Argument With Consort Ping

Song Caitang advised Zhao Zhi to sit down and have a good chat with Consort Ping, but Zhao Zhi neither agreed nor disagreed and just hugged her really, really tightly, as though he was absorbing energy from her.

His attitude… was like a child throwing a tantrum.

Song Caitang nearly burst out laughing.

But she didn’t force him to commit to anything and continued talking about what she thought about the case thus far.

When there was someone to discuss things with, one’s thoughts would open up and sometimes, details that you didn’t notice before suddenly came to light. As Song Caitang spoke, she tilted her head and paused for a moment.

Zhao Zhi asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I suddenly remember something… Linglong looks a little like the portrait inside my father’s study,” said Song Caitang with a rather puzzled look on her face as she looked up at Zhao Zhi.

Zhao Zhi realized which portrait she was talking about. “You mean the one your father hid in the room but would take out to look at it from time to time? The woman he corresponded with?”

Song Caitang nodded. “That’s the one. But I can’t be sure…”

Most ancient paintings aimed to portray the concept of beauty but they did not necessarily look like the person being painted, so Song Caitang couldn’t be sure. And because some years had passed, her memory was a little fuzzy. The image she saw in her mind might be affected by her subconscious.

But the feeling she got from the person in the painting was an aura and personality that she couldn’t quite describe, and she suddenly felt that this person looked a little like Linglong.

And once she started thinking that way, she couldn’t stop. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that this woman looked like Linglong.

But then again…

“If she knew your father, she would be from his generation,” Zhao Zhi frowned. “The woman in the painting… would not be very young.”

Song Caitang knew what he was getting at.

When she saw the painting, she noticed that the woman in the painting was young, but not a young girl. A number of years had passed since then, so the woman must be at least 30 years old by now. Linglong was considered old for her profession, but she wasn’t really old at all.

The brothel claimed she was 21, and she looked very young too, so that part didn’t match.

But Song Caitang didn’t want to give up investigating this thought further. Since she had her doubts, she wanted an answer, even if she was wrong. At least she wouldn’t have to think about it anymore once she got an answer. She looked at Zhao Zhi with a flicker in her eye. “Is that Linglong really only 21 years old?”

Zhao Zhi stopped to think carefully about the few times he saw Linglong and said, “Based on her looks and behavior, she does seem very young and would match the age given by the brothel.”

Song Caitang fell silent for a moment before she said, “You men are often so clueless about a woman’s age.”

This was one thing she didn’t trust Zhao Zhi on. He, like many men in this society, had no understanding of what women would do to maintain their looks. Unfortunately, when it came to questioning the courtesans, Zhao Zhi would do it without bringing her along, so the only time Song Caitang saw Linglong was on the night Madam Wang was murdered.

And on that night, it was too dark and she hadn’t been able to see how badly injured Linglong really was, never mind inspect her skin and check for wrinkles.

She probably had to pay the brothel a visit soon…

With that in mind, she continued talking about the case.

Who would have the ability to commit more murders under their nose? Who would have the time and energy to lure their victims out without anyone suspecting their motives?

Out of all the victims, at least the men were of a certain standing, so they wouldn’t agree to meet just anybody.

Was it because the killer was always able to find something that was important to the victims?

The next day, everyone went about doing their own work.

Zhao Zhi was not one to drag things out unnecessarily. Since there were things he had decided to do, he would not find reasons to avoid it.

He returned to his house.

As always, his expression was grim, he walked briskly and exuded an aggressive and unfriendly air.

The sun shone brightly and the window of the main living room was wide open. The little table used for cutting flowers had been moved to the space in front of the window. Lu Yuxue held a white handkerchief and pointed to several places as she stood next to Consort Ping, who was trimming some flower stems with tiny silver scissors.

All the maids and servants in the room had smiles on their faces as they responded to their employers and chatted casually with each other. The atmosphere was lively and harmonious.

But the sound of Zhao Zhi’s footsteps put a stop to everything.

There was no need for him to say anything. The entire living room fell silent instantly and nobody smiled anymore.

Zhao Zhi sent everyone out immediately. “You’re all dismissed.”

He was the real head of this household, so regardless of whether he was willing to go home or not, whether he liked staying at home or not, he held ultimate authority under this roof and nobody dared to argue back.

The servants folded their hands politely in front of their abdomen and silently made their way out in an orderly fashion.

“You too.” Zhao Zhi narrowed his eyes and pointed at Lu Yuxue.

Lu Yuxue’s face reddened slightly, as though she felt very hurt. “Cousin, you mind my presence too?”

Zhao Zhi raised an eyebrow. “Sounds to me like you would like to be sent back to your old home.”

Of course, Lu Yuxue didn’t want to be sent back to her old home, where she didn’t have family she could rely on. She bit her lip and looked like she was on the verge of tears, putting on an act as she looked worriedly at Consort Ping.

Consort Ping smiled and patted Lu Yuxue’s hand as she said gently, “Xue’er, don’t mind him. Help me head to the kitchen and check on how the soup is coming along, won’t you?”

“Alright then,” Lu Yuxue’s eyes were a little red as she hid the tears in her eyes and smiled at Zhao Zhi. “Aunt has taken two months of medicine and is finally feeling better now. Please be considerate toward her and don’t make her angry.”

Not making her angry was impossible. It was never going to be possible.

Zhao Zhi’s eyes tensed up into a rather strange angle.

Once everyone had left the room and was no longer in earshot, Zhao Zhi went straight to the point, “Have you had a hand in salt shipping? You’ve been doing business in this area all these years?”

Regardless of how capable Zhao Zhong was, he was still a butler. There were some matters, especially those that were significant and not too classified, that he could not hide from those who would stand to benefit or lose from his actions. He needed permission from his employer to make any decision or take any actions.

Basically, he couldn’t do this without the permission of Consort Ping.

Consort Ping rotated the flower stem in her hand and didn’t even look up. “Who are you talking to?”

There were only two of them in the room, but the question didn’t sound redundant. She was reminding Zhao Zhi to watch his manners.

But Zhao Zhi couldn’t be bothered and just kicked a stool aside. “I’m asking you, yes or no?”

The frail stool did not take the kick lightly. It flew up and crashed down on the floor again, immediately splintering into four or five large pieces. One of them even bounced toward Consort Ping’s feet and rolled for a bit.

The atmosphere in the room was almost like the depths of hell.

But Consort Ping was still trimming the stem in her hand and her expression didn’t flinch at all.

Zhao Zhi glowered nastily at her. “This serial murder case has a lot of implications for a lot of people. It’s already come to this point and you still want to keep this from me?”

Consort Ping glanced at him casually. “It’s none of your business.”

Her tone was distant, but she did not make any protest. In other words… she was admitting to it!

She had a hand in the salt business!

Zhao Zhi scoffed. “Did you know that if you’re too heavily involved in such things, the emperor will not tolerate you?”

“Why, would he want to kill me?” Consort Ping let out a laugh, but her gaze was still icy. “You think he would kill me, the wife of an official who brought great glory to the nation, a poor and pitiful widow?”

She knew how the previous Prince Ping died. So did Zhao Zhi and a lot of other people.

If he had not tried to protect the current emperor back then, he wouldn’t have died so young and left behind a widow and young son without even an elder to take care of them, leaving them to fend for themselves and live in fear until now!

Zhao Zhi clenched his fists, shut his eyes and took a deep breath. He didn’t want to keep talking about the past. “Has the household treated you poorly? Are you lacking in clothes or money? Why do you have to do this?”

“What did the household give me?” Consort Ping’s voice was even frostier. “I had no elders to rely on, no man to rely on, no children to rely on, and the son I was left with,” she glanced at him, “was not caring toward me. If I don’t run after such things, what else would I run after?”

Zhao Zhi was a little stunned by her outburst for a moment. “Why am I not caring? Don’t you know? You were the one who forced me to drink that bowl of drugs!”

Back then, they had been a close mother and son duo and lived in perfect peace and harmony with each other. He had truly wanted to be filial to Consort Ping and even told himself to work hard so that she could live a happy and long life. But everything changed with that bowl of soup!

That was the turning point in their relationship and he was still unable to let go of it until now.

But Consort Ping didn’t seem bothered at all. Each time Zhao Zhi mentioned it, she would just brush it aside and say, “That’s because you weren’t obedient.”

“I put in so much time and effort for your sake, but you refused to listen to me, refused to do what I asked of you and kept going against me. And now, I see that my judgment back then was correct. You are a lawless man who gets worse as you grow older. You don’t care about your status, your manners or even shame . You even want to marry a lowly coroner who dares to show her face in public!”

“Do I have any place in your heart at all? My crime was in not being the one who gave birth to you? I’ve brought you up for nothing?”

Consort Ping got angrier and angrier as she spoke and finally slammed the table. “Zhao Zhi, do you have a conscience at all?!”

Zhao Zhi’s presence was threatening, but Consort Ping fought back even harder. She did not seem like an elegant, aristocratic older woman anymore.

The air around her was familiar. It smelled like a fight was brewing.

During this period, they had quarreled so many times. Every fight started and ended the same way. He knew exactly what was going to happen next.

He would mock the consort and say that she had lost her elegance. Consort Ping would retort with a sarcastic, “I’ve disappointed Your Highness, I see.” The topic would veer further and further off tangent and they would end up quarreling for the sake of quarreling.

It was always like that.

But today, Zhao Zhi needed answers. He had to suppress his temper.

“Zhao Zhong was hiding something and I found out about it. You fed me Millet’s Dream and made me lose my memory. Was it because you wanted to protect me?” he asked directly.

Consort Ping looked steely at him and raised her eyebrow slightly as she said slowly, “I didn’t think you would be this egocentric…” Her smile broadened. “You’re overthinking it. I fed you that because I wanted to make life hard for you.”

“In this house, in this household, I will always be the head and I will always have the final say! If you’re obedient and you align yourself with me, then we can live together happily. But if you refuse, then we’ll have to go separate ways. We’ll see who will outlive the other and who heaven decides to side with!”

She then moved the topic back to Song Caitang again. “And I will never allow that woman to marry into this family. You should forget about her!”

And the moment the conversation became about Song Caitang, Zhao Zhi couldn’t keep his cool anymore. “Ha! Just you wait!”

He kicked another stool, then stormed off.

His visit today had yielded some answers, but there were still some questions left unanswered.

After his tall and broad figure disappeared into the distance, Consort Ping looked at the mess in the living room and remained silent for a long time.

Her trusted housekeeper approached her. “Madam, His Highness has left.”

But Consort Ping did not do anything. She shut her eyes to calm herself down.

“I… will clean up the place, then get you some water to wash up.”

“No, don’t touch the things here.” Consort Ping rubbed her eyes hard, then opened them again. Her eyes were a little red and even her voice was hoarse. “Get Lu Yuxue back here.”

“But Madam…”

Consort Ping stared at her housekeeper, her tone leaving no room for negotiation. “Go.”

The housekeeper had no choice but to bow and say, “Yes, Madam.”

…

Humans were very selfish creatures in both love and hate.

If they were faced with a great crisis and one person wanted to protect another person with all their heart, that person would put in a lot of effort and do a lot for the other person without allowing the other person to find out, because the less the other person knew, the safer they would be.

Taking on this burden was tiring, but it was a responsibility and it was a show of love. Some people found it a very sweet thing to do.

As Song Caitang walked toward the brothel, she used her own life experiences to conclude. She felt that if the killer was trying to protect someone through these serial murders, then they would not want the person they were protecting to know too much.

If the person being protected was Linglong, then she would probably not know anything. But if she knew a lot… then something else was going on.

When she thought about the portrait in her father’s study… If Linglong was not the woman in the portrait, then she should stop thinking about all this. But if Linglong was that woman, then she would know a lot.

If that was the case, then perhaps her understanding of this case was wrong right from the start. Perhaps this case was not about someone protecting another person at all.

After she had sorted out her thoughts, Song Caitang sauntered into the brothel dressed as a man and requested for Linglong.

She was wearing a silvery-white round collared long robe with subtle wave shapes embroidered on it. She wore a light green chiffon coat over it, which was very light in color and very sheer, but it was still able to bring out the colors of her clothes and the layered effect she was going for. Her taller than average woman’s height and her well fitted clothes made her turn heads everywhere she went.

The women in the brothel liked to show their affection boldly and some already covered their mouths with a handkerchief and laughed merrily as she walked in. “Hello, handsome! Where did you come from? I’ll treat you to some wine, no need to pay for it…”

Song Caitang just turned to smile at them. Her long, handsome brows and bright eyes, well-defined lips and pearly whites made the women even more excited. They almost threw their perfume pouches at her. “Handsome!” one of them called out, “My name’s Xiaoling, I’ll go take a quick bath and wait for you in my room! If you don’t come tonight, I won’t be able to sleep!”

But Song Caitang wasn’t here to tease the girls. She didn’t say anything and headed to Linglong’s room.

Unlike the younger girls outside, Linglong had spent more years in this business and her eyes were much sharper. No matter how handsome Song Caitang looked dressed as a man, she immediately knew Song Caitang was a woman. Upon taking a second look, she realized who Song Caitang was.

“Miss, you…”

“I’m here to visit you,” Song Caitang smiled. “Not welcome?”

But Song Caitang really looked handsome in this outfit, so Linglong couldn’t help but blush. “Of course… you’re welcome.”