Scene Of The Crime

Just like what her name suggested, Linglong had intricate facial features and a small but curvaceous figure. Even though she got a terrible shock and ran for her life, so her hair and clothes were a mess and her cheeks were covered in tear stains, yet she still looked so beautiful.

In that moment, Song Caitang could completely understand why Yuchun Court, Linglong’s employer, had given her such a stage name. They must have put in a lot of effort to make sure their “product” really looked the part in order to get more money out of customers.

And because they had helped her, Linglong explained what happened to her earlier to Zhao Zhi and Song Caitang.

Due to a number of reasons, Linglong ended up making a journey back to Yuchun Court all by herself in the middle of the night, including having to walk past some dark and deserted alleys. She wanted to walk quickly to cover the journey, but she heard a noise and stopped for a moment. The person in the alley noticed her and dragged her into the alley to take advantage of her. She struggled with all her might and managed to bite him on the arm. That’s how she managed to escape and cry for help.

“That man left marks on my body,” said Linglong after thinking about it, but decided against unbuttoning to let them take a closer look. “I wouldn’t dare to lie to both of you.”

“It was simply too dark, he was standing against the light and did not speak at all. I couldn’t see his face, don’t know what he sounds like, and I don’t even know if… he’s someone I’ve seen before or not.”

She recounted everything very clearly.

Song Caitang and Zhao Zhi exchanged knowing glances. It was not appropriate for Linglong to show them the bruises on her body, but when she was running for her life, her clothes had been a mess and some of her skin was exposed. Both of them were very observant people, so they had noticed already.

The bruises on her shoulder and chest were definitely a result of someone pressing on her very hard. She had been fairly uncooperative, and that’s why the bruises were so severe.

Everything was silent after she finished speaking.

The atmosphere… seemed a little odd.

When she thought about how she just said that she didn’t have to fear walking alone at night because she didn’t have much to lose, then looked down at herself, Linglong’s gaze dimmed.

“Those of us who work in such circles are used to a lot of such things already, so there’s no need to get too worked up or shocked. But,” she let out a self-deprecating laugh, “I would still like to be compensated for it.”

“If there’s no money to be made, I don’t want to do it.”

She was trying to say that she wasn’t scared, but every bit of her body language showed that she was very scared.

Perhaps she felt that someone of her status was not worthy to feel fear. Or perhaps she was afraid that the two people standing in front of her would despise her if she seemed too weak.

Song Caitang sighed quietly and patted Linglong’s shoulder. “You don’t have to put on such heavy armor in front of people who are not important to you, or people whom you don’t even know.”

For the former, you just had to be yourself. For the latter, it didn’t matter what you did. The other party wasn’t bothered, but you were bothered by what they thought about you? That was burdening oneself unnecessarily.

It was hard to be a woman in this patriarchal society, but courtesans had rights here. This was an era where one could despise you for being poor, but not for being a sex worker. Many famous prostitutes had truly amazing stories to tell.

Song Caitang did not have any special feelings toward Linglong and did not know her at all, but she felt some sympathy at that point in time.

Linglong stared at Song Caitang for a long time and didn’t say anything.

“Don’t be scared, we’ll get someone to see you home,” said Song Caitang as she turned to look at Zhao Zhi as though she was asking him for permission.

Zhao Zhi took every human life seriously, regardless of who they were. He nodded slightly, then waved a guard over. “Send Miss Linglong back.”

“Yes, sir!”

Linglong had tears in her eyes as she bowed sincerely. “Linglong thanks both of you for saving her life. I am quite popular at Yuchun Court, so if you would like—”

She stopped herself abruptly, as though she was just giving her usual spiel when she realized this was not an appropriate thing to say, especially since Song Caitang was a woman.

She bit her lip and bowed her head. “I’m sorry, I said the wrong thing. It’s best if both of you avoid such filthy places. I wish both of you a blissful and harmonious life together, may you enjoy each other’s companionship till old age.”

After that, she turned and walked away.
Song Caitang believed that she was sincere when she uttered those words of blessings, because there was an envious look in her eyes. Many courtesans really envied how ordinary people could lead normal lives, fall in love, and live happily with their families.

It was just that…

“We didn’t behave intimately or anything like that, right?” She tugged at Zhao Zhi’s sleeve. “How did she know?”

Zhao Zhi wrapped his hand around her hand. “Those in her line of work are usually more sensitive toward romance.”

Song Caitang tried to pull her hand away, but his hand refused to budge no matter how hard she tried, so she gave up and let him hold it.

They waited where they were for a long time. Every guard that had left earlier to check out the situation came back to say that they didn’t see anything strange or notice any suspicious people.

Perhaps that man had left after Linglong started running and crying for help because he didn’t want to get into trouble?

They didn’t get any answers, but they still had to sleep.

After being out and about for so long, Song Caitang was very sleepy and dragged Zhao Zhi back because she wanted to sleep.

Of course, she was going to sleep by herself in her own room. Zhao Zhi was only in charge of escorting her home.

Zhao Zhi couldn’t really keep his emotions in check anymore, so he left extremely reluctantly only after he had kissed her hard several times.

Even though she was really sleepy, Song Caitang felt her sleep wasn’t peaceful at first. She kept having dreams and woke up bleary eyed a few times. But once she got past this part, she slept extremely well. By the time she woke up, it was already past 7 in the morning!

She had never slept till this late before!

She was so happy. It seemed like her usual problem of waking up in the middle of the night and being unable to go back to sleep was going, going, gone!

While she was still grinning to herself, Qingqiao suddenly came running in. “Young Mistress, bad news! Something’s happened!”

“What’s happened?” Song Caitang put on a coat and got out of bed. “Take your time to tell me.”

Qingqiao quickly helped Song Caitang to wash up and get changed, her brows furrowed throughout. “Someone’s died! A runner from the courthouse came to tell us that and wants you to go over and help!”

“There’s a murder case?” Song Caitang hastened her washing up and put on the clothes that were easiest to wear and plainest in design. She wore a simple bun and decided against too many fancy hairpins. “Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?”

“Because—”

“Because someone only just reported the case.”

Someone stole the words from Qingqiao’s mouth. A tall and broad man walked into the room, his sideburns combed sharply, his brows thick and dark, his eyes like the boundless universe, his footsteps stern and authoritative. That… was Zhao Zhi.

Song Caitang stared at him for a while before blurting, “Why are you here?”

This was the inner house of the Guans’ residence, her bedroom, in broad daylight?!

He was behaving like he was already her husband?!

Zhao Zhi knew what was going through her mind but remained calm. “It’s because it’s work, so I’ve come specially to get your help, Miss Song.”

The Guans would have to get used to his presence sooner or later. Starting today wasn’t a bad idea.

Song Caitang was speechless.

But there was work to do and no time to waste. She spared him for the moment as she quickly packed her things, told her family she was going out, and left the house with him.

On the way, Zhao Zhi explained the case to Song Caitang. The person who had died came from the Salt Shipping Department head, Zheng Fangquan’s family. The deceased was his daughter-in-law, official wife to the current head of the household and mother to Zheng Kanghui.

“Zheng Kanghui?” That name sounded familiar to Song Caitang. She paused to think, then remembered who he was. “The Zheng Kanghui in the case back in Luanze concerning the courtesans Yuetao and Wenxiang? That Zheng Kanghui?”

Zhao Zhi nodded. “That’s the one. The deceased is his biological mother, Madam Wang.”

Song Caitang frowned slightly.

The case in Luanze was a tragic serial murder case. The murderer had committed these crimes because his psychological state was twisted after a series of childhood traumas. But in his last statement, it seemed he was being tested by an organization, or by one person. Getting connected to Zheng Kanghui and obtaining one of the following year’s salt shipping licences was his main motive.

Putting it together with everything that had happened so far, Zhao Zhi analyzed all the details and felt that this mysterious person might have something to do with the shipping of all that gold, or in other words, this person was connected to the traitor they were looking for.

But he couldn’t get more information beyond that. Everything seemed to revolve around the shipment of salt.

And the one in charge of it was Zheng Kanghui’s grandfather, Zheng Fangquan.

Someone from the Zheng family was found dead today. Did it have anything to do with this?

This was their chance to find out.

Song Caitang asked, “Who reported it? Zheng Kanghui?”

Zhao Zhi shook his head. “Zheng Kanghui is studying abroad at the moment and has not been home for more than a month now, so he should have nothing to do with it. The one who reported it was the Zhengs’ butler.”

They soon arrived at the Zhengs’.

The mistress of the house had just passed away, but the entire gate was covered in white cloth for mourning. Everyone looked upset as they moved about quickly to cover the rest of the house in white flags and clothed themselves in white as well. Everything had happened too quickly and too suddenly, so nobody was prepared for this. The Zhengs were a huge family with an equally huge estate, so there were a few corners that hadn’t been taken care of yet. One could still see the bright red flowers and the gold trimmings that had covered the entire estate just the day before.

As Song Caitang followed Zhao Zhi to the scene of the crime that had happened the night before, she looked up at the sky. “The mistress of the household died last night, but her body was only discovered now?”

The mistress of the household was the person in charge of the entire running of the household, so she would have been the busiest person in the entire house. She would have had to wake up very early in order to make arrangements for all sorts of things. The aunties and maids serving both the inner and outer house needed instructions and an official family token from her in order to even start their work. Her body should have been discovered way earlier than this.

“That’s because Madam Wang was very tired yesterday and slept very late last night. Everyone already knows what to do anyway, so nobody dared to disturb her sleep. It was only when it seemed way too late for her to wake up that someone finally went to knock on her door…”

Song Caitang got it now. So, the Zhengs had a big event the night before?

The further into the inner house they walked, the fewer people there were. Song Caitang looked around and started thinking. Based on the design of the estate, they were most likely headed for the main residence of the inner house, which would be where the mistress of the house lived.

Was the scene of the crime Madam Wang’s own room?!

“The body was found in rather strange circumstances, so the servants dare not go near and the scene of the crime has been barely touched,” Wen Yuansi approached them from a corridor inside the residence with a smile on his face. “Both of you have come just in time.”

Song Caitang paused and smiled as she bowed slightly. “This is your case?”

Wen Yuansi bowed back and replied with a smile, “The wife of a court official is involved, so this is a case of great importance. It has been decided that the Justice Department will work with someone from the palace, so I have been sent here by my superiors in the Justice Department.”

The representative from the palace was clearly Zhao Zhi.

Wen Yuansi had just been transferred to Bianliang from Luanze, so it was time for him to prove himself. Unlike the previous case, he wasn’t just helping out this time. The Justice Department had actually sent him to be the head investigator of this case, so he had to work hard on it.

“Let’s go in and take a look.” Wen Yuansi led Song Caitang and Zhao Zhi into the room.

Song Caitang understood what Wen Yuansi meant by “strange circumstances” once she set foot inside the room. The windows were shut fast and the entire room was neat and clean. But the table and shelves were covered in many candleholders. It seemed like the candles in them had been burning for a very long time, so there was no more wax left to burn.

These candles… didn’t seem to match the aesthetic of the room.

There were even stranger things.

There was a pool of blood on the bed and drag marks on the floor between the bed and the table. A trail of blood smeared the floor, which was especially obvious because the room was so clean.

The body was right next to the table. She was lying face down and the back of her head had been struck by something heavy, so she must have lost a lot of blood. That was clearly where all the blood on the bed and on the floor must have come from.

After looking around, Song Caitang quickly found a broken vase with blood on its fragments.

So, the killer had just grabbed something they found in the room, smashed the victim’s head from behind, then dragged her to the table?

Song Caitang squatted down and noticed another oddity. The victim wasn’t wearing her skirt. The skirt had been placed over her body.

She narrowed her eyes. “Was the body discovered like this?”

“No,” Wen Yuansi shook his head. “The victim’s head maid was the one who came in and found the body. She was horrified and felt that she shouldn’t leave her mistress’ body exposed like that, so she covered Madam Wang with a skirt.”

Song Caitang got it. This victim was wearing her blouse normally, but she was completely naked waist down.

Very few people would walk around like this. This was definitely done by the killer.

“So… this is a murder committed by someone with a strong personal vendetta.”

It was time to analyze why someone might do this.

Song Caitang frowned slightly. She wasn’t well-versed in criminal psychology, so she could only make a few general observations. “The murderer might hate the victim and doesn’t want to see her face. But removing the clothes on her lower half usually means they’re trying to humiliate her…”

Such actions usually had something to do with sex.

And why did the killer strike the back of the victim’s head? Was it just to stop her from moving, or for some other reason?

If it was to stop her from moving, the killer might have just happened to hit her there. But the killer might have also hit her there hoping to destroy her ability to think or ability to recall what happened.

The killer definitely knew the victim and knew her well.

After Song Caitang finished her analysis, everyone fell silent.

Wen Yuansi and Zhao Zhi had a conflicted look in their eyes. If that was the case, then… this was going to be a tough case.

But regardless of how tough a case was, it had to be solved. They had gone through so much from Luanze to Bianliang, so they were already used to this and weren’t afraid of tough cases anymore.

The next task was to determine the time of death.

Song Caitang squatted by the victim’s body and took a close look.

“The livor mortis is dark and the smaller spots have merged into larger patches. The color fades when pressed, and the color returns when the pressure is released…”

The body was probably in the postmortem accumulation phase.

“The rigor mortis is severe, the limbs difficult to move. The exposed skin of the limbs has a small number of leathery spots, which were caused before death and are not fatal. The corneas are mildly cloudy, almost obscuring the pupils…”

“The victim died ten to twelve hours ago.”

That was around 9pm the night before.

Wen Yuansi asked, “What about the cause of death? Is it the wound at the back of the head?”

“The wound there is indeed severe, but I’m not sure if that’s the cause of death.” Song Caitang pointed at the victim’s face. “Her lips are dark blue and her nails have a slight tinge of blue too. That’s a sign that she was poisoned.”

But based on the situation and what the servants had said, Madam Wang had always been a very good mistress of the household. The night before was a very busy night, but she was able to cope well with it, so she was in excellent health. That didn’t sound like someone who was suffering from the effects of poison.

In that case…

This poison was a powerful one that took effect extremely quickly. The victim consumed it just before she died.

Zhao Zhi asked, “Are you able to ascertain what sort of poison it was?”

Song Caitang slowly scanned the room and had a few ideas in mind, but she couldn’t be sure. “I’ll have to dissect the body and examine it before I can give you any answers.”

The problem was whether the Zhengs would agree to that.

The more powerful and influential a family was, the more they cared about rules and tradition. In general, cutting a dead body open was very disrespectful to the dead.

“There’s one more thing I thought I should highlight.”

Song Caitang stood up. “This is a residence deep within the inner house of the estate, and it’s also where the body was discovered. The time of death and this location will be important to the investigation. We must find out who entered this residence during this time.”

The Zhengs were a powerful family with members who were high ranking court officials. Not only was security very tight, but at that hour, most people would not be allowed to come anywhere near the inner house where only the female members of the family lived.

Who could have turned up here?