Ning Dao Covered with Snow

Chapter 139 Buddha Treasure
"Just think of me as crazy." After saying this, Lian Zhuifang sat back on the ground, staring at Lian Bantian's corpse without blinking.

Yan Ciwan asked: "Can we examine your brother's body?"

Lian Zhuifang didn't make any movement, but just uttered one word.

"Ah."

Yan Ciwan glanced at Chaolu beside him. Chaolu understood and immediately rolled up her sleeves, walked to Lian Bantian's corpse, squatted down and began to examine it carefully.

Lian Zhuifang looked at everything in front of her quietly, like a puppet without a soul.

Yan Ciwan squatted down and asked again: "I have a few questions to ask you about your brother's murder."

Lian Zhuifang remained motionless.

Seeing that she did not refuse, Yan Ciwan took it as her consent and continued to ask.

"What did you and your sister eat this morning?"

After a long while, Lian Zhuifang finally spoke: "Rice soup and steamed cakes."

"Did you eat together?"

"Well, we are used to being together, and it has been like this for many years." Lian Zhuifang said this, thinking of the scenes of herself and her brother relying on each other. Her heart ached and tears slowly slid down the corners of her eyes.

Yan Ciwan took out an embroidered handkerchief to wipe her tears, but she raised her hand and pushed it away.

She looked at her brother's body with tears in her eyes, choking with sobs, and said, "I know what you want to ask. The breakfast was delivered by the servants of the villa. My brother and I did not feel any discomfort after eating it. The breakfast must be non-toxic. After breakfast, my brother and I brought the tools needed for the puppet show and went to Guanhai Pavilion together. Later, the leader of the pavilion came with Du Erlang."

Yan Ciwan took back the embroidered handkerchief and continued to ask, "Why did you invite the chief minister to watch the puppet show?"

"Puppet show is our family's specialty passed down from generation to generation. My brothers and I make a living from it. If we can get the chief to appreciate our puppet show, we can use it as a publicity gimmick in the future so that more people will invite us to perform puppet shows."

While Lian Zhuifang was answering, Yan Ciwan had been secretly observing her appearance and what she was wearing.

Although Lian Zhuifang is over 30 years old, her complexion is still fair and there is no trace of the ravages of life on her face. Her dress may seem ordinary in style, but the material is of very good quality.

Just now when Lian Zhuifang pushed away the embroidered handkerchief she handed over, she caught a glimpse of the cloisonné gold bracelet on Lian Zhuifang's wrist. Although Lian Zhuifang quickly took her hand back, the appearance of the gold bracelet had been imprinted in Yan Ciwan's mind.

Yan Ciwan acted as if he hadn't noticed anything, and continued to ask calmly, "Where are the tools you brought?"

Lian Zhuifang said: "The puppets are placed behind the stage on the first floor, and the tools for controlling the puppets are placed on the second floor."

Yan Ciwan turned to look at Xiao Wang and asked, "Can you trouble Xiao Liulang to help check it out?"

"it is good."

Xiao Wang walked towards the stage.

Yan Ciwan asked Lian Zhuifang a few more questions, such as whether Lian Bantian had behaved in any unusual way in the past two days? Did he eat anything other than breakfast this morning? Besides the Grand Master and Du Lingzhou, had the siblings met anyone else?
Lian Zhuifang really wanted to know who murdered his brother, so he cooperated very well and answered everything he knew.

"Brother has been fine these past two days, except for yesterday when he asked to chat with Manor Master Chu alone. Afterwards, I asked him what he talked about with Manor Master Chu. He refused to tell me, but I could probably guess that he wanted to borrow the Buddha's treasure from Manor Master Chu."

Yan Ciwan caught the key words and immediately asked: "What Buddhist treasure?" "This story started twenty-five years ago. At that time, a plague broke out in Luzhou and many people died. The court was originally planning to give up Luzhou. At the critical moment, Prince Renxian stepped forward and used a magic weapon to dispel the plague and save tens of thousands of people. Later, Prince Renxian ordered people to build Lingdie Temple here to commemorate the people who unfortunately died in the plague, and left the magic weapon in the temple to suppress evil spirits and prevent the plague from coming back. The magic weapon was enshrined in the temple and accepted the worship of monks and pilgrims every day. Gradually, it was regarded as the Buddhist treasure of Lingdie Temple."

Chaolu's men paused and could not help but retort, "The epidemic was quelled because Prince Renxian dispatched a large number of doctors and medicinal materials to Luzhou. If you are sick, you should see a doctor and take medicine. The magic weapon theory is not credible!"

Lian Zhuifang’s words made Chaolu very angry.

She is a doctor, and what she fears most is that patients do not follow medical advice and just blindly believe in gods and Buddhas.

Yan Ciwan gave Chaolu a soothing look, indicating that she should not be angry for the time being and that business was more important.

Zhaolu took a deep breath, regained her composure, and continued the autopsy carefully.

Lian Zhuifang ignored Chaolu's rebuttal. She kept looking at her brother in front of her with extremely focused eyes and muttered to herself.

"My brother's wife and children died one after another. He believed the words of the wandering Taoist priest and thought he was cursed. That's why he brought me to Luzhou to participate in the Warm and Cold Meeting at Mengdie Villa."

Yan Ciwan asked, "How do you know for sure that Master Chu has the Buddha treasure?"

"Since the destruction of Lingdie Temple, the whereabouts of the Buddha treasure have been unknown. Later, Chu Wangshan bought this land and built Mengdie Villa. This place has been dug three feet deep by Chu Wangshan. If there is really a Buddha treasure, he must have taken it away."

Yan Ciwan took her words to heart.

Sun Hu's patience ran out, and he suddenly shouted, "Why should we listen to you and stay here? Who do you think you are? Why should you be the one to decide what you say? I want to leave here now!"

After saying that, he was about to walk out.

Si Buping, who had been drinking tea quietly, suddenly said, "Stop."

The moment the voice fell, Fu Bai drew the sword from his waist, swept the blade, and placed it across in front of Sun Hu.

Sun Hu had no choice but to stop. He turned his head to look at Si Buping and said with all his might, "Grand Master, this matter has nothing to do with your Inner Guard Department. Please don't meddle in other people's business!"

Si Buping placed the teacup on the table beside him and asked calmly, "What if I insist on meddling in other people's business?"

Sun Hu had a bad temper to begin with, and with the continuous incidents in the past two days, his mind was in a mess. Now no matter who he looked at, he thought that the other person might be an enemy with ulterior motives.

He wanted to draw his sword, but Feng Wu grabbed his arm.

Feng Wu asked him to calm down, saying that the other party was a Grand Councilor of the Inner Guard Bureau and had an extraordinary status and position, so he should not break up with him unless it was absolutely necessary.

Sun Hu tried hard to control his irritable and restless emotions.

He said this with a fierce face.

"After we brothers got up this morning, we stayed in Huai'an Courtyard where we live and never went out. We didn't go out until the servants in the villa came to inform us that someone had died in Guanhai Pavilion. That's when we rushed over."

Yan Ciwan looked at Feng Wu.

Feng Wu said expressionlessly: "We brothers have been together today and can testify for each other. Even Bantian's death has nothing to do with us."

(End of this chapter)