Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Suddenly, An Siyang seemed to have made a firm decision. He walked up to Elder Zhang and Aunt Li's cell door and said slowly, "I just came from the Li Family with the prince! Li Da Tou's body has already been taken to the funeral home. The coroner has examined it, and although there are snakebite wounds on his body, he indeed died from snake venom. However, the real time of his poisoning was this morning. Someone among you applied the snake venom to his wounds after the resurrection incident this morning, causing his death. So if you know anything and still refuse to speak up, we will have no choice but to ask the prince to preside over the trial!"
"What did you say?" Aunt Li suddenly lunged toward the cell door. "He’s dead? Li Da Tou is dead?"
"By asking like that, you're admitting that Li Da Tou faked his death, aren't you?"
Li Zimu furrowed his brows. "What about the motive? What was the motive?" His eyes were filled with confusion as he tried to find clues in Aunt Li's reaction.
"I know! Your Highness, Captain An, I know!" Elder Zhang raised his hand, looking frustrated. "This matter goes back to the day Li Da Tou was bitten by a snake. That day, I heard that he had been bitten to death by a snake and thought there would be business opportunities, so I went to find his wife. Little did I know that when I got to the Li Family, I found out that Li Da Tou had been bitten by a water snake and was actually fine. I was puzzled at first, but then Li Da Tou insisted that I help him. He said he owed a huge debt at the gambling house and couldn’t repay it, so he wanted to fake his death to escape his creditors and trick some money in silk as well. He promised me five taels of silver as a reward once it was done." He shook his head in regret as he spoke.
"So you went along with their act? Since all funerary matters go through you anyway, as long as you cooperated, Li Da Tou could lie in the coffin for two days without any issues, right?" An Siyang shook his head. "And those coffin nails—you intentionally used single-foot nails so he wouldn't suffocate inside and could escape when you and the Eight Immortals went up the mountain for the burial the next morning, right?" His gaze was sharp as he scrutinized Elder Zhang.
Elder Zhang nodded, tears streaming down his face. "Captain An, I've been one of the Eight Immortals my whole life, from eighteen to sixty-eight years old. Although I've occasionally taken small things from corpses out of necessity, I've never done anything like this for profit! It wasn't until that wretched woman caused such a ruckus at the yamen that I suspected they were trying to swindle me. That's why I incited everyone to make a fuss—thinking if things escalated, that wretched woman wouldn't get what she wanted either. I never expected it would lead to a prisoner escaping or that Li Da Tou would actually die!"
As he spoke, he suddenly knelt on the ground before An Siyang, crawling toward him. "Captain An, you must help me! I was just momentarily blinded by greed for those five taels of silver and did something shameful and harmful! This must have been that wretched woman's doing! She was the only one who touched Li Da Tou's body from start to finish; she must be the murderer!" He pointed angrily at Aunt Li, his face filled with rage and grievance.
He Xinluo looked in shock at Aunt Li. She was frantically clawing at the cell door, shaking her head while murmuring, "No... Li Da Tou... he can't be dead... it's impossible..." Her eyes were filled with despair and pain as if she had fallen into an endless abyss.
After seeing Li Da Tou's corpse with her own eyes, Aunt Li's face grew increasingly pale but she still refused to give up hope. She lunged forward and tore off the white cloth covering Li Da Tou's body. Leaning close to listen at his chest, she confirmed that all she could hear was her own frantic heartbeat echoing in her ears. Unable to hold back any longer, she collapsed onto the ground like a rag doll, pounding her fists heavily against Li Da Tou's corpse: "You dead ghost! Get up! Get up now!" Her voice echoed with despair and sorrow in the funeral home.
"Aunt Li, please don’t do this..." He Xinluo felt compassion stir within her and stepped forward to help lift Aunt Li off the ground. But just as she moved, An Siyang reached out and pulled her back gently. He shook his head slightly, using his eyes to signal her not to intervene.
"Li Da Tou was a compulsive gambler who made your life miserable because of it. This time he even resorted to faking his death to escape debt. But you didn’t want to continue living such a turbulent life with him anymore; so you decided to kill him instead—didn't you?"
Li Zimu had just finished speaking when he noticed He Xinluo glaring at him fiercely, her eyes filled with discontent.
He Xinluo said angrily, "Aunt Li is this heartbroken; how could she possibly be the culprit?"
Comment 0 Comment Count