Speaking of crabgrass and madmen, Wu Zuo remembered something.
A few years ago, a murder related to crabgrass occurred in Fuyang County——
Sixteen-year-old Xiao Yun was introduced by a matchmaker to marry her husband, who was four years older than her. After the marriage, she learned that her husband had another sweetheart. The reason why she married Xiao Yun was because of pressure from his mother.
Although Xiaoyun felt a little uncomfortable, which ordinary couple was not ordered by their parents or the matchmaker? She thought that as long as she fulfilled her duties as a wife and daughter-in-law, her husband would be able to grow old with her even if he didn't like her.
Xiaoyun's husband didn't think so. He married Xiaoyun just to deal with his mother. After marrying Xiaoyun, he lived in the town on the pretext of focusing on studying and getting famous.
Every few days, Xiaoyun would go to the town to deliver things to her husband according to her mother-in-law's instructions, and every time she would see her husband getting along with another woman.
At first, the husband did not admit his relationship with the woman and only said that he was a neighbor who lived nearby. Later, he admitted that the reason why he hid Xiaoyun's information was because he didn't want his mother to know about it, and he didn't want her to come to embarrass the woman. He said that he was sorry for Xiaoyun and that Xiaoyun could have anything she wanted except his person and heart.
She was obviously his wife, but she seemed like a bad woman who ruined other people's happiness.
It was impossible to reconcile with Li Yi. There was no such thing as reconciliation with Li Yi in the countryside, and even if there was, her parents would not agree.
After a year of marriage, there was no movement in Xiaoyun's stomach. Her anxious mother-in-law found various folk recipes and secret medicines for Xiaoyun to take. But having a child is a matter between a man and a woman. If her husband doesn't consummate the marriage with her, where will she go to give birth to the child?
She was embarrassed to tell her mother-in-law what happened in the boudoir. In order to protect her sweetheart, her husband knew that she was being criticized but did not speak up to defend her. Instead, he allowed her mother-in-law to guess and blamed her for whether or not she would have a child.
Xiaoyun was extremely wronged and often cried softly at night.
Her mother-in-law thought she was making a scandal out of the family and made things more difficult for her. They were not allowed to eat or sleep, and if they resisted the slightest bit, they would be beaten or scolded. Her mother's family also thought that her inability to have a child was her own fault, so she felt sorry for her husband's family and turned a blind eye to what happened to her at her husband's family.
The day before the incident, Xiaoyun brought water for her mother-in-law's feet. Because she accidentally splashed water, her mother-in-law scolded her, saying that she shouldn't force her son to marry her. When the husband saw this, he said that his sweetheart had been waiting for him. The mother-in-law was overjoyed and immediately asked her son to divorce Xiaoyun.
It was obviously a conflict between mother and son, but Xiaoyun became a victim for no reason. Xiaoyun was so distressed that she went to the town to buy arsenic early the next morning.
Arsenic is very poisonous and can kill people, but no one told Xiaoyun that it would be so painful when the poison occurs. She rolled around in the room for an hour, while her mother-in-law and husband were discussing how to marry a new person next door. Before she died, she used her last strength to crawl to the door of her mother-in-law's room. By the time her husband and mother-in-law found out, she was already cold.
The mother-in-law felt guilty, and the husband felt guilty. He was afraid that Xiaoyun would turn into an evil ghost and come back to settle the score with him, so he spent a lot of money to hire a Taoist priest from the mountain and sealed poor Xiaoyun in a copper coffin.
I don’t know if this copper coffin is of any use. I only know that before Xiaoyun’s body was cold, her husband’s family married her husband’s sweetheart back.
The next day, a neighbor discovered that Xiaoyun's mother-in-law was dead in the room, her husband was missing, and his newly married woman had turned into a madman.
At the crime scene, in addition to Xiaoyun's husband's handwritten confession, there was also a large amount of crabgrass. Following the crab grass, the government officials found Xiaoyun's grave, which was covered with that kind of grass.
This case was eventually treated as an unsolved case. If it weren't for Su Niang's case, Zuo Zuo would have forgotten about that incident.
"Was Xiaoyun's mother-in-law killed by a ghost?" Zhou Yu'an pondered: "If it's true, then I have to go to Xiaoyun's grave to take a look. I've heard of fierce ghosts, but I've never seen them."
"The sky is clear and the sun is bright, there are no ghosts in the universe." Wuzuo shook his head, "Then Xiaoyun's mother-in-law was strangled to death!"
"Since it is a murder case, why not investigate it?" Shen Chongming looked unhappy: "This is how Fuyang County handles cases?"
"The more confused an official is, the easier it is to become an official." Wu Zuo stood up and said, "Although the case is a murderous one, there is no plaintiff in this case!"
While they were talking, a government official came to report that a body was found in the water storage well.
There were some weeds growing next to the water storage well, and there were a few drops of blood on the weeds. Upon closer inspection, there were bloodstains up and down the well platform, and some fallen leaves stuck in the mud were also stained red.
When we entered the hospital just now, the water storage well was covered with thick stone slabs. There were fallen leaves on the stone slabs. If the yamen servant hadn't stepped on it with his feet, he might not have found the blood stains under the slabs, let alone the murderer hiding the body. here.
The water storage well was not big, and Li Jinzhong felt a little uncomfortable lying in it.
"There was a wound on the back, there was rust in the wound, and the murder weapon was a rusty dagger."
"The incision is not deep, so it should not be fatal." Zhou Yu'an touched Shen Chongming and said, "Master Shen, please step back."
Shen Chongming retreated, and Zhou Yu'an stood on the well platform and lifted the corpse's shoulders. He found that the corpse was very heavy, as if something was hanging on it.
Seeing this, Wu Zuo quickly asked the government servants to come over and help. After taking Li Jinzhong's body away, he found that he was holding an iron box in his hand.
The iron box seemed a bit unimpressive, as the iron box was tied to his hand with two iron chains.
The box was heavy and dripping with blood. When it was opened, it was a woman's head. Under the head was an iron plate with the word "Qi" engraved on it.
"What is this iron plate?"
"Prince Qi's Mansion." Shen Chongming touched the iron plate: "It's not a fake."
"Is Li Jinzhong from King Qi?" Zhou Yu'an wondered: "This King of Qi really uses talents in an eclectic way."
"Are you familiar with Li Jinzhong?"
"I saved him!" Zhou Yu'an looked at his injuries: "Three years ago, I saved him when he was bitten by a vicious dog. If not, how could he agree to help me take care of Su Niang."
"Li Jinzhong is not from King Qi, the murderer is." Shen Chongming ordered the Yamen: "Catch the man wandering in front of Xiaoyun's grave."
Zhou Yu'an was a little surprised when he saw Feng Er. He never thought that he was from King Qi.
Unlike Chunhong and Sui'er, this Feng Er was born as a secret agent of Prince Qi's Mansion and came to Fuyang County on orders. In the process of investigating the He family and the secret recipe, they clashed with another force and were poisoned.
Heart-eating poison does not kill people, but turns them into idiots who are half-dumb and half-stupid. Although he took the antidote, Feng Er still became a fool and allowed others to bully him on the street before the poison was suppressed.
Seeing that he was pitiful, Xiaoyun placed him in an abandoned house. Every time she brought things to her husband, she would bring him some food and drink. When she saw that he was injured, she would carefully apply medicine to him to keep him away. Those naughty boys looking for trouble.
This kind of attentiveness and warmth was something Feng Er had never had before.
There is no love between man and woman between him and Xiaoyun. There is only the sister's care for the silly brother, and the silly brother's dependence on the sister.
Xiaoyun was forced to die. As a younger brother, he naturally wanted to avenge his sister, but he didn't have much time to wake up, allowing the culprit and instigator to escape.
