The Heroine Fell Deeply For Her [Quick Transmigration] 140

Chapter 140: Taken Home by the Princess Part 28

East Street.

Qi Jing was tidying up her tools at home. Her health wasn’t good, and strenuous activity often left her bedridden for days, so she worked slowly, cleaning the courtyard.

As she was about to water the vegetables, she heard voices from next door.

She paused, straightening up and looking towards the wall, puzzled. Why would there be voices there?

The courtyard gate opened, and a woman in simple clothes and a simple hairstyle stood there, looking out.

Qin Yang, turning around, saw Qi Jing’s face. Qi Jing, meeting her gaze without flinching, then seemingly realizing something, quickly lowered her eyes and was about to close the gate.

Another voice stopped her: “Miss Qi, you’re here too. You and Miss Zhou next door were neighbors.”

Qi Jing opened the gate, revealing her full figure, a silver hairpin with a lily tucked into her hair: “Junior Minister, what are you doing here?”

Qi Jing stood alone inside the gate, facing the Junior Minister, whom she had met once, and another elegant young woman she didn’t recognize.

Tao Ning took a few steps forward, subtly shielding Qin Yang behind her, and casually glanced at the locked gate next door: “I heard a Miss Zhou lived here… a devoted woman, so I came to take a look.”

Qi Jing: “Do you also believe that a woman sacrificing her life for a dead man is praiseworthy, Your Excellency?”

Tao Ning looked surprised: “Of course not, which is why I’m even more curious why you would have Miss Zhou rise from the dead, wander the streets at night, and terrorize the Qian family with claims of a vengeful spirit.”

“…” Qi Jing’s mind went blank.

A crash echoed as a wooden door was kicked open. Carpenter Qi had already left, and the house was empty. Qi Jing quickly turned around.

Li Ji emerged, carrying a lifelike puppet dressed in red and a wooden head with a long, dangling tongue.

Unable to open the door with her hands full, Li Ji had simply kicked it down, breaking the lock.

She casually tried to fix her disheveled hair as she stepped over the threshold, but instead, pulled off the wig, revealing empty eye sockets and a face stained with dried, red paint.

The puppet’s face was also painted, its lips seemingly stitched together, a ghostly and grotesque appearance, no wonder everyone described it as a female ghost.

It was a chilling sight even in broad daylight, let alone at night on deserted streets.

Li Ji was slightly embarrassed, having damaged the evidence, the puppet’s head.

But her naturally impassive face masked her embarrassment, and she calmly walked into the courtyard, the puppet in one hand, the head in the other.

Li Ji: “Junior Minister, Miss, I found this in a storeroom at the end of the tunnel connected to the dry well, please examine it.”

Qi Jing’s expression shifted, her already pale face turning even whiter, making them worry she might faint.

But she didn’t, staring at the red dress for a long moment before saying, “I was careless and revealed a flaw, which you discovered.”

Such a straightforward confession?

Qin Yang was surprised. Criminals were usually stubborn, always trying to defend themselves and find excuses, why would she admit it so readily?

Tao Ning, however, said, “You’re joking, Miss Qi, you did this intentionally, not carelessly.”

“…”

What kind of logic was that? Committing a crime and then deliberately leaving clues, just to expose yourself?

Qi Jing’s heart skipped a beat, but she didn’t argue.

Qin Yang and Li Ji both looked at Tao Ning, puzzled.

Li Ji was even more confused. She had simply gone down the well, followed the secret passage opened by Tao Ning, broken through the wooden planks at the end, and emerged in Qi Jing’s storeroom.

Perhaps Qi Jing hadn’t expected anyone to find it, or perhaps due to her frail health and lack of strength, the entrance to the tunnel was easily opened, allowing Li Ji to emerge and see the red-clad figure sitting in the shadows.

The figure sat there quietly, her hands clasped in front of her, her red dress trailing on the ground, her long hair covering most of her face.

Startled for a moment, not hearing any breathing, Li Ji approached and lifted the figure, which was surprisingly light, a hollow sound echoing as she moved it.

It was a puppet dressed in red, its chest hollowed out.

Qin Yang, having only heard Tao Ning’s brief account of last night’s events, didn’t understand what flaw Qi Jing had deliberately revealed. She asked, “How can you be so sure?”

Tao Ning pulled a piece of red cloth from her sleeve. Under the sunlight, the embroidery was faintly visible, a phoenix tail feather on a multi-treasure patterned fabric: “I went down the well for Miss Qi yesterday and found this piece of red cloth near the item you mentioned, hanging on a protruding rock, easily mistaken for something torn off by someone falling into the well.”

“But I examined it closely, and it wasn’t torn, the edges were clean, no loose threads or signs of being ripped, more like being cut with sharp scissors.”

Qin Yang immediately recognized the fabric, commonly used for official and wedding attire in the Yu Dynasty.

Commoners only had one chance in their lives to wear such elaborate clothing, the fabric expensive and finely woven, a shame to be cut and damaged like this.

Qi Jing stepped back as Tao Ning approached, her lips pressed tightly together, remaining silent.

Tao Ning extended her hand: “Li Ji, please examine the puppet’s dress for any damage.”

Li Ji looked around, placed the puppet on a chair, and compared it to the fabric.

After a moment, she said, “Yes, a piece is missing from the puppet’s left sleeve, matching the one you have.”

Qi Jing said calmly, “Since Your Excellency is so observant, you must have already asked the fabric store who bought this material, right?”

Ignoring their reactions, she continued, “The Zhang residence on West Street, Carpenter Qi’s family on East Street, and the Zhou family, all bought it for wedding dresses.”

“The fabric store said it was imported from the capital, expensive and beautiful, worth every penny, perfect for a grand wedding.”

Qi Jing’s words were almost identical to what the constables had reported earlier, as she had also heard it from the fabric store.

Tao Ning added, “So, in all of Guang’an County, only these three families bought this fabric, enough for a dress.”

Qi Jing raised her hands, palms together: “Yes, I confess, do as you will, take me away.”

She had been like this from the beginning, neither arguing nor resisting, just waiting to be arrested.

Tao Ning walked towards her, but as Qi Jing closed her eyes, she walked past her, towards the puppet sitting on the chair, its head tilted to the side.

Its head, with the long, dangling tongue, rested on the table, its eyes empty, bloodstains like tears, resembling a vengeful ghost.

Tao Ning picked up the head, admiring Qi Jing’s makeup skills, then noticed a mechanism, a mortise and tenon joint connecting the head to the neck, preventing it from falling off easily.

The puppet maker was indeed skilled, even the artisans in the palace might not be able to create such a lifelike puppet.

Lifting the puppet, she heard the cracking sound of its joints, but it was surprisingly light for its size, no wonder it could move so quickly, even she and Li Ji couldn’t catch up.

So light, yet its joints were intact. Tao Ning tapped its chest, which was hollow.

Qi Jing watched her actions, puzzled, then exchanged a glance with the other woman, communicating silently.

No one would have guessed that the culprit was Qi Jing, the daughter of an unremarkable carpenter, no one knew she possessed such skills.

“Carpenter Qi, you’re back early.”

“I finished the job, so I came back.”

Greetings came from the gate, and Carpenter Qi, pushing open the courtyard gate, entered.

He saw Qi Jing just as she said, “My father didn’t want me to do this, he said it was a lowly profession, that he had suffered enough and didn’t want me to follow in his footsteps.”

The sound of the opening gate attracted their attention, and Carpenter Qi saw the Junior Minister from the Dali Temple, the high-ranking official from the capital, said to be able to uncover any secret.

Then he saw the puppet sitting on the chair, its usually hidden form now exposed in broad daylight, wearing a familiar wedding dress, and he understood.

Carpenter Qi dropped his toolbox and knelt down, kowtowing: “I failed to teach my daughter well, it’s my fault, punish me instead.”

In the Yu Dynasty, single-character names were considered more refined, and for women without nicknames or courtesy names, “Niang” was often added as a suffix.

“Father, why are you back so early…” Qi Jing’s composure finally broke.

Her father’s early return was unexpected, she had thought she would be taken away before he returned, and she panicked, reaching out to him.

But remembering what she had done, she didn’t know what to say, her hand frozen mid-air.

She could only say, “I made the puppet, and the dress, I was the one controlling it every night, no one else was involved.”

Carpenter Qi, not expecting this day to come so soon, tried to take the blame: “Jing Niang has always been frail, she couldn’t have done this, Your Excellency, you must have the wrong person!”

Qin Yang suddenly glanced at Tao Ning.

Tao Ning, understanding the silent message, nodded almost imperceptibly and asked, “Qi Jing, tell me the truth, did you do this alone?”

Before Carpenter Qi could confess, Qi Jing quickly said, “Yes, I did it alone, my father knew nothing about it, I’ll take full responsibility.”

Her expression was resolute and calm, not acting on a whim, but having anticipated the consequences.

Carpenter Qi looked heartbroken.

Tao Ning, however, asked, “There must be a reason, why did you create a puppet and have it wander the streets at night?”

This time, Qi Jing’s silence was longer, and Tao Ning said, “If you don’t tell us now, you’ll be tortured at the magistrate’s office, think carefully.”

The punishments at the magistrate’s office were severe, enough to stop a child’s cries.

Finally, Qi Jing sighed: “I’ll tell you the truth.”

The eldest son of the wealthy Qian family was born frail, bedridden for most of the year, unable to inherit the family business. However, his younger brother was of age, ready for marriage.

But the elder son had to marry first, and the Qian family didn’t want him to be alone, so they proposed marriage to Zhou Yan, a renowned virtuous woman in the county.

Qi Jing’s voice was calm and emotionless: “Zhou Yan didn’t love him, she had no choice, but the Qian family’s eldest son, although frail, was still a decent man, compared to the seventy-year-old man from the neighboring county chosen by her brother and sister-in-law.”

“The wedding date was set, at the end of the year, and Zhou Yan and I went to the fabric store to choose the material. She liked the multi-treasure patterned fabric, and I also thought it was beautiful, imagining how it would look on her.”

“Everything was ready, but then the Qian family’s eldest son suddenly died of illness, and Zhou Yan, as his fiancée, went to pay her respects, and that night, news arrived of her suicide.”

Carpenter Qi sighed regretfully. Zhou Yan’s parents had been their neighbors, and he had watched her grow up, only to see her die so young.

He had a daughter himself, and the Zhou family also had a child, he couldn’t understand their actions.

Qi Jing: “My father made Zhou Yan’s coffin. The Qian family didn’t have time to find another one, so they used the one my father had made for someone else.”

Qi Jing’s eyes lowered as she recalled the conversation she had overheard. The Qian family’s steward, speaking to the fawning Zhou family, had said, “The betrothal gifts have been received, the dowry is ready, since Zhou Yan committed suicide out of grief, why not fulfill her wish and make them a true couple?”

Qi Jing’s voice turned cold: “I didn’t believe Zhou Yan would commit suicide for a dead man, so I opened the coffin. She was lying there, wearing the wedding dress I made, her black hair covering her face, her eyes gouged out, her lips sewn shut, a deep ligature mark on her neck.”

“She was clearly strangled to death, her tongue cut off because it wouldn’t retract after death.”

“They wanted to ensure she couldn’t see or speak, even in the afterlife, unable to accuse them.”

“We grew up together, we promised to wear each other’s wedding dresses, and she was wearing the one I made, I couldn’t ignore it, I hated the Qian family.”

Qi Jing’s calm facade crumbled, her eyes red with anger.

How could she be indifferent, seeing her childhood friend treated like this?

But she couldn’t think of a better solution, only watching helplessly as Zhou Yan was buried in the Qian family’s ancestral grave, her restless spirit unable to find peace.

Tao Ning, piecing together the story, said, “So you created this puppet and had it wander the streets at night, hoping to attract attention and have the case reopened?”

Qi Jing nodded: “Yes.”

It was a crude method, but it worked, it had brought the Junior Minister of the Dali Temple to Guang’an.

But the price was too high. Qi Jing was just a carpenter’s daughter, she couldn’t fight the wealthy Qian family, let alone the officials, and if the truth was revealed, she would be the one who suffered.

Qin Yang suddenly spoke: “What if it didn’t work?” Wouldn’t she have risked her life for nothing?

Qi Jing looked surprised: “How could it not work? The Qian family was terrified, almost abandoning their home and fleeing, it’s a pity the Zhou family left too quickly, I wasn’t done with them yet.”

When she first created the puppet, she had it climb the walls and cry under the Zhou family’s windows every night, and the townspeople thought it was Zhou Yan’s vengeful spirit, that the Zhou family was being punished for their cruelty, that they were hallucinating.

It wasn’t until the puppet became more sophisticated, able to walk the streets, that they believed it was real.

Even with suspicions, the Qian family was a powerful and influential family in Guang’an, Squire Qian even hosting the magistrate as a guest of honor at his birthday banquet every year, no one dared to accuse them.

A faint smile curved Qi Jing’s pale lips: “But they went to seek refuge with Zhou Yan’s sister-in-law’s family, were tricked into a bad business deal, and lost everything, a less than satisfactory outcome.”

And Magistrate Zhao, terrified, had broken his leg and couldn’t sleep at night.

Qin Yang: “…”

Indeed, a girl capable of such a feat wouldn’t be concerned about the consequences, as long as justice was served.

She wouldn’t have done it if it were pointless, at worst, she would drag everyone down with her, exposing the truth for all to see.