Strict Rules At Home

A preliminary understanding of what happened the night before was made, so the next step was to question all the people involved.

People like Linglong and Ningyan from Yuchun Court, Zheng Fangquan’s subordinate, Jiang Shaoyuan and his rival, Ji Bo, as well as the butler to Prince Ping’s residence, Zhao Zhong.

All observations about the scene of the crime had been made, so the body had to be transferred to the mortuary in the courthouse and prepared for a thorough examination.

Of course, Song Caitang was in charge of overseeing the body’s move and examining it, so she couldn’t participate in this first round of questioning.

“I will head to Yuchun Court first.” Zhao Zhi felt that since he was the one who ran into Linglong with Song Caitang the night before, it would be best for him to ask about what happened if that incident had anything to do with the murder. “You’ll head to Prince Ping’s residence to question Zhao Zhong?”

The last instruction was for Wen Yuansi, but he wanted to ask if Wen Yuansi was alright with that. After all, he knew there were some characters in his own house who were not easy to deal with. If Wen Yuansi didn’t want to take this part on, he could wait for Zhao Zhi to cover both Yuchun Court and Prince Ping’s residence.

But Wen Yuansi didn’t find it a problem. “Sure.”

It was just work, so there was nothing to be afraid of.

“After that will be Jiang Shaoyuan and Ji Bo. We’ll talk to them separately after we’re done with our first stop.”

“Got it.”

They were about to leave after they had agreed on what to do, when Qi Yan came running over.

“What about me! Me!!”

He ran toward them and panted heavily as he rested his hands on his knees. “I… .just got the news… a little late, and you’ve… not waited for me!”

He sounded a little upset about it, but dared not openly grumble about it.

After all, this was a murder case they were talking about. Someone had lost their life. He should be taking the situation seriously.

“You’re here just in time,” Zhao Zhi didn’t feel bad for Qi Yan and didn’t feel bad giving him instructions on the spot either. “You can find out what happened yourself, since we don’t know that much anyway and don’t have many clues on hand. There’s a job that’s just right for you—”

Qi Yan’s eyes instantly lit up. “What is it!”

As long as he had a job to do, he didn’t care what it was!

Zhao Zhi went on, “The victim died in the inner house at a very odd time and in an odd manner. It’s not possible for outsiders like ourselves to get answers to many of our questions, so I need you to ask around for more details on the family, especially if there’s anything we should know about the victim.”

That was definitely something Qi Yan was good at!

Qi Yan rubbed his palms together. “I’ll make sure to get that done!”

Zhao Zhi recalled the way they had found the victim’s body as well as Song Caitang’s analysis, so he said quietly to Qi Yan, “This is no ordinary case and every tiny detail is important. I need you to be as meticulous as possible and dig real deep.”

Qi Yan nodded vigorously. “Got it!”

All of them quickly left to get busy.

Everyone had their own strengths and their own set of techniques. This was just the first round of questioning anyway, so they were not worried about each other and focused on doing their part properly.

Zhao Zhi arrived at Yuchun Court by himself.

The sun was high in the sky and there were a lot of people along the street, but Yuchun Court was completely empty.

They usually didn’t have any business at this hour.

But Zhao Zhi didn’t care. He walked in and asked specifically for Linglong.

The pimp on the first floor broke into a surprised smile at first, but quickly frowned.

He was surprised that there was a customer at this hour and wanted someone expensive, but the problem was that he wasn’t the first one like that today!

His expression did not escape Zhao Zhi, who had plenty of experience in investigating cases. He knew what was going through this pimp’s mind.

“Someone asked for Linglong before me?”

The pimp gave Zhao Zhi an awkward smile, “What a coincidence… I mean, despite the hour, I’ve got another customer with the same taste as you… Why don’t I…”

He was about to recommend someone else to Zhao Zhi and promise to get him someone just as good, but Zhao Zhi said, “No worries, I won’t take long.”

The pimp was caught off guard. “Huh?”

He was surprised. This man… wouldn’t take long?

Zhao Zhi guessed what the pimp might be thinking about and smiled. “Perhaps we could… go together.”

The pimp didn’t know what to say to that. This customer was someone who really knew how to have fun, huh.

As someone used to serving customers, he had a good eye. He might not be able to discern a customer’s preference with one look, but he was definitely able to tell quickly if a customer was rich or not, or whether they were of high standing or not.

He wouldn’t dare to stop someone like the customer in front of him now. He quickly yelled upstairs to tell them that a customer was coming, then brought Zhao Zhi upstairs with slightly slow but earnest footsteps.

When Zhao Zhi saw who was in the room, he felt his heart brighten up. It was exactly as he had thought.

He had grown up in Bianliang, so he knew a lot of people. He could recognize every official that was famous enough to be known by most people. Besides Linglong, there were two men in the room. One was young, one was around 40. They were both people connected to this case – Ji Bo and Ji Shaoyuan.

The fourth person in the room was a woman he did not recognize. She was younger than Linglong and heavy chested. Her make up was beautifully done and her gaze exuded much gentleness and charm. When she looked at men, it was as though her gaze had a hook that pulled them toward her. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who she was.

The only one who would be in this building, in this room and with these three, would definitely be the other top courtesan of Yuchun Court and another person connected to the case, Miss Ningyan.

Zhao Zhi quickly figured out what was going on.

Most people would not have found out about Madam Wang’s death or the fact that she had been killed. But anyone keeping tabs on the Zhengs would have found out by now. The case was still under investigation, so the Zhengs had not officially announced any funeral. Even if others found out, they wouldn’t dare to visit the family, especially those who were in the house just the day before. Even if they weren’t guilty of committing any crime, they would feel nervous and would think about how they ought to deal with this situation…

Linglong and Ningyan were both at the gathering the day before, while Jiang Shaoyuan and Ji Bo were both at the gathering as well as men who patronized the brothels often, so it made sense that they would head to Yuchun Court first. Courtesans were often people with the most reliable information and people who could figure out what to do in sticky situations.

Zhao Zhi walked briskly to the seat in the room reserved for the most important person and sat down confidently. He didn’t even bother asking the rest if he could do that.

Jiang Shaoyuan and Ji Bo both knew who he was. They kept quiet and dared not call him out for being rude.

Linglong had seen him the night before and was a little surprised, but did not speak.

Only Ningyan had no idea who he was.

Of course, she had heard about Zhao Zhi before. He had gone from being the wastrel King of Chaos to Prince Ping, so all of Bianliang knew who he was. But Zhao Zhi did not visit brothels, so it was only natural that she had never seen him before.

Since everyone just sat still, Ningyan thought that this was her chance.

She approached Zhao Zhi and tried to lean limply against him. “Oh my, I didn’t expect a customer this early…”

Her voice was sweet and mesmerizing too.

But Zhao Zhi moved aside and let her fall on the hard chair instead. Her brows were furrowed as she let out a yelp and tears filled her eyes. He didn’t even look sorry, never mind helping her get up. He was really hard-hearted.

Ningyan took pride in her charm and she had never been unsuccessful at her job, so she felt a little indignant now. She made sure to pose even more elegantly and stared at Zhao Zhi more flirtatiously as she whined in a breathy voice, “Sir…”

Zhao Zhi immediately warned her, “Do not come near me.”

Ningyan propped her chin up with one hand and stared at him. “But why?”

Zhao Zhi replied, “I have to observe very strict rules at home.”

Everyone could tell from his expression that this “home” did not refer to his parents, but to his wife.

Ningyan’s eyes widened. She was rather surprised by his response.

Men were prideful creatures, especially when they were in a brothel with lots of women. No henpecked man would actually say they were henpecked. Yet, this man who looked like someone influential and authoritative just… said so without even batting an eye?

For a moment, Ningyan wasn’t sure if she should envy the one at “home”, or to pity this man who was so tightly controlled by his wife.

Linglong had seen Zhao Zhi with Song Caitang the night before, so she was really touched by his words. She got up and bowed. “Kind sir, your words make me really happy for that lady.”

Ningyan realized that Linglong knew something!

“You’ve met the one in his home?”

Linglong broke into a charming smile. “She’s a wonderful lady. Their relationship makes one truly envious.”

Ji Bo had been trying to gain Linglong’s affection recently, so when he saw that Zhao Zhi wasn’t going after her, he wasn’t as tense anymore and was even able to say a few mushy words to Linglong, “I’ve always held a torch for you, Miss Linglong, but you never gave me a chance. If you want to, I’m happy to fly away with you and become a pair of lovebirds in their own world who wouldn’t envy anyone else for the rest of our lives.”

Linglong’s gaze flickered as she glanced at Ji Bo. “I’m honored that you have such affection toward me, but when it comes to romance… how could someone in my line of work be qualified to even dream of experiencing it?”

“That’s where you’re wrong – people like us have lost everything, so we cherish love even more than others and want it more than anybody else.” Since Ningyan had failed to attract Zhao Zhi, she retreated and went back to Jiang Shaoyuan’s arms. Her soft hand played with the tassels on the front of his jacket. “Don’t you agree?”

Jiang Shaoyuan caught her hand and kissed it. “Whatever you say is right, Yan’er.”

They were all experts in this field, so nobody lost to anybody.

The men didn’t take the women seriously and the women didn’t take the men seriously either. They were just finding a reason to show off, that’s all.

Linglong sat down again and asked Zhao Zhi, “Where’s that lady?”

Zhao Zhi’s brows furrowed slightly. “You have no right to ask about her.”

Linglong blinked a couple of times before she lowered her gaze and bowed her head. “Indeed… My apologies for being rude.”

Zhao Zhi had deliberately not asked any questions after he stepped in because he was observing the four of them.

Sometimes, one’s expression and body language during a casual conversation could show clearly how these people were connected and their attitude toward one another.

Now that he was more or less done observing them, he got to the point. “Tell me about what happened at the Zhengs’ yesterday. What did each of you do, what did you see and when was the last time you saw Madam Wang?”

All four of them got serious. They all knew that Zhao Zhi knew they had been at the gathering the day before. There was no need to pretend that they knew nothing about it.

Ningyan spoke up first, “Well, what else would people like myself be doing at such a place? Of course we were there to sing and dance to entertain the host’s guests. We are professionals, you know? Since we’ve accepted payment from the host, we’ve got to do our best! We perspired quite a bit from how busy we were!”

Zhao Zhi glared at her icily as he tapped his fingers against the table impatiently.

Ningyan stopped saying things that didn’t matter and said honestly, “Around 3pm yesterday, Linglong and I got to the Zhengs’ punctually. Mr. Zheng seemed to be in a bad mood, so even Mr. Jiang got caught in the line of fire. Madam Wang told me and Linglong to go over and calm the situation down, so after that… I focused on entertaining Mr. Jiang.”

According to her, everything went well and according to plan. They sang and danced when they were supposed to, accompanied the guests when they were supposed to, and ate when they were supposed to. Nothing out of the ordinary happened.

“After dinner, I spent time with Mr. Jiang. Because I was too tired, I slept for a while. I think I woke up at around 9 or 10pm? I bid Mr. Jiang farewell and left the house…”

After all, it was already kind enough of the Zhengs to let her rest there for a while. They definitely wouldn’t want her to stay the night.

“The last time I saw Madam Wang was during dinner.”

After she finished saying that, she leaned against Jiang Shaoyuan again and sighed as she concluded, “Life is really unpredictable. Nobody expected this to happen to her. Who would have even done such a thing?”

Zhao Zhi turned to Jiang Shaoyuan. “Was that what happened?”

“Yes,” Jiang Shaoyuan nodded as he put an arm around Ningyan. “We were all very busy yesterday and I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, except that Mr. Zheng seemed to be in a bad mood.”

“The last time I saw Madam Wang was also at dinner. I had been scolded by Mr. Zheng before that, so Madam Wang did her best to calm the situation down by taking care of me and even getting Ningyan to accompany me… We both retreated to a bedroom after dinner, and because we were tired, we both slept for a while. It was late by the time we woke up again and the host family had already gone to bed. So, we just notified the butler and left the house.”

Zhao Zhi clasped his fingers together and lowered his gaze. “Both of you were sleeping in the same room for a while… Who woke up first?”

Jiang Shaoyuan pointed to Ningyan. “She did.”

“That’s right,” Ningyan smiled and nodded. “When I woke up, Mr. Jiang was still sleeping soundly. He only woke up after I had washed up and packed my things.”

Zhao Zhi asked, “Neither of you were apart at any point in time? Neither went to look for Madam Wang?”

“How could that be?” Ningyan didn’t know who Zhao Zhi was, but she could tell from Jiang Shaoyuan’s respectful attitude toward him that this man was someone of very high standing, so she dared not be too coquettish or flippant around him. “We were very busy with one another, so of course we were never apart. We wouldn’t have the time to look for someone else!”

Zhao Zhi shut his eyes halfway and fell into deep thought.

If both of them had been awake, they could have been each other’s alibi. But they were asleep. Nobody knew if they were really asleep or just pretending, and exactly what time they woke up and who really woke up first, since one could always just put on an act.

If someone woke up earlier and went out without the other person knowing…

Besides, the time they left was a problem too. The time they left was around the time the victim died.

“You were so bothered by the mess at home yet you sent me back personally, you’re so nice to me…” Ningyan had no idea what was running through Zhao Zhi’s mind and continued talking to Jiang Shaoyuan so that there wouldn’t be an awkward silence in the room. “If you ask me, your son’s concubine… her surname’s Guan, was it? Anyway, she’s not from some powerful or rich family, so if she’s not sensible, then just repudiate her. Why get so upset about her?”

Zhao Zhi finished sorting out the statement from the first pair in his mind, then looked at Ji Bo. “What about you? What did you do and when was the last time you saw Madam Wang?”

“Just like what Mr. Jiang and Miss Ningyan said,” Ji Bo sat up straight and had a solemn expression on his face. He was extremely respectful and sincere in the way he spoke to Zhao Zhi, like he was trying to get into Zhao Zhi’s good books. “We had a gathering at the Zhengs’ after 3pm. It was a fun and lively gathering, so nobody left each other’s sight at all. After dinner, I had something to discuss with Mr. Zheng, so we went to the study. Because we were having a good discussion, we didn’t take note of the time and I was there for a little too long. During this time, Madam Wang served us tea once. After that, I didn’t see her again.”

Zhao Zhi nodded. That part matched Zheng Fangquan’s statement. “What time did Madam Wang serve tea?”

“I think it was around… 8pm.”

In other words, Madam Wang met her demise shortly after serving tea.

Zhao Zhi asked another question, “What time did you leave? Did you do anything else after your discussion with Zheng Fangquan?”

“It was a bit too late… so it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to do anything else,” Ji Bo looked a little regretfully at Linglong. “After we were done with the discussion, I took my leave.”

“What time was that?”

“Around 9 or 10 pm. I did see Miss Ningyan and Mr. Jiang leaving from afar.”

Zhao Zhi finally turned his attention to Linglong. “What about you?”

Linglong sighed quietly. “The front bit is the same, and the last time I saw Madam Wang was also at dinnertime. Madam Wang wanted me to entertain Mr. Ji, but Mr. Ji was discussing something with Mr. Zheng, so I waited in one of the bedrooms until around 9 or 10 pm. It was getting very late and it was not right for me to stick around, so I got the butler to send my apologies and left the house. After I left the house, I walked through the dark alleys and ran into a little mishap…”

Her lashes trembled slightly as she glanced at Zhao Zhi. “You know what happened.”

Ningyan wasn’t going to let that slip. “Hey! He knows, but we don’t! Why don’t you tell us what happened?”

“It’s nothing, really…”

“Nothing? Then why are you clenching your fists so tightly? Feeling guilty? Or scared?”

Linglong’s face reddened slightly. She sighed, then proceeded to tell them what happened to her the night before and thanked Zhao Zhi again for saving her.

Ji Bo immediately put his arms around Linglong and patted her back to console her. “Why didn’t you tell me about this? You could have waited for a while and I would have sent you back.”

Jiang Shaoyuan glanced at Linglong and said, “Since you know it’s dangerous to walk those streets at night, you should have been more careful.”

Ningyan leaned over to get closer to Jiang Shaoyuan. “Uh huh, uh huh! If you’re not clever, then you should have done what I did! What’s the fun in living if we women don’t allow men to care for us? After all…”

She glanced at Linglong. “There’s someone out there hunting down women like you.”

Zhao Zhi had come today because he was interested in what happened to Linglong the night before, and he waited to question her last. He had a feeling that given the timing and location last night, and what happened to Linglong, she might have actually run into the killer.

But when he heard what Ningyan said, he suddenly turned to stare at her fiercely. “Someone’s hunting down women? What’s this about?”

His glare frightened Ningyan.

Women in her line of work read expressions especially well. They knew when they could joke and when they had to answer a question seriously.

Ningyan covered her mouth as she realized she shouldn’t have said that. She shouldn’t have talked about it just to annoy Linglong.

But it was too late and she couldn’t pretend she hadn’t said anything, so she had no choice but to sit up straight and explain herself properly.

“Recently, two women have died. One was a courtesan like us, another used to be one but has left the scene. They looked terrible when their bodies were found. Someone had hit them hard in the back of the head, their hands and feet were tied, they were kneeling with their faces down and any clothing on their lower half was removed, so it was extremely humiliating… Everyone says this person is targeting women from the scene, but—”

Ningyan seemed to be smirking as she threw Linglong a glance, “This person has a peculiar preference for those who are a little older. Someone who’s young and in her teens like me aren’t his type. Someone like Linglong suits his taste better.”