Daming's Bizarre Story: Painted Skin

"What did you fall for?" Yang Xueshi asked, but Zhao Ran ran towards the Zhao Mansion without looking back.

The fire in the palanquin had already been extinguished, but the billowing black smoke was very choking, Yang Xueshi followed closely behind Zhaoran, and saw him kick Ada's door open.

"Ada is gone too." Yang Xueshi looked around and said.

The guard outside said: "Ada... the second master asked him to close the door. No one is allowed to open the door except the second master himself."

Zhao Ran said: "There is a fire outside, why do you need someone to call?"

Yang Xueshi frowned and said, "How many people are there? How can they kidnap Zhao Xiangli and Ah Da at the same time?"

Zhao Ran pushed aside Zhao Xiangli's door and said, "That's because we were fooled, Zhao Xiangli was not kidnapped at all."

He searched under the bed, and then opened the box next to him, only to see Zhao Xiangli's pale complexion being stuffed inside. Yang Xueshi touched it, and blurted out in surprise, "He's still alive."

Zhao Ran was silent for a while, then suddenly smiled, "He put the fruit knife next to Zhao Xiangli, asked Ah Kuan to hold him hostage, and then hid Zhao Xiangli in the box in the confusion, the purpose is to make us mistakenly think that he wanted to kill Zhao Xiangli first. His target is Zhao Xiangli, but his target is Ah Da from the beginning to the end."

----

When Zhao Zhongbo came back, he took his men and almost turned the house upside down, but there was no sign of Ah Da.

"My lord, this Ah Da must have fled in fear of crime."

Zhao Ran asked, "After two hours, the patriarch should try this case in the ancestral hall."

Zhao Zhongbo looked a little tired and said: "Yes, let's wait for the patriarch to make a decision."

Yang Xueshi and Zhaoran took a nap, and it was dawn.

Zhao Zhongbo sent a soft sedan chair to move the slightly sober Zhao Xiangli up, and then Zhao Ran and Yang Xueshi went to the ancestral hall.

----

The two entered the ancestral hall only to find that the ancestral hall of the Zhao family was very grand. There were about [-] people standing in the dark, most of them were elderly people, and they seemed to be the heads of a family.

Each of them held a wooden sign with the word Zhao drawn on it with a gold pen. It was the wooden sign hanging on the door. It seemed that they were not only from Dangyu Village, but also truly recognized by the Zhao family. Villagers in the inner circle.

At this time, the three doors of the main room of the ancestral hall were opened, and Zhao Yongbo was dressed in the national uniform. After worshiping the ancestors, he turned around and said, "Grandmother, please."

As soon as he finished his words, the curtain behind the tablet was slowly opened, revealing a golden statue of a goddess with bare feet inside. All the villagers immediately knelt down and kowtowed, and the only one standing at the scene was Yang Xueshi and Zhaoran.

Immediately, someone nearby said displeasedly: "Please, both of you, salute to Grandmother as well."

Zhao Ran showed a look of embarrassment: "Old lady, I am a disciple of the Witch King. If he worships his grandmother, what should he do if the old man is unhappy..."

Before he finished speaking, he saw Yang Xueshi stepped forward and made a bow, offering a stick of incense. He was speechless, so he followed suit and offered a stick of incense.

Zhao Yongbo remained indifferent until now, but now he said: "Today, all the clan elders are called here for two reasons, one is the unjust rape case of Zhao Jing back then, and the other is the case of Xiuying's death."

The clan elders said in unison: "Follow the instructions of the clan leader."

"Let Zhao Yingwen, Zhao Min'er come in." Zhao Yongbo took out a house number from the plate.

Zhao Ran went over to take a closer look at the wooden cards in the hands of the clan elders, and found that the wooden cards in their hands were actually slightly different for each of them. There were also a few small numbers in the word Zhao, which were obviously used for distinction.

Zhao Min'er walked in wearing mourning, followed by two guards dragging Zhao Yingwen, Zhao Yingwen's appearance was completely destroyed in one night, his hair was messed up, his eyes were dull, he didn't look like a Binbin scribe back then, he kept repeating Authentic: "Don't kill me, don't kill me."

Zhao Yongbo looked at the house number in his hand and said: "Can you admit that you have an affair with Xiu Niang in the mansion?"

"I admit it, I admit it." Zhao Yingwen said tremblingly.

"How did you kill Xiuying?"

Zhao Yingwen said with blank eyes: "She said that if I don't divorce my wife and marry her as the main wife, she, she will accuse me of rape. In a fit of anger, I wrestled with her and strangled her to death. In the end, I was afraid that she was still alive, so I stabbed her again with a knife."

Zhao Yongbo raised his head and said: "Zhao Yingwen's crime of adultery is the first, and the crime of homicide is the second. The crime is heinous and needs to be reported to the government. His family thinks that his mother and children are innocent, so he will be expelled from the village. The clan elders may have objections. If there is no objection, we will Raise your sign."

The clan elders raised their placards one after another, and no one objected.

Zhao Yongbo threw the wooden sign in his hand into the charcoal brazier next to him, and Zhao Yingwen trembled into a ball.

Seeing Zhaoran staring straight ahead, Yang Xueshi whispered, "What are you thinking?"

Zhao Ran raised his hand and said, "I have objections."

"You are not from Dang Fishing Village." A bystander said.

Zhao Ran giggled and pointed at Yang Xueshi: "But didn't you invite us adults, then we can always give some opinions."

"who are you?"

"I am the one who speaks for Lord Yang." Zhao Ran said naturally.

Yang Xueshi glanced at him and said two words: "Not bad."

Zhao Yongbo raised his hand to stop the discussion below: "What do you want to say?"

Zhao Ran said with a smile: "What I want to say, I need to pass a witness."

"Who is the witness you wish to pass?"

"Ada."

"Ada..." Zhao Yongbo said, "Ada disappeared yesterday, how do you summon him?"

"Now I know where he is because someone left me a clue."

"Where is Ada?" The clan elders were discussing.

Zhao Ran pointed to the grandmother and said, "It's there!"

Everyone raised their heads, Zhao Yongbo's eyes changed slightly, the eyeballs of the pure gold statue of a goddess were inked by someone.

Zhao Ran smiled and said: "The goddess opened her eyes and looked at the patriarch. The patriarch is the head of the clan in Dangyu Village, isn't he a big one?"

Zhao Yongbo said with a gloomy face, "Do you mean that I hid Ah Da?"

"No, no." Zhao Randao went to the ancestral hall and said with a smile, "If you want to add eyes to your grandmother, you must step on the altar."

"So Ah Da?" Zhao Ran raised his head slowly as he spoke, and said with a smile, "It's just above the patriarch's head!" "

When Zhao Yongbo looked up, he saw a person lying on the towering beam, and his calm expression seemed to twitch a little.

----

Ah Da fainted and was knocked off the beam. Zhao Ran picked up cold water and splashed him with several ladles of water, and then he woke up leisurely. First he saw Zhao Ran, and then he saw Zhao Yongbo. , me, why am I here?"

"Ada, I have a few words to ask you by order of your patriarch." Zhao Ran squatted down and said.

Ah Da glanced at Zhao Yongbo, then stammered: "What... do you want to ask?"

"Your testimony said that three years ago, because you found out about Xiuying's affair, you thought Zhao Jing's brother and sister had no father and mother, so you secretly told Zhao Min'er, right?"

Ah Da struggled to get up and quickly said: "That's right, I have a good heart."

"But when the matter is revealed, then Agui will be unable to escape the guilt. It is Agui who provided the place for the affair to Xiuying. You and Agui often drink together. Your relationship should be stronger than that of Zhao Miner who you said was just an acquaintance too many."

Ah Dao: "I, I didn't think about it so much at the time, I just couldn't bear their brothers and sisters being cheated."

"Very good, you said you told me Zhao Min'er because you didn't think too much about it, so you told Ah Kuan about Xiuying because you didn't think too much about it?"

Ah Da's body was visibly shaken, and he said clearly: "Ah Kuan confessed in his confession that he would go out of the mansion and return to his home after finishing his work every day. How did he know that Xiuying and Zhao Yingwen had an affair at night?"

Zhao Ran looked at Ah Da: "It's very simple, you told two people at the same time, you know that the best way for Zhao Min'er to convince Zhao Jing of this matter is to let him see it with his own eyes, you know that Ah Kuan is a hot-blooded person, Moreover, he was unscrupulous, narrow-minded, and revenged. He found out that Xiuying was secretly having an affair with others, and he would definitely hate her because of love. Zhao Jing, kill two birds with one stone, to vent the hatred in your heart. You took advantage of Zhao Min'er's love for his elder brother, and you took advantage of Ah Kuan's hatred to successfully frame Zhao Jing."

He turned his head and said, "I'm not talking about Ah Da, I'm talking about you——Zhao Xiangli."

Zhao Xiangli was lying on the soft chair with a rather bad complexion. He clenched his fists and coughed several times.

Clearly said: "That day was the summer solstice, you stayed in the side hall to sort out the gift list, I am afraid that is not the real reason why you stayed in the side hall, your purpose is probably to delay the accountant Zhao Yingwen. You will probably inform Ah Kuan on that day Pass over the ledger of gift storage to you, to subtly tell him that Zhao Yingwen will reconcile the ledger with you that night, and it is impossible to meet Xiuying soon, which leaves time for Ah Kuan to do the crime."

Zhao Yongbo opened his mouth and said: "Zhao Jing is not from my family, Zhao Xiangli has no enmity with him, and he has no worries, why should he frame him?"

Zhao Ran said: "Let's talk about this matter at the end. Now let's talk about who killed Xiuying."

"Didn't Zhao Yingwen kill Xiuying?"

Zhao Ran looked at Zhao Yingwen who was trembling all over and smiled: "Such a man who is timid and only knows how to steal things, let alone give him the guts, he might not be able to kill Xiuying with two of them."

He glanced at all the people present and said: "I was also confused about who killed Xiuying, because I originally thought it was a conspiracy. A general Zhao Jing was lured away, and Zhao Jing was framed and imprisoned before being killed, so I always thought that the witness Ada would be the first to die. Then who would kill Xiuying? The person who hates Xiuying the most should be Zhao Miner, but she does not have the ability to kill Xiuying. When I was killed in Ah Kuan , there was a scene that made me suddenly realize that I had gone astray."

"Killing these witnesses is not to cover up the conspiracy to frame Zhao Jing, but a simple revenge. So the order of revenge is set by Zhao Miner. She hates Xiuying the most, and of course the first one to kill is Xiuying. Ying. She deliberately wrestled with Xiuying in the side hall, just to highlight the fact that Xiuying's strength is far superior to that of ordinary women, and to foreshadow the impression that Xiuying was killed by a man. Xiuying was strangled to death by a man, but But another knife was inserted into her belly, since they were already strangled to death, why did she need to insert another knife?"

Zhao Ran turned his head and looked at Zhao Min'er by the door. The little white flowers in her hair trembled slightly in the wind. He said slowly: "This is to make Zhao Yingwen mistakenly think that the dead woman lying in the room is Xiuying, and the girl who died in the room is Xiuying. The woman at that time was actually Zhao Min'er, Zhao Min'er was petite, Xiuying was thin, they were both women, and their bodies were somewhat similar."

All the people looked at Zhao Miner in surprise, and continued clearly: "Where is Xiuying at this time, she should still be living in Zhao Miner's room at that time, Xiuying now knows that the person who raped her is Ah Kuan, But she still can't make up her mind whether to confess Ah Kuan. The reason is very simple. She has ruined her reputation, and it is even more difficult to marry an innocent family. Compared with this, Ah Kuan Kuan was a good choice. When Zhao Miner said she had something to say to her, she followed her naturally. Firstly, because she had some hesitation in her heart, and secondly, she believed that Zhao Miner was not her opponent, so What she didn't expect was that Zhao Min'er's purpose was to lock her in her room, and then lie in her room disguised as Xiuying's body."

"The most troublesome thing about this link is that the person who came was not Zhao Yingwen or A Kuan, because these two people were the only ones who felt guilty. The first reaction when they saw Xiuying's body was definitely not to scream and call for someone to come, but to flee immediately. But I said After all, it is true that Xiuying was strangled to death by a man, so Zhao Miner was co-operated, who is this co-operating person?"

Zhao Ran was silent for a while before raising his eyes and saying: "He is Zhao Tianci, the young master of the Zhao family. During his fight with Ah Kuan, when I saw Zhao Miner angrily smashing Ah Kuan's head with a porcelain vase, I suddenly realized that Zhao Tianci and Zhao Miner are the same Collaborator, Zhao Miner's all kinds of hostility are just blindfolds. I also figured out why Zhao Tianci pretended to see a ghost before, and then he suddenly recovered after we arrived. People have scruples, and the purpose is to protect Zhao Miner."

Zhao Yongbo stared at Zhao Ran for a long time, then said in a deep voice: "If you end up with no evidence, even if you are officials of the court, even if the lawsuit goes to the capital, Zhao will accompany you."

"Don't worry, you will have evidence." Zhao Ran sighed, and continued, "So Zhao Tianci started to cry hungry in the side hall, and then sent Agui to the kitchen to get food. He did this to break my When they left with Master Yang, they were given a ban to stay in the side hall. Now that the ban was broken, Zhao Yingwen, who was worried about whether his adultery would be exposed, naturally found an opportunity and found an excuse to leave the side hall. Hall, and then Zhao Tianci took A Kuan to follow. In fact, even if Zhao Yingwen didn't leave the side hall, he would probably take A Kuan to Xiu Niang's room, so that they could barely complete their whole plan, but fortunately Zhao Yingwen worked hard and went to find Xiuying as they expected."

Zhao Ran turned around and said: "In addition, I asked the cook later, Zhao Tianci wanted a dish of steamed fish at that time. If a person is hungry, he still has to go to the trouble of asking someone to eat steamed fish. Why? Let Agui not return to the side hall so quickly, so as to give Akuan time to kill him, this is another purpose of Zhao Tianci to let Agui leave the side hall."

The people in the ancestral hall involuntarily gasped, and took a long breath: "Zhao Miner heard Zhao Tianci's voice, went out of Xiuying's room, opened her own door, and let Zhao Tianci go in and strangle her to death." Xiuying, then moved her back to her own room, put her in exactly the same position, and then stuck a knife in her stomach. Miner, am I wrong?"

Zhao Min'er turned her head and smiled sweetly: "Mother-in-law really can communicate with spirits, as if she saw it with her own eyes."

The crowd in the ancestral hall was surging, and even Zhao Yongbo had to drink twice to stop the noise.

"And when we arrived at Xiu Niang's room and found Xiuying's body, of course we began to rack our brains about who killed her. Because those who have time don't have the ability, but those who have the ability seem to have no time, The only person who can kill Xiuying is Agui who has completely disappeared. At this time, I think you have prepared various plans, for example, what if I can't find that Agui has been killed by Akuan?"

Zhao Miner opened the mouth and said: "If the old lady can't find out that Agui's disappearance is related to Akuan, Zhao Tianci will find a way to stun the two nurses, and then we will burn the three of them alive in the room in the front yard. But Unfortunately, the old lady soon found out."

"You say it's a pity, that is, Zhao Tianci put the knife on the fruit plate near Zhao Xiangli. His purpose was to lure Ah Kuan to hold Zhao Xiangli hostage and give him a chance to kill Ah Kuan. Besides, it was also to make me think he was The next target is Zhao Xiangli. After Ah Kuan's death, Zhao Miner, you went outside the firewood room where Mrs. Wu was imprisoned and yelled loudly. Of course, you didn't scold her. You just wanted to show her the silver peanut on her grandson's wrist. You have been hostile to the Wu family for three years, so it is impossible for the people in Zhao's mansion and Wu's family to let you get close to her grandson, and there are other people who can get close. Wu understands your threat , I gave her life back to you, in the hope that you can spare her grandson's life, right?"

Zhao Min'er said indifferently: "She has lived an extra three years."

"The death of Mrs. Wu was not only for revenge, but mainly to lure us all to the inner mansion, and then you set fire to the sedan chair courtyard. Zhao Tianci went to the room and hid Zhao Xiangli in the cabinet first, making us mistakenly think that Zhao Xiangli was killed by others. You hijacked him away, but in fact your real target is Ah Da..."

Zhao Ran looked at Zhao Min'er and said, "Your original plan was to kill Zhao Xiangli first, hide his body, and finally kill Ah Da, but why did you keep them in the end?"

Zhao Min'er looked at Zhao Ran and said, "He said, mother-in-law, you will answer."

Zhao Ran turned his head, looked at the statue of Grandmother, but said in his mouth: "You put ink on the statue. The statue has no eyes, but the sky has eyes. You still believe that there is justice in this world. You didn't stay Ada because I don't want to kill him, but because the person you Zhao Tianci can't kill is Zhao Xiangli, so you have to leave someone for me to testify against Zhao Xiangli."

Zhao Yongbo shouted: "It's just nonsense!"

"What nonsense are you talking about? Zhao Xiangli is just the chief concierge of the patriarch!" Someone also retorted.

Zhao Xiangli slowly put down the hand around his mouth and glanced at Ada: "This man speaks upside down and inconsistent, how can he prove it in court." The temptation of women, free to climb dirty."

Zhao Ran glanced at Yang Xueshi: "About 40 years ago, the eldest son of the Zhao clan named Zhao Qiyou suspected his wife of being unfaithful, strangled his wife to death after drinking, and chased and killed the adulterer, until two innocent villagers died. However, the family did not ask for the iron certificate of Dan Shu, but allowed the Yamen to betray the death penalty, and expelled the eldest son from the genealogy, claiming that the Zhao family must abide by the law. This is also the reason why the Zhao family has a good reputation in the local area one."

He looked at Zhao Yongbo and said, "I have seen Zhao's biographies at Mr. Yang's place before, and I also admired Zhao's profound sense of righteousness. But in fact, this Zhao Qiyou did not die, not only did he not die, After decades, he returned to the Zhao Mansion and became a concierge, which is today's Zhao Xiangli. According to the genealogy, he is the biological father of the patriarch Zhao Yongbo, and also the biological grandfather of Zhao Tianci."

The clan elders all looked a little panicked.

Zhao Yongbo's face turned black and he said: "Leave aside the matter of Zhao Xiangli, you falsely accused Tianci of killing so many people because he teased Zhao Jing?"

"Because it's not teasing, but admiration." Zhao Ran looked at him and said, "Zhao Tianci should really like Zhao Jing, but as his elder, Zhao Xiangli didn't think so. Zhao Jing, of course his own children are good, after all, because there is such a hateful person as Zhao Jing, then get rid of him."

The patriarchs couldn't sit still, looked at Zhao Yongbo and asked, "Is this true, Patriarch?"

Zhao Yongbo and Zhao Gougou looked at Zhao Xiangli: "Is this true?"

Zhao Xiangli coughed a few more times, and then said in a hoarse voice: "The old lady has said so much, is there evidence? If there is no evidence, it is a frame. Although I am a servant of the Zhao family, I will definitely not let it go."

Zhao Ran turned his head and looked at Ah Da on the ground: "Ah Da, five of the seven witnesses are dead, and you and Zhao Xiangli are left. If you can't tell the whole story clearly, then the one who lured Zhao Jing into Zhao's residence and instigated Ah Da You are the one who raped and murdered. As long as Zhao Xiangli walks out of this door, Zhao Tianci will continue his revenge, and you will definitely die."

Ah Da knelt down on the ground, with cold sweat dripping from his head, he continued clearly: "Among the seven people, you are just a sounding board. You have neither framed Zhao Jing nor participated in any murder case. You are a loner." One, Zhao Xiangli was expelled from Dangyu Village after exposing him, I think Master Yang will arrange a suitable place for you."

Yang Xueshi glanced at Zhaoran, and said, "My house still lacks a concierge."

Ah Da finally raised his head and pointed at Zhao Xiangli and said, "Yes, it was him, he asked me to tell Zhao Miner when and where Xiuying would have an affair with the accountant, and then asked me to invite Ah Kuan to drink. Then tell Ah Kuan the news, and let me laugh at him, laughing at him for falling in love with a bitch."

The clan elders in the ancestral hall had already stood up one after another, this time Zhao Yongbo seemed unable to think of maintaining order anymore.

----

There was a lot of noise in the ancestral hall, only the side door "squeaked" sounded, which was the door of the wing room where Zhao Jing's coffin was parked.

Zhao Tianci was standing beside the coffin in plain white. Zhao Miner looked at him with a sad and cold expression: "You said that you will finish your brother's revenge. This man...is left!"

"Of course I mean what I say." Zhao Tianci smiled and pulled out a dagger from his bosom.

Zhao Yongbo hurriedly shouted: "God-given, don't be impulsive!"

Looking at Zhao Jing in the coffin, Zhao Tianci asked, "Have you ever liked me? As I said, if I provoke you, I will have the beginning and the end!" After he finished speaking, he swiped the knife horizontally and wiped it on his neck, and the blood flowed After flying out, he fell into Zhao Jing's coffin, their foreheads touched, and Zhao Jing's body was stained red with blood.

There was a panic in the ancestral hall, Zhao Xiangli pointed to the house, his mouth was wide open as if unable to speak for a long time, his eyes widened, he was speechless for a long time, after a while, someone sniffed his breath again, Zhao Xiangli died of breathlessness.

----

Zhao Ran and Yang Xueshi were sitting in the side hall, compared to when they first arrived, they were completely ignored at the moment, not even a pot of hot tea.

"I think... this Zhao Yongbo probably won't want to see our faces anymore." Zhao Ran poured himself a cup of herbal tea and said.

Yang Xueshi glared at him: "You are ashamed to say that the reason why I asked you to find the Zhao Mansion is to wait for an opportunity to persuade the Zhao Mansion to cooperate with me, and you will turn the world upside down in the Ren's Mansion and drive my father and son to death." gone."

Zhaoran put his head in his hands and said casually: "The way is ahead, if you can't be open-minded, it's meaningless to do anything."

Yang Xueshi glanced at him: "I don't know what you are thinking?"

Zhao Ran looked at his hands and said, "I was thinking, what would happen if I always regarded Zhao Tianci as the murderer who killed Zhao Jing?"

"If you regard Zhao Tianci as the murderer, of course you won't figure out how Xiuying died."

Zhao Ran said: "If I can't figure out how Xiuying died, after Ah Kuan's death, I will definitely find a way to take care of Zhao Tianci, so that I can save the remaining witnesses, buy time, and find someone who can testify against him. thing."

Yang Xueshi said: "What's the difference?"

Zhao Ran murmured: "The biggest difference is that Zhao Tianci would not die today."

Yang Xueshi couldn't help but said: "You seem to be arbitrary, but you have a heart of compassion." He got up and said, "I'm leaving the village tomorrow, you should rest earlier."

After finishing speaking, he left without looking back, Zhao Ran couldn't help smiling when he looked at his slender back.

----

The moon and stars were thin, Yang Xueshi walked out of the wing lightly, looked back at the door that was clearly closed, and then walked out.

At this moment, the Zhao Mansion seemed like the sky had collapsed, so naturally no one noticed that he had quietly left the Zhao Mansion.

Yang Xueshi hurried all the way, walked to the door of the ancestral hall, glanced behind him, then took out a few keys and inserted them into the lock, and the lock opened with a light pull.

He breathed a sigh of relief, pushed open the door and walked in. The ancestral hall was in a mess. It seemed that the Zhao family had not recovered from such a big blow for a while. The long-lived oil lamps in the ancestral hall were still slowing It was burning, and when the door was opened, it jumped up and down along with the light and shadow.

He searched around, and finally fixed his gaze on the golden statue.

Yang Xueshi pressed the golden statue all over with his hands, but he couldn't find any clues. Suddenly, he heard the sound of "crackling", and the statue moved away, revealing a square hole with a staircase inside.

Yang Xueshi was taken aback, only to hear someone whisper above his head: "Master Yang, the organ is on the eyeball of the Buddha statue."

When he raised his head, he saw Zhao Ran stepping on the altar, looking at him with a smile on his head, he still did not forget to wear the summer flower on his head.

"What are you here for?"

Zhao Ran smiled and said, "Of course I came here for Master Yang's important event!"