Chapter 55 Buying a "Scapegoat"
"Frost Maiden".
When she left the mansion on the day of Frost's Descent, the sound behind her startled her.
Turning around, he saw Wan Quan, who was by the Crown Prince's side.
I saw Wei Xun more often in the mansion, but rarely Wan Quan.
"Brother Wan." Shuangjiang bowed.
Wan Quan held two halberds in his hands, his whole body drenched in sweat, as if he had just finished martial arts training and rushed over.
"Is Lady Jiang going out?"
The prince instructed him to protect Lady Jiang during these days.
Frost's Descent: "No, I'm going out for a bit."
Upon hearing this, Wan Quan paused, then turned back, saying, "Oh, take care, Miss Shuangjiang."
Shuangjiang glanced at him and then left the mansion.
The woman asked her to go to the mortuary to buy three corpses so that they could prepare for their escape.
The thought of the gloomy mortuary made her teeth chatter.
The mortuary on the outskirts of the city would take in some unclaimed corpses, as well as some people who died in prison.
Often, these unclaimed corpses would be collected and disposed of by the village keeper.
In some families, children die young and never get married, so people come to the mortuary to buy a female corpse to arrange a ghost marriage for their sons.
Therefore, there are relatively few female corpses in the mortuary, which is why the lady came to ask her to reserve one in advance.
The woman also instructed that if there was no female corpse, a short man would be fine, since the body would be burned to ashes by then and no one would be able to tell the difference between a man and a woman.
The mortuary is located in the northern suburbs.
From a distance, you can see a solitary village surrounded by prayer flags. It is said that the wind blowing the prayer flags is to help the souls of the dead find peace.
The carriage was rented, and the driver parked it far away; he wouldn't have made the trip if the money hadn't been so high.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out that Frost's Descent wasn't as cold and gloomy as I had imagined.
On the contrary, the sunlight was just right, shining in the middle of the courtyard, where several lively fish were still jumping around in the large tank.
There were two people in the mortuary, one old and one young.
The old man couldn't speak, so he started gesturing from the time of Frost's Descent, and the young man next to him explained it again.
"There are no young female corpses now, but there is one little girl."
After he finished speaking, he gave her a wary look and asked, "You bought so many for a ghost marriage?"
Shuangjiang's expression also turned strange, as if she had to get to the point.
"Who says otherwise? Our master insists on buying a wife and a concubine, and also a daughter?! Isn't that strange?"
The young man was about to say something when the old man tugged at his arm and gestured.
"Three together, one hundred and twenty taels. We don't have it now. Go back and wait. I'll let you know when it's available."
Still waiting?
The ghost marriage was just an excuse.
Frost's Descent cannot be delayed for so long.
She gritted her teeth and said, "Isn't it better to choose someone older? I think that's fine too."
"Hmm? That's possible too?" The young man looked at her skeptically.
Shuangjiang could only grit her teeth and continue, "The young master died while studying in the capital. The master is in a hurry to go back. Anyway, he's not her biological son, so she won't go to see him."
"I've gone through all this trouble to make this trip, so I should at least earn something."
"Not his biological son?"
Shuangjiang blinked and continued making things up, "That's right, when the boss married the first boss, the first boss was already over sixty! After the old boss passed away, he left a mess for the boss to clean up."
The young man didn't immediately understand; it sounded like a theatrical performance.
"I have to hurry back. How much silver do you need for that thing?"
The frost is almost too much to carry.
The old man gestured again.
Youth, "fifty".
"So much cheaper!" Shuangjiang exclaimed in surprise.
Young people say, "Young female corpses are arranged for ghost marriages, and they are more expensive than living people."
“If you encounter a ruthless person, they might even deliberately kidnap a female beggar who has no one to care for her.”
As the frost descends, I frown, and a mix of emotions wells up inside me.
Female corpses can be turned into a business, and people even deliberately kill for this business.
Even in death, there is no peace.
The young man scoffed when he saw her.
"They're all trying to embezzle the money the landlord paid for the body, so why bother with this fake compassionate expression?"
Her expression froze for a moment, then she pursed her lips tightly.
After a long pause, he lowered his eyes and said, "I'll go back and have my employer prepare. I'll come back later."
I was still thinking about this on my way back from the Frost's Descent.
Just as the carriage was about to enter the city, a fine horse galloped away.
The two sides passed each other by.
As Shuangjiang turned her head, she saw the person on horseback and instantly slid off.
What's Wei Xun doing here?!
Could it be that she found out that her wife had instructed her to come to the mortuary?
Only after the sound of horses' hooves faded into the distance did she quietly peek out the window.
With a pounding heart, Shuangjiang hurried back to her residence.
Wei Xun and Zhang Shi of the mortuary had already interacted several times.
When the Crown Prince first took over the capital's judicial office, he accompanied him to handle several cases.
"Zhang Shi, where is the female corpse that was brought in the day before yesterday?"
Zhang Shi took off his gloves and threw them aside, pointing inside. "There it is. Godfather has already seen it. The cut is thin and long, no more than a finger's width at its widest. There was a second wound when it was pulled out."
"It should be a double-edged sword, longer and wider than a dagger."
"Anyway, I've never seen a knife like this before."
Wei Xun stepped inside.
Zhang Shi then remembered that the corpse had already been sold. "You guys need to investigate quickly! This corpse was sold for a ghost marriage!"
"Huh?" Wei Xun thought he had misheard. "So old, a ghost marriage?"
"You're making a fuss over nothing," Zhang Shi said dismissively. "Aren't there plenty of strange things happening in a place like the mortuary?"
"She's just a girl who dared to embezzle even the money for her master's ghost marriage."
Wei Xun clicked his tongue softly, "I won't stop you from making money, I just came to check on the knife's edge."
The mortuary is a place that everyone finds unlucky, yet it is indispensable.
Aside from a small amount of local donations, this is all the income they have.
Zhang Shi glanced at him, then turned to water the potted plants in the corner.
*
After returning from the Frost's Descent, she told him about meeting Wei Xun at the city gate.
Jiang Shiyao reassured her, suggesting it might be a case from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice.
"Go wash up first. I'll have Aunt He get some mugwort incense to burn in your room."
Frostfall wants to ask my wife how they plan to bring the corpse into the city...
But thinking about where I had just been, I decided to freshen up first.
"Madam Jiang!"
Zhou Wanqing is now very familiar with the courtyard and no longer needs the maid to announce her arrival.
She plopped down on the floor, her face full of anger.
"Why would my brother still marry that wicked woman!"
"We should have listened to our stepmother and let Miss Li marry into the family."
Jiang Shiyao looked at her with amusement, "It's not like you don't have a good relationship with Miss Li."
Zhou Wanqing pursed her lips, and after a long while, she said in a muffled voice, "I don't know Miss Li either..."
Zhao didn't care about anyone; even though she and Wanhui had reached marriageable age, she never took them with her when she went out to banquets.
Where would she get the chance to meet young ladies from other households?
She only met Song Jiyun when her grandmother called her over.
In addition, Song Jiyun was quite generous, so she assumed she was her best friend...
Who knew he would be such a terrifying person?
Seeing her nonchalant expression, Zhou Wanqing became somewhat anxious.
"You're not worried at all! If she marries into the family, will you still have such a good life?!"
Jiang Shiyao gave her a strange look. "I'm not in a hurry, why are you? You're not going to live in the Duke's mansion forever. She can't harm you."
Zhou Wanqing opened her mouth to say that she was worried, but found that she couldn't say it.
"I...I feel so sorry for Fu'er! She was so scared that day that she didn't even dare to cry out!"
As she spoke, she seemed to remember something and turned around to take the basket from Ping'er's hands.
“I heard from Mother He that Fu’er likes chestnut cake, so I asked Ping’er to buy some.”
Jiang Shiyao looked at the basket of pastries.
"Miss Zhou, who are you trying to stuff to death...?"
Zhou Wanqing loosened and tightened her grip on the basket handle.
Forget it, considering that she offended the Song family that day to save me, I won't hold it against her.
It would be strange if a chestnut ball didn't prick you.
Jiang Shiyao looked at Zhou Wanqing, her eyes suddenly narrowing.
"Third Miss, please accompany me somewhere."
"Where are you going?"
Zhou Wanqing felt that nothing good was coming out of it, and she didn't want to go out now; it was safer to stay at home.
Jiang Shiyao said, "Didn't Lord Liu send a letter yesterday saying he'd rented a house for my brother? I can't just leave it unprepared."
Zhou Wanqing then said "Oh," and added, "Brother Jiang is going to take the exam. You should prepare your writing materials, including brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, as well as some clothes. Once you enter the examination hall, you won't be able to leave for several days."
Jiang Shiyao nodded, "Okay, let's buy these first."
She looked at Zhou Wanqing's still somewhat excited back. Although this girl was a bit carefree and almost trusted the wrong person, she was kind at heart.
The fact that she was kept from marrying for so long in her previous life was probably also due to Song Jiyun's fault.
The second shop in Wutong Lane, Xicheng District.
This is the message that Liu Minghan had Zhou Wanqing pass on to him yesterday.
She is the perfect eyewitness.
At that time, it will also be the perfect opportunity for her to give up her feelings for Liu Minghan. Even Li Ruoshuang was not confident in such a deep and thoughtful person, let alone her.
Jiang Shiyao's eyes flickered slightly.
Each and every one of them wanted to control her life and death.
Then she would leave the letter from Liu Minghan telling her to commit suicide in the courtyard.
She then committed suicide by self-immolation in that house in grief and anger.
Oh.
She wanted to see what impact her "death" would have on the court.
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