Let Me Show You Something

“Help! Help! A customer has fallen into the water! Hurry up and rescue him!”

Fuliu had run outside to call for help to pull Yu Mingzhi out of the water, so Zhao Zhi and Song Caitang were left alone in the room.

Zhao Zhi’s was clearly angry, but it wasn’t clear if he was angry at Yu Mingzhi or what Song Caitang just said.

Song Caitang felt that this was a very serious issue that needed to be addressed. She wanted her friends to understand what trusting each other meant.

In order to prove that she wasn’t just empty talk, she raised a hand and pulled a knife out from her sleeve.

It was a small, intricate but shiny scalpel.

It was tiny and seemingly insignificant, but anybody could see how sharp it was.

And that was only the first one.

Song Caitang proceeded to pull out another one from her belt and another one from her boots, and displayed all three sharp and shiny scalpels on the table.

They were not of the same size and had a slightly different shape, but they were all extremely sharp.

For someone familiar with knives and swords like Zhao Zhi, he could tell with just one glance that these tiny things had to be handled with great care. They were sharp enough to slice through even hair that happened to blow its way!

Song Caitang introduced her weapons, “Zhong the metalsmith comes from a family of metalsmiths, so they’ve been doing this for a long time. If these can’t kill, I’ll change my surname to yours.”

Zhao Zhi was speechless.

These knives were the ones Song Caitang used for autopsies. They had long handles and short blades, so even if they were really sharp, they wouldn’t go very far into the body. If an ordinary martial artist wielded these, he wouldn’t think the knives were good enough to kill. But if Song Caitang was the one wielding them…

This woman knew exactly which part of the skin was the thinnest, which bones were the easiest to break, where in the body was bone and where in the body were internal organs. She knew exactly where to stab a knife so that it would go through and make a fatal wound. She knew how to make sure someone would die.

Zhao Zhi believed her when she said these knives could kill.

If Song Caitang were a murderer, she would know a million and one ways to kill a person without leaving any trace behind.

But… she was a woman after all.

And she didn’t know martial arts.

Zhao Zhi’s silence was enough to express his opinion about her weapons. Song Caitang snorted as she shook her right hand and revealed the last scalpel in her sleeve.

Her eyes shone brightly, focusing on her fingers that made the scalpel spin between the fingers like a pair of butterfly wings that were both quick and nimble. The scalpel glinted in the dim light as it spun, spinning faster and faster until it became a blur!

The scalpel was so small and so sharp, yet it did not hurt her at all.

After she had finished showing him that trick, she swung her arm forward. The scalpel whooshed through the air and stabbed straight into the wall, causing the handle to shake violently for a long time before coming to a stop.

The tip of the blade was lodged perfectly in the middle of the decorative round umbrella on the wall.

“How about that?”

Song Caitang pulled her sleeve back down and smiled so sweetly and demurely, as though she were a different woman from the fierce young lady playing with tiny knives earlier. “Will you stop worrying now?”

Zhao Zhi remained silent for a few seconds before he said in a low, hoarse voice, “Knives are dangerous. It’s better not to use them if you don’t have to.”

He even quietly kept the knives on the table and the one stuck in the umbrella. “Next time, as long as I’m around, you won’t need to bring these things.”

Song Caitang caught the most important part of that sentence, “So… can I still come with you to such places?”

Zhao Zhi stared closely at her. “Yes, you can.”

That was all she wanted.

Song Caitang broke into a bright smile.

She was so thankful that she had worked hard in her previous life and remained determined in this life. After coming here for so long, this skill of hers had finally come into good use again.

As a coroner, she was very closely connected to murder cases, which also meant that she could be a target of the murderer too. There were times where she was in as much danger as the police in charge of the case, so she had to learn self-defense.

Song Caitang’s limb coordination was not the best, so she had trouble learning any techniques that required her arms and legs, and she was terrible at fighting. But her accuracy had always been good.

For example, if she were playing basketball, she would be able to shoot the ball through the hoop easily. If she were playing pool, she would get the ball in most of the time. If she were shooting a gun, she’d have to practice for a while, but once she got the hang of it, her grouping would be very tight.

Darts was something she was an expert in.

She had the confidence to walk around at night in modern civilization despite the dangers of her job, so she was equally confident that she could keep herself safe despite how dangerous this society was to women.

As long as she had her scalpels with her, she did not need to worry about her safety.

It wasn’t just the scalpels, in fact. When she was bored, she would fiddle with all the things she used for dissecting bodies and could use any of them as weapons. But scalpels were small and easy to carry, plus they were very effective weapons, so she was used to bringing them out with her.

The closer one got to her, the more shocking she turned out to be.

After showing off her tricks, Song Caitang had a pleased smile as she took a cup of wine instead, only to stick her tongue out in disgust at how strong it was.

Zhao Zhi’s gaze darkened as he stared at her.

This woman…

How much did he still not know about her?

Song Caitang put the strong wine aside and tried the fruit wine instead. As she sipped it, she reminded him, “The river can be very deep and cold. I don’t think it’s fun to fall in.”

Zhao Zhi knew she was referring to Yu Mingzhi. “He’ll live.”

“People often make bad decisions when they’re drunk. He’d even thank me for doing this once he’s sober.”

Song Caitang raised an eyebrow but did not say anything.

By the time the commotion outside was settled and Fuliu returned to the room, he looked tired. He had already told them everything he knew, so he didn’t have much more to share. If they wanted to know anything else in more detail, he would need to gather the others who were involved to answer their questions.

So, Zhao Zhi made another request, “I would like to see Wenxiang and Yuetao’s rooms.”

Fuliu looked like he was in a difficult position, but once he received more money, everything could be arranged easily. He immediately led the way.

As the top courtesans of this brothel, Wenxiang and Yuetao got the two best rooms of Miaoyin Court. Their rooms were spacious with a nice view of the river, and they actually faced each other.

Fuliu opened Wenxiang’s door first. “The room has been left alone since she left, the boss hasn’t called anyone over to clean it yet. Now that she’s been found dead, we’d probably have to leave it like this for a while… you can look at anything you like, but don’t mess anything up, otherwise we’d have trouble answering to the authorities.”

He had no idea that these two were actually from the authorities and kept reminding them to be careful. He also kept a close eye on them as they walked around, as though he was afraid they might secretly remove something from the room.

Song Caitang and Zhao Zhi couldn’t be bothered to reassure him or anything like that and proceeded to inspect the room in detail.

The moment they entered the room, they could smell some sort of fragrance. It smelled a little like rose and a little like jasmine. It was strong, but not potent or repulsive. But it wasn’t faint either. It was clearly there and stayed there for a long time. And when they sniffed themselves, they realized their sleeves carried the smell too.

It had been 14 days since the Double Seventh Festival, which was the day Wenxiang died. That was about half a month. The owner of this room had not been here for half a month, yet the smell in the room was still so strong.

Song Caitang felt a deep appreciation for Wenxiang’s perfuming abilities.

This girl was a real expert in this field.

There were many decorations in the room. Most of them were expensive and shiny, which matched most people’s impression of courtesans. Her things were kept very neatly and in an orderly manner, so besides being a person who liked cleanliness, it was hard to see what sort of personality Wenxiang had. But when it came to her clothes…

Most of them were red, and the rest were black. They were mostly sheer and lacy.
Her makeup box, her beddings, her curtains… most of them were red. They were of different shades, so they didn’t look repetitive, but gave the room some perspective, which in turn gave it a unique sort of beauty.

These represented the owner’s preference.

Song Caitang had a thoughtful glint in her eye. “Wenxiang liked red?”

Fuliu explained, “This red… actually, women aren’t the only ones who like red. Men like red too. Wenxiang was best at… certain special services. Men who want such services usually like it when the girls use black and red leather whips, so…”

It could be something her job required.

“Butterflies,” said Zhao Zhi suddenly.

Song Caitang walked over and noticed the butterflies in the jewelry box.

There were so many of them, it filled up the entire box. Some were clips, some were pins, some were combs. There were a lot of them.

What was going on?

Zhao Zhi asked Fuliu, “Wenxiang liked butterflies?”

“Butterflies?” Fuliu was surprised by this question and didn’t understand why Zhao Zhi was asking him this. He scratched his head and said, “Don’t all women like things like butterflies?”

Zhao Zhi moved aside to reveal the box full of butterfly accessories.

“Oh! You’re asking about those.” Fuliu got it now. “Two months ago, we organized an event we called Fluttering Butterflies. The boss ordered new butterfly themed accessories and clothing for the girls to use during the event and it was really popular! Wenxiang isn’t the only one with plenty of such things, Yuetao has them too. All the girls here do! Wenxiang had a set of clothes that matched some of these, but it got torn and because the event was over by then, we didn’t make a new one for her…”

So, it was just a coincidence?

Song Caitang and Zhao Zhi exchanged puzzled glances.

They thought that coming here would help to answer some queries they had, but they only ended up with more questions.

Wenxiang was into perfumes, so she had a large table in one corner of the room that was filled with spices and other tools for perfuming.

Song Caitang didn’t really know these spices well, but she had a feeling that they had to be arranged in this order for a reason. It wasn’t based on color or smell, so perhaps it was based on what they could do.

She asked Fuliu about it, but he merely laughed. “This was something she was really good at, and she was so good, I don’t think even a professional perfumer could answer your question. I only know that Wenxiang was a hardworking girl who earned the most money here, but she wasn’t someone who seriously accepted just any customer who came her way. She had her own preferences too. If a customer refused to take the hint and the boss had trouble keeping him away from her, she would…”

Zhao Zhi raised an eyebrow. “Use these fragrances against him?”

Fuliu nodded. “She could keep or chase a customer at the snap of her fingers.”

Song Caitang nodded as though she got it now. “Wenxiang earned so much for you guys and this is the only asset she has? She didn’t buy a house out there or hide any money somewhere else?”

“Oh my goodness,” Fuliu burst out laughing, as though he had heard a really funny joke. “As long as the girls do not redeem themselves or quit their jobs, they cannot own any other assets and they can’t even leave this place. If they want to hide money, they’d either have to hide it in their own rooms, or they’d have to deposit it with a bank. There’s no other place the money can go.”

After they were done with Wenxiang’s room, Zhao Zhi and Song Caitang moved on to Yuetao’s.

Unlike Wenxiang’s red room, Yuetao’s was covered in pink.

It was all shades of pink and looked like a little girl’s room.

The room was also filled with a lot of small, round and intricately designed items, like bamboo dolls, little lanterns, round vases and ragdolls. They were all very cutesy items.

Fuliu explained, “Yuetao was like a little girl and she remained like that even after she had grown up. I remember when she first got here, she kept trying to escape, saying that her mother definitely missed her and would be waiting for her… she had a soft and sentimental personality.”

Song Caitang and Zhao Zhi examined the room and found that just like Wenxiang, she also owned a large number of butterfly accessories and pink dresses covered in butterflies in the closet.

Their trip to Miaoyin Court had provided them with a lot of information, and they had a better understanding of Wenxiang and Yuetao, but they were still far from cracking the case.

The more they discussed, the more they felt that something was missing somewhere.

What they had seen might not be the truth. It was as though something was playing tricks on their eyes, or they had overlooked something.

But while there were many questions left unanswered, more things had come to light.

As long as they followed these clues closely, they would eventually discover something else…

“Preserve the place.”
“Find the suspects.”

The moon finally peeked out from behind the clouds and the crescent shape made it look like it was hanging from the tree branch. As they met each other’s eyes, they could see the moon reflected in it, as though their eyes carried a gentle gleam.

They said different things at the same time, but they were both very important things. What the other person said was what they wanted to say next.

Zhao Zhi stared harder at her, but he suddenly turned away, as though he couldn’t hold up against Song Caitang’s clear and clean gaze, and called his subordinates to come over.

He gave them two sets of instructions. Firstly, they were to preserve the place, which meant they were to seal off Wenxiang and Yuetao’s rooms. Besides the investigation team, nobody was allowed to go in and out. The maids who served the two courtesans in the brothel were to remain on standby, as the authorities might call them in for questioning anytime. Secondly, they had to gather the suspects. They had to narrow down the scope and look for anybody who was at both of Wenxiang and Yuetao’s events between the Ghost Festival and the Double Seventh Festival.

The killer was very likely to be among this group!