The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, Chapter 14: The blackmailed murder sacrifice

The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty. 《成化十四年》Chengnian Shisi Nian
The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, Chapter 14: The blackmailed murder sacrifice

When A-Xia returned to the courtyard where the Li Family’s mistress lived, A-Chun lifted the curtain and came out, and when she saw her, she said, "Why did it take so long for you to deliver a snack?”


The Li Family's wife, surnamed Zhang, is over fifty years old and well maintained, at least compared to the general premature aging of her peers, but the corners of her eyes wre inevitably creeping with wrinkles, her body is slightly blessed, but her face is kind, when she saw A-Xia walk in, she smiled and asked, "Did you deliver the snacks?"

A-Xia blessed himself: "Yes, Master Tang was very cheerful, saying that the mistress took the trouble to let me thank you."

Zhang Shi laughed, "Master Tang has helped us a lot too, we usually just send some food, how can it be counted as bothering, A-Xia, you come here, I have something to say to you."

A-Xia went over to see Zhang Shi looking at herself, a little anxious, and said in a low voice, "What do you want from me?

Zhang Shi smiled, "Don't be nervous, I'm asking you, did you have a crush on the next door Master Tang?"

A-Xia stammered with a jump in his heart, "Ma'am?"

Zhang Shi said: "Just be honest, I won't hurt you, yes or no?"

A-Xia sounded like a mosquito: "Yes...."

Zhang Shi laughed: "This will be good, Master Tang single official in the capital, there is no one around to take care of him, you now are seventeen, and should have been married by now, and I know you are interested in Master Tang, but in your capacity, he will be a bit reluctant to want to marry you as a wife. If you are a concubine, there should be no problem, but you have grown well and have learned a lot from me over the years. The deed is returned to you. It’s okay if you go out to marry a small family and be your own mistress. I do not know what you have in mind to call you here and ask whether you are willing to serve Master Tang, or whether you are willing to go out and marry."

A-Xia remembered what she had just been rejected, his face flushed and said, this servant, this servant has no shame, she has already taken the initiative to show her heart to Master Tang!"

Zhang Shi was surprised: "You girl, what is there to be ashamed of, the man is the first one to marry, the woman is the first to marry, you have been under my watch since childhood, not only you, but also A-Chun, A-Qiu and them, I am happy to see you all find a good home, get up quickly, what did Master Tang say?"

A-Xia kneeled down, strong tears flowed out, hugging Zhang Shi’s leg and sobbing, "Madam, Master Tang can't look at me, I... I want to die!"

Zhang Shi picked her up: “There's no room for maneuver at all, what did Master Tang say?"

A-Xia huffed and choked and told all of the dramatic story.

Zhang Shi listened and sighed: "It seems that Master Tang really does not have that idea, and with your character, Master Tang should not have been unwilling, but in this world, not all men are greedy and lustful, there are always exceptions, so I will find another good match for you, you can choose which one you like!”

A-Xia said in a low voice, “The maid has no option, I dare to plead with my mistress to come forward and help me speak in front of Master Tang, say one or two words if you can convince him....."

Zhang Shi shook her head, "It's really the injustice of a previous life, it's just that, I've heard that these few days Master Tang goes out early and back late, he's very busy, after this while, I'll have someone invite him over."

A-Xia broke into tears and smiled: "I thank you, Madam, for your kindness, A-Xia will remember it forever!"




………………………………　　

A pair of small feet gently stepped on the corridor of the embroidery building.

The delicate hem of the skirt, which had covered the feet densely, swayed gently for the sake of walking, revealing from time to time the embroidered shoes underneath, tempting thoughts.

It was as if what she stepped on was not a step, but a cloud.

She paused at a door and raised her hand to knock.

"Who?" A voice came from inside.

"Madam Lu, it's me." She said, her voice is soft and gentle, with a touch of the softness of a daughter's home in the countryside, that is, even with an angry sounds it like she's pampering, ordinary men listen to this voice and their bones would be crisped halfway up.

The people inside didn't immediately come over and open the door, as they usually do, and then smile, but rather, after a while, they said, "Wait, here it comes!"

Through the window rib of the paste paper wall, she could see a vague figure approaching from a distance, and then opened the door with a babble: "It's Qingzi ah, come in!"

Qingzi said strangely, "Madam are you not feeling well? There's a bit of a bad look on the face."

Madam Lu smiled reluctantly: "No matter, come, come in and sit down!"

She probes towards the outside again and shouts, "Little Liuzi, serve tea!"

Qingzi stopped her, "Don't bother, Madam Lu, I came this time, I have something I want to discuss with you."

Madam Lu: "Say what you want, why are you so serious, normally you have something I did not promise you, say it!"

Qingzi pondered for a moment and seemed to finally make up his mind: "I want to redeem myself."

Madam Lu’s chrysanthemum-like smile disappeared, "What did you say?"

Qingzi sighed, but her tone was firmer: "I want to redeem myself."

Madam Lu no longer had his previous composure and jumped three feet in a row: "No, I don't agree!"

Qingzi looked at her firmly, "Madam Lu, we agreed earlier that if I could scrape together five thousand taels, then you would let me redeem myself." She touched a bill out of her arms, “This is a silver bill of five thousand taels, issued by Huatong Money Bank, if false."

Madam Lu eased her tone: "Qingzi ah, don't say the madam's words are untrustworthy, madam doesn't know which Gongzi brother you got this five thousand taels from, only five thousand taels is not a small amount, this money is already all spent for you, you took it all out, in the future, even if you redeem yourself with this money, what would you have to live on, it is better to stay a few more years and make more."

"Besides, I've seen a lot of girls, after going out of this Huanyin House, they soon spent all their silver money and had to go back to their old jobs, but by then the price of their body will have dropped a lot, even if they come out again and put up a brand, they won't be able to sell at the original price. Qingzi Ah, Madam Lu will not scam you, instead of redeeming herself, it would be a proper day to marry a Gongzi who has an interest in you as a concubine!"

Qingzi: "Madam Lu, how many of the men who come to a brothel be good? This is why you feel like you need to use it to coax me, I am now nineteen, and then I had Gongzi who have been coming to me a few years, we get along for so long, there is no love affair developing, Madam Lu please do not hold me back, let me go to a few days clear and quiet days can you?”

Madam Lu saw that she was very determined, and her face became very hard to look at, and her lips closed twice, as if she wanted to say something harsh, but her eyes turned, and she finally put on a smiling face: "It's just that, since I've been talking about this, then I have nothing to say, but you've been with me since you were a child, and I'm always afraid that you'll suffer outside. I will only charge four thousand for the five thousand, and the other thousand two you should keep it for future needs."

She was surprised that Madam Lu, who was always as money-loving all her life, was so kind as to not only let her go easily, but was also willing to return her the money she wanted to use to redeem herself, she was also somewhat touched and blessed Madam Lu: "For all these years, thanks to my madam's teaching, Qingzi is very grateful, I can't repay you for the care you have shown me. These five thousand two, please accept it, Qing Zi still has a small body, and will not be hungry for a while."

"Qingzi ah," Older Brothel Madam took her hand and sat down, lowering her voice: "You tell this Madam honestly, was this silver taels note was given to you by Zheng Gongzi earlier? Now that he's dead, and I hear things are still going to get investigated, won't the money cause any trouble?"

Qingzi: "Madam Lu, where did you get such an idea, this silver is not which Zheng Gongzi gave it to me, he is a rich boy, even if he has some spending money on hand, it is impossible to give out five thousand taels in one breath to give to me, this money is given from the right way, Madam need not worry."

Madam Lu said: "If you don't tell me the truth, I've always had it in my heart to know that Zheng Gongzi was at our Huanyin House the day before he died, and it's not clear what to say, in case those noblemen want to do something, it's easy for them to cut us."




Qingzi: "Isn't the case closed, it is said that the murderer is the Second Gongzi of the Marquis of Wu’an Mansion, the other party colluded with Zheng Gongzi's concubine to assassinate Zheng Gongzi, what does it have to do with us?"

Madam Lu smiled strongly: "Although that is said, I heard that people in the Northern Administrative Court are still investigating, saying that there are doubts in the case, and I don't know what the doubts are. I usually give out the money for your expenses on weekdays, how can I get five thousand two in one breath, I don’t want to force you to stay, but you have to tell the truth, so that when the money gets us in trouble, we may be able to get away with it!!

Qingzi was silent for a moment: "I can't say where this money came from, but it was given by a certain benefactor, who was interested in me and wanted to marry me, but because there was a wife in the family, it can't work out."

Madam Lu rolled his eyes: "Since you say so, I'm relieved, but there's something I don't understand, waiting for you to explain it to me."

Qingzi: "madam may as well say what she wants."

The Older Brothel maid showed a smile, "Qingzi ah, I heard you have a house outside, is there any such thing?"

Qingzi’s face changed: "Madam, what is the meaning of this, you sent someone to check on me?"

Madam Lu’s face sank heavily: "You are my daughter, is there anything else to hide from me, and what is the harm in me asking? Tell me honestly, where did this mansion come from?"

Qingzi rose to her feet and laughed coldly: "I think it's too much to talk about today, but since madam won't say anything pleasant, I'll come back some other time, I hope you won't regret it!"

However, before she could brush her sleeves and leave, a strange man's voice sounded in the house: "Qingzi girl, if you don't give a clear account about the mansion and the silver money you have at hand, you won't be able to leave today."

Qingzi saw two men one of them was tall and cold looking, and the other was wearing a straight robe of bamboo looked like a proper gentleman.

Qingzi's face changed and he was about to retreat to the door, but at some point the door was blocked by two soldiers.

Qingzi: "Who are you?!"

Tang Fan saw her fists clenched tightly under her half-covered sleeves, a sign of considerable inner tension.

"The Shuntian Prefecture, Tang Fan, there are still some questions regarding the case of the Marquis of Wu’an Mansion, I would like to ask Miss Qingzi for answers."

Qingzi: "Isn't the case already closed?"

Tang Fan shook his head, "It's not closed yet, because we found out that there's another murderer in this case, does Qingzi girl want to know?"

Qingzi: “That's none of my business!"

Tang Fan: "Zheng Cheng has had a dewy marriage with you, one night with his wife is a hundred nights with you, why should the girl be so desperate for love, on the part of you and Zheng Cheng, just listen to it?"

Qingzi's expression was tense, but her waist was straight: “From hearing what Master Tang said, is it an implication that I was involved in Zheng Cheng's death?"

Tang Fan: “There were two causes of Zheng Cheng's death: first, the aphrodisiac he had taken was added with Chaihu, which caused his energy to drop off and he died of yang energy depletion; second, the Baihua acupuncture point on the top of his head was struck several times, so that the meridians in his skull ruptured. The one who changed the prescription had already been caught, and I'm sure the Qingzi girl had heard of it, and it was the Second Gongzi Zheng Zhi and Zheng Cheng's concubine Madam Hui from the Marquis of Wu’an Mansion. There are three people who meet this condition of spending a lot of time in bed with the deceased, you, Zheng Cheng's concubine, Madam Yu, and Zheng Cheng's chamber maid."

Qingzi: “Then why didn't Master Tang go to them, but to me?"

Tang Fan: ''Ever since I discovered this suspicion, I have been sending men to ambush you three outside the Huanyin Building, outside the [the Marquis of Wu’an Mansion], and outside Zheng Cheng's outer residence. But where one kills, there must be a motive, and there must be a purpose. For more than half a month, Madam Yu and Zhao were calm, and they did not interact with any suspicious people, nor did they have large sums of money in or out. You are the only one who, though you are the head of the House of Joy, the silver money given by your benefactor has always been in the hands of Madam Lu, but suddenly you have the money to buy the house secretly outside, and you have the money to redeem yourself."

He had just finished speaking when two more officers came in from outside: "Master Tang, we found these in her room!"

Tang Fan nodded, "Let's see, where was it found?"

The bailiff: "Under the mattress, she hid it in the corner between the sheet and the mattress."

Seeing the incense sachet in the other party’s hand, Qingzi's expression, which had been gradually calming down, panicked once again.




Tang Fan unwrapped the incense sachet, sniffed it, handed it to Sui Zhou again, and then said to Qingzi, ''I guess this is the key that allowed Zheng Cheng to be unconscious and let you do whatever you want to him? There's very little powder in there, it should have been poured by you long ago, but it wasn't poured out from the sachet clean, and there's still some left over, so why don't you just throw the whole incense bag away or burn it? That would also leave a little less of a trace."

Qingzi said coldly, "Master Tang at a glance is someone who doesn't understand the style, a woman's hand-embroidered incense sac is either given to her beloved or left to her nearest and dearest, how can she just say throw it away?"

Tang Fan thought of A-Xia's lotus, which he had rejected himself, and touched his nose: "So, Qingzi girl has admitted to being a murderer?"

Qingzi: "Not bad, it's true that I knocked Zheng Cheng unconscious and then struck his Hundred Wonders Acupuncture Point, so that in a month or so, the person will die without a trace, I should have known that there were others who wanted Zheng Cheng dead, so I didn't need to do it."

Tang Fan: "Why are you doing this?"

Qingzi: "What's the reason for this? Master Tang didn't you catch the murderer and then you can go and take credit, should you still be looking for the root of the problem? Zheng Cheng is a very hateful man, and he always likes to play some new tricks in bed, I've long been tortured by him too much to bear, so what's not to like about getting a little money out of him, and making him disappear completely?"

Her eyes turned to Madam Lu and she said in a hateful voice, “This poisonous bitch you don't know how much she had scammed me since I was a child, I wanted to get her killed too before I left, but I didn't expect for my plans to be spoiled by you!"

Madam Lu was already stunned by her confession, when Madam Lu saw her looking at her, could not help but hide behind Tang Fan.

As a result, she could only grab Tang Fan's sleeve, and with a snap of Sui Zhou's sleeve, the person was involuntarily pushed away, knocked back a chair and fell to the ground again, ouching and yelping in pain.

Sui Zhou naturally had no interest in hearing her continue, he turned and coldly said, “Take her away and go back for another trial."

The right and left came forward and escorted her down.

Sui Zhou expressed full disgust at the strong smell of powder that filled his nostrils, but still followed Tang Fan to Qingzi's room and searched around, taking something suspicious with him, before they left the Huanyin House.

Tang Fan sighed, "When I first found Madam Hui, I thought we had already found the real culprit, but I didn't expect that in the end there were two groups of people who unanimously wanted Zheng Cheng to die, he really can't even die!"

Sui Zhou: "With whom did the woman have dealings, besides sending her maidservant out to purchase a house?"

Tang Fan shook his head, "No more, she's.... something is not right!"

He suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Sui Zhou also stopped and looked at him, somewhat unidentified so.

Tang Fan couldn't talk to him more, "Gotta hurry up and get Qingzi back, we missed a problem just now!"

Sui Zhou didn't ask any more questions, and swept straight ahead, Tang Fan quickly losing sight of the figure.

When Tang Fan arrived at Shuntian Prefecture prison, he saw Qingzi lying on the ground, dead, while Sui Zhou stood by and questioned the officers.

The officials said that when they took Qingzi away, because she was so cooperative and saw her as a weak woman, she did not search herself.

Tang Fan held a glimmer of hope and squatted down to press Qingzi's pulse, but found that it was already weak.

The author has something to say: remember, the cheerful Lou showed up at the beginning of the article, so I said everyone who thought they had the killer pegged and of course she wasn't the behind-the-scenes killer, just the direct killer, so there was no naming off at the beginning, otherwise with your clever wit, there would have been no suspense in continuing.
















- The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty -



Prev: Chapter 13《Chapters Home 》Next: Chapter 15