Ex-Wife is a Big Villainess
Chapter 53 - 49: Closing the Net

Chapter 53: Chapter 49: Closing the Net

Jiang Shouzhong returned home alone, feeling heavy-hearted.

He carefully replayed the day’s events and increasingly felt that his encounter with the mysterious old man was no coincidence, but likely intentional.

But why would the old man want to approach him?

What was his purpose?

Jiang Shouzhong remembered the cultivation secret manual he had bought from the man and took it out to examine it closely.

To his shock, he discovered that the book was completely blank.

Every page was empty.

"Could this be the legendary ’Wordless Heavenly Scripture’?"

Jiang Shouzhong’s thoughts leaped, "Was that old man a sage who noticed my exceptional talent and decided to train me to become an unparalleled expert?"

Jiang Shouzhong even amused himself with these fanciful thoughts.

Forget it, If trouble comes, deal with it; if the flood arrives, pile up earth against it.

If that old man truly meant him harm, what could he do other than resign himself to his fate?

Jiang Shouzhong put away the wordless ancient book and stopped dwelling on it.

...

Early the next morning, after washing up, Jiang Shouzhong headed to Zhang Yunwu’s home.

Although he had lost Zhao Wancang the day before, the man’s appearance at Cloud Lake had already indicated a problem.

[Someone was having an affair in Ms. Zhang’s mill shed.]

[Dumping a body.]

[Sought wife in vain at midnight and returned home.]

[Now, the wife has come back.]

Piecing these clues together, Jiang Shouzhong murmured, "The garment of truth is woven from countless lies, so how many people have lied here?"

Upon arriving at Zhang Yunwu’s house, the young girl Yue’er was leaving the house with a sullen expression, clutching her schoolbag.

"Good morning, Mr. Jiang Uncle."

Zhang Yue’er waved her hand listlessly.

Jiang Shouzhong chuckled, "You must have been scolded by your mother again."

Zhang Yue’er complained in distress, "My foot hurts and I wanted to rest for a day, but mother refused."

Jiang Shouzhong counted on his fingers, "Headache, stomachache, neck pain, backache, leg pain, foot pain, dizziness, chest tightness, cold... you come up with a different ailment every day. I think you should be taken for the doctors to study."

The young girl’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment, and just as she was about to complain some more, she saw her mother coming out and hurried away in fright.

"Mr. Jiang..."

We Zhaodi greeted him with a blush on her face.

Although the misunderstanding had been cleared, it was inevitably awkward to see him after her previous absurd behavior.

Jiang Shouzhong nodded with a smile and asked, "Where’s Zhang?"

"He’s massaging mother-in-law’s legs."

We Zhaodi stepped aside to let Jiang Shouzhong into the house, "Mr. Jiang, you haven’t had breakfast yet, have you? There’s still some rice porridge left over."

"Sister-in-law, I haven’t eaten either, please serve me a bowl too," said Lu Renjia as he scurried over, panting, with one hand on Jiang Shouzhong’s shoulder, grumbling, "I knew you’d be up so early scavenging for a meal."

"Buzz off."

Jiang Shouzhong rolled his eyes and stepped into the house.

We Zhaodi smiled knowingly and went into the kitchen.

As the two of them sat down, Lu Renjia couldn’t wait to ask, "So, did you find anything by following Zhao Wancang yesterday?"

"What about you?" Jiang Shouzhong countered.

Lu Renjia poured himself a cup of tea from the teapot on the table, drank it down in one gulp, and shook his head, "We found nothing. His wife just stayed in all day and didn’t even go outside. However..."

Lu Renjia’s tone shifted, "I’ve made a new discovery about that Wen Ba who was spreading rumors about Ms. Zhang’s mill shed affair. Remember, he went to Yuzhou Yucheng County to transport goods, right? Guess who commissioned the shipment?"

Jiang Shouzhong’s fingers tapped the table habitually as he pondered for a moment and said softly, "Zhao Wancang."

Lu Renjia’s face looked as if he had seen a ghost, "How did you know?"

Jiang Shouzhong took out some scraps of information he had excerpted from the case files, pointed to the clues he had specifically marked, and said lightly:

"Wen Ba once suffered a head injury, which caused him to have a poor memory and he often got confused about things. This time he was transporting goods to Yuzhou Yucheng County, a round trip would take seven or eight days.

By the time we go to inquire about the affair in the mill shed at Ms. Zhang’s, do you think he can still answer us clearly?"

With a pointer from Jiang Shouzhong, Lu Renjia realized, "Zhao Wancang deliberately sent Wen Ba away because he was afraid we would question him?"

Jiang Shouzhong nodded slightly, tapping on the case files with his finger, "About the affair Wen Ba saw in the mill shed, some people in the Yunchu Gambling House heard about it.

But the thing is, the detail that the couple having the affair was Zhao Wancang and We Zhaodi, only Zhao Wancang himself has mentioned it; no one else ever heard Wen Ba bring it up.

If we want to verify the truth of this matter, we must find Wen Ba and ask him clearly. However, right now, Wen Ba happens to be out of town.

A few days later when he returns and we ask him then, will we still have an answer?

So, Zhao Wancang must have lied. Wen Ba didn’t actually see who the adulterers were. But Zhao Wancang definitely knows who they are.

Now, if you think back to what Liao said about that body-dumping case, do you realize anything?"

Lu Renjia might be slow, but he was not stupid.

Under such meticulous and clear deduction by Jiang Shouzhong, he had glimpsed a part of the truth, feeling a chill down his spine.

"The one having the affair was Zhao Wancang’s wife! Zhao Wancang killed and dumped his wife’s body in a fit of rage!?"

Lu Renjia said incredulously, "Then who is his current wife? Also, why did he deliberately insult We Zhaodi before?"

Seeing We Zhaodi come out of the kitchen with a bowl of rice porridge, Jiang Shouzhong put away the booklet, stood up with a smile, and took it from her, "Thank you for the trouble, let’s have Jia wash the dishes later."

Lu Renjia glared, "Why me?"

We Zhaodi waved her hands with a smile, "It’s no trouble."

The woman, understanding that the two men wanted to discuss the case, tactfully said, "I’ll go see if Wu needs any help."

Once We Zhaodi entered the back room, Jiang Shouzhong continued:

"After killing and dumping his wife’s body, in order to clear his name, Zhao Wancang deliberately, while drunk the next day, insulted We Zhaodi in public to make everyone think that his wife, Ms. Zhou, had really returned to her parental home.

I believe he tampered with the body and wanted to create a time discrepancy.

Even if the body was found later, he had a way to explain it.

Unfortunately, Zhao Wancang hadn’t foreseen that someone would break into his house to steal things in the middle of the night. And he certainly didn’t expect someone to see him dumping the body.

According to Zheng Shanqi’s statement, when he went to Zhao Wancang’s house to steal, Zhao Wancang came home in the middle of the night and almost killed him.

But because Zheng Shanqi called out in desperation to Ge Dasheng, who was on lookout outside, Zhao Wancang didn’t dare to kill and silence him, and in the end, he didn’t report it to officials either."

Lu Renjia stroked his beard and nodded slightly, "I see, it all makes sense now."

Jiang Shouzhong picked up a spoon, blew on the steaming porridge, took a few bites, and continued his methodical explanation:

"As for the woman currently in Zhao Wancang’s house, do we, as agents of the Liushan Division, still need to guess? I estimate Zhao Wancang himself is scared to death by now; otherwise, he wouldn’t have run off to Cloud Lake to confirm the identity of the body."

Lu Renjia’s expression changed drastically, "What are we waiting for then? Let’s go catch him!"

He was about to get up when Jiang Shouzhong held him down.

"Wait!"

Jiang Shouzhong said with a serious expression, "We’d better bring the chief along. And have you forgotten why we are investigating this case?"

Lu Renjia was taken aback, "Ge Dasheng’s death?"

Jiang Shouzhong glanced at the back room and said in a low voice, "What we need to ascertain now is whether the demon that removed Ge Dasheng’s heart is indeed Zhao Wancang’s wife.

If it is, then we have to link Ge Dasheng’s death to the demon as well. The chief told me, the longer this case drags on, the more troublesome it will be. Therefore, we must be absolutely thorough."

"Understood."

Lu Renjia nodded vigorously, then asked in confusion, "Why wouldn’t the demon kill Zhao Wancang?"

Jiang Shouzhong speculated, "First, the demon remains with Zhao Wancang because it definitely has a motive. Second, the appearance of Liao and the others was too abrupt, it wasn’t just unexpected for Zhao Wancang, the demon was also caught off guard.

So now, killing Zhao Wancang is too conspicuous and would easily draw the attention of the official forces. After all, this is the Capital."

Jiang Shouzhong patted his colleague’s shoulder, "I’ll go find the chief at the Liushan Division, and you and Zhang continue to keep an eye on Zhao Wancang’s house."