Traditionelle Chinesische Medizin

Kapitel 27

He Bi frowned, and with the hilt of his knife in hand, he quickly flung open the courtyard gate and slipped inside.

.

Four lanterns hung high on the door and eaves, making the entire courtyard very bright. However, looking at the scene before them, the four of them were stunned, like wooden statues.

Three corpses were lying on the ground!

On the ground closest to the door, two girls who looked like maids lay on their sides. Their young faces held the expressions of their dying moments: fear and panic. They must have wanted to escape but didn't have time. They had both been killed by a single sword through the heart. It seemed that the murderer couldn't bear to cause them too much pain.

The next moment.

Four pairs of eyes simultaneously turned to another corpse not far away.

She wore a purple top and a bright red skirt. She lay on her back, and on her familiar face, her once bright and lively eyes had lost their sparkle, staring blankly with a hint of fear and resentment.

From his chest to the ground around him, there was dark red blood that had not yet fully congealed.

Willow smoke!

Liu Yanyan is dead too!

The four stood there, speechless for a long time.

.

Finally, He Bi looked at Li You and said coldly, "It's a sword wound."

Li You clenched his fists, staring silently at the corpse on the ground. Beneath his long eyelashes, a rare rage flickered in his eyes. He had witnessed countless innocent deaths throughout his life, and no matter the circumstances, he always maintained a calm and collected mind, analyzing the situation with composure. Who would have thought that he would ever lose control like this?

The reason is simple, yet strange: it's harder to forgive a friend's mistake than someone else's.

“This definitely wasn’t his intention,” Nangong Xue suddenly patted his shoulder, then looked at the corpse on the ground, her face darkening. “We’ve ruined her. What did she know…”

Unfortunately, the dead will never have the chance to speak again...

Half a day.

Yang Nianqing, her face pale, said softly, "Shall we... go?"

He Bi nodded: "Go back first, I'll go to the yamen tomorrow."

Li You didn't say a word, and turned to leave.

Nangong Xue glanced at He Bi and shook her head. Just as the four of them were about to step out of the courtyard, a slender figure suddenly rushed in from outside.

"Who's here!" came a sweet, crisp voice.

.

The four of them were stunned; something unbelievable had happened!

Another Liu Yanyan!

Big eyes, small mouth, and the same purple blouse and red skirt.

Seeing that it was the four of them again, Liu Yanyan's expression turned somewhat displeased. However, when she saw the three corpses on the ground, a look of fear quickly rose on her beautiful face.

"Xiaoqiao? Xiaoyue!" Nannan was stunned for a long time. When she came to her senses, she immediately rushed towards the woman on the ground who looked exactly like her, crying out, "Sister! Sister! What's wrong with you..."

Sister? Which one is Liu Yanyan?

The four were speechless.

.

After a long while, Liu Yanyan finally stopped crying and stood up, her eyes red. She grabbed He Bi and dragged him outside, shouting, "You bastards! You couldn't get any information out of me, yet you dared to kill someone! Come on, let's go see the magistrate! I'll make you pay for my sister's life!"

He Bi glanced at her but didn't say anything.

Seeing that she couldn't move him, Liu Yanyan cried out again, "Murder! Quick—"

However, she could only utter half a sentence before she could no longer make a sound.

Li You let out a long breath, looked at her and shook his head: "Miss, why don't you listen to me say a few words first?"

Although Liu Yanyan's pressure points were sealed, she still glared at everyone with resentment in her eyes and an angry expression. It seemed that she had already decided that these four people were the murderers.

Yang Nianqing hurriedly explained, "Don't misunderstand, we definitely didn't kill your sister."

After saying that, she immediately pointed to the three people next to her: "His name is He Bi, and his name is Li You. You must have heard of them, right? 'Why bother finding a reason'—how could the number one detective kill someone? Also, that's Brother Nangong Xue. Do you know about the bloodbath at Nangong Villa? We're here to investigate the case. How could we harm your sister?"

Celebrities are indeed different. Upon hearing these names, Liu Yanyan's gaze indeed shifted from anger to surprise. She stared at everyone with wide eyes for a long time, then looked at He Bi suspiciously, seemingly disbelieving.

Li You didn't say anything, but patted He Bi on the shoulder, and a black iron plate appeared in his hand.

Nangong Xue smiled and said, "I've heard that Miss Liu is exceptionally skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Even if you don't believe us, you should at least recognize the words on this sign."

Liu Yanyan stared at the iron plate for a long time before finally exclaiming, "You really are..."

She paused again, because she discovered that she could speak and shout again.

.

He Bi looked at her, his voice unusually less cold: "You must have heard about the massacre at Nangong Villa. I wonder how many more people will lose their lives in the future. Are you still unwilling to tell the truth?"

Liu Yanyan was stunned for a moment, then squatted down next to the corpse and started crying again: "If you hadn't come looking for me, my sister wouldn't have died. It's all your fault..."

Everyone fell silent.

Nangong Xue looked at the woman on the ground: "Your sister knows martial arts?"

“I was separated from my parents when I was little, and my older sister only found me half a year ago,” Liu Yanyan said, her eyes red. “My sister’s surname is Zhao, her name is Zhao Xiaochun, and she knows kung fu…”

Who would have thought they were twin sisters!

Yang Nianqing suddenly realized why Liu Yanyan's martial arts skills were sometimes present and sometimes absent. It seemed that the one who beat the servant sent by Madam Zhang to the point of vomiting blood and finding her teeth that day must have been this Miss Zhao Xiaochun.

Nangong Xue sighed sadly: "It was our fault for coming to find you. Now... take good care of yourselves."

After saying that, he slowly bent down and placed two silver ingots next to her, then straightened up and looked at Li You: "Brother Li, perhaps we were really wrong."

Li You remained silent, but his face grew even paler.

Nangong Xue patted his shoulder, and the four of them started to walk out.

"etc!"

.

Liu Yanyan wiped away her tears, stood up, glared at everyone, and shouted, "You killed my sister, and you think you can just walk away like this?"

silence.

"What does Miss Liu wish us to do?"

"Avenge my sister!" Liu Yanyan walked over, pointing at the four men one by one, and said hatefully, "If you don't avenge my sister, I, your grandma, will not let you off!"

“Of course,” Nangong Xue nodded, “Even if you don’t tell us, we will definitely investigate this case thoroughly.”

"The truth will come out?" Liu Yanyan snorted coldly. "You know nothing, how can the truth come out?"

Everyone was speechless.

Half a day.

"Come in and talk." As soon as she finished speaking, she ignored the four of them and turned to walk into the house.

.

Lifting the embroidered curtain, Yang Nianqing immediately felt a wave of warmth wash over her. The room wasn't large, but the furnishings were exquisite and luxurious, showing that Zhang Mingchu was indeed very generous to this Miss Liu Yanyan.

Liu Yanyan didn't stand on ceremony and sat down without offering her a seat, so everyone had to find their own places to sit.

"You think I killed Zhang Mingchu?"

Nangong Xue shook her head and said, "Of course not now."

Liu Yanyan didn't care: "You want to ask about that letter?"

He Bi nodded: "That's right."

“That was written by my sister. Half a year ago, Zhang Mingchu took me out of Baoyue Tower and settled me in this old willow alley, the third courtyard next door. At the time, I thought I had finally found my place and urged him to marry me as soon as possible, but who knew…”

At this point, her expression turned somewhat indignant: "Who knew that his wife was notoriously formidable, so I was never able to enter his house. In a fit of anger, I left with my sister. My sister didn't like him to begin with, saying he was unreliable. In order to stop him from bothering me, she wrote that letter in my name, telling him that if he came looking for me again, she would not be polite to him."

“It is this letter,” Nangong Xue nodded. “Did he find you later?”

"I was just trying to annoy him, so he easily found me. My sister advised me to ignore it, but he sweet-talked me, saying he would definitely take me in as his wife later, so..."

At this point, she suddenly blushed and lowered her head, remaining silent.

"So you believed him," Li You smiled slightly, changing the subject, "I wonder what happened next?"

Liu Yanyan looked at him gratefully and whispered, "Later, that very night, he was supposed to stay here for drinks, but around midnight, someone came looking for him. He went out and chatted with that person for a few minutes, and then the person left. I just thought he was an ordinary friend. But when he came in, he didn't even finish his drinks and was in a hurry to leave, saying that an important person had something to discuss with him."

Li You immediately asked, "Miss Liu, do you remember what that person looked like?"

Liu Yanyan shook her head, recalling, "I was in the inner room at the time and couldn't go out, so I didn't see him. I only vaguely heard through the wall that they had agreed on the second day of the lunar new year."

"The second day of the lunar new year?" He Bi looked at Li You and Nangong Xue. "The beginning of the month is probably the day he went missing."

Nangong Xue frowned: "Didn't he notice you were inside?"

“At the time, Zhang Mingchu only said that I had already gone to sleep. The man vaguely said that the matter was urgent and must not be revealed,” Liu Yanyan said. “Since the news of Zhang Mingchu’s death came the day before yesterday, I also suspected that he was the one who did it. I thought that if I still lived there, he might come back and find out about me and do something bad to me. So I discussed it with my sister and we moved here.”

Nangong Xue nodded: "Master Zhang has a wide circle of friends, but since he's a friend, the servants should also recognize him. Did any of Master Zhang's servants see him that day?"

Liu Yanyan lowered her head: "He never brings servants when he comes to my place. Madam Zhang keeps a close eye on him. It just so happens that Xiaoqiao and Xiaoyue went back that day, so no one else knows about this."

silence.

.

Liu Yanyan suddenly looked up and said loudly, "But I remember his voice."

Everyone was overjoyed.

Yang Nianqing immediately asked, "Who is it? Do you know them?"

Liu Yanyan seemed puzzled as well: "I don't know why, but when I was inside, I didn't think much of it. Now that you've brought it up, thinking about it carefully, I feel like I've heard that voice somewhere before..."

After thinking for a while, she still shook her head: "I can't remember which one it is."

Yang Nianqing was both amused and exasperated.

He Bi and the other two looked at each other and stood up.

"Thank you, Miss Liu. If you need anything, please feel free to come to the Suixin Inn to find us," Nangong Xue said with a smile, but her phoenix eyes were filled with sadness. "You're all alone..."