Chapter 124 Impermanence

After Ming Huazhang spoke, everyone calmed down. Xie Jichuan stopped fanning the flames, Ming Huashang silently selected a few dishes, and Ren Yao and Jiang Ling stopped arguing.

The last dish was placed on the table, and the waiter crossed his hands and said, "Enjoy your meal, sir," and then took the tray away. The door was closed, and there was no one else in the room. Ming Huazhang could finally get back to the case: "I have already questioned Feng Liang and his close friends. The day before the incident, he was having a banquet at a friend's house, and it lasted all night until very late. He was still asleep at noon, and the dancer can testify to that. In addition, I checked Feng Liang's home, the house where Feng Liang stayed overnight, and the houses he had recently visited, and there were no traces of gunpowder. Feng Liang can be ruled out as a suspect for the time being."

Jiang Ling said: "If it's not Feng Liang, then it must be Liu, right?"

This was also what Ren Yao couldn't understand. She asked in confusion, "But everyone in Jinxiu Tower said that Liu was taking her child to see a doctor at that time. Many people can testify to this. She doesn't have three heads and six arms. How could she split herself into two and go to Huichun Hall to place the explosives?"

Xie Jichuan said calmly, "I actually always thought that her son's illness was a coincidence. The child had been ill for several days. Why did she choose to see a doctor on that day? Since she was able to poison her ex-husband, she might be able to drug the child. I think this was her trick. She deliberately made a scene and brought in many people to prove that she was not there. In fact, she used some method to place explosives. After all, who would doubt a worried mother?"

Ming Huashang had been listening quietly, and at this point she spoke up: "Although Liu is full of stains, I still have to say something for her. She may not be a good wife, but she is definitely a good mother. Her love and care for her children are not fake. A mother would not risk her child's life to play a trick."

Jiang Ling pouted and said, "If it's not her, who else could it be? They designed so many steps just to blow someone up. It looks like a woman's method. If it was a man, he would just find a deserted place and kill him with one blow. Why would he spend so much effort?"

"We can't be so arbitrary." Ming Huazhang said, "Hu and Liu are rivals in love, and now there is a family property dispute. We can't guarantee that the information she provided is correct. It is also possible that she deliberately discredited Liu. Next, we must focus on finding Hei Hu. If we can find this person and confirm that Qian Yi bought herbs from him three years ago, we can overturn the case for Manager Feng."

"But this only proves that Liu and Qian Yi teamed up to harm Feng the shopkeeper." Ren Yao said, "This is an old case from three years ago. It has nothing to do with the case we are investigating now."

"So we have to find another way out." Ming Huazhang sighed and said, "The line with Feng Liang is broken, so we can only look for clues from Liu. Have you arranged the people to follow her?"

"It's arranged." Xie Jichuan said, "I checked before I left to make sure there were people watching outside Jinxiu Tower all day. But this is too passive. If Liu can hold her temper and doesn't move, do we have to wait with her?"

Ren Yao quickly added, "I remember when I went to Jinxiu Tower this morning, I saw a lot of fireworks and firecrackers piled up in the warehouse. I asked the waiter, and he said that the lady asked them to buy them. Is this evidence?"

"It doesn't count." Ming Huazhang said, "It's normal for Liu, as the shopkeeper, to ask her employees to buy fireworks and firecrackers around the New Year."

Xie Jichuan narrowed his eyes and said, "We can tell Liu what Widow Hu said today. If Liu is the murderer, she will definitely attack Widow Hu. Then, we can catch her in the act."

"No." Ming Huazhang rejected it directly. "Hu is also pregnant. We can't drag irrelevant people into this."

"But this is the fastest way." Xie Jichuan said, "Now the court is watching with eager eyes, and I don't know how many people are harboring evil intentions. The longer this case is delayed, the easier it will be to use it to make a fuss."

"We can't gamble with the lives of innocent people." Ming Huazhang's tone was unusually tough, and he said firmly, "The matter of Hu providing information ends here, and it is not allowed to be spread outside. This matter is settled like this."

Xie Jichuan pursed his lips and stopped talking, and the room fell into a stalemate. Ming Huashang bit her chopsticks, blinked her eyes and said, "Well... how about we eat first? The food is getting cold."

When Ming Huazhang saw Ming Huashang, he relaxed a little. He raised his hand and handed her a dish, saying, "Eat first. We'll think about the rest tomorrow. There will always be a way."

After dinner, the five people said goodbye at the door and went home. Lanterns were hung on the street, people were walking around, the night breeze was blowing, and it was a busy time. Ming Huashang moved his nose and smelled the fragrance of roasted chestnuts.

Ming Huashang was shamefully tempted, but she thought that she had just finished her meal. As a young lady, how could she eat so much? Ming Huazhang saw through her thoughts at a glance. He handed the reins to his attendant and said calmly, "I ate a little too much just now. Can you accompany me on the road to help digest the food?"

Ming Huashang agreed and walked to the chestnut stall. She was still hesitating, so Ming Huazhang said, "Would you like to buy a bag of chestnuts?"

Ming Huashang pretended to be reserved: "This... I'm already full and can't eat any more."

Ming Huazhang smiled and said, "Okay, I know you can't eat it. It's a bit cold on the road, buy a bag of sugar-roasted chestnuts to warm your hands."

Ming Huashang gladly accepted this reason. She walked down the street holding a large bag of chestnuts and said, "Actually, I don't eat snacks after meals. I buy them mainly for Zhaocai. She likes these odds and ends the most."

Ming Huazhang stood beside her and smiled at her. He took out a chestnut and cracked it open with his fingertips. He held the chestnut kernel to her mouth and said, "Then you taste it for her. Is it delicious?"

Ming Huashang took a bite reluctantly and commented: "Not bad."

Ming Huazhang put the chestnut shells into his handkerchief, peeled the kernels for her as he walked, and then fed them to her. His fingers were long and slender, with distinct joints, and the movement of crushing the chestnut shells was neat and beautiful, not like peeling the shells, but rather like playing music.

Ming Huazhang asked as he fed the pig, "Shangshang, can you draw a portrait of the murderer now?"

Ming Huashang, like a chipmunk, with cheeks stuffed full, said vaguely, "No. The murderer left too little information, and I haven't thought it through yet. I'm afraid that telling you will interfere with your judgment."

Ming Huazhang saw a strand of hair stuck to her mouth, so he reached out to touch her cheek and tidied up the loose hair. Ming Huachang was startled and instinctively hid back like a frightened deer: "Second brother..."

"Don't move." Ming Huazhang pinched her chin, took out a handkerchief, and wiped the chestnut crumbs from her lips. Ming Huachang half-raised her face, her eyes accidentally bumped into his, and half of her body froze.

Ming Huazhang wiped her face carefully, lowered his eyes and looked into hers. He moved his fingers, rubbing the corner of her mouth with his fingertips, and said, "Don't worry, take your time, I trust you."

Ming Huashang blinked, then suddenly reacted, took a step back, and lowered her head deliberately: "Oh, okay. I will definitely not let you down, second brother."

Ming Huazhang's fingertips missed the target. He withdrew his hand, rubbed his fingertips barely perceptibly, and said, "The wind is getting stronger. I'll call for a carriage. If I don't go back soon, my father will be worried."

Ming Huashang nodded silently. After a while, the carriage arrived. Ming Huashang got on the carriage while Ming Huazhang rode the horse. Not long after she sat down, the carriage suddenly stopped again.

Ming Huashang opened the car curtain and asked, "What's wrong?"

The attendant was also bewildered: "I don't know, when we got here, Erlang Jun suddenly stopped, and I don't know what happened."

Ming Huashang lifted the curtain and looked outside, and saw Ming Huazhang dismount from his horse, walk to the intersection with big strides, and actually lean over to pick up a piece of broken porcelain and put it in the corner.

Ming Huashang looked at this scene in astonishment. What was he doing?

Ming Huazhang moved quickly, removing the sharpest pieces, stood up, wiped his fingers, said something to his followers, and walked towards the carriage. He saw Ming Huachang looking outside, stopped in front of the carriage and asked, "What's wrong?"

Ming Huashang shook her head: "Nothing. Second brother, what were you doing just now?"

Ming Huazhang glanced back and said casually, "I don't know where a drunkard smashed the wine jar. The location is not visible from the inside, and I was afraid that there were elderly people and children nearby who would accidentally step on the fragments and get into trouble. Now it has been cleaned up, and we are going home now."

Ming Huashang responded and slowly lowered the curtain. After a while, the carriage continued to move, and she couldn't help but open the curtain a little. The intersection passed by her eyes, and pedestrians who were returning late were afraid of hitting the curfew, so they ran home quickly and didn't pay any attention to the pile of debris in the corner of the wall.

The world passed by like a streak of arrows, but that thin and straight figure remained motionless, towering above the heavens.

Ming Huashang slowly leaned her head against the carriage and looked at the young man silently.

She had never understood what a gentleman was before, as saints had written too many articles and given too many definitions for this word. But at this moment, she realized that a true gentleman is one who looks up to the sun and moon and bows his head to pity the plants and trees.

Put on the official uniform and argue for a woman who has done many evil things; take off the official uniform and move the broken porcelain pieces for passers-by.

It was her great luck to meet him in this life.

·

In the following days, Jingzhao Prefecture was busy as usual. No matter how many people were sent in, it seemed that it was never enough. Ming Huazhang sent people to post notices throughout the city, reminding people not to touch boxes and bundles of unknown origin. At the same time, he and Ming Huachang went to the West Market to find Heihu, and at the same time they had to worry about the progress of Liu's tracking. Several lines were advanced in parallel, but after five or six days, there was no harvest.

The prince could no longer sit still and sent someone to urge him again. In the palace, files and papers were piled everywhere. The five of them sat together, feeling a little anxious.

Xie Jichuan quickly flipped through Liu's tracking records, threw them to the ground carelessly, and said, "Liu is not moving, no one can be found in the West Market, and no new witnesses have been found in the city. Are we just going to wait like this forever?"

Ming Huazhang picked up the paper that Xie Jichuan had thrown away, brushed off the dust on it, and gently placed it on the table. His expression was still as calm and indifferent as ever, and he asked, "What do you think?"

Everyone was silent for a moment, and Ming Huashang said, "Brother Xie is right. We can't wait any longer. I have a plan, but I don't know if I should tell you this or not."

Ming Huazhang raised his eyebrows, sensing that what she said would not be good. Jiang Ling said unhappily, "What nonsense are you talking about? Speak quickly."

Ming Huashang blinked her eyes and said with a smile, "I heard that Liu's son's illness has not yet recovered. These days, Liu has been looking for doctors and medicine everywhere, and even invited a Taoist priest to exorcise the evil spirit."

Jiang Ling opened his mouth halfway, not understanding why Ming Huashang said this without any reason: "What does this have to do with anything?"

Ming Huashang quickly glanced at Ming Huazhang. Her brother was still as aloof and expressionless. She pursed her lips and smiled, looking harmless and obedient. She said, "Only those who have ghosts in their hearts will ask others to exorcise them. So, let's go to Jinxiu Tower and pretend to be ghosts."

Jiang Ling was stunned for a moment, thinking he had heard wrongly: "Huh?"

·

The moon was dark and the wind was high, making a faint sound. Xie Jichuan looked at the dark and silent attic in front of him and said sincerely, "My second sister's inspiration is endless and hard to guard against."

Ming Huazhang was wearing a black suit and leaning against a tree, not saying a word. Ming Huachang chuckled and said, "When investigating a case, of course you have to be punctilious. Then let's do what we agreed on?"

Jiang Ling was very excited when he heard that he had to dress up as a ghost to scare people. He volunteered to play the role of the "ghost" with the most scenes. He rubbed his hands and urged: "Her light is off, she will be fast asleep soon. Hurry up, while she is half asleep and the least awake, do something big to her."

Ming Huazhang sighed helplessly and said, "Be careful, there are children inside, don't scare them."

Ming Huashang got his brother's approval, and excitedly put on the hood, bit the specially made long tongue in his mouth, and said incoherently: "Brother Hei, our time in the world is limited, let's go now."

Beside her, Ren Yao was dressed in black and holding handcuffs. She imitated a man's voice and pulled the handcuffs with a cold face: "Qian, you are dead. From now on, the human and the ghost are on different paths. There is no connection between the living and the dead. Come with us."

Jiang Ling cooperated very well and was pulled by two ghost messengers with iron chains. He cried with sorrow on his face, "Master Black and White Impermanence, I... no, I died unjustly. I want to see my wife and children in the human world for the last time. I hope you can accommodate me!"

Ming Huazhang covered his eyes with his hands, unwilling to look any further. Xie Jichuan sighed deeply and looked up at the sky.

He shouldn't have had any illusions about these people's minds. It was too stupid. He wanted to leave.

Jiang Ling cried and expressed his deep love for his wife. Ming Huashang and Ren Yao reluctantly showed mercy and took him to Jinxiu Tower. Xie Jichuan looked at the three people who were walking like ghosts with serious faces, jumping up and down, and he couldn't stand it anymore: "Are you sick?"

Not far away, Su Yuji stared at the strangely dressed, jumping people in front of him, and felt very confused. Su Yuji crossed his arms and thought seriously.

Are these people a bit crazy? What are they doing?