You Call Him A FATHER?!

It was as though Qi Yan was furious and had nowhere to vent it, so he marched into the room and immediately sent a stool flying with a kick.

KADANGGG!

The stool crashed heavily onto the floor.

He had completely forgotten to keep his behavior in check since Song Caitang was around.

But that didn’t scare Song Caitang. Given what she knew of Qi Yan, he wasn’t scary at all no matter how angrily or aggressively he behaved.

She put down the case notes in her hands, then motioned to someone to look for Zhao Zhi before pouring Qi Yan a nice warm cup of tea.

The room was quiet, filled only with the fragrance from the steaming tea. Even the sound of the tea being poured into the cup seemed so faraway.

After downing a whole cup of warm tea and turning to face Song Caitang’s gaze that was as calm and clear as a lake, Qi Yan was able to calm down for some reason.

Song Caitang finally asked, “Got all the information we need?”

Qi Yan shut his eyes and let out a long sigh. “Yes.”

“How did you do it?” Song Caitang smiled faintly with a glimmer of curiosity in her eyes. “And you were so fast too. Zhao Zhi isn’t even back yet.”

Admiring words from a young lady made Qi Yan feel a little smug, so he beamed proudly and said, “That’s not difficult! When it comes to the matters of the inner house, you just need to get through to a high ranking housekeeper, along with some knowledgeable maids who are willing to speak as long as you compliment them, then you’d get any information you want!”

“The ladies… were willing to talk to you?”

“Of course, I have my own ways.”

This topic was enough for Qi Yan to go on and on, accompanied by theatrics.

He didn’t elaborate too much and didn’t talk about the difficulties he faced. He just talked about how much fun he had doing this with an excited look on his face.

But Song Caitang knew that this was no easy task.

Regardless of whether it was a housekeeper or a maid who seemed delighted with compliments, neither was stupid or easy to fool. After all, it would have been impossible for them to climb to this position if they weren’t clever enough, so he must have put in a lot of effort to find a way to get them to speak to him.

Qi Yan was really talented in this aspect.

Song Caitang quietly listened to Qi Yan blow his own trumpet, smiling from time to time, as though she was really interested in what he was saying…

That was, until Zhao Zhi arrived.

“Good, Zhao Zhi’s here. Alright Qi Yan, time to talk about your findings,” she said with a faint smile.

It was only now that Qi Yan realized that he had been duped!

Admiration? No such thing! Song Caitang was just trying to help him calm down and steady his emotions enough to recount his findings in a more objective manner. Besides, they were also waiting for Zhao Zhi.

Qi Yan puffed his cheeks out angrily like a bullfrog, but all he got was a fierce glare from Zhao Zhi and Song Caitang’s usual faint smile…

He suddenly felt deflated.

The two people in the room had so many more tactics up their sleeves compared to him. The number of people Song Caitang had coaxed and convinced were probably too many to fit inside this courthouse, and even his unshakeable Brother Zhi failed to hold up. He had been talking to her in the night about official business, yet he was so scared that he kept trembling and perspired profusely from nervousness…

He had gotten it easy! He didn’t have to feel embarrassed about it!

Humph!!!

Now that he had calmed down, he spoke much more clearly and logically.

“Liu Qinian himself is a bastard!”

He gritted his teeth as he began talking about the father first. “He looks like a decent guy, and besides his obsession with those chastity plaques and licking the empress’ smelly toes, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with him…”

Pak! Zhao Zhi put the teacup lid down on the table with some force, but not enough to break it. “Watch your words.”

Qi Yan rubbed his nose.

Well, it was indeed inappropriate to say that the empress had smelly feet in public…

After sorting that out, he went on, “In any case, this man is a terrible guy, he likes…” He threw a quick glance at Song Caitang and paused, but managed to finish his sentence in a low voice, “he likes to rape young girls.”

That wasn’t what they expected to hear at all. Both Song Caitang and Zhao Zhi were taken aback.

They had never heard about anything like this before.

“You’ve never heard about it before because he doesn’t get involved with anyone outside the family! Any servant, as long as you’re a woman, as long as you’re pure, as long as you’re between the ages of 9 and 15, you’d have to work in his residence for a few years. When he feels like it, he’d take their virginity, have fun with them a few more times, then the girl can be transferred elsewhere. Those who haven’t gone through this have to wait until he’s had his fun with them before talking about what’s next in line for them.”

Qi Yan gnashed his teeth, “And nobody gets away. Basically, he’d have done this to them before they’re even 14 years old. Some of them were only 10! They hadn’t even hit puberty! This guy… this guy isn’t human!”

“And if she resists, it makes him even happier, and he’d keep her in his residence for a longer time!”

“The servants of the Liu family are already used to this practice. None of the girls in the house are allowed to serve the rest of the household before going through this, and they’ve even given it a name – they call it ‘entering the room’. If you’ve never entered the room, there’s no point in talking about what you’re going to do next, or who you’d marry and all that!”

Song Caitang raised an eyebrow. “And nobody does anything about it?”

“Who would do that?” Qi Yan’s tone was sarcastic, “Liu Qinian only does this to his own indentured servants, so he has absolute rights over their lives. He alone decides if they live or die, what more something like this?”

The parents of the girls could only suffer in silence, and tell their daughters to endure quietly until they get through this period. There was nothing else they could do.

Song Caitang asked, “Nobody else knows about it?”

She was referring to people outside of the household.

Qi Yan’s brows furrowed angrily as he said firmly, “There are people who know, but so what? Liu Qinian knows how to toe the line and never touches the girls outside of his household. According to the law of the country, he is not a criminal. At most, others might gossip about how he has poor morals, that’s all.”

“If you ask me, I think the reason why his son turned into a psycho killer has a lot to do with how his father has brought him up!”

Song Caitang nodded.

A child’s family or direct caregivers definitely had an influence on their personality and behavior. Liu Zhenghao’s behavior definitely had something to do with his father.

“It’s not just the Lius. Many men despise women.” Zhao Zhi started talking about Fan Zishi. “I went to talk to Fan Zishi, and he does know a little about the truth, but he refuses to be a witness. He even said, “They’re just a bunch of courtesans who’re out there selling their bodies, why take it so seriously”.”

Song Caitang sighed.

Women were not people to this group of rich, young masters.

“Fan Zishi refused to say anything specific, and the only thing he was specific about was that if we get concrete evidence and we dare to arrest the killer, he will be willing to be a witness.”

Zhao Zhi said the last bit with a lot of sarcasm.

If the evidence was sufficient to arrest the killer, what would they need a witness for?

Qi Yan advised him otherwise, “Given the way the case is, I think it’s good to have an additional witness.”

A thought hit Song Caitang and she asked Qi Yan, “Does Liu Zhenghao know about Liu Qinian’s habit?”

“I’m not sure,” said Qi Yan, “but since they live in the same house and they’re a close father and son, he might not have known when he was younger, but after a certain age…”

Song Caitang and Zhao Zhi exchanged glances.

They could read each other’s thoughts in each other’s gazes.

Zhao Zhi tapped the table with a finger. “Alright, tell us about Liu Zhenghao next.”

“As for Liu Zhenghao, I heard about two things that happened a long time ago,” Qi Yan held up one finger, “the first is about Liu Ye, a young maid who served him.”

“When Liu Zhenghao was a child, he was very gentle. Liu Ye was a year older than him and served him since she was a child, so they were like playmates and they were very close. Liu Zhenghao was very protective of Liu Ye. He didn’t allow anyone to bully her, he argued with elders in the family because of her, and even refused to go to school because of her. And then when she turned nine and it was time for her to enter the house, Liu Ye dodged that because of Liu Zhenghao’s insistence.”

“As time passed, Liu Zhenghao became more and more attached to Liu Ye. Nothing Liu Qinian did could change his son’s attitude. It didn’t matter whether he hit his son, or tried to persuade him…”

“Unfortunately, this Liu Ye eventually died. She died when Liu Zhenghao was 11.”

Zhao Zhi frowned. “How did she die?”

“Nobody really knows,” Qi Yan shook his head. “They only know that the body was carried out from Liu Qinian’s room. The servants aren’t privy to a lot of things and it’s been so many years, so it’s hard to find out exactly what happened that day.”

Song Caitang was silent for a while before she asked, “What’s the second thing?”

“The second thing is,” Qi Yan stuck a second finger out, “Liu Zhenghao had a younger sister. She was a younger sister by the same mother and only a year younger than him.”

“This younger sister was very pretty, very obedient and very adorable, so Liu Zhenghao liked her a lot and was very good to her. In fact, he started liking painting because of this sister. But good things don’t last long – the sister had to enter the needlework workshop at the age of five, and had to follow the household’s way of bringing up daughters, so she was not allowed to come out at all and they rarely met…”

Liu Zhenghao was still a sweet boy at that time, so while he was busy protecting his maid, Liu Ye, he was also trying to look out for his younger sister. He painted the sceneries that his sister was not allowed to see, he secretly gave her the snacks she was not allowed to have, he even secretly pulled pranks on his mother as revenge when his mother punished her.

“Unfortunately, Liu Qinian found out about what his son was doing and forbade him from continuing to do so.”

Qi Yan’s voice hardened, “The way Liu Qinian brings up sons and the way he brings up daughters are completely different. When he sees that the newborn is a girl, he will just leave her to the womenfolk and will not care about whether she lives or dies. But when the newborn is a boy, he would put in a lot of effort to train him, dote on him, give in to him and also have extremely high hopes for him.”

“He did not allow Liu Zhenghao to get close to his younger sister because to him, women were useless and they only served as a hindrance to men at all times, so she would not benefit Liu Zhenghao in any way. But Liu Zhenghao did not listen to his father and continued in his ways.”

“Eventually, this younger sister died too. When Liu Zhenghao was 13.”

Song Caitang asked, “How did the sister die?”

Qi Yan lowered his gaze. “At dawn one day in the middle of spring, her body was discovered at a pavilion in the house and her clothes were in a mess. The undertaker lady who got her changed into clothing for the dead said that the girl’s entire body was a mess. She was bruised everywhere, especially certain areas, which I will not mention, and she had bled a lot down there…”

“Also, the night before, Liu Qinian had gotten drunk. His maids said that he returned very late that night and the petals stuck to his belt belonged to flowers that were only grown at the pavilions in the house.”

It was clear what must have happened that night.

Song Caitang was really horrified.

Zhao Zhi narrowed his eyes. “How did Liu Zhenghao react at that time? What happened after Liu Qinian sobered up?”

“Liu Qinian wasn’t remorseful at all. His daughter was dead, but he just frowned and said, “Bury her properly”.” Qi Yan narrowed his eyes, “As for Liu Zhenghao, he was very calm and seemed unaffected, which puzzled the servants, because they knew that he had been very close to this sister… but according to Liu Sui’s statement, he committed a murder that year!”

Liu Sui was merely a scapegoat, so he wasn’t the one committing the murder. It was Liu Zhenghao.

Zhao Zhi nodded. He got it now. “So, Liu Zhenghao probably started on his killing spree from around this time.”

Everything that Qi Yan just told them was definitely the truth. Some details were fuzzy and worse than anything they had imagined, and he hadn’t been very specific about some parts, but even so, Zhao Zhi and Song Caitang knew what he was trying to say.

Both the deaths of his maid and younger sister were caused by Liu Qinian. And because of his abnormal inclination and attitude toward the girls, it was easy to guess how the two girls died.

They must have died very tragically.

These were the most important women in his life, yet they died like this. Shouldn’t Liu Zhenghao have felt hate for his father? Wouldn’t he have wanted to challenge his father as a figure of authority?

How did he end up venting his frustrations on others instead? That didn’t make sense.

So, Song Caitang asked Qi Yan, “What’s their father and son relationship like? Did something unusual happen to Liu Zhenghao…”

“Oh! Now that you mention it,” Qi Yan rubbed his palms together, “there’s also another story making its rounds among the servants. Apparently, Liu Zhenghao accidentally killed someone when he was about to turn 12. It was an accident and he didn’t do it on purpose, so Liu Zhenghao was in shock too. But Liu Qinian covered it up perfectly, so nobody outside the family asked about it, and nobody within the household brought it up again. He did a good job of protecting his son.”

Song Caitang narrowed her eyes slightly. Now it made sense.

“Let’s summarize Liu Zhenghao’s psyche over the years.”

She put her teacup down in the middle of the table. “At first, he had a sweet maid, an adorable younger sister, a father who doted on him and taught him well. Life was good.”

“After that,” Zhao Zhi pushed his cup forward to land next to hers, “he discovered that his father had an unusual habit.”

The boys of this era matured very early and were exposed to such things quite young. Liu Qinian doted on Liu Zhenghao and might not have guarded against him, so Liu Zhenghao might have stumbled upon his father’s secret by accident.

He was at an age where he was curious about everything. Perhaps initially he felt ashamed or dirty, but it was exciting to watch and he might have kept on watching in secret.

Liu Qinian was not violent all the time, since a large majority of the maids that entered his room eventually made it out alive, and not carried out to be buried. Not all the maids would have put up a fight either, since they all knew that they had to silently endure this period in order to live a decent life in the future.

What Liu Zhenghao first witnessed did not result in anybody dying, so it was easier to accept.

But it must have left some sort of traumatic impact on him, which would contribute significantly to how he behaved later on.

Qi Yan pushed his own cup forward too. “After that, Liu Ye died. The killer was Liu Qinian.”

Liu Qinian did not like how his son was good to a maid and kept trying to educate his son otherwise, but nothing worked. Whether doing this to Liu Ye was on purpose or not, it was still a big blow to Liu Zhenghao.

He would definitely blame his father, but at the end of the day, Liu Ye was merely a maid. And according to the norms he was taught, he could not do anything to his father, so…

So, he killed someone else instead.

Song Caitang pushed another cup forward. “He killed someone, but his father covered it up.”

“Then after that, his younger sister died,” Zhao Zhi continued, “and the killer was still his father. When he was drunk.”

Qi Yan looked at the row of cups and shuddered. “After that, Liu Zhenghao became a psycho who has to kill a few people every year!”

Song Caitang added, “So, actually, this father and son relationship is very odd.”

“Liu Zhenghao hates his father, he thinks his father was wrong and wants to fight back, but he’s also very reliant on his father, and perhaps he even feels guilty, because his father is the one who dotes on him the most…” Zhao Zhi snorted. “People live in reality and not in some delusional world. Liu Zhenghao recognized that if he wanted to live well in this world, he would need to remain within the safe zone that his father had already created for him. He’s really realistic, huh.”

Song Caitang sighed. “He couldn’t change what had already happened, so he could only try his best to find a good reason, to find a way to make sense of it all in order to justify the situation. For example, he might start thinking that this is all the woman’s fault instead.”

Why weren’t they obedient? Why were they so rebellious? Why did they have to smile so prettily and so charmingly? Why were they so seductive?

“After all, humans are best at forgiving themselves. They’re best at reorganizing and structuring their memories into what they need most, or what makes them feel most comfortable about themselves and their current situation and life choices.”