True Or False

Yun Nianyao…was murdered by Madam Ji?

That statement from Madam Ji had successfully drawn everyone’s attention. The runners with wooden handcuffs stopped walking toward Gao Zhuo and found a spot near Madam Ji instead.

Since she had already said so, Madam Ji had no regrets. Her expression was calm and her speech was flat, “You just need to search my room and you’ll know.”

The runners were stunned and looked at the officials in charge of the case.

Things had changed too quickly and Governor Li dared not say anything at this point. He glanced at Zhao Zhi and motioned to him to say something.

Zhao Zhi scoffed, then pointed a finger to motion to the runners to go ahead.

He was going to wait and see what sort of drama would unfold next!

Everyone’s expressions were filled with confusion. Wasn’t the killer Gao Zhuo? How did everything change in the blink of an eye?

Everything happened too quickly and the crowd was still in shock. But Gao Zhuo’s soul seemed to have returned to him.

He glared sinisterly at Madam Ji, “It was…you? You killed Yaoyao?”

“That’s right!” Madam Ji’s lips curved upward slightly, but tears came rolling down her cheeks “It’s been so many years, but you only have eyes for her and all you see is her! Do you know what I’ve done for you? Everything you’ve done for her, I can do them too! And I can do more!”

“Do you know why she likes the peach blossoms in the west mountains? That’s because I was the one who told her about them! She’s always at home and doesn’t know where the peach blossoms are the prettiest. But you like that place and I’ve been there so many times too, yet you’ve never even cast a glance at me. I went just once with her and you saw me. You only made a bit of small talk with me and ignored me after that, but the fact that you saw me and talked to me made me very happy already.”

“In the hot summer, you got water from Qingliang Temple for her. But do you know where the water in YOUR tea comes from? Did you know how hard it was for a lady like me to get you to drink a mouthful of the water I had drawn for you?”

“You know she writes songs and worries about her daughter. What about me? In the freezing winter, you know every location where she’s made a snowman, but did you know who prepared the hot soup waiting in your horse carriage after you’d almost frozen over from looking at her in the snow? Do you know who made the mink coat that keeps you warm?!”

Madam Ji wiped her tears away and her voice was hoarse, “When she married Qi Zhaoyuan, I was happier than anybody else in the world, because I thought I would finally have a chance. But when I went to visit you, you were drunk because of her and you even said that you wouldn’t want me regardless of whether I was a beautiful fairy or an ugly toad! You said that even if you could never have her, you would continue to wait for her!”

“Because of you, I allowed my reputation to suffer and I ended up having to marry someone far from the capital. You never offered to send me off and you didn’t even look at me. When she married Qi Zhaoyuan, that was none of your business! Yet, you drank bottle after bottle of wine and didn’t sleep the whole night…”

“That’s not fair! It’s not fair, Gao Zhuo!!”

“Why should you waste your life away because of her? Before she got married, she had you wrapped round her finger, and after she got married, it was still the same! And for the sake of her happiness, you couldn’t stay in Bianliang anymore and you ended up in this tiny, accursed place! Why!”

“This whole tragedy was caused by her! She deserved to die! She should have died long ago!”

Gao Zhuo’s fingers were trembling violently by this point, “So, because you were jealous, you…killed Yaoyao?”

Madam Ji’s tears were still flowing, “That’s right! Because I was jealous! Because you would never even look at me! But you’re finally looking at me now!”

Gao Zhuo fell back onto the ground like all his energy had left him. He buried his face in his hands and sounded even more upset, “So, Yaoyao died because of me…I’m the one who deserves to die…I’m the one who deserves to die!!”

He reached out to grab the knife at Qi Zhaoyuan’s belt, “I deserve to die! So, kill me! Kill me!”

Madam Ji kicked Gao Zhuo so hard in the waist, he went rolling, “Why don’t you get it? I’m the one who killed her, not you!”

What a mess.

Song Caitang raised an eyebrow and glanced at Zhao Zhi.

Zhao Zhi nodded slightly. She could go ahead and do what she was thinking of doing.

Song Caitang knew what to do.

The change in expression of everyone here was exciting to watch and it was clear that everyone had their own agenda, but this was not the way to crack a case.

Coroner Sun and Judge Guo were exceptionally silent. They had been slapped very hard in the face and didn’t want to speak for the time being.

Very good.

Song Caitang took a few steps forward and asked Madam Ji, “You said you were the one who killed Yun Nianyao.”

Madam Ji had an icy smile on her face, “So what if I did?”

“You were the one who poisoned Yun Nianyao?”

Madam Ji’s lips curved upward into a contemptuous smile, “It’s just castor beans.” She sneered at the men in the crowd, “Don’t bother yourself with these useless men. You’re a woman, so always remember this – never look down on gatherings between women. You’ll gain a lot of useful connections and learn how to take control of things. Castor beans are something new, so the men don’t know anything about them, but I can get my hands on them.”

“Oh?” Song Caitang did not refute her, “Then pray tell, where did you buy these castor beans from, who bought them, how many did you buy, how many did you use, and are there any left?”

Madam Ji adjusted her hair with a calm expression on her face, “You’ve asked me so many questions. Which one should I answer first?”

Song Caitang smiled and did not press her for answers, “I’m very curious about the entire process. How did you kill Yun Nianyao?”

“I’m very close to her and you can say we’re best friends. After all, I can only get more attention from Gao Zhuo if I spend more time with her.” Madam Ji glanced at Gao Zhuo, “Yun Nianyao was a very kindhearted girl and always thought the best of everyone around her. Once I was nicer to her, she stopped being wary of me.”

“I’d wanted to kill her for a long time. I know that she always slept early and did not allow her maid to stay in the same room as herself while she slept, so I just kept waiting for a chance. On the 8^th day of the 2^nd month, there was suddenly light in her room. And why would a pregnant woman wake up in the middle of the night? She must be hungry. I happened to have made some sweet fermented rice balls in the evening but Gao Zhuo didn’t want any, so I added the beans to it and gave it to her.”

Song Caitang’s gaze flickered slightly, “You put the poison in the sweet fermented rice balls and poisoned Yun Nianyao to death.”

Madam Ji nodded and said resolutely, “That’s right.”

“She didn’t struggle?”

“She trusted me so much, so why would she struggle?”

“Where did you feed the poison to her?”

“Pregnant women aren’t very strong and even have their meals in bed. She died on the bed so of course I fed her on the bed.”

There was no need to continue asking. Madam Ji was definitely not the real killer.

Song Caitang glanced at Zhao Zhi.

He had arrived at the same conclusion. His gaze was nasty and his expression was worse.

By now, Governor Zhang realised what was going on. He narrowed his eyes and asked Madam Ji, “On the night of the 8^th day of the 2^nd month, what time did you go to the victim’s room, what did you see along your way there, did you hear any commotion? And why did you bury the bowl used to hold the sweet fermented rice balls in front of Gao Zhuo’s residence? Don’t you like him very much? Why did you frame him then?”

Question after question was asked, but Madam Ji couldn’t answer them and she decided to not answer at all. She glanced at him with a scoff, “If you have to ask me for all the answers, then why do we bother having so many officials on the case? Aren’t you supposed to know how to crack cases? Coroner Sun and Judge Guo always think they’re so clever, so why don’t you ask them to make conjectures about what really happened?”

Coroner Sun could sense that something wasn’t quite right, so the first thing he did was to push it to someone else, “The one in charge of the body examination is Miss Song.”

Madam Ji snorted, “I thought you didn’t accept the results of her examination? I thought you said you relied on your experience and actual capability to crack cases? You don’t accept what she says, so why should I?”

“In any case, I’m the one who killed her and I’m turning myself in right now. If you’re that capable, then go ahead and tell me what the facts of the case are! If you’re not, then hurry up and arrest me, and wait for a promotion to come your way!”

By this time, the runners who had gone to search Madam Ji’s room had returned and they had brought some evidence with them.

Some of them were clearly Gao Zhuo’s paintings. Of course, they weren’t paintings of Yun Nianyao. They were paintings of mountains, rivers, fish, insects and so on, and they were filled with a free spirited energy. Both the paper and style looked like it had been around for some years, so these were probably Gao Zhuo’s early works that Madam Ji had secretly kept for herself.

The other thing besides the paintings that caught everyone’s attention was a ragdoll made from linen that wore a colourful dress and a white piece of paper pinned to the heart. There were bloodstains on the doll too.

This was a voodoo doll!

Madam Ji had used it to curse someone!

It was obvious whom she was cursing.

Who else would she hate this much other than Yun Nianyao?

Judging from the material of the doll, its luster and softness, it was clear that she must have been using it for a long time and very often. It couldn’t be something she had come up with recently.

Madam Ji had a motive for killing Yun Nianyao!

Nobody knew how to respond to this mess.

Madam Ji had turned herself in, but things weren’t very clear on Gao Zhuo’s side either. Especially that bowl used to contain the sweet fermented rice balls. It had been discovered at his residence but there was no clear explanation for it.

There wasn’t enough evidence to throw the two of them into jail, but their freedom had to be curtailed. It was no longer possible for them to move about freely or do whatever they wanted.

Each person had their own thoughts about the matter as they left. Song Caitang stood where she was and looked at the slightly orange ray of sunshine that shone through the branches and landed on the roof. Her gaze was wistful as she sighed quietly.

“What are you thinking about? Why do you look like some terrible thing has happened?”

Zhao Zhi walked over to where she was.

Song Caitang’s voice was a little unclear as the wind blew it to one side, “What…what exactly is this thing called love?”

She had to admit that it could be a lovely thing, but it seemed like it could be more torturous than lovely.

It was able to weave a huge maze around people and cause so many infatuated men and women to be trapped inside…

Even the most intelligent of people could become fools, become illogical and say and do things that didn’t make sense. Life went through ups and downs because of it, but life also became exciting and interesting as a result.

It sounded so troublesome.

“Who knows?”

The gentle breeze carried Zhao Zhi’s words to her, but they sounded faraway and unclear.

It seemed like he just happened to pass by and asked after her casually, but did not mean to actually talk to her. By the time he said these words, he had already walked a long way off. He didn’t turn back and didn’t stop walking. He just raised one large hand and waved it simply.

“There are so many things in the world to worry about already, so I’d advise Miss Song to stop dwelling on such things.”

Everyone had already left, so Song Caitang didn’t stick around for too long and left soon after.

She got back to her own residence just in time for dinner.

Qinxiu had already carried dinner over from Old Madam Li’s and laid the table when she saw that Song Caitang had returned. She bowed slightly and said, “Young Mistress, dinner is ready.”

She wasn’t sure if it was because she had seen too much of a romantic tragedy today, but Song Caitang couldn’t sleep well. She kept having dreams.

She dreamt of a lot of romances gone wrong. It was heartbreaking and she could even feel the pain in her bones.

In her dreams, she was just watching from the side. She felt like she was watching a touching movie as her emotions heaved up and down along with the events of her dream. She couldn’t find it in herself to harden her heart and had to cry and laugh during the different scenes and immersed her whole self in it.

But sometimes, she would feel like she was a character in this drama. She felt the sweetness of love and an excruciating pain when things went awry. These scenes weren’t scripted and acted out. She had gone through this herself.

This drama included her parents, her friends, her enemies, and…her lover.

Song Caitang literally woke up from fright.

She had lived long enough to know what sort of person she was and what she pursued in life. What the heck was love? How could she have something like a boyfriend?

Could this be…the life of the person who used to own this body?

Song Caitang sat up. She rested her head against her knees and hugged her head with both hands.

She felt like she had forgotten something very important.

But she couldn’t remember what it was.

After a long time, she let out a long sigh, then put on a coat and got out of bed.

It was now the end of the month, so the watery moonlight was gone and her sense of security seemed to disappear as well. She felt so much discomfort after waking up.

Thankfully, the temperature was no longer as terrifying low as before.

Song Caitang pulled the coat around herself properly, then carefully and silently walked out from her residence and headed northward…

It was very quiet at night and her surroundings were silent, so she could hear the sounds of gushing water and a waterfall from very far.

As she walked to the edge of the lake, she could feel the moisture in the air. Song Caitang could finally close her eyes and exhale contentedly.

That felt really good.

There was no bamboo raft on the lake and the water was very cold at night as well, so she reluctantly gave up the idea of going into the water. She picked up her skirts and sat down on a large rock by the lake instead.

Above her was the clear, starry skies, and below was the lake waters that reflected those starry skies. The gentle breeze brought the fragrance of spring flowers to her nose. The whole place was extremely quiet, so her heart quietened down as well.

She sincerely believed there was nothing more beautiful than this.

She sat by the water and looked at the dim, waning crescent moon for a long, long time.

“You’re really unstoppable, huh. You know very well that your life is in danger, but you still dare to come out here for an adventure,” a mocking voice rang out from behind her suddenly, “Is it really so difficult to avoid doing things that could get you killed?”

It was Zhao Zhi.

Zhao Zhi did not come near the water but stood a distance away and glared at her with folded arms.

Song Caitang was in a very good mood, so she didn’t want to quarrel with him, “The surveillance commissioner has come all the way here in the dead of the night…you’re here to look for me?”

He was afraid of water, yet he came all the way here. Obviously he needed to talk to her.

And if he needed to talk to her, it could only be about one thing.

“We’ve got some new clues somewhere?”

Zhao Zhi frowned and snapped stiffly, “Get off that rock first!”

Song Caitang looked down. She was still a good distance from the water, “You won’t fall in from here.”

Zhao Zhi insisted, “Get off the rock!”

He looked like he wasn’t going to talk until she got off the rock…

Song Caitang sighed and had no choice but to slide off the rock and walk over to where he was, “Is this better?”

Zhao Zhi nodded and looked less fierce now, “An Pengyi has confessed.”

Song Caitang raised an eyebrow and quickly understood what he was implying, “He seriously took something from the victim’s room?”

“Yep.”