Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 45 The Madman Li Zhan
His movements were fluid and graceful, clearly guided by a set of rules, exuding the air of a master.

Cheng Yuyuan, having witnessed this, was already half convinced. She pursed her lips tightly, her eyes filled with anticipation.

Liu Huang was completely unaware of this; he never made eye contact with strangers.

He squatted by the pit, watching as the inner walls glowed red-hot. He then shoveled up the embers, opened the caps of two bottles, and poured the liquid inside. Next, he placed the two skeletons to be steamed inside, and then dragged out a second straw mat to cover the pit opening.

"Wait an hour."

As Liu Huang spoke, he closed his small wooden box, slung it over his shoulder, and stood behind Zhou Zhao without moving.

The courtyard fell silent. Cheng Yuyuan stared at the pit with red eyes, as if she could immediately know the outcome just by looking at it.

After a long while, she turned to look at Zhou Zhao and said, "I once went to Wuling County. I have a cousin who married there. The people there love to eat river fish. It's amazing, they add a certain herb, and the fish loses its fishy smell and becomes exceptionally delicious."

Zhou Zhao smiled. Cheng Yuyuan was a really interesting person. Once she stopped, she started to test him.

"It's not really a medicinal herb, just perilla, which grows everywhere around houses. If we're talking about something magical, perilla has a strong fragrance in the south, but it's bland and tasteless when grown in the north. If perilla were as famous as oranges, when Yanzi went to Qi, he probably wouldn't have been talking about 'oranges in the south and trifoliate oranges in the north'."

The Court of Justice handles all sorts of cases from all over the country. Not everyone speaks official language. Witnesses often chatter away, and the deceased's relatives speak in different dialects, sometimes even from ten miles away.

She is not only well-versed in the local customs and traditions, but she can also hear a few phrases of the local dialect and learn a few words from them.

Otherwise, how can we hear witness testimonies in court one day?

Upon hearing this, Cheng Yuyuan's gaze softened considerably, and she said nothing more.

The courtyard fell silent again. Zhou Zhao yawned and saw Cheng Yuyuan standing by the pit, staring intently, while Xie Laosi stayed close by, afraid that he might miss some crucial step if he blinked. He couldn't help but shake his head.

Without saying a word, she lay down on the bamboo chair where Cheng Yuyuan had been lying, giving Li Zhan, who was standing there dumbfounded, a disapproving look.

She hadn't looked closely at this man surnamed Li before, but now that she did, he was quite dashing and had the appearance of a gentleman.

"What are you standing there for? Keep fanning yourself."

Li Zhan was like a lost soul at that moment. When Zhou Zhao shouted at him, his hand moved involuntarily.

An hour may feel like a year to some people, but for Zhou Zhao, it was just the time it takes to take a nap.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she met Xie Laosi's admiring gaze. How could someone be able to sleep at a time like this!

"The time has come! I need to remove the bone now!"

As Liu Huang spoke, he lifted the straw mat, took out the skeleton from the pit along with the mat, and placed it in the brightest spot in the courtyard.

By now, the sun in the east had fully risen, its radiant light illuminating the entire world.

Finally, Liu Huang's gaze fell on the red oil-paper umbrella that Xie Laosi had been holding. Xie Laosi snapped out of his daze and handed the umbrella to him.

Liu Huang then picked up the umbrella, silently walked to the skeleton, and held it up to face the sun.

"Chief Cheng, have you noticed anything different? The skeleton Cheng Ming retrieved had a red mark on the right side, indicating it was a pre-death wound. The left side, however, was broken just now and doesn't have any red marks. And look at the young master's chest..." Cheng Yuyuan stared intently at it; on Cheng Nan's small chest, there was a red mark.

Her mind went blank, and she suddenly turned around, grabbing Li Zhan's neck like a madwoman. Li Zhan's hand trembled, and the palm-leaf fan in his hand fell to the ground.

"Are you insane? Even tigers don't eat their cubs! Why did you kill Nan'er? He was your own son! I don't believe Xie Laosi would lead a prison break and turn him into this inhuman creature. Why? Because I simply don't believe my son would have such a beastly father!"

As Cheng Yuyuan spoke, her face showed signs of madness.

After Li Zhan married her, he treated her with gentleness and tenderness. After Cheng Nan was born, he became even more enamored with the child.

Although she wavered because of Xie Laosi's evidence, she chose to believe her own eyes and the people around her that she saw.

"I was so blind! I was so..."

As she spoke, she tightened her grip even more. Li Zhan couldn't hold back any longer and suddenly yanked Cheng Yuyuan to the ground. "You crazy woman! What man in this world would willingly grovel before a woman? Cheng Nan's surname is Cheng, not Li. What kind of son is he to me!"

"I have my own son, and Li Yuan is my son!"

Cheng Yuyuan looked at Li Zhan in disbelief, her voice trembling, "Li Yuan is your son! He's the same age as Cheng Nan!"

Knowing he was about to die, Li Zhan had given up all hope and started to act recklessly. "So what? How stupid are you? I told you that after being a live-in son-in-law for so many years, I wanted to go back to Liangping County to visit my parents, and you actually believed me. If you hadn't been born into a good family, how could you be worthy of being the head of a household or the head of a village!"

“I started planning this as soon as I learned that you had injured your body when you were born and could not have a second child.”

“I killed Cheng Nan, so you will inevitably have to adopt a son. No matter how hard you search, you will never find my son Li Yuan. Unless, he saved your life and you feel guilty towards him. So I came up with a way to kill two birds with one stone.”

"I bribed someone to set a fire, burning Cheng Nan to death, burning my parents who pushed me into the fire, burning my brother and sister-in-law who threatened me with Li Yuan's background and demanded money from me. The fire was set by your Cheng family's maid because of infighting among the different branches of your Cheng family."

As Li Zhan spoke, his expression became extremely ferocious, as if he wanted to vent all the pent-up frustration he had accumulated over the years.

"The more people in my family die, the deeper your guilt will be. I had everything arranged, but Cheng Nan was too smart. That little brat saw through my different feelings for Li Yuan at a glance. He came to question me, and in my panic, I punched him hard. I didn't expect to kill him."

“I told the wet nurse that Cheng Nan was asleep and would want to eat the osmanthus cake she made when he woke up. Then I did everything as planned, and everything went exactly as I wanted.”

The more Li Zhan recalled, the more resentful and venomous his gaze became towards Xie Laosi.

"I was so close to succeeding! Cheng Yuyuan promised to bring Li Yuan back to the manor and take him under her wing, renaming him Cheng Yuan. One day, when this child grows up and takes charge of the entire manor, that will be the time when the Cheng family will bear the surname Li! But you! Why are you so stubborn! Why won't you close the case and insist on holding on to it!"

"What have you gained now? Cheng Yuyuan is a madwoman, you know that?"

As he spoke, he looked at Cheng Yuyuan again, "You crazy woman, you've ruined my whole life!"

Cheng Yuyuan swayed, snatched the dagger from Cheng Ming's hand, and plunged it directly into Li Zhan's neck.

"Then you're completely ruined. I curse you to be my son Cheng Nan's slave for all eternity."

With a crisp bang, Cheng Yuyuan threw the dagger to the ground, turned around, and knelt down in front of Xie Laosi with a thud, bowing her entire body down.