AWB Chapter 84 Lotus Picking Village
Chapter 84 Lotus Picking Village
Inside the main hall of Cailian Manor, everyone gathered together.
"I didn't know you were visiting from Baichuan Academy. My apologies for my rudeness." Guo Qian cupped his hands in greeting to the group.
"Master Guo, you don't need to be so polite."
"May I ask what brings you gentlemen to our residence?"
"Master Guo, I presume your estate is still in mourning?" Fang Duobing asked, curious about the doubts he had seen earlier.
Master Guo replied, "Yes, my son got married before, but the bride accidentally drowned. Because this woman was the daughter of Weiyuan Escort Agency and was involved in the martial arts world, Baichuan Academy had sent people to investigate before. It was an accident and the case has been closed."
Guo Qian, the head of the Guo family, meant to tell them to go back to where they came from and not to waste time and effort on this matter at his manor.
"If there are no errors in the records of Baichuan Academy, this should be the third bride to die in Cailian Manor in recent years, right?"
Li Lianhua added from the side.
Seeing the old story brought up, Guo Qian pretended to reminisce about the past: "These are all things of the past. Back then, the government sent people to investigate, and it was an accidental fall into the water. There was nothing suspicious. My Cailian Manor has never practiced martial arts, much less become a martial arts sect. These are trivial matters concerning ordinary people, so there's no need for you to bother with them."
Sensing Guo Qian's intention to see him off, Li Lianhua said, "My young brother here is not only a criminal investigator from Baichuan Academy, but also the son of a current Minister in charge of the Censorate. He has always been very interested in unusual cases. Fang Duobing, let Master Guo take a look at your sword."
Fang Duobing looked at Li Lianhua with a question in his eyes: When did I take up the post of Inspectorate?
Li Lianhua: Just listen to me, show him the sword.
Having no other choice, Fang Duobing had to pick up his Erya sword so that Guo Qian could have a better view of it.
Guo Qian had some connections with many high-ranking officials and naturally knew the insignia of many officials. Seeing that Fang Duobing's sword hilt indeed bore the insignia of the Ministry of Rites, he quickly bowed and said, "So it's Lord Fang, my apologies for not recognizing you."
Fang Duobing picked up the conversation: "This young master... I initially thought it was an accident, but two occurrences in a row are very suspicious and must be investigated. Master Guo, please tell me in detail what has happened in the past few years."
Having said all that, Guo Qian had no choice but to recount the whole story.
"My first wife died young, and I remarried ten years ago. But on our wedding night, my new wife drowned. Seven years later, I remarried, but the same tragedy happened. So I decided never to marry again."
"I never imagined that so many years later, my son would suffer the same tragedy when he got married. Does our Guo family even know what sins we have committed?"
Li Lianhua found it somewhat amusing that what he said matched the information in the dossier; it seemed there was something hidden inside that he was unwilling to reveal.
Fang Duobing asked curiously, "I heard that all three brides died wearing the same wedding dress?"
Li Lianhua looked at Steward Jiang, who had been standing to the side, and asked, "Grandma Jiang, you've been at Cailian Manor for quite some time now, haven't you? Have you experienced any of this?"
“They were all wearing the elaborate pomegranate-colored dresses from Cailian Manor, and they all drowned in the pond. I saw it with my own eyes. There is definitely something wrong with that wedding dress.”
As he continued speaking, Butler Jiang became agitated, but was reprimanded by Guo Qian and shrank back to his original position, refusing to say another word.
Guo Qian realized he had just lost his composure and quickly explained, "People in town love to gossip and spread rumors, so we're not making a big fuss about this funeral."
Fang Duobing nodded in understanding: "I suppose Master Guo doesn't believe in the story of the wedding dress killing people. But with such a large age gap, why would these three brides wear the same wedding dress?"
Guo Qian explained, "My ancestors were from the Zhao clan. This pomegranate-colored wedding dress is a treasure passed down from our ancestors, and it must be passed down to each generation of our descendants."
Di Feisheng, who had been sitting next to him for a long time, had long since grown impatient and stated the purpose of his trip directly, speaking expressionlessly.
"I'm not interested in how people die, I just want to know where the Lion Soul is?"
Guo Qian pretended not to hear: "Lion Soul? What Lion Soul?"
Di Feisheng described the Lion Soul's characteristics: "It has six fingers on its left hand, and its body has been burned, so its appearance is ugly. Does this ring a bell for you?"
Li Lianhua and the others carefully observed Guo Qian's facial expression, only to find that he remained calm and composed, without a trace of any other expression on his face.
"I have never seen anyone with six fingers. Why do you ask that?"
Seeing Guo Qian feigning ignorance, Di Feisheng stood up and approached him: "You really don't know? You'd better think it through."
Just as the atmosphere was becoming increasingly tense, a loud shout suddenly came from outside: "You wretched creature, how dare you be here!"
Then the group saw a person come into the hall upside down, spin around in the hall, and stand up. It turned out to be a man wearing a big red flower in his hair.
“Look, what a beautiful lotus flower!” A dramatic line came from the man’s mouth.
"Second Uncle, Second Uncle."
Another urgent shout came, and another young man rushed into the hall, calling out to the person who had just entered.
"I told you to keep an eye on your second uncle, and you still came here. I have guests here," Guo Qian quickly scolded.
The young man was somewhat frightened and quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, Father, I'll go and accept the punishment myself later."
“Keep an eye on your second uncle. You let him run here and disturb the guests.” The man wearing a red flower in his hair sang again.
Guo Qian introduced them to the group: "Excuse me, this is my younger brother Guo Kun. He has suffered from a strange illness since childhood and is somewhat mentally unstable. This is my son Guo Huo."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Guo Kun continued, "This is my younger brother, Guo Kun. He contracted a strange illness when he was young and has become somewhat insane. My apologies for the rudeness. This is my son, Guo Huo."
Upon seeing this, Guo Qian quickly ordered Guo Huo to take the man away.
As Guo Kun was being taken away, he shouted loudly, "You can't escape now, you can't escape now!"
Li Lianhua was puzzled by this sudden farce. Why was Guo Qian in such a hurry to have someone drag him away when he was just a crazy person who could mimic human speech? Was he really afraid of disturbing her and her group?
"When my brother has an attack, only I can stop him. Please excuse me, Mr. Guo."
This means to see the guest out.
Guo Qian tried to slip away, but Li Lianhua stopped him.
"Master Guo, there's no rush. I have a favor to ask. I've heard that the lotus flowers at Cailian Manor are renowned. Would you mind if we went to the manor to admire them?"
The owner of Cailian Manor kept trying to see the guests off. Was he afraid that they would discover something? What was he trying to hide?
Guo Qian's own Lotus Picking Manor was famous for its lotus flowers, and since people were talking about appreciating lotus flowers, he couldn't refuse and had no choice but to agree.
"Alright, please make yourselves at home." Guo Qian said, then turned and left.
At Cailian Manor, Li Lianhua and her two companions were led by the manor's servants to the best spot for admiring the lotus blossoms.
Along the way, we saw many strange stones placed on the village, which were completely out of place with the village's style.
The servant of Cailian Manor explained, "Our master is a believer in mountains and waters. These are Shoushan stones that he bought at great expense. Please be careful, guests."
When the group arrived at the Lotus Viewing Platform, the servants from the Lotus Picking Village left.
Li Lianhua looked around and joked, "This is indeed a good place. There's such a large lotus pond; you might even be able to fish there."
"There's no use in being anxious now. If Master Guo intends to hide something, wouldn't asking now be alerting him? You might as well investigate the Cailian Manor case, find out what happened ten years ago, and maybe you can find new clues."
Li Lianhua tried to persuade the anxious Di Feisheng beside her.
"So you still want me to help you investigate the case, huh? Simple, I'll go and arrest Guo Qian and torture him severely."
Di Feisheng always believed in taking action rather than using his brain, and after saying that, he turned and left.
Fang Duobing, who was standing nearby, hurriedly stepped forward to stop him: "Afei, can you please stop doing this?"
"Fang is ill, don't chase after him anymore, let him go." Li Lianhua knew Di Feisheng's temperament and knew that she couldn't persuade him otherwise.
"He has no experience in investigating cases, and he's somewhat violent. What if he gets angry and attacks someone...?"
Fang Duobing was a little anxious. Having spent these days together, he naturally understood some of A Fei's temperament.
"No, he's a grown man."
"Li Lianhua, I'm getting more and more curious. You trust him so much."
"What trust?" Li Lianhua feigned ignorance: "This Master Guo has repeatedly tried to send us away. We need to find an opportunity, preferably to stay for a few days, so that it will be easier to investigate."
"But looking at Master Guo's appearance, what reason can we use to stay?"
"The deceased hasn't been buried yet, why don't we go to the mourning hall and offer incense for her?"
Inside the mourning hall.
"The body has been laid in state for seven days, and it's only the third day and there's hardly anyone left?" Fang Duobing looked at the empty mourning hall with some regret.
"Cailian Manor doesn't seem to care much about this young mistress who just died."
Li Lianhua pushed open the coffin lid, revealing the newlywed young mistress of Cailian Manor and the daughter of Weiyuan Escort Agency.
The two carefully examined the young mistress's body.
"Look, the abdomen is bloated and contains water, making it seem like the person drowned. The body is swollen, and the livor mortis is light red, which does resemble the appearance of livor mortis caused by the skin being soaked in water after drowning."
"But she has a lot of bruises on her neck?"
Li Lianhua and Fang Duobing were examining the patient when Guo Huo pushed the door open and came in: "What are you two doing here?"
Fang Duobing quickly explained, "Young Master Guo, there are other suspicious circumstances surrounding your wife's death. We would like to conduct another investigation to give the deceased justice."
"Everything that needed to be checked has been checked. The deceased is gone, so please do not disturb the peace of the dead any further."
Guo Huo found the behavior of the two people who suddenly barged into someone else's funeral hall and examined the deceased very presumptuous.
Li Lianhua immediately started lying: "Young Master Guo, to be honest, your wife appeared to me in a dream a few days ago, crying out her grievances and unable to find peace, which is why we came to Cailian Manor."
"A dream?" Guo Huo didn't believe in such nonsense.
Fang Duobing quickly introduced, "This is the master of Lotus Pavilion, known in the martial arts world as Doctor Li. He has the ability to communicate with spirits, and his dreams are very accurate."
After the two men gave him a good talking-to, Guo Huo began to believe them.
"Even so, I should inform my father and get his consent first."
"This young master Guo seems to be very afraid of Master Guo."
"Obeying one's father's orders is a matter of course."
Fang Duobing tried to smooth things over: "Young Master Guo, the coffin has already been opened, and all the offenses have been committed. I will apologize to Master Guo later, and if he really blames me, I will take full responsibility."
Li Lianhua and Fang Duobing didn't know whether Guo Huoxin believed it or not, but they didn't stop him anymore.
So Li Lianhua and Fang Duobing continued their examination.
"This body has more than just superficial wounds; her hand is broken and her neck is also severely damaged."
Li Lianhua picked up the deceased's arm to examine it.
Upon hearing this, Guo Huo quickly explained, "We didn't lay a hand on her. The officials who came earlier already examined her and said that the bride fell into the water and was injured while struggling."
Li Lianhua stared at it for a while: "It certainly doesn't look like she's been beaten. But Young Master Guo, what happened to this bride before she died?"
Guo Huo was lost in memories.
"There was nothing special about it. After dinner that day, Su Su went back to her room alone and said she wanted to try on her wedding dress again."
"After an unknown period of time, he was found dead in the lotus pond by a passing servant."
"After the bride returned to her room, did no one know what happened? Didn't the bride have a personal maidservant with her?"
"The bride's wedding shoes, which she made herself, have been lost. Her personal maid went home a few days ago to retrieve them."
"Actually, our family's traditional pomegranate skirt wedding dress comes with wedding shoes, but according to local custom, it is unlucky for the bride not to wear wedding shoes made by her mother."
"She wasn't used to being served, so she didn't have any other maids serve her. Who knew that something like this would happen later?"
"How was that body discovered?" Li Lianhua asked.
"It was found by the servants under the bridge in the manor. The bodies of my father's two second wives were also found there. Perhaps the water was deeper there and the grass on the bank was slippery, which is why they accidentally slipped and fell."
"That's quite a coincidence." Li Lianhua took out the files that Fang Duobing had found at Baichuan Hospital from his bosom.
“The bodies were all found in the same place, and the way the bride died, as recorded in this file, is the same as the one in this coffin.”
"However, Weiyuan Escort Agency is located by the sea, and the daughter of an escort agency, surely knows how to swim?"
"Since he was so good at swimming, how could he have drowned?" Fang Duobing was also very curious.
"The maid said the bride drank some wine that night."
"On your wedding night, the bride is drunk while still wearing her wedding dress. Don't you find that strange?"
At this point, Li Lianhua also felt that there was something wrong with Guo Huo.
Guo Qian seemed to suddenly realize something: "How come I didn't think of that? Could it be that she didn't die accidentally, but was murdered? But she had only been at Cailian Manor for a short time and had no grudges against anyone. Who would kill her?"
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Lotus Tower Small Theater
Li Lianhua: Author, can we talk about something?
Author's note: What's up? You're not asking for some kind of cheat code again, are you?
Li Lianhua: No need, I don't need it. I mean, could this storyline be completed quickly? I want to go back.
Author's note: I'll grant you this small request; this will end in just two or three chapters.
Li Lianhua: Thank you for the author's support.