Very Impressive, Mr. Surveillance Commissioner

Zhao Zhi appeared suddenly, wearing clothing befitting a member of the royal family. He looked charming, classy and turned heads.

He was already handsome to begin with and very tall, so when he leaped off his horse in these clothes, his gold robe flew beautifully and the dragon embroidered on his shoulder looked like it might fly straight for the sky. It was impossible to describe how brilliant and eye-catching he looked.

Zuo Xiuwen was completely stunned. He had no idea how in the world this situation could have attracted the attention of the King of Chaos, and definitely could not comprehend what Zhao Zhi was talking about.

It was one thing to scatter the crowd in order to return peace to the street, but asking what he thought about what Song Caitang said…

What did he think?

Of course he didn’t agree!

The government, the Justice Department, a murder case – these were all very serious things! How could they allow a woman from nowhere to interfere just like that?

But his senses told him that… he shouldn’t say these thoughts out loud.

After Zhao Zhi finished asking his question, he tapped his palm with the purple and gold handle of his whip again and again. He seemed to be tapping faster and faster, as though he was losing patience.

Zuo Xiuwen didn’t have a lot of time to think about how to answer, so he just went with his real thoughts and said, “This concerns a person’s life, so cracking the case is of utmost importance and great caution should be taken…”

Zhao Zhi stopped tapping. “So, not going according to the will of big shots like you is considered being not cautious?”

Sweat began to run down Zuo Xiuwen’s back as he bowed even lower. “That’s not what I meant!”

“All cases fall under the Justice Department, and no matter how capable the department is, it’s very hard for them to handle all this work by themselves. Besides, the emperor has just given instructions for them to investigate cold cases from before. They are so busy on all sides, so it might be very hard for them to take on…”

Zhao Zhi bent slightly to lean toward Zuo Xiuwen and smiled. “Mr. Zuo, are you saying we shouldn’t make things too difficult for fellow officials?”

As he spoke, he started tapping that whip handle again.

Zuo Xiuwen watched as the whip moved along with each tap, as though each tap was hitting his heart.

“Commandery Prince Zhao, you mean…”

“You’re asking me?” Zhao Zhi took a step to the side and pointed his whip handle at Song Caitang. “I think Miss Song is right. People in our positions should learn to be understanding toward others, including both officials and commoners, so we should share the burden that the higher ups and our colleagues have. Miss Song is willing to become the coroner for the case, inspect the victim’s body and give an autopsy report that could help to crack the case. That is truly a good deed! How kind!”

After he said the words “how kind”, he even quickly threw Song Caitang a wink.

Song Caitang was speechless.

She was grateful that he was supporting her, but his behavior seemed a little… over the top now.

Zuo Xiuwen had come over only because he felt that the men earlier should not have blocked the road like that. He wasn’t from the Justice Department and did not dare to speak for them, “But she…”

Song Caitang immediately piped up, “Before this, I was in charge of investigating cases in Luanze. I am registered as a coroner there.”

Zuo Xiuwen was shocked for a moment. He had not expected her to actually be a coroner.

“You have experience, but in Luanze and not in Bianliang. Since you’re not registered here, then as long as the official in charge of the case doesn’t transfer you—”

Zhao Zhi twirled the whip in his hand. “Oh, what a coincidence! I’ve just been promoted and I’m now an investigating censor and I have the authority to decide who works on this case.”

It was Zuo Xiuwen’s turn to be speechless.

Since Zhao Zhi already had the authority to take charge of this case, he could just go ahead and do whatever he liked. Why did he have to go one big round and put him on the spot like that?

He took a few moments to observe Zhao Zhi and realized that Zhao Zhi seemed to be doing this purely because… he just wanted to.

Zuo Xiuwen stared at him, then stared at Song Caitang, and rolled his eyes inwardly.

“I think Miss Song is not bad, she has the guts, the intelligence and the capability. Compared to those who look good on the outside but are rotten inside, those who only know how to brag but run away when they actually have to get things done, she’s way more helpful. That’s settled then.”

Zhao Zhi continued twirling the whip in his hand and made his decision in the most flippant manner possible.

Zuo Xiuwen glanced at the entrance to the Justice Department. “Would the Justice Department…”

Zhao Zhi lashed the whip out gently and placed the handle quietly on the other man’s shoulder. “If there’s anyone in there who doesn’t know better… tell him to talk to me.”

As he spoke, his smile faded. His eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at Zuo Xiuwen with a dangerous and sharp look in his eyes. “I know you were at the scene of the crime and you’ve placed great importance on this case and you don’t want to hand it over to someone else. I was willing to give in to you, to let you do a good job of investigating. But you keep stopping me again and again – that makes me unhappy.”

Zuo Xiuwen felt his heart nearly stop.

Zhao Zhi had sounded respectful, but everyone in Bianliang knew that this King of Chaos didn’t care about giving others respect if he didn’t want to. The fact that he was willing to say these words and treat him so kindly was already a miracle.

It was probably because a particular person was here…

Zuo Xiuwen stole a glance at Song Caitang.

He would be an idiot who didn’t cherish his life if he didn’t agree to this while Zhao Zhi was in a good mood and insisted on fighting him instead.

“Of course, of course. As long as you say so, Commandery Prince Zhao.”

This was the first time Song Caitang was seeing Zhao Zhi behave like this. Today, he was this arrogant, unreasonable, domineering man throwing his weight around, which was completely different from her impression of him. Yet, it seemed to fit him perfectly. It flowed out naturally from him.

For just that one second, she felt that perhaps she had never truly understood Zhao Zhi at all.

She didn’t know how Zhao Zhi found out about this whole matter, or how he happened to appear at this juncture and decide to take over the case. When she realized that Old Madam Li’s efforts had not succeeded, the only methods she could think of would have required a lot of work on her part. But Zhao Zhi had settled this matter within minutes, which she was very grateful for.

Politicking and who got to benefit from what had nothing to do with her. She just wanted to crack the case she was given.

But that was something that she trusted Zhao Zhi with. Wen Yuansi was someone who thought of everything before anyone else and worked silently behind the scenes to make things happen. Zhao Zhi approached everything boldly without fear with a plan in mind. The two men worked differently, but with the same results.

She knew that Zhao Zhi had the ability to settle everything.

Zhao Zhi pulled his whip back and cleared his throat before giving Zuo Xiuwen some words of consolation, “Before this, I was a surveillance commissioner who had to go round the country, including Luanze. I know best how capable Miss Song is. Nobody else is as good as her when it comes to inspecting and dissecting bodies. You don’t have to worry, Mr. Zuo. Just sit back and wait for the results in peace.”

There was no way Zuo Xiuwen could just sit back in peace!

But it had come to a point where he couldn’t do anything else but agree with the man in front of him.

And so, the scene along the street came to an end like this.

The people watching along the streets had already scattered like frightened birds, while the carriages were able to move forward and most of them had already left by now. Zuo Xiuwen spotted his own carriage, so he quickly bid Zhao Zhi farewell and hopped into his carriage to head home with his wife and daughter.

As he made his way to his carriage, he stared at his hands with a deep frown while huffing angrily.

The King of Chaos and a woman from absolutely nowhere were going to take on this case…

This was going to be trouble.

Some people were going to lose their place in this city.

Zhao Zhi kept his whip and walked toward Song Caitang. “Are you alright?”

Of course she was alright. She turned and smiled, “Very impressive, Mr. Surveillance Commissioner.”

Zhao Zhi stared at her face with a gaze that burned so bright, it seemed to carry the warmth of the summer sun. It could seriously heat up someone’s heart in the middle of winter.

“That’s not the right term of address anymore. I’m now an investigating censor.”

Song Caitang’s expression did not change. “I see. So it should be Mr. Investigating Censor.”

Zhao Zhi felt a little itch in his hands, so he flipped the whip such that he was holding the whip itself and placed the handle gently on the top of Song Caitang’s head. “Young lady, I remember that you know my name.”

Song Caitang had a head of thick and smooth hair, which was something Qingqiao was most familiar with. Combing and styling her Young Mistress’ hair was something that took no effort yet took a lot of effort at the same time. It took no effort because the hair was very smooth and had no knots, so she could comb through it without worrying that she might pull on Song Caitang’s scalp. But it took a lot of effort precisely because it was too smooth and it was very difficult to keep any styling efforts in place. No matter how tightly she braided the hair or tied the hair into a bun, it would quickly show signs of loosening.

The whip’s handle was made from leather, which felt nice on the skin, but when the rough leather met with Song Caitang’s smooth hair…

Qingqiao watched in horror as the pretty little bun that she had braided and rolled up above her Young Mistress’ ears loosened!

Not only had the bun come undone, but the pearl flower pin on it had fallen too!

Song Caitang didn’t think too much of it. She just felt that her braid or something had come loose and the whip handle ended up slipping straight onto her shoulder. But Zhao Zhi’s stare became even more intense and his breathing stopped for half a second.

Perhaps many men had a thing for long hair, and weddings during this era even included a section where the husband would untie his wife’s hair. There were men who had trouble controlling themselves when a person they liked untied their hair in front of them.

Zhao Zhi watched as Song Caitang’s hair came undone and fell to her shoulder along with his whip. Her hair was so smooth and fell so prettily, some of it still cheekily wrapped around the whip handle, as though it didn’t want to let go of it.

As though… she was asking him to stay.

Tak! The intricate pearl flower fell to the ground, raising a tiny cloud of dust.

Anything commissioned by Guan Qing was definitely something of extremely high quality, so the pearl flower did not break and didn’t even get a single bit of dust on it. It was as glossy as ever.

Zhao Zhi snapped out of his daze and retracted the whip like he had scalded his hand, then bent over to pick up the pearl flower.

Instead of returning it to Song Caitang, he kept it in his pocket.

“I’m really sorry for breaking your things. I’ll compensate you.”

Song Caitang stared at him speechlessly.

Qingqiao’s eyes widened as well.

Was this man blind?! He couldn’t see that the pearl flower was perfectly fine and thought that everyone else couldn’t see too?

He thought he could gaslight them like that?!

Song Caitang said, “No need for that.”

“I’m not one of those awful people who breaks another person’s things and ignores it.”

“There’s really no need.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll give you an even better one to make up for it.”

They locked gazes, one insisting that there was no need for any compensation, the other insisting that there ought to be. Their gaze shifted slowly from an initial look of determination, to a gentler, more avoidant gaze, to a rather awkward one…

It was awkward, but also flirtatious at the same time.

Qingqiao wasn’t sure what was going on, but she felt like she shouldn’t be standing here…

It was at such a time that a young woman emerged from the Ping Consort carriage. She wore a mili so you couldn’t see her face at all, her clothes were too large for her so you couldn’t see her true figure. But her supple, slim waist was obvious and she looked like the wind could blow her away anytime.

She was like a fragile but beautiful flower, her aura exceedingly calm and confident. She appeared in front of Zhao Zhi within seconds and nobody noticed how her walking speed didn’t seem to match her looks at all.

“Cousin…”

This voice was gentle and cloying, contained a timid joy, a bitter sweetness, a little surprise and a little longing. It was full of emotions.

Zhao Zhi’s brow creased slightly.

Song Caitang turned around to look, but it was impossible to see the girl’s face.

But this voice alone told her this must be a beautiful woman.

Zhao Zhi turned and took a small step to the side so that he hid Song Caitang behind him. “What is it?”

The young woman pointed at the carriage in the distance. “Aunt is over there, do you want to go over?”

Zhao Zhi looked at the carriage and let out an “um” through his nose.

Which meant that he did want to go over.

But despite that, he didn’t budge at all and didn’t look like he was about to start walking…

The young woman paused, glanced at Song Caitang behind him, then turned to start walking first. “Cousin, let’s go then.”

After she walked away, Zhao Zhi gave Song Caitang a quick glance that said: wait for me.

He took large strides toward the carriage, then pulled the curtain back before slowly bowing and saying very slowly, “Your Highness, the road is no longer blocked and it will not delay your schedule anymore.”

The consort opened her eyes and stared straight at him.

He did not avoid her gaze and stared back at her calmly.

After a long time, she shut her eyes again. “Let’s go.”

Zhao Zhi put the curtain down and stepped aside to let the young woman behind him enter the carriage.

The young woman walked very slowly, approached him very slowly and finally stopped right in front of Zhao Zhi.

“A sumptuous meal is waiting for you at home. Her Highness personally made sure the meal includes all your favorite dishes…”

“No thanks,” Zhao Zhi turned her down coldly. “I have other matters to attend to. I will excuse myself now.”

“Cousin…”

No matter how anxious she sounded or how hard she tried to get him to stay, even if her voice cracked, it would be impossible to convince one who was determined to walk away.

Zhao Zhi was clearly in a foul mood when he came back.

Song Caitang guessed that there was probably something she didn’t know about.

She didn’t know much about Zhao Zhi’s life, but she knew that he was a commandery prince now, even though his late father was a prince. He should have been named the heir to his father and become a prince as well, but he was still only a commandery prince because he did something some years ago and it affected several parties. The emperor had no choice but to keep it down for the time being since he was the man in charge of the country and had not given the decree since.

But he had contributed tremendously to the country. Becoming a prince was only a matter of time.

Zhao Zhi’s father was also known as Prince Ping and Zhao Zhi was his only son by his first wife. His wife had remained ill after giving birth and only passed away a year later. Before passing away, she confirmed that her younger sister by her father’s concubine would take her place.

The one sitting in the Ping Consort carriage, the one whom the young woman in a mili called Her Highness, was probably this second wife.

Prince Ping was engaged in battle most of his life, so while he was feared by the enemy, he didn’t take very good care of his family. Zhao Zhi was brought up by this stepmother. She did not have any children of her own, and it was rumored that this mother and son got along very well, their relationship was the envy of everyone.

But judging from what Song Caitang just saw… that didn’t look like the case at all.

But that was his family’s private matter. If he didn’t talk about it, she felt it was inappropriate for her to ask.

The case was the most important thing to her right now. She had some information and she had seen some things, but she didn’t have enough clues or facts, so it was hard to make any judgment now. She had to inspect the body first.

Would it be possible to do that today?

Zhao Zhi seemed to know what she was thinking about. “I’ll send someone to pick you up tomorrow morning to inspect the body.”

The case had gone from the governor to the Justice Department and finally into his hands, so some paperwork was required and time was also needed to move the body and get it ready for an autopsy.

Song Caitang nodded. “Okay.”

The secretariat of the Justice Department, Yang Guangkang returned. The commotion at the entrance had already ended and the clerk who started it had already been taken away by Zhao Zhi to be punished.

He had a solemn look on his face as he walked down the corridor and finally let out a defeated sigh when he arrived at his office. “Looks like we’re getting blamed for being lousy at our jobs.”

His scribe, Wen Tao, placed a stack of freshly approved scrolls on his table and quietly consoled him, “The Justice Department is in charge of the entire country’s cases, so it’s impossible for us to be able to do everything. You don’t need to have such high expectations of yourself.”

Yang Guangkang picked up a brush. “Even if I don’t have such expectations, others do.”

“But investigation and cracking of cases has never been the sole responsibility of the official in charge. The coroner, the prefectural judge, the police, the scribe, the clerk and more have to work together well in order to uncover the truth. If the coroner can’t find the cause of death, if the prefectural judge can’t list issues that need to be investigated, if the police and clerk can’t gather any useful information any clues, the scribe can’t make a good judgment – even a deity wouldn’t be able to crack a case in such a situation.”

Wen Tao rolled his sleeve up slightly as he bent his head and grinded the inkstone for his superior.

He had said quite a bit, but there was more he didn’t say out loud.

The Justice Department was in charge of investigating and meting out sentences, and often ran into sensitive cases. Sometimes the instruction from the emperor wasn’t clear, sometimes the palace officials covered up their wrongdoings, sometimes subordinates and servants dared not even speak. Even if they said something, they wouldn’t dare to speak the truth. How could anybody conduct an investigation like that?

One needed solid evidence to crack a case. You couldn’t possibly arrest any random person and declare they’re the killer.

The procedures of the Justice Department followed the law of the country. They were to be treated seriously.

But even though he didn’t say these things, Yang Guangkang was well aware.

His brush stopped in midair and he gave an instruction, “Get Coroner Zhou to go over and take a look as well. There are some things in this world that one should learn a little more about.”

“Yes, sir,” replied Wen Tao. “Coroner Zhou is mature and reliable, and he has been known for his capabilities from a young age. He’d definitely be able to pick up a few skills.”

Yang Guangkang nodded, then remembered something else. “You still haven’t found someone to take up the vacant position of prefectural judge?”

Wen Tao paused. “If you broaden the requirements, plenty of people will apply.”

“And why would I want a bunch of useless people who get in through connections and all that? If they’re not good enough, I’d rather do without one.”

“Then you’d have to wait a while more. It’s hard to find a good one.”

“Even if it’s hard… you have to find one.”

Meanwhile, Coroner Zhou had received the instruction.

“What did you say? Mr. Yang wants me to help inspect the body with a young woman with the surname Song?”

His disciple folded his hands in front of him and bowed his head. “That’s right.”

Coroner Zhou put down the autopsy report in his hands and combed his graying beard. “Alright, noted. You may leave.”

After his disciple left, he looked at the vast sky through the window.

“Her surname is Song, huh…”