Case One: Double Corpse in the Flower Bed
Miao Fenghua glanced at Madam Song and said with a sneer, "Has Madam Song already buried the pits for me, waiting to reap the rewards? You are already wealthy beyond measure, so why are you crying instead of hugging your blankets and secretly laughing?"
Madam Song, who had been wailing, froze for a fleeting moment upon hearing Miao Fenghua's words. However, she quickly regained her composure and retorted, "Miao Fenghua, you murderous poison woman, things have come to this, and you still want to slander me. Wuwu... where is the justice in heaven?"
"Silence!" Ren Zhong, angered by their bickering, slammed his gavel down.
Zhong Li observed the two women in the hall. Based on their words, she had a rough idea of what had happened. It seemed Madam Song had known of Miao Fenghua's existence from the start. If Miao Fenghua's account was true, then Madam Song was equally responsible for the murders. As for how Madam Song achieved her goals without lifting a finger, that was another matter entirely.
As the hall gradually quieted down, Ren Zhong casually tossed a jade pendant in front of Miao Fenghua and asked, "Miao Fenghua, tell me, where did this come from?"
Miao Fenghua looked at the object lying on the ground, knowing that any further lies would be futile. She said, "It was given to me by Yue Tianhu."
As soon as she finished speaking, Madam Song's eyes darted, and she began to wail again, "Wuwu, how is that possible? Ahu once told me that he and I would be one for life, one pair. How could he casually give away his jade pendant to others? It must be that this Miao Niangzi coveted the jade pendant and stole it, only to be discovered by Ahu, who then killed him! Wuwu..."
The louder Madam Song cried, the more suppressed and unpleasant Miao Fenghua's expression became.
Finally, Miao Fenghua could no longer stand it and shouted at Madam Song, "Don't you know what kind of person your own husband is? Yes, Yue Tianhu and Yue Tiannan were killed by me, but they deserved to die!"
Saying this, she ignored the sobbing Madam Song and addressed Ren Zhong. "My husband's family perished in a shipwreck five years ago, leaving me alone. At that time, I had just purchased the house in the southern suburbs. As a woman, I didn't have much money. I had no choice but to pick up my husband's old trade and start a small business.
In the beginning, I was ostracized everywhere, especially by some merchants who had been close to my husband's family. Because of my husband's death, they all turned to other families for their goods.
I had no choice but to seek them out one by one, begging them to cooperate with me. I lowered myself, even losing money to drum up business.
Just when I thought life was hopeless, I met Yue Tianhu, who went by the alias Han Dong."
Zhong Li watched the woman standing in the hall, speaking with a tragic smile. She could imagine how difficult it was for a widowed woman to survive in this patriarchal society. Yue Tianhu's timely appearance was like a lifesaver for Miao Fenghua, casting a sliver of light on her life.
"At that time, I was grateful to Yue Tianhu. After all, he was the only one willing to provide me with some small business assistance five years ago," Miao Fenghua narrowed her eyes, seemingly lost in memory. "Later, as we spent more time together, feelings developed."
As she spoke, she scoffed, "He told me he had no family and even gave me the mandarin duck pendant. But who knew that he was doing all this with a purpose?"
Zhong Li listened to Miao Fenghua's words and recalled the cellar full of *qiater* grass she had found in her house. Yue Tianhu's motive was likely related to this.
"Yue Tianhu used me to secretly hoard the *qiater* grass, which was forbidden by the court, and traded it in the black market for exorbitant profits. In just two years, he made a fortune. Seeing this, I wanted Yue Tianhu to marry me, but he kept making excuses. At first, I thought he was too busy with business to have time, as he would be away for several days on business trips.
Until one time when I went to Yongcheng, I saw Yue Tianhu walking intimately with another woman on the street. After much inquiry, I learned that Han Dong was not Han Dong, and that woman was... wuwu..."
Miao Fenghua's body trembled with anger as she spoke, her eyes filled with tears as she stared fixedly at Madam Song.
"So, you planned to kill Yue Tianhu?" Zhong Li asked.
"Not at first," Miao Fenghua shifted her gaze from Madam Song and shook her head at Zhong Li. "I still held onto a sliver of hope, waiting for Yue Tianhu to return and question him carefully. After all, he stayed with me for half a year after that. I thought he still preferred me.
But ultimately, I was overthinking. It was during this questioning that I completely gave up."
She seemed to have no intention of continuing, her gaze shifting from hatred to a state of utter calm.
"I didn't actually want to kill Yue Tiannan," Miao Fenghua let out a long breath, as if finding release, and said calmly. "I used a secret medicine to cover Yue Tianhu's mouth and nose while he wasn't paying attention. After he completely fainted, I chained his hands and killed him with a hammer. Just as I was preparing to bury Yue Tianhu's body, Yue Tiannan arrived.
I had no idea he would bring someone with him this time to collect goods. So, I pretended to come out from the house and, while Yue Tiannan wasn't paying attention, I went all out and struck him to death."
Zhong Li listened and then observed Miao Fenghua's height. At five feet seven inches, she was shorter than Yue Tianhu and taller than Yue Tiannan, which fit the physical characteristics of the killer.
"That was my first time killing someone, and to be honest, I was a bit scared. But more than that, I felt an unprecedented sense of exhilaration for being able to kill that unfaithful man, Yue Tianhu.
I dragged both of their bodies into the flower bed in the backyard and buried them. Later, while inspecting the backyard, I discovered Yue Tianhu's footprints in front of the woodpile. So, the idea of covering up my murder by 'selling dog meat while raising a sheep' came to mind.
I should have planted some plants on top, but it was winter, and there were very few plants that could grow. Before spring arrived, the bodies were discovered, and a report was filed." Miao Fenghua had essentially recounted the entire criminal process. The clerk sitting next to Ren Zhong diligently wrote down the confession and handed it to her for her thumbprint.
Miao Fenghua, as if resigned to her fate, pressed her thumbprint without even looking at the confession.
Seeing that she was like a grasshopper in autumn, with no ability to jump, Ren Zhong coldly slapped his gavel, ordering the surrounding constables to send Miao Fenghua to the death prison.
As the onlookers began to disperse and Madam Song, wiping tears from her eyes, prepared to leave, Zhong Li quickly blocked her path.
"Zhong Sizheng, what is this..." Madam Song looked up in surprise.
Zhong Li scanned Madam Song's face and, with her sharp eyes, noticed the mandarin duck jade pendant hanging from her waist. She faintly saw that the crescent moon was missing a corner and asked, "Madam Song, is that jade pendant damaged?"
Madam Song heard this and quickly picked it up to examine it. When she saw where Zhong Li was looking, her eyebrows furrowed. "I can't believe I broke such an important item that Ahu gave me..."
Upon hearing this, Zhong Li glanced at Lu Wu Xie, who had been sitting in the hall without speaking. He was now holding Miao Fenghua's jade pendant and seemed to be examining it closely, with a hint of amusement on his face.
"Madam Song, could I take a look at that jade pendant?" she asked after thinking for a moment.
Madam Song hesitated slightly, but unable to resist Zhong Li's intense gaze and fearing she would be seen as stingy, she reluctantly handed it over.
Zhong Li rubbed the pendant in her palm and then held it up to the sunlight. "Indeed, Madam Song's jade pendant is a fake."