Chapter 122: Pressing Every Step
The steward nearby has been directing people to deal with the corpses. At this time, he came out and saw Jiang Hua still standing there. He couldn’t help but walk forth to speak yet when he looked at Jiang Hua, he found that his forehead was blue and faint. There were a few light blue veins popping out.
The steward has been watching the five young masters of the Jiangs grow up and he knew that Third Shaoye is a very restrained person. His appearance now obviously shows how troubled he felt at heart, and he had to say, "Third Shaoye, are you fine?"
Jiang Hua softly said, "It's all right."
"But---"
Jiang Hua kept staring at Li Wei Yang’s faraway silhouette as she walked until he couldn't see it anymore. The steward waited for a long time and didn't dare to speak again until he let out a long sigh and whispered: "Third Shaoye, those people in the room…..."
When Jiang Hua heard this sentence, he turned back fiercely and the steward noticed a horrible inferno in his eyes that he was so frightened he swallowed the half sentence back. Jiang Hua coldly glared at him for a long while, then waved slightly: "Find a place to settle everyone."
The steward immediately instructed to wrap the corpses of the killers in sackcloths and lift them out. Jiang Hua was watching and became angrier and angrier. These eleven people were highly-trained talents that he had carefully cultivated. How could they all die so silently, in the middle of the night that he didn't even hear any noise—however, he was to blame for this. In order to kill Li Wei Yang, he ordered people to quietly remove the guards situated there. Now looking at the corpses, his eyebrows seemed to have possessed a murderous flash, and then suddenly darkened. He looked at the steward and gently said, "Do you understand the rules in the house?"
The steward hurriedly said: "Nucai understand, no news of this will leave this place."
Jiang Hua stopped talking and walked away, walking quickly and hurriedly. His accompanying servant, Wu Feng trotted after him. He panted and said, "Shaoye … Third Shaoye ..."
Jiang Hua suddenly punched the wall with a heavy strike. Wu Feng was startled, and he fell to his knees with a plop sound: "Shaoye is angry."
Jiang Hua stood for a while and said, "Scram."
"But …..." Wu Feng hesitated.
"Scram!" Jiang Hua kicked him fiercely, and he rolled on the ground. Then he got up, gave him a careful look, and slowly retreated. Third Shaoye has never shown such a look, no, or in other words, everything in this world was under his control and he had never lost control!
Jiang Hua was standing alone, his head was buzzing, Li Wei Yang should be dead! How could she still be alive! How could Fifth Brother still be in her hands! He believed that no matter how severe Li Wei Yang's torturing methods were, Jiang Tian knew the severity of the matter and would never disclose the secret tunnel of the Jiangs. But apart from this possibility, he could not explain how those people were killed silently. In front of his eyes, he saw flashes of Li Wei Yang’s smiling face and light sneers. He walked aimlessly for a few steps, his heart was in a smoldering fire, and he was feeling very uncomfortable. Finally, he made up his mind hold Li Wei Yang accountable for the murder and take this opportunity to get rid of this scourge! In fact, he doesn't need to be so anxious. Once Duke’s Furen is buried, the truth of this matter will never be known again. Li Wei Yang will eventually be charged with murder of his grandmother, and her name will be ruined! Just wait, wait!
During the funeral, Yao Chang Qing began to try his best to find evidence in the house. Now he is completely on Li Wei Yang’s side. No matter how he looked at the Jiangs, he found them to be very suspicious. However, he carefully investigated the killers and besides Chen Xiang, he couldn’t find any traces of clues on them. He questioned every nubis again and checked every item; Nothing was found. The only way seemed to be on the autopsy, but no matter how he persuaded, the Jiangs insisted on not accepting it. There was nothing he could do about the post-mortem.
The news of the Duke Furen's sudden death suddenly shocked the entire capital. Every morning, the streets outside the gates of Jiangs were full of dense sedans and carriages. On all of the sedans were white yarn lanterns, and the large blue word "mourning" was written in front of them. The guests looked solemnly and brought the ceremonious offerings to the door. The filial Jiangs were so busy that they paid homage to their guests. Yao Chang Qing saw this scene, and naturally it was not good to disturb them anymore. He could only silently watch the days go by, and his heart was more worried.
His Majesty has already made a decree, and the case will be resolved within ten days. If this continues, after ten days, he must take Li Wei Yang with him to report back. Such a delicate lady, who is also his sister-in-law; Although he has always been selfless and impartial in law enforcement, he didn't want to offend the Li family before marrying his wife. He just didn't know what to do.
Today is the day to bury the coffin. As soon as today is over, Li Wei Yang's murder charge will be confirmed. Yao Chang Qing glanced worriedly at Li Wei Yang, but he couldn't see any sadness or anxiety on her face. She was just indifferent, just like the other guests who came to pay homage, with a touch of solemnity. He couldn’t see a single speck of oddity.
Yao Chang Qing wondered, why isn't this Xiaojie impatient at all? Doesn't she know that after today, everything is over?
The eight servants put the coffin bar on their shoulders and lifted the coffin. The plain-clothed Jiangs all cried in accordance with custom. But right at this moment, strange things started happening, and the eight strong men couldn't lift up the coffin. They’ve lifted it several times yet still leaving the coffin on the bench untouched. Jiang Xu couldn't help but frowned. A coffin was only a hundred kilograms. Duke Furen weighed little and the total weight was no more than two hundred kilograms. With eight people, the average weight allocated to each person was not much, so how could it be unliftable?
A person amongst the guests, dressed in a uniform, walked out. It is the emperor's nobleman, Zhou Da Shou, and he looked soberly: "This is because the Duke Furen is not willing to leave, or she needs more crying!"
Under normal circumstances, the deceased's family must cry desperately. Crying until the liver and intestines are broken is of course the best. Of course, crying is to let the deceased see that the heart is soft and the coffin will be lifted.
Li Wei Yang looked coldly at Jiang Lan and other female relatives who could hardly cry. They were all drying up, and she couldn't help sneering, staring at the coffin with a hint of irony. As a person gets older, she will prepare a coffin early on. The coffin originally prepared by the Duke Furen has been stored in the Jiangs’ side residences. When they went to retrieve it, the Jiangs discovered that countless termites appeared strangely on the coffin and had left it hollow. Where can they find one in this small amount of time? Fortunately, General Sun was kind and offered to sell the coffin he had prepared for his mother. It is not difficult to have Sun Lao Furen stay healthy for a year or more longer.
On the surface this is the case, but in fact, the origin of the coffin is not so simple. Li Xiao Ran first explained to the Sun family that he had a good golden silk coffin, which was already prepared for Li Lao Furen after her passing. Now that the Jiangs have encountered this, he felt that he should take it as a matter of course, so he was willing to give the coffin to the Jiangs. But because the two had a fallout, they let the Suns be the good person. After all, General Sun is a military commander. Who would have thought that Li Wei Yang had already done something on the coffin? Unhesitantly wanting to be the good man, he went to the Jiangs with the joy of offering help.
At this moment, the Jiangs hearing what Zhou Da Shou said, cried even louder. Eight people raised the coffin again, but this time, not only did the coffin not lift, but the rope broke when it was lifted and the coffin fell back onto the bench. The Jiangs’ cries stopped and the crowd was stunned since this is something that has never happened before!
Jiang Hua stared at the rope that had previously tied the coffin. He couldn't help but wonder, the rope was as thick as a thumb so how could it snap apart?
Everyone was fiercely discussing: "Duke’s Furen doesn't want to leave!" "Yeah, perhaps there is something she wants to tell the family?" "It's hard to say! There was injustice so she is demanding revenge for her death!" "How ominous, never encountered such a thing in centuries!"
Amongst the commoners, if there is a conflict between two families, there is a vicious method of cursing. It’s to curse the dead in your family to have no one to lift them, which means that your family is not well-connected that no one will care about the dead. There are even more ruthless words: If your family is dead, you can’t carry them out, that is saying your family is the graveyard, and the dead will not be carried out once you reach the graveyard. Everyone understood this, and when they saw the scene, everyone looked at the coffin in horror.
Li Chang Le, who was crying the most fiercely, had her eyes almost falling out! She grabbed Jiang Yue Lan's hand tightly, obviously very frightened!
Li Wei Yang said lightly: "Well, I'm afraid that my grandmother had unheard grievances! In my opinion, you should open a coffin for an autopsy!"
Jiang Xu didn't speak with a calm face, Jiang Hai was furious: "Li Wei Yang, what do you really want that we must open the coffin for an autopsy!"
Li Wei Yang sighed and said, "Official Yao, what do you say?"
Yao Chang Qing said coldly: "Eldest Gongzi, I believe Li Xiaojie is innocent. If she is really guilty, why does she want to open a coffin for an autopsy?"
Jiang Hai snorted coldly, showing his face.
Jiang Xu calmly said, "Official Yao, letting others interfere with the spirit of our dead mother is something we can’t bear to do. If Wei Yang wants to prove her innocence, she must find another way!" Then he summoned eight additional servants with bars. A total of sixteen people tied the coffin and went to lift up the coffin again, spending about an hour. The crowd suckled in their breath and finally the coffin was lifted.
Jiang Xu was relieved, but Li Wei Yang looked coldly, showing a smile that didn’t look like a smile.
The Jiangs were crying again, this was called spirit crying. One was to express grief, and the other was to let the ghosts know that it was time to follow the coffin. The coffin carried by the sixteen people just left the bench and then after two clicks, the two bars carrying the coffin broke off, and the coffin fell heavily onto the ground.
This heavy fall made everyone's eyes pop out of their sockets. How could this coffin be so heavy! Is there really a ghost?!! Such a grieving ghost has never been encountered before. At most, it came out at night to give people a nightmare or to scare people. No one has seen it cause trouble in broad daylight which means there is a great grievance!
For a moment, the voices in the discussions at the hall almost overcame the voice of the Jiangs: "Official Jiang, let's examine the body!" "Yeah, this is not the case! The old lady is wronged!" "Yes, yes, I am afraid the killer is not Third Xiaojie. The old lady doesn't want to wrong the good people!" "Should do a post-mortem. Although it disturbs the spirits, it is better than letting the murderer go free!"
The method of releasing souls from purgatory is the best, but it takes the longest time. The minimum is three days, and the maximum is forty-nine days. The problem is in the summer, let alone forty-nine days, the corpse would start to rot after three days, so the only way to wash away the injustice of the Duke’s Furen is to open the coffin for an autopsy, and naturally all troubles will disappear.
The words of these people turned the expressions of the Jiangs particularly ugly. The coffin will still be placed here, but it wouldn’t be moved. In the summer, although it was iced, it would still stink for a few days. In this case, if they still insist on their opinions, it makes them very suspicious!
If no one had seen it, no one would have believed such a thing could happen in broad daylight. The servants were now all confused, they were afraid to move forward, and just stood looking from behind.
Zhou Tian Shou said coldly: "Official Jiang, I advise you not to be stubborn! If you are still firm in your decision, it is against filial piety! It is against God's will!"
Jiang Xu could hardly speak, and could only stare at the coffin with his eyes. He stayed silent for a very long time.
"Let's open the coffin!" At this moment, the Crown Prince walked in from the door, looking solemnly.
Everyone greeted and the prince shook his head, signaling that they didn't need to be this polite. The prince looked at the coffin and said, "Imperial Father knows that there are oddities in this, and I'm specifically ordered to look into this."
Jiang Xu was startled, how could the news spread so quickly?!! It has only been half an hour, but it has passed to the palace. Has the emperor already been spying on the Jiangs, or was this matter already known to the whole city?!! Just as he was about to hesitate, the Crown Prince had already said, "Per Imperial Father’s oral edict, if the coffin actually can’t be lifted, then it proves that there must be grievances, and the coffin must be opened for an autopsy."
In fact, he originally wanted to enter the palace for the Emperor to execute the most suspicious suspect, Li Wei Yang. But Consort Lian told the Emperor news of this, saying that the Duke’s Furen’s coffin could not be lifted out. She exaggerated more and said that the murderer must be someone else. The Emperor immediately changed his mind and sent the Crown Prince over to open the coffin for an autopsy …... The Crown Prince faintly felt that something was off, but could not refuse so he rushed over immediately.
"Since it is the Emperor’s oral edict, Official Jiang, you must follow the edict." Zhou Tian Shou looked at him coldly.
Jiang Xu was still reluctant to relax, because he felt that Li Wei Yang had forced them into this situation and there must be something bad waiting for them after opening the coffin! The Crown Prince looked at Zhou Tian Shou and couldn't help but ask: "Taoist, what do you think?"
Zhou Tian Shou smiled slightly and said: "Wait for me to hear the words of the Duke’s Furen!"
Everyone in the field held their breath, watching Zhou Tian Shou stepped in front of the coffin, and took a deep breath. Then he took out an ebony sword from his sleeve, closed his eyes, and said, "Reveal yourself! "The crowd stood by and saw him recite a few phrases.
Soon after, he wiped the blade with two fingers and then etched an enchantment on the coffin. He then whispered but it sounded like the Lao Furen's tone; Even the sound was similar. "I am a descendant of the Jiang family. It is unforgivable to not find out the truth behind the matriarch’s death, how sinful!"
The crowd’s opinions have been divergent for a long time but right at this moment, a conclusion has finally been reached. The crowd can not help but be upset --- they were all surprised, angry, curious, and fearful. Someone immediately yelled, "Open! Open the coffin. "Yeah! Let's go!" "You can't let Lao Furen die in vain! The murderer must be revealed!" "Didn’t you hear Lao Furen, it's filial to not open the coffin for a post-mortem!"
Jiang Xu looked around violently, but saw crowds moving inwards and didn't know who instigated the sounds. However, the sounds seemed to have come from several places. There were men, women, elderly and children so it was impossible to distinguish!
Li Xiao Ran stepped out and said lightly, "Let's open the coffin for an autopsy, which is also the meaning of the Duke’s Furen."
In the crowd, Li Min De was wearing a blue sacrifice and he was nodding his head to Li Wei Yang. Li Wei Yang lowered her eyes and showed a hint of coldness: you’ve all forced me to reveal your conspiracies in front of everyone, even if you are ruined, you can’t blame me for this!
At this point, the Jiangs had no way to stop the coffin from opening! Jiang Xu silently stood aside and the faces of other Jiangs turned extremely ugly! In particular, Li Chang Le stared at the coffin tightly. She didn't know what would happen if the coffin was really opened! She was terrified, and she was about to faint in fear, but in front of everyone, she could only hold her handkerchief and could hardly utter a word. In fact, she abhorred that she couldn’t scream aloud!
The coffin was about six feet long and two feet deep. The coffin cover was not nailed in. Instead, it was covered with a long strip of oil paper for a week. Yao Chang Qing pushed hard and found that the coffin cover was quite heavy. It was difficult for a person to open it. He immediately waved his hand and instructed people to come over to lift the coffin cover off.
"Begin the inspection!" Yao Chang Qing calmly ordered.
Everyone looked at them with their eyes wide open. Such an extraordinary sight is rare to see for centuries! Jiang Hua just stared at Li Wei Yang as if to see a flower bloom from her face. He could foresee that this coffin was like a box with disaster. Once opened, it would surely deal a great blow to the Jiangs …... but now, he couldn't think of any ways to stop it!
-----------------------*****------------------------Translator: EricaEditor: Erica
Next: Chapter 123 Part 1-----------------------*****------------------------