Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 37 Silk Diamond Pattern
Yan Mingzhang first asked the yamen runners to surround Xu Lizhun's small courtyard, and then he went to knock on the door himself. After knocking for a long time, there was no movement in the courtyard.

Yan Mingzhang asked Mo Yun to kick the door open. The yard was small and looked shabby. It was obvious that the owner had not cleaned it properly. The door even creaked in the wind and was about to fall off.

"Sir, there is no one." Mo Yun reported.

There were not many pieces of furniture in the house, just a few tattered ones, a bed, a tall wardrobe, a square table and two stools. On the table were two cups of used tea, one of which had a red lip print on its rim, which must have been used by a woman.

The cabinet was opened, and in addition to a few pieces of clothing, there was also a wooden box. Yan Mingzhang opened it, but it turned out that there were no valuables inside, but five bellybands of different styles!
Five! That means there's still one deceased person who hasn't been found!
Yan Mingzhang looked at those bellybands and his ears turned red, but he still looked through the five bellybands. Suddenly, he saw a bellyband - a silk gauze bellyband with diamond pattern!
Several scenes flashed through Yan Mingzhang's mind, but he couldn't grasp them all at once.

Rong Wanyin walked forward and asked, "Did you find anything?"

"I seem to have seen it somewhere." Yan Mingzhang frowned and recalled carefully.

"Ah?" Rong Wanyin looked a little strange.

"It's not what you think. It's just... this pattern looks familiar." Yan Mingzhang explained in a panic.

"No need to explain to me, I understand!" Rong Wanyin gave Yan Mingzhang a firm look.

Yan Mingzhang was furious, but he couldn't explain...

Rong Wanyin ignored Yan Mingzhang and pointed at four small, square marks on the ground the size of table legs. She said to Changfeng, "Don't you think this place is strange? It looks like something has been moved."

Yan Mingzhang looked around and saw the wardrobe that was slightly taller than a person: "Changfeng, please help move this wardrobe over here."

The wardrobe was moved over, and the four legs of the wardrobe matched the four marks very well, so it seemed that the wardrobe had been placed here before.

Rong Wanyin carefully observed the wall that had just been blocked by the wardrobe: "Sir, look, does this look like a bloodstain?"

Although the blood had been wiped away, a closer look revealed a few spots of blood. Hidden by the cabinet were a pair of shallow footprints on the ground. These footprints were with the toes facing the wall, deep at the toes and shallow at the heels, indicating the person was exerting force. They were identical to the shoe prints next to the body! Yan Mingzhang and Rong Wanyin understood the situation, but tacitly kept silent.

Rong Wanyin and Yan Mingzhang looked at each other and said, "My lord, my figure is similar to that of the deceased. Let's try it."

The two found a clean wall, and Yan Mingzhang struck a similar pose nearby: feet shoulder-width apart, toes pointed at the wall, arms extended, and he suddenly grabbed Rong Wanyin's neck, sending the back of her head careening backwards, roughly the same height as the blood mark. The sudden force against Rong Wanyin caused her to lose control, and as her head was about to hit the wall, Yan Mingzhang quickly raised his hand to block it, but this brought their heads incredibly close together.

The two of them were too close, and Rong Wanyin's face suddenly turned red. They realized something was wrong and quickly separated.

Yan Mingzhang felt a little uneasy and glanced away. "It seems that the injuries on the front of the deceased's head were probably caused by being strangled and then hit against the wall."

Rong Wanyin thought for a moment. "Let's think about it. The two drank tea together, which means the murderer and the victim knew each other. If they had put some drugs in the tea and let the victim lie down on the bed, it would have been easier to press down from above. But the murderer chose to kill standing up, which means he must have decided to kill on impulse." Yan Mingzhang nodded in agreement. Xu Lizhun was a major suspect, but where had he gone? And who was that woman?

Yan Mingzhang: "Changfeng, issue an arrest warrant. First, notify the guards at the city gates to check all people and vehicles entering and leaving. I will immediately draw a portrait of Xu Lizhun. You ask a few painters to make several copies and give one to each of the city gate guards. Find a few people who know him and have them guard each city gate. Pay them on a daily basis. Don't let him escape from the city. Second, have someone secretly watch the area near Xu's house to see if he returns. Third, also secretly watch this courtyard to prevent him from returning. Fourth, search this courtyard carefully again to see if you can find any clues. Also, be careful that the murderer may suddenly attack and hurt others. He has a dagger."

Changfeng took the order and went to make arrangements.

Fingerprints, footprints, height, the woman's bellyband, bloodstains, lip prints on the cup, silk threads and hemp ropes on the car...all matched!

But Xu Lizhun seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth and could not be found at all.

After being busy for a long time, the two hadn't eaten or drunk anything. Most of the shops were closed. Seeing the wonton shop next to Yuexianglou, they picked a clean table and sat down.

This wonton shop was run by Aunt Qing, a native of Yuhang who had fled to Fengxian County with her teenage daughter, Erya. Seeing their pity, Xiuniang took them in and allowed them to open a wonton shop next to Yuexianglou.

The wontons were delicious, and Rong Wanyin would come to eat them every now and then, so she was very familiar with Aunt Qing. Last time, Aunt Qing touched Rong Wanyin while she was wearing her newly bought embroidered shoes and said they looked beautiful. She wanted to make a pair of the same for Erya, who had always wanted them, which made Rong Wanyin very embarrassed.

Erya brought two bowls of wontons. Seeing Yan Mingzhang unconsciously nervous, she almost knocked over the vinegar dish on the table.

Because the case was still unclear, Rong Wanyin and Yan Mingzhang ate wontons in silence, not caring at all.

"Do you smell anything?" Rong Wanyin asked, "It seems like the smell of burning hair or something."

Yan Mingzhang sniffed carefully and found that there was indeed something. He stood up and walked towards the coal stove where the wontons were cooked: "Erya, what's burning in there? Please turn off the stove."

Erya stood aside with a dark face and didn't dare to speak. She was shaking like a sieve but didn't do anything.

Rong Wanyin tiptoed to the stove and kicked it over with a sweeping kick. The burning coals inside spilled all over the floor and something fell out. Rong Wanyin didn't care whether it was hot or not and tried to put out the fire with her foot.

Aunt Qing saw this and hurried forward to stop me, saying, "I'm just burning some old clothes or something. Is it too smelly? I'll use another stove to cook wontons."

Rong Wanyin continued walking and said to Aunt Qing, "Aunt Qing, we just wanted to see what was burning inside. Sorry for the inconvenience."

Then, the fire went out, and sure enough, there was something inside that didn't look like charcoal fire. Rong Wanyin picked it up.

It turned out to be a pair of shoes—a pair of women’s red-bottomed peony-embroidered shoes!
(End of this chapter)