Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 353 The Ladder to Heaven Case
"So, you really are special. The killer was paying close attention to you from the start. Why?"

The murderer wasn't some immortal being; it's impossible for her to have foreseen that one day she would use coffin nails to knock off the lion's tail and come ahead of time to explore the location of the extra bronze lion seals.

Therefore, it can only be said that Gong Ling was indeed a special case for the murderer.

Zhou Zhao thought for a moment, then looked at Gong Ling who was pressed against the wall and couldn't help but ask a question.

"You were a gigolo when you were young, and you have a son who is living away from home?"
Or perhaps you once helped someone in a small way, such as giving a dying person a bowl of thin porridge that was so thin you could see their reflection in it.
Or perhaps you have a powerful sworn brother?

Gong Ling looked bewildered. Hearing the sound coming from above, he curiously looked up and saw an old man hanging upside down from the roof beam.

He cried out in fright, "Ah!"

Su Changying coldly called out, "Tianquan!"

Tianquan shrank his neck, flipped in the air, and landed steadily on the ground. "My lord, I was just guessing. That's what storytellers in teahouses and taverns always say. In this world, wealth, love, power, and lust are nothing more than that."

Or perhaps this old man possesses some secret known only to him, such as unparalleled martial arts skills or a treasure trove... Killing him would be a waste of time.

As Tianquan spoke, he stroked his beard and looked Gong Ling up and down. "Or, we could deliberately leave this old thief here to harm people."

For example, that Tatu from earlier, what if it was poisoned...? Leaving him here and handing him over to our Hall Master Zhou... no, Young Master Zhou, wouldn't that mean bloodshed?

As Tianquan spoke, his eyes practically lit up. For the first time, he felt that his wisdom was superior to his ability to steal.

When Gong Ling heard about the poisoning, he was so frightened that he almost lost his soul. He quickly waved his hand and said, "No, no."

The old man returned the pagoda blueprint to Lord Zhou on a whim. Had I had this idea beforehand, I would have gone to the Court of Justice this morning and returned the blueprint. There's no way I would have used poison or anything like that; I work for the Imperial Household Department, and anything related to poison…

That would be tantamount to cutting off the entire clan's path to survival; even Han Shaofu couldn't save us.

I swear to God, I have absolutely no intention of harming anyone!

As Gong Ling spoke, her legs trembled, and her eyes were full of pleading as she looked at Zhou Zhao.

Zhou Zhao listened and glared at Tian Quan, "You want to be the Minister of Justice? I think the newly appointed Minister of Justice Zhao is not as capable as you, old man."

Tianquan, who was feeling smug, glanced at Su Changying guiltily upon hearing this, and what he saw made things very complicated.

The last time he saw Su Changying with that look in his eyes was in Tianying City, where this god of death had killed so many people that the coffins within a hundred miles were filled.

With that thought, he slipped away in a flash, leaving only a dark afterimage behind.

Zhou Zhao's eyes flickered. Although Tianquan's idea was too outrageous, it was not entirely without reason.

"Does anything he said before remind you of anything?"

Gong Ling thought back for a long time in a panic before solemnly shaking his head. "I only had one wife, who passed away seven years ago. She was plain-looking, not particularly beautiful, and not a noble lady. Her father was a craftsman who made lacquerware. We grew up together as childhood sweethearts."

I'm not exactly good-looking, and I don't have any other skills besides a few simple crafts. How could I possibly become a rich lady...?

As Gong Ling spoke, his old face flushed red. That old man on the straw mat really didn't discriminate between meat and vegetables, and was talking nonsense.

"A male concubine... cough cough... I have three sons. My eldest and youngest sons both learned my skills and now eat the food of the young master's household. My second son had no talent, so I sent him back to our hometown to farm. I also have a young daughter who was frail and sickly from childhood and died young at the age of three." After clarifying the unspeakable matter, Gong Ling felt much more relaxed when talking about treasures and such.

"I'm just an old man who carves bronzes, and I usually only make small pieces. How could I possibly know any secrets?"

Gong Ling thought about it with some distress. No matter which angle he examined himself from, he could only see four words: "ordinary and unremarkable".

He himself didn't know what was so special about him.

Zhou Zhao observed Gong Ling's expression and saw that he did not show any panic after lying, and his words were not problematic, so he couldn't help but frown.

As she was thinking, Su Changying gently patted her shoulder, "Let Ah Huang come and examine the body first, then send the body to the Court of Justice. We can investigate the clues slowly."

Zhou Zhao nodded, indicating that Su Changying should go and make the arrangements first.

Gong Ling moved her lips nervously, "Young Master Zhou, the murderer won't come back to kill me, will he?"

Zhou Zhao shook his head. "If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it yesterday. Why bother doing it again?"

Gong Ling breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good then."

Zhou Zhao pondered for a moment, then asked, "Master Gong, having served two dynasties and worked in the Imperial Household Department for many years, have you ever encountered any near-insurmountable obstacles?"

"Hardships? How can there be no hardships in life?"

Gong Ling said, with a hint of lingering fear, "Has Lord Zhou heard of the Ladder to Heaven case?"

Zhou Zhao's heart skipped a beat. "I have heard of it. It is an old case from the previous dynasty. At that time, the Prince of Dongping sought out eighteen bronze craftsmen from all over the country to forge a ladder to heaven on the top of Tianmang Mountain. Rather than a ladder to heaven, it was more like a bronze tree. Climbing up through the branches of the bronze tree was like stepping on a vertical ladder to heaven."

However, strange things began to happen when the ladder to heaven was only half-built. Every night, a craftsman would be impaled on the bronze ladder and die from blood loss.

Finally, by the time word got out, twelve of the eighteen coppersmiths had already died.

The Prince of Dongping, who had always desired to ascend to heaven, was not afraid of this. Instead, he believed that the bronze tree had become a god, and that this was an attempt to awaken its spirit through human sacrifice. He not only refused to stop the work but also allowed the corpses of the craftsmen to hang on the branches of the bronze tree, until Xu Yun, an official of the Court of Justice and also a fellow student of my father, went to Tianmang Mountain.

Xu Yun is still a court official in the Court of Justice.

He was a man of violent temper, like an erupting volcano at all times, and his subordinates were never spared a day of being verbally abused.

However, he has a good reputation among the people because his temper is not only directed at his subordinates, but at everyone indiscriminately. In other words, from a certain perspective, he can be considered to hate evil as if it were his enemy!

"Xu Yun went to Tianmang Mountain and caused a great disturbance, almost getting impaled on a copper tree by the Prince of Dongping. He narrowly escaped death several times, but in the end, he found out that the murderer was a centurion named Qin Xin from a copper mine near Tianmang Mountain."

Xu Yun personally burned the bronze tree. When he returned to Chang'an, every hair on his body was singed yellow and fell out at the slightest touch; he was bald for a month.

Although Xu Yun now has thick hair and can still fly into a rage when she's furious, she was indeed in a sorry state back then.

This is an old story from many years ago. Zhou Zhao also saw it in the books in her family collection. At that time, her grandfather was the Minister of Justice, and it was an old case from many years ago.

Gong Ling listened to Zhou Zhao's words and sighed, "I was one of those eighteen people, and the thirteenth person to be strung on a copper tree branch. But I was lucky and survived after being unconscious for half a month."