Yang Yunniang was actually Yun Yi of Xiuhe Village.
It turned out that in order to establish the reputation of their embroidery shop, they gave each of their embroiderers a more elegant name.
Tang Kai said that the reason he suspected Yang Yunniang and Zhang Qing of having an affair was precisely because Zhang Qing had given Yang Yunniang a considerable amount of money, as much as five silver dollars.
One must realize that in 1928, one silver dollar was enough for a family to live comfortably for a year, and five silver dollars was an astronomical sum.
When a man inexplicably gave a woman so much money, who wouldn't be suspicious?
"So you set the fire just to prevent everyone from discovering Yang Yunniang's tomb?" Hu Jia asked.
"Yes." Tang Kai clearly lacked the spirit he had when he was causing trouble.
"Did you know that the people who died with Yang Yunniang back then were buried in the mass grave?"
Tang Kai nodded.
"Did Yang Yunniang say anything about them? For example, did she have any enemies?" Hu Jia continued to ask.
"Enemies? They were all embroiderers, how could they have any enemies?" Tang Kai was puzzled.
"I heard that Yang Yunniang was present when those people were buried. Did she mention anything unusual to you?" Hu Jia asked again.
Tang Kai tilted his head and thought for a moment, then shook his head. "After they died, Yunniang continued to work at the embroidery shop and only returned a year later."
Seeing that they couldn't get any more information, Hu Jia and Lu Qingqing had no choice but to give up.
The only witness to that accident back then was also gone.
They had thought they could get some information about the past from Yun Yi, but instead, it led to a case of scandalous affair. Of course, solving the arson case and exposing Tang Kai's misdeeds was also considered fortunate.
It was just that the clue to the skeleton case was broken here.
After working all night, Lu Qingqing was already exhausted, but to his surprise, Hu Jia was still full of energy.
"You go get some sleep." Hu Jia said, seeing Lu Qingqing yawning.
"Yes, you should rest too." Lu Qingqing was barely holding on.
"I'll go find the families of those whose skeletons have gone missing again. Since the clue from Yang Yunniang is broken, we'll try a different one."
Lu Qingqing: ...
Truly remarkable!
...
After waking up, Lu Qingqing took Tang Kai to identify the scene.
Although Tang Kai had confessed to killing his wife, the chain of evidence still needed to be completed.
They had to dig up Yang Yunniang's tomb, examine her fatal wound, and find the iron nail that Tang Kai mentioned had pierced her neck.
Qixinggang was still the same scene. Those who were arguing were still arguing, those who were exhuming were still exhuming, and those who were performing rituals were still performing rituals...
"Miss Lu, you're here again?" The speaker was Shopkeeper Li, the kind funeral director who stood at the foot of the grave hill in his free time, ready to be called upon.
"Hello, Shopkeeper Li." Lu Qingqing greeted him.
"Are you here to investigate the skeleton case?" Shopkeeper Li asked.
Lu Qingqing nodded, as the matter was no longer a secret.
"By the way, Shopkeeper Li, you've been running your business here for so long. Have you noticed anything unusual?" Lu Qingqing hoped Shopkeeper Li could provide some clues.
"What's strange about the grave hill? Everyone is doing the same thing, so it's not likely to be anything too strange?" Shopkeeper Li chuckled.
Lu Qingqing thought about it and agreed.
"I don't know what those people gain from damaging the corpses and stealing the skeletons. Aren't they afraid of encountering ghosts?" Lu Qingqing sighed.
"Human hearts are far more terrifying than ghosts and gods." Shopkeeper Li shook his head. "I've been in this business for so many years, and this is the first time I've heard of anyone stealing bones. I don't understand, I really don't understand..."
While they were talking, the shopkeeper was repeatedly called up the mountain to perform several rituals. In the morning, Shopkeeper Li sold quite a few coffins. Although they were all simple ones, he must have made a good profit.
"Shopkeeper Li, be careful with your feet. I just saw you send off another white urn. You probably won't even break even after selling several coffins."
"Oh, those are minor things. I'm just helping everyone out, so profit or loss doesn't matter. Besides, it's enough to earn a little from the dead; don't be too greedy. Wealth is hard-earned, and meeting needs is sufficient."
Lu Qingqing had some respect for Shopkeeper Li's words. Although the man was over fifty, he had a clear and discerning heart.
While Lu Qingqing was chatting enthusiastically with Shopkeeper Li, Hu Jia had been wandering around the grave hill.
After a long while, he returned.
Seeing this, Shopkeeper Li knew they had something to discuss and politely took his leave.
Hu Jia told her that new developments had occurred in the afternoon, with another incomplete skeleton being unearthed nearby.
Additionally, Hu Jia had compiled the information he had gathered. So far, a total of six missing skeletons had been found on the grave hill.
However, after verifying the identities of these skeletons, it was found that they did not know each other. The incomplete skeleton discovered in the afternoon had only been buried for a year and a half and had no connection to the other missing skeletons.
If there was a commonality, it was only one: they had all been buried within the last five years.
In other words, the person who damaged the skeletons was attacking indiscriminately.
Just then, a policeman from Tongyuan Gate arrived with Tang Kai.
"Found it?"
"Found it!"
The policeman held a piece of cowhide paper, inside which was an iron nail.
"Take him away," Hu Jia waved his hand.
As the policeman was about to lead Tang Kai away, Tang Kai suddenly turned around. "If, if I have any information to report, will it be considered a lesser offense for me?"
"Oh? Tell us!"
"I've been to that embroiderer's grave before."
Tang Kai said that he had heard about the desecration of skeletons a couple of days ago, but he had been busy causing trouble below and hadn't come up to see. However, when he was identifying the scene just now, he realized that the name on one of the tombstones was very familiar. The person was named Zeng Yuqin.
This was the name of the second person with a damaged skeleton.
"Because I suspected Yunniang of having an affair, I often followed her. Once, I found her sneaking out. I thought she was going to meet her lover, but it turned out she was going to a grave. I was surprised at the time. It wasn't my parents buried here, nor was it her family. Who was she paying respects to? Later, I found out she was paying respects to this person named Zeng Yuqin."
"They worked together and had an accident together. It's not strange for her to pay respects, is it?" Lu Qingqing asked.
"That's what I thought at the time," Tang Kai said. "But after that night, Yunniang left Xiuhe Village and brought back a large sum of money. I pestered her about this money, and she told me it was ill-gotten gains. Most importantly, from then on, Yunniang never allowed me to mention her being an embroiderer."
It was precisely because of the suspicious origin of the money, her sudden departure from the embroidery shop, and her avoidance of discussing her identity as an embroiderer that Tang Kai believed Yang Yunniang's lover was her former employer, Zhang Qing.
"But thinking about it now, the skeletons of these embroiderers have all had problems, and Yunniang said that money was ill-gotten. I think there might be something going on here." After saying that, Tang Kai looked at Hu Jia hopefully. "Do you think the clue I provided is useful? If it helps, please speak to the higher-ups for me and don't let me face the firing squad."
Hu Jia waved his hand. Watching Tang Kai being led away, he turned to Lu Qingqing and asked, "What do you think?"
"I think we should go talk to Zhang Qing!"