I Am A Husband Curser, And You Are A Wife Curser. - Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Tragic Fate

“Xiangxi, you’ve reminded me. Her husband is dead, yet she hasn’t even shown her face. This is far too abnormal.”

At the same time, Yang Tongchuan worried in silence. If this matter truly involved the Lin family, could the truth ever be uncovered given Head Constable Wang’s relationship with them?

As the investigation continued over the next few days, no major progress was made. Master Lin was quite decent about it; he didn’t abandon the mess to go home. Instead, he stayed at an inn in town, planning to wait until Dong Xingzhi’s family arrived before making his next move.

“Tongchuan, you seem to have a lot on your mind lately. Have you discovered something?” Head Constable Wang asked privately during a case review.

“Head Constable, I have some doubts. According to Master Lin, Lin Yujun and Dong Xingzhi had a great relationship. So why, after her husband has been dead for so long, has she not shown up once? Furthermore, when a master dies, it’s a massive event; for the personal servant to also stay hidden—doesn’t he fear the family will settle accounts later?”

“Are you suggesting the Lin family is the problem? Why didn’t you say so sooner?” Wang’s expression turned solemn.

“You know my history with Lin Yujun. If I raised this in public, people would inevitably suspect I’m using my official position to settle a personal grudge.” Yang Tongchuan offered a plausible excuse.

“I understand. Go home for now. Don’t speak of this to anyone. Let me think on it.”

“Yes, sir.”

The next morning, Yang Tongchuan heard from the night-shift guards that Head Constable Wang had led a squad out of the city at dusk and hadn’t returned.

“Brother Yang, do you know where they went?”

“How would I know? I went home early last night,” Yang Tongchuan played dumb. Inside, he was calculating the time. If the Dong family at the border had received the letter and traveled by fast horse, they should be arriving any moment.

That afternoon, Head Constable Wang brought Lin Yujun back. As for Dong Xingzhi’s servant, he was carried back on a stretcher. The fellow truly couldn’t get up—not because of illness, but because he had been beaten until his waist was broken. He was lying there on the brink of death.

Yang Tongchuan never expected his next meeting with that woman would be in a dungeon. Upon seeing Yang Tongchuan, Lin Yujun began to giggle. She laughed until tears streamed down her face, a sight that was truly eerie.

“Head Constable, perhaps I should excuse myself.”

“No need. Stay and listen. There are details that still need your verification.”

Yang Tongchuan had no choice but to stay. It turned out Wang had taken men to scout near Master Lin’s house. After some inquiries, he realized Master Lin hadn’t been telling the whole truth. Lin Yujun and Dong Xingzhi did not have a good relationship.

When Lin Yujun first arrived at the border, she and Dong Xingzhi did have a “honey-sweet” period. However, as the eldest daughter of an escort agency, she had a bit of a temper. Over time, faced with her mother-in-law’s strict rules and her husband’s constant absences for business, she became resentful.

The conflict exploded when she discovered that long before their marriage, her husband had purchased a private courtyard to house a collection of female slaves and gers. Dong Xingzhi lied, saying they were “life-contract” slaves meant for gifts or entertaining clients. But Lin Yujun wasn’t a fool; the maids and boys she had dismissed after marriage were all being hidden by Dong in that courtyard.

Even worse, business partners would send Dong people as “return gifts.” The breaking point came when Dong didn’t return home for two days. Lin Yujun led a group to the courtyard and caught him in the act. The shock nearly caused Dong’s “little brother” to “break.” In the chaos, a man fled from the adjacent room half-dressed—a medicinal herb merchant Dong had been hosting. This incident made Dong lose face entirely in merchant circles.

The couple had a massive fight, and Lin Yujun fled back to her parents. Dong came this time to offer a soft apology and take her back—after all, an in-law who ran an escort agency was useful to him.

Unexpectedly, they began arguing almost as soon as they met. Master Lin stepped in to speak with Dong privately. Lin Yujun seized the chance to snatch Dong’s personal servant, demanding to know if her husband had stayed faithful while she was away. The servant didn’t dare tell the truth and tried to coax her; when she saw through his lies, she had him beaten.

By the time Dong finished talking with his father-in-law, the servant had been beaten into a pulp. A doctor was called, but the damage was irreversible. In a rage, Dong dumped the servant at the Lin house, saying whoever broke him should serve him. He then hired laborers, took his furs, and left the Lin family. Before leaving, he declared he’d be back in half a month—if she still refused to come home then, she could stay with her parents for the rest of her life.

“I haven’t seen him since,” Lin Yujun finished her story.

“You’ve stayed home this entire time?”

“Yes. I haven’t stepped out the door.”

“Then why, when the yamen sent word of his death, did you not immediately come to identify the body?”

“My father feared I would be too distressed; he wouldn’t let me come.” Lin Yujun’s lips curled slightly; her excuse was airtight.

But Yang Tongchuan felt something was wrong. The Lin Yujun before him felt like a completely different person from the one he had once known. She seemed… on the verge of madness.

After the interrogation, they checked the dying servant. He was in a coma with a high fever, his wounds festering. Had it been summer, maggots would have set in. The doctor glanced at him and said it was only a matter of days. Since there was no evidence linking Lin Yujun to the death, Master Lin took her home again.

The case hit a stalemate. Wang sent the men out to track the missing bank notes, hoping to frame it as a “murder for profit” case. They found nothing.

Just as they were losing heart, the Dong family arrived. Dong Xingzhi’s younger brother, Dong Xingsheng, appeared. He immediately fainted from grief in the morgue and had to be carried out. However, unlike their theories of robbery, Dong Xingsheng insisted his brother’s death was definitely caused by his sister-in-law.

“What basis do you have for saying that?” Wang asked.

“My sister-in-law’s mind is not right. She never wants to do anything during the day; she just likes to pester my brother to sleep with her. If he doesn’t, she makes trouble.” Xingsheng was blunt, speaking of his brother’s bedroom affairs without any hesitation.

“Cough, you can’t just say such things. That is your sister-in-law,” Wang interjected to stop the rambling.

“It’s true! My big brother told me himself. He said she was so afraid of him messing around outside that she’d pester him day and night. He couldn’t say no, or she’d suspect him of doing bad things. Eventually, my mother found out and called her in for a scolding. All the maids and nannies serving her know this.” Xingsheng’s words left all the men present in shock.

Some of the older constables who knew the history stole teasing glances at Yang Tongchuan. Yang Tongchuan felt a sudden wave of regret; why hadn’t he taken the day off?

“But even so, what evidence do you have that her death is related to her?”

“My brother’s other woman is pregnant.” Xingsheng’s every sentence was a bombshell.