Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 257 Setting a Deadly Trap
Zhou Zhao curiously leaned closer. "Have the footprints been compared? Do they match the deceased's?"

Despite his words, Zhou Zhao didn't really have much hope for this.

After all, three of the deceased were women, and it was very likely that their footprints could not be distinguished from the body.

"The footprints are almost identical to those of Bai Shiyi Niang, the woman who later changed her name to Hong Shuang. Bai Shisan Niang's footprints are smaller, while Bai Laobao's are larger. But that's not the point. The point is that the mud on these footprints has a peculiar smell."

Special taste?
Zhou Zhao couldn't help but look at Min Zangzhi's nose.

"I didn't know you were calling me a dog in your heart. Zhou Zhao, now that Ayou has agreed to marry me, I'm not afraid of you anymore."

As Min Zangzhi spoke, a hint of smugness appeared on his face. Without looking up, he handed Zhou Zhao a small bronze bowl with a tiny bit of mud on the bottom.

"Is that so? Why don't you ask Sister Chu You whether she likes me or you?"

Min Zangzhi's hand stiffened, and he sneered at Zhou Zhao a few times. Seeing that Zhou Zhao's expression remained unchanged, Min Zangzhi immediately softened.

He cleared his throat. "Young Master Zhou, I don't have a dog's nose."

Zhou Zhao looked at Min Cangzhi in surprise. She had finally seen what it meant to be shameless and flexible.

"What's that special taste?"

Min Cangzhi didn't mince words either, "There's the smell of mud from the lotus pond, and her shoes had accidentally stepped on crab roe, and there was also incense ash. We just went to Baihualou, but it's just a small courtyard; there's no lotus pond at all."

Bai Shisan Niang began entrusting her orphanage yesterday; they probably had no time to go boating on the lotus pond or eat crabs.

Min Zangzhi didn't mention the incense ash, but Zhou Zhao understood that he probably thought that since the news of Chen Jiyuan's death had just arrived, Bai Shisan Niang might have lit incense for him.

Zhou Zhao looked at Min Cangzhi and couldn't help but raise his eyebrows smugly.

"I believe these are the footprints left by the murderer, and she must have gone there by carriage. It rained heavily last night, so she went to Baihua Tower with an umbrella."

Passing by the lotus pond, it's not just a little bit of mud on your feet; it's as if your entire foot has been covered with a new layer of shoe soles, the kind of situation where you sink in and can't pull yourself out.

The residue on her shoes had been there before it rained. She had traveled by carriage and only got off at the White Flower Pavilion to get wet; under these circumstances, the footprints retained this residue. Otherwise, that step should have been entirely covered in rouge.

That entire neighborhood was filled with brothels and red-light districts, and even the mud and water in front of the shops reeked of cosmetics.

Seeing Zhou Zhao's eyes light up, Min Cangzhi clicked his tongue twice more, "Don't be too happy yet. That place is full of people riding around in carriages, acting suspiciously!"

After all, they're all people who keep mistresses and have illegitimate children behind their wives' backs; they're all cowardly scoundrels. A true hero like Han Ze, who openly invites his friends to brothels, wouldn't go there.

"Finding someone like this is like looking for a needle in a haystack."

Min Cangzhi shook her head as she spoke, "I've already asked Ou Jianshen to inquire whether the neighbors have seen it, but you'd better not get your hopes up."

Those who can survive in that place are all deaf and blind. Why don't you ask General Su, who's so bold as to break the curfew…”

The room fell silent immediately.

Zhou Zhao was surprised not to hear Su Changying's response. She turned her head and saw Su Changying staring blankly at a spot. Zhou Zhao followed his gaze and saw that he was staring at the painting with a footprint on it, looking at the back of the person next to Bai Shisan Niang.

The person in the painting is quite tall, and with his back to the crowd, his face is not clearly visible; only half of a jade hairpin on his hair can be seen.

Zhou Zhao's pupils suddenly contracted. She pursed her lips, a bold guess forming in her mind, and her hand involuntarily reached for the suicide note left by Chen Jiyuan.

Just then, Su Changying spoke up, "It's impossible for anyone to have broken the curfew in a carriage yesterday. The Northern Army has important matters to attend to these past two days, and I have already rearranged the formations and changed the order. Not even a fly is allowed to pass, and even the official tokens of the Court of Justice are not permitted to pass."

If you want to move at night, you'd need to use light-footed skills. Even with light-footed skills, you could do what you described.

Su Changying paused, then added, "I will go and confirm."

As they spoke, Zhou Zhao placed the silk left behind by Chen Jiyuan next to the portrait for comparison.

"Judging from the brushstrokes, these are from the same hand. I noticed Bai Shisan Niang's calligraphy and paintings there, and these should both be her work. Both paintings depict the same scene, but one shows Bai Shisan Niang's face, and the other shows Chen Jiyuan's face..."

Min Zangzhi was puzzled, but seeing the expressions on Zhou Zhaotong and Su Changying's faces, he guessed that they had discovered something.

He stared at the two paintings, one large and one small, examining them closely, comparing them almost bit by bit, trying to find the differences.

They were all standing in front of the same window, wearing identical clothes, even Bai Shisan Niang's hair ornaments were exactly the same, and Chen Jiyuan...

Min Zangzhi was taken aback. He suddenly opened his eyes wide and his finger landed on the portrait of the man's back. "The hairpins are different. The person in the portrait has half of a green hairpin showing. But Chen Jiyuan is young. I have never seen him wear such a mature hairpin in the Court of Justice."

He was wearing the same kind of white jade hairpin that was visible from the front. Most of the young men in the Court of Judicial Review wore this kind.

The three people in the room fell silent.

"Because the two portraits are very similar, when we saw the face revealed among Chen Jiyuan's belongings, we assumed that both portraits were of Chen Jiyuan and Bai Shisan Niang. Now it seems that the back view in the painting in Bai Shisan Niang's room may not be Chen Jiyuan."

If both paintings were painted by Bai Shisan Niang, then this girl must be playing a very big game.

Every step of this case was meticulously planned by her.

She had overlooked something earlier. If Bai Shisan Niang were her adoptive father's subordinate, a kept woman in the White Flower Pavilion, then why would she openly hang a portrait of Chen Jiyuan in her room? Even though it was just a picture of his back.

If a noble person saw this, wouldn't they think that their own head was as green as that jade hairpin?

Zhou Zhao frowned as she thought about it. She felt as if something was about to emerge from the misty mountains.

She thought for a moment, then looked at Min Cangzhi, "Min Wenshu, can you tell how long ago this portrait was painted? Is it about a year ago?"

Min Zangzhi didn't understand what Zhou Zhao was going to do, but he still said seriously, "Don't worry, I'm an expert at this."

He picked up the portrait and examined it carefully, confirming it several times before saying, "No! This portrait is newly painted, I can confirm it was done within the last month. It should have been painted around the same time as Chen Jiyuan's suicide note."

Zhou Zhao sighed inwardly, "I think I should understand how Bai Shisan Niang was discovered and why she died. It was a deadly trap she set for herself."