100 — Treat You To A Meal

The afternoon sun shone into the room at an angle. And when it had nearly reached Song Caitang’s feet through the window, Zhao Zhi returned.

She was poring over a detailed write-up on Luanze that was kept by local historians and geographers.

The sun still shone very brightly, but it seemed more peaceful than the morning sun. There seemed to be no other sound around her besides the gentle, quiet sounds of pages being turned.

A breeze blew in. It was gentle and a little cheeky as it blew past her face, made the tassels in her hair sway and tinkle, and made her azure skirt flap a little.

The sun on her made her look like she was glowing.

Her golden tassels reflected the sunshine, while her skin was smooth, supple, and even fairer than the off white color of the pages she was flipping.

She tilted her head slightly, so her hair went past her long lashes and down to her pretty chin. It kept blowing in the wind and made one feel the urge to help her comb it aside.

Zhao Zhi paused for a moment at the door before walking in with heavy footsteps.

Song Caitang heard his footsteps and smiled when she turned and saw it was him, “You’re back.”

Zhao Zhi came closer and noticed the book she was reading, as well as the huge map that covered the entire table. He raised an eyebrow, “Discovered something?”

Song Caitang’s eyes curved as she smiled more brightly.

“You’re the surveillance commissioner, alright.”

And clearly nothing like that useless Qi Yan.

Both of them knew she was bad at directions, but their reaction to her reading a map was completely different. Qi Yan was puzzled, but Zhao Zhi could make an educated guess.

Zhao Zhi didn’t know what happened at the Gao family party earlier, but he was still able to guess that she must have gathered some clues. Just that response alone was enough to tell him something.

He looked intently at her, “You wouldn’t do anything for no reason.”

“I did make some discoveries.” Song Caitang was in the midst of sorting out her clues and couldn’t get anything out of them, so she decided to ask Zhao Zhi about what he found out instead, “What about you? I’m sure you’ve gotten some information too.”

He must have left the party halfway for a good reason.

Zhao Zhi turned and looked at the sky, “I’ve been running around all day, so I’m tired and thirsty. Why don’t we find a nice teahouse to sit down and chat?”

Song Caitang looked up at him with a start.

He seemed to take issue with the simple table and stool in the room, as well as the plain teacups and lower grade tea…

Song Caitang raised her brows and nearly burst out laughing.

She had been too busy lately and had not paid much attention to anything else. She had nearly forgotten that this man was an aristocrat, a relative of the emperor!

It was only normal for him to despise anything that wasn’t pretty or elegant enough, or something that wasn’t tasty enough.

Well, she had been busy all day and was tired too. Pampering herself sounded like a great idea.

Zhao Zhi asked, “How about Qingxin Edifice?”

Ever since she had woken up in this universe, the path she had traveled the most was between her place and the courthouse, so she was very familiar with the area around the courthouse as well. She knew immediately which place he was referring to.

Qingxin Edifice was the largest restaurant in the vicinity. The owner was very good at doing business too. One third of the building was a teahouse, and the tea, snacks and tea experts were some of the best in town. One could sit there for an entire day.

And if you were tired or hungry after an entire day of work, you didn’t have to come downstairs. There was a special corridor that led to the restaurant side.

The dishes served at the restaurant were very good, and were also considered the best food in town. Their signature dish, the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall¹, was incredibly delicious.

It was totally the sort of thing an aristocrat who was also a relative of the emperor would love.

“Sure.” Song Caitang had no objection and began packing the scrolls on the table. “It’s just that the details we have so far are still rather vague, and I’m afraid it’d take us more than a couple of hours to finish talking about the case.”

Zhao Zhi raised a hand and exuded a domineering air, as though this was no big deal, “We’ll have dinner at the restaurant as well then.”

As he spoke, he came forward, walked around Song Caitang very naturally and helped to pack the things on the table without looking at her, “You’re helping me out, so it’s only right of me to treat you to a meal.”

Since he put it that way, it wouldn’t be nice of her to turn him down.

Song Caitang smiled and nodded, “Sure.”

Zhao Zhi nodded, carried all her things and led the way.

The atmosphere at this point was quiet but coordinated.

But shortly after they had left the room, before they could even turn the corner… they bumped into Wen Yuansi.

Well, it wasn’t really a coincidence. Wen Yuansi was here precisely to look for Song Caitang.

He stopped when he saw Song Caitang walking out, “Miss Song, you’re leaving?”

Zhao Zhi was walking in front of her, so he answered on her behalf as though it was his job, “That’s right.” His eyes were slightly narrowed and his expression was stern.

Wen Yuansi was a gentle person and Song Caitang had a very good impression of him all this time. She pointed at Zhao Zhi’s back as she smiled and greeted Wen Yuansi, “Surveillance Commissioner Zhao wants to treat me to some tea and dinner.”

After they walked closer to one another, Song Caitang could see the look on Wen Yuansi’s face better. She raised her brows and smile grew brighter, “Magistrate Wen has some new clues too?”

At the party, Song Caitang had gotten the chance to put up an act and get Lu Shen to talk only because Wen Yuansi had successfully distracted Loo Zhong. Also, Zhao Zhi told her that Wen Yuansi should have gone to observe Pang Qian after that.

Wen Yuansi had returned with hurried footsteps and he hadn’t changed out of his clothes. He clearly looked like he had good news to share, so he must have gotten some new clues.

Wen Yuansi greeted Zhao Zhi politely with a palm over his other fist and smiled, “I’m afraid I’d have to impose on you, Surveillance Commissioner Zhao.”

Zhao Zhi stared down at Wen Yuansi as he pulled his lips into a straight line. His words seemed to weigh a ton, “Im…pose?”

The magistrate was clearly not welcome. The tone of Zhao Zhi’s voice sounded more like “since you know you’re imposing, how dare you even bring it up”, or “since you know you’re imposing, then get lost right now”.

Wen Yuansi didn’t seem to have noticed the implied meaning of Zhao Zhi’s tone of voice at all. He remained cheery and said, “You’re right, you’re right. Talking about work isn’t considered imposing on you. I need to report important clues about the Lu Guangzong case to you.” He even bowed extremely elegantly as he went on, “You’ve been so faithful to your work as a surveillance commissioner, professional in all aspects, running about day and night to investigate these cases, and you’ve even come all the way to a small place like Luanze. Us lower ranked officials haven’t even welcomed you officially yet. Why don’t I pay for dinner tonight?”

Not only did he want to come along for dinner, but he also wanted to fight to pay for it.

Zhao Zhi’s expression darkened as he slowly raised a hand to button his sleeve cuff. His voice was lazy as he dragged his words out, “Looks like Magistrate Wen isn’t short on money, huh.”

Those words were spoken casually, but they could mean a lot.

Wen Yuansi was only a local magistrate and didn’t earn that much. To be able to have a lot of money at his disposal and not fear a huge bill from a very expensive restaurant…

Why would an official have more money than he should? It didn’t take a genius to figure out why.

But Wen Yuansi did not lose his cool. He stood as straight and as unyielding as a bamboo, “It is true that I have not been working hard enough. I am able to live in such a privileged manner purely because of my grandmother.”

In other words, the money was all from his grandmother. Regardless of whether it had come from her dowry or her business, they were not ill-gotten gains.

Any suspicions were swept away quickly by this simple statement.

Zhao Zhi remarked, “It’s time you found a wife, Magistrate Wen.”

“If you say so, Surveillance Commissioner Zhao,” replied Wen Yuansi as his gaze glanced casually past Song Caitang.

Zhao Zhi’s voice became even frostier, as though he were the surface of a frozen lake in winter, “I do know some nice aristocratic ladies from the capital and I could introduce you…”

Wen Yuansi had the same smile, “Thank you for the concern, but marriage is something that the elders in the family decide on. It would be great if you could introduce me to someone you know, but unfortunately my grandmother is of an older generation who is very particular about such things. I really can’t make any decisions at all.”

---

Song Caitang sighed as she clutched her forehead.

She could see that Zhao Zhi and Wen Yuansi did not get along, but she couldn’t understand why. Then again, sometimes, people just didn’t work well together. She understood that. But right now, their conversation had gone completely off tangent and had become meaningless.

She couldn’t stand it anymore. She sighed, then interrupted their conversation, “Are we still going to Qingxin Edifice or not?”

Zhao Zhi and Wen Yuansi turned and said at the same time, “Of course!”

The two men led the way and talked the entire journey. Their conversation was meaningless and none of it made much sense to Song Caitang. It was clear that things were awkward between them, yet they were able to keep talking as though they were enjoying the conversation. Song Caitang really took her hat off to them.

It was hard being in public service.

---

At Qingxin Edifice, they got a private room with a window overlooking the street. Every piece of furniture and crockery were exquisite.

The tea expert had just finished brewing a pot of tea and walked away. The fragrance of tea filled the room as steam rose from the pot.

Before they could start talking, someone jumped in from the window, “Having tea? Count me in!”

It was Qi Yan.

Song Caitang stared at him, “How did you know we were here?”

“How could such a simple matter stump me?”

Qi Yan hopped over with a smug smile on his face. He didn’t bother calling for the waiter and procured an additional teacup from elsewhere.

But he instinctively sat as far as possible from Zhao Zhi.

He waited for a while, and when he saw that Zhao Zhi did not scold him or glare at him, he grinned and greeted him, “Hello, Brother Zhi! You’ve worked hard today!” He turned to Wen Yuansi, “Magistrate Wen too! You’ve worked hard today!”

Wen Yuansi returned the greeting, then slowly picked up his teacup and smiled, “I’ve come to report new clues to Surveillance Commissioner Zhao, and also…” he glanced at Song Caitang, “to ask Miss Song for her valuable opinion.”

Qi Yan rubbed his palms, “What a coincidence! I’m here for the same reason!”

His eyes sparkled as he stared at Song Caitang and praised her, “Miss Song is the cleverest and prettiest person I’ve ever met!”

Pak! A teacup landed heavily on the table. Zhao Zhi raised an eyebrow, “Didn’t you say you were here to talk about the case?”

His expression was too fierce and the look in his eyes was too threatening. Qi Yan nearly dropped his cup in fright.

Wen Yuansi remained calm and immediately got the ball rolling, “It’s very likely that Commissioner Lu did take bribes and did do some things to hurt others.”

His gaze grew stern as he started recounting what he had gathered from the behavior of Pang Qian and other officials around him.

“Pang Qian hated Commissioner Lu because he lost the position he wanted to Commissioner Lu, so it’s easy to understand why he would spread those ugly rumors. But when these rumors were brought up, the behavior of the other officials was very different and a lot of them were speaking secretly to one another. I could see that before this happened to Commissioner Lu, the other officials had kept quiet about any corrupt practices, harmful practices or speculations they had, and didn’t tell anybody else about what they knew or thought. But once Commissioner Lu passed on, there was no need to keep these things secret anymore. After checking in with one another, they realized that everyone had seen and felt the same…”

“As of now, we still don’t have any hard evidence that any of this is true, and it’s not sufficient to rely on the words of one Pang Qian. But since everyone else is echoing the same sentiments…”

Wen Yuansi had good reason to believe that Lu Guangzong was not as upright an official as his reputation claimed. There was no smoke without fire, after all.

But Lu Guangzong’s reputation had really been fantastic. From his time in the capital all the way till he moved to Luanze, there had been no lapse at all. He remained as highly respected as ever. Even when something happened to a duke, the duke’s daughter, Yun Nianyao, was certain that he could help her family. How did the old man garner such a reputation?

Of course, clean officials existed throughout history. But being clean didn’t mean you didn’t offend anybody at all. As long as you were in this line, you would have enemies, and enemies would definitely try to attack you. It was impossible for your reputation to be this perfect.

How did Lu Guangzong do it?

In other words, what did he do to attain this?

Song Caitang had a flicker in her gaze, “That means that he did have money to give to his son.”

Give money to his son? Lu Shen?

The three men turned to look at Song Caitang with puzzled faces. They didn’t understand why she suddenly said this.

Song Caitang proceeded to tell them what she had heard from Lu Shen during the party.

She told them Lu Guangzong was a strict father with high expectations, so Lu Shen felt very oppressed and always wanted to prove himself. A chance came along and he just needed some money to get what he wanted, but Lu Guangzong did not give his son the money he needed.

Lu Shen refused to give up, so he tried to look for his father’s money, including searching his father’s study…

Zhao Zhi tapped a finger on the table, “The son knows the father has money, so when the father didn’t give him any, he started searching for it himself. But he couldn’t find any even after turning his own house upside down. That only proves one thing…”

Lu Guangzong had hidden the money too well.

It was too secure for anyone to find it.

Qi Yan was a little befuddled, “Don’t people earn money to use it? Why would Lu Guangzong want so much money and not spend it on himself and his family? Where did it go? Did he spend it on some mistress?”

That didn’t make sense either.

“But that’s not right either. When I investigated Fourth Missy Gan, I checked Lu Guangzong out as well. He wasn’t having an affair with Fourth Missy Gan at all, and nothing of that nature even happened. He didn’t have any hidden lovers, didn’t drink much and didn’t visit the brothels either…”

So, what did he do with the money?

Was he hiding it for fun?

Qi Yan simply couldn’t figure it out.

Wen Yuansi had a frosty look in his eye and his smile in the shadow cast by the sunshine actually looked a little sinister, “How could an ordinary person possibly guess what a corrupt person is thinking about?”

“The two of you just returned, so besides Lu Shen, you missed out on what happened between Fourth Missy Gan and Niu Baoshan.” Qi Yan took a sip of his tea, then started re-enacting how Song Caitang had set everything up to force the two to talk about what happened back then.

He gesticulated wildly as he spoke dramatically. At the climax of the story, he nearly leaped onto the table.

He was like a storyteller, weaving the highs and lows of the story together to make it sound as exciting as possible.

The way Zhao Zhi and Wen Yuansi looked at Song Caitang was different from before.

Qi Yan took no notice and slammed a palm on the table to conclude, “I went to check things out just now and found out that because there’s no concrete evidence and nobody was admitting to killing Niu Xingzu, Governor Zhang can’t arrest either of them. Their statements were taken down and they were released after that. But they still hate each other’s guts and I foresee something like that happening again.”

After that, he ambled over to Song Caitang, “So, how did Niu Xingzu die? Fourth Missy Gan admitted that he had eaten cookies mixed with rat poison, after all. She’s not a suspect at all?”

Song Caitang shook her head, “Niu Xingzu was not poisoned, or rather, the poison did not affect him badly and would not have killed him. His bones do not show any signs of poisoning and his hyoid bone is normal.”

“In that case…”

“He was killed by a sharp weapon.”

“It was either a knife or a sword. If it was a knife, it would have been a dagger. If it was a sword, it would be a short one,” Song Caitang used her hands to show them how long the weapon would have been. “The victim’s fourth left rib looks like there was blood on it when I held it against the light, while the back of the rib has white dots from being stabbed and signs of blood…”

“He was probably killed in one move, and he was stabbed exactly where his heart was.”

If he was stabbed this hard in a vital organ like the heart, he would have died very quickly.

The murderer either really hated Niu Xingzu and happened to stab the young man exactly in the heart, or the murderer was a very experienced killer.