PCA Chapter 105

As the New Year approached, no one wanted to risk bad luck, so the Dali Temple was unusually quiet. With nothing to do, Zhang Jun led everyone in a thorough cleaning of the entire court.

 

Lord Su, not one to dirty his hands with manual labor, naturally didn’t get involved in these matters. Seeing that a heavy snowfall was imminent, he hurriedly packed up his things, planning to slip away early.

 

But before he could leave, he was stopped at the door.

 

Ning Santong caught Su Cen trying to escape and, completely ignoring Su Cen’s eagerness to leave, sat down casually and poured himself a cup of tea. He said to Su Cen, “I’ve finally caught you.”

 

Su Cen glanced at the small bundle in his hands, feeling as if he had been caught red-handed.

 

From outside, a bailiff called, “Ning Santong, Zhang Jun wants you to clean the latrines.”

 

Ning Santong, while drinking tea, replied, “I have case details to discuss with Lord Su.”

 

So he had come here to seek refuge.

 

Su Cen, still thinking about the “Houyi Shooting the Sun” painting, instructed to lock the door before leaving and continued trying to slip away.

 

Ning Santong put down his teacup and said, “Brother Su, I really do have something to discuss with you.”

 

Su Cen rolled his eyes, “Discuss how to clean the latrines?”

 

“It’s about the corpses,” Ning Santong became unusually serious. “I found something odd about Liu Kang’s body.”

 

The bodies of Xu Youhuai, Liu Kang, and Cao Wei were laid out side by side. Even in winter, they had started to decompose. The charred bodies of Xu Youhuai and Liu Kang were in better condition, but Cao Wei’s body was intact and, having died from poisoning, showed more obvious signs of decay.

 

Although Su Cen wasn’t particularly averse to corpses during investigations, he certainly didn’t have a hobby of staring at them in his free time, especially now that their chests and abdomens were open, with intestines scattered about.

 

Su Cen frowned at Ning Santong, “Get to the point. What’s the problem?”

 

Ning Santong gestured for Su Cen to wait, then closed all the doors and windows tightly and covered them with a black cloth, instantly darkening the room. He moved close to Su Cen and asked, “Brother Su, have you noticed anything?”

 

Su Cen: “…It smells worse?”

 

Ning Santong: “…”

 

Ning Santong gave Su Cen a look of disappointment and pulled him closer to the bodies. “Brother Su, look carefully!”

 

Su Cen felt his eyes stinging from the stench of the corpses and covered his nose in disgust. “If you have something to say, say it. If not, hurry up and go clean the latrines. Even they smell better than this.”

 

Ning Santong sighed heavily, no longer troubling the pure and innocent Lord Su. “When Cao Wei died, you asked me to double-check his cause of death, so I opened him up to take a look.”

 

Su Cen: “Cao Wei didn’t die from poisoning?”

 

“Cao Wei did die from poisoning. I found traces of white phosphorus in his throat and internal organs,” Ning Santong pointed out the faint green fluorescence on Cao Wei’s body. Su Cen nodded, and Ning Santong continued, “With nothing else to do, I opened up Xu Youhuai and Liu Kang to take a look as well.”

 

Su Cen rolled his eyes again. Some “nothing else to do”!

 

Ning Santong moved between the bodies of Xu Youhuai and Liu Kang. “These two didn’t have Cao Wei’s habit of biting their fingernails, but due to long-term exposure to the painting, they would have inevitably inhaled some white phosphorus.”

 

Ning Santong pointed to Xu Youhuai’s body, “Like him, there’s a small amount of white phosphorus, but it’s there.”

 

Then he pointed to the other body: “But this body doesn’t have any at all!”

 

Su Cen frowned after hearing this, no longer minding the stench from the corpses, and stepped forward to take a closer look.

 

Indeed, as Ning Santong had said, the fluorescence was strongest on Cao Wei’s body, Xu Youhuai’s also had some, but the other body was completely clean, showing no traces of white phosphorus.

 

A bold idea sprang to Su Cen’s mind: “You suspect… this body isn’t Liu Kang’s?”

 

“I’m not sure,” Ning Santong frowned and shook his head. “Maybe Liu Kang just had less contact with the painting?”

 

Su Cen shook his head in disagreement: “If he had less contact, he wouldn’t have been burned to death in his home.”

 

Ning Santong: “But wasn’t he drugged before the fire was set? Could it have been the person who drugged him who set the fire?”

 

Su Cen frowned and bit his lower lip lightly: “That’s precisely what’s suspicious. Why was Liu Kang drugged when he died, while Xu Youhuai and Cao Wei weren’t? According to the old man from the bookshop, he wanted to make a public spectacle, even going so far as to kill Xu Youhuai in front of the emperor. So why would he drug Liu Kang and choose to secretly burn him in the courtyard instead of directly burning him in the house?”

 

“This…” Ning Santong couldn’t keep up with Su Cen’s train of thought anymore. He scratched his head, “But didn’t the old man admit to drugging Liu Kang?”

 

“What if… he was trying to protect someone?” Su Cen turned and walked out, “How was the body initially identified as Liu Kang’s?”

 

Ning Santong followed closely behind, “This person’s build and physique were similar to Liu Kang’s. Many servants saw Liu Kang enter the side courtyard study, and the body was found right in front of Liu Kang’s study door. Liu Kang had disappeared, so wouldn’t anyone naturally assume it was him?”

 

“So there’s no concrete evidence proving it’s Liu Kang,” Su Cen instructed as he walked, “Bring me all the testimonies from Liu’s household servants that day, and call in the person who recorded them.”

 

Ning Santong nodded in agreement.

 

Soon, Ning Santong brought both the people and the testimonies to Su Cen’s office. With a case being worked on so close to the New Year, the people at the Dali Temple found it curious, and many gathered to watch. Before long, Su Cen’s office was surrounded.

 

Su Cen quickly scanned through the testimonies and looked up to ask the clerk who had recorded them, “Are all the testimonies from Liu’s household here?”

 

The clerk respectfully replied, “Yes, my Lord, they’re all here.”

 

Su Cen thought for a moment, then said, “No, there’s still one missing!”

 

“When I first arrived at Liu’s house, I bumped into a servant who said he was going out to get medicine for his mistress,” Su Cen looked up, a sharp glint in his eyes, “He shouldn’t have returned when you were taking testimonies.”

 

Xiao Sun, who was watching from outside, suddenly hit his palm and said urgently, “I remember that person too! He was in a panic and almost got into an argument with me for bumping into you, my Lord.”

 

Su Cen continued asking, “Did Liu Kang’s wife, Lady Liu Qin, have any heart problems?”

 

Ning Santong replied, “She remained calm even when facing Liu Kang’s corpse. How could she have any heart issues?”

 

Su Cen pondered for a moment, then suddenly stood up, “Bring a few people with me!”

 

At Xiaoxiang Residence in the bamboo forest on the outskirts of the city

 

The heavy snow didn’t disappoint, falling like goose feathers from the endless gloomy sky. In no time, it had covered the bluestone path in front of the door.

 

Danqing waited outside for a long time before seeing a figure slowly returning on the small path. He immediately felt relieved and hurried over with an umbrella, “Young Master, where did you go? It’s one thing not to take me, but how could you not even bring an umbrella?”

 

Shen Yugui smiled gently at him, “I was dealing with some personal matters.”

 

The two returned to the bamboo building under the umbrella. Danqing helped brush off the accumulated snow, then quickly found a hand warmer and placed it in Shen Yugui’s hands. He complained, “You should be more careful with your old winter ailment. Why did you have to go out in such heavy snow? What if you catch a cold?”

 

Shen Yugui suddenly grabbed Danqing’s wrist and said, “Danqing, let’s leave.”

 

Danqing was slightly stunned, looking at the person before him in disbelief, “Leave? Where to?”

 

“Where do you want to go?” Shen Yugui’s eyes were filled with a smile, “They say the scenery in Jiangnan is as beautiful as a painting. Why don’t we go to Jiangnan?”

 

“Young… Young Master?” Danqing was still in a daze.

 

“You don’t need to call me Young Master anymore,” For the first time in years, Danqing saw such a look in Shen Yugui’s eyes. He heard her continue, “You’ve taken care of me for so many years. From now on, let’s take care of each other, alright?”

 

Shen Yugui’s pale face rarely showed a hint of blush as she said softly, “But I don’t know how to do anything. I’m afraid you’ll still have to teach me.”

 

“Young… Young… Little…” Danqing was so excited he didn’t know how to address her. After hesitating for a while, he finally said, “Yu… Yugui.”

 

Shen Yugui lowered her head and bit her lip. For years, burdened with a mission, she had been the painter of Xiaoxiang Residence, Li Yunxi, spending day and night painting without rest. Now that she had finally put down this heavy burden, someone could call her “Yugui” again.

 

“The young lady is getting married, may she live well in her new home.” She had finally achieved this.

 

“Then, Young… Yugui, when are we leaving?” Danqing asked eagerly, holding Shen Yugui’s wrist.

 

Shen Yugui shyly withdrew her hand, “We have plenty of time in the future, why rush? At least wait until this heavy snow stops.”

 

Danqing jumped up excitedly, “Then I’ll go pack our luggage!”

 

Shen Yugui watched as Danqing bounded up the stairs, smiling gently. She should have properly thanked Lord Su back then, but unfortunately, she had been prepared to die at that time. Learning that Lord Su had concealed the truth for her, the shock outweighed the joy, and she couldn’t react in time.

 

But such an outstanding person would surely be cherished by others. She would pray for his lifelong prosperity.

 

Shen Yugui waited downstairs for a long time but didn’t see Danqing come down. She thought this person must be packing too many things to take along. She went upstairs to look for him. Just as she stepped onto the landing, suddenly a dark shadow came from behind, and Shen Yugui felt a chill at her neck.

 

“Don’t move.” A low voice came from behind.

 

Shen Yugui hadn’t yet reacted when she saw the scene before her and felt her legs go weak, almost falling down the stairs.

 

About ten feet in front of her, Danqing was lying on the ground, blood slowly spreading beneath him, about to reach her feet.

 

The dark shadow slowly emerged from the shadows, a dagger pressed against Shen Yugui’s neck, eyes narrowing maliciously, “Tell me, where is the ‘Houyi Shooting the Sun’ painting hidden?”

 

Shen Yugui could no longer hear anything, her gaze fixed on the pool of bright red on the ground, tears falling uncontrollably.

 

The man laughed coldly, grabbed one of Shen Yugui’s slender wrists, and with his knife, cut across the tendon. A heart-wrenching scream echoed through the bamboo building.

 

“I never knew a little beast like you was left behind,” the man raised his hand and rubbed the fresh blood on the blade, “Now I have all the time in the world to teach you what it means to wish you were dead!”

 

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