Chapter 64: The Real Secret Treasure
"Mr. Du, use your dog brain and think about it! If I were the one who set up the trap, could I walk in the front and sneak up on Tan and Yuan at the end of the team without anyone noticing? If I were the one who set up the trap, could I disregard my own safety and rescue Linlang from Fan Zheng? If I were the one who set up the trap, could I put myself in the desperate situation in that tomb passage?" Luo Mei glared at Du Yunzhang and poured out all the depression in his heart in one breath.
"Humph, who knows what tricks you used? None of this can clear you of suspicion."
"You..." Luo Mei was so angry that her face turned blue and red, and she couldn't speak for a while.
"Old Du, I won't stand on your side if you make such suspicions without any evidence," Yin Chuan said.
"If it's not her? Then who are you talking about? These two concubines?" Du Yunzhang looked at the fourth concubine Qin and the fifth concubine Yu Zhenzhu. The fifth concubine was trembling at the sight of another sudden death, while the fourth concubine seemed to live in her own world, holding the box in her arms and ignoring the outside world.
"The murderer disguised herself very well. From the beginning until now, she has been acting the same way, as if nothing has anything to do with her and nothing can affect her hypocritical behavior." Yin Chuan deliberately raised his voice, as if he was speaking to the real murderer.
"Are you talking about her?" Linlang seemed to have thought of something and looked at the fourth concubine Qin. At the same time, Du Yunzhang and Luo Mei also focused their attention on Qin.
"Hahahaha, I'm talking about her!" Yin Chuan took a few steps forward and grabbed someone's arm. No one expected that the person he grabbed was actually the fifth concubine, Yu Zhenzhu.
Yu Zhenzhu, who had just been crying, couldn't help but tremble when Yin Chuan grabbed her.
"Fifth concubine? Old Yin, is she the real murderer?" Du Yunzhang looked incredulous.
"Why her? What evidence do you have?" Luo Mei asked.
Yin Chuan held up three fingers, "I have three doubts about her. First, on the way from the Cao Gang all the way to the so-called tomb of Shen Wansan, the Fifth Concubine claimed that she had her period and asked the Fourth Concubine and Linlang to help find a secluded place with water to deal with it. Originally, there was nothing strange about this matter, but the Fourth Concubine, who was fine before, suddenly went crazy. Although Linlang said that she accidentally touched Qin's body, the Fourth Concubine's reaction was too big, which made me wonder if the Fifth Concubine had done something secretly. Thinking about it afterwards, the reason she made the Fourth Concubine crazy was to let Qin always attract everyone's attention so that others would not pay attention to her actions, so that it would be easier to act secretly on the rest of the journey.
"Secondly, there's her position in the tunnel. Luo Mei led the way, with Du Yunzhang, Linlang, and I following closely behind. Fan Zheng, Tan Zhuozi, and Yuan Laoer brought up the rear, while she, Master Lan, and the Fourth Concubine were tucked right in the middle. This arrangement seemed perfectly natural, impeccable. But the traps kept being triggered at the end of the group, until Tan and Yuan disappeared one after another. I wondered if the team's positioning wasn't just a coincidence, but rather something someone had foreseen. And that someone was most likely one of the three from the Lan Mansion. Her position allowed her to seemingly inadvertently approach the rear of the group, and the portly figure of the fake Master Lan could even shield her movements.
"Third, as we were chasing Fan Zheng into the tomb passage, Luo Mei's monkey for some reason backed away and then leaped onto the Fourth Concubine. This puzzled me. Why did the monkey, who had always obeyed Luo Mei's orders, suddenly disobey her? And why did it run back for no reason? Later, I thought about it carefully. The only person next to the Fourth Concubine at the time was the Fifth Concubine. Perhaps the Fifth Concubine did something to cause the monkey to react this way?
"Speaking of monkeys... Luo Mei, how long has this monkey of yours been following you?" Yin Chuan suddenly changed the subject.
"Well..." Luo Mei stroked the monkey's back hair, "less than half a year."
"Do you think you can handle it?"
Luo Mei chuckled, "I can't say anything else. The reason I brought it with me to the tomb this time is because it obeys my orders. If I tell it to go east, it definitely won't go west. You all saw it before. I told it to lead the way, and it did. I told it to follow my orders and secretly attack Du Yunzhang, and it didn't hesitate."
Du Yunzhang rolled his eyes at Luo Mei with disdain.
"Indeed, we all saw it. But what I don't understand is why it's so obedient to you, having only been with you for less than half a year? Normally, for animals to be tamed and obey their masters, don't they need years of daily interactions to develop a bond, and only then will they obey your commands? But you, this monkey... that doesn't make sense."
Luo Mei waved his hand dismissively, "What's there to doubt? Monkeys are the most human-like. Since someone has tamed them, they're definitely not just the tamer; they'll obey the people they've entrusted them to."
"Not entirely, is it? There were several instances where it behaved strangely, disappearing without a trace, then running madly behind the group. These actions were beyond your control!"
Luo Mei was speechless for a moment. "Well... sometimes monkeys will follow their own will. This only means that there were some flaws in the initial domestication."
Yin Chuan snorted coldly, "Luo Mei, Luo Mei, you still haven't realized that you've been deceived? You thought you got a great deal by getting this monkey? Little did you know, this is all part of their plan!"
"Brother Yin, why do you say that?"
Yin Chuan stretched out a hand and opened it to the crowd. In his palm were two bamboo pieces connected by a gray rope. "Here, this is what I stole from Fifth Concubine Yu Zhenzhu when she wasn't paying attention."
When the fifth concubine heard this, her face suddenly changed. She tried to break free from Yin Chuan's hand, but it was extremely difficult.
"What is this?" Du Yunzhang took a closer look.
"Don't you know? This is the canal secret treasure I mentioned that has always been right beside us!" As he spoke, Yin Chuan rubbed the two bamboo pieces together with one hand, and a tiny "squeak" sounded as the two pieces rubbed against each other. Just as everyone was wondering what he was doing, something suddenly shot out from behind the coffin next to them at incredible speed, flashing past everyone's eyes.
"What the hell?" Du Yunzhang exclaimed.
Yin Chuan then rubbed the bamboo board twice more, and the thing finally revealed its true form, leaping up and landing on the coffin. Luo Mei was stunned when she saw it, "What...what's going on?"
It turned out that what appeared in front of everyone was another monkey. What was even more incredible was that this monkey was exactly the same as the monkey in Luo Mei's arms.
"You didn't expect that? There are two monkeys! And there is no difference between the two! If you don't believe it, you can put them together and compare them carefully." Yin Chuan said with a smile.
Luo Mei approached the newly appeared monkey doubtfully and compared the monkey in his hand with it carefully from top to bottom. Sure enough, he could not find any difference at all. It was as if they were cast in the same mold.
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