Many years had passed since that incident, but some characteristics of the corpse couldn’t be concealed, no matter how many years had passed.

“Your naǐ nai, after her father and brothers suffered successive accidents, was left with a vast fortune, and many of her relatives coveted it. To prevent others from coveting it, your naǐ nai married and had children early after reaching marriageable age,” Lin Fei said. “There are quite a few women of that age who have married and had children, and quite a few who haven’t!”

The female corpse buried inside clearly belonged to the latter.

Perhaps, back then, the other party never thought that this corpse buried under the yellow earth would one day be dug up and see the light of day again.

Whose female corpse was inside was still unknown, but this alone was enough to prove that the corpse was not Li Zhou’s naǐ nai.

Li Zhou fell silent for a long while before finally asking Lin Fei, “Where is my naǐ nai’s body?”

Lin Fei shook his head and said, “I don’t know!”

Upon hearing this, Li Zhou immediately gave a bitter smile. He shook his head as he smiled bitterly and said, “It’s useless!”

Useless? How so? Before Liu Yuan could speak, Li Zhou said, “I was the one who contacted those people. I was the one who gave the orders and arranged everything. I instructed everyone involved. Whether it’s witnesses or physical evidence, it was all my doing! Besides, I had a motive.” He paused, then continued, “Those words just now were truly my honest opinion. Many people in Datong have complained about this since I was a child. You can easily find many witnesses who have heard me say these things!”

“Even if I were to testify as the prime suspect…” Li Zhou looked at Lin Fei and smiled bitterly. “Can my testimony as the prime suspect in this case really convict them?”

Liu Yuan, Bai Zhu, and the others’ expressions grew increasingly grim. Only now did they realize the difficulty of this case.

Even if they knew perfectly well that Li Zhou wasn’t behind it, that there were others behind him, but… where was the evidence?

The prime witness was precisely the most obvious and direct “real culprit”. How much weight could the “real culprit’s” testimony carry?

“The same goes for those bandits who wield the weapons!” Li Zhou gave a bitter laugh, shaking his head dejectedly. “How can they testify? I was the one who contacted them. As for their fathers… even if they weren’t dead, those people wouldn’t have allowed them to leave any physical evidence, just like me!”

Without physical evidence, extremely reliable witnesses were needed! But the trickiness of this case lay in the fact that the most compelling witness was precisely the publicly known “real culprit.” In that case… the witness was practically useless!

What Li Zhou knew and understood, how could Lin Fei and the others not know?

As they walked out of the Dali Temple prison, Liu Yuan couldn’t help but sigh, “These people are truly… fortunate to be born into wealth and privilege, yet they don’t think of making a difference! Even if they were to do nothing and simply be ‘rich and idle men,’ that would be one thing. But these people are something else; they actually waste all their energy on such wicked and crooked ways. It’s simply hateful!”

What was even more hateful was that the other side had anticipated all of this. Without concrete physical evidence, these thugs couldn’t be brought to justice!

With the real culprit right beside them, yet unable to be brought to justice due to a lack of evidence, it was truly frustrating, as if the matter had reached a complete stalemate!

The atmosphere at the Dali Temple suddenly became tense because the real culprit was right beside them, yet they couldn’t apprehend the murderer.

Even more infuriating was the provocation of the group of thugs!

Early in the morning, Liu Yuan arrived at the Dali Temple, fuming with anger.

Seeing Liu Yuan’s limping gait and the dust on his official robes, Bai Zhutong and Wei Fu, who were discussing the case, were startled and quickly turned to ask Liu Yuan, “Why do you look like this so early in the morning?”

Liu Yuan shook his head, his face grim, unwilling to say more. He glanced at the two bowls of porridge brought by the kitchen staff on his desk and sighed, “Time flies so fast; I almost forgot today is Laba Festival¹!”

The bowl on the left was the most common Laba porridge: its ingredients were extremely rich! The thick broth had been simmered to a dark red color, and various ingredients peeked out from the surface. Common ingredients like peanuts, red beans, longan, lotus seeds, and red dates were naturally present, but quinoa, walnuts, raisins, and pumpkin seeds were also faintly visible.

Seeing such a wide variety of ingredients, Liu Yuan couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, asking in surprise, “Isn’t Laba porridge supposed to have eight ingredients? How many ingredients did Master Wen use for this Laba porridge?”

Seeing Liu Yuan arrive at Dali Temple looking disheveled, Bai Zhu and Wei Fu had initially been worried, but seeing that he was still paying attention to food, they assumed that although he looked a bit disheveled, he wasn’t seriously injured. They breathed a sigh of relief and said, “I asked. Master Wen used a total of eighteen ingredients for this sweet traditional Laba porridge. She used five kinds of rice alone: ​​regular rice, millet, water caltrop, glutinous rice, and sorghum, not to mention the others!”

Such a variety of ingredients… The abundant Laba porridge looked incredibly appetizing. Liu Yuan sat down at his desk, picked up a spoon, and scooped a spoonful of porridge into the blue-and-white porcelain bowl. As he scooped it out, Liu Yuan couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise, “Eh!” Looking at the brownish-yellow chestnut meat on the spoon, he exclaimed, “There’s even a chestnut kernel?”

Bai Zhu, who was beside him, nodded and was about to speak when he saw Liu Yuan blow on the spoon slightly before putting the spoonful of Laba porridge, which was full of various ingredients, into his mouth. After chewing a few times, he squinted his eyes contentedly and couldn’t wait to scoop up another spoonful.

As they ate the Laba porridge, mouthful after mouthful… Bai Zhu and Wei Fu exchanged a glance. Bai Zhu lowered his voice to say, “You can still eat, so you’re not really injured!” “More than just able to eat?” Wei Fu chuckled lightly, shaking his head, and said, “Your appetite is even better than mine!”

The Laba porridge was thick and sticky, with a sweet taste. The red beans, mung beans, and other beans had all been cooked until they “bloomed”, their sandy texture blending into the porridge base, adding a sticky “glutinous” feel. Each type of rice had a different texture, but all were cooked until soft and tender, easily mashed in the mouth. The chestnut meat was powdery, sweet, and fragrant, while the lotus seeds were slightly firmer than the other ingredients in the porridge. With each bite, the richness of the ingredients made for an astonishingly complex and delicious flavor!

Spoon after spoonful, after swallowing the last spoonful, Liu Yuan turned his head and eagerly looked at the bowl of Laba porridge beside him, which was completely different from ordinary Laba porridge: brown cured meat, white radish, orange carrot, and brown and white tofu were all cut into small square pieces, floating in the jade-white porridge, and garnished with fresh scallions. At a glance, the colors were extremely bright!

Smelling the salty and savory aroma emanating from the porridge, Liu Yuan took a deep breath, saying, “This is the first time I’ve seen salty Laba porridge!” and eagerly scooped a spoonful into the bowl.

(End of this chapter)

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Footnote

1. Laba Festival: The Laba Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday celebrated on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. It marks the approach of the Lunar New Year and is best known for eating Laba Zhou, a special porridge made from rice, beans, nuts, and dried fruits. The festival has both cultural and religious significance, as it is also associated with the day the Buddha attained enlightenment according to Buddhist tradition. Eating Laba Zhou symbolizes good fortune, health, and prosperity for the coming year.