder under her fingernails came from the auspicious beast on the incense burner, indicating that the murderer placed the body back into the incense burner after straightening it." As soon as he finished speaking, the entire room fell into a deathly silence. At that moment, Liancheng was practicing calligraphy, writing the characters "慎独" (shèn dú, meaning "be cautious when alone"), with a sachet of Miao lavender, a gift from Lianxiang, pressed under the inkstone; its fragrance was pungent and overpowering!

Chili said, "Young Master Lian is truly audacious! How did that third woman die?"

"The third one was named Yu Fu, the daughter of a bookseller, who often helped the general with his books. On the morning of the Awakening of Insects, her maid found her hanging herself in the study. On the peachwood table lay her suicide note, written in beautiful handwriting: 'I have wronged your reputation, and I can only atone with my death.' My uncle, holding the paper, flew into a rage: 'Nonsense! I respected her greatly, how could she commit suicide?' Chen Zhong then used a horn knife to scrape off the yellow stains from the white silk rope marks, saying: 'When cinnabar is mixed with realgar, it turns the moldy spots on the hemp rope a greenish hue.' In other words, this was also a staged suicide scene! Chen Zhong turned the back of the suicide note and let the light shine through, revealing two lines of lightly pressed writing: 'Eighty taels of silver owed to the silk shop in the south of the city, repay quickly' and 'Don't let my father know about the land deed lost gambling on crickets in Liancheng.'"

Chen Zhong glanced at the jade cricket jar on the top shelf of the bookshelf—the bottom of the jar was stained with purple clover ink, the kind only found in the study—and everything became clear. Although he didn't speak, my uncle wasn't blind, and naturally saw all of Chen Zhong's expressions! He immediately flew into a rage, grabbing my cousin's collar, and a blackened iron plaque fell from my cousin's waist—it was Yu Fu's father's bookseller's certificate! My cousin lightly brushed off his collar and said: "Last month, Aunt Yu asked me to destroy this item; she said she felt ashamed to see Father." When he looked up, a smile played on his lips, but his pupils were like two dry wells: "Father, do you still want to investigate?"

Chili frowned and said, "How dare you threaten the General! You're incredibly audacious!"

Yuan Zishan said, "If he weren't the General's son, even if he had a hundred lives, he wouldn't dare talk back to the General! A biological son is still a biological son; blood is thicker than water! Three lives were recorded, yet the General's mansion only reported death by illness. The old coroner, Chen Zhong, hanged himself that very night under the peach tree in the back garden, a yellow paper tied to his belt—"

Chili suddenly felt a chill run down her spine!
"The one who killed Liu Ying knew that the wooden planks of the stage had been stained with oil for many years, so he lured her to step on them and fall to her death! The one who killed Lian Xiang was knowledgeable about the properties of medicine, knew about cold fragrance, and knew that it could turn into poison when it was buried in the ground! The one who killed Yu Fu was skilled at imitating handwriting, possessing commercial credentials, and even more skilled at manipulating minds! Who would have thought that all of these were done by a ten-year-old child? They are simply monsters!"

Yuan Zishan suddenly exclaimed, "On the surface, my aunt seems petite and delicate, but in reality, it was my uncle who went through tremendous effort and relentless pursuit to win her over! My aunt was an absolute beauty back then! Countless men had pursued her!"

"Then why did the general still take a concubine?"

"Actually, there are countless women who want to get into the General's bed, but these three just seized the opportunity! My uncle gets drunk sometimes, and he can't control himself sometimes, so those three women just took advantage of the situation!"

"I see!"

“My aunt was very angry at the time, but she didn’t show it. She didn’t want people to talk behind her back about how narrow-minded the general’s wife was, so she treated those three women very well. But she must have confided her dissatisfaction with those three women to my cousin!”

“Young Master must know, otherwise he wouldn’t have taken action!” “That’s why I only recently realized that Aunt wasn’t without murderous intent, but she didn’t want to be known as a jealous woman, so she used someone else to kill! That way, with those three women dead, my uncle won’t have any suspicions about her, and the two of them will continue to treat each other with respect.”

Chili felt her mind go blank. "The General's wife really... really intended to kill me?"

Yuan Zishan's gaze was deep and unfathomable. "Of course! Back then, my uncle was just one of many suitors. If he hadn't made a solemn promise to marry only one person for life, would my aunt have married him? So, for him to take a concubine was tantamount to betraying his vow! My aunt was already being merciful enough by not killing him!"

Chili frowned. "I thought the General and his wife were a perfect couple! I never imagined that beneath this facade of harmony, there was such a hidden danger!"

Yuan Zishan said, "If my cousin hadn't let it slip, I would never have known this secret! I never imagined that my aunt, such a gentle woman, would have such murderous intent!"

Chili said, "This world is just unfair! Why can men have three wives and four concubines, while women can only be faithful to one man?"

Yuan Zishan laughed and said, "Then how about you find three men to be your husbands and four handsome men to be your mistresses?"

Chili smiled wryly: "Miss, is there any need for us to say what's on our minds? If I were to marry two men, wouldn't the world arrest me and drown me in a pig cage?"

Yuan Zishan laughed and said, "You little rascal, you really want to find more handsome men? If no one dares to arrest you and drown you in a pig cage, would you dare to have two husbands?"

Chili glanced at Pang Shiwu and said, "Forget it, to avoid some people crying later!"

Yuan Zishan sneered: "I knew you'd turn into a coward at crucial moments!"

Xiong Mengyan's eyes flickered, and seeing that Yuan Zishan was whispering to Chili without showing much hostility, her tense nerves immediately relaxed a lot!
As long as Yuan Zishan doesn't give me any trouble, the situation won't be too awkward, and I'll have already succeeded more than halfway!
She looked at Pang Shiwu with a smile, "Oh my, isn't this little brother Shiwu? Long time no see!" Her voice was so sweet and cloying that it gave one goosebumps!

Pang Shiwu hurriedly walked to the seat next to Chili, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "I'm fine, I've met Miss Xiong." Then he immediately sat down.

He dared not meet Xiong Mengyan's gaze!

Xiong Mengyan's gaze seemed to possess a magical and terrifying power, capable of instantly distracting him. This was definitely an extremely dangerous sign! A slight misstep could cause his Dao heart to collapse!

What Pang Shiwu found even more incredible was that Xiong Mengyan seemed unaffected by the invisible influence of his Blood Rain Fragrance Sword, unlike other experts who, once they got close to him, would immediately be drawn to the unique charm of the Blood Sword and begin to feel uncomfortable all over!

Although Wang Sheng smiled and greeted him, he kept a distance, clearly keeping his distance out of respect! Duanmu Yan, on the other hand, simply didn't greet him at all, obviously wary of his Blood Rain Fragrance Sword!

Why did Xiong Mengyan suddenly become indifferent to the Blood Sword?
Pang Shiwu looked at Xiong Mengyan with suspicion!
Chili glanced at Pang Shiwu out of the corner of her eye and noticed that he was staring at Xiong Mengyan. Her expression immediately changed: "Pang Shiwu! What are you doing? Who are you looking at? Your eyes are about to pop out!"

Pang Shiwu was startled and trembled all over. "I...I didn't look at anyone?"

Chili shouted, "Close your eyes!"

Pang Shiwu immediately covered his eyes with both hands!
Closing your eyes is so simple, it's better to cover your eyes to show that you pay more attention to the chili pepper command!
Wang Sheng and Duanmu Yan exchanged a glance, both smiling bitterly to themselves!
Miss Xiong had been sullen these past few days, but unexpectedly, she became happy today after learning that Feng Jiuxiao had come up the mountain. She even laughed on the mountain and was very happy. And now, she was laughing so happily that she was almost unrestrained!

Wang Sheng and Duanmu Yan could only sigh inwardly! They were pitiful, but so was Miss Xiong. They loved but could not have each other, and so did Miss Xiong!
Wang Sheng suddenly glanced at Chang Zijing. He knew she was also a tragic figure who had suffered unrequited love! Her stories were just as popular in the martial arts world as the legends surrounding him, Duanmu Yan, and Xiong Mengyan!
At this moment, Chang Zijin was observing Yuan Zishan's expression. Yuan Zishan remained focused on her own thoughts, as if she were in deep meditation.

A barely perceptible smile appeared on Chang Zijin's lips!

Xiong Mengyan's addition made the journey less boring, and Yuan Zishan finally had a rival!
Thank you 38787' for your support and encouragement in 2020050!