Chapter 62 Eating Rats
The night sky is filled with twinkling stars.
He decided to stay tonight. There were four people who had close relationships with the First Madam: her head maid Xiao Cui, her wet nurse Luo Mama, her son Yang Cheng, and the last one was Master Yang Zhengxian.
Based on speculation, the murderer is very likely to kill again tonight, and the next target is likely to be Granny Luo or Yang Cheng.
The only connection to the paper figures so far is that of Tao Tao, who has been arrested, and Aunt Ye, who is pregnant and whose room Master Yang spent the night that night.
She did not have the opportunity to kill, nor did she have the ability to do so.
With no clues at the moment, the only option is to wait and see.
The coroner from the government office examined the body and confirmed that the cause of death was exactly the same as that of Madam Yang in the coffin.
But why use candles? What does that represent?
Paper dolls... evil spirits from the underworld...
Do candles correspond to the incense and candles used in funerals to commemorate the deceased...?
If the murderer doesn't show up tonight, Tao Tao, who is locked up in jail, will have a hard time clearing herself of suspicion. We'll have to see what happens tonight.
At this moment, Gao Shaoguang and his men from the government office were guarding outside the courtyard where Yang Cheng was staying. Only Granny Luo was inside.
Yang Cheng had already been taken by Master Yang to Aunt Ye's courtyard.
Yang Zhengxian sat on the soft couch, while Aunt Ye knelt on the soft carpet, massaging the legs of the master who was resting with his eyes closed.
"Is Cheng'er already asleep?"
She gently raised her head and smiled, "Yes, the young master has already fallen asleep."
"You really don't hold a grudge against me or Cheng'er for what happened to Zhen'er back then?"
Upon hearing this, Aunt Ye immediately stopped what she was doing, her expression panicked: "Master, I would never dare to do that. It is all Zhen'er's fate. I am lowly and unlucky, unable to support Zhen'er, which is why she fell into the water."
Hearing her obedient words, he nodded in satisfaction. He reached out and patted her head like he would a pet.
“It’s good that you think that way.”
He never considered any revenge through paper figures; it was all fake. Someone was definitely targeting the Yang family.
Yang Zhengxian suddenly remembered that a while ago, the newly opened spice shop Jiuxiaoge in the capital made a big splash and stole a lot of their business.
These were just ordinary spices, yet they were frequently patronized by the families of many high-ranking officials and nobles.
Not long ago, he even had a dispute with the owner of Shenmengxuan. If you say that it wasn't targeting the Yang family and Shenmengxuan, no one would believe it.
Aunt Ye lowered her eyes, a strange light flashing in them.
Tao Tao, now in prison, understood why Gao Shaoguang had locked her up; he wanted to see if it was related to her.
She's in jail now, so if the murderer is still causing trouble and killing people, then it's none of her business.
But if the murderer doesn't show up, she'll be in big trouble.
I just hope that the person who framed her won't think of this, and won't know that she's been imprisoned.
Actually, she was just thinking about it. If she could come up with a way to frame her, she would naturally have made thorough preparations.
Suddenly, her stomach rumbled, accompanied by twitching, making her feel a little uncomfortable.
Tao Tao got up from the straw-covered bed, walked to the table, reached out and picked up the lid of the teapot to look at it. She didn't know how long the water inside had been sitting there.
It was dark and extremely murky, with dirty sediment at the bottom.
She silently rubbed her forehead.
I can't even get a drink of water to stave off hunger, I'm speechless.
She walked to the door, grabbed the bars with both hands, leaned against them, and smiled at the jailer standing beside her, "Brother, when is dinner?"
The jailer glanced at her sideways, said nothing, and turned back.
"Big brother?! Can you give me some food?"
She asked again tentatively, but he turned around and tapped the railing with the knife in his hand as a warning, making a clanging metallic sound.
He said in a very unpleasant tone, "Shut up! If you keep making noise, believe me, I'll deal with you!"
Tao Tao forced a smile, turned around and squatted down. Suddenly, she touched the purse at her waist and found two pieces of shortbread.
She smiled, thinking that luckily she had a habit of adding sugar to her food.
The candy was a little melted on the surface, which was understandable since it had been sitting there for several days and she hadn't eaten it while staying at home.
After squatting for a long time, her legs went numb, so she simply sat down on the ground. Just as she put the candy in her mouth, she heard a rustling sound coming from the pile of straw in the corner.
She looked up, wondering if it was some kind of rat, then stood up and crept over.
Then he slowly squatted down, his eyes sharp, and quickly reached out to grab the trembling spot.
Suddenly, Tao Tao was startled. Realizing what it was, she immediately tried to pull her hand back, but it was too late. A dirty black hand grabbed her wrist.
The force was so great that she was instantly pulled over and pressed against the wall.
"Hey! Wait! I'm not a mouse!"
Her panicked screams.
Seeing the blood and hair on his hands, she was certain that this person had caught and eaten rats, and eaten them raw.
The person on the other side of the wall paused upon hearing this, but then used even more force to try to pull her over, causing her to curse loudly in pain.
"Are you crazy?! If you want to catch mice, just catch mice, why are you dragging me into this?!"
"You idiot!"
Tao Tao lifted her feet and pressed them against the wall, looking around for a suitable weapon. She then used her other hand to rummage through the haystack, when suddenly her eyes lit up.
I didn't see any stones, but I did see a little Jerry.
It's such a small lump, I'm afraid it doesn't even have two ounces of meat.
The two locked eyes. The mouse sensed danger and was about to run away when a hand suddenly grabbed it.
It immediately started squeaking in fright.
Tao Tao quickly shoved the mouse in her hand to the other person's hand, and sure enough, the person immediately let go of her hand and took the mouse away.
Then, she pressed herself against the wall and listened carefully to the sounds coming from the other side.
Before long, a sharp, piercing scream of a rat was heard, followed by rustling and tearing sounds.
She frowned, unable to suppress her disgust, yet she knew it was a last resort.
He wondered, "Is the food at this government office really that bad? Or do they not feed the prisoners and let them all starve to death? Otherwise, the guy next door wouldn't have had to resort to eating rats."
She went back to bed and lay down, looking at the square window above her head.
Is this really the end for us...?
She rolled over, and suddenly felt something dig into her waist. Puzzled, she reached out to touch it and found something cold.
She tugged at it, but couldn't budge it. She quickly sat up and looked down.
It turned out to be the jade pendant with the crouching beast head on it. He hadn't returned it to him before, and he hadn't wanted it. Some time ago, he was being chased because of him, so he thought it was a form of compensation.
But since he saved her at the city gate, that can't be considered compensation.
Moreover, this jade is quite valuable; it should be returned to him.
So, could she ask him for help? But how could she get him to help her...?
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