Chapter 227 Zhou Ran’s Head

Duan Qingshan lowered his head helplessly, avoiding everyone's gaze, not daring to look anyone in the face.

"Sorry……"

His clumsy apology, coupled with his ferocious face, was very funny.

Jiang Anning took a deep breath.

"You just said that you have promised me your life."

"Your body and mind should be completely at my disposal."

"Does this still count now?"

Jiang Anning felt that she really needed to correct Duan Qingshan's innate masochistic nature.

Otherwise, it would be so scary if there were such a big scene every now and then!
Besides, it will delay things.

"Of course it counts."

Duan Qingshan's tone was a little anxious: "Tell me, who do you want me to kill!"

Jiang Anning:...

"I don't need you to kill anyone." It's not like I don't have hands.

If I want to kill someone, won’t I do it myself?
Why hand more evidence to others?

Jiang Anning barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

It’s not that she doubted Duan Qingshan’s loyalty.

But as the old saying goes, secrets bring success.

The fewer people who know about it, the less risk there is.

Duan Qingshan pursed his lips, his hands in panic, not knowing where to put them.

Jiang Anning's gloomy face made him look more like a helpless child who had made a mistake and didn't know how to make up for it.

"I just need you to remember that since your body and mind belong to me, the right to life and death should also be in my hands."

"I hope this will be the last time I get slapped in the face for a disagreement like what happened just now."

Jiang Anning's eyes became sharper. "I don't want you to have a red and swollen face, or limp, or lie on the kang and unable to get up, because of your self-willed behavior, when I need you to do something one day, and delay my work."

"If you feel you can't do it, you can leave now."

Her voice became a little colder: "I don't keep useless people around me."

After saying "Think it over carefully", she picked up the bowl of noodles and turned to the kitchen.

Duan Qingshan was at a loss for a moment, then gulped down the noodle soup in two gulps, took the empty bowl, and limped into the kitchen.

Jiang Anning just looked up at him, then continued to wash the dishes and pots.

Duan Qingshan swallowed and became visibly nervous.

"I figured it out."

He made a solemn promise: "I will never do anything on my own and harm my body again, unless I receive your order."

"Always be in the best condition, ready for your command anytime, anywhere."

Jiang Anning said "hmm", stopped what he was doing, raised his chin slightly, and ordered with a cold face: "Wash the dishes."

Duan Qingshan said "eh", walked forward honestly and quickly, and took the work from the man's hand.

"In the next few days, please pay attention to what is happening in the streets and alleys."

Jiang An Ning leaned against the kitchen door frame, folded his arms, and looked cold: "If you really can't handle it, just take some money and send those street thugs to do the work."

"There's no need to tell them the exact direction. All they need to do is keep an eye on the various movements in the city over the past few days and pay close attention to anything unusual."

"Yes."

Duan Qingshan washed the pots and pans while carefully taking note of the instructions.

"Also, ask around to see if there are any people who are doing empty-handed business and passing through Jiang'an County recently. If there are any, please come and see me... It's better to meet somewhere else. It's not convenient here at the embroidery workshop."

Jiang Anning glanced at him and said, "You decide the place."

After thinking for a while, he said, "The deserted courtyard last time was also good."

Then she asked, "The government announced the cause of Zhao Yinlian's death. It was Sheng Yuewen who killed her."

"Has anyone found her body and buried it?"

Jiang Anning thought about who the Zhao family's relatives were: "Zhao Yuanshan doesn't have any close elder relatives who are still alive. He only has one younger sister who married far away for many years and we rarely have any contact."

"There are two brothers in the Zhang family who usually help the Zhao family. When the Zhao family first got into trouble, Zhao Yinlian and Zhao Jiang hid in their uncle's house."

"Now, Zhao Yuanshan has been bought back and raised as a plaything, and Zhang is in prison again, and I don't know when she will be released. Zhao Hai..." Jiang An Ning coughed twice to cover up his discomfort: "He also escaped from prison and is nowhere to be found. It seems that the only ones who can help are Zhao Jiang and Zhang's brothers from her mother's family."

Jiang Anning looked at Duan Qingshan and asked, "Is there anyone among them who came to retrieve Zhao Yinlian's body and take it back for burial?"

"But I have never seen anyone looking for her body."

Duan Qingshan shook his head and sighed, "I heard that the county yamen runners asked the Zhao family's relatives if they needed their help to search the city for the remains of the servants so that they could take them back for burial."

"But the people who claimed to be relatives of the Zhao family only asked a few questions carefully. They wondered whether they could get compensation from the Sheng family. After all, it was a life... After being told by the yamen runners that the Sheng family's property had been divided up long ago, and there was little left, and any that was left was confiscated, so it was not their turn, they left cursing."

"What are you talking about? Zhao Yinlian was just an unmarried girl. She had no right to be buried in the ancestral tomb. She lost her life because of something shameful. Who would want to get involved in such bad luck? It would ruin the feng shui and stain the family lintel. Let her fend for herself and suffer the consequences."

Duan Qingshan frowned slightly, obviously feeling that these words were too vicious.

It happened that it was a relative of the Zhao family, a relative of Zhao Yinlian, who said it in person.

Others can only sigh.

"So, Zhao Yinlian's body is still under the dry well?"

"Yes."

Duan Qingshan responded but did not stop the work in his hands.

Drain the water from the pot, wipe it clean with a rag, and then put the lid back on.

"However, the weather has been hot recently, and the body cannot be stored properly. It has been stinking for quite some time."

Jiang Anning frowned, very surprised that Zhao Yinlian's body was still left in a dry well in the deserted yard after her death, and no one cared even after it had become stinking.

After the accident, I couldn't help laughing out loud.

This is truly the law of nature, retribution will come as it pleases.

In her previous life, she died in the Zhao family and no one collected her body. Now, it is the turn of those who harmed her to suffer retribution.

Duan Qingshan scratched his ear subconsciously. "I was worried that someone might accidentally find out and cause unnecessary trouble, so I planted some honeysuckle in the yard. They are all transplanted old trees. When the flowers bloom, the fragrance is so fragrant that it can barely cover up the smell."

"You did very well."

Seeing that he was very thoughtful and did his job efficiently, Jiang Anning said "hmm" with satisfaction and walked towards her room.

Duan Qingshan wiped his hands quickly and limped after him.

"There aren't many people living near that deserted house."

"Because of some rumors in the past, few people usually come near it. I walked around the area a few days ago, and if I stayed outside the courtyard wall, I really couldn't smell any strange smell."

“You don’t have to worry.”

Duan Qingshan said: "After some time, I will quietly dispose of the body."

Jiang Anning laughed twice: "What should I worry about?"

"The government has now given Zhao Yinlian her final verdict on her death."

"Even if it's her body, what if someone finds it?"

"At most, people will just think that Sheng Yuewen is cruel."

Now everyone knows that Zhao Yinlian’s death was an act of revenge caused by Sheng Yuewen’s anger and humiliation.

Who would suspect her?

Duan Qingshan realized that he had said something wrong again and was at a loss for a moment. He almost raised his hand to slap himself again, but then he remembered Jiang Anning's warning and put his hand down again, waiting for someone's instructions or scolding.

Jiang Anning raised her eyebrows slightly and looked at him calmly.

Duan Qingshan's scalp felt tingling for a while.

Jiang Anning glanced at him with a half-smile: "Isn't it?"

"Yes!"

Duan Qingshan was so moved that he immediately responded, "You are right! Zhao Yinlian was killed by Sheng Yuewen. This is something that everyone knows."

Jiang Anning curled the corners of her mouth in satisfaction.

"Then don't waste such a good place."

She snorted and laughed: "If you find the person, take him there."

She tilted her head to glance at Duan Qingshan and reminded him, "Get this done as soon as possible."

As he said this, he couldn't help but laugh mockingly: "Otherwise, I'm afraid some people won't be able to wait."

Duan Qingshan was sensible and didn't ask "who is it" or "why can't you wait", but answered honestly: "Yes."

Jiang Anning waved his hand: "There is nothing else to do for now, you can go down and rest first."

"Then you should rest early too."

Duan Qingshan knelt down and greeted the man politely, then took a few steps back and turned away.

Jiang Anning looked at the man's departing back, thoughtful.

I slept too long during the day and just had dinner, so I don’t feel sleepy at the moment.

She brought out the embroidery frame, sorted out the threads, sat in front of it, and continued to embroider the strange story she had been working on.
-
Jiang'an County, a villa in the city.

Jiao Niang had a cold look on her face and walked hurriedly towards the main house.

Wang Shang heard the footsteps, raised his eyebrows in surprise and looked at the person who came: "What's wrong with you?"

He curled his lips in a rather strange way: "I rarely see you so flustered."

"Could it be that you and I are about to face a disaster?"

Jiao Niang rolled her eyes at him and wanted to say something sarcastic to him.

Thinking about what happened just now, I suddenly lost my mood again.

She was worried and spoke in a deep voice: "When we were searching for Zhao Hai, we found Zhou Ran's head deep in the woods adjacent to Jiang Village."

"Head?"

Wang Shang sat up straight with a sullen look on his face. "Whose? Zhou Ran?"

He thought about it for a moment before he could barely match the name with the person.

"How about recruiting girls?"

Wang Shang said calmly, "Isn't he the one who is in charge of connecting with Zhou Ran?"

Jiao Niang shook her head: "I went to Zhaomei's residence and checked. She was not there. And it seemed that she had not been back for some time. The furnishings in the house were already covered with a thick layer of dust."

"What do you think is the most likely possibility of this matter?"

Wang Shang looked at the man.

Jiao Niang shook her head: "I don't know."

"Emotionally, I would rather Zhao Mei is okay."

But this may very well mean that Zhaomei betrayed them.

"How did Zhou Ran die?"

Wang Shang had the same idea as Jiao Niang. He frowned and asked, "Did they only find the head? Was it beheaded?"

Jiao Niang shook her head, and her face turned pale when she thought of the scene she saw when she passed by.

Wang Shang noticed something was wrong and looked at her with a frown: "What's wrong with you?"

They were all people who had experienced many hardships. He didn't think that Jiao Niang would be so scared just by seeing a human head.

I wouldn't even think about it that way.

Jiao Niang dry heaved twice, and her stomach churned violently when she thought of the scene she saw at that time.

"It's just a human head. Is it enough to scare you like this?"

He was just about to say something sarcastic, "You haven't killed anyone for so long that you've forgotten what you do," when he heard Jiao Niang's trembling voice say, "It was smashed into two pieces alive."

"what?"

Wang Shang widened his eyes, looked at Jiao Niang in disbelief, and began to doubt his own ears.

What did he hear just now?
The head was broken? What was broken? The neck?
Seeing that Jiao Niang still looked unhappy, Wang Shang was considerate and poured her a cup of tea.

"Thank you."

Jiao Niang drank it all in one gulp, suppressed her nausea a little, and then she felt a little better.

She let out a light breath: "I went to the scene and analyzed the broken skull and neck. It is most likely that it was directly broken by a smash."

"A landslide occurred about three meters away from where Zhou Ran's head was."

"It should be caused by the heavy rain."

Jiao Niang was still terrified: "Preliminary judgment is that a rock from a high place was washed down by the heavy rain, and the huge impact hit the person's neck, causing the head and neck to separate."

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"I asked Wu Lan to come over. Based on her experience as a coroner, Zhou Ran's cause of death is almost consistent with my analysis."

"He was hit by a huge rock that suddenly rolled down from a great height, instantly breaking his neck."

Jiao Niang's voice was slightly low: "It's just that we are all very confused as to why Zhou Ran appeared there, and why he clearly knew there was no sign of him escaping or struggling. It was as if... he was standing there, watching his head being smashed off."

"However, we did not find any drug residue or signs of binding on the body."

"To be exact, I didn't see any ropes used to tie people up."

Wang Shang frowned: "So, there are signs of being tied up on his body."

“I’m not sure…” Jiao Niang frowned. “Except for the relatively intact head, which can be identified as Zhou Ran, most of the body has rotted away.”

"However, Wu Lan said that Zhou Ran's body should have been relatively intact before it was corroded by maggots. It didn't look like it was smashed by rocks."

"It is very likely that his body was protected to a certain extent before his death."

"The cause of death was that the head was exposed and lacked protection, and the impact of the boulder caused it to break directly."

Wang Shang frowned in thought.

"Normally, even if a person is hit by a boulder, their head will not be separated from their body. Most of the time, they will only suffer huge skull injuries and internal organ injuries."

"unless……"

Jiao Niang looked at Wang Shang, and they both said in unison: "He is fixed there!"

"I watched helplessly as a huge rock rolled down from a great height, smashing his head off his neck and sending it flying."

Wang Shang said “hmm”.

Jiao Niang said in a deep voice: "Wulan said that the person might have been buried alive, but she still needs to do a more detailed inspection and investigation for the specific situation."

"If he was buried alive, Zhou Ran might have died before the boulder rolled down."

"The murderer just wanted to fake his death from falling rocks..."

Jiao Niang's voice was silent for a moment, and she looked up at Wang Shang.

Wang Shang looked back at her, and they were obviously thinking of the same thing.

"Back then, we intended to fake the story of Sang Jingwan and her husband dying from falling rocks."


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