Song Zhi lied?

Even Ji Yunshu dared not draw this conclusion! She was silent for a while, then said: “We’ve only met Song Zhi once. We can’t be certain what kind of person he is. However, that day when you helped him recover his silver, he insisted on treating us to express his gratitude. He appears to be nothing more than a simple scholar. When conversing, he was reserved and mild-mannered, gentle and courteous. It’s very hard to believe he would lie.”

Jingrong stood up and paced with his hands behind his back: “Then there’s another possibility—that the murderer had already seen through everything. Whether it was Wang Jun’s reason for seeking out Song Zhi or that bundle, both were actually part of the murderer’s plan, with the purpose of framing Song Zhi!”

Framing?

This conclusion sent a shock through everyone’s body.

Ji Yunshu remained silent.

Jingrong then overturned his own conclusion: “But he’s just a poor scholar who doesn’t seem like the type to compete for fame and fortune. Who would want to frame him? And for what purpose would they frame him? This point also seems untenable!”

Indeed!

After a long pause, Ji Yunshu said: “Let’s wait until we go to the yamen tomorrow and verify whether the person in the portrait is Wang Jun before saying more.”

Early the next morning.

Jingrong, Ji Yunshu, and the others ate breakfast on the first floor.

They planned to head to the yamen afterward.

At this time, Li Cheng came down from upstairs and happened to see them.

“Young Master.” He walked over happily.

When Ji Yunshu looked up and was about to stand and cup her hands in greeting.

He stopped her: “No need to be so formal.”

“I didn’t expect Heir Cheng to be here as well.”

“So you see, we’re fated to meet!”

Hehe.

Ji Yunshu didn’t know how to respond.

Jingrong, sitting across from her, curved his lips slightly, his fingertips tightly gripping the teacup in his hand as he said: “Heir Cheng, there are empty tables beside us.”

Reminding him.

“I’ll sit with you.” As he spoke, he prepared to sit down on the empty chair beside them.

Who knew, Jingrong pulled off a button from his sleeve and secretly struck it toward a corner of that empty chair.

With great force.

Before Li Cheng could sit down, the chair inexplicably collapsed.

Jingrong said: “It seems Heir Cheng can only sit at the empty table beside us after all.”

Li Cheng remained in a half-squatting position, bewildered for a moment.

He had no choice but to sit at another table.

Shortly after, Li Wenshu came down. She had taken in everything that had just happened below.

“Elder Sister!”

After Li Wenshu sat down, she asked softly: “Who are they?”

“They’re the people I met at the yamen yesterday!” He pointed at Ji Yunshu, the corners of his mouth smiling, “That’s the young master. Quite striking, isn’t he?”

Looking at her like his future wife.

Li Wenshu used her gaze to point at Bai Yin, who was eating with his head down, and asked: “Who is he?”

Li Cheng said: “Him? He’s not someone to trifle with. Anyway, he’s one of their group.”

“Oh.” Li Wenshu calmly withdrew her gaze.

After eating—

Ji Yunshu and Jingrong went to the yamen, while Bai Yin stayed at the inn to wait.

Li Cheng naturally followed along as well.

The three arrived at the yamen.

Magistrate Zhuo immediately greeted them with a smiling face.

“Heir Cheng!”

Li Cheng said: “Official business!”

Ji Yunshu handed the portrait she had brought to Magistrate Zhuo.

When Magistrate Zhuo looked at it, he saw the person in the painting was lifelike and vivid.

“This…”

Ji Yunshu: “This is the appearance of the male deceased.”

“What?” Magistrate Zhuo was dumbfounded.

“Your Honor should first verify who the person in the portrait is.”

Magistrate Zhuo was stunned for quite a while before ordering someone to handle the matter.

Soon, the results came back.

The person in the portrait was indeed Wang Jun!

Magistrate Zhuo was astonished and asked Ji Yunshu: “You truly drew this portrait just by looking at those bones?”

Deeply doubtful.

Ji Yunshu cupped her hands: “This humble one is an orthopedic physician. This is merely one of my skills.”

I’ve never seen any other physician with this kind of ability!

Li Cheng said from the side: “This heir indeed did not misjudge. Entrusting this case to you was the right choice.”

A complete fanboy!

Magistrate Zhuo then asked: “Then… who is the female skeleton?”

Ji Yunshu: “Because the female deceased has no skull and the bones are relatively few, if we want to determine her identity in the shortest time possible, drawing from the bones won’t work, as it would require a very long time.”

“Then what should we do?”

“We can only look for distinguishing features on the bones!”

Therefore, Magistrate Zhuo ordered people to bring up that pile of white bones, but because the bailiffs were careless when tidying them yesterday, the bones that had been pieced together had all fallen apart.

Ji Yunshu took out the gloves she had prepared in advance and put them on.

She picked out the bones belonging to the female one by one.

There were the clavicle, lumbar vertebrae, tibia, tarsal bones, phalanges of the foot, humerus, scapula, left carpal bones, and so on.

The large bone fragments were almost all male.

She began to study them carefully.

She didn’t discover any clues related to identity.

Finally, on the phalanges of the foot, she found contusions. The bones of the big toe were curved, as if born that way. Not only did the toes have this deformity, but the middle finger joints also showed this condition. She pondered carefully—she had heard Muruo mention this type of pathological condition before.

It was congenital musculoskeletal disease!

Patients with this condition would have curved toe bones and fingers from birth.

She was fairly certain now!

“Magistrate Zhuo, based on the bones, the female died at age twenty-five and suffered from obvious musculoskeletal disease. You only need to send people to investigate whether there was a twenty-five-year-old woman who died two years ago and suffered from musculoskeletal disease. Based on the comparison, we should be able to determine who the female deceased is.”

“This official will go immediately.”

So everyone waited at the yamen all morning until results came in the afternoon.

A bailiff arrived and brought someone with him.

Troupe Master Tao!

Troupe Master Tao hunched his back, his whole body trembling.

Magistrate Zhuo asked the bailiff: “What’s the situation?”

The bailiff replied: “Your Honor, this person says he knows who the female deceased is and has other things to say.”

“Oh?” Magistrate Zhuo asked Troupe Master Tao, “What do you want to say?”

Troupe Master Tao wiped the sweat from his forehead, lowering his head as he said tremblingly: “Your Honor, that person… is Zhao Zhuang’er! The proprietress of the Zhao Family Rouge Shop. When she died, she was twenty-five years old and suffered from musculoskeletal disease. She died two years ago.”

Ji Yunshu asked: “Who is Zhao Zhuang’er?”

“She was… Wang Jun’s wife.”

“His wife?”

“The situation is like this…”

Back then, when Wang Jun first entered the profession, he was just a clown and didn’t fare well at all in the Zhao Family Troupe. At that time, he had already married. His wife’s name was Shui Yan, a gentle and virtuous woman. After marrying Wang Jun, she remained uncomplaining and hardworking. Even though life was harsh and cold, she never looked down on Wang Jun. However, by chance, the proprietress of the Zhao Family Rouge Shop took a liking to Wang Jun when she came to the troupe to watch a performance. She said she could use her connections to make Wang Jun a male lead performer. Wang Jun couldn’t resist the temptation for a moment. Moreover, Zhao Zhuang’er had stunning beauty, so he began secretly having an affair with Zhao Zhuang’er, entangled night after night. Not long after, Wang Jun’s wife Shui Yan died—supposedly from illness.

Thus five years ago, Wang Jun got his wish and married Zhao Zhuang’er.

Because theatrical performances required many cosmetic items, Zhao Zhuang’er and Troupe Master Tao had maintained business dealings all along. Zhao Zhuang’er used this advantage to help Wang Jun establish connections. From then on, Wang Jun leaped like a carp over the dragon gate and became the male lead of the Zhao Family Troupe.

But heaven doesn’t reward the wicked. Two years ago, Zhao Zhuang’er suddenly died—also said to have died from illness!

On the night Zhao Zhuang’er died, Wang Jun kept insisting he had seen a ghost. He struggled for two months before gradually returning to normal.

How… does this resemble the plot of “The Ghost Wife Buries Her Husband”?

Troupe Master Tao had completely prostrated himself on the ground, his voice terrified to the extreme: “Your Honor, it must be that Wang Jun killed Shui Yan, so… Shui Yan came back for revenge! Shui Yan is the ghost wife!”

The more he spoke, the more supernatural it became.