Episode 253

This time, Song Caitang and the two men did not leave Qi Yan guessing. They exchanged glances and said one name, “Wei He’an.”

“Madam Wei’s nephew.”

“A young and handsome man, heir to Count Wei, and currently of marriageable age.”

Qi Yan’s mind worked quickly and got it this time!

Madam Wei was trying to matchmake Wei He’an and Lu Yuxue?

“But that’s not going to work!” Qi Yan frowned as he broke the situation down logically. “Lu Yuxue has always only had eyes for Brother Zhi. There have been plenty of other men who have tried to ask for her hand in marriage and Consort Ping has considered other people too, but in the end, Lu Yuxue rejected them all. The fact that she’s still unmarried at such an age means that she’s very determined to marry Brother Zhi. She’d never agree to marry Wei He’an.”

“And that Wei He’an – judging from those bright eyes of his, he’s definitely a scheming one. I don’t think he cares for Lu Yuxue at all, but when it comes to Tangtang…”

He stopped himself quickly and threw Zhao Zhi and Song Caitang a pleading gaze.

Song Caitang wasn’t really too bothered. She smiled as she silently drank her tea and did not throw him any weird looks.

But Zhao Zhi pulled a long face and glared furiously at Qi Yan. The words “I am extremely unhappy” were written all over his face.

Qi Yan scratched his head awkwardly and figured that not only had he guessed it right, but the rest at the table had also guessed it, plus they had guessed it way earlier than him.

Then why…

“We can make fairly accurate guesses about the extent of Miss Lu’s infatuation and Wei He’an’s plans, but maybe not Madam Wei, said Wen Yuansi with a faint smile, rescuing Qi Yan from the pits of awkwardness. “I noticed that Madam Wei seems to be extremely confident of herself, to the point where she’s almost blind to everything else. She might think that there’s nothing she can’t change as long as she’s given the opportunity.”

And so, she had to create this opportunity.

But Lu Yuxue refused and pushed her aside.

So, sh got angry and decided to drag Lu Yuxue into this mess.

Song Caitang nodded slightly. “That’s right.”

To look at it from a different angle, while Lu Yuxue was mostly a burden to Zhao Zhi, she was an aristocrat who was pretty, well-mannered, intelligent and elegant. She was a great catch. Every young man in Bianliang who was of marriageable age and their families would be eyeing her.

This line of thought seemed random, but when put together with everything that had happened so far, it actually fit in perfectly.

So…this could be a possible point of investigation.

“But so what if it’s all true?” Qi Yan scratched his head, unable to get his head around all of this. “What connection would this have with the murder case? Any discussion about marriage would take a long time to iron out…”

“So,” Zhao Zhi clasped his hands together and put it on the table, his eyes gleaming like the stars in the night sky, “let’s put aside any conjectures and put together a proper, clear and accurate timeline first.”

Song Caitang and Wen Yuansi nodded solemnly.

“First, Zeng Deyong spoke to Fourth Missy Gan, telling her to sleep with him that night.”
After Song Caitang said that, Wen Yuansi added, “Qiu Wenkang caught sight of that.”

This occurred in a secluded corner and was completely unplanned. Zeng Deyong had provided a reasonable explanation and everything looked like it was merely a coincidence.

Zhao Zhi continued, “Qiu Wenkang seems to know Fourth Missy Gan from before. He didn’t know her very well, but he definitely did. He hasn’t told me the full story yet, but that’s not important right now, plus he’ll spill the beans soon. Whether he saw them by accident or on purpose, we’ll know after I get his full statement.”

“Yup,” Song Caitang nodded. “After that, Lu Yuxue appeared in the corridor outside the room where the murder occurred. Her face was pale and looked like she was feeling unwell. Gan Zhixuan spotted her from a distance and came over to show concern.”

Wen Yuansi continued where she left off, “At the same time, Fourth Missy Gan was walking in their direction from afar and Wei He’an passed by too. Lu Yuxue probably didn’t see Fourth Missy Gan, or at least she didn’t express it. Gan Zhixuan saw his mother, but he was more worried about Lu Yuxue and couldn’t bear to let her go, so he didn’t bother to check on his mother or even greet her. Wei He’an probably passed by a little later and saw all of these people, but he did not do anything and just left quietly.”

Qi Yan went on, “Lu Yuxue and Gan Zhixuan did not stay in the same spot for long and parted ways quickly to busy themselves with different things. After that, Gan Zhixuan was worried about Lu Yuxue but didn’t see her at the main hall, so he walked around to look for her and noticed that one of the room doors was ajar. He went into the room and found his mother’s assaulted body.”

This timeline covered quite a long period of time. In between all this, Song Caitang had run in Lu Yuxue and also noticed how Lu Yuxue and Wei He’an had given each other rather surprised looks when they noticed each other along the corridor.

She frowned slightly. “Based on all the information we’ve gathered, the crime must have happened not long after everyone had appeared in that corridor.”

Zhao Zhi tapped the table with his fingers lightly and said confidently, “So, regardless of whether Fourth Missy Gan had seen the rest or not, or what opinions she had of the situation, she must have entered that room.”

“Perhaps she had something on her mind and didn’t notice that something was amiss,” added Wen Yuansi. “Or she had noticed something amiss and was worried about something, so she decided not to leave for the time being.”

Song Caitang said, “And at that point in time, the poison appeared. Fourth Missy Gan got poisoned.”

“But she could have been poisoned later,” Qi Yan questioned the sequence of events. “Perhaps the assaulter came first—”

“Impossible,” Song Caitang shook her head. “I don’t know who poisoned her, but she died from the effects of the poison on top of intercourse. The assaulter did not try to kill her during intercourse, but before he was done, or perhaps immediately after he was done, she died. If poison was fed to her after she died, it would never reach the stomach, which would not match my autopsy results. She must have consumed the poison first, before intercourse occurred.”

The poisoning definitely occurred first.

Qi Yan took a deep breath and stroked his chin. “The sequence of events is quite obvious then. Fourth Missy Gan consumed poison, then was assaulted… So, someone secretly entered the room only after Gan Zhixuan, Lu Yuxue and Wei He’an had left the corridor outside.”

Another important point was, were these two things done by the same person? Or were there two people?

Ween Yuansi sat up straight and fell into deep thought. “If the person acted alone, the murderer might be trying to create the perfect murder. She had not consumed much poison, but the effects coupled with intercourse would still be enough to make her drop dead. Nobody would have found the poison if her body hadn’t been cut open and inspected by the coroner. Everyone would just think she died from overstimulation.”

Dying from something like that was not glamorous and it would make sense that the head of the household would want to cover up such a thing. The case would be closed very quickly without question.

Zhao Zhi wagged a finger. “That’s a logical explanation, but some parts don’t add up. Having to find the poison, make the victim consume the poison then rape her yourself would take up a lot of time and energy. There was a party that day and there were people everywhere who might turn up at any moment. Doing something like that at such a time would be risky.”

A clever person would have chosen another method or another time and place.

Qi Yan clapped his hands once and his eyes widened. “Then someone was just seizing the opportunity! The circumstances happened to be perfect, so the murderer decided to strike, since he would be able to get out of this unscathed while framing someone else!”

“If everything went well, nobody would have found him out and the authorities wouldn’t have found the real cause of death. That would be perfect. The killer would have achieved his aim while getting away scot-free. And even if he was unfortunate enough for someone to notice something, he could still push the blame to someone else.”

That bottle of poison, for example. It was too obviously Sang Zheng’s, so it felt even more suspicious.

Song Caitang thought of something else. “If that’s the case, is it possible that the murderer felt protective toward the person who gave Fourth Missy Gan the poison?”

Something just felt really strange.

“Does the poison belong to Sang Zheng?” She looked at Wen Yuansi.

Wen Yuansi’s response shocked them all. “Yes.”

Qi Yan leaped up from his seat. “But that doesn’t make sense! In most cases, the ones who seem the most suspicious are usually the ones who are completely innocent. It was obvious that bottle had been placed there to frame him! That’s not something Sang Zheng would do!”

“It did look like it couldn’t be the case,” Wen Yuansi agreed with Qi Yan. “But I’ve done a serious investigation and found out that this poison is extremely special because it only grows in the north. After checking all the transactions the officials at the Court of State Ceremonial have made both publicly and privately, I found that Sang Zheng had indeed purchased this poison before.”

It was possible that the man had really intended to kill, perhaps hoping to help Madam Wei get rid of Fourth Missy Gan. But nobody knew for sure if he used it himself or gave it to someone else.

“Because he knew very well that the poison was his, he secretly made sure he stood in a place that would block any view of the bottle. He didn’t want anyone to find out.”

If the perpetrator in this case was actually two people and the one who raped Fourth Missy Gan came after the one who poisoned her, the first person would definitely have known about Sang Zheng’s poison and might have even been able to get their hands on it.

Regardless of the reason why Sang Zheng was even involved in this case or if he was framed, since the poison came from him, he was definitely connected to the case somehow.

“Good,” Zhao Zhi narrowed his eyes slightly as he tapped his knuckles against the table. “We can now properly analyze the question we had just now. Why did all four of them appear at that corridor not far from the scene of the crime at the same time?”

“Lu Yuxue was the first to appear and she appeared unwell. Why?”

“Why was Wei He’an helping his aunt to get something at this particular time?”

“Madam Wei is unhappy with Lu Yuxue. What’s the reason for that?”

Song Caitang and Wen Yuansi already had some answers in mind and confirmed their suspicions after they had put together the timeline of events.

But Qi Yan only seemed to get it now. He rubbed his palms gleefully and said, “I know! This must have been the point in time when Madam Wei tried to trap Lu Yuxue and Wei He’an! That room had an aphrodisiac incense stick burning, didn’t it? Madam Wei prepared it! She prepared it for Lu Yuxue and Wei He’an!”

Whether these two young people held a torch for someone else or not didn’t matter. Once two of them had intercourse, they would have to get married no matter what.

A good start would determine the direction ahead. There was no need to worry.

Madam Wei was upset with Lu Yuxue because Lu Yuxue did not obediently walk into her trap!

Qi Yan gasped in amazement at his own intelligence and continued his analysis, “Madam Wei has underestimated Lu Yuxue! She knows a lot and she’s very careful, so she must have realized it was a trap and got away quickly! That’s why everything turned out fine for her in the end!”

Zhao Zhi understood Lu Yuxue better than him. “She knew a trap had been laid for her, so she had to run and hide. But she also wanted to know who was behind this. If she didn’t find out who did this to her and why, she might get away this time and not get away the next time. She needed this plan to keep going so that she could find out who was behind this. And to keep this plan going, she would need someone to walk into the trap for her…”

Song Caitang narrowed her eyes. “She chose Fourth Missy Gan.”

And Fourth Missy Gan agreed to do it because of what happened five years ago.

These two women definitely did not just meet randomly!

Wen Yuansi added, “I think Gan Zhixuan’s appearance at that moment was purely a coincidence.”

But his decision to ignore his mother ended up deciding her fate.

“At that moment, Lu Yuxue might not have noticed Wei He’an. She might have secretly snuck back into the main hall and observed her surroundings carefully, especially if there was any information about anything happening in that room and its vicinity,” said Wen Yuansi confidently. “She eventually found out that Madam Wei had instructed Wei He’an to get something for her at the same time, and that he would have to pass by that room too.”

So, Lu Yuxue found out about Madam Wei’s schemes.

Song Caitang agreed with this conjecture. “Wei He’an noticed Lu Yuxue with Gan Zhixuan and walked away. He’s not stupid, so even if he didn’t get it before, he would have noticed something by now or noticed something later and realized what Madam Wei was trying to do. He isn’t genuinely close to Madam Wei and would not want to allow her to manipulate him like a puppet, so he instinctively avoided the area.”

“He thought that he was the only one who had made it out of this trap. Since Lu Yuxue and Gan Zhixuan were together, they would be the ones going into that room. He isn’t close to either of them, so he didn’t see the need to warn them or save them from this situation.”

“As for Lu Yuxue, she might have thought that she was the only one who found her way out of this trap too, while Wei He’an would end up in the room with Fourth Missy Gan. She didn’t like Madam Wei and didn’t care for the other two either, so she didn’t do anything to stop it from happening.”

And that’s how Song Caitang ended up witnessing their look of surprise along the corridor.

Even though Lu Yuxue and Wei He’an were walking along two different corridors a few meters apart and did not actually run into each other per se, they had such a surprised and confused look on their faces when they noticed each other.

They ought to be very surprised, wondering why the other party had appeared here at this time.