Episode 227

“Lin Feizhou’s case gives me this odd feeling too.”

Song Caitang’s words confused Qi Yan again. “Huh? What’s odd about it?”

Zhao Zhi frowned slightly as he realized why. “The existence of Zuo Xiuwen.”

“Based on all the clues we’ve gathered thus far, Zuo Xiuwen did not know that his daughter, Zuo Shanshan, had been seduced by Lin Feizhou, and he also did not know that his other daughter, Lv Mingyue, was on close terms with Lin Feizhou.” Zhao Zhi raised an eyebrow. “For Zuo Xiuwen, Lin Feizhou had nothing to do with him and he wouldn’t have wanted to kill Lin Feizhou at all. The only person he would have wanted to kill was Lv Mingyue.”

Song Caitang added, “Lin Feizhou was an experienced swindler, so the motives for what he did were very clear, but he worked in great secrecy. It’s hard to tell why he was doing this, but he was very patient throughout the process. There was only one person he actually approached directly.”

Zhao Zhi tapped his fingers against the table. “Li Zhengzhi.”

Lin Feizhou had marched right up to Li Zhengzhi with the possibility of exposing his secret. His motive at this point was the most urgent.

“As for Lv Mingyue,” Song Caitang spoke quietly, “her appearance was a threat to Zuo Xiuwen, so he would have wanted to deal with her very urgently.”

But for Lin Feizhou’s case, Li Zhengzhi had a proper alibi. He had been at the temple, but many people testified that he had missed the ritual and stayed outside the whole time. He only walked into the hall after Lin Feizhou had been stabbed and screams could be heard coming from the hall. He couldn’t have done it.

This was something that Zhao Zhi’s men had found out from the people in the temple that day, and Song Caitang had checked with Old Madam Li about it too. Old Madam Li said that during and before the murder happened, she had not seen Li Zhengzhi. She only saw him after the stabbing and the chaos that ensued.

As for Lv Mingyue’s case, Zuo Xiuwen would be in the greatest hurry to get rid of her. But on the night it happened, Zuo Xiuwen did not leave his home and was in his bedroom with his wife. They were really going at it and asked for water three times that night, so every servant in the residence knew what was going on. Madam Yu’s personal maid even accidentally walked in on them, so both of them had very clear alibis. Zuo Xiuwen couldn’t have done it.

How very interesting. In both cases, the one who would have wanted the victim dead the most urgently had an excellent alibi, so they couldn’t be the ones who committed the crime.
Was this a coincidence?

Of course, coincidences did happen from time to time. But Song Caitang always eliminated that first.

She suddenly recalled something. “We happened to see Li Zhengzhi and Zuo Xiuwen this afternoon. They were arguing in the restaurant, remember?”

It was something that happened the same day, so Qi Yan remembered it well and raised his hand. “I remember! I remember!”

Song Caitang asked, “What was the atmosphere like between the two officials?”

“Of course it was like two roosters fighting – they couldn’t stand each other at all!” Qi Yan felt like laughing when he recalled what happened. “They’re both court officials, yet they argued like children in the main hall of a restaurant in front of everybody. They’ve failed to be the good symbols of civilization that they’re supposed to be.”

But Zhao Zhi paused to recall what happened very carefully and his expression slowly shifted. “They definitely do not like each other, but in most cases, people who don’t like each other would choose to just ignore the other person and avoid any interaction. But these two exchanged so many words. They don’t seem like real enemies anymore.”

Qi Yan was a little bewildered. “But different people behave differently when they meet their enemies, depending on their personalities…no?”

But Song Caitang shook her head and threw Qi Yan a hint, “Think about it carefully. When they were speaking, Zuo Xiuwen was very angry and didn’t want to see Li Zhengzhi, and even said that Li Zhengzhi was a born to be a pothole in the road, nothing good comes to those who run into him and he never wants to see Li Zhengzhi again. Why would he say that? His anger seemed genuinely angry, so Li Zhengzhi probably got him into trouble recently? How?”

Zhao Zhi added, “As for Li Zhengzhi, his response was very interesting too. He said that it was too bad that heaven wasn’t on his side, so the grain problem was still unresolved and they would still have to report to the same person and get punished together. He also told Zuo Xiuwen to be careful what he says… Is it because he knew that Zuo Xiuwen was about to say something detrimental and so he was reminding Zuo Xiuwen to calm down and not be rash so that he wouldn’t end up shooting himself in the foot?”

A lot of people had witnessed their argument. Zuo Xiuwen was furious, but Li Zhengzhi remained calm. Anyone could see who was on the winning side.

But was this high profile meeting really just a coincidence?

Song Caitang cupped her cheeks in her hands. “I feel like…the more they try to cover things up, the more obvious things are becoming.”

It felt like this run in had been planned beforehand.

The two men had good and urgent reasons for killing the two victims in these two cases, but they had perfect alibis for the murders they should have committed, and their attitude toward each other seemed to be more than met the eye…

Qi Yan wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed but he got it too. He pointed at Song Caitang and gasped. “You’re saying…you’re saying that Li Zhengzhi and Zuo Xiuwen have joined forces to help each other to kill the other person and get away with it!”

Zhao Zhi narrowed his eyes. “But Li Zhengzhi has been smarter and has gotten Zuo Xiuwen into trouble…”

Qi Yan’s eyes widened.

But…but…how could this even be?

This conjecture was a little too bold, wasn’t it?

Besides…

“We don’t have enough evidence!” Qi Yan started scratching his head hard. “How did Zuo Xiuwen kill Lin Feizhou?”

Song Caitang’s eyes sparkled brightly because of the reflection of the candlelight in her eyes. “Remember where everyone was standing at that time? When Lin Feizhou died, besides the bystanders who had nothing to do with the case, three people connected to the case were right in front of him. Lv Mingyue was in the middle, Madam Gu was on the right…”

“That was how Madam Gu had the chance to slap the knife out of her hands and take the rap for the murder,” Zhao Zhi finished her sentence.

Song Caitang nodded and went on, “And on Lv Mingyue’s left was Zuo Xiuwen.”

If this conjecture was true, then the one with the dagger at first must have been Zuo Xiuwen. After killing Lin Feizhou, he made use of the chaos to stuff the dagger into Lv Mingyue’s hands just before Lin Feizhou died, making it look like she had accidentally killed him because of the crushing crowd. Lv Mingyue wasn’t trained in martial arts and her senses weren’t sharp enough, so by the time she realized what was going on, the dagger was already in her hand and Lin Feizhou was already bleeding to death.

Lv Mingyue was a sheltered and naïve young woman, so she must have been very scared and wouldn’t know what to do. Madam Gu, who had been standing next to her and watching her all this time misunderstood what happened, slapped away the knife in her hands and took the rap for this murder.

All of this happened within the blink of an eye. Zuo Xiuwen had moved very quickly and did his job perfectly. If Madam Gu had not taken the rap, Lv Mingyue would have been the one found holding the knife and she would be sentenced to death for the murder of Lin Feizhou without a doubt.

Qi Yan’s eyes widened and he couldn’t help but gasp.

Thinking about the implications of what would have happened was terrifying. Terrifying!

Zuo Xiuwen was a truly ruthless man with ruthless methods!

“Then…what about Lv Mingyue? How did she die?” Qi Yan was finding it hard to even speak now. “There’s only one set of footprints and it’s confirmed that they belong to a woman’s embroidered shoes. And the footsteps only go out and they don’t come back…”

It looked just like a suicide. How could one do that?
Song Caitang propped her cheek up with her right hand as she swirled her teacup with her left hand. “I don’t know if any of you noticed, but Li Zhengzhi’s feet are smaller than most men’s.”

“How would I know? I wouldn’t be staring at a grown man’s feet…” said Qi Yan before he cut himself off and stared at Song Caitang like she was some god. “This afternoon you kept staring at Li Zhengzhi and Zuo Xiuwen. I asked what you were looking at but you didn’t answer me. You noticed that then?”

Song Caitang nodded. “Yep. Those footprints we found after discovering Lv Mingyue’s body – we only took note of the shape and direction and concluded that they were left behind by a woman’s embroidered shoe. But we forgot to estimate how heavy the person would be. The dust on the pagoda was so thick, even Zhao Zhi’s footprints weren’t even. Some of his footprints were more obvious than others. But the footprints we thought belonged to the victim were extremely obvious, as though someone was afraid we wouldn’t find them.”

The truth was obvious now.

“Either the murderer purposely stepped very hard on the floor, or they’re very heavy to begin with.”

That was the only way one could leave such clear prints in the dust.

The amount of information Qi Yan received in one night was simply too much, so he felt like his brain had gone numb and it couldn’t move anymore. “Then…regardless of whether it was Li Zhengzhi or Zuo Xiuwen, they’re both men. No matter how small their feet are, they’d still be larger than a woman’s. But those footprints were the same size as an average woman’s…”

Song Caitang raised an eyebrow and said in a mocking voice, “Oh dear, you don’t go out much, do you? You can make all sorts of shoes with a pair of lasts, so you can make them small, you can make high heeled shoes, and whatever you want…”

Qi Yan stared at Song Caitang with a conflicted look on his face.

He was famous for being someone who snuck into places that were out of bounds, who went on secret dates, collected countless gossips. He had seen the vast skies and crossed the deep sea. And now, a young woman was saying he didn’t go out much?!

Oh well. Too bad for him. The one saying it was Song Caitang.

Qi Yan rubbed the tears from his eyes. “But we still don’t have evidence.”

Song Caitang smiled. “Now is the time to find it.”

“Find it?”

How?

Zhao Zhi was a lot steadier than Qi Yan. “For the Lin Feizhou case, the weapon was a dagger. Where did this dagger come from? Is it connected to these two men in any way? If Zuo Xiuwen stabbed Lin Feizhou at such close range, some blood would have gotten on himself. Where are those clothes he wore? There were a lot of people that day, so they would be able to describe what he wore.”

Qi Yan stared blankly at him. “But it’s been so long, so I’m sure he would have dealt with those clothes by now…”

Zhao Zhi tapped his knuckles against the table. “If he’s hidden them, we can find the clothes. If he’s thrown them away…we can find the person who threw them away for him.”

Either way, they’d be able to get either actual evidence or at least some witnesses.

And once they find those, they’d have answers.

“As for the Lv Mingyue’s case, those shoes will be very important. There wouldn’t be a lot of shops that make shoes this way. The food found in her stomach is also food that only someone wealthy and influential would be able to afford. Lastly, don’t forget, we’ve got a Li Maocai who was hired to watch Lv Mingyue at all times. Do you think he really doesn’t know anything? Or he’s just too afraid to say it? If we find enough evidence, would he be willing to testify?”

The most Song Caitang spoke, the brighter her eyes shone.
Zhao Zhi stared intensely at her. “I will make sure my men get these things done.”

Song Caitang nodded, then turned to look at him. Her pretty neck and perfect brows, her little teeth, her sweet smile and beautiful eyes were just asking to be complimented.

Zhao Zhi’s staring only intensified.

Qi Yan looked at Song Caitang, then at Zhao Zhi, then at Song Caitang again, then at Zhao Zhi again. He suddenly felt as though…he really shouldn’t be here.

But he was very unhappy today!

These two could read each other’s minds and were incredibly clever. One could start and the other could finish the sentence. One could suddenly have an idea and the other could come up with more examples and analyze it further…

It made him so upset!

These two made him look like a complete idiot! He didn’t seem useful at all!

The more he thought about it, the more upset he was. He was crying on the inside.

Why was heaven so cruel to him!

I can’t remain like this, he told himself. I have to turn my sadness into motivation. I’m going to prove myself through the process of finding evidence!

The worst thing to happen to an investigation was to have completely no clue on where to begin. The odds of finding a needle in a haystack were way too low. But once you had a clear direction and you dug deep that way, you could find answers to even the hardest of questions.

Zhao Zhi was very efficient in the first place, while Qi Yan was extremely motivated. They worked especially quickly and Song Caitang received the good news in just three days.

They had gathered enough evidence, so they could summon the suspects and deliver a slap in their faces!

She wasn’t going to miss this for the world!

Song Caitang quickly got changed, then hugged a hand warmer as she walked briskly toward the discussion hall where Zhao Zhi was.

Zhao Zhi came out to welcome her personally and got her a seat that was nearest to the heater. After he settled a few more small items on his list, he summoned the list of suspects.

They were suspects for both cases.

Li Zhengzhi, Zuo Xiuwen, Madam Yu, Zuo Shanshan and Li Maocai were all here. Only Madam Gu remained in prison with her son, Ji Yuanjia, taking care of her.

Zhao Zhi took the seat reserved for the one in charge, flipped the back of his robe coolly and sat down. “Everyone, please take a seat.”

All of them had different expressions on their faces. They looked left and right at each other. The atmosphere was very tense as they tried to guess why they had been summoned.

Zhao Zhi did not beat around the bush either. “I’m sure all of you know why I have gathered everyone here today.”

He did not smile and his voice was stern. The hall seemed even quieter after he said those words.

“Within a few days in this city, two people have died. One was Lin Feizhou, the other was Lv Mingyue. The two cases have been the talk of the town and has sent shockwaves through the people. The court has given me a time limit to get to the bottom of this case and I’m also anxious to crack the case. Thankfully, I have finally gathered some evidence and so, I have asked all of you to come here today.”

As Zhao Zhi spoke, he scanned the group before him. He seemed pleased to see that they were all rather nervous and uncomfortable. He smiled faintly and revealed his pearly whites, “I hope that everyone will be cooperative. As long as it is about the case, I hope that you will tell me what you know and tell me in as much detail as possible.”