Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 179 The Origin of the Golden Ball
As Wu Qingshan spoke, he clenched his fists even tighter.

“It wasn’t until my mother came back at night and said she had never seen my father that I realized he might have encountered something and went out to look for him. As a result, I found my father’s sachet in a corner near the Wu family’s house.”

As Wu Qingshan spoke, he took a sachet from his waist.

This sachet is different from ordinary embroidered pouches; it is made of leather and looks like a small ball. When you get close, you can smell the fragrance of locust flowers inside.

“This is it. I searched for three whole days but couldn’t find it, so I went to the Court of Justice to report it to the authorities. At that time, He Tingshi, the Right Court Clerk, was on duty and left a file. The Court of Justice posted a missing person notice, but they still couldn’t find my father, and the matter was eventually dropped.”

With transportation difficult, war still raging, and bandits lurking in the mountains, many people like Fanfan have suddenly disappeared.

Like those children abducted by kidnappers, they are gone and never heard from returning.

“After that, my mother fell seriously ill. She regretted that she had entered the Wu family because of my becoming an official, which led to my father’s untimely death. After my father passed away, my stepmother, Wang, and my elder brother, Wu Jiandao, could not tolerate my mother and me, so I took my mother and left the Wu family.”

As Wu Qingshan spoke, his expression was inexplicably complicated, and he gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"It's ironic, but it was because I reported my father's disappearance to the Court of Justice that I gained Guan Youping's appreciation and was recommended by him to work as a clerk in the Court of Justice."

Wu Qingshan raised her eyes and looked at Zhou Zhao. "Zhou Zhao, although it seems that my mother is the most likely murderer now, she would never kill my father. Not to mention that they were in love, my mother would not kill my father for my future."

"Zhou Zhao, summon my mother to the Court of Justice. Once you've met her, you'll know she's definitely not the murderer!"

Zhou Zhao listened, seemingly lost in thought.

She looked at Wu Qingshan, who had a worried expression, and said, "As an official of the Court of Judicial Review, you should know that we cannot rely on your side of the story when handling cases. Judging from the murderer's modus operandi, you and your mother are both suspects."

That being said, Wu Qingshan's point was not without merit.

With Wu Heng dead, Wu Qingshan and her son lost their only support. They could foresee being kicked out of the house, and all of Ju Niang's years of enduring humiliation and planning would come to naught.

If Ju Niang was the murderer, why did she hate Wu Heng so much that she not only killed him but also skinned him and hid his skin inside a ball to be kicked around and subjected to all sorts of humiliating acts?

If neither Ju Niang nor Wu Qingshan are the murderers, then there is a third person by Wu Heng's side who could have done this.

"But rest assured, if you and your son are the murderers, I will definitely bring you to justice; if you are not, I, Zhou Zhao, will not wrong any innocent person."

Wu Qingshan nodded heavily as he listened to Zhou Zhao's words.

Zhou Zhao saw trust in his eyes.

"Besides you and your mother, are there any other descendants in your maternal grandfather's lineage? Can you think of a third person who could do those things?"

Wu Qingshan pursed his lips, pondered for a moment, and then shook his head heavily.

“I heard my mother say that my maternal grandfather had three disciples. The eldest disciple was named He Bian, who was originally chosen as my mother’s childhood sweetheart, with the intention of him becoming her son-in-law and inheriting his craft. The second disciple was named Chen Tao, who was skilled in engraving, and his family originally made a living carving tombstones for people.”

My maternal grandfather, seeing his extraordinary talent and skillful hands, took him on as his second apprentice. The third was my mother. However, my maternal grandfather, along with two senior apprentices, went to make funerary objects for a nobleman and never returned. That left only my mother in that lineage.

Zhou Zhao frowned. Just when there was a way out, Wu Qingshan blocked it again.

"Who were they going to make funerary objects for? How can you be sure they died in the tomb? Are there other capable people who could do such a thing?"

Wu Qingshan's heart sank to the bottom. His lips moved, and he looked up at Zhou Zhao. "Zhou Zhao, I know what to say that will benefit me and my mother. But I believe in you. You will definitely clear my mother and my name."

They died in their graves, I heard it from my mother. There are many skilled craftsmen in this world, not just our family. But only my maternal grandfather's lineage could create perfectly fitting bamboo frames that could flawlessly support a human face. And that…”

Wu Qingshan paused for a long time, his lips seeming to be burned, before finally saying, "And I can smell the medicine on that face; it is indeed my family's ancestral secret medicine. There is more than one way to prevent a corpse from decaying in this world, but each method is unique."

Zhou Zhao gave Wu Qingshan a deep look.

Good heavens! This is practically condemning his mother to death!
If you didn't know better, you'd think Wu Qingshan was some kind of karmic wretch!

Thinking this, she gave Su Changying a look. Su Changying nodded, escorted Wu Qingshan out, and then arranged for Han Ze to summon Wu Qingshan's mother, Ju Niang. After that, she brought in the flustered Ji Yun.

Ji Yun's face was deathly pale, and he looked extremely weak. Clearly, the sight of a human face kicking out of the ball had terrified him.

As soon as he entered the room, he reached out to take Zhou Zhao's hand.

"Zhou Zhao!"

His grab missed Zhou Zhao, but instead landed on Su Changying's hard arm. He shrank back, as if pricked by a needle, and quickly withdrew his hand. Su Changying's eyes were terrifying; if he had touched the hem of Zhou Zhao's clothes, he could have killed him, leaving only the hem of his garment.

Thinking it over, Ji Yun hurriedly took off his money pouch and dumped it all onto the table. He said in a tearful voice, "Zhou Zhao, I really don't know! I donated money to the Court of Judicial Review, so much money! Please let me out! I didn't kill anyone!"

My apologies! I have no idea how there were people in there..."

As Ji Yun spoke, her hands trembled, "If I had known, I wouldn't have kicked it! It's bad karma, it will affect my fortune..."

Zhou Zhao stared blankly at the large gold ingot on the table and listened to Ji Yun's words.

She rolled her eyes at Ji Yun, thinking that while the Northern Army was looking for Ju Niang, she could ask Ji Yun about the ball first.

"Where did you get that golden ball? When did you get it? Explain everything clearly, word for word."

Ji Yun took a deep breath and saw that Zhou Zhao didn't even look at the gold ingots on the table. "Are there really people in this world who regard money as dirt? You weren't like this when we met at the Court of Justice!"

At that time, he even used gold ingots to buy Zhou Zhao's top-ranking lottery ticket.

As he spoke, he looked into Zhou Zhao's sharp eyes, shuddered, and dared not let his mind wander any further.

“I’ve recently taken a liking to Cuju (ancient Chinese football). This ball was bought at a high price by my father from Duobaoge. It’s one of the six balls that Shenxiao used back then, and each one is worth a thousand gold pieces. I thought it was too dusty, so I added a gold cover to it.”