lcionline Chapter 337 Suicide
Chapter 337 Suicide
Luo An said no one dared to offend Madam Luo, but the two waited and waited in the warm pavilion, and Qin Jiu did not come. Luo An wanted to send Gu Yu to confront him, but Nian Yao stopped him: "It's too late, I'll go check tomorrow."
Just as dawn broke, Gu Yu came over and said that Qin Jiu had hanged himself.
Even the composed Luo An doubted whether he had heard correctly: "What did you say?"
Gu Yu said, "Young Master, you heard right. Master Qin did indeed hang himself. The Prefect of Bianjing and the Dali Temple are both at the Duke's mansion, and the coroner is also there."
The front courtyard of the Duke's mansion was crowded with people. Nianyao squeezed in and saw a person covered from head to toe by a white cloth. Liang Qingcheng was kneeling beside her with her head down.
Nianyao rushed forward and ripped off the white cloth, revealing Qin Jiu. Qin Jiu looked so ferocious and disheveled; Nianyao had never seen him like this before.
The coroner squatted down with Nianyao, pointing and explaining: "There is a slit in the neck, the tip of the tongue is sticking out, the eyes are bloodshot, the eyeballs are bulging, and the face is pale... These are typical symptoms of hanging suicide."
Nianyao retorted angrily, "Is hanging the same as suicide? Can't hanging be homicide? Are you coroners responsible for examining corpses and solving cases?"
The coroner glanced at Luo An and whispered, "Young Master Qin has neither external nor internal injuries."
Nianyao said, "What if someone hangs you up while you're sleeping?"
Princess Minghui finally couldn't help but say, "Don't make false accusations. Yesterday you invited your son-in-law to play chess. He went out as agreed and hasn't returned. We thought you were playing chess."
To everyone's surprise, before dawn today, the master and his apprentices at Erlang Temple found him hanged from the ginkgo tree in front of the temple. If it weren't for Lord Xiao of the Dali Temple knowing the son-in-law, we would have had to go to the yamen to claim the body. Lord Xiao, you must do us justice!
Seeing Princess Minghui's tears, Xiao Su could only comfort her, saying, "Madam, the dead cannot be brought back to life. Please accept my condolences."
Nianyao pointed at Liang Qingcheng: "You killed him."
Princess Minghui rushed over to hit Nianyao, but Nianyao suddenly stood up, grabbed the princess's raised hand, and pulled hard, causing Princess Minghui to scream in pain.
Liang Qingcheng stood up angrily as well. She had been kneeling for too long and was pregnant. Her movements were so swift that her vision went black and she collapsed.
Someone rushed over from the crowd to help Liang Qingcheng; it was Jing Ze.
Liang Qingcheng helped Jingze to his feet, and it took her a while to recover after rubbing her forehead. Then she saw Nianyao pointing at Jingze: "And you, the two of you killed Ninth Brother together."
Xiao Su couldn't stand it any longer and turned his head to ask, "Young Master Luo?"
Nianyao said to Luo An, "You don't need to try to persuade me. Ninth Brother would never commit suicide. When I saw him that day, I felt something was wrong with him. But everyone was there, and you're a doctor, so you didn't say anything. I just thought he was really alright..."
Nianyao choked up as she spoke. This was Qin Jiu, the Qin Jiu who would always support her no matter when or where, the Qin Jiu who had accompanied her from Chongming Island to Bianjing after her father passed away.
How could such a wise and magnanimous person die so inexplicably in Bianjing? How could he hang himself so inexplicably?
Only Liang Qingcheng had wanted to kill Qin Jiu from the beginning. Apart from Liang Qingcheng, Nian Yao couldn't think of anyone else who would have a grudge against Qin Jiu.
Liang Qingcheng slowly pushed Jingze away and stood up straight: "Lord Xiao, my husband's death is really suspicious. I beg you to find out the real culprit, seek justice for my husband, and clear my name."
Nianyao said, "Don't leave him in the Duke's mansion, and don't bury him in Bianjing. Ninth Brother once said that he should be buried next to his mother after he dies. Luo An, let's take him back to Xi Zhai."
Luo An said to Duke Liang and Princess Minghui, "I beg you two to grant my request."
Princess Minghui remained silent with a sullen face. Duke Liang said, "Young Master Luo is joking. In Bianjing, if Young Master Luo speaks, even the Emperor would not dare to disagree."
Xiao Su sent constables to carry Qin Jiu onto the carriage. Nian Yao and Luo An stopped when they passed Erlang Temple. Luo An instructed Xiao Su to take Qin Jiu back first, while he took Nian Yao to Erlang Temple.
Erlang Temple was small, with only a courtyard and a master and apprentice. The master was leading his apprentice in chanting sutras in the main hall. When he saw the two of them approaching, he chanted a Buddhist prayer: "Amitabha, have you two come for the Duke's son-in-law?"
Nianyao returned the greeting: "Master, what exactly is going on?"
The old master said, “My disciple and I got up at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM) to do our morning prayers. When we opened the door, we saw a person hanging from a tree. We quickly reported it to the authorities and later learned that it was the son-in-law of the Duke’s family. We were reciting the Rebirth Mantra for him to help him accumulate merit and be reborn smoothly.”
Nianyao asked, "Master, didn't you hear anything last night?"
The old master said, "We always go to bed early and get up early. Our morning classes start and end at 3 AM and our evening classes end at 5 PM. Plus, the wind is strong at night, so we really didn't hear any noise."
Nianyao took out two silver ingots and placed them on the offering table: "There are only the two of you in the temple, yet you still insist on morning and evening prayers. You are truly practitioners. Please trouble you, Master, to offer an oil lamp for Ninth Brother. Thank you for your trouble."
Nianyao and Luo An left the main hall and came to the ginkgo tree in front of the Erlang Temple. The huge tree was covered with red ribbons for praying for wealth and blessings. Nianyao circled the tree once, then climbed up and looked around.
The bare tree trunks were completely devoid of leaves, not even a single leaf on the ground; everything was spotless. The two monks at Erlang Temple were people who loved cleanliness.
Nianyao sat on a tree branch and looked down, asking, "Do you believe that Ninth Brother committed suicide?"
Luo An looked up and waved, "Come down first."
Nianyao said, "Don't you think this is very strange? Don't you think that everything has been wrong ever since Ninth Brother returned to Bianjing?"
Luo An said helplessly, "This tree is an ancient divine tree, it has a spirit, you should come down first."
Nianyao scoffed, "What kind of spirituality does it have? If it really had any spirituality, it should be telling us how Ninth Brother died."
Despite saying that, Nianyao still jumped down, her foot getting caught on the red ribbon blown by the wind. If Luo An hadn't caught her, she would have landed face-first on the ground.
Nianyao dared not act rashly. She tiptoed and tied the red ribbon, then recited: "Let us enjoy this beautiful day together, and build an everlasting dynasty together. Styrax. Styrax?"
Luo An stepped forward, silently repeated the words twice, then untied the red ribbon and put it in his pocket: "Let's go."
Gu Yu stood guard at the entrance of Xi Zhai. When she saw Luo An coming over, she whispered, "Young Master, I was afraid that putting Master Qin in the courtyard would be an insult to him, so I took the liberty of putting him in the ancestral hall."
Xi Zhai's ancestral hall only had an incense table with an image of Emperor Fuxi, nothing else. It wasn't inappropriate for Qin Jiu to be there. Xiao Su and An Liangchen stood on either side, their expressions somewhat grave.
When Nianyao saw An Liangchen, she said directly, "Your Highness, there is absolutely no way Ninth Brother would commit suicide. You must investigate this thoroughly."
An Liangchen said, "My sister-in-law and Qin Jiu were brothers and had a very close relationship. Now that Qin Jiu has met with misfortune, I can understand how my sister-in-law feels. I have already instructed the Dali Temple to conduct a thorough investigation, and regardless of whether it is right or wrong, we will give my sister-in-law an explanation."