Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 113 The Past of the Mummified Corpse
Although Zhou Zhao appeared confident, he was inwardly starting to have second thoughts.

She had a question she couldn't understand: if the Wang family's purpose was to get the Court of Justice to investigate the mummified corpse in the pillar, then why did they have to destroy the Star-Picking Tower and kill so many innocent lives?

If it weren't for the premonition of the letter to his deceased wife, she too would have died in this disaster.

Wang Xun and Wang Chang could have simply carried the mummified corpse straight to the Court of Justice to file a complaint.

Once this mummified corpse was placed in front of the Court of Justice, she didn't believe that no court official would be able to sit still, except for Li Youdao.

Wang Xun was about to speak, but Wang Chang interrupted him, "Grandpa, let Chang speak."

Wang Chang looked at Zhou Zhao, his eyes filled with determination. "My name is Sun Hanchang. My father was Sun Yiyang of Linjiang Tower. After Linjiang Tower was burned down, the family property was seized by the clan. My uncles and aunts were like hungry wolves from Zhongshan, wishing they could devour my blood and flesh."

“I was desperate and thankfully my mother’s former wet nurse took me in.”

Upon hearing this, Wang Xun sighed, "That person is my wife. Ah Chang was originally born into wealth and should have been the owner of this Linjiang Tower. In the end, she followed me and became a useless carpenter."

As Sun Hanchang listened, he gently grasped Wang Xun's hand. Because of years of manual labor, his hands were exceptionally rough, covered with many deep and shallow spots.

"Grandpa, don't say that. If it weren't for you, I would have been killed by them long ago. These past three years, traveling all over the country with you, have been the happiest days of my life. Sitting on the scaffolding, watching the white clouds drift by on the horizon, the wind blowing directly on my face, and the pavilions and towers all lying at my feet..."

"I feel like a bird that has been rescued from a cage... It's so good to have met Grandpa at the end of my life."

As Sun Hanchang spoke, his gaze toward Wang Xun softened considerably.

"I should be the one apologizing. It is I who have caused you to go against your conscience and do such a terrible thing."

"Outsiders all say that my father, Sun Yiyang, and that courtesan, Yu Niang, are a perfect match made in heaven, but in this beautiful story, no one has ever mentioned the first wife. My mother's surname is Jin, and her name is Jin Shulan. My mother is from the south and married far away to Chang'an."

“My mother came from a merchant family and was good at business. Sun Yiyang’s reputation for talent was built by her spending a lot of money. She didn’t have much education and often traveled around to earn money. When I was young, I often smelled alcohol on my mother.”

“She loves my father and me very much. Whenever something is fashionable in Chang'an, she will bring it back. Mother often says that if others have it, we in Achang will also have it. In the future, you should be like your father in Achang, a scholar, and a true gentleman.”

As Sun Hanchang spoke, a look of regret appeared on his face.

“Back then, I was studying under Sun Yiyang, and I grew increasingly disliked my illiterate mother. I was such an ungrateful wretch. My mother’s greatest misfortune was meeting my father and giving birth to this unfilial ingrate.”

“That day, my father suddenly told me that my mother had eloped with a passing merchant. I believed him without a doubt and did not pursue the matter.”

"It wasn't until my father redeemed Yu Niang from her servitude and let her live in Linjiang Tower that I realized something was wrong. But at that time, I just assumed that my mother had discovered that my father had long harbored ulterior motives, and in a fit of anger, she abandoned her husband and children and left resolutely."

"But I never expected this..."

Sun Hanchang took a deep breath, steadied himself, and continued speaking.

"It was quite a coincidence. My master's uncle suddenly received a big job to build the Zhaixing Tower. It was then that I learned that my uncles had sold the land that originally belonged to Linjiang Tower to Du Ziteng. My grandfather and I came to Chang'an, partly to help my master's uncle with the work, and partly to pay our respects to my father, Sun Yiyang." "But on our very first night in Chang'an, I was suddenly kidnapped and tied up in a sack. When I woke up, I was in a dilapidated temple on the outskirts of the city."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhao's heart tightened. They've arrived!

She felt something was amiss and needed an explanation. She said that the grandfather and grandson had no reason to want the Star-Picking Tower to collapse, causing so many deaths.

"What did that person look like? Was there anything special about him?"

Upon hearing Zhou Zhao's question, Sun Hanchang shook his head. "The man was wearing a black veil, so I couldn't see his face. I only knew he was a man, and his voice sounded quite young. As for his build..."

Sun Hanchang looked at Su Changying beside him, "He's not much different from this young general of the Northern Army."

"He was dressed in ordinary night clothes and didn't carry anything special. He was holding a long sword, but the sword itself was nothing special; you could see sword sheaths everywhere on the street. The man in black told me that my mother hadn't eloped with anyone; she was killed by my father, Sun Yiyang."

“My mother’s family is in the porcelain business. The reason Sun Yiyang is so famous is because his family can produce some very elegant porcelain.”

“After that beast killed my mother, he hid her in the kiln, secretly made her into a mummified corpse, and then hid her in a large pillar in the house where my mother lived. That large pillar was originally hollow, which was where my mother hid her gold, silver and valuables.”

"I had hoped that if my family ever suffered misfortune, I would still have that last sum of money to rebuild my life. But alas..."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhao exchanged a glance with Su Changying. "Why would that person suddenly tell you all this? It was a mummified corpse. How can you be sure it was your mother?"

Sun Hanchang shook his head, a bitter look on his youthful face.

“I recognize my mother. Her little finger was cut by the back of a knife. Although it was healed later, it was different from ordinary people and looked a bit twisted. That was when I was six years old. My family and I encountered bandits on our way back to Chang'an from visiting relatives in the south.”

“The bandits wanted to kill my father and me, and keep my mother as their wife. My mother made a bet with the bandit chief by cutting off her finger. The bandit chief admired my mother’s boldness and spared our wealth but not our lives. He let our family go down the mountain. It was that time that my mother’s finger was left crippled.”

"Later, she would often secretly hide that finger in her palm, afraid that her father would see it and think she was not pretty."

As Sun Hanchang spoke, she covered her face and wept silently for a long time.

Zhou Zhao frowned upon hearing this; there were still some things she couldn't understand.

“Your father, Sun Yiyang, has already been burned to death. After you obtained your mother’s body, if you wanted the truth to come to light, you could have filed a complaint with the Court of Justice. Why did you have to do something like causing the Zhaixing Tower to collapse?”

"Did the man in black threaten you? Or did you make some kind of exchange?"

Sun Hanchang wiped away his tears, his eyes practically spitting fire.

He clenched his fists. "Sun Yiyang wasn't burned to death at all. I saw him with my own eyes! Right there on the Dongshui River, he was sitting in a small boat!"