Episode 160

The moonlight was dim, the wind was gentle.

The night was rarely this lovely, so Song Caitang was in the mood to talk.

She asked Zhao Zhi, “How did you think of Liu Zhenghao’s painting? As in the one he did of Yuetao.” She used her hands to depict the painting that Qi Yan had flung at Liu Zhenghao that day with a sparkle in her eyes. “That was so clever!”

Zhao Zhi turned away.

“You put so much effort into the case. Of course I have to work hard too.”

Few were as sensitive to the case as Song Caitang was. He just suddenly thought of it and gave the instruction to find it. He didn’t really think something would come out of it.

But he was more concerned about something else.

“Did these cases… make you very unhappy?”

Both the cases involving the Mis and the Lius shed light on very dark, ugly secrets. Song Caitang normally didn’t display much emotion when she examined bodies, but this time, she seemed to be emotionally affected.

Song Caitang was a little surprised. She had tried her best to control her emotions, so she didn’t expect Zhao Zhi to notice.

“Your question makes me even unhappier.”

Because that made her sound unprofessional.

Zhao Zhi brought his fist up to his lips and coughed quietly. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m just teasing you! You took it seriously?”

Song Caitang’s lips curved upward into a playful and brilliant smile that made her eyes curve as well.

Zhao Zhi went into a daze for a while before he snapped out of it and sighed as he stared at Song Caitang, “So happy to tease me? What would you do if I really got angry?”

Song Caitang’s smile only grew brighter. “Then… I should thank you?”

“I should thank the almighty surveillance commissioner for being such a professional and approachable man who doesn’t mind a lowly commoner’s teasing!”

Zhao Zhi burst out laughing this time.

The young woman in front of him had hair as black as the night clouds, skin as white as snow, her eyes reflecting the moonlight as she smiled. It made him think of opening the window into a small street after the spring showers for a little branch of almond flowers to peek in, its soft white petals covered in droplets of water and a faint fragrance as it happily said hello to you.

He wished this moment would never end.

“I’m human too, so I’ve got thoughts and I’ve got emotions. It’s not possible for me to really be completely emotionally detached or to face every case without any thoughts,” explained Song Caitang quietly after she had finished laughing. “I just have to always remember to stick to the truth. I must make sure that every conjecture I make has to be logical and backed up by evidence, and to reject anything that’s speculative in nature.”

“The dead can’t speak, but I can.”

“I have to remember this forever. If I have to speak, it must be true. I cannot lie.”

After a short period of silence, she looked at Zhao Zhi. “Speaking of which, this case went pretty smoothly, actually. So… what about you? Are you happy?”

Zhao Zhi was reminded of some rumors he had heard and shook his head honestly. “Nope. Not happy.”

“Huh? But why?”

“There’s a rumor going around that I’m into men.”

“Wait, what? HAHAHA!” Song Caitang burst out laughing almost immediately. “You? Into men?”

Her laughter seemed to make Zhao Zhi even unhappier and his gaze darkened.

Song Caitang stopped laughing and felt a little awkward now. “Wait, or are you really…”

Was he actually into men? And he was getting angry because this secret of his had been exposed?

“Well, actually… I mean, it’s really alright. Everyone is different and everyone makes different choices in life. As long as you take care of yourself, live however you want. You don’t have to be unhappy because of what others say about you…”

Song Caitang had come from an era where such things were not really frowned upon anymore. Many people were still against it, but the general society had become a lot more understanding.

She wanted to tell Zhao Zhi that it was alright, and that he shouldn’t take it to heart.

But Zhao Zhi only scowled even harder.

“Song… Cai… TANG!”

These three words were practically squeezed out from between his teeth and he was clearly furious.

Song Caitang was even more confused. Was he too deep into this? So she couldn’t even talk about it?

Or could it be…

Her eyes widened. “There’s someone you like?”

Zhao Zhi’s eyes narrowed into a threatening glare. Song Caitang subconsciously inched away from him because she was afraid that he might suddenly get angry and bash her up.

“Where’s your brain, Song Caitang?! Don’t you know why these rumors started?!”

Zhao Zhi gritted his teeth as he reached out to pull Song Caitang right back.

Song Caitang’s wrist hurt a little from how hard he was gripping her and felt a little aggrieved. “Your thing about m…” She dared not say the word ‘men’ when she saw how fierce his stare was. “How can you blame me for that?”

She carefully tried to pull her hand back.

Zhao Zhi had grabbed hold of his wrist, but he didn’t intend to hurt her. When he realized she was struggling, he relaxed his grip. But Song Caitang thought that Zhao Zhi would get angry and hold onto her wrist even harder, so she suddenly pulled her wrist away very hard.

She pulled real hard.

So hard that she lost her balance and began falling.

The back of her head was going to hit the hard floor in no time.

The small wrist in his hand had left and it was too late to grab hold of it again, so Zhao Zhi had no choice but to lean toward her and place his large hand on the floor to catch hold of her head. “Song Caitang, are you stupid?”

Song Caitang felt a warmth at the back of her head instead of the hard floor. She didn’t get injured, so she smiled sweetly at him and said, “Thanks!”

Zhao Zhi felt a fury burning in his stomach but there was nowhere for it to go.

“Think about it carefully!”

He couldn’t suppress his anger anymore and slammed his other palm against the floor.

Of course, that slam did not hurt Song Caitang in any way, but he was now leaning over her and she couldn’t move at all.

He was too close, so she could practically see a smaller version of herself reflected in his eyes, which also distracted her for a few moments. It took her some time before she recalled one thing.

In order to investigate the courtesans’ case, she had dressed up as a man to gather some clues from the flower boat with Zhao Zhi.

Fuliu and Yu Mingzhi knew who Zhao Zhi was, so they wouldn’t dare to say something like that about him. In that case…

An image came to mind and her entire face turned red.

Before they got to the flower boat, Zhao Zhi had done a kabedon on her. She hadn’t thought much of it at that time, but when she thought about it now, she realized how suspiciously romantic they must have looked.

They were there earlier than most patrons, but it didn’t mean there were no patrons at all. They stood so close to one another outside the boat, so if you saw them from the wrong angle, you would think they were kissing.

Those who didn’t know who they were would start gossiping about it. And those who were more observant would have found out who the taller man was, since he was quite famous. It was harder to identify her, since she was in disguise.

Zhao Zhi’s low voice resounded in her ears, “If there’s someone I like… who do you think it is?”

Song Caitang’s heart began to pound a little too quickly. Zhao Zhi was simply too close to her!

“I…” She took a deep breath. “Look, it’s my fault, okay? I’m sorry? I won’t do that again?”

She had taken the blame and apologized without making any fuss, which made Zhao Zhi seem petty instead.

He stared at her fair neck like a ferocious wild beast, as though… he wished he could bite a chunk off her.

Song Caitang shut her eyes. Crap! I’ve offended him again!

Zhao Zhi’s really angry this time!

The moon shone down on them quietly, causing their shadows to merge. Their breathing was intermingled, their hearts beating at almost the same rate, and they could feel the other person’s warmth through their clothing…

Zhao Zhi could smell a faint, refreshing fragrance.

It was not the smell of osmanthus. It was a unique smell, a smell that brought the warmth of a body with it…

It was the smell of Song Caitang!

Zhao Zhi suddenly let go of her and leaped back onto his feet.

Song Caitang breathed a sigh of relief.

Was he done being angry?

“You…”

She sat up and was about to speak when she realized that Zhao Zhi had run off into the distance already.

He ran very quickly and seemed to be in a great hurry. And because he wasn’t really looking at where he was going, he nearly ran into a tree.

It was as though he was making a panicked escape.

But Zhao Zhi had always been an arrogant and confident man who took everything in his stride. Making a panicked escape wasn’t something that matched his demeanor at all. Was she mistaken?

At the same time, Zhao Zhi’s reaction told her that he was definitely straight, so hearing rumors like that would naturally upset him. It wasn’t her fault but she was part of the reason why the rumors started, so it was better to sit down and talk it out.

Things would be fine if they just sorted it out themselves.

But life did not always go as hoped. Song Caitang thought that Zhao Zhi would visit her again the next day, but she waited day after day for a long time, and did not see Zhao Zhi again.

In the blink of an eye, it was almost the middle of autumn.

Now that she had spent more than half a year in this new world, Song Caitang was getting more and more used to the era she was in. She got along especially well with her grandmother, Guan Qing and Guan Wan, and in fact, because of them, she didn’t miss her previously modern, convenient life at all.

During the Midautumn Festival, she helped Guan Qing to handle household matters, accompanied her grandmother to watch operas, made mooncakes with Guan Wan, then they all sat down to admire the moon, chit chat, and even drank some fruit wine…

Song Caitang was having a fulfilling and happy time.

Except that when she woke up in the middle of the night like she always did, nobody suddenly appeared with a small bag of snacks.

When she was stuck with nothing else but her own thoughts, time passed by very slowly. And when there was no time to think about these irrelevant things and she thought about how she had spent her time thinking about such things, she felt like laughing.

Like, gosh. Why was she behaving like a young girl?

She had grown out of this phase so many years ago.

And as she turned around to face Guan Qing, she immediately forgot all those things she had been thinking about.

Guan Qing looked solemn as she handed a letter to Song Caitang. “There’s something that I need your help with.”

Song Caitang was rather surprised. Guan Qing was a very capable woman and was rarely this solemn and tense about anything. She must have run into something very difficult to handle that was also very important.

Guan Qing did not hide it from her. “Someone has been trying to make things difficult for the Guans, in terms of our business dealings.”

Song Caitang immediately thought of Madam Zhang and pointed to Qingyi Court. “That lady over there making trouble again?”

Guan Qing scoffed. “She wouldn’t be able to achieve this by herself.”

“But there’s a drought this year, so we’re going to have trouble for the next few months. The people of Luanze are the ones who have made the Guans prosper, so we can’t just ignore this problem…”

Guan Qing wanted to help.

Even if she had to make a loss, she wanted to help the people get through this tough period. The people would remember how the Guans had been good to them, and they would be willing to help next time if the Guans ran into trouble.

The Guan family ancestors always taught their descendants that doing business was important, but being kind to others was even more important.

If she was hit by only one aspect, Guan Qing would be able to handle it and she would get through it. But this time, both aspects had come together and she needed a lot of resources. She was feeling a little tired and was hoping to get some help.

“Can you help me to send this letter to the Ji family in the capital?”

Song Caitang nodded immediately without even thinking. “Sure.” In order to help Guan Qing feel less guilty about sending her all the way to the capital, she smiled and said, “Just nice – Old Madam Li left for the capital last month and I thought of visiting her.”

Guan Qing added, “Bring Wan’er along.”

“Wanwan?” Song Caitang was surprised. “You’re willing to let her travel all the way?”

The journey to the capital was considered a long one. Guan Qing was always so uptight about Guan Wan and made sure to take such good care of her. Wasn’t she worried that something bad might happen to her younger sister?

“I’ve already hired a group to stay with both of you throughout the journey. We don’t have any men in the family who could accompany you two and I can’t take any time off to do so either. But this letter is extremely important, so I have no choice but to ask both of you, as young as you are, to deliver it for me…”

Guan Qing was clearly rather anxious, so her speech went round and round, unlike how she was usually to the point.

“You’d probably be okay since you’re more alert and aware of things. Wan’er has to learn to grow up. She can’t become like me, or learn the sort of skills you have. We can’t protect her all her life…”

Song Caitang took Guan Qing’s hand. “Sis, don’t worry, I will take good care of Wanwan.”

Guan Qing’s eyes reddened slightly. “It’s not that I’m not worried about you, but I just…”

“I know, I know. She’s your younger sister, and so am I. I know you’re not biased or anything like that.” Song Caitang winked, “But I’m an older sister to her too, so don’t always hog the older sister role. Give me a chance to act as the older sister too, won’t you?”

Guan Qing turned around to wipe her tears, then turned back and pretended nothing just happened, even though her eyes were still red. “In any case, I’ve prepared everything in advance already. Just make sure you watch over everything and get to the capital safely!”

“I promise I’ll do that.”

After Guan Qing left the room, Song Caitang couldn’t help but sigh as she watched the older girl leave her residence.

This was a difficult era to live in, but it still produced several strong and bold women.

Like Wenxiang and Yuetao of the most recent murder case, as well as Madam Wang and Madam Sun from the Mi family…

Guan Qing was a very different sort of woman too.

She had grown up in the inner house, yet she was resilient, open minded, doted on her younger sisters, but also knew what was best for them. She knew that this journey would be dangerous, but she was still willing to let her younger sisters go through it so that they could mature and become better women.

Very few men could do that.

She had to make sure she didn’t disappoint Guan Qing.

That night, Guan Wan noticed Song Caitang smiling brightly at her. Song Caitang’s smile was so wide, it looked scary. Guan Wan arm trembled slightly and caused the soup in her ladle to splash out.

“Erm… Cousin Caitang, you… don’t like the food today?”

Song Caitang kept smiling. “Wanwan, I’m afraid you’re going to have to cook for me every day for a while.”

“Really?” Guan Wan covered her mouth in delight as her eyes widened. “You’re finally going to let me cook all three meals a day for you and you’re not going to reject any of the food I prepare?”

Song Caitang’s smile widened. “Yup.”

Guan Qing wasn’t sure if she should say anything.

Why did she feel like she was sending her little bunny to the hands of a fox?

Would these two girls be able to really quietly and obediently get to the capital without causing any trouble along the way?