To Su Yan's surprise, Hua Hanyun buried Zhao Wushuang's remains not far from the wooden house.
Two steps away from Zhao Wushuang's grave, they dug up the hand bones that Hua Hanyun had cut off from the deceased.
Banxia knelt before the grave, her face unexpectedly calm, neither crying nor making a fuss, as if she had grown into a tenacious weed overnight.
Looking at Banxia's figure, Su Yan felt a pang of pity. To her, Banxia was like another version of herself.
Finally, Banxia couldn't hold on any longer and fainted in front of the grave.
Su Yan and Shen Yao, who had been silently watching Banxia's movements, immediately went forward to check on the situation.
Su Yan glanced at the sky and decided to have Shen Yao carry Banxia back to the house to rest.
"Lord Shen, please take Banxia back to her room to rest!"
Shen Yao did not refuse Su Yan's suggestion and carried Banxia's thin body towards the wooden house.
Shortly after Shen Yao left, Su Yan was silently burning paper money at the grave when she suddenly said, "No need to hide anymore, come out..."
As soon as she finished speaking, Sister Yang emerged from behind the tree, carrying a basket meant for holding paper.
"Su Yan, what are you doing here?" Sister-in-law Yang seemed quite surprised.
Hearing this, Su Yan couldn't help but smile. "I'm from the government, so it's not strange that I'm here. But it's you, Sister-in-law Yang, who has no relation to Jiang Han or Miss Zhao. Your sudden appearance here is quite intriguing."
"I'm not here out of sympathy for Miss Zhao's plight, but to offer her some incense. After all, we're both women..."
“Yes! We’re both women…” Su Yan moved aside, pointing to the pile of ashes, “Let’s burn it here…”
Sister-in-law Yang did not refuse. She put down her basket, squatted down, and slowly tore off the yellowed paper money, throwing it into the fire. The dancing flames reflected on her face.
Su Yan stood aside without saying a word, silently watching Yang Da Sao's every move.
This was the first time she had noticed Yang Dasao's appearance. She was plain and unremarkable, with an average figure, an extremely ordinary country woman who could disappear completely in the blink of an eye even in a crowd.
About fifteen minutes later, Sister-in-law Yang finished burning all the paper money and prepared to get up and leave.
Su Yan called out to her first, "Sister-in-law Yang, do you remember the story you told me about Zhao Wushuang?"
Sister-in-law Yang looked puzzled. She didn't know why Su Yan suddenly asked such a question, so she could only nod blankly, "Of course I remember."
Su Yan smiled, her gaze shifting to Zhao Wushuang's grave. She looked thoughtful and said, "In my opinion, the story you told isn't complete..."
Sister-in-law Yang immediately became alert, instinctively gripping the basket in her hands. "What do you mean by this?"
Su Yan did not directly answer Yang Dasao's question, but continued the conversation from before, telling her own story.
"In my opinion, besides Miss Zhao, there is another victim. Although she is not beautiful, she also suffered the beastly abuse from the Zhao family and, like Jiang Han, hates everyone in the Zhao family... Am I right?"
After listening, Sister-in-law Yang didn't rush to deny it. Instead, she smiled and said, "I don't understand what you're talking about..."
"You're the one who told Jiang Han about the man who hurt Zhao Wushuang, right? And when the Zhao family buried Zhao Wushuang alive, you were the one who saved her, right? It's a pity Zhao Wushuang didn't survive, but thankfully her daughter did. And you knew about Shen Yao and my identities from the beginning, right..."
"Su Yan, I don't know what you're talking about."
"No rush, we can talk about it slowly..."
Su Yan turned around and looked at the woman in front of her with a calm expression. "Your husband is weak and incompetent. The Zhao family has been doing the same things to you as Zhao Wushuang. You hate the Zhao family. On the day Jiang Han returned to the village to find Zhao Wushuang, you handed Banxia over to him because you knew that after Jiang Han became an official, he would definitely seek justice for Zhao Wushuang."
But you didn't expect Jiang Han to be such a ruthless person. However, this also ignited your desire for revenge. Your husband didn't actually die of illness, did he? He was killed by Jiang Han, wasn't he...?
You used Jiang Han to help you get revenge, but you were also afraid that Jiang Han's murder would be exposed and bring you trouble. So you learned about my and Lord Shen's identities from Banxia, and then you deliberately revealed Zhao Wushuang's affairs, trying to pin all the suspicion on Jiang Han.
After hearing this, Sister Yang's lips curled into a faint smile. She stopped refuting Su Yan's words, and her approachable face transformed into a sinister smile of triumph. She no longer pretended to be hypocritical.
"You're right, the entire Zhao family deserves to die. I'll make them taste what it's like to lose their husbands and sons... Hahahaha... Are you going to lock me up in jail?"
However, you have no evidence to prove my involvement in this case, and that Jiang Han killed everyone…
“What you said is indeed correct. I have no evidence whatsoever. All your plans are flawless…”
"Then how did you figure it out?"
Su Yan smiled. "I have a very strong sixth sense. I always feel like everything is being pushed around by someone. Then, on the day Jiang Han committed suicide, I finally understood..."
"What's the meaning?"
"The day Shen Yao and I went to the village to investigate the case, the Zhao family avoided us like the plague, but you opened the door for us and deliberately revealed the extremely important clue of Zhao Wushuang. At least it made me understand that you are not on the same side as the Zhao family and know a lot of inside information. Then today you came here to burn incense, which is obviously telling me about your relationship with Jiang Han."
If you just connect these dots, isn't that the truth?
After listening, Sister-in-law Yang was deeply impressed by Su Yan's intelligence. "Why are you telling me all this now? What are you trying to do..."
Su Yan shrugged. "I didn't plan to do anything. The reason I chose to tell you is probably to put my mind at ease!"
"Aren't you going to arrest me?" Now it was Sister-in-law Yang's turn to be puzzled.
Although Jiang Han committed the murder, she was more or less the mastermind; she had planned the case from the very beginning.
Su Yan shook her head. "Precisely because I understand the hell you're in, it's not wrong to rise up in resistance. I won't tell anyone about this. I just hope that when the sun rises tomorrow, you can start a new life with peace of mind..."
"Why did you help me..." Sister-in-law Yang looked at Su Yan in disbelief, seemingly not expecting her to treat her this way.
"Because I, too, live in a hell of hatred..."
Sister-in-law Yang was stunned; she didn't know how to respond to Su Yan's words.
Su Yan smiled instead, turned around and walked towards the wooden house, waving goodbye to Sister-in-law Yang.
As Sister-in-law Yang watched Su Yan's receding figure, she took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, feeling an unprecedented sense of ease as she watched the sunset.
After Sister-in-law Yang left, two butterflies flew out of the graveyard, entwined and nestled together, finally landing on the two wooden puppets that Su Yan had buried, as if drawing a period to the end of the story.
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