Questionable Background

It was only after they had walked a long distance away from the Zuos’ that Qi Yan finally couldn’t hold it in anymore. He tugged at Zhao Zhi’s sleeve and burst out laughing.

“Zuo, that old bastard! Did you see the look in his eyes just now?!”

“HAHAHA! When you said that you’d drop by again if you had any further questions, he scowled so hard! He didn’t even bother to hide what he was feeling! He was just short of saying, ‘Just get lost and never come back again’!”

Zhao Zhi frowned as he pulled his sleeve out of Qi Yan’s hands. “We’re in public. Watch your behavior.”

Qi Yan stared blankly at him.

He didn’t say that when he was being all mean and unreasonable at the Zuos’ just now!

Zhao Zhi straightened his sleeve and glanced at Qi Yan. “You have a problem with that?”

Qi Yan shook his head vigorously. “Nope, no problem at all. Brother Zhi is the best!”

“Good.”

Zhao Zhi turned and continued walking, his posture arrogant and classy, exuding his royal bloodline without any doubt. He wasn’t the least humble about it!

Qi Yan was speechless. It couldn’t be helped. Regardless of whether this man was cool or ridiculous, he remained his Brother Zhi.

Qi Yan quickly ran to catch up with Zhao Zhi. But when he thought about the Zuos, he couldn’t help but snort and laugh again.

“This family is really interesting. Everyone’s hiding some secret, but they also have no idea what the other person is doing, because they’re too busy themselves! Each fact we exposed shocked them more than the last one! That was such a good show to watch!”

He was so satisfied with this, he was going to laugh about it for the rest of the month.

But Zhao Zhi was in deep thought. “We still have to confirm the veracity of their statements.”

With that, he brought Qi Yan to look up Li Maocai.

After questioning Li Maocai carefully and comparing his words with what they had heard at the Zuos’…

It seemed like none of the three were lying.

Li Maocai had given a good reason. Just like Qi Yan, he was prepared to enjoy the good show in front of him. He realized that the three members of the Zuo family were focused on their own secrets and didn’t know what was going on with the rest of the family, but he knew very well because he was instructed to follow Lv Mingyue. He didn’t have a lot of details, but he managed to figure out how all of them were related to one another. He didn’t expose any of them and just continued enjoying the show.

When he was asked why he didn’t tell Madam Yu about any of this, he said that Madam Yu’s instructions and payment did not cover this part. He was only supposed to tell her when Lv Mingyue and Zuo Xiuwen met in secret and how long each meeting was.

Li Maocai was a small-time hooligan who didn’t want to get into unnecessary trouble, but who was also street smart. If Zhao Zhi hadn’t found out about it, he wouldn’t dare to mention it. But if Zhao Zhi questioned him about the things he found out, then he would immediately admit to them.

Zhao Zhi felt that this man was still hiding some things from them, but he wasn’t going to talk anymore, so he had no choice but to let him go.

The investigation and the evidence collected so far wasn’t enough to lock the man up.

After they were all done, Zhao Zhi and Qi Yan came back to meet with Song Caitang again.

Qi Yan was in good spirits. He was so excited, he started telling her all about what happened when they were at the Zuos’ in great detail.

And when he got extra excited, he gesticulated wildly, even tugging at her sleeve at one point.

Zhao Zhi instantly frowned at him.

How in the world did this boy manage to speak so quickly, so fluently and without stopping to even breathe?

He had not only successfully hoarded all of Song Caitang’s attention, but now he even dared to tug at her sleeve?

Pak! Zhao Zhi smacked Qi Yan’s hand hard.

“Your hand.” His glare and his voice were sinister.

Qi Yan teared up as he stared at the back of his hand that had swelled up within seconds. If he had to jump into a river to clear his name, he would!

He really didn’t have any other motives for doing that! The gods could attest to that!

But then again, he did take a fancy to Song Caitang because she was different from other women. But that was it! He never thought of taking her for himself! Never! He was just too excited just now, just like how one might slam a palm against the table when talking about the most exciting part of a storybook. He wanted to gain affirmation from the other party, so he slammed the table with his hand…

Wait, no, no, Song Caitang wasn’t a table. This didn’t seem like a good example after all…

That didn’t matter! Either way, he wasn’t guilty of doing anything wrong!

Qi Yan felt so aggrieved inside.

Zhao Zhi couldn’t be bothered with his feelings and looked straight at Song Caitang. “Understood everything about the Zuos?”

Song Caitang nodded and smiled. “Yup. Mr. Qi has done a good job of explaining everything in great detail.”

The atmosphere at that time, the changes in each person’s emotions. He had given a great deal of information, including the tension in the room and other interesting observations. She felt like she had been there herself.

“The direction of this case… seems rather interesting.”

Zhao Zhi didn’t want to hear her say anything to compliment Qi Yan, so he quickly changed topic, “What about you? Did you get any clues?”

Song Caitang thought about what she saw at Lv Mingyue’s room and frowned slightly. “Her room was normal and there was no mess, no traces of anyone rummaging through her things, or any fight or struggle. It doesn’t look like she has been kidnapped.”

“She doesn’t look like she has been kidnapped?” Zhao Zhi narrowed his eyes. So, she left the house herself?

Song Caitang knew that was what he was thinking and nodded. “That night, she asked for some calming tea, saying that she wanted to have a good night’s rest and also dismissing the maid who usually serves her. The next morning, the maid noticed that it was already late and she hadn’t woken up yet, so she entered the room to wake her up, only to find that Lv Mingyue had already disappeared. The Lvs have already sent a lot of people out to look for her, but they still haven’t found her. I checked the room and questioned the maid, and I’ve confirmed that she’s missing two sets of clothing, a few gold accessories, and her stash of cash is also empty.”

“Since so many things are missing but the room is not messy and there are no traces of a break in, it can only mean that she was the one who took them and left. She knows where all these things are kept, so she wouldn’t have to rummage through her own things.”

Zhao Zhi pinched his fingers together. “It’s easy to sneak out of your own room, but what about the estate walls? If she snuck out in the night without anyone noticing, she couldn’t have walked out of the front gate.”

Song Caitang shook her head. “There are no traces whatsoever, which I find very strange. Regardless of how high their wall is, Lv Mingyue doesn’t know martial arts, so she would have to climb from somewhere or use a ladder of sorts. There’s got to be a trace somewhere.”

The top of the walls were not like the ground. It was usually covered in a layer of dust and loose soil. Even if you gently touched it with just one finger, it would leave a mark behind. But there were no traces at all. How did Lv Mingyue get out?

And the fact that she had snuck out at such a time…

“It doesn’t seem like anyone kidnapped her. More like she’s feeling scared and guilty,” added Qi Yan. “If she didn’t do anything wrong, why would she want to run away? Just because she slept with Zuo Xiuwen? I don’t think that’s enough to make her run. She’s just involved with Zuo Xiuwen, she didn’t kill him…”

But while he was just speaking casually, his listeners were thinking.

When he said “she didn’t kill him”, Song Caitang felt like a bolt of lightning had struck her head and she immediately turned to look at Zhao Zhi.

He looked at her at the same time.

Their stares burned as intensely as the stars.

“Come to think of it, the atmosphere at the Lvs’ was very odd… the best residence in the house wasn’t given to the head of the household or the eldest son, but to their unmarried young daughter.”

Song Caitang continued where Zhao Zhi left off, “She pretended to be ill and didn’t want to entertain any visitors, and got her parents to fend us off. When there was a problem, she said it was their fault. Who are ‘they’? And what did ‘they’ do wrong?”

“Even though she allowed Madam Liu to hug her and seemed reliant on her, when we talked about her love for her daughter, Lv Mingyue had a mocking look in her eyes and she didn’t look like she wanted to be near Madam Liu.”

“Yet, it does seem true that nothing in the household is hidden from her, and her parents definitely put her as their first priority in all things.”

“When we got to the end, she completely broke down, crying as she said sorry over and over. Who was she saying sorry to? Why was she so upset? Why was she so emotional?”

“She was only this emotional when… she was talking about Lin Feizhou.”

Both of them took turns to speak very quickly as they continued to look straight at one another. The emotions in their eyes were identical as they spoke in perfect tandem, as though they could read each other’s mind.

Even a blind person could tell that these two were on the same page!

They had reached the same conclusion!

But Qi Yan wasn’t blind. Just dumb.

He scratched his head so hard, he felt he might become bald. “What’s going on?! Tell me! Tell me!!”

Zhao Zhi turned and threw him a pitiful glance.

Qi Yan felt a pain in his knees.

Song Caitang threw him a similar look.

The pain in his knees intensified and he nearly fell to his knees.

Thankfully, Song Caitang wasn’t as mean, so she just chuckled and explained quietly, “Lv Mingyue was in a very poor state of mind. She was very scared and was just trying her best to hold herself together. But it wouldn’t take much for her to suddenly break down. Mr. and Mrs. Lv were also very scared, but their fear was different from Lv Mingyue’s. It had a little bit of regret, maybe a little bit of hate. It seemed as though the only thing they wanted in life was to marry Lv Mingyue off properly. Everything they did didn’t sound like they were trying to take care of a daughter, but more like they were trying to take care of a distinguished guest, except that this guest had stayed in their house for a little too long… why?”

“Why?” Qi Yan blinked, then blinked again. “How would I know?”

If he knew, he wouldn’t be asking now!!!

Song Caitang sighed. “I had casually mentioned that Lv Mingyue did not resemble her mother, Madam Liu, and Madam Liu dropped her handkerchief before saying that Lv Mingyue resembles her grandmother instead. Her answer seemed very natural and very believable, but she refused to look at us while saying these things.”

“And… so?”

Qi Yan still didn’t get it.

There was nothing wrong in answering a question without looking at the other party.

Zhao Zhi felt the urge to slice Qi Yan’s head open to see what rubbish was stored inside, that perhaps Qi Yan was just a talking scarecrow or something. “So, this Lv Mingyue might not be the biological daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lv! Get it now?”

“Huh? OH!” Qi Yan took a moment to exclaim in realization. “Lv Mingyue isn’t actually a Lv!”

Zhao Zhi said, “We don’t have any evidence and we can’t be completely certain, but no parent and child interacts with each other in this manner.”

He guessed that Lv Mingyue’s biological parents might have left her with a tremendous fortune. The Lvs were paid handsomely and did not dare to slack off, so they treated Lv Mingyue like some god in the house, giving her anything she wanted. They dared not discipline her or correct her at all, so she grew up becoming like this.

“There’s one more thing,” added Song Caitang. “There seems to be only one reason why Lv Mingyue would escape out of guilt.”

Lin Feizhou.

She must have seen something or done something that was directly connected to Lin Feizhou’s death.

Qi Yan licked his dry lips and finally put the pieces together. “So… Lin Feizhou got close to Lv Mingyue, possibly because she owns something that has something to do with her actual background? And now, the key to cracking the case has become Lv Mingyue’s background? Who her father and mother are?”

Song Caitang clapped for him. “How clever!”

Qi Yan rested his forehead on his palm. “Please, don’t compliment me. I already know how stupid I am.”

“No, she’s giving you a genuine compliment,” Zhao Zhi spoke rather earnestly. “You’re finally able to understand what’s going on and link everything together. That’s impressive.”

Qi Yan felt like crying. That wasn’t impressive at all!

But who could Lv Mingyue’s parents be?

Song Caitang propped her chin up with her right hand and stared at the teacup on the table as she recalled the entire case.

Were these two people involved in this case?

Who would be most concerned for Lv Mingyue and do a lot for her?

She emptied her mind and allowed everything she had seen so far to flash past, allowed everything she had heard to flow through her ears. It moved faster and faster, and became more and more complex…

All of a sudden, someone came to mind.

Someone who seemed faraway, but had been the center of the case all this time.

Song Caitang remembered that Old Madam Li was certain Madam Gu wasn’t the killer. She said that Madam Gu had been an obedient and sensible person since she was a child and suffered a lot back then. There was even one point where her family grounded her completely until she was married.

But if Madam Gu had always been careful and wasn’t stupid or immature, why would her family do this to her?

If she hadn’t done something wrong, then it meant that someone had done something wrong to her.

In this society, it was hard to be a woman. Keeping one’s reputation unsullied was like a huge mountain that could weigh down and crush a woman for the rest of her life.

So perhaps…

Song Caitang secretly waved Zhao Zhi over.

Zhao Zhi leaned to the side and Song Caitang whispered a few things into his ear.

She whispered very softly, so Qi Yan couldn’t hear her.

Qi Yan sulked in his corner as he looked away. Fine! Leave him out!

It wasn’t as if… he would understand them anyway. Boohoo!

Zhao Zhi’s ears were slightly red as he stared more and more intensely at Song Caitang, like a fire raging beneath the water’s surface. It carried tremendous energy, yet seemed perfectly calm on the outside. “For that… you’ll have to wait for a while.”

Song Caitang smiled. “No problem. I’ve got time.”

Zhao Zhi had underestimated himself. Song Caitang got the news she wanted after just one and a half days.

They discussed for a long time before finally deciding that Song Caitang would go by herself. Zhao Zhi made the arrangements for her.

The clouds darkened in the afternoon and the temperature dropped, so Zhao Zhi frowned as he put on an additional fox fur cape around Song Caitang and escorted her personally to the prison.

“I’ll wait for you here.”

Song Caitang smiled. “Alright.”

She went down that same long corridor that was dark, wet and cold. Where the tiny bit of light could only illuminate one inch at a time. Where the atmosphere was stressful and depressive. A place that tortured one’s nose with the smell.

After she had come twice before, Madam Gu seemed used to it already. She didn’t even bother to say anything this time and merely threw Song Caitang a glance.

Her gaze was still the same as before. Her stand had not changed at all.

Song Caitang hid her hands in her sleeves and smiled. “I know. You’re going to tell me that you admit to killing the man and you’re going to tell me to stop wasting my time.”

Madam Gu raised an eyebrow slightly, as though she was saying, since you already know, why are you still here?

Song Caitang stood where she was and stared straight at Madam Gu through the gaps in the wooden gate dividing them. “I have come today not to ask about the case, but to admire… the greatness of a mother’s love.”