newbobooks Chapter 216 Sedan Chair Blocks the Road
Chapter 216 Sedan Chair Blocks the Road
A gentle night breeze rustled the tree branches. On the wide street, the night watchman, carrying a gong, dozed off as he called out, "Dry weather, be careful with fire!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a "thump" was heard.
The night watchman turned his head and saw a sedan chair suddenly appear on the previously deserted street. The watchman rubbed his eyes and muttered to himself, "Who would park a sedan chair here in the middle of the night?"
The sedan chair was a single-person vehicle, small and simple. There were no sedan bearers in sight, nor any sounds coming from inside. The night watchman slowly approached with his lantern when suddenly, a black cat darted out from behind the sedan chair, startling him so much that he stumbled back two steps and nearly fell to the ground.
The black cat stared at him with its eerie green eyes and meowed.
The night watchman mustered his courage, found a stone, and threw it at the black cat.
The black cat dodged the stone and held its tail high. The night watchman, enraged, got up from the ground and walked towards the black cat: "What are you yelling about in the middle of the night? Believe me or not, I'll skin you alive and stew you."
The black cat understood, meowed, and jumped onto the watchman's shoulder. The watchman tried to catch the cat, but stumbled and fell into the sedan chair, a pungent, putrid stench filling his nostrils. The watchman opened his eyes and saw a skeleton covered in rotting flesh.
A scream then pierced the night sky.
Being woken up in the dead of night, Commander Ma was quite annoyed. Yawning, he approached the sedan chair and shone his lantern inside. The skeleton was "sitting" in the chair. Because it wasn't secured, the frame was limp. Besides rotting flesh, there was damp soil and decaying leaves, with some wriggling insects among the leaves.
Captain Ma covered his nose and asked the bewildered watchman beside him, "You're saying this sedan chair appeared out of nowhere?"
The night watchman nodded.
Captain Ma then asked, "Did you watch it appear?"
The night watchman shook his head.
Captain Ma leaned against the sedan chair with his arms crossed: "Open your mouth, speak, what exactly happened?"
The watchman pointed to one side of the street and said tremblingly, "I came from that side. According to the rules, I should have taken this route."
They were standing at a small three-way intersection, with two smaller streets connecting to the main street. The night watchman was heading to the one on the right. At the time of the incident, he had just reached the smaller street, stood at the entrance, and was about to go in.
Did you see the sedan chair when you walked from the other side of the street?
The watchman shook his head, and seeing Captain Ma staring at him, he quickly said, "No, I swear, the streets were empty, and the sedan chair appeared suddenly. Besides the sedan chair, there was also a cat. A black cat with green eyes, and its meow was particularly eerie."
Captain Ma scratched his head: "Where's the black cat? Where did it go?"
The night watchman shook his head. "No, no more! They ran away, they're all gone!"
Lieutenant Ma felt a headache coming on and pressed his temples: "There's only a black cat and a sedan chair, but no one to carry it?"
The night watchman's face turned deathly pale. He wanted to see the sedan chair but lacked the courage; yet, he couldn't suppress his curiosity. He asked tremblingly, "Is it a ghost?"
"Ghost? What ghost? Why would a ghost need a sedan chair? Look how dilapidated this sedan chair is. If I were a ghost, I'd make a huge one." Commander Ma pointed at the sedan chair: "There's mud under the sedan chair, which means it stopped in a muddy place. The color of the mud matches that on the corpse, which means the place where the sedan chair stopped was where the corpse was dug up. Have you ever seen a ghost dug out of the ground, with the sedan chair landing on the ground instead of floating in mid-air?"
"My lord, what you mean is..."
Captain Ma yawned: "Playing tricks."
The sedan chair was small, requiring only two people to carry it. The watchman hadn't seen anyone, indicating that the bearers were skilled in martial arts and had hidden themselves the moment the chair touched the ground. Tonight was cloudy, and the moonlight was intermittent; if the bearers were dressed in black, they would be even harder to spot from the watchman's position.
The watchman thought back carefully. When he heard that strange sound, the moonlight was very dim, and based on his experience, it should have been hidden in the clouds. There was a gap between hearing the sound, turning around, and seeing the sedan chair and the cat on it.
The cat was a wild cat, drawn by the smell of carrion. It meowed at the watchman, perhaps guarding its food, or perhaps calling to its companions. The watchman's scream frightened the black cat away.
Commander Ma sent men to search the nearby alleys, and they found a group of stray cats in a corner, one of which was the black cat the watchman had mentioned.
Besides the spot where the body was sitting, there were several marks of putrid mud inside the sedan chair. Judging from the location of the marks, they were left when the body was moved.
Commandant Ma rubbed his chin.
I've seen corpses dumped, but it's rare to see a body dug up, placed in a sedan chair, and left in the street.
Who was the murderer trying to scare to death?
The gaze fell on the watchman, who shivered: "What are you looking at, sir?"
"Have you offended anyone? Or are you connected to the corpse in this sedan chair?"
The night watchman shook the drum like a rattle.
"Your Honor, my family and I are all honest and law-abiding citizens. My father is known for being easy to talk to. My mother is kind-hearted. And my wife is also easy to talk to. My family has never argued with anyone. Even if there are conflicts, we always give in, suffer a little loss, and then talk it out. I am forty-seven years old this year, and I have only seen two corpses, my father and my mother. I am a night watchman, and I often walk at night. Everyone thinks it's unlucky, so they don't let me go to weddings or funerals."
After saying that, he added two more sentences: "It's just that I'm not allowed to go, but my family members can still go. Every time they come back, they bring me a lot of food. I swear, the corpse in this sedan chair has nothing to do with me."
Commander Ma waved his hand, ordering his men to remove the body from the sedan chair.
The coroner examined the body and confirmed that the deceased was female, with the time of death between three and five years prior, and approximately sixteen or seventeen years old at the time of death. Her age was determined by the jewelry she wore; such jewelry was only favored by sixteen or seventeen-year-old girls in the capital. Younger girls couldn't afford it, and older girls wouldn't even consider it. The deceased was likely a concubine's daughter, as legitimate daughters would rarely wear such ostentatious and impractical items.
Besides the ornaments, there were also the shoes on the deceased's feet. These embroidered shoes were unaffordable for ordinary people, and even the legitimate daughters of wealthy families looked down upon them; only the illegitimate daughters of noble households would wear them. Why? Because the flowers on the embroidered shoes were ruined.
The shoes belonged to the legitimate daughter, but the embroidery was ruined, and she wouldn't know how to wear them, fearing ridicule. Giving them to a servant was out of the question; even the legitimate daughter's maids wouldn't consider them suitable, as maids were also a reflection of their mistress's status. Lower-ranking maids weren't qualified. After much deliberation, only the concubine's daughter in the household seemed appropriate. This would showcase the legitimate daughter's generosity and earn her a reputation for fraternal affection and frugality. Whether the concubine's daughter would be shameful was entirely outside the legitimate daughter's consideration.
In conclusion, the coroner believed that the corpse in the sedan chair was an unmarried illegitimate daughter of a wealthy family.
"What was the cause of death?" Captain Ma asked. "If it was a natural death, the government will have a record. If it was an unnatural death, the government will also have a record. We can find out who the person in the sedan chair was by checking."
The coroner began a more detailed examination.
Due to the severe decomposition of the body, no traces could be found on the surface, so the investigation had to begin with the bones. There was a faint dent in the head, likely caused by a heavy object. Judging from the shape of the wound, it was probably a candlestick. The right wrist was fractured, likely from a fall. The cause of death was likely excessive blood loss, with the fatal wound to the throat. In addition, the deceased showed mild symptoms of poisoning, but the poison was insufficient to kill her.
When the coroner examined the deceased's hands, he paused for a moment.