Chapter 125: Playing a Ghost

The night was dark and filled with the aroma of incense. Liu lay in bed, unable to fall asleep for a long time.

As soon as she closed her eyes, her thoughts could not help but drift away. The government had not come to her house in the past few days, and it seemed that everything was peaceful and the years were good. However, when she went out, she always felt that someone was watching her from behind, and when she turned around, she could not find anyone.

Liu couldn't help but wonder whether the government had discovered anything and how much they had discovered. Why were they not coming to ask questions? What were they waiting for?

Liu was shocked and doubtful, but also felt lucky. Maybe, this matter was really over?

Since Ming Huashang left, Liu has been living in this kind of repeated suspicion and self-denial. Any slight movement can scare her. To make matters worse, the child is sick and has not recovered for a long time. In the long and repeated torture, Liu's mental state is getting worse and worse. She even has hallucinations these days.

This feeling of walking on hair without knowing when the hair underfoot would break was almost driving her crazy. Especially at this moment, the night was even quieter, and everything was silent, but there seemed to be countless voices quarreling in her mind. Liu tossed and turned for a long time, and finally opened her eyes fiercely, thinking angrily that the government might as well take her away directly, rather than torturing her mentally now.

A gust of night wind blew past, lifting the curtains, and the coldness came like a tide. Liu rubbed her arms, feeling quite strange. Didn't the maid close the window before she left? Why is there a wind in the room?

Liu got up to close the window. For some reason, the window was particularly difficult to close today. Liu pushed the window open with all her strength and frowned, saying, "What's wrong with these maids? They are so careless that they don't even close the window when they go out?"

As Liu spoke, she turned around, let out a short cry, and her back hit the window heavily.

I don't know when the door opened, and three dark shadows stood outside. One was dressed in black, wearing an official hat, his face was so dark that his features could not be seen clearly, and he held shackles in his hands; the other was dressed in white, holding a feather fan, and a long tongue came out of his mouth, which was particularly prominent on his pale face.

The two of them stood in front of the door, their clothes swaying without wind. The weirdest thing was that between them was a thing with a face covered in blood, and the clothes underneath were empty and dangling, which was a very creepy sight.

What is this? The Black and White Impermanence? The wronged spirits? Didn’t we ask the Taoist priest to exorcise the evil spirits? How could we have something like this?

Liu's legs suddenly went limp. She tried to stay calm and asked, "Who is playing tricks here?"

The thing in the middle took a step forward and tremblingly stretched out his hand: "My dear wife, don't you remember me?"

The white ghost frowned with a pale face and blood-red tongue and looked to the side quietly. Was this line in the script? Why did Jiang Ling add more drama to himself?

Obviously, Liu was also shocked by the word "beloved wife" and frowned slightly: "Who are you?"

Jiang Ling's lower back was pinched hard by someone. His eyes suddenly widened and he tried hard to hold back the pain. This time he didn't need to pretend. His voice naturally became trembling and majestic: "Liu Niang, the judge said that someone sued me three years ago. I owe a debt and will go to hell and be tortured by being knives and fried in oil. Only by paying off the debt with my life span can I avoid being fried and reincarnate as a human. Liu Niang, you and your son are my closest relatives, save me!"

Liu frowned and secretly looked at the scene at the door, obviously she was suspicious. Ming Huashang secretly said "Oh no" and winked at the person beside her.

Ming Huazhang leaned against a nearby wall, almost blending into the darkness. To be honest, he wanted to pretend that he didn't see anything, but now that things had come to this, if Ming Huachang and his men were to play tricks and gain nothing, or even be exposed by the victim, Jingzhao Prefecture would only be more embarrassed.

He could only sigh and pick up the props resignedly.

Ming Huashang saw the response and felt relieved. She waved her sleeves mysteriously, and a sudden wind blew up, blowing her white clothes into a flutter, making her look eerie and ghostly. She stood in the wind holding a feather fan, and said expressionlessly: "The time has come, the gates of hell are open, Qian Yi, you should leave."

As they spoke, a ball of green light appeared under the feet of the three people, and it looked like it was flying up in the wind. The man in the middle seemed to be torn by something, and Qi Liao suddenly started bleeding. He stretched out his hand to Liu in pain and said, "Liu Niang, save me! The judge said you only have another 60 years of life left, please save me!"

Liu was frightened by this strange sight and shrank back. She was so scared that she couldn't even shout. She trembled all over and said with chattering teeth, "No! You ungrateful man, why did you let me sacrifice my life to save you? Get out of here!"

Ren Yao gestured from above, actually using the martial arts skills to make the chain creak, as if there was an invisible force in the air exerting pressure. Jiang Ling struggled against the non-existent restraints, saying fiercely: "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have owed a life debt! Master's wife, give it back to me, you give it back to me!"

Liu screamed, covered her ears and cursed: "You are talking nonsense! It was you who proposed to kill him and live with me forever, what does it have to do with me? You were the one who proposed to kill people first, so if anyone should go to hell, it should be you!"

Ming Huashang was overjoyed when she heard Liu admit to the murder, and was about to remind Jiang Ling that it was almost time. Unexpectedly, Jiang Ling was addicted to acting, and walked into the house while exaggerating and struggling: "You are so cruel! Hell is too cold, I want to take you and my son with me!"

Liu's mental state had been abnormal for a while, and the ghost was pressing on her. She was greatly stimulated and picked up things around her and threw them at the door without even looking at what they were. Jiang Ling was immersed in his acting when he was caught off guard by a dark shadow approaching. He cried out and was hit by a feather whisk.

Liu was stunned, the Black and White Impermanence who were casting spells were stunned, and even the wind that was blowing inexplicably in the corridor was stunned.

Ming Huazhang, who was manually creating wind and green light, pressed his forehead and felt a real headache.

Liu was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized, what kind of ghost would be hit by a chicken feather whisk? Moreover, even if the ghost's face was covered in blood and his features could not be seen clearly, how could the profit be so high?

Someone is pretending to be a ghost to deceive her!

Liu stood up by holding the window and shouted angrily, "Someone, there's a thief!"

Liu's shout was so shocking that rustling sounds quickly filled the Jinxiu Building, and many windows lit up. Ming Huazhang sighed slightly, stood up with his knife in hand, and walked towards the light.

He was tall and strong, and even in his nightgown, he was still as majestic as a towering jade mountain. He walked to the center of the corridor, facing the many rooms of Jinxiu Tower, and said loudly: "No need to chase, there is no thief. I am Ming Huazhang, the Junior Yin of Jingzhao Prefecture, and I am here to investigate the case."

It seemed that there was no movement in the building, but all the doors and windows were opened a little, and countless eyes were hiding behind the door cracks and spying. Liu's face changed drastically when she saw Ming Huazhang. She knew that Ming Huazhang must have heard what she had just said. How could she be willing to be arrested like this? Even if she died, she would drag an official of the court to take her place.

Liu pulled her thin nightgown together and lowered her chin slightly, saying, "Ming Shaoyin, I am a widow now. I wonder why you came here so late at night?"

If the reputation of an imperial official spying on a widow at night spreads, even the best career will be ruined. Ming Huazhang remained calm and composed amidst the many ambiguous looks, his figure as graceful as jade. He turned around with the knife in his hand and faced Liu with his profile. Although he was not looking at her, Liu still felt a powerful and unstoppable pressure.

"This happened suddenly, and I was rude for not sending you a visiting card in advance. However, are you sure you want to talk to me in front of so many people about what you just said, Madam Qian?"

Liu sneered and remained unmoved: "I was sleepwalking just now, maybe I said some nonsense. Can the words in the dream also be used to convict people?"

Ming Huazhang stood in the semi-darkness, his profile seemed to outline the boundary between yin and yang, a perfect blend of good and evil, hard and soft, cold and beautiful. He glanced back, his eyes were as bright as torches, and his sharpness was revealed: "The net of heaven is vast and nothing can escape it. Whether you admit it or not, I will continue to investigate. Even if it takes ten or twenty years, I will definitely find evidence, convict the guilty, and punish the person who deserves punishment. Whether you admit your guilt or not, the only difference is the sentencing."

"If you take the initiative to plead guilty, you can be given a lighter sentence for the sake of your child. If you persist in your delusion and the Jingzhao Prefecture finds evidence, you will only be sentenced to death. Have you ever thought about what will happen to a child who loses the care of his mother?"

·

The lights in the guest room were bright. The maid put down the teacup and couldn't help glancing to the side as she left.

Three strange-looking people were sitting aside, one with a white face, one with a black face, and one with blood all over his face. They looked scary at first glance.

But the prerequisite is that the bloody man did not play with Bai Wuchang's long tongue and laughed.

There was a hint of humor in the weirdness, and a hint of confusion in the humor. The maid's expression gradually became confused. Are the government cases now handled in such an unconventional way?

Ming Huashang slapped Jiang Ling's hand away in disdain and said, "Why didn't you do what we agreed on? You almost caused our mission to fail, do you know that?"

"If I hadn't improvised, would she have admitted it so easily?" Jiang Ling made a face and didn't care. Qi Ling started bleeding again. He played with it for a while and said, "The Wei family's machinery is really useful. They are worthy of being a business specializing in the dead. Give me that tongue. I'm going to use it to scare people in the future."

Ren Yao couldn't bear it any longer and pinched Jiang Ling's ears: "Do you still have the nerve to do that?"

Jiang Ling was in so much pain that half of his body was hanging up. He grimaced and said, "Let go, let go! We are interrogating the prisoner, you are disturbing the court!"

Xie Jichuan touched the mask on his face and silently moved away from those fools.

Ming Huashang saw it and asked curiously, "Brother Xie, why do you carry a mask with you?"

"I didn't have this habit before." Xie Jichuan leaned against the screen with his arms crossed and said coolly, "I developed this habit after I got to know you guys."

"Be quiet." Ming Huazhang took a deep breath and told himself not to show his emotions and to be tolerant. He squeezed his knuckles hard, resisting the urge to chase these monsters away, and asked in a calm and steady tone, "Liu, you said Qian Yi was the first to bring up the murder, what's going on?"

Liu lowered her head and said indifferently, "Just as you suspect, I was the one who killed Feng the shopkeeper. Now Qian Yi is dead, no matter what I say, there is no evidence. Your Excellency, why do you have to pretend to be so?"

Ming Huazhang ignored her hostility and continued to ask, "Why did you kill someone?"

Mrs. Liu, who was wearing a coat, raised her eyes and glanced at Ming Huazhang, and said with a smile: "My lord, a young and talented man has risen to the top. I don't know how far people at the bottom can endure in order to survive. I'm a pretty little guy. I still expect love after I got to Gaozhi, I deserve to be looked down upon, even a cook can look down on me."

Ming Huashang asked: "So, three years ago you felt love and respect from Qian Yi, and for the sake of love, you took the risk and killed Feng the shopkeeper so that you could stay with your lover forever?"

Liu didn't say anything, her expression was cold and she looked rather disdainful. Ming Huashang nodded and said deliberately, "I see. So after you got married, Qian Yi became increasingly cold to you and even betrayed you, that's why you were so angry that you killed him?"

"I didn't!" Liu suddenly got excited. She met the gazes of those people, then turned away indifferently, saying sarcastically, "The adults have already convicted me. What else can I say? Killing one husband means death, killing two also means death. It doesn't matter. Whatever the adults think is true."

"That's true." Ming Huazhang said calmly, "I will not let the guilty go, but I will not impose a punishment that does not belong to him. Let me ask you again, Qian Yi, did you kill him?"

Liu blinked hard, holding back her tears, and said in a nonchalant tone, "No. If I could make such powerful gunpowder, I wouldn't have to spend so much effort to kill Feng the shopkeeper."

Ming Huashang suddenly became alert and asked hurriedly, "How did you kill the shopkeeper Feng?"

"Use medicine." Liu said, "He already had heart pain and needed to take medicine every day. I replaced the aconite in the medicine with inferior ones, hoping to kill him slowly. But this was too slow. Shopkeeper Feng had already noticed Qian Yi and me. I was afraid that the night would be long and there would be more trouble, so I asked Qian Yi to go to the West Market to exchange a large amount of poisonous aconite, added it all to the medicine, and then tricked Shopkeeper Feng into drinking it. Not long after he drank the medicine, he began to twitch. I covered his mouth to prevent him from making any sound, and then he stopped moving. I waited another night and called someone the next day."

Ming Huazhang asked: "How do you know that aconite is poisonous?"

One can even tell which type of aconite can cause chronic death and which type can cause sudden death on the spot.

Liu pursed her lips, averted her eyes and said, "Dr. Chu told me?"

Ming Huazhang raised his eyebrows, very surprised: "Huichuntang Chu Ji?"

Liu nodded, which was considered as an admission. Then this was even more strange. Xie Jichuan, who had been silent all this time, spoke up and said, "He is a well-known doctor in Chang'an. Why would he risk his reputation for a small restaurant owner like you?"

Chu Ji was already dead, and Liu had nothing to hide, so she said calmly, "Because I saw him kill someone."

Everyone in the room was shocked when this was said. Ming Huazhang's eyes flashed coldly and he asked in a deep voice, "Who did he kill?"

"His apprentice, Song Yanbai."

Ren Yao and Jiang Ling were both confused, not knowing why another person showed up. Ming Huashang immediately remembered that when she went to Huichun Hall to see the scene, she did hear the medicine boy say that he once had a senior brother who died in an accident while preparing medicinal materials.

Ming Huashang continued, "But the medicine boy clearly said that his senior brother failed to take adequate precautions when preparing the herbs and was poisoned to death."

Liu rolled her eyes and sneered, "Accident? It would be easy for him, a doctor with three generations of medical experience and proficient in pharmacology, to pretend the poisoning was an accident."

"Poisoned?" Ming Huazhang stared at her closely and asked, "How did you know?"

Liu sighed, changed her posture and leaned on the armrest, and said slowly: "That was six years ago."

"At that time, I was still a lowly fisherman. One day, Mrs. Chu and I ordered fish. The next day, I carried two fresh fish and hurried to Huichuntang, but found that no one was inside. The customer didn't pay, so I didn't dare to leave. I could only wait in the kitchen, and accidentally fell asleep leaning against the firewood pile. Later, I was awakened by the sound of talking. I secretly followed and found that an old man and a young man were arguing in the pharmacy at the back.

"The young man had his back turned and didn't see it, but I saw clearly that the old man shook a lot of powder into the half-drunk drink. Finally, the old man pointed at the young man and cursed him for being ungrateful and coveting the master's secret recipe, and then walked away. The young man drank the drink angrily, and soon began to twitch. I was so scared that I ran away quickly. The next day, I heard that the beloved disciple of the divine doctor Huichuntang was poisoned while preparing medicinal materials and died young. The divine doctor Chu was heartbroken because he lost his successor. I knew that the highly respected divine doctor would also kill his disciple out of jealousy. We are all the same despicable mortals, so no one should criticize anyone."

Ming Huachang looked for a pen everywhere, and finally wiped a finger of blood from Jiang Ling's face and quickly wrote down the key words on the costume. Ming Huazhang saw the interaction between Ming Huachang and Jiang Ling, pursed his lips, forced his eyes away, and asked: "What happened next, did you report it to the police?"

"Report to the authorities?" Liu chuckled and said sarcastically, "Why should I report to the authorities? Will the authorities offend the famous doctor in Chang'an for a fisherman like me? Or will the dead man's property be shared with me? Oh, he is just a poor apprentice with no money, so there is no need to report to the authorities."

Ming Huazhang asked: "What happened next?"

Liu said nonchalantly, "Sir, you have already guessed it, why ask me? After that, of course, I was lucky enough to be noticed by Feng the shopkeeper, and from then on, I was transformed into Madam Feng. Later, I was unfaithful and unfaithful to my husband, so he used this as a handle to get Doctor Chu to help me kill someone."

"Did he help?"

"No." Liu said, "He doesn't trust me, and I don't trust him. He only told me that the prescription he gave me contained aconite, and that I could use aconite that was not prepared for a long enough time to kill people, and even if someone found out, he could claim it was an accident. But he wouldn't provide me with the herbs, and asked me to find them myself."

Xie Jichuan nodded slowly beside him: "This way, you each have each other's secrets but without evidence, you don't have to worry about being betrayed. It's a very smart move."

Liu smiled, leaned on the armrest, and glanced at Xie Jichuan with a charming look: "Thank you for your compliment, young master."

Having made great progress today, Ming Huazhang stood up and nodded, saying, "Thank you for your cooperation, Madam. I have one last question. Who did you buy the medicine from?"

"I don't know." Liu said frankly, "I'm a woman, how can I know what's going on outside? Qian Yi brought all these things back."

"Didn't he tell you where the medicine came from?"

"No." Liu said, "Manager Feng trusts him very much and has handed over the purchase and transportation of Jinxiu Tower to him a long time ago. He has a lot of connections. Manager Feng trusts him, so why shouldn't I?"

Ming Huazhang nodded. There was nothing more to ask. He raised his hand, still elegant and polite at this time: "Madam, you are suspected of murdering your first husband. According to the law, you should go to prison. Please come in."