One Amazing Family

“How would I know?!”

Zuo Xiuwen flew into a rage as he glared at Zhao Zhi and everyone else in the room as though his eyes were capable of spewing fire.

“I’m busy from morning till night with work, with the things at home! The list of problems never seems to end! I don’t have time to check on other people! Lv Mingyue was the one who approached me herself! She’s young, she’s sweet, she’s naïve, but she likes older men and said it’s because I give her a sense of security. How would I know she would get herself involved with some other young man?! If I had known… If I had known…”

The more he said, the angrier he got. He had no other way to vent his anger, so he raised a foot and kicked the table, causing both the table and the stools around it to fall over with a mighty crash. Most of the people in the room instinctively covered their ears in shock.

That wasn’t enough either. Zuo Xiuwen was now like an angry lion, kicking the tables and chairs, then the screens… As though he would only be appeased after he destroyed half the things in the room.

Qi Yan’s eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He threw Zhao Zhi a million glances as he watched Zuo Xiuwen destroy the living room.

This was nothing like the vice commissioner he knew!

Everyone knew Zuo Xiuwen as a man who was cautious, detailed, careful and one who hardly lost his temper. Or at least, he rarely showed his temper in public and did not get into any trouble. If he was sure of a particular project, he would take charge of it. If he wasn’t sure, he would never go near it. He was good at calculating when he ought to back out of things.

So… what happened today? Did he eat gunpowder for breakfast or something?

Qi Yan stroked his chin as he fell into deep thought.

It seemed like being cuckolded could truly cause men indescribable pain.

Zhao Zhi’s brows were slightly furrowed, his gaze slightly distant.

He didn’t think things were this simple.

Zuo Xiuwen was exploding not just because he was letting his emotions get the better of him. His reaction seemed a little delayed, as though he had realized some other things after getting over the shock of his young daughter being involved with some man…

Compared to the anger he had displayed when he found out that his daughter’s reputation might be ruined, he seemed angrier now.

Would it be merely for the sake of his male pride?

Zhao Zhi didn’t think so.

There was a little something else at play here… but he couldn’t put a finger on it.

His gaze darkened as he tapped a finger against the table. “Mr. Zuo, you didn’t know that Lv Mingyue and Lin Feizhou were in love with one another and discussing marriage already, and you also did not know that your daughter, Zuo Shanshan, was involved secretly with Lin Feizhou.”

Zuo Xiuwen scoffed. He waved his sleeve so hard, one could hear it.

“Madam Yu was too focused on your husband and also did not know that your daughter was involved with a man, but,” Zhao Zhi turned to Madam Yu, “you knew about Lv Mingyue and Lin Feizhou, correct?”

Madam Yu’s gaze flickered and was about to deny it when she saw the look in Zhao Zhi’s eyes. The look that told her he knew everything. She bowed her head and sighed. “Yes.”

Because she knew about the relationship between Lv Mingyue and Lin Feizhou, she felt that Lv Mingyue would not have wanted to become her husband’s concubine. So, she just continued watching Lv Mingyue and did not do anything else.

Zuo Xiuwen’s fingers trembled from his anger. He pointed a finger at his wife, “You actually dared to… Did watching me get cuckolded make you very happy? DID IT?!”

Zhao Zhi ignored him and looked at Zuo Shanshan. “What about you? Did you know about any of this? Lv Mingyue and Lin Feizhou were discussing marriage, your father was involved with Lv Mingyue, your indignant mother was watching Lv Mingyue…”

Zuo Shanshan’s face was deathly pale and kept shaking her head in fear. “I… don’t know anything… I didn’t know at all… I just… I just admired Lin Feizhou for his talent, and he… wrote me poems, saying that he liked me but did not dare to approach me because he was too poor and could only dream about me… he also said that after the imperial exam next year, he hoped he could become worthy of me… I thought that he was really poor, but he was an upright and loyal man who only had eyes for me…”

The more she spoke, the more embarrassed she felt. She eventually covered her face with both hands and began sobbing quietly.

“Did you go out often over the last two months?”

“No, I only attended two small parties with Mother and three gatherings with friends.”

“You saw Lin Feizhou each time?”

“No, I didn’t…”

It took Zhao Zhi just a few more questions to get everything straightened out.

Zuo Shanshan was a young woman of marriageable age who had grown up pampered and sheltered. She was vain and had a bit of a personality, but the rules of her family and society kept her in the house most of the time. She was very interested in the world outside, so while she was quite bold, she wasn’t really bold enough to do much.

One and a half months ago, she happened to see Lin Feizhou along the streets. Lin Feizhou was a handsome man with plenty of tricks up his sleeve and very experienced in attracting young, naïve women. If he wanted to show off his charms, no woman would be able to resist him. It was very easy for Zuo Shanshan to remember him.

He didn’t need to meet with her often either. He just needed the first time for her to remember him, another time to make her heart skip a beat, then create little chances to whisper a few things to her, and he could make a young woman’s heart flutter. Then he pretended to pick up one of her handkerchiefs and returned them with love poems hidden inside them. He didn’t even need to do much and she already knew how to find a way to communicate with him.

No dramatic promises were made and nothing crazy had happened between them. They had only met a handful of times too. But just those few poems and a few sweet nothings were enough for Zuo Shanshan to feel like she was part of a grand romance. She became obsessed with him and wanted to marry him.

That day at Zhaoze Temple was the first time they had come into such intimate contact with each other.

Zuo Shanshan spoke with a reddened face and a very soft voice. She wished she could bury herself right now.

Qi Yan couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. She was such an easy target.

Zhao Zhi also realized that the red patch on the victim’s lips must have come from Zuo Shanshan’s makeup.

Song Caitang’s autopsy report was very accurate.

“You arranged to meet with Lin Feizhou?”

Zuo Shanshan shook her head. “I wouldn’t describe it that way… It was difficult for us to get in touch, so after I found out my mother’s schedule, I tried to find a way to leave a message for him. I said that I would be in the temple the whole day and night on the day of the ritual and only leave the next morning. If he had the time, he could come over and look for me…”

Zhao Zhi interjected, “Before the ritual started, you spotted Lin Feizhou.”

“Yes…” Zuo Shanshan bit her lip. “I didn’t expect him to come so early.”

Qi Yan thought to himself, it wasn’t because he missed you though. He had gone so early because his supposed true love had dragged him there.

As he thought about this, he started regretting not going for the ritual. Otherwise, he could have “helped” them out. If these two women ended up meeting each other face to face, how would Lin Feizhou have handled it? Which one would he claim as his partner?

This guy was both a swindler and an expert in attracting women. Qi Yan wondered if he would have had a good way of getting out of this sticky situation.

The more he thought about it, the more upset he got. He had missed creating a good show just like that!

Zhao Zhi’s thoughts were a lot more focused than his. “When you spotted him, you secretly signaled to him where to meet and went to the mountain?”

“Yes…” Zuo Shanshan stole a glance at her mother. “He went there first. I had to find a way to get away from my mother and went there later.”

Madam Yu glared at her. She couldn’t believe her daughter had done such a thing. She was so angry.

Zhao Zhi thought about the autopsy report as well as all the statements they had gathered thus far and continued questioning Zuo Shanshan, “When you saw Lin Feizhou, was he alone? Did you see the vice commissioner of the General Accounts Bureau, Li Zhengzhi and the eldest grandson of the Ji family, Ji Yuanjia?”

Zuo Shanshan shook her head. “No.”

“What about Li Maocai?”

“Who’s Li Maocai?” Zuo Shanshan looked confused. She clearly hadn’t seen him either.

Zhao Zhi frowned slightly.

In that case, all of them had appeared one after another with some time in between. Li Maocai said he only saw Li Zhengzhi and Ji Yuanjia, but never mentioned Zuo Shanshan. Was it because he really hadn’t seen her, or was he covering up for his employer?

“When did you part ways with Lin Feizhou?”

“Before the ritual.” Zuo Shanshan bowed her head and kept her eyes on her handkerchief. “The bells were ringing, so that meant the ritual was about to start and everyone was walking toward the main hall. My mother also told me that I had to be inside by the time the monks started chanting scriptures, so… I said goodbye to him and quickly ran to the main hall. I didn’t expect him to… follow behind me.”

Zhao Zhi stopped tapping the table. “But he didn’t follow you all the way in.”

“I was really frightened that he would do that, but he just threw me a cheeky smile and walked the other way once I had entered the hall. I know he was doing it for my sake… we couldn’t let my parents know about us for the time being…”

Zuo Shanshan was so shy as she added the last sentence, while Qi Yan nearly burst out laughing.

Young lady, he wasn’t thinking about you! He was walking the other way because Lv Mingyue was inside the hall too!

Zhao Zhi went on, “But when he first walked away, you could still see him.”

“Yes, but it didn’t take long for him to disappear out of sight. The chanting of scriptures didn’t take very long and the monks began to give out amulets. Everyone dashed to the front to grab one and there were people everywhere… I couldn’t see a thing…” Zuo Shanshan’s face paled when she recalled what happened. “Then by the time I could see him again, he was already lying in a pool of blood…”

Zhao Zhi stared intently at her. “Who was closest to Lin Feizhou at that time?”

“I… don’t really remember and couldn’t really see clearly either. But the crowd suddenly parted, so even the ones closest to him would have gone much further away…”

“Just tell me what you remember when it was less chaotic. Who did you see around him?”

Zuo Shanshan paused to think about this carefully. “Mrs. Ji… had blood on her dress, the knife was next to her feet. Perhaps because the crowd had pushed him aside, I saw her son, Ji Yuanjia, on the other side of the circle. He was directly across from her.”

“What was her expression?”

“She was… shocked? I mean, everyone was shocked by what happened.”

Zhao Zhi went on, “What about the people next to Madam Gu? Who were they?”

“The ones on the left… I don’t know who they were, they were all strangers.”

“What about the ones on the right?”

“There was a young lady,” Zuo Shanshan described her, “About 17 or 18 years old, round-faced, wearing a white dress. Her face was pale from fear and she couldn’t even scream.”

“What about the person next to this young lady?”

Zuo Shanshan bit her lip and glanced at Zuo Xiuwen. “It was… my father.”

A 17 or 18 year old round faced woman in a white dress, face pale with fear and unable to even scream, standing next to Zuo Xiuwen. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who this woman was.

Zhao Zhi looked at Zuo Xiuwen. “So, your daughter doesn’t know this young woman, but you do, right?”

Zuo Xiuwen scoffed. “That’s right. It was Lv Mingyue. I didn’t know she was going to be at the temple. When she saw me, she panicked like some frightened rabbit and kept avoiding me, so I couldn’t catch hold of her at all. I was finally able to get to her only when the crowd pressed in to get the amulets. I didn’t understand back then, but now I get it. That slut was probably with Lin Feizhou and was afraid that I might spot them, so she avoided me on purpose!”

Qi Yan finally realized why Lin Feizhou had been able to get away with doing all this. He wasn’t doing this entirely by his own effort!

Everyone had ended up coming to Zhaoze Temple by coincidence, but Lin Feizhou pretended that he got lost in the crowd when he was actually trying to get a chance to hook up with Zuo Shanshan. Meanwhile, Lv Mingyue was afraid that Zuo Xiuwen might find out about her and Lin Feizhou, so losing Lin Feizhou in the crowd was actually good for her. Never mind getting angry – she probably wished Lin Feizhou would disappear for a longer time. That was how Lin Feizhou had more than enough time to run into Li Zhengzhi and Ji Yuanjia, and also have a taste of both Zuo Shanshan’s personally cooked meal as well as her lips.

While Zuo Shanshan was having a rendezvous with her lover, Zuo Xiuwen and Lv Mingyue were exchanging glances in the main hall, so Madam Yu’s attention was entirely focused on the main hall. Neither husband nor wife thought of where their daughter could be or why she was taking so long. Everything had gone perfectly smoothly.

Things went on smoothly even until the ritual started and everyone had gathered in the main hall.

Nobody’s dirty deeds had been exposed at all the whole day. The only tragedy that occurred was Lin Feizhou’s death.

Gosh, that was one hell of a drama.

Qi Yan was so upset that he wasn’t there!

Zuo Xiuwen wasn’t done. “Everyone was panicking, so nobody would remember the scene all that clearly, plus there were a lot of ordinary folk around too. Asking about the people nearest to the victim is pointless, because if the real killer isn’t Mrs. Ji, then they must have run off quickly and wouldn’t remain so close by.”

Zhao Zhi quietly let him finish, then asked about Lv Mingyue again, “Did she mention anything when she was with you?”

He looked straight at Zuo Xiuwen with a stern flicker in his eyes. “Anything special, or something that left an impression on you.”

Zuo Xiuwen stopped to think, then said, “Come to think of it… she seemed to be very close to her mother. She would often dream of her, and she would either whine childishly or grumble. When she was whining, she would say all sorts of cute things. When she was grumbling, she would cry. She would say something like, ‘why don’t you want me, you even kept the quilt and other presents I received when I was born’…”

“The quilt she received when she was born? Other presents?” Zhao Zhi’s gaze suddenly focused. “What’s that about?”

Zuo Xiuwen shook his head. “I have no idea. She said she won’t tell anyone, not even me.”

Qi Yan realized why Zhao Zhi was curious about this and looked at him.

Could Lin Feizhou be after these things?

But what would be so special about the things from her mother?

Could it be that her mother was not just an ordinary daughter of a wealthy family, but was someone with an incredible birth story? Like maybe her grandfather was some billionaire from another country?

“Where’s Lv Mingyue now?”

Zhao Zhi tapped a finger against the table and stared straight at Zuo Xiuwen.

“If she’s not at that private estate, then she must be in her own home. Where else would she be?” Zuo Xiuwen made a face. “It’s not like she’s really my mistress.”

He didn’t look like he was lying. He really had no idea that Lv Mingyue had gone missing.

Zhao Zhi still asked him anyway, “You really have no idea?”

Zuo Xiuwen frowned hard. “I really have no idea! If you have any questions for her, go and ask her yourself! What’s the point in asking me?”

“Shan’er… Shan’er!” Madam Yu suddenly screamed.

Zuo Shanshan had fainted.

Zuo Xiuwen frowned even harder and bowed toward Zhao Zhi. “Commandery Prince Zhao, as you can see, I’m very busy with domestic affairs, so if there’s nothing else…”

Zhao Zhi glanced at Qi Yan, then smacked his lips. “Alright then.”

They were more or less done with their questions anyway. As he got up to walk out, he said, “Lin Feizhou’s case is still under investigation, so I will still need your cooperation in many aspects. Please find a good doctor for your daughter and take good care of her. If I have further questions, I’ll drop by again.”