Chapter 51: Two Died
The sky was barely light.
Suddenly, a burst of wailing erupted from the prison cell.
It gave the on-duty Baozhu a fright.
He scrambled up in a hurry.
He saw the female Kidnapper wailing bitterly.
She was crying while shoving the dwarf beside her: “Hubby, hubby, what’s wrong with you? Help! This ointment is poisonous! Someone, come quickly!”
However, no matter how loudly she cried or how hard she shoved, The Peddler had long since stopped breathing.
As an intern, Baozhu had never encountered such a thing and felt a bit panicked. Where could he find anyone this early? No one had arrived at the yamen to sign in yet.
He stood at the prison entrance, looking around.
He saw a tall, upright figure, like a savior.
“Mr. Jiang!” Baozhu shouted.
Jiang Changtian walked over and asked: “Is something the matter, Junior Constable Liu?”
Baozhu had been quite flustered, but being addressed as Junior Constable Liu, he subconsciously puffed out his chest, his face flushing slightly.
“Yes, it’s like this. One of those two Kidnappers locked in there doesn’t seem to be doing well. I don’t know what happened. Mr. Jiang, aren’t you well-versed in medical knowledge? Could you help take a look?”
“Junior Constable Liu, although I know a little medical knowledge, the other party is a serious criminal. It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to go inside. Besides, this involves my family. Would it be alright if I just take a look from the outside?”
Hearing Mr. Jiang call him Junior Constable Liu repeatedly, Baozhu felt immensely respected and just kept nodding.
Jiang Changtian followed Baozhu to the outside of the cell where the two Kidnappers were locked up.
When Juaner, the wife of the Little Peddler, saw the person arrive, she felt an overwhelming sense of nobility from him. Could this be the noble who was pleading for her and her husband?
Juaner held her husband in her arms, knelt down, and kowtowed with loud thuds.
“Noble sir, please save my husband! He, he… I beg you, noble sir, please call a doctor! My husband, he’s dying!”
Jiang Changtian took out a water-blue patterned silk cloth and covered his nose.
While saying to Baozhu: “Junior Constable Liu, stand a bit further back. I’m worried it might be a contagious disease. If it spreads, that would be troublesome.”
Hearing this, Baozhu immediately retreated quite a distance.
He hadn’t even taken a wife yet.
Jiang Changtian spoke to the person inside the cell: “Pinch his philtrum and see if he moves.”
Juaner pinched hard, but the Little Peddler didn’t move at all.
Jiang Changtian shook his head and said: “Looking at him, he must be completely dead. He probably died in the middle of the night. Did you sleep too soundly to notice? Tsk tsk, look at that expression. I’m afraid he died in agony—died in silent agony. You were sleeping right beside him, and you didn’t hear anything?”
Juaner was stunned. How could that be? Had her husband called out to her in the middle of the night?
Was her husband in great pain before he died?
How could she have not known?
She widened her eyes, wanting to refute this.
She looked up at the noble, only to see him covering his nose with the silk cloth, looking as if he found it disgusting.
Suddenly, her gaze landed on the silk cloth in the noble’s hand.
Only then did she realize that the noble was dressed in coarse cloth, and only the silk cloth in his hand was exquisite.
And the more she looked at the silk cloth, the more familiar it seemed.
“Noble sir, where did you get that handkerchief?”
Jiang Changtian said to the woman in the cell: “I am not a noble. I am the victim. Among the three girls you kidnapped, two of them are my own daughters.”
Juaner suddenly dropped her husband, jumped up, and looked as if she were about to charge out.
She roared at Jiang Changtian: “I’m asking you, where did you get this handkerchief?!”
Jiang Changtian unfolded the silk cloth he had been using to cover his nose. It was a very beautiful silk cloth, but it was stained with something dirty—specks of red.
“This was given to me by my spouse. I don’t know where she got it. Although it’s silk, it’s stained with a bit of blood. But the fabric is good, so I couldn’t bear to throw it away; it makes a perfect handkerchief. Oh, by the way, my spouse said that she has fulfilled what she promised you.”
Jiang Changtian covered his mouth and nose with the handkerchief and retreated.
He said to Baozhu, who was standing at the entrance: “Junior Constable Liu, this job of yours is tough and dangerous. You should prepare a handkerchief too. Next time you encounter a dead person like this, if it turns out to be a contagious disease, you’ll be in trouble. That woman seems to have been infected; she’s acting crazy.”
Baozhu nodded repeatedly. Mr. Jiang was truly a good person.
He watched Mr. Jiang leave.
Turning back, he saw that the female Kidnapper was no longer holding her husband and crying, but was muttering incoherently about something.
He quickly retreated even further.
When someone finally came to the yamen to take over the shift, Baozhu let out a sigh of relief.
He immediately brought people to see the two Kidnappers.
But he saw the female Kidnapper suddenly charge headfirst into the wall. The bricks on the wall were shattered, and she, covered in blood, died on the spot.
In an instant, there were two corpses in the prison cell.
Jiang Changtian returned to the side room and continued sorting herbs.
The small window let in a faint light.
On the wooden windowsill, there were three newly carved lines.
…
…
…
Several years later.
