Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 259 The Giant Python and its Master

"I smelled a special fragrance at the door. It was a little faint because of the rain, but it was like silk threads that made me very interested."

Because he was later attacked by worms, and then performed an autopsy to investigate the case, he put the matter out of his mind.

Looking back now, it was probably the scent from the sachet Chen Jiyuan left me that the snake smelled of. It probably knew that I was its master and that I was the one who made it wait to kill it.

It had two tasks: one was to protect its young master; the other was to wait for me to cut it open and hand over the evidence its master had left there.

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he looked at his clothes.

Because she killed snakes, she was actually covered in a lot of blood, but she usually wore black robes, so she didn't look that scary.

"Bai Shisan Niang is truly an extremely intelligent person; she has calculated everything perfectly."

She had calculated that after those people returned and reported back, her adoptive father's confidant, the one who was in love with him, would be consumed by jealousy and come to the White Flower Pavilion to end her life.

Taking advantage of this break, she arranged for the most inconspicuous girl around her to go to the Chen family.

If they don't die, the White Flower Pavilion will continue, and when her beauty fades and her love wanes, that little girl will become Bai Shisi Niang, repeating the hellish path she once walked.

Zhou Zhao thought to himself that everyone in Baihualou must have had a discussion, and they were all in the same room, discussing whether Bai Shisan Niang would die first and they would die later.

Bai Shisan Niang told Bai Laobao that when she was about to die, she should not be sad.

They must betray her, telling the murderer what they had agreed upon beforehand: that she was indeed Xin Yue's godfather and that she was hiding a blue handkerchief.

They must be cold and ruthless, treating the courtesans with the same contempt as a normal madam and thugs would.

In this way, the arrogant murderer would, as usual, simply leave her body there and let them clean up the mess.

She must have realized that since Su Changying joined the Northern Army, the curfew had become much stricter. Coupled with the incident at the Lost City, Chang'an was in a state of panic.

The murderer won't stay here long; they'll search high and low, but they won't dare stay too long or make too much noise.

At this moment, the madam could "make amends," regretting her poor judgment in choosing her concubine and failing to properly manage her. She could swear that she would dispose of the body properly and then dig three feet into the ground to find the blue handkerchief.

As Zhou Zhao pondered, his gaze remained fixed on the image of the giant python and the swaddled baby.

"The building is only so big. The child was hidden in the wine jar, so why wasn't he found? I think it must be like in that painting, where the giant python was coiled inside the wine jar. It protected its young master."

After Bai Shisan Niang died, the people of Baihualou, as previously agreed, hung her in the very center. Then, one by one, they calmly went to their deaths.

They weren't worried about no one finding out, because Bai Shisan Niang had arranged with the embroiderer Cao Qin early on; she would be the first eyewitness to arrive in the morning rain. With seven corpses hanging in front of the corridor, such a big case was bound to be exposed, and her screams would attract the Northern Army.

And if the Northern Army is attracted, then I will definitely be attracted, just as Bai Shisan Niang predicted.

It's not that I'm arrogant or think I'm so capable that Bai Shisan Niang would trust me; it's just that I've been stabbed several times, and I'm now locked in a life-or-death struggle with that young master and his gang. As long as there's even the slightest clue, I will relentlessly pursue it and absolutely will not let this case remain unsolved.

Every year, the Court of Justice has many unsolved cases. There are clues, but not many, and the murderer is not found for a long time. Eventually, the cases are temporarily shelved.

If, after many years, nothing is gained, it will be shelved and no longer cared for.

Just like the Shanming Changyang case back then. Zhou Zhao paused, then added, "Of course, I am indeed very capable."

Min Zangzhi's heavy mood because of Bai Shisan Niang was suddenly broken by Zhou Zhao. He rolled his eyes and said, "Where's your face? It would take a whole day and night for a carriage to run around your face!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a murderous aura coming towards him.

Min Cangzhi subconsciously looked over and met Su Changying's cold eyes. "If your eyes don't obey you, you can gouge them out. If your mouth talks nonsense, you can sew it up."

Min Zangzhi felt a jolt, and the hairs on her body stood on end.

"This is the Court of Justice, General Su, no, I should call you Marquis Lu now. Are you sure you want to act like a madman here?"

Su Changying looked intently at Min Cangzhi, "How could I be a lawless madman in front of Zhou Zhao?"

Min Zangzhi understood Su Changying's implication: What a shameless person! In front of Lord Zhou of the Court of Justice, he is a law-abiding and obedient puppy, but behind the scenes, he is a vicious lone wolf of the Northern Army, indiscriminately killing people!

Min Cangzhi's gaze shifted to Zhou Zhao, and just as she was about to complain, she heard Su Changying say, "Young Master Zhou is very capable; he's just telling the truth."

Min Zangzhi remained silent.

Lord Zhou, could you please suppress that upturned corner of your mouth?

Distracted like this, Zhou Zhao sorted out his thoughts again. "The most dangerous place is the safest place. The murderer could never have imagined that the child would be hiding in the middle of a giant python. After all, to the python, the child was just food."

Once the snake leaves the wine jar, the child will be revealed. The effects of the medicine will wear off at that moment, and he will wake up and make a sound.

Even if he hadn't woken up at that time, and we hadn't found him, the Chen couple who came to pick up the child would have told us that there was still a child there.

Bai Shisan Niang set up this deadly trap for three purposes: first, to smoothly and openly hand over the child and evidence to me; second, to create a big commotion, draw all the attention to her, and let Chen's parents escape disaster.
Thirdly, it was to lure that important confidante to visit in person; once she came, she would inevitably leave a trace.

Min Zangzhi listened and frowned.

He looked at Zhou Zhao and said, "What you've said sounds very reasonable, making even the most illogical points seem plausible. But there's one thing I don't understand: why do you think the murderer was in love with the man who wore the jade hairpin?"

So, the person behind Gongzi Yu, right? The expert who teaches certain people the art of disguise.

Min Cangzhi glanced at Su Changying, who had disguised himself as Zhu Li and even served as Zhou Zhao's supervisor. He would hold a grudge about this for the rest of his life.

Seeing Su Changying's calm expression, he immediately understood.

Su Changying must have recognized it; it was the jade hairpin.

He thought for a moment, then added, "Isn't that too arbitrary? Admiration and all that."

Min Zangzhi didn't dwell on this. "But whether you love her or not is irrelevant. What's important is that Bai Shisan Niang has done everything she could, and now it's our turn."

Although Bai Shisan Niang's actions make sense, we still know absolutely nothing about the murderer, don't we?

Footprints, lotus pond, crab roe, incense ash, handkerchief, jade hairpin… none of these could reveal the female murderer, much less the mastermind behind it all.