Observing Madam Tang’s expression, Zhu Yan devised a plan, feeling that her suspicions were confirmed and just needed a final push.
Zhu Yan presented portraits she had prepared for everyone present. “These are portraits I drew based on the victims’ faces. To maintain accuracy, I also depicted their postures at the time of death.”
The officials present discussed this amongst themselves, not understanding Zhu Yan’s intentions. Even the Empress frowned deeply.
The victims were already dead, so what was the point of drawing portraits? Moreover, the killer had already confessed, so wasn’t this redundant?
Before anyone could make sense of it, Madam Tang suddenly began trembling violently, as if struggling to contain an outburst.
Noticing Madam Tang’s unusual behavior, Shen Du sensed danger and quickly moved to protect Zhu Yan.
However, Madam Tang, like an enraged beast, suddenly lunged towards Zhu Yan.
Shen Du moved to intercept, but Madam Tang wasn’t aiming to attack Zhu Yan. Instead, she grabbed the portraits from Zhu Yan’s hands, fell to the ground, and began viciously tearing at the heart area of the figures in the portraits.
This sudden turn of events confused everyone present, even Shen Du, who turned to look at Zhu Yan.
“As I suspected,” Zhu Yan said meaningfully.
She then looked at Madam Tang with a sympathetic gaze.
No one understood why Madam Tang had suddenly gone berserk.
Perhaps among all present, only Zhu Yan had some understanding.
“Your heart is in pain, but you’ve chosen the wrong way to express it,” Zhu Yan said, stepping out from behind Shen Du and approaching Madam Tang. “Tell me the reason. Once you speak it, you won’t suffer as much.”
“What do you know!” Madam Tang suddenly turned and pushed Zhu Yan to the ground.
Concerned for Zhu Yan, Shen Du quickly moved to restrain Madam Tang, but Zhu Yan pleaded, “Don’t hurt her.”
Everyone was confused by Zhu Yan’s plea.
The killer before them had just tried to harm her, yet she was asking for mercy. Had she gone mad or just turned foolish?
“She also has her reasons for suffering,” Zhu Yan said compassionately. “Don’t hurt her anymore.”
Perhaps moved by Zhu Yan’s sincerity, Madam Tang stopped struggling and seemed to relax.
Shen Du loosened his grip and helped Zhu Yan to her feet, asking with concern, “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” Zhu Yan shook her head, then turned her gaze back to Madam Tang.
Madam Tang had calmed down. She carefully held the torn portraits to her chest.
Tears streamed down her face as she took a deep breath and said, “It’s not my fault. They betrayed me first. It’s all because of them. I was so good to him, why did he betray me?”
Zhu Yan lowered her eyes, “The ‘he’ you’re referring to, is it your first husband?”
Madam Tang closed her eyes tightly, whether from regret or sorrow, tears continuing to fall. “Yes, it’s him.”
Madam Tang finally began to speak freely. Everyone present fell silent, listening to her story.
Madam Tang came from a decent family and had a beautiful younger sister.
When they were young, her sister was kidnapped and disappeared without a trace. When the sisters met again, the younger had fallen into prostitution.
This was already an unfortunate story, but what happened next was beyond Madam Tang’s imagination.
She brought her sister home, by which time she was already married to her first husband, Xiao Ruiqi.
But soon after, she discovered that her husband had become involved with her sister, which was unbearable for her.
To save face, she gave her sister a poisoned cup of wine, but unexpectedly, her husband drank it instead.
After her husband’s death, her sister also disappeared.
After a long search, she finally found her sister’s long-dead body in her husband’s tomb, and shockingly, they were in an embracing position!
Perhaps recalling these past events – forcing her sister to her death and accidentally killing her husband – had greatly shocked Madam Tang, causing some memory confusion. After recounting all this, she began shaking her head vigorously.
“No… no, it wasn’t like that, it wasn’t like that.”
All this was spoken by Madam Tang herself, but as soon as she finished, she denied her account, confusing everyone present.
“Yes…” Madam Tang seemed somewhat possessed, laughing and crying. “It must have been like this. That woman wasn’t my sister at all. She was just a prostitute. She seduced my husband. She deserved to die. She could have been a good woman but chose to seduce someone else’s husband. What’s the point of such women living? They should be dismembered, skinned alive, suffer all possible humiliations, and be scorned by everyone.”
In a short time, Madam Tang had given two completely different versions of events.
While some didn’t understand, clever individuals like Zhu Yan, Shen Du, and the Empress grasped the underlying reason.
Being betrayed by her husband and forcing her sister to death was too great a shock, causing memory disorder, which was understandable.
“So…” Seeing Madam Tang laughing and crying uncontrollably, Zhu Yan quickly interjected, “So you killed those women who resembled your sister?”
“They deserved to die, and so did those filthy men,” Madam Tang said self-righteously. “Those men could have associated with any women, yet they chose to dally with prostitutes. Don’t they know those women will lead them to ruin?”
“That’s just your personal opinion,” Zhu Yan quickly said. “Not everyone in the world lacks self-control. Those women born into prostitution are also unfortunate; they don’t intentionally set out to ruin others’ lives.”
“Heh heh…” Madam Tang began to laugh, seeming somewhat deranged. “Actually, at first, I blamed myself. If it weren’t for me, my sister wouldn’t have died, and neither would my husband. If not for my jealousy… I wouldn’t have lost two loved ones at once.”
“So you regretted it,” Zhu Yan continued. “The reason you arranged the bodies in embracing positions was a form of fulfillment, wasn’t it?”
Madam Tang laughed through her tears, nodding continuously. “Lady Shen is indeed clever, seeing through it at once. Everyone here… I look down on everyone, but I admire you alone, Lady Shen. I not only admire you, I envy you. Why do you get to be protected by a man? Why do you get a man’s loyalty? While I have nothing.”
“…” Zhu Yan was at a loss for words. When had she ever received a man’s loyalty? Was she referring to Shen Du?
Perhaps she didn’t know that in a few months, she would die at this man’s hands.
“What about accomplices?” Zhu Yan was sensitive to this topic and quickly changed the subject. “It must have been difficult for you to carry out so many cases alone. Did you have help?”
“Yes and no,” Madam Tang continued. “Sometimes I would trick those men into digging holes themselves by saying there was something underneath. Other times, I would lure two people to that place, kill them, and then dig the hole myself. So I didn’t need any helpers. In this regard, Lady Shen, you’ve underestimated my abilities.”
Zhu Yan nodded slightly. She had indeed underestimated her.
“One last question,” Zhu Yan’s expression turned extremely serious. “There’s a pattern among those you killed that perhaps you haven’t noticed yourself. The age of the victims was decreasing. Why is that?”
“Because I’ve grown old and can no longer find targets of the same age as them. So I turned my attention to younger people. Heh… Times have changed, and before I knew it, so much time had passed.”
“Indeed, times have changed. I suppose you never imagined we would catch you.”
Having finally understood all the questions and received answers, Zhu Yan stood up and bowed to the Empress.
“Your Majesty, the case has been solved, and the true culprit has confessed. As for how to deal with her, I leave that to Your Majesty’s judgment.”
The Buddhist hall fell silent. The case was finally resolved, and the Empress had one less worry.
However, considering that the culprit was the widow of a loyal official, the Empress found it difficult to decide.