Bone Painting Coroner (Web Novel CN)
chapter-452

Ji Yunshu did not miss the change in First Madam’s expression. She smiled confidently as she questioned, “Does the First Madam, perhaps know what cats love the most?”

“Has this got anything to do with the case?”

“Of course it does!” Ji Yunshu proclaimed, “Since First Madam is so fond of cats, you should know that cats would become extremely excited or even frantic at the smell of catmint? Catmint is also commonly referred to as catnip.”

First Madam scoffed, “I haven’t got the slightest idea.”

“Fine, then let this one describe to you what really happened that night.” Ji Yunshu slowly circled around her, explaining in an even and composed tone, “On the night of Old Master Zhang’s birthday banquet, Miss Zhan Mo of the South City Opera Troupe did indeed serve two cups of tea doused with yinshuang poison. That young miss did not only want to kill Old Master Zhang, but also you. However, she could not have predicted that you would set your cats on the teacup before you, knocking it over and spilling its contents onto Old Master Zhang. He could only leave his seat and return to his room to change into those clothes that you had already prepared for him beforehand. It was a set of garments… smoked with catnip. As soon as he was dressed, a cat whose paws were smeared with Tea Poison sneaked into his room. Due to the smell of the catnip, that cat pounced onto Old Master Zhang, scratching him with its claws in the process. As such, the poison entered his bloodstream, and by the time he had returned to his seat at his banquet, the poison had already taken effect and he dropped dead. Of course, that actress was guilty of attempting manslaughter, but the true culprit was that cat who scratched him!” Her retelling was finished!

Everybody was stunned. Old Master Zhang was killed by First Madam?

As Ji Yunshu finished her last sentence, Third Madam finally looked up, pointing an accusatory finger at First Madam, “Was it you who killed the old master?” Full of hate!

First Madam paid her no mind as she sucked in a deep breath. She smirked and let out a cold laugh. “Teacher Ji, you’d better bring out some real proof. Without evidence, who would believe your accusations? Everything you’ve said is merely conjecture. What’s more, I’ve lived under the same roof with my old master for years; why would I try to harm him? What are you trying to achieve by smearing dirt on my name?”

Ji Yunshu was much more confident than she was, “Fine, then let’s first talk about that catnip. After I had finished examining Old Master Zhang’s body, two cats outside kept trying to paw their way in and pounce onto my body. In addition, the cat you were carrying also tried to do the same when we met afterwards. This only happened because I had touched Old Master Zhang’s body, thus causing my clothes and hands to be covered with the smell of catnip as well. Now, let’s talk about that cat.”

Ji Yunshu paused for a moment, licking her dry lips before she continued, “Since this one did not find any wounds on Old Master Zhang’s body after examining it, I was less inclined to come to any sort of hasty conclusion. I was only able to find a single scratch on his forehead after re-examining his body at the mortuary after I left the Zhang Estate. That scratch resembles one made by cats’ claws and there was certainly Tea Poison in that wound. Thus, I am confident that what I have just told you is the truth. Someone purposely let that cat into Old Master Zhang’s room, where it overturned the vases, resulting in its messy state.” She spoke logically and concisely!

First Madam’s face had turned pale, but she kept up a haughty expression. “Even if what you had described were true, I wasn’t the one who covered that cat’s claws with Tea Poison. After all, there are so many cat-lovers in this world; there’s no way only I would know that catnip drives cats crazy. All you’ve done so far is to prove how my old master died, but you can’t pin it on me.”

“True, First Madam is very clever, and this is why this one didn’t expose you yesterday. Luckily, those with a guilty conscience would reveal their true colours in the quiet of the night.”

“What are you trying to imply?”

“First Madam did not personally commit any crime, because the one who helped you smoke Old Master Zhang’s clothes with catnip was somebody else.” A loud sound came from the court’s doors as soon as Ji Yunshu finished.

They turned to look, only to see Shi Zijin enter holding a black bundle in one hand while pushing Butler Zhang in with her other hand holding his hands behind his back. Butler Zhang tripped over his own feet as he stepped inside, falling to his knees. He did not dare look up at Liu Zhiliang, who sat high above, but sent a pleading gaze towards First Madam. He stammered, “Madam, you must help me. I can’t die. If I die, my entire family, from my elderly parents to my young children, wouldn’t survive. You must help me, please!” He was practically crying!

First Madam was horrified, and she lost all strength in her arms, dropping her precious cat to the floor. The cat flounced about, then ran outside. Shi Zijin then flung the black bundle onto the ground, revealing a dirty dead cat’s body. She reported, “Teacher Ji, I managed to catch Butler Zhang as he was trying to bury this beast. Lying in wait the whole night was worth it.”

Ji Yunshu nodded encouragingly, and Shi Zijin took up a position near Jing Rong in an inconspicuous corner of the court.

Butler Zhang was still crying out, “Madam, you ordered me to do so. You need to save me, please, I can’t die!”

First Madam kicked him away disgustedly, replying frantically, “What nonsense are you talking about? What did I order you to do?” Butler Zhang collapsed, prostrate on the ground at her denial!

Ji Yunshu turned to face First Madam, “Are you still denying what you have done even at this point in time?”

“Blasphemy!” Grasping at straws!

“I have both a witness and material evidence, what more do I need?” Ji Yunshu stepped in front of Butler Zhang, “Before, I was still trying to figure things out - who would let the cats enter Old Master Zhang’s room? Who took the cats away afterwards? Who didn’t bother to clean up Old Master Zhang’s room, leaving broken porcelain and cat fur scattered around? I concluded that this accomplice must have been very busy, or that they could not leave the banquet for too long. They also needed to be present once Old Master Zhang returned to the banquet with his fresh garments? Nobody else fits these criteria but you, Butler Zhang. As the housekeeper, you definitely wouldn’t have time to clean up the evidence after Old Master Zhang collapsed. Of course, you wouldn’t have time to get rid of that cat covered in Tea Poison either. Hence, I had Shi Zijin wait at the Zhang Estate to look out for anyone who would bring a poisoned cat out to bury or burn to smithereens. In the end, she caught you.”

Butler Zhang was at a loss for words!

Ji Yunshu addressed First Madam next, “For someone like First Madam who adores cats this much, it would not be possible for you to have neither noticed nor mentioned that your own cat went missing. Therefore, you must have been in cahoots with Butler Zhang. You knocked over that teacup on purpose - everything was unfolding according to your plan.”

As Ji Yunshu pointed out, First Madam had no need to hide her true colours any longer. Her calm mask twisted into a fearful grimace. Her gaze overflowed with killing intent as if daggers would fly out of them any moment to Ji Yunshu into a bloody mess! First Madam, however, was well aware that the beast within herself was now no more than a tied up bird stripped of its wings and locked in a cage. She was definitely going to prison where the execution knife awaited; she would not walk out alive!

She let out a little self-deprecating laugh, hiding her true face no more, “Right, you’re right, and I’m wrong.” She laughed wildly, her eyes bulging out of their sockets, “I shouldn’t have killed that scoundrel Zhang Han; I should have chopped off his hands and feet and slowly tortured him to death. I should’ve had him experience a fate worse than death!” She was full of hatred and resentment.

Ji Yunshu only watched quietly, unmoving. Third Madam came limping forward in disbelief, “Big Sister, why did you kill the old master? Has he not treated you well all these years? You’ve overseen everything in the estate for the last thirty-odd years no matter their importance. What did the old master ever do to you? Why must you be so ruthless?” Third Madam was like one of those cats going wild at catnip: agitated and aggressive!

Zhang Yimo quickly pulled his mother back, speaking soothingly, “Mother, that’s enough, it’s already too late.”

“Why shouldn’t I speak?” She flung his hands off. “All these years, when has she ever treated us as part of the Zhang Family? She’s treated us mother and son like rubbish all these years, and now, she’s even killed the old master so brutally - Yimo, that’s your father!”

“Mother…” Zhang Yimo was known to be a filial and gentle son; he was kind and never quarrelled with anybody. Even now that he knew that his father died at the hands of his own wife, he didn’t dwell on it but only felt profound sadness at this turn of events. He held on firmly to his mother’s hands, refusing to let go.

First Madam gave a lifeless smirk as she dragged herself to stand in front of Third Madam. It was clear by her arms hanging limply by her side that she had lost the will to struggle against her fate. “I regret it all now - I should have killed you too. I should have tossed you down to the deepest level of hell together with that scoundrel Zhang Han. No, there’s still your son, all of you should go to hell. If you hadn’t bumped into me all those years back, I wouldn’t have miscarried, and your son would have never been the first-born son of the Zhang Family! I thought that scoundrel was trying to compensate me for my loss by handing the Zhang Estate over to me, but I was far too naive. Only someone as foolish as me would so willingly be his slave all these years. Not long ago, he told me that he wanted to hand the estate over to your son - why should he have it all? The properties under the Zhang Family’s name only flourished with my hard work, what rights do you swindlers have to take them all away? Why?” She felt shortchanged!

Third Madam shook her head slightly, her eyes red from crying, “Big Sister, you’re wrong. I never wanted to snatch anything from you. Yes, I bumped into you accidentally back then and caused your miscarriage, but haven’t I already paid for my mistake these twenty or so years? Have I said anything at all against your harsh beatings? Weren’t all the wounds on Yimo and I inflicted by you? I protested strongly against the old master when he wanted to hand over the family business to Mo’er. Even if he insisted, Mo’er and I wouldn’t have taken them.”

Zhang Yimo added, “That’s true, Big Aunt. Mother and I wouldn’t have taken any of Zhang Estate’s properties. With father dead, my mother and I had already planned to leave the Zhang Estate for good. Our belongings were already packed up last night. If not for Lord Liu’s summons, we would have already left first thing this morning.”

What? First Madam was shocked to her core! “Do you really intend to give up all these properties?”

“Big Aunt, we don’t want or need, anything. I just want to return to Anlang with my mother and live out the rest of our lives quietly.”

First Madam let out a bitter laugh and shook her head, “How, oh how foolish have I been. I so carefully plotted it all out, but the one who lost it all was still me.” Her tears rolled down her cheeks. This woman was actually quite a tragic character as well.

Third Madam began to sob as well; for a long time, only their cries could be heard in the quiet room. It was quite some time before First Madam finally took a deep breath in, looking up at Lord Liu at his bench, “Lord Liu, I’ll confess. I killed him - you can arrest me later, but you can’t let that actress off lightly.”

Liu Zhiliang spoke, “That actress did poison the tea; she cannot escape a sentence. Once this official reports these to the Ministry of Justice, she will reap what she sowed.”

It was cosmic timing that a prison overseer stumbled his way in as soon as Liu Zhiliang finished his statement. He panted heavily, reporting, “Lord Liu, it’s horrible, that… that criminal… is dead.”

Liu Zhiliang jumped out of his seat, “What did you say?”

“That actress who killed Old Master Zhang’s dead - she died from an illness.”

“Dead? This…” Liu Zhiliang was taken aback. He dusted his sleeves speechlessly and sighed. She passed away from an illness - what more could he say?

First Madam’s legs gave way beneath her and she fell onto her bottom, “It’s karma, karma it must be. They all said that your past would catch up to you; I never believed them, but now I must.”

Hmm? Nobody else but Ji Yunshu understood the real meaning behind her cryptic words. She knelt down on one knee, looking at First Madam’s regretful gaze, “Death has freed that young lady. She’s lived for twenty-five years but also hated for twenty-five years. In the end, ‘The Villager’s Dream’ she sang over and over again, was no more than a fleeting dream.”

First Madam looked at her, tears falling once more down her cheeks.

Huh? How were that actress and Zhang Estate connected? Why did she want to poison Old Master Zhang? Now that she was dead, where would they get their answers?

Ji Yunshu pushed herself up and retreated to one corner, reaching into one sleeve as she held the case scroll she hid in there.

Liu Zhiliang was relieved now that the case was closed, proceeding to order his men to lock up First Madam and the kneeling Butler Zhang in cells. Butler Zhang struggled against the men’s grips, rushing towards Liu Zhiliang’s bench, “Lord Liu, I didn’t kill anyone - I did everything I did at First Madam’s orders. First Madam told me she would pay me a large sum of money once the deed was done. Lord Liu, please, I beg you, have mercy on me. I have too many mouths to feed - I can’t die here, Lord Liu, please, I’m begging you!”

Liu Zhiliang commanded firmly, “Bring him away!”

“Lord Liu…” He bawled as he was dragged away.

First Madam was the complete opposite; she was so calm and composed, it was as if she had lost her bearings. However, as the yamen runner was about to take her away, she suddenly spoke, “Hold on.”

“What else do you have to say?” Liu Zhiliang questioned.

“I want to report a case.” She was dead serious!

The court was stunned.

Ji Yunshu’s grip tightened on the case scroll in her hand.

Liu Zhiliang finally broke out of his trance, “What case are you reporting?”

“A robbery.” First Madam steeled herself, “Lin An Inn’s Du Sanniang stole the Guanyin Seal from my Zhang Estate.”