Zhu Yan regained some composure and bowed to the Empress once more before getting to the point, “The first bodies discovered were those of Liang and Kuang, found by a young novice monk digging for bamboo shoots at Ximing Temple.
The bodies were discovered on the eighth day of the fifth month. Through our investigation, we learned from Rong Zhui, the madam of Tongming Pavilion, that Kuang Zhanxin had gone missing on the seventeenth day of the fourth month. However, a clerk at Gubao Shop across the street claimed to have seen Kuang Zhanxin on the twentieth of the fourth month. As for Liang Chenzhong, he hadn’t been seen in his usual haunts after the nineteenth.
Liang Chenzhong and Kuang Zhanxin were in love, with Liang even promising to take Kuang as his concubine. This rules out the possibility of a lover’s suicide.
Before the fifteenth of the fourth month, the pair had only encountered Madam Tang by chance, yet she had already developed murderous intentions towards them.
The burial pit was dug around that time.
It rained on the fifteenth of the fourth month. The rain meant fewer temple visitors, and the softened soil made digging easier – ideal conditions for the killer to act.
We also examined the blood spatter patterns. They led directly to the pit, with thicker stains at the bottom and thinner ones on top, clearly from that day.
But why did Madam Tang dig the pit at that time? Because she had already decided to act.
Around the twentieth of the fourth month, Liang Chenzhong and Kuang Zhanxin visited Ximing Temple for leisure, unknowingly arriving at their final resting place.
Madam Tang was skilled with fragrances and had access to drugs, so things likely went smoothly.
However, dealing with two bodies isn’t easy for one person. So in this murder case, Madam Tang must have had an accomplice to succeed.
As for who the accomplice was, we’ll set that aside for now.
Now, let’s discuss what surprised Madam Tang. She went to great lengths to dig the pit and bury the bodies to prevent early discovery, but she didn’t expect things to come to light so quickly.
If not for the young novice digging for bamboo shoots, the bodies of Liang Chenzhong and Kuang Zhanxin might have remained undiscovered for a long time, if ever.”
“So… the discovery of Liang Chenzhong and Kuang Zhanxin’s bodies was completely accidental?” an official suddenly asked.
Zhu Yan nodded seriously. “Correct. According to Madam Tang’s plan, Kuang Zhanxin and Liang Chenzhong’s bodies should have been the last to be found, or perhaps never discovered at all. The two would have been classified as missing persons. But this time, her plan failed.”
“What about the rest?” another official voiced everyone’s concern, which was also the Empress’s focus.
“The rest…” Zhu Yan’s expression remained calm as she took a breath. “Let’s talk about Liu Fu. Liu Fu came from a fallen family, was lazy and unskilled, and lived in Luokou Lane in Fengle Ward. On the seventh day of the fifth month in the eighth year of Feisheng, Liu Fu deposited six thousand taels of silver in the Li Family Bank. After making that deposit, he disappeared. Six years later, he was found dead with his heart cut out.
This case seemed perplexing, but it’s quite understandable. Before his death, Liu Fu had done some other things that the killer might have overlooked, but we uncovered through our investigation.
He had taken blue butterfly jewelry to an artist to design accessories and had them custom-made at Bijiang Gold Shop. At the time, he was wearing clothes with the Treasure and Double Fish pattern.
Everyone here knows that the Treasure and Double Fish pattern was a spring clothing style from Jinxiu Textile, the top silk shop in the capital, sold from the second to the fourth month of the eighth year of Feisheng. In the sixth month of that year, Jinxiu Textile was charged with treason for overstepping boundaries in making summer clothes for Princess Runing and subsequently vanished.
Since Liu Fu was wearing clothes from that time, we can deduce that he died after April but before June of the eighth year of Feisheng – specifically, on the eighth day of the fifth month, one day after depositing the money.
This is corroborated by records from Bijiang Gold Shop. Liu Fu eagerly went to order butterfly-style accessories the day after depositing the money, then disappeared. Shortly after, his elderly mother passed away from depression.
They were indeed unfortunate, but the key to this case isn’t their misfortune. It’s about where Liu Fu’s money came from…”
Zhu Yan paused mid-sentence to build suspense, then looked at Madam Tang with a deeply meaningful gaze. “That sum of money was from you, wasn’t it?”
“Nonsense!” Although gagged with cloth, Madam Tang’s muffled protest was still audible.
Zhu Yan’s lips curled into an eerie smile. “Is it nonsense? Then let me explain why you did this.”
Zhu Yan straightened up and addressed everyone present. “Liu Fu had fallen for a courtesan in Pingkang Ward and wanted to give her jewelry and buy her freedom. It should have been a heartwarming story of a courtesan finding a good man, but in Madam Tang’s eyes, it was something else entirely…”
Zhu Yan fixed her gaze on Madam Tang again, deliberately slowing her speech. “Madam Tang despises men who become attached to courtesans. She used this money to gain Liu Fu’s trust and then killed him. Madam Tang’s brutality knew no bounds, to the extent that the courtesan from Pingkang Ward unwittingly became a sacrificial victim. Heh…”
At this point, Zhu Yan let out a soft, melancholic laugh. “These women’s lives were already difficult enough. If not for life’s hardships, how could they have fallen into such a state? They thought they had found good men who could change their fate, only to be schemed against and lose their lives. It’s truly tragic.”
Zhu Yan’s eyes trembled slightly, whether from hatred for Madam Tang’s methods or sympathy for the dead courtesans was unclear.
By now, Madam Tang had stopped resisting. After hearing Zhu Yan’s detailed account of the case, it was as if she had been present at the scene herself, knowing every minute detail.
Seeing this, Zhu Yan reached out and removed the cloth gag from Madam Tang’s mouth. “Was all of this just for a moment’s satisfaction?”
Madam Tang’s eyes were hazy, her gaze somewhat vacant. “Heh heh…” She laughed coldly, “Aren’t you good at deduction? Then go on, tell me whether I did this for the thrill of killing or if there was some other reason.”
“You really won’t believe it until you see your coffin,” Zhu Yan had completely given up hope of Madam Tang confessing voluntarily.
“You used such cruel methods to harm people. Was it out of personal grudges or did you have other motives? You’re a woman too, why do you hate them so much?”
Zhu Yan’s anger towards Madam Tang only made the latter more defiant, even bursting into maniacal laughter.
“Everyone says Lady Shen is clever. Why don’t you guess for yourself? You’ve explained the deaths of Liang Chenzhong and Liu Fu so clearly, surely you understand the truth behind the others just as well. Why not tell everyone and let them hear how these people deserved to die? What crime have I committed by killing them?”
“Heh heh…” Madam Tang had admitted to the killings.