Chapter 61 - 60: The Remarried Woman (Double Update)

Chapter 61: Chapter 60: The Remarried Woman (Double Update)

Xianyun, standing aside, listened with growing agitation.

Their madam... oh, the former madam, actually knows how to perform an autopsy? And she said... she even said she wanted to cut open the body for examination!

And their lord was not only unsurprised, but seemed to fully agree, even sending someone to make a set of dissection tools for the former madam!

What was even more puzzling was the tacit understanding between their former madam and lord, without a hint of romantic interaction.

This doesn’t seem like a couple who have parted ways!

Saying the former madam was merely a colleague in their lord’s business affairs, probably no one would doubt it!

What on earth happened between the lord and the former madam during the time he was unaware?

Although he also deeply resented the former madam for what she had done to the young lord, it was undeniable that the young lord still needed a mother at this age. Seeing the former madam’s gentle demeanor towards the young lord today, it seemed she had completely changed; though startled and puzzled, he was genuinely happy for the young lord.

In his heart, nothing was more important than the young lord. As long as the young lord was happy, he was happy; as long as someone treated their young lord well, he would also be willing to be good to them.

But the transformation of their former madam seemed even more dramatic than he had imagined!

Xu Jing had no idea about the inner turmoil of the two servants beside her. After responding to Xiao Yi’s words, she fell into silence.

Uh, after discussing the case, she seemed to have nothing else to say to this man.

Xu Jing was not someone who was poor with words; she just didn’t want to form a deep connection with this man. Their last two interactions were due to necessity.

She also didn’t want this man to think she had any intentions towards him. Gently rubbing the cup in her hand, she thought to make an excuse to see Chang Xiao and leave from here.

Xiao Yi’s eyes flickered slightly. How could he not see through this woman’s thoughts? Before she got up, he suddenly said in a calm voice, "I didn’t know before, but you have a master too."

Xu Jing was slightly taken aback, realizing he was referring to the "master" she mentioned when she spoke about developing the Atractylodes Qi Pill in the afternoon.

She lightly cleared her throat and said, "I do have one, but he’s not really a formal master. When I was staying at the manor, I was often ill for a period of time. At that time, there was a doctor responsible for taking care of me who was quite skilled, named Wu. I often chatted with him out of boredom and, unwittingly, I learned a lot of medical knowledge from our conversations.

Coincidentally, I was also quite interested in medicine myself, so during that time, I read many miscellaneous books about medicine."

That Doctor Wu did exist. He was a doctor from a village near the manor. In his youth, he traveled far and wide as a bell doctor, and his medical skills were quite well-known in that area. Most importantly, he had passed away eight years ago.

Even if this man wanted to investigate her, she wasn’t afraid of giving herself away.

Unless he could somehow bring the deceased Doctor Wu back to life.

Xiao Yi’s eyes flickered slightly and he said, "It seems Miss Xu is not only intelligent but also very diligent, to have learned so much that ordinary people wouldn’t know."

Was this probing or mockery?

Xu Jing couldn’t help but give Xiao Yi a wary glance and said calmly, "Vice Minister Xiao, you’re too kind."

Being with this man, one really couldn’t relax for even a moment.

On the other side, Xiao Yi picked up the tea cup in front of him and sipped it slowly, the corner of his mouth barely lifting under the cover of his sleeve.

Who says that the only thing they can talk about is the case?

Isn’t casual conversation like this also quite natural?

Xu Jing looked at the man in front of her, unable to figure out what he was trying to do; for a moment, she didn’t know whether to leave or stay.

Fortunately, at this moment, the door was knocked. Dongli immediately walked over and, upon returning, said with a serious expression, "Lord, it seems there’s trouble at the county government. Zhu Dalang’s wife arrived with her daughter and insisted on seeing Zhu Dalang. Her daughter tried to persuade her mother to leave, angering her. Lady Zhu thereupon started hitting her daughter at the county government’s entrance, blaming her for not having a conscience, saying that Zhu Dalang raised her for so many years and she still didn’t consider him her real father, and so on.

The guards on duty at the county government barely managed to stop Lady Zhu, but regardless, she refused to leave and sat down at the county government’s gate. Now it’s nearly curfew time; should you go take a look?"

The curfew in Great Chu is quite strict indeed. By 7 p.m., it was already forbidden for civilians to wander the streets aimlessly, and this would continue until the curfew lifted at 3 a.m. Anyone caught wandering without reason would be punished with eighty cane strokes.

Xiao Yi’s brows furrowed immediately.

This wasn’t the first time that woman had caused a scene at the county government. These past few days, she had been making a fuss almost daily.

Initially, as relatives, they were allowed to view Zhu Dalang’s body, but Lady Zhu was emotionally unstable. The first time she went in, she rushed straight at Zhu Dalang’s body, which was the key point in the ongoing investigation and couldn’t afford any mistakes. Afterward, Xiao Yi temporarily forbid them from viewing Zhu Dalang’s body.

Yet Lady Zhu only made a bigger fuss because of it, even accusing the county government of maliciously hiding her husband’s body.

Upon hearing this, Xu Jing’s mind flashed, and she suddenly lifted her eyes to look at Xiao Yi on the opposite side, "Lady Zhu remarried?"

She remembered Chen Hu mentioning rumors that the deceased Mr. Lv’s wife had also remarried.

Xiao Yi seemed to know what she was thinking and nodded, "That’s right, Lady Zhu and Mr. Lv’s wife have the same story, both having remarried.

This is the second point we’ve uncovered during this investigation: all the deceased had women who remarried around them."

All the deceased?

The suspicion in Xu Jing’s heart was confirmed, and her expression turned serious.

Xiao Yi continued, "I had people investigate the rumors Chen Hu mentioned about Mr. Lv, and found they were true. Mr. Lv’s current wife indeed had an affair with him during her previous marriage, and only after her divorce did she marry him.

Ye’s former husband was sworn brothers with Zhu Dalang, and her former husband, a spear master, was killed by bandits about eight years ago while on a mission. She then remarried Zhu Dalang with her six-year-old daughter.

As for Old Master Fang’s wife, she didn’t remarry, but he had a concubine who was initially a servant in the household, married with children. Earlier this year, while serving Old Master Fang, he took a liking to her, and thus she was brought into the house."

Xu Jing furrowed her brows.

The matter with Old Master Fang’s concubine, though Xiao Yi expressed it in mild terms, didn’t stop Xu Jing from understanding the deeper meaning—wasn’t this essentially forcefully taking a married woman? And she was already married with children!

Isn’t Old Master Fang already quite old, and dragged down by illness, yet he can still commit such beastly acts?!

Xiao Yi caught a glimpse of Xu Jing’s face showing an involuntary look of disdain and suddenly smiled mockingly, "In the backyards of wealthy families, similar things are everywhere, but such matters are never brought to light.

The Fang family knows that this incident is far more disgraceful than mere father-son conflicts, so they keep it tightly hidden and sent the concubine’s husband and children away. But there’s no wall under the sky without seams; even though they’ve done this much, the rumors about Old Master Fang forcibly taking a married woman still spread through Anping County."

Xu Jing couldn’t help but glance at him.

This man always maintained a calm, expressionless facade, only showing such expressions when enraged.

The last time he showed such an expression seemed to be when he was agitated by her.

Could it be he has some kind of trauma in this aspect? But even if he does, Xu Jing isn’t particularly interested. After pondering for a moment, she said, "If that’s the case, then the pattern in the killer’s choice of victims is clear. It’s likely the killer was hurt by some family upheaval in childhood, leading to the development of such a dark psychology later on."

Xiao Yi casually replied, "Mm," "I’ve also sent people to investigate the family situation of several suspects; perhaps there will be results in a couple of days."

However, they both understood that even if it were proven a suspect’s family had experienced similar turmoil, it couldn’t serve as evidence that they were the killer.

Xiao Yi said this and then stood up, "After all, Ye is a victim’s family member, it’s not good to let the relationship become too tense. I’ll go deal with this matter.

Chang Xiao...will stay with you tonight. I’ll have someone bring over some of Chang Xiao’s clothes later."

Xu Jing finally snapped out of her contemplation and instinctively murmured, "Okay." She watched as the man turned on his heel and strode toward the door.

Seeing he had no intention of being seen off by her, Xu Jing didn’t bother to get up. Instead, she watched the tall figure gradually fade into the distance, twirling her cup and propping her chin on her hand with a slight pout.

Enough, just endure it. After all, that man won’t reside forever in this small county.

Moreover, his attitude was rather perceptive; he didn’t bring up that Little Point matter in front of her, avoiding any awkwardness.

For this alone, he’s still quite a good partner to work with.