Chapter 13 You should worry that I might take your life first.

Upon seeing Bai Xiuming, Jiang Kai strode forward and bowed, saying, "My lord, Ji Chan has been brought here."

This Commander Jiang had an extremely loud voice, almost forcibly drawing everyone's attention to him.

Achan had no choice but to take a few steps forward and bow, saying, "Ji Chan greets Your Excellency."

Bai Xiuming looked at the meek and obedient Achan, his fingers unconsciously stroking the hilt of his sword. He recalled the booklet his subordinates had presented on the second day of the Flower Festival, the contents of which were quite fascinating.

Seeing Bai Xiuming staring at Ji Chan without saying a word, the others were on tenterhooks, wondering what exactly the garrison commander was dissatisfied with.

Fortunately, Jiang Kai, who was oblivious to social cues, accompanied Bai Xiuming today. Sensing the awkward atmosphere, he couldn't help but call out again, "Lord Zhenfu?"

Bai Xiuming glanced at him and finally spoke: "Separate them and take them away for questioning."

"yes."

Jiang Kai directed his subordinates to take the Zhao family members to separate empty side rooms for questioning, while he personally took charge of the remaining Zhao family members.

He originally intended to take Achan with him, but Bai Xiuming stopped him.

“Leave her here.”

"Ah? Yes." Jiang Qianhu turned around and went back to work.

A group of people were coming and going in the main courtyard, but they were busy yet orderly. The seemingly careless commander was actually very capable.

Achan, who was left alone, did not panic. After all, she had experienced this situation once before.

"Come with me." Bai Xiuming turned around and was about to lead her into the main room.

Ah Chan hesitated for a moment, then lifted her skirt and followed.

As soon as she reached the door, she was overwhelmed by the pungent smell of blood and the strong fishy odor mixed in with it, and had to cover her mouth and nose.

Blood was everywhere on the ground, and for some reason it never congealed. Ah Chan looked at the crimson scene before her, not knowing where to put her feet.

She finally couldn't help but ask, "Sir, how exactly did my aunt die? Why is there so much blood?"

"Suicide."

"Wh-what?" Achan thought she had misheard.

Bai Xiuming said calmly, "She cut open her own stomach with a dagger and died from excessive blood loss."

"How could this be? Why would she do that?"

"Good question, that's exactly what I wanted to ask you." Bai Xiuming looked at A Chan. "Under what circumstances do you think she would do this?"

"I have no idea."

"If you can't figure it out, stay here and think about it tonight," Bai Xiuming said gently.

Achan felt that he was deliberately picking a fight today, so she had to deal with him seriously to avoid really angering him.

However, given Kobayashi's personality, even if something really happened, she would never choose to commit suicide.

Achan suddenly remembered the large urn she had just seen: "Sir, could you tell me what was in that urn?"

"What's in her belly."

"Things?" Achan's voice rose several decibels.

Bai Xiuming chuckled: "With such a good memory, you should know about the widow fish, right?"

Achan did know; it was before she came down from the mountain, when she heard the elders of her tribe tell stories about such things.

The appearance of the widowfish is almost identical to that of ordinary fish, making it difficult for even experienced fishermen to distinguish them.

Although called a fish, it is actually a strange creature born from the lingering resentment of a pregnant woman who died unjustly. They do not actively attack people and pose little threat. Their purpose in existence is simply to create more of their kind.

Many books of strange tales even record stories of women who caught and ate fish in the wild, only to become pregnant upon returning home, only to give birth to a strange and monstrous creature after ten months of pregnancy.

edible……

Achan was startled and looked up at Bai Xiuming, only to find that his gaze was fixed on her face; he had been observing her.

Why is this person so stubborn? Ah Chan thought to herself, deciding to strike first.

"Does Your Excellency suspect me first every time you encounter a case?"

Bai Xiuming looked away: "I didn't say anything."

Ah Chan smiled and said, "Oh, you may not know, but your eyes can speak."

Despite being teased by a young woman, Bai Xiuming remained unmoved and simply said, "Can you tell from my eyes what I'm going to ask you next?"

Ah Chan lowered her eyes and sighed, but still said, "During my time visiting the Zhao residence, I often heard people say that my cousin has been very filial lately. When my aunt wanted to eat fresh fish, he specially bought live fish from outside for her to eat, three meals a day without fail."

From the moment Zhao Wensheng ate the "Lady's Fish," it was destined that his aunt would lose her child. But why did he do that?

"Is it because your aunt found out that she wasn't carrying a human baby and couldn't handle it?" Achan asked hesitantly.

But she quickly dismissed the idea. If Zhao Wensheng had deliberately sent the fish, he wouldn't have revealed it and wouldn't have told his aunt the news. So why would his aunt commit suicide because of it?

That doesn't seem to make sense.

"Just ask her good son," Bai Xiuming said, but his feet didn't move an inch.

Achan understood immediately: "Surely you had already guessed these things, sir?"

Zhao Wensheng's act of sending fish was completely undisguised, and anyone with a discerning eye could easily find out. The Mingjing Division has investigated so many cases that it wouldn't need an outsider like her to offer guidance, which means there are still doubts.

"You summoned me, surely not just to hear about my cousin?" she asked tentatively.

"Tell me about the other members of the Zhao family. What are your impressions of them?"

Achan pondered for a moment: "Let's talk about my cousin first. The adults probably already know that my uncle seems to want my cousin to marry Xue Mingtang. My cousin also has a good feeling about him and has even said that she will not marry anyone else, but my aunt disagrees. The two often argue about this."

Last time we went to the Flower Goddess Temple, we met the Xue siblings and their two children. My aunt had a heated argument with the Xue family, and it was quite unpleasant. My cousin also argued with my aunt about this, but she later bought her a jade hairpin to appease her.

Bai Xiuming listened to her detailed account and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow: "Are you implying to me that the Xue siblings are highly suspicious?"

Achan looked aggrieved: "My lord, you have misunderstood me. I just had some questions. Did Lord Xue kill me because I blocked his sister's path, or because I am a descendant of the Lin family?"

Now that my aunt is dead, it seems that besides those exiled, I'm the only one left in the Lin family. If I hadn't met the adults, I might not have survived that night.”

Although she intended to report the incident, her doubts were not unfounded.

First Ji Chan's mother died, then Ji Chan, and now it's Xiao Lin's turn. Although she didn't know the connection, it was just too much of a coincidence.

She couldn't help but wonder how many of the Lin family members who had been exiled were still alive?

Bai Xiuming chuckled: "You didn't survive because you met me."

"You jest, sir. If it weren't for you, how could I have saved my life?"

"so?"

"So, sir, are you really not going to investigate Xue Mingtang? He's highly suspicious."

From hints to instigation to framing someone, Achan's methods were quite an eye-opener for Bai Xiuming.

Finally, she added, "I'm just telling the truth, please don't misunderstand, sir."

“I have no misunderstanding. I just think you don’t need to worry about him coming to kill you.”

Achan looked at him, puzzled.

Bai Xiuming narrowed his beautiful peach blossom eyes slightly: "When you told Xue that you had a close relationship with me, you should have been worried that I might take your life first."

Achan: ...

Achan coughed lightly and said seriously, "My lord, let's get back to the main topic."

Bai Xiuming continued to stare at her intently.

Achan avoided his gaze and said with a forced smile, "Actually, something else happened on the mountain that day that I found a bit strange."

This finally diverted Bai Xiuming's attention from her.

When he was staring at her, Achan broke out in a cold sweat. Who would have thought that this person would actually have someone spy on her!

Fortunately, he didn't seem to care much about his reputation being "tarnished" by her.

If they really cared, they probably would have dragged her back to the Mingjing Division and skinned her alive on the second day of the Flower Festival.

"explain."

"It's the jade hairpin that my cousin bought for my aunt. You can send someone to ask Granny Sun and my aunt's personal maid; they both know about it."

After saying that, Achan quickly realized that since this person had sent someone to watch her, he must know everything.

However, the people monitoring her were simply reporting what she did without necessarily realizing her thoughts, which gave her room to maneuver.

"What's wrong with the jade hairpin?"

"Actually, I didn't see anything wrong with it. I just thought the jade hairpin was of very good quality, but my cousin only spent five taels of silver, which was ridiculously cheap. Later, my aunt asked me to go shopping, so I went to look for the stall that sold the jade hairpin, but I couldn't find it."

The owner of a nearby velvet flower shop told me that the man only sold my cousin a jade hairpin, spoke with her for a while, and then packed up his stall, which I found a bit strange.

Bai Xiuming looked at A Chan, who seemed a little uneasy, and wondered if she was genuinely afraid or just putting on an act for him.

Putting aside the various suspicious points about Ji Chan, after several interactions, Bai Xiuming's impression of her was actually above average.

Intelligent, bold, flexible, and good at gauging boundaries.

Unfortunately, such advantages were never seen in the Ji Chan of the past.

He shifted his gaze from Achan and asked, "Now, what do you think of Zhao Ming?"

Achan thought for a moment and said, "I haven't met my uncle during these visits to the Zhao family, but according to my aunt, he is the best husband in the world."

"How so?"

Achan smiled and said, "For a woman, a man who never flirts with other women, has no concubines at home, and is devoted to his wife alone is already better than many others."

Besides, my uncle has always been very ambitious. His official position isn't high, but it's enough to satisfy my aunt. I also heard from Aunt Sun that in all the years they've been married, even when they argue, it's always my aunt who starts it, and he's always the one who appeases her.

"Does this prove that Zhao Ming is a good man?"

"Isn't that so?" Achan's eyes flickered slightly. "Does Your Excellency know something?"