Black Lotus Concubine's Case-solving Notes

Cheng'en Temple is located in the southwest corner of the capital, a thousand miles away from the Prime Minister's Mansion. It takes three days and nights for a carriage to reach it.

So before noon on this day, when it was only dimly lit in the sky, Madam Zhou, who was by the old lady's side, went from courtyard to courtyard to urge the girls to set off.

When Feng Jia, led by Song Huai, arrived at the gate of the Prime Minister's Mansion, there were already several carriages waiting there.

The first carriage was naturally the old lady's carriage, which was also the most luxurious of the carriages. The second carriage was occupied by Mrs. Meng. Her eyes were dark and her face was swollen. Even the thick makeup could not hide her tiredness and old age.

Xie Shubai, as her legitimate daughter, rode with her, and both of them looked at Feng Jia with eyes that seemed to contain poison.

The third car was occupied by Jiang Shi and Xie Changrong. Jiang Shi was still submissive, while Xie Changrong looked at Feng Jia with cold eyes, and when she saw Feng Jia looking at her, she immediately lowered the curtain.

The fourth carriage was carried by the fourth wife, Tan, and the eighth daughter, Xie Xiyi. Tan had already sat in the carriage with her eyes closed, resting. Xiyi was about to get on the carriage holding the corner of her clothes, but when she saw Feng Jia, she avoided his gaze and quickened her pace.

Feng Jia ignored their attitude and walked straight to the last car.

The carriage was comfortable and spacious. She didn't have to squeeze in with the Meng family, nor did she have to deliberately flatter the elders in the Xie family. It was a rare moment of leisure.

The carriage sped from the Prime Minister's Mansion all the way to the southwest. When it was about to leave Yingtian Gate, Tan couldn't sit still anymore and stuck her head out of the sedan chair: "Mother, it's almost dark, why don't we find a place to rest? It won't be too late to continue the journey tomorrow morning!"

As they were tired from the long journey and the old lady had just recovered from a serious illness, they did not refuse. They found a nearby place called Tianhe Restaurant and booked a private room.

Feng Jia sat in the corner. She was not hungry, so she ate very slowly. She raised her head and looked down through the gap in the window. A middle-aged man in white clothes was standing in the corridor, holding a wake-up stick and telling a story. Perhaps because he told a story vividly, many people gathered around to watch.

The storyteller slammed the wooden stick with his hands and said, "Have you ever heard of the old case of Jiao Yuan's family being exterminated ten years ago?"

Someone asked, "But what about the murder and burning case in Lulin County, Jiaoyuan? I heard that Mr. Li had 230 people in his family, from the 80-year-old to the baby in swaddling clothes, all died in an accident! The blood flowed like a river, and there were countless dead bones. How can it be described with just one word?"

The storyteller twirled his beard and said, "That was the tragedy!"

People around were talking about it: "This Mr. Li is kind and generous, well-known, and very popular in Lulin County! Who on earth is this beast who actually committed such a sin!"

"I heard that they offended someone and were wiped out by a bunch of bandits!"

"I heard about that, too! I also heard that the ones who killed them were the notorious Eighteen Tiger Generals of Jiaoyuan more than ten years ago! Bah! A bunch of bandits dare to call themselves Tiger Generals!"

"Hush! Keep your voice down! Don't you know that those 18 people disappeared out of thin air after killing people? Some people say that they are the incarnation of evil spirits, and it is because Mr. Li's family did something that angered the gods, so the hell officials sent them to take souls away!"

"What kind of ghost-collection is this? It's all superstition!"

"Why are you so superstitious? Then tell me why the soldiers of Jiaoyuan County have not been able to catch anyone yet, and why did those 18 bandits disappear overnight?"

"This, this, this..."

Someone else said, "There are rumors that Mr. Li from Jiaoyuan is just a hypocritical person. He seems kind and generous, but he is actually twisted and has sex with both men and women! He adopted so many abandoned babies and actually used them as his own children! Not only does he enjoy them himself, but he also uses them to bribe officials! This scum deserves to die! Those 18 bandits are really enforcing justice!"

……

"girl?"

Feng Jia turned around.

The maid Song Huai lowered her head and said, "Miss, the old lady is urging you to go back to the guest room and rest early because you have to travel tomorrow."

Feng Jia glanced around and found that most of the guests who were originally seated had left. She nodded and followed everyone out. Song Huai was standing one step behind her, but when Feng Jia turned around, he turned his head and took a deep look downstairs.

In the evening, it started to drizzle, and the people who were listening to the story downstairs in the restaurant dispersed.

One of the men, who was dressed in grey cloth, ordered a bowl of sake next to the restaurant. When he was slightly intoxicated, he looked up at the sky and saw that the moon was already at its zenith, so he staggered towards home.

The rain had stopped outside, but the ground was still wet. The man walked carefully around the puddles. When he turned into the alley, he frowned and looked back, but there was nothing.

Just as he was wondering, a pair of hands suddenly reached out from the alley next to him and strangled his neck.

The man's eyes widened in horror, but before he could even shout, his head was cut off by a hanging wire.

……

"Have you heard? Someone was killed in Yangliu Lane last night!"

"Oh my! How come I didn't know! That person died right in front of my house! I was wondering who it was, and it turned out to be Old Ma from the east end of the street! He was listening to storytelling with us yesterday! Today... Hey! When the detectives were carrying him, I saw that Old Ma's head was drooping like a noodle! When they lifted it again, his head fell off! It was actually cut off by something! It's so scary!"

"I heard that, too. It seems that the murder weapon was a piece of silk thread!"

"A silk thread can kill people? Who on earth has such great power?"

"Could it be that he said something careless yesterday and angered Mr. Li's evil spirit? Oh! God bless you! I didn't say anything bad about you, please don't come to me!"

The two men clasped their hands together and prayed as they passed Feng Jia.

Feng Jia looked back and didn't care. She was helped by Song Huai to get on the carriage. The carriage moved slowly and soon drove out of Yingtian Gate.

"How old are you?" Feng Jia lifted the curtain of the sedan chair and said to Song Huai who was walking beside her.

Song Huai smiled, revealing two cute dimples on her face: "To answer the young lady's question, I am sixteen years old."

"When did you come to Xie's house?"

"half year ago."

Feng Jia nodded and glanced at the high mountains and dense forests not far away: "Do you know the Cheng'en Temple we are going to this time?"

Song Huai nodded and said, "This Cheng'en Temple was originally a very small temple. It was not very popular and few people knew about it. But ten years ago, a dying red elm tree suddenly came back to life in front of the white pagoda near Cheng'en Temple. Coincidentally, that year was the Kaiyuan year when our emperor ascended the throne. So it was rumored that a real Buddha appeared in this temple. Word spread quickly and more and more people came to worship. In addition, last year, the daughter of the Minister of Revenue went to the temple to burn incense and pray for a child. She got pregnant at the end of the month after she went there at the beginning of the month. Cheng'en Temple became famous and people came to pray for children and marriage. And this time, the Cheng'en Temple Buddha Bathing is a grand event that only happens once every ten years. The wives of famous and high-ranking officials will go there to get a taste of the Buddha's spiritual energy!"

So that's how it is. It's just that Feng Jia has never believed in gods or Buddhas. If there really were living Buddhas in this world, how could he have watched her Feng family suffer and more than 140 members of her family die in such a tragic way?

"However, the reputation of this Cheng'en Temple seems to be mixed. In recent years, wives of officials from all walks of life have been coming here to burn incense and worship Buddha, but when they come back, they are listless, as if they have been frightened by something..."

As they were talking, the horse suddenly neighed loudly, and the carriage stopped. The coachman got off the carriage to check and said, "Girl, our carriage was hit by a rock!"

Feng Jia lifted the curtain and took a look. Sure enough, the front wheel of the carriage had hit the edge of the stone and a corner was missing.