Grudge Breaker

Chapter 291 The Murderer Du Juan
"That dead girl, is she really, really dead?"

Ruan Mianmian was shocked and couldn't believe her ears.

It wasn't because she felt sorry for Du Juan, she simply felt that she was causing trouble for herself - why was she wearing red clothes, branding herself with strange runes, and even acting like a demon even after her death, what a little bitch!

"Is she trying to turn into a ghost to avenge me? This damn girl is so mean!"

Ruan Mianmian wiped the new mud off her face with a handkerchief while cursing fiercely. Then she remembered that Mo Tingfeng and Shu Tinglong were still around, and immediately changed her expression, saying with regret,
"Oh, I just feel sorry for his misfortune and angry at his lack of resistance. A healthy person died suddenly, and in Brother Tingfeng's house. It's really unlucky."

Mo Tingfeng, Shu Xinglong and others had no intention of paying attention to Ruan Mianmian. However, Li Qingshui couldn't stand it anymore and became more and more annoyed with this superficial woman who relied on her cousin being Lord Sikong.

"Ruan, where others have hearts and livers, you have a boil, right?"

"It's already this late, and you can only make sarcastic remarks. Instead of wasting your time, why don't you send someone to contact Du Juan's relatives and give them an explanation?"

Ruan Mianmian rolled her eyes and made a clicking sound.

"Oh my, you're the only one who can say nice things. Why, do you want to show off your kindness in front of Boss Shu?"

"You have such a kind heart, why don't you become a monk?"

……

"enough!"

Shu Tinglong couldn't listen any longer.

"Qingshui, stop talking. She can't tell the difference between the important and the unimportant. Can't you tell the difference too?"

Out of consideration for Zhuang Yuheng's face, Shu Xinglong did not target Ruan Mianmian directly, but it was clear that Geshan Zhenniu had "scolded her very dirty". Li Qingshui understood the situation clearly and nodded obediently without saying anything more.
.
On the other side, countless images surged in Qin Xueying's mind, making her feel dizzy.

She actually took the initiative to ask Mo Tingfeng out for a chat in the garden at night, and even wore his cloak?
She used ointment containing fenugreek to treat the wound of Sang Pu, who was said to be pregnant? Was she an accomplice in causing her miscarriage?
She even met Mo Tingfeng in the temporary palace last night, wearing extremely inappropriate clothes, and they even... kissed?

This... this is simply...

And now, the owner of the voice that told her the origin and usage of the Heart-Confusing Harp had actually hanged himself? And he died in the Venerable's Mansion.

She was just Ruan Mianmian's personal maid. Qin Xueying didn't even have much impression of this girl. Why did she believe what she said and obey it? And how did she know so many details about the Heart-Confusing Harp that appeared out of thin air?

Is the owner of that voice really the girl named Dujuan who has been hanged to death?

……

Qin Xueying had a splitting headache.

She had only been in Si Chen Mansion for a few days, and two lives had been lost. Today, she had caused all these strange things in this open space in the forest. It was not known whether Miss Sang Pu, who had been taken away by Lord Yu Heng, was in danger of her life.

Qin Xueying subconsciously held onto Banxia to steady herself as she was about to fall.

"The eldest princess..."

Banxia's voice was full of worry. Having followed her for so long, she had never seen Qin Xueying so frustrated and helpless.

"……fine."

Qin Xueying tried hard to calm herself down and patted Banxia's hand to comfort her. She really couldn't allow herself to cause more trouble at a time like this.

……

When Ding Heran and Ye Wujiu saw her coming, they took two steps back. Qin Xueying looked ashamed and nodded to Mo Tingfeng.

"Master Si Chen, I know that whatever I say now is in vain. Xueying is to blame for today's situation. The only thing we can do now is to leave Si Chen's mansion immediately to give Master time to catch the real culprit."

"Of course, I am also a suspect. You can list Xueying as one of the suspects. After I leave, I will return to the Territory Lord's Mansion to reflect on my mistakes. You can investigate thoroughly. If you need to question or interrogate her, just send someone to summon her."

Mo Tingfeng looked at Qin Xueying seriously for a few times and nodded seriously. This was the eldest princess. The Qin Xueying he was familiar with was back.

Perhaps, everything started with that confusing harp.

"That's great. I need to investigate the case, so I'll say goodbye to the princess here."

"I have sent a message to Uncle Fei. He will be back soon and will send you off on my behalf."

Qin Xueying nodded and looked at Ruan Mianmian who was staring at Li Qingshui.

"I will take Mianmian with me, and I will definitely send her back home safely, so there is no need to distract yourself, sir."

"It's just that Miss Sangpu, I... I really feel guilty towards her, and I don't know how to make amends. I think with Lord Yuheng's care, she will surely be blessed. I won't bother her for now, and will come to visit her when she recovers."

"I hope that you and Miss Sangpu will be together forever. If Xueying can help me in any way, please let me know."

After saying this, Qin Xueying did not delay any longer. She asked Banxia to arrange for the maid to go back to the Venerable's Mansion to pack the luggage, and she took Ruan Mianmian and left first.

Shu Xinglong seemed to have something to say to Mo Tingfeng, but due to the chaos today, he did not speak in the end and said goodbye to Li Qingshui and left.

……

The glade in the forest finally returned to peace.

After the rainstorm, the air in the forest became clearer. Without the interference of the Huo Xin Qin, Mo Tingfeng felt his mind was clear, as if all his doubts could be revealed and all his knots could be resolved.

"He Ran, order someone to take the broken zither to the evidence department to trace its origin. I suspect the blood on it came from the same beast as the blood on the forehead of the red-eyed ghost bird that attacked Wei Wei before."

"Yes!" Ding Heran agreed, glanced at Ye Wujiu who was standing next to him, and nodded at Mo Tingfeng, which clearly meant that if he had something to do, he should "confess quickly and get leniency if he confesses."

"Please go and see the scene first. There is no need to rush. We will know the result later."

Ye Wujiu looked very unhappy, and said something to Ding Heran in a sullen tone. Mo Tingfeng saw it but did not point it out. He just ordered people to search the open space in the forest carefully to see if there was anything unusual, and then set off to return to the Venerable Mansion.
.
As soon as I entered the side hall, I saw Du Juan with her long hair loose, wearing a red gauze dress and red shoes, hanging on the main beam, her eyes wide open, but she had already passed away.

There was a strange rune on her ankle, which was dark in color and looked like an old tattoo at first glance. As a maid who served her master personally in the mansion of a noble immortal, she had to have a routine physical examination every ten days. In addition to not having any infectious diseases, she was also not allowed to have any tattoos.

That is to say, this symbol did not exist during the last routine inspection of the Nguyen Mansion.

The rune has a round head with horns, and there seem to be soul-piercing steel nails inserted into its body on both sides. It is full of resentment, and although no faction can be seen, it is clearly related to the curse. It is a typical puppet curse rune.

Mo Tingfeng stared at the symbol in a daze, he always felt like he had seen it somewhere.

……

"The first person to discover the body was Guyu. She went to the clinic to visit Dujuan this morning, but couldn't find her anywhere. Thinking that Dujuan hadn't gotten out of bed for days and was too weak to travel far, she followed the path all the way to the Venerable's residence."

"It was the time when the princess was hosting a banquet, and most of the palace servants went to the back mountain to serve, so no one noticed that Du Juan was different. Gu Yu was very scared when he found out, and he immediately asked someone to find me, so the crime scene was relatively preserved. Du Juan did hang herself to death."

"Before you came, I had already arranged for a team of resentment-breaking masters to quickly retrieve all the runes recorded in the Sleeping Realm for comparison. We have not yet found the source of this rune."

Ding Heran's rapid flow of words completely interrupted Mo Tingfeng's thoughts. He nodded and turned his attention back to the scene.

"Everything was planned in advance by Dujuan."

"After all, death is the greatest thing. Let's put her down first."

……

"Also, the case of the corpse in the water can be closed. The murderer is Du Juan."
.
This is exactly what Mo Tingfeng realized at that time in the clearing in the forest.

Dujuan did everything on purpose.

She lured Xiao An to the underground ice cellar under the pretext that she needed help with an injury on her hand and then locked him in while he was helping to chisel ice.

The underground ice cellar is specially used by the two noble masters to store precious snow lotus and ice. Normally, no one can enter except Pinellia ternata and Dujuan, so no one knows that Xiao'an is trapped in it.

However, she would be completely unconscious due to the low temperature in an hour. At this time, Dujuan only needed to go back and take the key to the entrance and exit gates of the pond from her body, open the entrance gate first, and then return to the ice cellar to use the sliding force of the ice to easily transport the frozen little eucalyptus through the secluded path beside the pond to the exit gate.

The piece of gauze stained with Dujuan's blood in the underground ice cellar must have been accidentally dropped at this time while Xiaoan was moving.

Even if there is water stains where the ice passes, they will evaporate quickly without leaving any trace.

The rest is easy.

Dujuan only needs to push Xiao'an and the remaining ice cubes into the pond. She will drown in less than two cups of tea. Then she will go into the water again, stuff the jade leaves that she had prepared in advance and carefully taken from Ruan Mianmian's jade hairpin into Xiao'an's throat, then hold up the corpse to open the exit gate, and be washed into the water street with the help of the water.

Moreover, the water was still surging at this time, and with the help of the thrust, it would be easy to lead Xiao'an's body under the water column of the pleasure boat and trap it, and the mission would be accomplished.

After Xiao An's accident, Mo Tingfeng looked through the information of all the servants in the Venerable's Mansion.

He remembered that the girl was born in Zaoxiantai, a famous small fishing village near Luoyun Town. The villagers had made a living from fishing for generations and everyone was good at swimming. It should not be difficult to use the water to transport the drowned body to the pleasure boat a mile away.

And Du Juan could just find a place to clean up after doing all this, and then go back to Si Chen Mansion in peace and quiet after the body is discovered.

She just didn't expect that Song Weichen would actually order people to specifically check those who had no record of leaving the house but only records of entering the house. Fortunately, she was tortured by Ruan Mianmian all day long, and had many wounds and scars on her body. She was indeed sent out of the house for treatment because of her serious injuries and coma. So she lied that she was unconscious when she left, so there was no record of leaving the house and she got away with it smoothly.

"Du Juan has only one goal, to put the blame on Ruan Mianmian."

"I have been abused by her for a long time. My body and mind have already reached the limit. Whether it is for self-rescue or revenge, I have gone to great lengths to come up with this plan to kill and frame her."

"But I doubt it. If this girl really had such a mind, how could she be tortured by Ruan Mianmian for such a long time? After seeing this scene today, I understand - someone is helping her behind the scenes, using her life as a price to complete a drama of murder and framing others during her lifetime, and cursing and revenge after her death."

"The only loophole is that the jade leaf on the jade hairpin was obtained too carefully, which exposed the relationship between the perpetrator and Ruan Mianmian. They spent a lot of time together and could touch her clothes and jewelry at will without anyone suspecting them. Even Ruan Mianmian herself would not suspect anything if she saw it. There is only one such person."

Mo Tingfeng unraveled the whole process of Du Juan's intentional murder and her motives for the murder, almost exactly as it happened, leaving Ding Heran and Ye Wujiu in awe.

Du Juan used the death of innocent people and her own death to avenge a living person. Although she did all kinds of evil things, people could not hate her. Instead, it only added to the sighs.

……

Ye Wujiu shook slightly, his face looked even worse, and there seemed to be a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. The wound on his left shoulder that was burned by the necromancer was tormenting him all the time - that feeling was like lava dripping on his skin all the time - Ye Wujiu was almost holding on with his iron willpower.

"Sir, regarding the runes on Dujuan's body, I..."

Mo Tingfeng raised his head and stopped Ye Wujiu from speaking any further.

He remembered where he had seen this rune before.

At that time, in the fourth level of illusion created by Grandma Huang, on that ice field, at the critical moment when the illusion collapsed, a wind wall suddenly appeared and blocked his way to rescue Song Weichen. At that time, there was a black and red rune in the hurricane wall that changed its position and appeared and disappeared from time to time - it was this symbol!
In other words, although the ghost husband case was successfully resolved, the real dominant force behind it has not disappeared.

The "tall man with a shrill voice" who taught Grandma Huang the Qimen Soul-Locking Formation, and the "man with a shrill voice" who spoke in Lord Jinxian's mind, must be closely related to the strange curse symbol on Dujuan's ankle!

"It seems that Du Juan's death is unusual. Something more serious may happen later. Everyone must be cautious."

Mo Tingfeng had a serious expression on his face, and suddenly raised his eyes to look at Ye Wujiu.

"especially you."