Bone Painting CoronerBone Painting Coroner
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How could Zhou Wen believe this?!
Marquis Kang said, “Since I had known early on that the child was not mine, if I really were so heartless, I would have let the child die in the womb and not let him live till he was two.”
“Impossible…” The diary in Zhou Wen’s hands fell onto the ground. His expression was fever-bright and dazed. This unexpected truth had caught him unprepared. He would never have imagined that the person who had killed his son would be his Wen’er. He naturally couldn’t accept the truth.
“I just have to find the same physician that treated Madam then to prove what I said was true. Moreover, you are now a prisoner and I have no need to lie and deceive you.”
“Why? How could this be? Why…?” He asked, over and over again, as tears dripped down and blurred his sight. “My son… was actually killed by Wen’er’s own hands?” He laughed crazily; it was a desolate sound.
The next moment, Zhou Wen suddenly snatched a sword from one of the soldiers next to him before anyone could react, and put it against his neck.
“Zhou Wen!” Marquis Kang shouted in surprise and tried to stop him.
“Don’t come here.”
“Put down the sword!”
Zhou Wen laughed. He had already completely gone round the bend. “Regardless of whether what you said was real or not, I will surely die today. Back then, you saved my life. Today, I’ll return it to you. I’ve already lived for another twenty-odd years and it’s time that I go meet Wen’er and my child.”
“No…” He wasn’t in time to stop him!
Zhou Wen acted very quickly. His two hands held the sword hilt firmly and sliced sideways, opening a bloody cut across his neck.
Clang! The sword slid down from his hands and clattered on the ground.
Fresh blood spurted out from Zhou Wen’s neck, immediately soaking his whole body. His body leaned forward and his knees hit the ground as his eyes went blank. He shuddered several times, kneeling, before his body fell forward with a heavy thud and sprawled on the ground. He was dead!
The crowd gasped as they looked at the corpse lying in a pool of its own blood. Some of them averted their eyes, not daring to look at it directly, while others just sighed wordlessly.
……
Marquis Kang stared blankly at Zhou Wen’s bloody corpse for a long time…
He didn’t say a single word, but his eyes brimmed with tears.
Mo Ruo stepped forward and said, “Marquis, let this one take your pulse and determine what kind of poison was used on you.”
Marquis Kang shook his head. “I didn’t drink that cup of water.” Next, he crouched down and picked up the bloodstained diary, and left.
Although the estate wasn’t very peaceful that night, it also seemed to have turned peaceful.
After Ji Yunshu returned to her room, she remained melancholy. She should have been happy that she had solved the case, but whenever she thought about those people who had paid for their greed with their lives, or about Zhou Wen’s motivations, she was unable to be cheerful.
When Jing Rong noticed her expression, he held her cold hands. “Don’t think so much.” He seemed to be able to see what she was thinking about.
“I’m not thinking too much, it’s just…” She couldn’t continue.
Jing Rong consoled her understandingly, “You should think positively. At least the case is solved and the estate is now peaceful again. No matter why Zhou Wen decided to create so many disturbances, he had killed people and must pay for it with his life. He may be pitiful but he is also hateful.”
With his words helping ease her anxiety, Ji Yunshu felt a lot better.
In the room, Mo Ruo pursed his lips and said, “That Zhou Wen really deserved to die. He killed so many people. After he enters the underworld, he should never be allowed to be reincarnated.”
Tang Si couldn’t remain calm when she heard those words. She leaned towards Mo Ruo and claimed, “You can’t say that! Although he deserved death because he killed people, in the end, he did all that for the sake of Wen’er and his child. If it were you instead of Wen’er, I would do the same.”
Mo Ruo rolled his eyes at her. “Nobody would think that you were dumb if you didn’t speak.”
“Shut up.”
Hmph! Tang Si fumed silently.
Ji Yunshu suddenly spoke lowly with a glance outside the door. “We should prepare to head back to the capital tomorrow.”
“You’re worried about Wei Yi?” Jing Rong asked.
“I don’t know how he is now. If Jing Yi really captured him, I hope that he is fine.” She asked again, “Has there been news from the capital?”
“Nothing yet. But don’t worry, Wei Yi will be fine.” They could only hope that was true!
That evening, everyone involved in the incident was thrown into the Jingzhou county jail. Many people were implicated; other than the dozen or so that had been burned alive, there were an additional twenty-odd people. They included manservants, maids, door guards, and some of the estate soldiers.
The entire county of Jingzhou started gossiping about what had happened in the Marquis’s estate. Some of them said that it was linked to that fire in the estate that night, while others said it was because of ghosts. There were even those who said that the fire was set by a Marquis Kang who had lost his mind!
Gossip ran rampant and turned into wild rumors.
……
As for Marquis Kang, he had already locked himself in his own room for an entire night.
Just after daybreak, the old steward delivered his meal into the room, only to see Marquis Kang sit dejectedly, cradling the bloodstain diary in his hands. “Marquis, the disturbances in the estate have been resolved. You’d better eat something.”
He didn’t reply.
“Marquis, you should eat…”
“Get out.” The old steward was worried but could only exit as ordered. Just as he stepped out, he bumped into Jing Rong. “Your Highness.”
“Where is the marquis?”
“Inside.”
Jing Rong nodded and went in. Marquis Kang was still sitting there, flipping through the diary in his hands.
When he saw Jing Rong enter, he said, “Back then, I met a boy in Kunshan, on the verge of starving to death. Then, he was only ten. I brought him back to the estate and named him Zhou Wen. He had been by my side these few decades and I had always treated him as family. If he had told me that he and my wife liked each other, I would have let them be together and none of these would have happened.” He sighed deeply in regret.
Jing Rong stood silently in the middle of the room, lending him a listening ear.
Marquis Kang sighed gustily again. He put down the bloodstained diary and slowly raised his head. He then pushed himself upright laboriously and walked in front of Jing Rong. “Since the matter of my estate has been resolved, I should also fulfill my promise of helping Your Highness return to the capital.”
Jing Rong quietly waited for him to continue speaking.
“Do you remember those people in the forest before Your Highness came to Jingzhou city?”
“I do. Weren’t Marquis’s people in the forest as well because of them?” Jing Rong mused, “Could it be that this prince’s return to the capital is linked to these people?”
Marquis Kang nodded and silently drew out a padded yellow scroll from his sleeve and passed it to him. “This is an edict left behind by the late Emperor.”
“The late Emperor’s edict?”
“That’s right. The late Emperor left behind an edict before he died.”
Eh?