Four Suspects

Song Caitang had mentioned the rules of the Mi family because to her, this was something that would have been enforced. But Qi Yan burst out laughing, spitting his wine out at the same time.

More like sprayed his wine out.

Thankfully, he had turned his head in time, so the dishes on the table were safe.

But he turned in Wen Yuansi’s direction, and if he hadn’t dodged in time, he would have to throw this set of clothes away.

“My dear little Caitang, I think you’ve misunderstood something about men,” Qi Yan put his cup down, then unfolded his fan and fanned himself a few times. He covered the lower half of his face to act all mysterious as he threw hints with his gaze and said slowly, “Patronizing courtesans isn’t anything to be surprised about. Which man hasn’t done that?”

The rules regarding male behavior did not include this aspect. In fact, sometimes being a playboy was actually a source of pride for a man.

Song Caitang raised her eyebrow real high as she slowly put her chopsticks down.

That’s right. How could she have forgotten? She was in a conservative, patriarchal society now. Such double standards were the norm.

“Of course, I’m not like those smelly men,” Qi Yan leaned forward and winked at Song Caitang as he smiled brightly, “I never go to such places.”

Song Caitang slowly sipped her tea, “Is that so.”

Those three words were said very slowly, as if she was hinting at something else.

She had no expression on her face, and she only threw him a glance from the corner of her eye, yet Qi Yan felt like she had seen right through him…

His face hurt, as though he had just been slapped.

He rubbed his cheek and cleared his throat, “Well… fine, I do go to such places, but it’s only to join in the parties for fun and I never get involved with the women! Brother Zhi too! He only goes to drink, and ignores all the women! Even if a woman tries to get near him, he would push her away immediately! They’re just women making use of their beauty but have no substance, so they’re not interesting at all! Don’t you think so, Wen Yuansi?”

After selling out Zhao Zhi, Qi Yan attempted to drag Wen Yuansi down too.

Wen Yuansi put his cup down and smiled even more elegantly and confidently than usual, “I really wouldn’t know anything about that. I’ve never gone to such places before.”

Qi Yan stared at Wen Yuansi in horror.

Traitor! I won’t believe that!

Wen Yuansi casually pushed the plate of duck tongue toward Song Caitang and said, “They’re all dressed up only to get your business, so even if they’re at a good age and have beautiful faces, they can’t compare to an interesting character.”

Qi Yan folded his fan with great gusto, “That’s exactly what I’m talking about! There are pretty faces everywhere, and they look the same after a while and I wouldn’t be able to remember them all! But an interesting person is different…” he smiled at Song Caitang, “Like Miss Song! A person you meet only once in a thousand years! One in a million!”

Song Caitang stared back at him, “Are we eating or not?”

Qi Yan suddenly remembered that was the whole point of coming here and grabbed his chopsticks, “Of course! Eat! Eat!”

She then looked at Wen Yuansi, only to see that he had already put some food in her bowl.

Qi Yan couldn’t believe it. I thought you didn’t know any martial arts! How are you so fast?!

Song Caitang brought the case up again, “Just now you said that the victim, Yuetao, and Mi Gaojie were arguing, then Fan Zishi was their mediator…”

Qi Yan was someone who couldn’t keep anything to himself, so he could keep talking even though Song Caitang merely brought up the topic and did not actually ask him any direct questions.

“That’s right. Fan Zishi is really one of a kind among these rich men’s sons and he’s famous for being good with words. His family doesn’t have some really high ranking official, yet many big shots are willing to invite him to their parties. As long as he’s in attendance, the party will go well. It’d be fun and lively, and nothing will end badly. So, he did his job well by quickly separating the two, pulled Mi Gaojie to one side to have a few cups of wine, said some nice things, and even coaxed him into writing a bit of calligraphy, and Mi Gaojie was happy again.”

“Miss Yuetao was still angry, but Fan Zishi knew what to do too. He got Liu Zhenghao to draw a portrait of her…” Qi Yan paused at this point and waved his fan, “You know who Liu Zhenghao is?”

Wen Yuansi paused as well, “He’s the youngest son of Liu Qinian, the new pacification commissioner.”

Song Caitang nodded. She had heard of this young man before too. Apparently he was extremely talented, especially in drawing and painting. One of his paintings had caught the eye of royalty many years back, and many great artists had praised that painting, so instead of becoming an official like his father, he continued honing his artistic skills. It had paid off and he was well regarded in the arts circles of the capital.

Anyone with talent would usually be a little more removed from society, and those who knew how to manage their talent would be more cautious and make sure their artwork was not circulated freely. But in such places, this rule did not apply. When it came to these parties, the more others asked you to paint something, the more honor and reputation you would build…

Song Caitang was not surprised that Liu Zhenghao would paint a portrait for Yuetao.

“And that portrait was really something!” Qi Yan hit his palm with his fan, unable to hide the amazement in his eyes, “The woman he drew was so charming, like a freshly ripened peach, those curves, those lines, that fullness, that color… gosh, the painting was even prettier than Yuetao herself! Anyone would salivate with just one look!”

After he said all that excitedly, he noticed Song Caitang’s quiet gaze and quickly cleared his throat before pretending to drink his tea calmly, “Of course, I was able to hold it in. I’ve seen many such beauties in the capital, so I wouldn’t be mesmerized.”

He was trying to say that he hadn’t looked much at the painting, but he ended up revealing more about himself.

Song Caitang responded, “Ohhhhhhh, so you’ve seen many such beauties in the capital…”

Qi Yan nearly choked on his tea and coughed violently.

He dared not go off tangent anymore and focused on the case.

“Yuetao was happy after receiving that portrait and stopped throwing a tantrum. She played a piece, and even performed a dance, throwing flirtatious glances like it didn’t cost her a penny, which made all the guests happy. But she’s a courtesan after all, so she’s best at pandering to her customers accordingly. Among all the men, she liked Zheng Kanghui the best. No matter how little he reacted to her or how coldly he treated her, she always found a chance to serve him the way he liked, and even let him drink wine straight from her mouth…”

“Ahem!” Wen Yuansi interrupted him.

Qi Yan glanced at Song Caitang and quickly stopped talking.

This Miss Song was unafraid of dead bodies and did not mind conversations about male and female relations, but when it came to the techniques that courtesans employed…

It was better not to delve into that too deeply, or he’d pollute her ears.

But Song Caitang wasn’t bothered by that at all and asked, “Who is Zheng Kanghui?”

Qi Yan answered, “The grandson of Zheng Fangquan, the Salt and Metals Vice Commissioner. He came this month specially for the top courtesan competition.”

The Salt and Metals department…

The Salt and Metals, General Accounts and the Revenue departments formed one department, the Three Commissions, which was essentially the Department of the Treasury of that era. The handling of salt and metals was extremely important, so it was a position that was very vital and stable.

It wasn’t hard to imagine how high up and powerful Zheng Kanghui’s position in society was.

Song Caitang nodded and asked, “Who did Yuetao leave with after the party?”

“She didn’t leave with anybody,” Qi Yan shook his head, “The Ghost Festival is a major festival, so it would have been too noisy and disruptive to have a party along Qingling River itself. These rich young men didn’t want to be disturbed, so they didn’t hold their party on one of the flower boats and chose to have it in a large bungalow by the river instead.”

“Everyone was drunk that night and the house was big enough, so nobody left and they all just found a room to sleep in for the night. Mr. Zheng was their biggest guest that night and Yuetao was clearly targeting him, so everyone knew what to do and left the two of them alone. Mr. Zheng has also confirmed that he had slept with Yuetao and had a good time, but he was really drunk, so he blacked out after a while, and has no idea what time Yuetao left.”

Wen Yuansi asked, “What about the rest?”

Qi Yan shrugged, “If even Mr. Zheng doesn’t know, the rest are even more clueless. All of them shook their heads.”

Song Caitang was sure that Qi Yan had more clues than this and asked with a smile, “What else?”

“My little Caitang is really amazing! She knows I’m capable and she knows I have more to share!”

Qi Yan got fairly excited as he leaned in and whispered, “This Miaoyin Court doesn’t just have one Yuetao, but they’ve also got a Wenxiang. I suppose you’ve heard of them both? They’re both top courtesans of the same courtesan house, so of course there would be friction! Moreover, they’re both young ladies at an age with romantic ideas… I heard that just like Yuetao, Wenxiang also has her eye on Mi Gaojie! But Mi Gaojie prefers Wenxiang and Yuetao couldn’t win him over, so she was jealous and that’s why she quarreled with Mi Gaojie. She worked hard to gain Mr. Zheng’s favor probably also to make Mi Gaojie jealous…”

He let out a long sigh, “Why would women want to make things difficult for each other? They’re both young and pitiful girls with no family, so it would have been great if they could have supported one another like sisters!”

Song Caitang’s brows flinched a little. This boy from the Mi family was impressive.

“What about Wenxiang? Has she been questioned?”

“She hasn’t, and that’s why I don’t have enough clues!” Qi Yan slapped his thigh, “That Judge Guo is so useless, his legs become jelly at the sight of women and he nearly drooled all over himself! The pimp said that Wenxiang wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t talk to people, and he didn’t ask any further questions! He even told the pimp to make sure Wenxiang got a good rest… I’m damned sure that guy must have bet on one of the courtesans and he must have bet on Wenxiang!”

That surprised Song Caitang a little. Based on her observation of Judge Guo the day before, his tone and attitude toward this unknown corpse had already been very demeaning. Would knowing who she was change that?

“Judge Guo seems to despise boat courtesans.”

Qi Yan let out a snort, “Once he’s in bed with one, you’d know if he despises them or not. For all you know, he might even fall to his knees because she wants him to.”

“AHEM!” Wen Yuansi reminded Qi Yan to watch his words again.

Qi Yan rubbed his nose and moved on from that, “It’s a pity Brother Zhi isn’t here. He wouldn’t have allowed such an embarrassing thing to happen.”

He then slammed the table again and concluded, “So! We’ve got Mi Gaojie, the one she couldn’t snatch from a fellow courtesan; Fan Zishi, the mediator with a glib tongue who knows how to coax other; Liu Zhenghao, the portrait artist with portraits that amaze everyone; and Zheng Kanghui, the young man of high standing and authority who doesn’t like to smile but knows how to enjoy himself. I’m betting on Zheng Kanghui! He slept with Yuetao and he’s the most suspicious!”

Wen Yuansi and Song Caitang continued eating without even glancing at him.

Qi Yan got upset, “Hey! Don’t you guys have anything to say about that?”

Wen Yuansi said, “During the last case, you guessed each of the connected persons was the killer.”

Song Caitang added, “You were never really sure and you were ready to change your mind at anytime.”

What were they trying to say?

Qi Yan didn’t back down, “Well, I made a right guess before too! The first person I guessed the last time was Niu Baoshan!”

“Is that so?” Song Caitang looked at Wen Yuansi.

“I don’t think so,” said Wen Yuansi.

Qi Yan didn’t know what to say.

“Besides,” said Song Caitang after pausing to think, “if these four are the only suspects, the authorities would definitely go for Mi Gaojie first.”

Based on what they knew so far, he had quite the involvement with the victim, and compared to Mr. Zheng, his standing wasn’t as high, so it was easier to target him.

Also, Yuetao had gone for three parties that day. The killer did not necessarily have to be at the third one.

Given Yuetao’s job, she would have been surrounded by many other people, and there were more than these four men in the house that night. It couldn’t be that there were only four suspects…

“Let’s finish eating first,” concluded Wen Yuansi.