Ma femme escalade le mur

Chapitre 125

Master Zeng's sunken eyes flashed with a mad light in an instant: "I told you long ago, it was all my doing! The first person I killed was my own daughter! Who told her to be as despicable as her whore mother! She couldn't hold onto a peaceful life and insisted on climbing the social ladder! People bought her just to be a concubine, something to be discarded when they got tired of her, but she actually thought she'd struck gold and happily pounced on her. All women are the same, despicable!"

The curses were so vulgar and offensive that everyone frowned, yet they also grasped a crucial clue: the woman hadn't hanged herself, but had been strangled by this man surnamed Zeng. Li Qinglan shook her head repeatedly, her eyes filled with sorrow: "No matter how wrong she was, she was still your own child. As parents, it's one thing to fail to protect your children, but how could you be so cruel? It's utterly heartless."

Duan Chen frowned and stared at the man for a long time before calling Chu Hui and a constable out of the room. He gave them a few instructions, telling them to hurry to the prison to deliver a message. Back in the room, the troupe leader surnamed Zeng was recounting how he strangled his eldest daughter years ago, while Tao Hanzhi was quickly taking notes. Everyone in the room had a somber expression, and their gazes towards the man were filled with nothing but contempt and disgust.

Jiang Cheng, who was about to become a father, looked even more displeased as he listened to this person's account. He leaned close to Duan Chen's ear and whispered a complaint: "I think this person is even more abnormal than that Zhu Qiaosi back then! Although that girl acted impulsively, her intentions were still good. Unlike this one, he's simply utterly devoid of conscience..."

Duan Chen's expression was also somewhat indifferent as he replied softly, "In this world, there are always some people who are born evil. We don't understand their thoughts. Just like our own beliefs, no matter how much we teach or instill them, they will not accept them."

Duan Chen spoke very softly, afraid of disturbing the other person recording the case, but Zhao Ting, Zhan Yun, and Zhou Yufei still heard her clearly and all turned their gazes to her. Duan Chen then curled her lips into a faint smile, and the coldness between her brows faded considerably.

Jiang Cheng, who had a clear view of the situation, couldn't help but click his tongue and sigh softly, "It's been a year, Xiao Duan, you've changed a lot."

Duan Chen wasn't surprised by this remark; he simply smiled gently, his usually aloof eyes narrowing slightly, making him appear even more gentle. Outside, the sun shone brightly, cicadas chirped incessantly, and the fragrance of willows and flowers added a touch of brightness to his expression. Jiang Cheng stared in stunned silence for a moment, then shook his head and chuckled, his gaze towards Zhan Yun filled with admiration and appreciation.

Zhan Yun noticed the interaction between the two but didn't mind. When Jiang Cheng looked over, she returned a gentle smile and nodded slightly. Zhao Ting and Zhou Yufei opposite her also smiled, but their eyes held different expressions.

On the other side, Tao Hanzhi was writing furiously, glancing at the others occasionally. He smirked inwardly, thinking, "These kids are so leisurely, not even offering to help. What are they all busy doing, exchanging glances?" Finally, he gave Jiang Cheng a sly smile, "Wasn't it you who started this? I'll get Old Li to dock your pay!"

Jiang Cheng felt a chill run down his spine from Tao Hanzhi's laughter and quickly stopped talking. Soon, Jiang Cheng and the constable from before ran over. The two seemed to have received some news and stood in the courtyard gesturing to Duan Chen. Duan Chen hurriedly got up and ran out.

Sure enough, after telling the three men in the jail about Master Zeng turning himself in, the three of them couldn't contain themselves any longer. Although they couldn't yet determine which of the three was the real culprit, they were able to use this man surnamed Zeng to extract the most likely location where Zhu Qiaolian was hiding.

Even murderers have a soft spot for their own family. Just as Master Zeng took all the blame by kidnapping Zhu Qiaolian, the real murderer would also be eager to help the government find Zhu Qiaolian and wouldn't want the old man to take the fall for him. Duan Chen seized on this point, making the two sides check each other. He would find Zhu Qiaolian first, and then interrogate the real murderer later.

This family has only been in Hangzhou for about twenty days, and they've been preoccupied with their own livelihoods, so they couldn't possibly know much about the city. There are only a handful of places where a living person could possibly hide. Instead of having unrelated people search the entire city, it's better to have them confess, then search those few places one by one. That way, we're sure to find Zhu Qiaolian!

As expected, while they were inquiring about Master Zeng, all the constables in the government office split into three groups, along with Zhu Qiaolian's husband and her maid Bi'er, and went to three different places to search for Zhu Qiaolian's whereabouts. Just after noon, a group of people returned carrying a stretcher, followed by a doctor who had been temporarily brought over from a roadside clinic.

To Duan Chen's surprise, the person lying on the stretcher was not Zhu Qiaolian, but her husband, who had already fainted when they brought him back. It was said that when they arrived at the abandoned dilapidated house, a beam fell down, and in a moment of panic, the man rushed over to shield Zhu Qiaolian, seemingly breaking a leg. Whether he had any other injuries would only be known after the doctor's examination.

Zhu Qiaolian's pink dress was stained with mud, her hair was disheveled and her hairpins were askew, and her eyes were swollen like walnuts. At this moment, she was holding onto the man and wouldn't let go, sobbing and calling his name. Her former aloof and proud demeanor was nowhere to be seen.

The case was half solved. Duan Chen and the others then interrogated the three men separately. Surprisingly, the three men, who had been held separately, now seemed to have conspired to claim that they were the murderers. This left everyone speechless, both amused and exasperated. They had solved so many cases, but they had never seen anything like this before.

Duan Chen carefully examined the man who had lost his wife several years ago. After he finished speaking, she took out the eyebrow powder box from before and asked him, "Did you carve this plum blossom?"

The man hesitated for a moment, then quickly nodded. Everyone could clearly see the change in his expression. Tao Hanzhi then took out paper and pen and asked him to draw a flower on the spot.

Sure enough, it doesn't resemble the eyebrow powder box or the one on the flag.

Zhou Yufei, however, came up with a plan. He slowly began to talk about the two women, saying that the two weak women would have no one to rely on in the future, and that they might be bought into a mansion as concubines. He also said that one of the girls really missed him, her "brother-in-law," which made the man's face turn pale and he gritted his teeth and remained silent.

The man was taken to the next room for guarding, and then the troupe leader's youngest son was brought in. This man also confessed immediately upon entering. Li Qinglan asked him to recount the details of the crime, and the man indeed spoke flawlessly, including the specific date, location, and the process of the murder, including drawing eyebrows, tidying the person's hair and clothes, and the plum blossom carving on the chest of the recently deceased Ms. Ye. Tao Hanzhi then gave him a piece of paper to draw another plum blossom, and indeed, the brushstrokes were extremely similar to the previous two, confirming that they were drawn by the same person.

At this point, the case seemed to have reached a conclusion. However, Zhou Yufei pressed the man for his motive. The answer he received left everyone sighing, marveling at the true cycle of cause and effect, and the inescapable retribution. The man had witnessed the entire night that Master Zeng strangled his own daughter, and he deeply empathized with his father's anger and contempt, also feeling that his own sister's crime was indeed unforgivable.

In the days that followed, seeing married women exchanging flirtatious remarks with their brothers-in-law stirred up his murderous intent. After his first murder, he was terrified, but gradually became addicted, unable to stop. The three cases in Suzhou were not his first killings; two years earlier, he had killed no fewer than five people in the Hebei area.

The troupe leader, who hated his wife and daughter, strangled his daughter with his own hands, intending to end a grievance. However, he never expected that this would lead to another tragedy. Not only did he cause the deaths of many innocent women, but he also drove his only biological son down a dark path, something he could never have imagined.

Another unsolved case has been solved.

Two days later, Duan Chen received a letter from Xiao Changqing, sent from Jiangling Prefecture to Suzhou, and then forwarded to the Hangzhou government office by Zhan Huan. The letter mentioned a series of strange events that had occurred at the Thunderbolt Headquarters and hoped that Duan Chen could come and help. It also rambled on about the local customs, food, and entertainment, repeatedly urging Duan Chen to come.

As Duan Chen looked at the letter, he could almost see Xiao Changqing gesticulating wildly and making a ruckus in front of him. He couldn't help but smile knowingly and handed the letter to Zhan Yun for him to read.

Zhan Yun had no objection. He folded the letter and handed it back to Duan Chen, asking with a smile, "Want to go?" The two walked slowly up the mountain, with Zhao Ting, Zhou Yufei, and Chu Hui following a few steps behind.

Duan Chen had a smile playing on his lips, seemingly in a good mood: "Mm." Being with Xiao Changqing always seemed to bring about all sorts of interesting things. Even with Duan Chen's aloof nature, mentioning this person couldn't help but bring a smile to his face, warming his heart.

Zhan Yun took her hand, gently stroking the newly replaced white jade ring, and smiled slightly, "Then let's go."

As they were talking, the two of them simultaneously caught a glimpse of light gray under a large tree in the distance. Though it was only a fleeting glimpse, the figure was clearly a man. Zhao Ting, noticing this as well, quickly walked to their side: "What's going on?"

The group used their light-footed skills to quickly walk to the tree, where they saw that the tombstone had been inscribed with a new line: "Tomb of Song Qiao, husband of Han Jinglian." It was clearly a joint tomb for the couple.

Looking again at the tomb, several paper-folded white lotuses were burning. The flames quickly engulfed the white, and as a gust of wind blew by, specks of charred blackness floated up and clung to the clothes of the group. It was as if proclaiming that one day they would return here.

---

Zhan Yun, known in the martial arts world as the "Young Master Ruyu Ruyunxing," is the seventeenth-generation descendant of the prestigious Zhan family of Jiangnan. He is the second son of Liu Shang Gongzi and Xie Yi Niangzi. He married at the age of twenty-six. His wife's surname was Duan and her given name was Chen. At that time, many people in the martial arts world called her "Little Duan." She was a remarkable woman of her generation.

He had a lifelong penchant for dressing as a man and traveling throughout the prefectures of Jiangnan, solving countless difficult and mysterious cases. His carefree and unrestrained nature made him the envy of many men of his time. He became sworn brothers with Changqing, the 25th generation descendant of the Xiao family of Muzhou, and also formed deep friendships with Zhao Ting, the only son of the Seventh Prince of the current dynasty; Zhou Yufei, the youngest son of the Prime Minister; Zuo Xin, the leader of the Thunderbolt Hall; and Li Lingke, the younger brother of the Seventh King of Western Xia, considering them his lifelong confidants…

—Excerpt from "The Tale of Heroes and Heroines of the Jianghu" written by Xiao Family Village

Author's Note: This concludes the main text.

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Let me say something in conclusion. Actually, I didn't want to say anything at first, but then I felt that ending this article coldly without saying anything would be too abrupt.

I always feel bad for it. Looking back on it after a while, I'll definitely regret it, given my temperament.

So even though I haven't been feeling well lately, I still want to say something. If you find this rambling, feel free to click the "X" button.

This is the most difficult story I've ever written. Crime-solving, mystery, and suspense are my personal interests, but...

However, on Jinjiang Literature City, especially in the ancient romance/boy-girl genre, it is not a popular subject matter.

The writing process was grueling, requiring extensive research and constant revision and refinement.

From the initial barely concealed excitement to the burning passion during the third case, there were times when external factors and personal circumstances made it difficult to continue.

When I returned, putting aside my initial unease, the soaring ambition I had once felt was now stifled, and the original brilliance of the article had been somewhat diminished.

Some readers raised questions in the second half, and I do share those feelings, it's just that everyone's position is different from mine.

For example, some people really like Li Lingke, but he and Duan Chen are not like-minded people.

Are you suggesting that Li Lingke abandon his political strategies and wander the world with Duan Chen?

Should Duan Chen give up her self-discovery and crime-solving to marry a princess in the Northwest?

Moreover, Duan Chen was born into a noble family, and her father was a loyal minister and general. How could she possibly marry a prince from the Northwest?

Personally, I prefer men like Li Linke.

I feel deeply ashamed of myself for not being able to fully capture the overall picture I had envisioned in this article and the various characters within it.

It's related to my personal skill level and various external factors, but ultimately it's something I'm indebted to.

If I were to say that when I first started writing, I was immersed in the joy of playing with words and weaving plots every single moment,

Writing has become an indispensable part of my life, or perhaps a habit that's hard to break.