TGCFNM -Chapter 186 Hate, Too, Lasts a Lifetime

After seating herself properly, Chu Ling gestured for Su He to speak.

Su He glanced at the calm and composed Xuanyuan Shou and spoke in a measured tone: “The deceased appears to be around sixteen or seventeen years old. Aside from the ligature marks on her neck, there are no other marks on the body. Preliminary assessment indicates she hanged herself.”

Xuanyuan Shou sneered: “A young lady in the bloom of youth, suddenly hanging herself—who would believe that?”

Chu Ling raised an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t anyone believe it? After committing so many misdeeds and being haunted by vengeful spirits, she was scared in her heart and hanged herself.”

“Your Excellency, I advise you to properly investigate the case instead of making random guesses here. You’ll only make yourself a laughingstock,” Xuanyuan Shou said, a smug smile forming on his face.

Chu Ling looked confidently at the people outside: “In Dongle City, I’m currently the only official here. Who dares laugh at me?”

Someone outside shouted, “No one dares!”

Chu Ling smiled and turned to Xuanyuan Shou. “Hear that? No one dares, because this official holds grudges.”

Xuanyuan Shou paused, then cast a cold glance outside before continuing: “So, Your Excellency, you believe Fan Mingzhu took her own life?”

Chu Ling looked back at Su He.

Su He said: “After a careful autopsy, it is true that she died by suicide. However, during the examination, I found trace amounts of a sedative in her system. It can be inferred that the sedative caused her to lose consciousness, after which she was hanged, creating the illusion of suicide.”

Xuanyuan Shou immediately interjected: “Your Excellency, it seems someone intentionally harmed her, though we don’t know who… Since you are the local magistrate, you should solve this case quickly. How about giving it three days?”

Chu Ling shot him a glance and deliberately whispered: “A branch family is still a branch family—no rules.”

Xuanyuan Shou suddenly slammed his hand on the armrest, glaring at Chu Ling with bloodshot eyes.

Chu Ling squinted and smiled. “What’s wrong? Why are you angry, all of a sudden?”

“Your Excellency, when will you catch the murderer?” Xuanyuan Shou gritted his teeth, speaking each word slowly and deliberately.

Chu Ling rose slowly and walked toward the back courtyard. “Very soon. Once I examine the scene, I’ll know.”

Xuanyuan Shou tried to follow, but Su He and Xiao Hua stepped forward to block the door. Xiao Hua even waved her fire poker threateningly, as if saying, try to come through, and I’ll break your legs.

Xuanyuan Shou could only snort coldly, face ashen, and with a flick of his sleeve, sat back down.

Bai Su restrained Fan Mingzhu and brought her into her room. She made Fan Mingzhu see her own tragic state and grit her teeth in anger: “Look at yourself!”

After Su He’s autopsy, the damaged parts had been sewn back together, and Xiao Hua even helped her change clothes.

Yet the dark, purplish marks on her neck and the terrifying appearance of having been hanged struck Fan Mingzhu’s eyes so violently that she screamed.

“Last time I’ll ask you—who killed you?” Bai Su demanded.

Fan Mingzhu bit her lip in fear, determined not to speak no matter what.

Chu Ling stopped looking at her and instead began searching the room. She paused by the table.

Normally, teacups come in even numbers—four or six—but here there were only five. Clearly, one was missing.

After noticing this, Chu Ling began searching thoroughly and finally, while inspecting near the floor, found a fragment in a gap of the soft flooring. She carefully wrapped it in cloth and set it aside.

Then Chu Ling continued searching the entire room, stopping in front of a locked pearwood box. She picked up a small, handy container to help pry open the lock.

“That’s my dowry! I saved it myself—you can’t touch it!” Fan Mingzhu cried, rushing forward, but Bai Su held her firmly.

Chu Ling didn’t manage to open it either, so she simply went outside and called out, “Xiao Hua!”

Xiao Hua came running in no time. Chu Ling pointed at the pearwood box and said, “Break it open.”

Xiao Hua responded with a nod, lifting the fire poker and smashing down. The lock immediately broke, hanging uselessly to the side.

Xiao Hua casually pulled it off and handed it over. “Master, it’s open.”

Chu Ling nodded, lifted the lid, and tossed out the treasured fabrics and jewelry inside, scattering them carelessly to the side.

Fan Mingzhu wailed and screamed, “My fabrics! My hairpins! My silver! Ahhhhh! Don’t touch them! Don’t touch them! That was a complete bridal set!”

At that moment, Chu Ling paused, picking something up.

It was a plain-looking wooden comb, but the characters “Xuanyuan” were carved into it. This was the comb Xuanyuan Shou had given Fan Mingzhu.

When a man gives a woman a comb, it usually has only one meaning: it’s a token of affection.

So—

“Xuanyuan Shou really intended to take Fan Mingzhu as a concubine,” Chu Ling said with a smile, glancing at a certain place.

Fan Mingzhu twisted her head, trying to sound defiant. “The young master treats me very well.”

Chu Ling curled her lips in a cold smile. “Xuanyuan Shou treated Fan Mingzhu very well—so well that she was willing to act in his little play, staging a fake death scene just to make things difficult for me, a newcomer here… but sadly, the fake death became real, and Xuanyuan Shou got rid of a crazy woman who was entangling him.”

“You’re lying! The young master loves me!” Fan Mingzhu screamed sharply.

Chu Ling looked at Xiao Hua and said deliberately, “No one would love a woman with a heart as venomous as a scorpion, especially when behind her is a greedy family… The Fan family abuses the common people under the Xuanyuan name—I don’t believe the Xuanyuan family doesn’t know.”

Xiao Hua asked, confused, “Then why doesn’t the Xuanyuan family intervene?”

“It’s not that they don’t intervene. They’re just waiting for the right moment, to catch this overfed little fish and devour it,” Chu Ling said with a smile.

The Fan family was just pigs the Xuanyuan family raised on purpose. Fattened up, they would be killed. By then, they could feign ignorance, but for now, they had to act for the people.

What a perfectly hypocritical mask.

Xiao Hua asked, half understanding, “Master, then how will this case be judged?”

Chu Ling held the comb and murmured, “We still need decisive evidence to bring Xuanyuan Shou to justice…”

She slowly turned toward Fan Mingzhu lying on the bed.

“If you die like this, Xuanyuan Shou will probably never remember you. But if he loses a leg because of you, he will remember you for a lifetime. Even hatred can’t erase that memory.”

Having said this, Chu Ling quietly waited.

Xiao Hua looked puzzled, not understanding why their master was speaking to a corpse.

“In my bridal chest, there’s a pearl blossom that opens up, and inside is powdered medicine. The blossom was his gift; the powder was bought by his attendant Shi Er from the Lin family pharmacy, it’s rat poison,” Fan Mingzhu said, lowering her head deeply.

There was no denying it—the master before her was speaking the truth.

Everything had been her wishful thinking, but she would rather be hated than allow Young Master Shou to forget her for a lifetime.