Chapter 17 Portrait

Ming Huazhang found this strange and asked, "What do you mean?"

Ming Huashang replied, "People often say that they regret not meeting each other earlier. Some people are so compatible with each other even though it's their first meeting, as if they've known each other for half their lives. Many of their ideas coincide with each other's. Outsiders will also feel that they have very similar characteristics, commonly known as the same type of people. For example, my second brother and I, although we are siblings, if we kill someone, the scene and method of the murder will definitely be completely different. So I wondered if I could do the opposite, guess the murderer's thoughts from the traces at the scene, and then describe what kind of person he is in real life."

After Ming Huashang finished speaking, she looked at Ming Huazhang nervously, afraid that he would think she was ridiculous. Ming Huazhang chuckled softly, pulled her collar tighter, and said, "Although I don't understand, I understand what you mean. You always come up with unique metaphors."

Ming Huashang smiled shyly, huddled in her fur, and said, "The murderer killed three people in total. I already have a vague outline, but I'd better visit all three scenes before drawing any conclusions. Second brother, I want to go see Lian Xin."

Ming Huazhang went out to check on Lian Xin in the first place. After so much delay, he finally got back to the point. Ming Huachang spent a lot of time on the first two scenes. Now it was late at night and the wind and snow were very cold. Ming Huazhang untied the tie in front of her neck and tied it again until she was wrapped up, then he said, "Okay, let's go."

Ming Huashang followed Ming Huazhang like a moving ball of fur. She asked, "Second brother, don't you mind if I waste your time or let your imagination run wild?"

Ming Huashang is a woman, and a relatively useless one at that. In the eyes of the world, she should stay in the inner house, enjoying the passing of time, taking care of her husband and children. When she sees such evil acts as murder, she should avoid it. The right and wrong will be judged by the big shots above.

However, Ming Huashang was pointing fingers at the murder case and even wanted to overturn the case-handling process that the officials had compiled over the years based on their experience and find their own way based on her own "feelings".

If this kind of thing were made public, it would certainly be dismissed as nonsense by many Confucian scholars, who would accuse women of having long hair and short knowledge and should not interfere with the judiciary.

Ming Huashang couldn't control others, but she really wanted to know whether Ming Huazhang really listened to her words or whether he just listened reluctantly out of "pampering" his sister but didn't take it seriously at all.

Ming Huazhang walked in front of her. The boy had straight shoulders and a pine-like body. His back seemed to cover the entire Ming Huachang.

He did not turn around, his voice was cold, but he silently blocked most of the wind and snow for her: "The so-called court rules and golden rules are not innate, they are fixed after being tested and proven to be effective. Your ideas are different from theirs, which does not mean that you are wrong, but only that there were no people like you in the past. Whatever you want to say and do, just do it, and don't worry about what others say. You are the only wife of the Ming family, you should have a smooth, healthy and happy life, even if the sky falls, I will stand in front of you."

Ming Huashang was deeply moved. She used to think that her second brother was famous for being cold and heartless, so she never dared to get close to him. But after she tried to take the first step, she found that he was indeed cold, but not heartless at all.

It is like freshly fallen snow, clear and pure, but if you heat it with your true heart, it will slowly melt into water.

Ming Huachang felt relieved, even though she was frozen for half the night, she was still happy. She saw Ming Huazhang wearing only a thin robe, with his hands and face exposed to the wind and snow, looking even whiter and more unreal. She didn't know why Ming Huazhang resisted warmth, but since she saw it, she certainly couldn't keep herself warm and leave her second brother alone.

Ming Huashang jumped to Ming Huazhang's side, wrapped her hands around Ming Huazhang's, and blew a breath on her lips. Ming Huazhang had no defense behind him, so she caught his hand. He tried to pull it back immediately, but Ming Huashang held him tightly: "Second brother, your fingertips are cold. I'm wearing thick clothes, I'll keep you warm."

"No need." Ming Huazhang said helplessly, "I'm not cold."

"Nonsense, you are made of flesh too, how can you not be cold?"

As they argued, they arrived at the courtyard. This was the guest house where Ming Huashang and Ren Yao once lived, but now it was dark and silent, with the front door wide open, like a monster lurking in the darkness, opening its mouth with ill intentions, waiting for its prey to fall into its trap.

Ming Huazhang turned a blind eye and walked calmly into the darkness. He lit a tinder, which suddenly pushed back the darkness and illuminated the female corpse not far away.

The wind howled and the phantom fire flickered. The atmosphere was truly terrifying, but Ming Huazhang seemed to be unable to feel it. He held the fire starter in one hand and examined Lian Xin's corpse with the other. He was completely unconcerned and got close to the eerie pale face with two bloody holes on it.

Ming Huashang thought she was a very careless and wooden person, and she was a little scared when she saw this scene. She silently pulled the hood tight and asked, "Second brother, are you not afraid at all?"

"What are you afraid of?" Ming Huazhang said calmly, coldly, and indifferently, "She was murdered. If you want to be afraid, you should be afraid of those decent and respectable living people. Why are you afraid of a dead body?"

Ming Huashang was speechless. She silently suppressed her fear of death and carefully searched for the psychological traces left in the house.

This should not be the first scene where the murderer killed Lian Xin, but for Ming Huashang, how the murderer placed the body and how he arranged the ceremony in his mind was far more important than the murder scene. She paced slowly in the room, and in her mind, a figure was crossing the threshold, with a delicate, weak, and warm female body on his shoulders.

He had a free access to the bedroom of the Duke's daughter. The furnishings around him that were obviously for a noblewoman made him both excited and resentful. He looked around, under the bed, in the closet, on the chairs, there were many places to put the body, but these were not enough. He searched for a long time and finally found a satisfactory place.

bed.

The bedding was neatly folded, and there seemed to be a faint fragrance of a woman on it. He excitedly placed "his woman" on the couch, pulled back the bedding, and covered the face of Lian Xin with the quilt that had covered the skin of the noble lady not long ago.

Ming Huashang had unknowingly half-crouched in front of the bed, staring blankly at Lian Xin's empty eyes. Ming Huazhang waved a fire stick in front of her eyes and called out, "Second Mother?"

Ming Huachang suddenly came back to her senses and turned her head to see Ming Huazhang looking at her with a frown, as if there was worry in his eyes. The sparks were clearly extinguished, and his straight face was shrouded in the firelight, half bright and half dark, with a sense of solemnity like the gods in the murals.

Ming Huashang was stunned for a long time, and then she came out of that extreme empathy. Seeing that she was still silent, Ming Huazhang reached out to touch her forehead, but was grabbed by Ming Huashang.

"Brother, I've figured out the most important point!"

Ming Huazhang said that he didn't mind being close to corpses, but when he saw her squatting in front of a dead body, he still calmly held her arm and pulled her to a clean place: "Hmm?"

Ming Huashang was completely immersed in excitement and didn't pay any attention to Ming Huazhang's actions: "I was always unsure about his attitude towards women, but now I finally understand! It's obvious that he hates us and deliberately wants to scare us. But if he just wants to scare people, wouldn't it be better to hang the body at the door so that we can see it as soon as we open the door? Why did he hide the lotus heart in our bedding?"

Ming Huazhang had been investigating how Lianxin died, what weapon the murderer used, and at what time, but he had never thought about the reason behind it.

Yes, there must be a need behind every action. What was the murderer thinking when he did these things? Why did he do this instead of that?

Ming Huazhang humbly asked, "Why?"

Ming Huashang pointed at the bed, her eyes shining: "Because of the bed. Beds are different from other furniture..."

Ming Huashang originally wanted to say that the bed is a place for couples to have sex, and this meaning is far more than just an ordinary seat, but when she was about to say it, she realized that the person in front of her was her brother. Ming Huazhang's eyes were beautiful and clear, looking at her seriously, what should she say?

Ming Huachang blushed, and was rarely embarrassed. Ming Huazhang saw her expression and understood. He was a little embarrassed, but he was the brother, how could he think about this in front of his sister? He tried to maintain a calm and steady attitude and said, "Then what?"

Ming Huashang didn't know whether Ming Huazhang understood or not, so she continued to speak haltingly, "This is his hidden thought, and I'm afraid he himself is not aware of it. When he was provoked and declared his power, his subconscious choice of bed just happened to reflect his life experience."

Ming Huazhang's attention was really drawn this time, and he didn't dwell on those embarrassing things anymore: "Life experience?"

A murder scene can actually reveal the murderer's life experience?

"Yeah." Ming Huashang nodded and reorganized his thoughts. "He should be a man, between 20 and 30 years old. Not too young, because if he is young, he has no experience and will not have such a strong emotional prejudice against the bed; not too old either, after all, killing three people in two days is a big test of his physical strength. In view of his strong desire and hatred for beautiful maids, I guess he once had a wife, who was beautiful, good at dancing, and the neighbors liked her very much. His wife might have been a maid in a wealthy family, but later betrayed him for some reason and probably became the concubine of the other master..."

Ming Huashang paused here, thinking of the situation in Princess Taiping's mansion, and said, "No, it's not the young master, but the concubine of the master."

After thinking this through, Ming Huachang's thoughts became smoother: "Looking at the degree of brutality he showed to the corpse, we can see that he is strong and powerful, with great physical strength and strong possessiveness, and he can easily strangle a woman. When such a man found out that his wife was cheating on him, he would most likely be furious and beat or even kill his wife immediately. His anger would not be suppressed for several years and then vented on a group of maids who have nothing to do with his wife but have similar identities. Therefore, the most likely explanation is that he left home for something and did not know about his wife's situation. When he came back, his wife had already run away with the nobles. Therefore, he must have been in the army and was a strong soldier."

Ming Huazhang had an idea in his mind almost immediately, but he did not accept it blindly. Instead, he asked: "A man who has been away from home for several years may also be a businessman. Why do you think he is a soldier instead of a traveling merchant?"

Ming Huashang said: "Although people always say that fate is determined by heaven, I think that a person's character and the industry he chooses are actually mutually selected. A businessman will not be aggressive. Similarly, a person who likes to solve problems with force will never embark on the path of business from the beginning. He puts his grudges and revenge so openly, which does not seem like the thinking of a businessman, but more like a soldier. Moreover, because of his aggressive, cruel and unconcealed character, he would not be able to get along well in the army and would most likely be squeezed out. However, he appeared in Princess Taiping's villa, which shows that after leaving the army, he defected to the powerful and became a servant of a big shot."

A strong man between twenty and thirty years old, who had served in the army but became a domestic slave, was fierce and aggressive, and had run away with a wife... A person immediately emerged in Ming Huazhang's mind.

Ming Huashang saw Ming Huazhang's expression and asked, "Second brother, do you have a candidate?"

Ming Huazhang sighed and said, "Maybe."

If his speculation and Ming Huashang's portrait are correct.

Ming Huashang came over with great interest and asked, "Who is it?"

Ming Huazhang thought of the power behind that person and subconsciously rejected her: "These have nothing to do with you, don't listen to them."

"Why is it okay?" Ming Huashang was not willing to let it go as the excitement was getting high. "I was almost killed by him. If I didn't know who it was and wasn't prepared, I might be the one to die next time!"

Ming Huazhang's face immediately darkened and he glared at her sternly: "Don't talk nonsense."

He sternly rebuked Ming Huashang, but his attitude wavered. He thought the mastermind behind all this would not be so insane, but what if? The mountain road would be blocked for days. If she had an accident, how would he communicate with the state governor? Compared with losing her life, the risk of letting her see the mastermind behind the scenes could be completely ignored.

Ming Huachang noticed Ming Huazhang's hesitation and immediately started to whine and act coquettishly. Ming Huazhang really couldn't handle this trick, and after a moment he said helplessly: "Do you still remember the servant in blue clothes who followed Prince Ding today?"

Ming Huashang was stunned for a moment. She vaguely remembered that when she met Princess Taiping in the evening, there were several figures standing behind Prince Ding, but she could no longer remember. Ming Huashang asked, "Is it him?"

"I guess so," Ming Huazhang said, "but my deduction is not as amazing as yours. It seems rather clumsy and dull."

"No matter what method we use, it's a good method if we can catch the murderer!" Ming Huashang praised his brother generously, and then asked excitedly, "Second brother, how did you figure it out?"

Ming Huazhang said slowly, "I first had doubts after seeing Wei Zi's body. The twigs on her body had barbs, which were not something an ordinary person could handle. The binding method was similar to that in the military. I suspected at that time that the murderer had been a soldier, and it was not until I saw Lian Xin that I was sure that he had been in the military. No one would laugh at something as painful as hanging, but Lian Xin's mouth corners were raised. I thought of a kind of tree leaf - the arrow poison tree, also known as the blood-strychnos nux vomica, which is mostly used to apply poison to arrows, so it is called the arrow poison tree. But it is also used for anesthesia in the military. When used on a wounded person, he will relax his body and muscles and let the military doctor manipulate him. The smile on Lian Xin's face should be the result of applying the arrow poison tree juice."

Ming Huashang had never heard of this before, but that didn't stop her from thinking it was amazing: "Second brother, you know so much."

Is this the confidence that comes from reading widely?

Ming Huazhang's face did not change, and he continued, "Because I had doubts in my heart, I paid special attention to Yang Er when he was chasing him. Although he ran flexibly, his movements were sloppy and he had no rules. It was obvious that he had never practiced before, so I knew he was not the murderer as soon as we fought. I wanted to see what the person behind the scenes was planning, so I took advantage of the situation and took Yang Er to see Princess Taiping, using the excuse that I had caught the murderer to let Princess Taiping The princess gathered the people together. I didn't expect to get any results from interrogating Yang Er in the hall, and I have been secretly looking for the soldiers around Prince Ding and Prince Wei. But those who can be guards will pretend to be fierce, and I can't ask them, so I can't be sure who it is. I can only roughly define a range. I wanted to come here tonight to find definite evidence to anchor who it is. But after listening to your description, I seem to have found him. "

Ming Huashang thought to herself, is this what it means to be shocked but calm? He had doubts so early, but he remained calm, as if he had no idea and was just trying his luck. When Ming Huashang thought of this, she suddenly felt that she had missed something: "How do you know that the murderer is someone close to Prince Ding and Prince Wei?"

"It's because of the black thorn that bound Wei Zi." Ming Huazhang said, "Do you still remember the rumor that the snake ghost harmed people that suddenly spread overnight?"

Ming Huachang nodded. Of course she remembered such a curious thing. Ming Huazhang raised his eyes, looked at the vast snow outside, and said in a low voice: "I was surprised when I first heard about it. Blackthorns are all over Jiangnan West Road, but the rumor insists that this ghost comes from Fangzhou. Jiangnan West Road is so big, why is it only targeted at Fangzhou? After thinking about it, the only thing that is special about Fangzhou compared to other places is probably Luling."

Ming Huashang's eyes widened. She was not afraid of ghosts or dead people, but now she broke out in a cold sweat: "You mean, the person behind this is going after King Luling?"

Prince Luling, this name is familiar to the subjects of the Tang Dynasty, oh no, the Zhou Dynasty. He is the eldest living son of the Empress, the crown prince and the brother of Princess Taiping, the orthodox of the previous dynasty who once ascended the throne but was deposed by the Empress.