Chapter 58 The Real Murderer
There was a lot of rain at the beginning of this spring. Although Jin Jingting's tomb was originally built in a grand manner, it was inevitably affected by mountain torrents, and several stones collapsed at the corners.
The funeral master set up a red cloth shed to cover the grave and prevent it from being exposed to sunlight.
Amid the chanting of the monks, the tomb door opened and the coffin inside was taken out again.
The black lacquer coffin was very heavy, but after all, it had been buried underground for ten years in a place that was often damp, so the soul silk covering the coffin had long since rotted and damaged. When the coffin was lifted out of the tomb, it also chipped a corner of it when it hit the stone slab.
"It doesn't matter. When we rebury the body in the ancestral tomb, we will definitely collect the bones and change the coffin." The housekeeper of the Jin Mansion carefully led the coffin-carrying team, and made sure that the red cloth tent above it was always covering the coffin to avoid disturbing the soul.
They played music and chanted scriptures along the way and arrived at the hill where the Jin family's ancestral tomb was located.
The Jin family was wealthy, and they had built a fairly large courtyard here for daily tomb-guarding and annual festival sacrifices. The Jin family members waiting here brought the coffin into the backyard and placed it there.
A group of people were busy with their own affairs, dealing with Jintang's funeral and Jin Jingting's reburial. Occasionally, someone would think to ask, "Has the Meng family agreed? When will the goods be delivered?"
"It's almost there, it's on the way and will be delivered soon."
As they were talking, everyone looked up and saw that a newer coffin had indeed been delivered. They hurriedly welcomed it into the courtyard and stopped it next to Jin Jingting's.
The small room suddenly seemed cramped when two coffins, one large and one small, were placed in it. Naturally, no one wanted to stay with the coffins for a long time, so they closed the door and went to the front yard to do their own things.
Seeing that everyone had left the hut and there was no one to look after it, a figure flashed out from the corner - it was the young man who was heard spreading the news about the Jin family's relocation of graves.
The funeral was a busy one, with many people, all kinds of people playing music and singing. He blended in among them and no one noticed him at all.
Seeing that there was no one around, he picked up the wooden barrel he had brought and tiptoed into the house.
The man holding the bucket stood between the two coffins for a moment. He raised his hand and gently touched the smaller coffin that was carried in from the back, muttering, "Mother, I'm sorry. Don't worry... I will take your ashes back to Shuzhong."
Then he gritted his teeth and opened the lid of the barrel.
Inside was a full barrel of oil.
He picked up the oil barrel and poured it on the two coffins. He raised his hand and took out a fire starter from his waist, ready to open the lid and blow out the fire.
"Mr. Meng, burning the coffin and destroying the body is also destroying your mother. Isn't this bad?"
A clear voice came from behind him, with a hint of coldness.
His body trembled and he quickly turned around to look outside the door.
The door that he had blocked was pushed open, and Qiandeng's figure appeared in the sunlight outside the door. Under the strong early summer sunlight, her body looked very thin, but her eyes staring at him were bright and blazing, with a sense of compulsion.
Behind her were Cui Fufeng, Ming Jiu, Xue Xiyang, and Ji Linyou, who should have been under control.
The Dali Temple runners quickly surrounded the scene, stopped the Jin family members who came rushing over after hearing the noise, and prevented the people inside from escaping.
Qiandeng stared at the person in front of him and walked closer step by step.
He subconsciously avoided her gaze and raised his hand to touch his face, as if wanting to confirm whether the disguise was still there.
"There's no need to hide it. The person who helped you change your appearance has already admitted that he did change your disguise—and that was right before you had the accident on the cliff in the canyon."
Seeing that Qiandeng had already seen through the matter, he was stunned for a moment and didn't know how to cover it up.
The Mingjiu had already jumped out, pointing at him and shouting, "Forget changing his face, even if he turned into ashes, I can smell it! He smells so good, just like the county lady, it's pissing me off!"
The conversation was incomprehensible, but everyone knew what he meant.
Ji Linyou rushed forward and snatched the fire starter from Meng Lanxi's hand, took out the military doctor's medicine, and splashed it on his face.
He turned his head to avoid, but he could not escape Ji Linyou's action. The potion had already washed away the disguise on half of his cheek, revealing his fair and graceful jaw, round and gentle lips, and the deep dimple that appeared unconsciously when he pursed his lips.
Mingjiu pointed at his face proudly and said, "It's you! Still trying to deceive us?"
Seeing that there was nowhere to hide, Meng Lanxi simply tore off the remaining disguise, revealing her original beautiful appearance.
Qiandeng stared at him motionlessly, waiting for his explanation.
He bowed to Qian Deng as if nothing had happened and said, "Please forgive Lanxi's cowardice and incompetence, County Lady. The other gentlemen who entered the palace with me met with misfortune one after another, which made me fearful. I wanted to evade the candidate position, but I was also worried about the court's investigation. Just when I was at my wit's end, I was kidnapped by the rebels and fell off a cliff. I narrowly escaped with my life. I dared not return to the palace, so I had no choice but to fake my own death and flee far away... I never expected that because of my mother's death, I would eventually meet the County Lady again."
"I see. That's quite a coincidence. Just when Mr. Meng was about to leave, he was abducted by the rebel army and got into trouble. This gave him the perfect opportunity to escape."
As Qian Deng finished speaking, Xue Xiyang spoke with a half-smile, using Chang'an's most beautiful voice to deliver the most caustic words: "Isn't it true? It's as if that bandit died to fulfill Meng Langjun's wish—even more bizarrely, he died a horrible death after falling off the cliff, while you, Meng Langjun, fell into the ravine with him, and now there's not even a trace of injury on your body. How did such a miracle happen?"
"That day, Feng Yi pulled me off the cliff. The county lady and the others saw it firsthand. It's true." Meng Lanxi remained calm as she addressed Qian Deng. "The county lady also knew that the canyon was lush with vegetation. I fell and got entangled in vines, which saved my life. I only suffered minor injuries in such a hurry. I'm well versed in medicine, so I found some herbs to treat myself, and I'm fine now."
Ji Linyou said cheerfully, "Brother Meng is truly a miracle doctor! In that case, why don't you quickly undress and let us see the wounds from falling off the cliff that have healed in just two or three days!"
Seeing him coming up to take off his clothes, Meng Lanxi subconsciously took a half step back, a trace of panic flashing in her eyes: "How can you be so rude in front of the county lady..."
Qiandeng turned away indifferently without saying a word.
Seeing this, Mingjiu also pounced forward. While Ji Linyou was holding down his shoulders and arms, it grabbed his shirt and tugged at it. Glancing at his body, it immediately cried out, "It's not torn! It's not torn at all!"
Everyone looked at Meng Lanxi's body. She was fair and thin. Not only were there no recent scratches or bruises, but even the trace of old injuries was not visible.
Meng Lanxi gave up struggling at this time and stood there motionless, allowing them to check.
His eyes were only looking outside the door, as if he was expecting someone to come and turn the situation around.
Qian Deng naturally knew who he was looking for. But because of her arrangements, that person was probably already buried in the vast files of the Ministry of War, so how could he spare a moment to rescue him?
Cui Fufeng gestured to Meng Lanxi to straighten his clothes and said, "Mr. Meng, you don't look like someone who just fell off a cliff and survived. I think the so-called hijacking and disappearance is not the truth, right?"
"We witnessed everything that happened to Master Meng that day. However, although we witnessed everything that happened from beginning to end, it was already dusk and the canyon was dark, making it difficult to see the cliffs on the far side. Furthermore, the dense trees in front of us obscured the view. So, I think everything we saw from afar was just a play with unclear details—" At this point, Qiandeng looked at Meng Lanxi and slowly asked, "At this point, Master Meng should admit that it was all a play you put on, right?"
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