When the heir of Marquis Changxing saw Erniu’s actions, he was terrified out of his wits. He shouted, “What are you all standing there for? Quickly kill that beast!”
Zhen Shicheng raised an eyebrow slightly.
If he was merely afraid of frightening these young ladies, the heir of Marquis Changxing needn’t lose his composure like this.
This meant that there was something under the flowers and grass, and this large dog from who-knows-where had caught an unusual scent.
But this patch of flowers and grass wasn’t peonies—
Zhen Shicheng shifted his gaze, carefully examining the peony bushes adjacent to this patch of flowers and grass.
A large expanse of peonies bloomed brilliantly, in delicate yellow and light red, exceptionally alluring.
Wait—
Zhen Shicheng’s eyes narrowed, his gaze falling on the most inconspicuous spot at the base of the wall. There, a small cluster of peonies looked listless compared to the others, as if they were about to wither.
It wasn’t strange for peonies to wither at this time of year, but remembering that both Miss Xiu and Old Master Chi had mentioned that a girl’s body was buried under the peony bushes, Zhen Shicheng instantly understood the crux of the matter, relying on the intuition he had developed from years of dealing with cases.
The heir of Marquis Changxing must have a guilty conscience, right?
Heh, he had seen too many clever criminals outsmarted by their cleverness.
Several servants holding clubs surrounded Erniu, who was still digging frantically.
Sensing danger, Erniu continued digging with his front paws while his hind legs kicked out forcefully, knocking down the first person who rushed forward. Then, with a sweep of his large tail, he kicked up dust that blinded two more men.
At this point, he finally paused his digging and bared his teeth at the last two club-wielding men, emitting a low growl from his throat.
In the sunlight, the dog, as tall as half a man, looked fierce, revealing a pair of sharp teeth glinting coldly.
The two men couldn’t help but exchange glances.
Erniu didn’t give them much time to think, leaping forward.
“Mama Mia!” The two servants dropped their clubs in fright and turned tail to run.
This dog was too scary, like a lone wolf!
Erniu barked once in satisfaction, then turned back to continue digging the hole.
Complete the task for his mistress, and perhaps she would return home with him—this simple thought flashed through the big dog’s mind.
“Useless!” The heir of Marquis Changxing viciously slapped one of the fleeing servants, sending him spinning and falling to the ground with a thud.
Another servant, having calmed down, gritted his teeth and turned back to pick up his club, intending to deal with the big dog again.
At this moment, Zhen Shicheng spoke up: “Wait!”
Everyone turned to look at him.
Marquis Changxing’s face showed embarrassed anger, displaying the reaction a household master should have when making a laughingstock in front of outsiders. His heir, however, was different.
He completely ignored Zhen Shicheng’s call and picked up a wooden club himself to drive away the big dog.
“Come back quickly, be careful of the vicious dog hurting you!” Marquis Changxing was greatly alarmed.
Zhen Shicheng gave his subordinates a look: “Why aren’t you protecting the young master?”
Two subordinates understood immediately and quickly ran over. One grabbed the heir’s arm and pulled him back, saying, “Young Master, don’t risk yourself. Let us handle this.”
“Let go!” The heir’s face turned the color of pig liver, though it wasn’t clear if it was from urgency or anger.
But Zhen Shicheng’s subordinates were skilled in martial arts. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t break free. In desperation, he kicked his legs wildly, looking extremely undignified.
Those noble ladies who had hidden in various places without leaving all watched with wide eyes.
Watching a spectacle is human nature, regardless of gender or age.
One noble lady said emotionally, “I never thought the heir of Marquis Changxing would be so responsible towards guests, even risking himself to drive away the vicious dog when his servants were useless.”
A young lady with a calm demeanor subtly noticed something amiss: “Perhaps it’s not that simple. Even if a vicious dog crashed the banquet, the heir’s reaction seems too extreme…”
“What do you mean?”
The young lady smiled, “Let’s just watch. I have a feeling there’s a big show coming.”
“Hehe, I love watching spectacles. I got such a fright earlier, if there’s a show to watch, it’ll make up for it.”
Seeing the big dog digging faster and faster, the heir of Marquis Changxing was drenched in cold sweat. He shouted hoarsely, “Are you all dead? Letting outsiders treat me like this! Pull these two away now—” His voice suddenly changed, instantly altering his command: “No, drive that beast away first. Whoever drives it away gets a reward of 100 taels of silver!”
Where there’s a great reward, brave men will appear. Several servants instantly became energized.
At this moment, however, the big dog stopped.
Having been shocked by the dog’s earlier display of might, when it stopped, the servants instinctively halted as well.
Erniu held a shoe in his mouth, looking towards Jiang Si’s direction.
As a dog loyal to his mistress, his first reaction was to dig up the treasure and quickly present it to his owner.
Jiang Si quietly pointed toward Zhen Shicheng.
Erniu wagged his tail and trotted over to Zhen Shicheng, placing the shoe down in front of him.
The shoe was covered in dirt, its original color indiscernible, but Zhen Shicheng recognized it at a glance—it was an embroidered shoe!
“Woof woof—” Erniu barked twice at Zhen Shicheng.
I’ve given you the treasure I dug up, say something, won’t you? Praise me or praise my mistress, either is fine.
Simultaneously, two servants’ legs gave way, and they collapsed to the ground.
These two were Luzi and Anzi, the servants responsible for burying the body.
Their faces were ashen, with only one thought in their minds: It’s over, it’s all over!
That night they had encountered a female ghost and were so terrified that they dug a shallower grave than before. Who would have thought a dog would dig up the shoe?
Not far away, discussions broke out.
“Oh my, how could a shoe be dug up from the soil?”
“Maybe someone lost it?”
“Impossible, who in our kind of household would be so ill-mannered as to carelessly lose a shoe, especially an embroidered one?”
…
The various discussions caused a dark cloud to suddenly loom over Marquis Changxing’s heart, and he instinctively looked towards his son.
Zhen Shicheng picked up the flower spade leaning against the wall and walked towards the deep hole that had been dug.
“Official Zhen—” Marquis Changxing couldn’t help but call out.
Zhen Shicheng smiled enigmatically, “Marquis, I too am curious why an embroidered shoe would be dug up from the soil. I’ve decided to dig and see.”
At this point, the heir of Marquis Changxing stopped struggling. His gaze grew increasingly deep, gradually regaining his composure.
Don’t panic. Even if a corpse is dug up, who can prove he killed the person? When the time comes, he just needs to push the blame onto the servants. At most, the Marquis Changxing household would suffer some damage to its reputation—these thoughts flashed through his mind, and the heir became increasingly calm.
Zhen Shicheng dug the soil one shovelful at a time. Fortunately, that unusually intelligent dog had already dug quite deep in one spot, so he only had to dig a few times before he hit something. He immediately called for his subordinates to come help.
The sun grew hotter, and the flowers and grass that had been dug up quickly wilted.
Because the topmost layer of soil was very loose, obviously having been recently turned over, expanding the digging area went smoothly. Before long, a corpse wrapped in a bedsheet was unearthed.
A strange odor gradually spread.
After a moment of silence, the more timid noble ladies began to scream.
Heavens, there was a corpse buried in the Marquis Changxing household’s garden!
“Keep digging!” Zhen Shicheng ordered sternly.