Familiar Person

Wen Yuansi was not a high ranking official and was still stuck in a small place like Luanze, but the Wens were incredibly wealthy. Their house was smack in the middle of the central part of Bianliang and the main road in front of the house was very wide. No matter where Song Caitang was coming from, as long as she was headed back to this house, she would have to walk in from the main road.

One of the places she walked past was the Justice Department.

Initially, everything seemed perfectly normal. But after she walked a little further, she realized that the road in front was bustling with extra activity.

There was a clerk in charge of guarding the entrance to the department who had just finished his shift but had not removed his uniform yet, squatting not too far from the main entrance and spouting gossip. Perhaps this guard had a lot of interesting and strange stories to tell, plus he was a good storyteller, so a huge group of men crowded around and gave him lots of great reactions.

The group took up nearly half the street, even though it was a good three meters wide.

Song Caitang was rarely interested in much else besides inspecting dead bodies and cracking cases. Also, she had other matters to attend to, so she wasn’t interested in joining the crowd and she led Qingqiao to go around the group…

Then, she heard her name.

She heard that clerk mention her name in a tone of voice that was extremely disrespectful.

The fact that the clerk was in charge of standing at the entrance meant that he was fairly good looking, but it was too bad that he had shifty eyes and a lecherous expression, as well as a mouthful of yellow teeth. What a pity.

“…There’s this woman, her name is Song Caitang, but I don’t think any of you know her? Gosh, she’s really something! I don’t even know which cave she’s crawled out from, but she’s been here for only a short time and she already wants to interfere with the courts. She’s asked about a case with the Justice Department and even says she wants to… inspect the dead body! Her waist isn’t even as broad as my palm and she dares to say such things? The court officials merely gave her a standard polite reply and she thinks she’s in! She’s gone around looking for ways and means to get to the case! Who does she even think she is!”

The disdain in his voice and expression was plain for all to see.

Qingqiao immediately got angry and her round face was all tensed up, but she did not lose her temper and shout at the man like she would have done in the past. Instead, she pursed her lips tightly and looked at her Young Mistress to wait for instructions.

But Song Caitang quickly understood that news about her had gone round so fast because Old Madam Li’s methods and connections to the case had clearly failed.

Also…

It seemed like the one in charge of the case was no longer the governor of the city, but was now in the hands of the Justice Department.

The governor of the city was in charge of all things that happened within Bianliang, so he was the first to know when the murder happened. In most cases, if no powerful people were involved and the case was straightforward with no anomalies, the governor could decide on what to do on his own. But Madam Gu was no ordinary person, and Zhaoze Temple was a very popular and influential temple in this city. Also, there were high ranking officials present when the murder happened. Old Madam Li did worry much earlier that this case would eventually end up with the Justice Department, which would make it hard for her to gain any access to it.

That was why Old Madam Li had been in such a hurry.

But the case changed hands much more quickly than expected.

Song Caitang lowered her gaze as she started thinking quickly about what she ought to do.

Before she could think of anything, a man suddenly appeared in front of her and pointed at her, “Song Caitang? Aren’t you Song Caitang?”

Song Caitang looked up to see a middle aged man with a sharp jawline, sunken cheeks and bright beady eyes.

She had never seen him before and didn’t know who he was.

She tilted her head slightly and said calmly, “You know me?”

“Of course!” The middle aged man scanned Song Caitang up and down, then straightened up and cleared his throat before using a hand to stroke the little goatee on his chin as though he was a high and mighty character who wasn’t easily swayed by anything around him. “Back when you and your father came to the village to beg for food, when both of you were pale faced, skinny beyond humanly possible, and about to faint, I was kindhearted enough to spare you a bowl of porridge.”

He dragged out his words and his eyes kept shifting like a dishonest man. Qingqiao immediately became wary and nervously stood close to Song Caitang.

“Tsk,” the middle aged man looked at her, then looked at the crowd along the street before saying in a disdainful voice, “You’re doing pretty well now, since you dare to even challenge the Justice Department. Inspect the body, you said? Analyze how the victim died? Do you even know how to do that?”

This beady eyed man spoke quite loudly, so everyone around him could hear him clearly. The clerk squatting along the street dishing out gossip had particularly sharp ears. He caught the words “Song Caitang” and turned to look at what was going on behind the crowd and figured it out in no time.

Speak of the devil!

The one thing that most men who loved to brag or was in the midst of bragging enjoyed, or the one thing they hated having to give up, was the way everyone gave them their utmost attention and looks of admiration. He wasn’t going to give up the chance to get that.

And so, he pointed at Song Caitang and said, “Everyone! Everyone! You’re in luck today! That shameless woman has come!”

Everyone turned to stare at Song Caitang.

Unfortunately, Song Caitang was only one person with one heart that couldn’t focus on two things. She was still frowning at the beady eyed middle aged man and hadn’t noticed that the crowd had turned toward her.

She felt that this man’s attitude and tone was clearly nasty.

Was he really someone she used to know?

The previous owner of this body must have been rather ill-fated then.

While she had been curious all this time about what happened to the previous owner, it didn’t seem like she was going to regain her memory anytime soon. She felt like there was something missing… Was it finally time for her to remember again?

But regardless of what happened before or whether she could remember or not, this body was now hers. She had to accept whatever karma came with it, good or bad. She just had to deal with any trouble that came her way. That’s all.

After observing the man’s special behavioral characteristics, she relaxed her brows and her lips curled up slightly.

There was clearly something up with this guy, so if she answered him properly, she would be being too nice to him.

“Oh wow, I’m sorry I made you remember something as small as a bowl of porridge, sir.”

Song Caitang waved a hand gently. “Qingqiao.”

Qingqiao had served Song Caitang long enough to understand what that hand motion meant. She fished out two tiny pieces of silver from her purse and threw them to the beady eyed man.

The beady eyed man instantly lit up at the sight of money, as Song Caitang had expected. He smiled so brightly, his gums could be seen clearly. And because he was so scared he couldn’t catch the silver, he leaped forward and caught the money in his hands carefully like he was catching a baby. As if that wasn’t enough, he immediately turned around, looked left and right, then stealthily kept the money in a secret pocket.

Everyone was speechless.

He was no better than a hungry dog catching a bone. His name had to be Dog!

The beady eyed man grinned to himself for a while, then realized he shouldn’t be behaving like this. He cleared his throat, then continued berating Song Caitang in a solemn voice, “How could you be so ungrateful? Even though I had only given you a bowl of porridge, that bowl had saved your life! According to the philosophers, you’re supposed to repay someone who saved your life with much, much more than what your life is worth! Is your life only worth this bit of silver? Don’t you think you’re undervaluing yourself?”

Song Caitang chuckled but did not say anything.

Her observations had been correct. This man was just out to cheat her of her money.

This time, she didn’t have to do anything. Qingqiao put her hands on her hips and took a step forward to argue with the beady eyed man, “Gosh, I can’t believe how shameless you are! If you didn’t like money, then why did you catch the money earlier like it was more precious than your mother? In most cases, someone from the same village would say hello, ask how are you, and exchange a few nice words before anything else. What about you? The first thing you asked for was money, then complained it was too little and insulted her in a roundabout way! You’d better come clean now – where are you from, where do you live, which mountain’s behind your house, which river flows in front of it – make sure you state everything clearly so that everybody here knows and can remember it well. Remember to never go anywhere near this place, this mountain and this river, because you might get cheated by the people who live there!”

Qingqiao spoke in a clear and quick voice, saying everything in one breath. Then she stole a glance at her Young Mistress…

Song Caitang winked at her and gave her a pleased nod.

Qingqiao puffed her chest out. She felt even more confident now!

Her Young Mistress had indeed wanted her to do that! She had understood her correctly!

Everyone started giving the beady eyed man nasty looks.

It was good for one to help another, but to insist that the other person repay the favor, especially when the favor had merely been a bowl of simple porridge… this man had gone too far.

He was clearly trying to bully the younger woman.

That maid was right. It was best not to go anywhere near this man’s hometown.

The beady eyed man was furious. He rolled his sleeves up and marched toward Qingqiao, “You’re just a maid. Did you think this was a place where you could show your face and say nasty things without any consequences? You’d better open your eyes wide and take a look…”

The clerk spreading gossip happily joined in the chaos and made it worse, “Exactly! Never mind this maid – your Young Mistress is a pretty, young lady and it’s not appropriate for her to be standing here either. Look at how many men have been able to look at her? Don’t you know what you ought to do at all?”

Once the topic swerved in this direction, the men crowding around instantly got fired up. Lecherous cackles spread through the crowd and someone even wolf whistled.

The clerk was even more emboldened now and his gaze was filled with wickedness, “And you said you wanted to inspect a dead body? The victim in this case is a man! Are you hoping to inspect his body because you’re never seen a man’s parts and you’re itching to see them?”

He answered his own question, “You don’t have to think of something like that and you don’t have to be so anxious. You just have to find a man to marry, so there’s no need to be anxious. Ha! In fact, there are so many men here! There are plenty who would be willing to help you with this, Miss Song!”

He had barely finished speaking when someone yelled from behind, “Me! Me! I’ll do it! Why would you want an icy cold corpse’s? Mine is warm and active!”

“Mine is bigger than his! It’ll work better!”

“HAHA! Pick me! I’ll show you how good I am!”

Similar lewd and degrading comments ensued.

The commotion ended up attracting a lot of people and the street was quickly swarmed. A pedestrian could possibly squeeze their way through, but there was no way a horse carriage would be able to get through this crowd.

A line of horse carriages piled up, waiting to get through. But two of them were especially eye-catching. They were decorated differently, but equally luxuriously.

The one further behind had the plaque of a court official hanging on it, with the word “Zuo” written prominently on it. The owner of this carriage was clearly a Zuo, and anyone who had spent enough time in Bianliang would know that this was a carriage from the household of the vice-commissioner of the Census Bureau, Zuo Xiuwen. Based on the style of the decorations, the people using this carriage would definitely be the women of the family.

“Mother, why is the road still jammed? It’s so irritating!”

“Walking around without any cover over her head, arguing with men in broad daylight, good heavens… Shanshan, you must always remember never to learn from such people. The empress favors women who know how to behave, so you must be good and sensible and never allow the men out there to see your face…”

“Yes, yes, yes… You’ve repeated this so many times! I get it! I just want to go home, I don’t want to see all of this!”

“Why are you so anxious? Can’t you see that Prince Ping’s consort’s carriage is stuck in front of us?”

Inside the Zuos’ carriage, the conversation between the mother and daughter was not a harmonious one. The daughter was a little anxious, but it was hard to say if it was because she didn’t want to witness all of this, or if she was frightened, or if she was just being difficult. Either way, her tone of voice was a little rude. Her mother had done her best to remain gentle and calm, but she was probably a fairly firm person based on her tone of voice and attitude.

The other carriage she mentioned was the one stuck not too far ahead of them.

The horseman’s seat was raised high, like the wings of a bird soaring into the sky. The carriage had intricately carved double doors and four wheels with gold axles. It exuded the full splendor of a carriage belonging to the royal family.

In a spot where nobody could see, a hand gently pulled the curtain of the carriage away slightly.
That hand belonged to a young woman. It was slim, fair, smooth and supple. Except that it was a little too fair, as though she had poor blood circulation. One could see her green veins vaguely beneath her skin.

“I’m afraid we might have to wait for a while… Aunt.”

The other woman in the carriage was on the older side. She exuded an air of class, her hair combed into a hairstyle that only the wealthy and powerful could afford, and her accessories were those that only a wife of royalty were allowed to have.

She was extremely well-dressed, but she didn’t look well. She shut her eyes slightly and frowned.

The young woman quickly placed her fair but sickly hand on the older woman’s forehead and began to massage her temples gently, like she was used to doing this all the time.

“Aunt, do you want me to call Zhi-gege over to help?”

“No need,” responded the older lady in a calm voice. She did not open her eyes.

The young woman continued massaging the older lady’s temples, but she couldn’t help but turn and look toward Song Caitang in the distance.

She wondered… how was Song Caitang going to handle this situation?