A female coroner arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Chapter 234 Headless Female Corpse (22)

Bai Zhizhi easily opened the lock. The jade hairpin in her hair was a specially made key that could open the message box used by Master Bai.

However, when she saw that there was only a silver bracelet in the box besides the letter, she couldn't help but look at it with disdain. "Has the old man gone bankrupt? He actually tried to fob me off with this cheap stuff!"

Mu Qingcheng smiled and said, "Although Master Bai made some mistakes, he truly loves you."

Upon hearing this, Bai Zhizhi's gaze softened slightly as she looked at the bracelet. She unfolded the letter and read it word by word, her brows furrowing deeper with each reading. "Sister Mu, that old man is quite good at patting himself on the back. He actually thinks the benefactor I met was someone he has connections with!"

Mu Qingcheng was slightly surprised. "What do you mean?"

Bai Zhizhi said, "To put it simply, Wu Fei, the heir of the Pingnan Marquis's mansion in the capital, has some connection with our family. So my father thought that I had met Wu Fei, and that Wu Fei was willing to help me plan to break off the engagement. Therefore, my father sent me the silver bracelet left by Wu Fei's mother, and asked me to personally give it to Wu Fei to express my gratitude."

Mu Qingcheng understood, "So that's how it is."

Bai Zhizhi picked up the bracelet, admiring it as she casually remarked, "Sister Mu, I'll be going to the Pingnan Marquis's residence to find Wu Fei tomorrow, so I don't need his help. But since it's a keepsake from my deceased mother, I suppose Wu Fei..." Her gaze suddenly paused, "Sister Mu, there's a pattern engraved on the bracelet, and it seems kind of familiar to me?"

The word "pattern" alerted Mu Qingcheng, and she immediately held out her hand, saying, "Let me see."

This is a wide bracelet. Although it is old and shows signs of darkening, the pattern and texture are still clear. Mu Qingcheng looked at it for a while, then suddenly got up and told Haitang to get some Xuan paper and vermilion pigment.

Haitang was efficient and quickly prepared everything.

Mu Qingcheng dipped a brush in paint and applied it to the outer ring of the bracelet, then transferred the design onto rice paper.

"Zhizhi, come on, let's go find the adults!"

"it is good!"

The two of them, carrying Xuan paper, the letter, and the bracelet, headed straight for the main courtyard of the back office.

……

Song Shuyu was handling official business in the hall.

As the year draws to a close, he needs to summarize and report various matters to the six ministries. He is so busy that he can barely keep his feet on the ground, and he can hardly fall asleep until midnight every night during this period.

Upon hearing the servant report that Mu Qingcheng was requesting an audience, he quickly put aside his official duties, took a sip of tea, and tidied his appearance.

Lately, Mu Qingcheng has only been focused on the case. She used to praise his good looks, but now she completely ignores him. Little did Song Shuyu know, after waiting excitedly for a while, the person who arrived wasn't just Mu Qingcheng, but also the persistent Bai Zhizhi!
Seeing the obvious disappointment on his face, Bai Zhizhi smiled and teased, "Lord Song, please bear with me for a moment. I should be considered to have done a good job today!"

Song Shuyu was taken aback, "Meritorious service?"

"My lord, please bring over all the tattoo designs that we separated earlier." Mu Qingcheng said excitedly, speaking rapidly, "Zhizhi received a letter from Master Bai, asking her to deliver her late mother's silver bracelet to Wu Fei, the heir of the Pingnan Marquis's mansion. We discovered that the design engraved on the bracelet is very similar to the tattoo design you drew!"

Upon hearing this, Song Shuyu immediately retrieved a stack of paintings from the desk and spread them out on the table. Mu Qingcheng unfolded the printed Xuan paper, and the three of them gathered together to check each painting one by one.

"Why are they all partially similar and partially dissimilar?" Bai Zhizhi said, somewhat disheartened.

Song Shuyu said, "I drew it based on the broken tattoo lines, plus my own understanding and imagination, so it's normal for there to be discrepancies."

Mu Qingcheng picked out the third and sixth drawings, her eyes shining. "My lord, if we put these two together, wouldn't that be the bracelet design?"

"Yes!" Bai Zhizhi exclaimed with delight. "How come I didn't think of that?"

Song Shuyu looked at Bai Zhizhi and said approvingly, "Miss Bai, you have indeed made a contribution!"

Bai Zhizhi was extremely pleased with herself. "I'm still quite useful, aren't I?"

“Of course, you are our lucky star in solving the case!” Song Shuyu nodded, smiling. “So, Miss Bai, how much do you know about Wu Fei, the heir of the Marquis of Pingnan? What is his relationship with your father?”

Mu Qingcheng also said, "Yes, Zhizhi, since the tattoo is related to Wu Fei's mother, tell me everything you know so that I can clarify the relationship."

Bai Zhizhi recalled for a moment and said, "This Wu Fei, his background is actually quite bumpy. Didn't I say that some of our servants are not Han Chinese? They come from ethnic minorities in the border areas and have their own clan totems. I think the cloud and bird pattern on this bracelet should be the totem of Uncle Hejia's family."

"Old Master Hejia had a daughter named Hejiayin. When she was young, she worked on my family's estate and accidentally saved a man. She secretly took him to the estate to recover from his injuries, and cared for him for half a year. The two of them spent every day together and naturally developed feelings for each other, eventually becoming pregnant. Later, the man recovered and said that his home was in the capital. He wanted to go home to inform his parents before coming to Jiangnan to marry Hejiayin. But sadly, Hejiayin waited month after month until the child was born, and she never received any news from her lover."

“Originally, women who gave birth out of wedlock were not accepted by the world, but my mother believed that He Jiayin was deceived into having a child, which was not He Jiayin's fault. The one who should be punished was that irresponsible man! So, my mother took it upon herself to not only forgive He Jiayin, but also allow He Jiayin to take the child back to the Bai family to live. From then on, He Jiayin raised her son alone and never married.”

"Time flies, and fourteen years later, someone finally came to find He Jiayin. However, the person who came was not the man, but his legal wife! Only then did we realize that the man was no ordinary person, but was none other than Marquis Pingnan, Wu Feiyan. It turned out that when Marquis Pingnan met He Jiayin, although he was not married, he was already engaged. After returning to the capital, he married her under the arrangement of his family. Afterwards, Marquis Pingnan wanted to take He Jiayin as a concubine, but his wife's family was of royal lineage and could not tolerate He Jiayin's lowly origins."

"The reason why the Earl's family only came to us after so many years was because the son born to the Earl's wife had died of illness, and the Earl's wife could no longer have children. Seeing that the Earl was about to die, she remembered He Jiayin. But what's ridiculous is that the Earl's wife had no intention of letting He Jiayin into the family. What she wanted was to get rid of the mother and keep the son! In order for her son to get rid of his slave status and have a good future, He Jiayin resolutely hanged herself! So, the Earl's wife took He Jiayin's son away, renamed him Wu Fei, and registered him under her name, making him the legitimate heir of the Pingnan Earl's family."

After Bai Zhizhi finished telling the story, she felt extremely distressed. "Tell me, is my father stupid? Giving He Jiayin's bracelet to Wu Fei, isn't that just causing trouble for Wu Fei?"

(End of this chapter)