Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 252 Chen Jiyuan's Relics
Zhou Zhao glanced at the two people in front of the door with surprise. Although the two were already quite old.

However, one can vaguely see that Chen Jiyuan looks a lot like his mother, especially his big, bright eyes and his somewhat round face. It is a very pleasing appearance that makes people feel good about him.

Zhou Zhao thought to himself, and then directed the soldiers of the Northern Army to transport the corpses back to the Court of Justice.

Then he led the Chen couple into a small room on the right side of the first floor. This room had also been searched, but it was nowhere near as messy as the second floor.

"Uncle Chen, Aunt Chen, are you here looking for me or Bai Shisan Niang? Do you know anything about Chen Jiyuan's matter?"

Chen Jiyuan's father cupped his hands in greeting to Zhou Zhao again. He wasn't actually that old, but he looked quite frail.

“Understood, Ji Yuan… that child left us a letter explaining everything.”

"My husband and I came here today because Bai Shisan Niang sent someone to deliver a message, saying that she wanted to entrust a child to us at this time."

Zhou Zhao's eyes flickered as she looked at the child moving around in the arms of the Ou brothers. So they weren't looking for her or Bai Shisan Niang, but for the child.

"My name is Chen Qian. My family has a little bit of property. My children have already started their own families. Unexpectedly, I had a son named Ji Yuan."

Because he had a son late in life, he was inevitably spoiled. Ji Yuan was playful and loved to hear strange and interesting stories. He used to often loiter in front of the Court of Justice. Around summer time, an old man named Yuan Lang, a close friend of his, gave him a letter of recommendation, saying that he should be allowed to work as a minor official in the Court of Justice.

No one in my family has ever held an official position. I just feel that there's some good fortune coming from our ancestral graves. He's so funny, and he's actually made a name for himself with his antics.

Ji Yuan was also very happy, but being a young man, after his initial excitement he felt that entering the imperial court would inevitably be restrictive. He thought that before entering the Court of Justice, he should first go to Chang'an to have some fun. He used the excuse of returning to his hometown to pay respects to his ancestors, so that his ancestors would know that he had made something of himself.

That child of his always loves to whine and beg, and his mother and I are easily swayed, so we let him have his way.

As Zhou Zhao listened, he felt a pang of emotion; the man before him was indeed Chen Jiyuan's father.

It seems that this was the time when the real Chen Jiyuan was replaced by the fake Chen Jiyuan.

"Less than two days after he left, a torrential rain fell in Chang'an. I asked around the caravan and found out that a landslide had occurred on the road that Ji Yuan was going to take. So I led Ji Yuan's brother and brother-in-law to the site in a hurry."

Heaven is blind. In that pile of mud, I saw Ji Yuan's horse, as well as the bundle and sword he carried.

Just when we thought Ji Yuan was dead, the child suddenly appeared, limping and covered in yellow mud.

I was incredibly grateful then, thank God, that my disobedient youngest son was still alive.

As he spoke, Mr. Chen took out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Mrs. Chen, who was standing beside him, with trembling hands.

Chen's mother wiped away her tears. "About two weeks ago, I discovered that the child wasn't my Ji Yuan. I saw envy in his eyes several times."

He seemed to cherish the time he spent with us, and he was exceptionally filial. I suffer from rheumatism, and every night that child would brew medicinal soup for me to wash my feet and massage my acupoints. When he received his salary, he would remember to go to a faraway place to buy my favorite cloud cake.

On his birthday, I made him a bowl of longevity noodles. The child was eating when he suddenly started crying…

We spoil Ji Yuan rotten; he's been pampered by everyone in the family since he was little. He's used to it all, so why would he be moved to tears?

As Chen's mother spoke, tears streamed down her face again. Her gaze fell on the infant, her eyes filled with sorrow.

"After my wife told me, I became suspicious. She raised that child herself; how could she not know? So I secretly went with my son-in-law to the place where the incident happened again. On a small hill not far away, we found a grave. The tombstone had the name Chen Jiyuan written on it. I felt a chill run down my spine, thinking that someone had killed Jiyuan to take his place."

After making some inquiries, we found villagers who were nearby that day. Some witnessed the landslide burying Ji Yuan, who died instantly. Later, a man who looked exactly like him, claiming to be his elder brother, had Ji Yuan dug up and a monument erected in his honor.

Zhou Zhao listened, his heart heavy.

She remembered that man saying before he died that he envied Chen Jiyuan, envied that everyone liked him...

"After I came back, I didn't dare to make any noise, and I didn't know what that person wanted to do after replacing Ji Yuan. During that time, the child was often preoccupied, and he would come back every day to talk to us about the affairs of the Court of Justice."

He talked about Lord Zhou the most, saying that Lord Zhou treated him very well and that he wished he could always follow Lord Zhou.

Just before he went to the Lost City, he gave me a letter and told me that he wanted to be a good person in his next life, so that he could be reborn into our family and be our son again. He said he was sorry to Lord Zhou…”

Zhou Zhao tightened his grip and looked at Chen's parents, "Where's the letter? Did you bring it with you?"

Chen's father sniffed, nodded, and took out a piece of silk from his pocket, handing it to Zhou Zhao.

When Zhou Zhao opened it, he saw four small paintings inside. The painter was clearly a master, with delicate brushstrokes and lifelike details.

The first painting was the one Zhou Zhao had seen on the second floor before. However, this time Bai Shisan Niang was facing away from the window, while "Chen Jiyuan" was facing it directly. He looked like a thin young man, and he didn't look like Chen Jiyuan at all.

His lips were pressed tightly together, as if he was trying to smile, but he couldn't manage to.

He had a face that made strangers want to stay away; he was obviously not likable.

Only the white jade hairpin on his head gave him a touch of gentle youthful charm.

The second painting depicts a masked man standing in the shadows, his features obscured by the interplay of light and shadow. Zhou Zhao immediately noticed the focal point: the masked man was holding a handkerchief.

He looks so thin and fat that it's hard to tell his height, weight, or even age.

The entire painting is in black and white, except for the handkerchief, which is dyed light blue.

The painting depicts the handkerchief in Bai Shisan Niang's box, and Zhou Zhao's heart began to pound.

She tightened her grip on the scroll and looked at the third picture, a simple landscape painting with a black dot on a hillside.

Zhou Zhao guessed that this was the real location of Chen Jiyuan's tomb.

She thought this, and she asked it aloud.

Upon hearing this, Mr. Chen nodded heavily. "That's right. I went there myself and saw it at a glance. He thought that if we went there, we would understand everything."

The fourth painting depicts a large python, within which lies a swaddled infant, whose face is not clearly visible.

However, Zhou Zhao was certain that the swaddling clothes were exactly the same as those wrapped around the child in the wine jar.

So that child was the child of the fake Chen Jiyuan and Bai Shisan Niang.