Summoned By Consort Ping

Zeng Deyong instantly panicked. “That’s not true! You’re lying!” He turned to his wife to explain, “That’s not what happened! I didn’t do that! Don’t listen to him spout nonsense!”

Madam Wei glared at her husband from the corner of her eyes and said in a slightly displeased tone, “Is that so?”

Zeng Deyong glared at Qiu Wenkang, but Qiu Wenkang refused to look at him and maintained a straight face, standing quietly with his hands folded in front of him.

The count then turned to look at Zhao Zhi, but Zhao Zhi’s expression was hard to read, and definitely unfriendly.

“She’s already dead anyway, so just say whatever you want,” said Madam Wei with an unfeeling stare. But her words made Zeng Deyong cave immediately.

“I… I did look her up,” Zeng Deyong licked his lips and gave his wife an ingratiating smile, “but you know my old habits. Sometimes I’m just craving for some action and I can’t control myself, but I’m sensible enough and I know I shouldn’t be doing silly things during such an important time. I was just thinking… you’d be very tired after being so busy the whole day and you’d definitely ignore me at night, so I wanted Madam Gan to sleep with me instead… that’s all! Really! I swear! When I told her to look for me again later, I was referring to tonight! Besides, it’s daytime now and even if I wanted to do something like that now, there wouldn’t be enough time, don’t you agree…”

Madam Wei scoffed.

Zhao Zhi, Song Caitang and Wen Yuansi exchanged glances.

The people who had barged into the scene of the crime had said what they ought to say and would either not say anything else or did not know any further details. They would have to investigate further.

Zhao Zhi proceeded, “The deceased was poisoned so her death will be ruled a homicide. I’ll be taking charge of this case and I hope the Count of Peace and his household will be cooperative during the investigation.”

It wasn’t like the count had much of a choice…

Zeng Deyong gritted his teeth, “Of course we’ll be cooperative… my entire household will listen to any instructions you have!”

It was embarrassing to be investigated, but things had already been very embarrassing thus far, so it didn’t really matter anymore!

After that, everyone went their own ways and got busy.

The case at hand was of utmost importance, so the party was brought to an end immediately. Zhao Zhi got his men to seal off the area and ask the guests questions. Wen Yuansi helped to control the crowd and keep everyone calm and orderly.

As for Song Caitang, her job was to examine the body.

She opened up her two boxes of tools. The scalpel glinted coldly as she cut the victim’s organs out and examined each one carefully.

There wasn’t much more evidence to be found and everything supported her initial conjecture. The victim had not engaged in consensual sex with this man and she had died a terribly painful death. There were insufficient traces of the killer inside her body and under her nails. Her clothes didn’t yield any clues either.

But Song Caitang still managed to detect the poison that affected the victim.

It was a type of yew, which grows in cold, barren soil and commonly found in northern regions. Its flowers, leaves, fruit and roots are all poisonous and anyone who eats it will experience nausea, weakening of the body, convulsions, pupil dilation, failing of the heart and more within a short time.

This poison had a stimulant effect because it not only made one’s heart beat faster, but it was also a natural way to induce abortion, since it contributed to a woman’s sex drive. After the poison takes effect, the victim’s face, neck and entire chest would slowly turn a dark blue.

The other special characteristic of this poison was that its smell and remnants were very unique, and could only be found inside the stomach.

When Song Caitang first examined the body, it wasn’t obvious. Or rather, the victim had a lot of bruises on her body, including her chest, so the color of the poisonous effects wasn’t clear. Death by poisoning had not occurred to Song Caitang either, so she did not want to make any conclusions at that point. She would only make her conclusions and include it in the autopsy report after the body was sent back to the coroner’s office and was examined by someone senior like Coroner Zhou.

It was rare to find such poison around the area they were in, but it was common in the north, where many foreigners lived.

Song Caitang’s gaze flickered. Sang Zheng was even more suspicious now.

A bottle of poison had been found in the victim’s room, the poison was something unique to his people and even the pattern on the bottle was unique to his people. He was the only person in the room of mixed heritage and the first thing he did after walking in was to try and hide the bottle…

But what would his motive be? Would he really do such a thing just to repay Madam Wei? But why would he choose to do something like this on a day when the family was throwing a huge party with so many guests in attendance? Wouldn’t one prefer to commit murder on a quiet day? Besides, if it was just to do Madam Wei a favor by getting rid of this woman who was taking away attention from the count, he could just kill her and be done with it. Why did he have to rape her too?

Was it to humiliate her? Or… did he take a fancy to her?

Song Caitang had a feeling there was more to this than met the eye.

It was still too early to get any direction out of the case, but before she could think further, a messenger came in and said that Consort Ping had invited her to go to her place for a chat.

Song Caitang stopped wiping her hands for a moment and lowered her gaze. “Consort Ping?”

Zhao Zhi’s stepmother?

“That’s right, the one who married Prince Ping, Consort Ping,” said Qingqiao with a frown and a worried look on her face. “Why is she suddenly summoning you to her place? Is it because of the case?”

After all, Lu Yuxue was connected to the case too.

She had heard that the consort treated Lu Yuxue like her own daughter. Was the consort going to threaten Song Caitang?!

“No wait,” Qingqiao suddenly thought of another possibility, “maybe it’s because of Commandery Prince Zhao…”

Everyone could see that Zhao Zhi clearly had feelings for Song Caitang and had gotten very close to her of late. Perhaps Consort Ping intended to throw her weight around as her possible mother-in-law and show Song Caitang who’s boss!

Qingqiao looked horrified now. Either way, heading for Prince Ping’s residence was like walking into a trap! Song Caitang must not go!

But Song Caitang’s expression didn’t even flinch. “Help me get dressed then.”

“What?” Qingqiao looked like the sky was falling. “Are you sure you want to go over now? Or why don’t you wait for Commandery Prince Zhao to come back first—”

“No need for that,” Song Caitang had already made up her mind. “Help me get changed.”

Qingqiao had no choice but to pull a long face and listen to her Young Mistress.

This was the first time Song Caitang had come to Prince Ping’s residence.

The residence was huge, the architectural design was luxurious and grand, so it was practically a famous sight to see in Bianliang. Song Caitang had passed by many times, but this was the first time she was entering it.

She also took the chance to take a really good look at the place.

It was really big and really spacious, but overly solemn and it didn’t have enough intricate design details. If it could take a few notes from the style of the Classical Gardens of Suzhou, that would be perfect.

This was also the first time she was seeing Zhao Zhi’s mother on paper, Consort Ping.

Zhao Zhi’s biological mother, or Prince Ping’s first official wife, had not been spared the effects of childbirth. She had bled a lot when she gave birth to Zhao Zhi, so even though she survived that, she still passed away two years later. Before she died, she personally asked her husband to make her younger sister his next wife.

The current Consort Ping was Prince Ping’s second wife and Zhao Zhi’s actual aunt.

Consort Ping had more than one sister. She was close to another sister, who was Lu Yuxue’s mother. And so, Lu Yuxue called Consort Ping “Aunt” and she was really Zhao Zhi’s cousin.

But Lu Yuxue had a hard life. Her parents passed away when she was very young and she was bullied by the rest of the family. Consort Ping decided to take her in and ended up bringing her up for more than 10 years.

Song Caitang pondered the relationship between these three as she entered the hall where Consort Ping was already seated in the chair reserved for the most important person in the room.

“Greetings, Consort Ping,” Song Caitang curtsied and greeted Consort Ping formally.

“You may rise.”

Consort Ping did not have the usual gentle and sweet voice that most women had. Her voice was on the low side, as though she was an elderly person. Her voice was low, quiet and dull but very resolute.

Song Caitang raised her head to look at the woman seated before her. Consort Ping wasn’t old at all. She had a pretty pair of phoenix eyes and thin lips, and she carried herself very elegantly, but she seemed to be truly ill. Her face was pale and her makeup wasn’t able to conceal her tiredness.

Lu Yuxue stood next to her with a bowl of ginseng soup. Her eyes never left the consort. She was a very conscientious caregiver.

But her eyes were a little red. She must have cried earlier on.

Song Caitang stopped letting her thoughts fly about randomly and focused on how to handle what was about to happen next.

“Miss Song,” Consort Ping started in a slow voice, “I’ve heard a lot about you but I’ve never actually met you. It is an honor to finally get to meet you today.”

Her voice was quiet, she hadn’t suddenly started speaking out of nowhere and her voice was almost emotionless. But to say something like that given her status…

Song Caitang nearly raised an eyebrow. What was that supposed to mean?

But she kept a serious expression on. “It is my honor to have Consort Ping summon me to her presence.”

She ought to have continued the conversation by saying something like “I should have visited you earlier” or “sorry for taking so long to come” but…

She didn’t want to.

Song Caitang kept her back straight and stared straight back at Consort Ping with an intelligent gleam in her eyes. She did not lower herself in any way. But that also meant that the atmosphere in this room… became rather unfriendly now.

It was tense and stiff, as though it would crumble if someone flicked it gently.

The servants in the house continued doing what they were supposed to do. Most of them tried to walk as quietly as possible to reduce their presence. A few of them quickly hid themselves and made sure they had no business to be found around this room. But there were also a few special ones who nearly balked when they saw who had arrived in the house and quickly sent word to Zhao Zhi…

Regardless of what was happening around the room, the room itself was still calm and quiet. Consort Ping pointed to Lu Yuxue. “This is Xue’er. I believe you’ve met?”

Song Caitang nodded. “We’ve met a few times.”

Consort Ping smiled faintly. “She’s the one I’ve chosen to be the wife of my son, Zhao Zhi.”

These words had come very suddenly and were said very plainly, so that successfully caught Song Caitang by surprise.

The consort had intelligently chosen to make the first attack. Not bad.

Song Caitang noticed the shy and blushing Lu Yuxue, then focused her attention on Consort Ping again.

“I see,” she smiled sincerely. “But what does that have to do with me?”

Consort Ping’s smile broadened. She spoke in a slow voice that reeked of a superiority complex, “The wealth and high status of a prince and his household is something that every woman in this world would want.”

“For example, Miss Lu?”

Song Caitang looked very earnestly at Lu Yuxue.

Lu Yuxue pursed her lips tightly and glared at Song Caitang.

The consort was trying to insult Song Caitang, but Song Caitang deflected the insult toward Lu Yuxue instead, making Lu Yuxue sound like a materialistic woman!

“It’s clear,” Song Caitang looked back at the consort,” that Consort Ping has not seen all the women of the world yet.”

Consort Ping had not met someone like Song Caitang, someone with very different values from other women her age.

Consort Ping leaned forward slightly and stared at Song Caitang. “Having no love for material wealth is a virtue and I do admire any woman who is able to love and respect herself. But I don’t think it’s appropriate to say this isn’t what you want while gaining material benefits. Don’t you agree?”

Song Caitang had a knowing smile on her face. So, the consort was trying to call her a hypocrite?

“I can’t be compared to you, Consort Ping. You claim to be doing things for the good of others, but you’re actually doing it for your own good.”

How selfish. And wicked.

Song Caitang sensed that the consort had a distorted impression of her to begin with, so the consort wasn’t going to believe anything she said even if she tried to explain herself. Not only would the consort not accept her explanation, but she would also despise her even more.

So, she decided not to explain at all. Since the consort was here to insult her and try to expose her alleged shortcomings, she was going to put up a fight and make this meeting very unpleasant.

Of course, this was not a good attitude to have. This was not something an intelligent person would do and one should not learn from her.

As expected, the consort suddenly started coughing violently. Lu Yuxue quickly fed her some tea and gently patted her back as she shot a displeased glare at Song Caitang, her gaze furious. “You cannot speak to the consort in that manner!”

Song Caitang waited for the consort’s coughing fit to stop, then smiled at Lu Yuxue and said, “Not everyone is like you. Not everyone has the honor of being in a position to butter up the consort.”

This time, Lu Yuxue really got angry. Song Caitang was insulting her again!

“Aren’t you afraid that the consort will get angry with you?!”

But Consort Ping raised his hand to stop Lu Yuxue from speaking. She looked down at Song Caitang, “I need to remind you, Zhao Zhi is busy with work and will not be able to return so soon.” In other words, he wouldn’t be able to protect her.

Song Caitang got it now. The consort had deliberately summoned her at a time when Zhao Zhi wouldn’t be around.

But the consort had gotten it wrong. Song Caitang was just speaking her mind and was ready to face any consequences herself. She wasn’t counting on Zhao Zhi to back her or stand up for her.

“How strange. Do you intend to kill me?” Song Caitang smiled. “If you’re not going to kill me, then it doesn’t matter if Commandery Prince Zhao is coming or not, right?

Consort Ping used her right hand to put a lid on the teacup in her left hand. Her movement was slow but elegant.

It was just that she was simply too skinny, especially the back of her hand. It was as though her hand might break if she moved too much too quickly.

Song Caitang frowned slightly. The consort was really in rather poor health.

Consort Ping’s voice remained low and quiet, “No matter how prideful a woman is, they will have to bring themselves down and rely on a man to live. Miss Song, I’d advise you to remember these words and not get too complacent.”