Someone’s Dead

Song Caitang still couldn’t locate Fourth Missy Gan. The Count had many servants, but any mention of her name was taboo and most didn’t dare to say much. Even those with more guts only dared to talk about the good things that happened after she arrived. If they were asked about how she was now, they would all shake their heads in horror and refuse to speak.

But Song Caitang was still able to gather some information. Fourth Missy Gan was living in the residence in the southwest corner of the estate, which was close to the servants’ quarters and away from the banquet venue. She would be able to find a reason to go over and have a look.

Zhao Zhi and Wen Yuansi finally had some matters to attend to and she was finally able to shake these two sticky ones off her back. And because she was small sized, of low status and wouldn’t be noticed, she casually found some reason to head for the southwest corner of the estate.

The secluded residence that Fourth Missy Gan was living in was easy to find. The location was a bad one and it wasn’t nicely furnished or designed, but thankfully, Fourth Missy Gan was a clean and neat woman who made sure that the place looked decent. But she wasn’t in.

Since she wasn’t in, Song Caitang had no choice but to just look around at the estate, then told the servants to let her know once Fourth Missy Gan had returned, and walked back to the banquet.

The estate was simply too large and everybody was busy because of the party. It wouldn’t be easy to find a person so easily, so… she just had to wait patiently.

Song Caitang went back to rejoin the women at the party. She didn’t see Zhao Zhi and Wen Yuansi, and only saw Madam Wei socializing with everyone. She was in full control of the situation today and was surrounded by a large group of fellow wives of wealthy and powerful men. She was praised constantly and was really enjoying herself.

Song Caitang didn’t want to go over and join the praising, and given her social status, she was probably too lowly to even do that. Someone like Madam Wei wouldn’t care for it. So, she remained on the perimeter, wondering when Fourth Missy Gan would return to her residence and how it was very strange that she still hadn’t spotted Gan Zhixuan at all.

Suddenly, something knocked into her shoulder. She turned and saw it was Lu Yuxue.

There was perspiration on Lu Yuxue’s nose and she didn’t look too good. Had she spent too long resting in a warm room?

Song Caitang didn’t really like this woman, but at the same time, Lu Yuxue hadn’t done anything to offend her either. She helped Lu Yuxue to regain her balance, then asked after her out of courtesy, “What’s wrong, Miss Lu? Do you need me to help you call for someone?”

In order to avoid the crowd, Song Caitang had come to an area where there wasn’t anyone nearby.

Lu Yuxue avoided her hand and glared at her. “Your concern is not needed.”

I guess she doesn’t like me either. But Song Caitang wasn’t bothered by that. She stepped aside to allow Lu Yuxue to walk away by herself.

But as Lu Yuxue walked westward, Wei He’an was walking eastward from another corridor a few meters away.

They were a distance away and they did not walk straight into each other’s paths, but Song Caitang saw that they had noticed each other. In that instant, their expressions changed, but just for a very brief moment. Then their expressions reverted and they avoided looking at each other as they kept walking ahead, as though nothing had happened.

If Song Caitang was not confident in her eyesight, she would have thought she was seeing things.

These two… knew each other?

But it didn’t take long for her to move her attention away from them, because Gan Zhixuan had appeared.

He was wearing brand new clothes and his face was radiant as he tried to behave like a young aristocrat, going around to greet people, have a drink with others and make small talk. He looked like he was helping to take care of the guests, and even said that he was very busy earlier because he had to watch the kitchen and apologized for coming out so late.

Besides the fact that these clothes didn’t seem to fit him at all and the words “I’m trying to act strong and compensate for any lack” written all over his face, the question was whether anybody around him even respected him at all. They were smiling at him, but who knew what they thought inside?

And he said he had been watching the kitchen? Was that the duty of a man? That role had been meant as an insult, but he had no idea?

Gan Zhixuan seemed to really have no idea. He seemed to be very smug about it and thought that he had done a good job, that he had become one of the rich young men of the city and was a big shot everywhere he went, that his social standing had risen tremendously.

Song Caitang also noticed that Gan Zhixuan was very respectful toward Madam Wei as he spoke ingratiatingly to her and kept saying nice things about her. He even said self-deprecating things in order to humor Madam Wei, casting aside his pride and ego as he couldn’t stop singing her praises, and even called her Mother several times, as though they were very close.

So, he treated Madam Wei as his mother now? What about Fourth Missy Gan?

He even dared to stare so hard at Lu Yuxue that her face nearly reddened.

Lu Yuxue had come on behalf of Consort Ping, and regardless of her actual family background, the Consort treated her as a daughter and allowed her to participate in all major events and banquets. She also had a powerful cousin named Zhao Zhi, so she was very well protected and cared for. Almost the entire aristocratic circle of Bianliang was hoping to get her as their daughter-in-law. Who the heck did Gan Zhixuan think he was?

Gan Zhixuan was an illegitimate son who had no proper legal status and wasn’t even considered the son of a concubine, yet he dared to desire her? He really thought too highly of himself.

Song Caitang also felt some admiration for Lu Yuxue. This woman seemed to be an expert at changing expressions, reserving a different expression for the different people she met. She would treat different people differently at different times and have a different attitude to different ones. Also, no matter how hard of a blow she was dealt or how tough a situation she was in, she was able to regain her composure really quickly. It hadn’t been long since Song Caitang saw her looking a little unwell, but she was already able to walk among the other aristocratic women with ease, smiling and socializing with them without any issue.

As for the stares that Gan Zhixuan was giving her, she took it very calmly too. She did not look back at him and did not even throw him a look of disdain. She just pretended not to have seen any of it.

After all, such a man was not even qualified to look at her. He would eventually understand where he really stood, how ridiculous he was for even thinking there was a possibility, how different their worlds really were. The more he looked forward to a possible life with her and the more he adored her, the greater the shame and embarrassment he would eventually face. For many, the one they failed to get would always be the one most precious to them. He was probably going to remember her for life.

But Lu Yuxue didn’t think much of it at all. So many men in Bianliang took a fancy to her. If she were to feel bothered by each of them, she could forget about even living life normally.

Song Caitang was bent on finding out more from Fourth Missy Gan, so if she couldn’t get the mother, she didn’t mind checking in with the son. She kept an eye on Gan Zhixuan and decided that once he was done busying himself here and there were fewer people around him, she would approach him and see if he could tell her where his mother was.

But things didn’t go as planned. Shortly after she started following him around, a servant suddenly stopped Gan Zhixuan in his tracks, saying that something had happened in the kitchen. Gan Zhixuan ran off in a great hurry and Song Caitang couldn’t keep up at all.

By the time she got to the main kitchen and got a maid to go in and call Gan Zhixuan to come out, the maid said that the Gan Zhixuan had come and left, and nobody knew where he was now.

Song Caitang shut her eyes and sighed. She lost her only lead.

Things were not going very well today, but there was nothing else she could do but to keep going.

She found a place to rest for a while and Zhao Zhi and Wen Yuansi happened to be done with whatever they were busy with, so they came over.

“Any news?”

Song Caitang shook her head and asked them, “What about both of you?”

The two men shook their heads too. Coming to the banquet was a good idea because there were a lot of people present and they gathered a lot of gossip and other information. But they still had no clue where in the world Fourth Missy Gan was.

“In that case—”

Those three words had just left her mouth when they heard a blood curdling cry from afar. It cut through the air and instantly made everyone at the party pause for a moment.

“Someone’s been killed! Someone’s dead!”

Similar voices echoed down the corridor, causing all the guests to freeze and pale in fear.

Song Caitang, Zhao Zhi and Wen Yuansi exchanged glances.

Zhao Zhi slammed the table and stood up almost immediately. “Come, let’s go take a look!”

Song Caitang had a bad feeling about this. Everything had gone badly so far, and this murder…

The commotion had grown out of hand, so Zeng Deyong and Madam Wei were in no mood to try and comfort their guests. They got their butler to handle the guests while they made their way to where the shouting was coming from.

Most of the guests were held back by the butler and his team, but there were a few whose social standing were too high for the butler to hold back, so he allowed them to follow after his Master and Mistress. People like Zhao Zhi and his two companions.

When they got there, Song Caitang’s heart sank. The victim in this murder was Fourth Missy Gan!

She looked at Zhao Zhi just as he turned to look at her. The look in their eyes was the same.

This was simply too much of a coincidence.

Qi Yan’s uncle had died under extremely suspicious circumstances and everything could be traced back to what happened at Beiqing Mountain 18 years ago. They had finally uncovered the fact that Fourth Missy Gan had been there too, and now, Fourth Missy Gan was dead too. Was this really just an accident?

The smell in the room was terrible. It smelled of bodily fluids, and anyone who was married before would recognize it immediately. Fourth Missy Gan’s body was wrapped tightly in a blanket and her clothes were all over the floor. Only her fair, smooth feet were left exposed. Gan Zhixuan was squatting on the footstool by the bed and looked like he was in shock.

He was probably the first one to discover her body and had shouted to get help.

Song Caitang’s attention was immediately drawn to the victim and she began observing the body. Zhao Zhi immediately started observing the room and the area around it, while Wen Yuansi looked around at who had arrived at the scene of the crime and what expressions they had on their faces.

The three of them kept their observations to themselves for the time being.

Zeng Deyong was the head of the household, so he had to make the first comment.

“This slut! How dare she sleep with some random man behind my back and do something so licentious and shameless! The Zeng household will not forgive her for this!” He seemed to be trembling from anger as he looked at his wife. “My dear, I want to punish her! She is not allowed to be buried in my family’s burial ground. Is that alright?”

Madam Wei frowned slightly. “I will leave the punishment method to you, my lord. I will not interfere.”

As she spoke, she glanced at the incense burner in the corner of the room. The incense was no longer burning and very little smell was coming from it.

Song Caitang noticed that Madam Wei had not only glanced at the burner, but she had also looked across the crowd and paused for a moment in the middle. Who was she looking at?

Wen Yuansi leaned close to her and mouthed something.

Song Caitang got it.

Madam Wei was bothered by something. And she was feeling a little guilty.

Zeng Deyong turned to bow toward the crowd. “Today is my mother’s birthday and I had really hoped to celebrate with everyone. I did not mean for something like this to dampen anybody’s spirits and I’m sorry if it did. The Zeng household will not accept this slut who has seduced some random man and embarrassed the family, so we will deal with her later on. It’s not a big matter, so please do not worry about it, please go back and enjoy the party!”

One should not wash their dirty linen in public. Zeng Deyong was going to close this case just like that.

Nobody in the crowd could do anything about that, since this wasn’t their home or their household.

Song Caitang could understand all of this. What she couldn’t understand was Gan Zhixuan. He was just squatting by the bed, staring in a daze at his mother’s hair with a blank look on his face. Never mind pleading for his mother or asking Zeng Deyong not to treat his mother like this - he wasn’t even crying.

But either way, they couldn’t just let things go like that. Gan Zhixuan was not speaking up for his mother, but someone had to.

Song Caitang placed her hopes on Zhao Zhi.

It was not appropriate for her to say anything, and because Zeng Deyong was a Count, Wen Yuansi’s position wasn’t high enough for his words to have any impact. The best person to do this was Zhao Zhi.

And Zhao Zhi did not disappoint her. He took a step forward and said in a domineering and rather threatening voice, “I’m afraid that would not be the right thing to do.”

“Why not?” When he was not speaking to his wife, Zeng Deyong could lose his temper too. He was really angry now, so he spoke louder and sounded authoritative. “This is my household’s matter, so I get to handle it!”

Zhao Zhi glanced at him. “This is a murder case. It should be handled by the authorities.”

Zeng Deyong stood his ground. “No! Things are already embarrassing enough as it is! I’m not going to embarrass myself in front of the entire city!”

“So, you’re not going to let the courts handle it?”

“No!”

“You’re not going to let anyone else handle it?”

“No, I’m not!”

“Then you leave me with no choice. Don’t blame me for getting nasty.” Zhao Zhi snapped his fingers. “Men! Arrest Zeng Deyong right now!”