Starting with a beautiful woman's private doctor

"Shut up, all of you!"

When Grandpa Ming spoke again, the courtyard fell completely silent.

He glanced at Chu Nan, his voice turning serious: "Dr. Chu, since you can diagnose the illness, you must also know how to perform this Soul Separation Curse and what kind of leverage it would leave behind, right?"

Chu Nan spoke frankly, "If the Soul Separation Curse is cast by a high-level sorcerer, it can take a person's life within seven days."

"The eldest son was in a coma for three months, which means that his soul and two spirits left his body. It is most likely that an ordinary person used magic to create this."

"And for ordinary people to use objects to perform magic is not so simple. They must make a straw doll with more than ten strands of their own hair, then use blood from their fingertips as a medium, and then pierce the straw doll with a silver needle that has been enchanted."

"If you find a straw doll with three or four silver needles stuck in it in someone's room, you can determine who is secretly casting the spell."

As Old Master Ming listened, his expression grew increasingly grim.

The moment Chu Nan finished speaking, he called out towards the courtyard gate, "Xiao Jiang."

A thin young man slipped in from outside the courtyard gate.

He was dressed in a dark gray outfit and had an ordinary face; he wouldn't attract much attention in a crowd.

But he moved extremely fast, landing silently, and it only took him two steps from the courtyard gate to Grandpa Ming.

He knelt on one knee and said nothing.

"check!"

Old Master Ming said with a cold look in his eyes, "Search the entire Ming family and find out whose room is hiding the straw doll."

"Father, why are you investigating your own family?"

Mingyan acknowledged the urgency and took a step forward, "What Doctor Chu said was only a possibility—"

"Shut up, you idiot!"

Mingyan pointed to his face, incredulous, "I...I'm an idiot?"

"If you were half as smart as your older brother, I wouldn't have only let you manage such a small amount of business!"

"Dad, I admit I can't compare to my older brother, but you can't call me stupid!" Ming Yancheng was clearly unconvinced.

Ming Yanxuan, who was standing to the side, couldn't stand it anymore. "Second brother, stop talking. Isn't what Doctor Chu said obvious enough?"

"Obviously? What's so obvious?" Ming Yancheng still looked completely bewildered.

Ming Yanzhao reminded him from the side, "For an ordinary person to cast this Soul Separation Curse, they need ten strands of my elder brother's hair, and even blood from his fingertip. Do you think such intimate items are something an outsider could obtain?"

"Besides our closest servants, only our own family members can touch our elder brother's hair. Even the blood from his fingertips—"

Ming Yancheng slapped his thigh. "Damn it, I never thought there really was a thief in the family! If we catch which servant did it, I'll tear him to pieces!"

Ming Yanxuan and Ming Yanzhao looked at each other and shook their heads helplessly.

The servants might be able to get the hair, but what about the blood from the fingertips?

This is something only extremely close people could do, and their siblings would certainly not do such a thing.

Who else could have done this?

Chu Nan had his own thoughts, but since this involved the Ming family's affairs, he felt it was inconvenient for him to stay any longer.

Just as I was about to say goodbye, a series of noisy footsteps suddenly came from outside the courtyard gate.

Xiao Jiang walked in from outside, grabbing a woman's hair with one hand and dragging her inside.

"Innocent! I'm innocent!"

The woman was dragged along, howling and crying out for justice.

Her voice was shrill and urgent, particularly jarring in the quiet courtyard.

Xiao Jiang walked up to Old Master Ming, threw the woman to the ground, and then took out a straw doll with needles stuck in it from his pocket and handed it over with both hands.

The straw figure was only the size of a palm, woven from dried straw, with a strand of black hair wrapped around it. Three silver needles were stuck in its chest, and dark red marks remained on the tips of the needles.

"Xiao Jiang, why did you bring your sister-in-law here?"

Ming Yancheng looked on incredulously. He turned to Old Master Ming, "Father, could there be a mistake? This is my sister-in-law! How could she harm my brother?"

The woman knelt on the ground, grabbing Old Master Ming's trouser leg. "Dad! Dad, you have to do justice for me! I have no idea what happened!"

"Xiao Jiang rushed into my room and dragged me over without saying a word. I... I'm innocent! How could I possibly harm Wen Ge? He's my husband!"

The woman was very beautiful. Although she was older, she was very well-maintained, with fair skin and delicate features. She looked to be in her early thirties at most.

Chu Nan looked at her and felt that her face looked familiar, but he couldn't remember who she was for a moment.

Grandpa Ming looked at the straw figure, then at the woman, and said nothing, just staring at her.

The woman was still crying and shouting that she was innocent.

Ming Yancheng chimed in, "Yes, Father, what my sister-in-law says makes sense. What good would it do her if my brother died?"

"It's not like she doesn't have sons; Tianbao is your grandson! Tianbao will inherit the Ming family business in the future, so how could my sister-in-law cut off her own path?"

Ming Yanxuan and Ming Yanzhao's expressions changed, and they both reached out to pull Ming Yancheng.

Ming Yancheng was still confused and wanted to ask them why they were stopping him.

But before he could finish speaking, Ming Yanxuan and Ming Yanzhao covered his mouth tightly.

The woman seized the opportunity to continue her performance, echoing Ming Yancheng's words, "Yes, Dad, how could I possibly harm Wen-ge? What will happen to Tianbao if Wen-ge falls ill?"

"I'm just a woman, don't I still rely on Brother Wen and you for support? What good would it do me to harm Brother Wen?"

Grandpa Ming remained silent, sitting in his wheelchair with a somber expression, only slightly raising his chin towards Xiao Jiang.

Xiao Jiang understood and walked behind the woman.

His movements were very gentle; he pressed down on the woman's left knee with his left hand, supported her ankle with his right hand, and then twisted his wrist.

With a crisp "crack," the woman's left leg bent at an unnatural angle.

"what!"

The woman's body suddenly stiffened, her hands gripping the blue bricks on the ground tightly, her fingernails flipping up and bleeding.

Cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead, trickling down his cheeks and dripping onto his collar.

Her lips were bitten until they turned white, and her teeth chattered together.

"I didn't do it! Old Master, you can't do this! You're forcing a confession! If word gets out, what will become of the Ming family's reputation!"

Xiao Jiang looked up at Grandpa Ming, then moved to the other side of his right leg, his technique equally precise.

"Snap!"

"ah!!!"

This time the woman screamed even more pitifully, curling up into a ball like a shrimp whose shell had been crushed.

Her body was trembling violently, each breath a hoarse tremor, but she still managed to squeeze out the words through clenched teeth, "I didn't... I really didn't... I really didn't do it..."

Grandpa Ming looked at the woman on the ground and said, "You still have two arms, which means you have two more chances."

"You can wait until your limbs are broken before telling me the truth, or you can choose to have Xiao Jiang snap your neck while you're carrying the truth... and fall into eternal sleep!"