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墨書 Inktalez
Xing Ruyi had never seen a monk so handsome, nor one who, despite being trapped in a cage and looking emaciated, could still maintain such an elegant demeanor. Although the cage was dark, the monk's calm eyes shone brightly.
Standing outside the cell, Xing Ruyi looked at the monk's handsome face and finally understood why Liu Hui would rather defy Liu Laoshi than seek another marriage. It was because, like men who are drawn to beauty, women are also attracted to looks.
"Is your name Xu Liang?"
Xing Ruyi crouched down to look into Xu Liang's eyes. Within them, she saw calmness, knowledge, hidden pain, and an unwillingness to part with the world. Upon hearing Xing Ruyi's voice, he merely lifted his head slightly and looked at her in surprise.
"You don't need to look at me; I know this is a men's prison. I'm just here for a visit."
"I am not acquainted with you, young lady!"
"Just because you don't know me doesn't mean I don't know you." Xing Ruyi pointed at the lock on the cell door, signaling Shengzi to open it. She then lifted her skirt and grabbed a handful of relatively clean straw before sitting cross-legged opposite Xu Liang: "Let's skip the small talk. I am here representing Yamen to ask you a few questions, and I am also here on behalf of Liu Hui to see you. In fact, the person who killed Liu Hui is not you, right?"
Xu Liang raised his eyes but momentarily didn't know how to respond. After all, there were too many questions embedded in Xing Ruyi's statement that left him momentarily confused. After thinking for a moment, he decided to ask about what interested him.
"Do you know Hui'er?"
"A few days ago, she came to my shop to buy Rouge. I recommended her the Sun Fairy Girl Ointment. Do you know what this Sun Fairy Girl Ointment is used for?"
Xu Liang shook his head in confusion; he didn't understand how this related to whether Xing Ruyi knew Liu Hui, but he had a good temperament and couldn't bear to interrupt her enthusiasm.
"This Sun Fairy Girl Ointment is made from 1 gram of Huangbai, 10 grams of Tuguagen, and 7 dates. First, remove the outer rough skin from the Huangbai and grind it together with the Tuguagen into fine powder. Then mix it with the dates to form a sticky paste. Each morning, use hot water to dissolve some and wash your face with warm water. After using it for more than ten days, one can look as youthful as a girl; hence it is called Sun Fairy Girl Ointment. Although the ingredients are not expensive, it takes considerable effort to prepare. Therefore, in my shop, it falls into a moderate price range; however, this moderate price is not moderate for Liu Hui."
"I understand; these things are usually used by daughters of wealthy families."
"But Liu Hui is not from a wealthy family; she is just the daughter of a butcher and spends her days helping her father slaughter pigs and sheep and butcher chickens and ducks. Why would she come looking for me to buy this Sun Fairy Girl Ointment?"
Xu Liang's eyes moved slightly, but he remained silent.
Xing Ruyi continued, "I can tell that Liu Hui is not someone who particularly cares about her appearance. So the only reason she came to buy these things is that a woman delights in her understanding partner."
Xu Liang did not respond, merely lowering his head silently.
"How long has it been since you last saw Liu Hui?"
"More than a year!"
"So, you came down the mountain this time to see her, right?"
Xu Liang first shook his head, then gently nodded.
"Descending the mountain was arranged by Master, but deep down, I do have some thoughts of her. So when you asked me if I came down to see her, I could neither deny it nor affirm it."
"When did you meet?"
"On the second day after descending the mountain, I went to the market with Shixiong to beg for alms and happened to run into her. I originally wanted to avoid her, but seeing Hui'er joyfully running towards me, my feet could no longer move. I knew at that moment that I could no longer call myself a monk because my resolve was not strong enough; I still couldn't forget the mundane world, and I brought shame upon Buddha." Xu Liang said this and unexpectedly stood up, removing his monk robe before silently sitting back down. "You can ask whatever you want, Miss."
"After you met, did you two go somewhere else?"
"Yes! It was Hui'er who requested it because she was worried that my monk attire would cause trouble on the street."
"Was it just the two of you?"
"No! Shixiong is also here, just a bit far from us."
"What did you all talk about?"
"About the past, things from a long time ago, and Hui'er asked me why I left her to become a monk."
"Did you answer her?"
"I answered some questions, but not all. For example, the last question she asked me."
"Why didn't you answer? Were you afraid she would hate you if she found out?"
"No! I was afraid that if she knew, she would be in a dilemma and wouldn't know how to choose." Xu Liang looked up at Xing Ruyi at this point. He always felt that this girl across from him had many things hidden in her eyes, and her gaze seemed to penetrate the heart of a person, as if she already knew the secret he was desperately trying to hide about Liu Hui.
Silently reciting a Buddhist phrase in his heart, Xu Liang felt calm and thought that some things coming to light might be for the best.
"Is it related to your parents' death?"
Xing Ruyi sat cross-legged, resting her chin on her hand, her tone resembling that of interviewers in later generations.
"Yes!"
"Is it related to Liu Laoshi?"
"Yes!"
"So you have no choice. You like Liu Hui, but you cannot marry the daughter of the man who killed your father. You want revenge, yet you pity Liu Hui because Liu Laoshi is her only support in this life, and you fear her suffering; you fear she will hate you. Therefore, you can only choose to become a monk, choosing to resolve your inner turmoil through Buddhism. However, the profundity of Buddhism cannot resolve the entanglements of worldly emotions."
"Yes!" Xu Liang gently closed his eyes and then slowly opened them. "But if I had known that this meeting would bring her misfortune, I would rather spend my entire life on the mountain and never see her again."
Xing Ruyi's eyes darted around as she asked, "During that meeting, did you do anything indescribable?"
"Indescribable?" Xu Liang raised an eyebrow.
"You know, those things that only a husband and wife, or a Wife and Master, can do?"
Xu Liang suddenly blushed and stammered, "Hui'er is a good girl. Although I am not a paragon of virtue, I wouldn't take her purity in such a moment. Besides, my Shixiong was right there."
"But at the scene, you admitted it yourself."
"That was because—because..."
"Alright! Let's move on to the next topic." Xing Ruyi interrupted. "During your meeting, did you mention wanting to eat chicken?"
"I did!" Xu Liang lowered his head. "When we met, I suddenly heard a rooster crowing. Hui'er laughed; at that moment, my favorite was chicken legs. I even quarreled with her just to eat a few more bites. Later on, I don't know when it started, but we stopped competing and began to yield to each other. We would pass the chicken leg back and forth until it got cold, and neither of us wanted to take the first bite. Every time during that moment, Hui'er would pretend to cry and then force me to take the first bite while she took the second. Hui'er also learned many methods for cooking chicken legs because she knew I liked them. But by the time she learned, I had already become a monk. Monks cannot eat meat. Seeing her sad made me comfort her; in truth, I also missed the taste of those chicken legs."
"And then Liu Hui went home to cook for you and even scheduled your second meeting?"
"No! Hui'er knew my determination to become a monk and didn't force me. She just said that when she gets married in the future, she would let me come down from the mountain to see her again."
"Last question: Can your Shixiong use Ambergris?"
"Why did you suddenly think to ask this?"
"Just answer me, does he use it or not?"
"He does! Shixiong has suffered from a hidden illness, and during his childhood, he was often discussed behind his back by the other Shixiong brothers. So Master bought him a lot of Ambergris, but he only uses it when going out among many people; usually, he lives alone and uses it sparingly."
"Now, let's return to the question we just discussed. You and Liu Hui have not had an intimate relationship, so why did you admit that you had been involved with Liu Hui at the time of the incident? The answer is simple: because Liu Hui was raped, and you knew that during the autopsy, the Coroner would definitely discover this, so you confessed, implicating yourself as the perpetrator."
Xu Liang silently clenched his fists, his eyes glistening with tears, yet he bit his lip tightly and remained silent.
"Now, let me help you reconstruct the case!"
"You and Liu Hui were childhood sweethearts, and since both families were similar in background and your parents were good friends, you were betrothed. However, for some unknown reason, a conflict arose between your parents and Liu Laoshi. I suspect it must have been related to interests; otherwise, given Liu Laoshi's character, he wouldn't have taken action against your parents."
"It was a box of jewelry!" Xu Liang suddenly spoke up. "That was many years ago; I vaguely remember I was only seven or eight at the time. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, my parents invited Hui'er's father to celebrate on a rented fishing boat. It wasn't luxurious but had everything we needed. My mother prepared mooncakes, my father brought good wine, and Hui'er's father brought a lot of meat. We all ate and drank a lot, and during the moon viewing, we fell asleep. Unknowingly, the boat drifted far down the Luoyang River, eventually getting stuck in a patch of reeds. Then, in a daze, I heard my parents talking about river bandits killing people outside. Vaguely, I also heard crying, but that sound quickly disappeared.
I came out of the cabin and saw my parents and Hui'er's father standing at the bow of the boat. The boat slowly sailed out of the reeds under the silvery moonlight, reflecting a river stained with blood and floating corpses. My mother felt sorry and softly asked my father if they should go down to see if there were any survivors. My father said that since river bandits attack, they wouldn't leave any survivors; we should leave quickly to avoid being caught by them as well."
"Unfortunately, you couldn't escape!"
"Yes, we couldn't escape. Perhaps it was fate that our families' peaceful coexistence and pure hearts remained in that blood-soaked night." Xu Liang's eyes were vacant as if he had returned to that Mid-Autumn night.
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