Are You Reprimanding Me

Governor Li wanted to settle this case since Zhao Zhi was not around and claim all the credit for cracking this major murder case.

Finding out that Guan Qing had been at the pub was purely by accident. Someone had recognized her. He initially didn’t think too much of it, but the more he thought about it, and the more carefully he thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed.

Someone had seen Guan Qing and Cao Zhang speaking to one another. Cao Zhang was the leader of the Green Gang and he had a problem on hand that required an official to solve. Lu Guangzong had sat on the problem and refused to help, so the two sides did have some sort of feud. The Green Gang dabbled in both the legal and illegal, and killing a person or two didn’t bother them. So what if Lu Guangzong had been an official?

Guan Qing was a merchant and had a lot of means of making money. Every major transaction that would earn money would implicate a few lives. This woman was an aggressive one, so if she wanted the Green Gang to help her, she would have to pay the price. She was very intelligent, knew how to make use of every connection possible and had plenty of money, so she would definitely know what issues Cao Zhang was facing recently. If she could solve the problem for him, he would definitely have to repay the favor.

And she dared to do this for one very obvious reason. Her cousin was Song Caitang!

Song Caitang was excellent at dissecting bodies and could speak for the dead. Her name was also listed officially in the books, so it would be convenient for her to fudge the coroner’s reports…

They were related by blood and Song Caitang was living with the Guans because she had nowhere else to go. Of course she would help her cousin!

He had to get it out of Guan Qing before the Guans and Song Caitang did anything.

Governor Li had thought of everything. The only thing he hadn’t thought of was the possibility that Guan Qing would refuse to admit to it.

She looked young and had the hairstyle of an unbetrothed woman to match. Yet, she wasn’t afraid of being interrogated in the courthouse by an official. She sat up straight and argued back very fiercely, absolutely refusing to admit to any crime!

This girl even trapped him with his own words and embarrassed him!

Governor Li was so furious his liver hurt. He was beginning to worry that he might suddenly burst and yell for someone to execute her on the spot…

When others committed crimes, it was his duty to arrest them. But if he committed a crime, someone else was responsible for arresting him. He had to remain calm! He must not act rashly!

“You’d better think carefully!”

He marched out angrily to get a breath of fresh air, leaving Guan Qing alone in the hall.

Qi Yan seized this chance to get Song Caitang in.

Song Caitang stared at Guan Qing, whose eyes were clear and her brows slightly raised. She was a little angry, but she was still in control of her own emotions. For some reason, Song Caitang found it funny and actually burst out laughing.

This older cousin of hers didn’t behave like a young, unmarried woman below 20 at all. This woman was very mentally resilient.

“Eldest Sister, are you…”

Before she could say “are you alright”, Guan Qing frowned at her, “I’m fine. Don’t worry unnecessarily about me.”

Song Caitang closed her mouth again.

“And don’t be afraid,” Guan Qing looked straight at her, “I didn’t kill anyone.”

“You don’t want to tell him the truth?”

Guan Qing shook her head, “I can’t.”

Song Caitang was quite sure it had something to do with Cao Zhang.

Perhaps their discussion involved something that had to be kept a secret, so she couldn’t talk about it to others.

“Judging from the way Governor Li is handling this I’m afraid I might have to stick around for a few days. Since you’re here, I want to talk to you about a couple of things, “ Guan Qing smiled faintly. There was a glimmer in her clear eyes and her gaze was a warm one that was rarely seen, “I know you want to help me, but my store managers are much better in that aspect than you are. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be properly clothed and fed and the place will be kept nice and clean, plus I’m not scared at all. Tell Grandmother and Wan’er not to worry about me.”

Song Caitang lowered her gaze and said, “I will work hard to crack the case as quickly as possible.”

“You don’t have to bear the weight of everything, you know? You’re still so young, so just relax and enjoy your life. Wouldn’t that be better?”

Song Caitang burst out laughing at these words and she replied cheekily, “I might be convinced by someone else, but when such words are coming from you…”

Guan Qing glared at her. She didn’t know how to respond to that at all.

Then, she sighed.

“I was the one who got myself into this, so I can’t blame anybody for it. As long as I don’t reveal any details, then nobody can say that I’m taking the rap for another person, or that I’m being threatened. I run a business, so I have to remain a trustworthy person and I cannot be biased. I was indeed at that pub that day, so I’m a suspect and it is only right for the authorities to question me. But I didn’t commit any crime, so nothing bad will happen to me. There are many evil people in the world, but there’s also justice.”

Song Caitang had a quiet look in her eyes as she asked softly, “You believe in justice?”

Guan Qing’s gaze was confident and bright, “I hope it exists.”

Song Caitang spoke for a while more with Guan Qing and was now sure that Guan Qing was determined to stick it out. She was going to be fine all by herself, and… she was definitely not going to come clean about her meeting with Cao Zhang. Not even to her own cousin.

Guan Qing reminded Song Caitang to spend more time with their grandmother instead of thinking about the case all day. Madam Zhang was grounded anyway, so she couldn’t create any trouble. Thinking too much would only cause her to lose hairs on her head. The case would come to light sooner or later, so Guan Qing wouldn’t be stuck here forever either.

Song Caitang felt a lot better after talking to Guan Qing.

Guan Qing was going to be fine, and she was going to do her best to crack the case and find the killer!

Immediately after she stepped out of the courthouse, she ran into Cao Zhang.

Cao Zhang was sitting at the top of a wall in a vulgar fashion, attracting attention for all the wrong reasons.

He called out to Song Caitang, “That five day bet wasn’t a joke, right?”

He was referring to the bet made at the Gao family party. Song Caitang had agreed to crack the case within five days.

Two days had passed since then.

Song Caitang raised an eyebrow and looked calmly at him, “Weren’t you joking that day, Leader Cao?”

This bet had been made on the spur of the moment. Cao Zhang had suddenly thought of it only to put Guan Qing on the spot and didn’t mean it. But the fact that Song Caitang had figured that out and was questioning him made him annoyed.

His expression darkened considerably and the look in his eyes turned sinister.

“My cousin had met with you that day, and I don’t care what happened during that meeting – I will not interfere with her decision, but nobody can interfere with what I do either,” Song Caitang did not even bother looking at Cao Zhang and stared into the distance, “I’m not a heartless person. I will make sure I crack the case properly and rescue my cousin.”

Cao Zhang gnashed his teeth, “Are you reprimanding me?”

Song Caitang pretended to look appalled, “I wouldn’t dare to do that! You’re the leader of the Green Gang! A formidable man!”

Cao Zhang snorted.

“What a stupid woman. As stupid as your cousin.”

He hopped down from the top of the wall, “There’s no hope for you, just wait to die.”

After saying that, he used his martial arts abilities to walk away extremely quickly and quietly, disappearing in no time.

Song Caitang was in an even better mood after pissing him off. She turned to get into her carriage and headed home.

Zhao Zhi wasn’t around and Governor Li was determined to interfere with the case, so Governor Zhang was having trouble fending him off by himself. Wen Yuansi continued trying to help Governor Zhang while finding clues and questioning witnesses, so he was too busy to even eat. He even needed Qi Yan to help him update Song Caitang on any new evidence or discoveries.

Qi Yan was helping to send messages while secretly taking care of Guan Qing, so he was also kept very busy and didn’t have the time to poke his nose into the affairs of others or eavesdrop on town gossip.

Song Caitang, on the contrary, had lots of time on her hands because Governor Li had forcibly taken over the case.

She analyzed her case notes while keeping her grandmother company.

In the living room facing the sun, the golden sunshine shone in. Song Caitang sat on the long stool next to the window, her notes all over the table. The paper reflected the sunshine and the whiteness of it was rather glaring.

Madam Bai sat cross-legged on another chair and leaned against a soft cushion. She held a play in her hands, reading it out loud for both Song Caitang and Guan Wan.

Guan Wan was embroidering a small display piece and felt that it was a bit too dark in the middle of the room, so she wanted to be near the window too. But sharing the long stool didn’t give her enough space to put all her threads and other materials down, so she called the servants to bring a large cushion over and she sat down at Madam Bai’s feet.

The wind was gentle, the birds chirped sweetly. It was a heartwarming scene.

As Song Caitang looked through her notes, she realized that Cao Zhang was suspicious too.

The Green Gang was an influential one. While they made a lot of money as a shipping company of sorts, they also buried many bodies in the waters. The birth of a new leader was usually accompanied by many terrible dangers and acts of evil. Cao Zhang had definitely killed people before, and he was definitely a man with guts.

A new leader was often very motivated and hoped to prove themselves, but the new law that passed had suddenly made it hard for the gang to do business. He had to solve this problem quickly and cleanly, or he would lose the respect of the other gang members.

Moreover, the timeline of where he was and what he did that day was pretty fuzzy too.

Someone testified that Cao Zhang did indeed have an appointment with Lu Guangzong, and that something did crop up immediately after Cao Zhang had sat down, which forced him to leave the pub and attend to it. But he settled this matter in a short time. He completed the task in half an hour, so he could have returned in time to continue his meeting with Lu Guangzong. But he only returned after a long time. So long that Lu Guangzong had left. Or rather, died.

As for why he had taken so long to return, the reason he gave was clearly one made up on the spot. He claimed that he had walked back without using any martial arts technique, so it took him longer than usual.

Who would believe that?

Not Song Caitang, at least.

Regardless of whether he was the killer, he must have gone to do something during this time.

This was an era where the courts enforced laws on the people, but their attitude toward martial artists was a little hazy.

In general, the martial arts scene had its own rules. If someone was killed out of revenge by an opposing school of martial arts, that person’s family and friends wouldn’t report it because they respected the rules between martial artists. Even if they did, it would be hard to investigate it. Either the authorities would have trouble finding the killer, or they had trouble arresting them. Most of the time, the authorities would not prioritize the case unless it was a major case where a lot of people died or something along those lines.

For this case, Cao Zhang had the guts, had a motive for killing, had the ability to kill, and was capable of settling the aftermath…

While Song Caitang was deep in thought, Madam Bai had already gone through half the play.

Guan Wan frowned as she gave her criticisms, “That bandit had already killed so many people and he had become so used to it already, so why didn’t he just kill that corrupt official too? Why did he just watch the kind and pretty lady suffer? The lady was so pitiful, and he had said so himself too.”

“It was just a passing remark. He clearly didn’t mean it.”

Madam Bai calmly turned the page, “Besides, he wasn’t responsible for taking care of such things. Killing the official did not give him money or power, so why should he bother? The official wasn’t his enemy either. Killing a person requires a lot of effort, after all. You would have to find out about that person’s habits and daily routine, prepare your murder weapon, make sure that person has no way of escaping, and be able to leave no traces behind… it’s a big hassle.”

“Wan’er, you must remember one thing. Everything you do comes at a cost. You have to consider this whenever you decide to do something, and you have to consider it when you’re trying to defend yourself from others too. Most people will not do anything that costs them more than the returns. People are not stupid.”

It was hard to say if Guan Wan truly understood or not. But her reaction was very cute as she smiled sweetly at her grandmother, “I’ll remember that!”

The cost…

Song Caitang’s ears picked up this word and immediately applied it to the case at hand.

If Cao Zhang wanted to kill Lu Guangzong, how much would it cost him, and what would he get in return?

It would definitely cost him a lot. It was very hard to kill a high ranking court official because they were always well guarded. Lu Shen had managed to capture Lu Guangzong mostly because he was Lu Guangzong’s son. Cao Zhang wasn’t related to Lu Guangzong in any way, so regardless of how highly skilled he was in martial arts or how meticulous his planning was, to kill Lu Guangzong without anyone noticing and without becoming a suspect would be too difficult.

Besides, the problem he was facing required an official’s help. Would killing Lu Guangzong solve that?

Not at all. He would end up having to find someone else to help him instead.

Thinking about it that way cleared up her thoughts.

Cao Zhang was already facing his own woes, so there was no need for him to add to it by wasting time on drawing up a plan to kill Lu Guangzong…

Guan Wan and Madam Bai were still discussing the play, “Then… why didn’t the female lead recognize the silly scholar? The whole thing made me so anxious.”

Madam Bai laughed, “People are capable of pretending and changing. If one is bent on making sure others don’t recognize them and put in a lot of effort to disguise themselves, it’s definitely possible for this to happen. You’ve seen those opera actors. They just need to change into the right clothes, draw their beards the right way, speak like an old man, and they’ll look the part without anyone noticing anything amiss. My child, you must look beyond appearances…”

Since she was done with the play, Madam Bai put the script away and sighed, “All these plays keep using the same tropes over and over again, how predictable! They’re no fun to read at all. I’ll get another one later. Come along, girls, it’s getting late. Put aside what you’re doing and let’s go get dinner.”

She took away Guan Wan’s embroidery ring while telling her to take care of her eyesight, then turned to yank Song Caitang away from her notes.

“Don’t worry, the sky’s not going to fall just yet!”

Dreams plagued Song Caitang’s sleep at night again.

When she woke up, there was no moon in the sky. Only the sound of rain.

She pulled a coat around herself, lit the candle on the table, then sat down in a daze in front of all her case notes.

Her heart was calm, since nobody had pressured her into doing anything in particular, or to solve the case by a certain date. Guan Qing, Guan Wan and her grandmother had all been giving her positive vibes too. But she couldn’t stop her brain from thinking about the case.

She kept feeling like she had overlooked something.

What could it be?

Her slim fingers slowly moved across the papers on the table. Her gaze was clear except for a dim gleam at the back of her eyes.

Since she didn’t know what it was, she was going to start thinking in great detail from the beginning again until she found it!