Truth And Lies

The room for the meeting between Linglong and Jiang Shaoyuan had already been set up within the prison.

Once Linglong arrived, she was sent to the room. Song Caitang, Wen Yuansi and Qi Yan followed Zhao Zhi to the best spot to both secretly watch what was going on and eavesdrop on the conversation.

As an arrested criminal, Jiang Shaoyuan was not allowed to walk freely. His limbs were chained and he was also chained to the chair and he could not get up. He could only use his gaze to express his excitement when he saw Linglong. “Why are you here?”

Despite the bare prison cell, the rather dim lighting and the slightly moldy smell, his words made all these unpleasant things fade into the background. The atmosphere seemed to grow warm and emotional.

Linglong seemed rather affected too. She took a few quick steps toward him and her eyes slightly red. “Why were you so foolish? Why would you want to hide the truth and take the rap for someone else? Why don’t you tell everyone the truth? If the authorities did not tell me about this, I wouldn’t have known at all!”

Jiang Shaoyuan’s expression fell. He gnashed his teeth, “That’s what they told you?”

Perhaps his expression was a little too scary and Linglong shrank back. “You mean…that’s not the case? Then…you really killed all those people?”

“Of course!” Jiang Shaoyuan raised a cuffed hand and slammed the table in front of him. “I killed all those people, I’m the murderer! Don’t listen to their nonsense!”

Linglong seemed even more afraid after hearing these words and took a step back. “You…really did all that?”

“Don’t be scared,” Jiang Shaoyuan softened his expression and looked gently at her as he spoke comfortingly, “I dote on you dearly. Even though I’ve done so many things and I’ve killed a lot of people, those people deserved to die and didn’t deserve to live. But you’re a good person, so I won’t do anything to harm you.”

Linglong stared at him with a dazed look in her eyes. “They…deserved to die?”

Jiang Shaoyuan nodded vigorously. “That’s right! Those people were hypocrites who engaged in all sorts of immoral and unethical behavior! They were greedy, accepted bribes, bullied the poor, killed others for money and committed all sorts of crimes! Of course they deserved to die! I was helping the community by getting rid of them!”

Linglong shuddered as he raised his voice again.

He quickly comforted her again, “Don’t be scared, I’m not talking about you. I suppose you had no idea, but that Zheng Fangquan was a terrible man. He was already so old, yet he remained a lecher. Not only did he seduce his own daughter-in-law, but he also slept with children. One girl was only 11 and she died after he had his fun with her. Her family protested and tried to seek justice for her, so he killed her entire family… And that Madam Wang too! She’s an evil woman with a wicked heart. Who do you think found that 11 year old? It was her! She even stuck her nose into Zheng Fangquan’s work! This woman went all out to get more money for herself, including sleeping with him! And and…”

He rattled a whole list of scandalous deeds that the victims had done, then asked Linglong, “Don’t you think these people deserved to die? Aren’t you happy to hear that I’ve killed them? If I didn’t kill them, I don’t know how many more people would have died at their hands!”

Linglong seemed to have snapped out of her initial shock.

Her expression relaxed and she nodded slightly. “If that’s the case, then…those people did deserve to die.”

Jiang Shaoyuan tried to adjust his chains so that he could touch her face. “Just like how debts have to be repaid, the penalty for murder is death. I will own up to what I’ve done and will accept any punishment that I am given. But I cannot implicate another person. Just because the authorities think I’m hiding the truth and taking the rap for someone else doesn’t mean I will just go along with it and allow them to wrongly accuse an innocent person so that I can be free…”

He still couldn’t touch her despite his best efforts and Linglong felt bad, so she took his hand and leaned closer so that he could gently caress her cheek.

“I don’t regret it.” Jiang Shaoyuan’s eyes were watery as he stared at her. “I don’t have any major accomplishments and this is the only thing I feel that I’ve done right. Be good, live well, don’t always trust what others say so easily… I will have to leave soon and you’re the one I’m most worried about.”

Linglong’s eyes reddened and tears began rolling down her cheeks as she looked at him. “You…you too…”

Jiang Shaoyuan’s hand trembled as though her tears had scalded him. He gritted his teeth tightly to stop himself from crying.

“I didn’t know…I didn’t know that was what happened…” Linglong hugged his hand as tears blurred her vision. “I won’t try to advise you or force you to do anything because like you said, those people deserved to die…”

“But you don’t deserve to die, Mr. Jiang…I know you’re kind to me, you’re kinder than anyone else in the world. The road to the other side is long, lonely and cold, but don’t worry, I won’t let you make this journey alone. I’m not in the best of health and won’t last long anyway, so I won’t let you feel lonely on that journey…”

Jiang Shaoyuan’s hand trembled as though he was very touched. “What are you talking about? I’ve done all this…I’ve killed all these people, perhaps describing it as a heroic act sounds a little too noble, but I was just hoping that at least the people I love would be able to live well. Those people had bullied you in the past, Linglong. Linglong, listen to me. Live well from now on, live a long and blessed life, and admire this beautiful world on my behalf, alright?”

Linglong cried too hard to speak and kept shaking her head.

“You have to do that! Otherwise I won’t rest in peace!”

Linglong kept crying. “But…I don’t want to…”

“You must!” Jiang Shaoyuan’s teeth were about to break from how hard he clenched them.

Meanwhile, Song Caitang and her companions remained completely silent.

They had hoped to witness a breakdown, but they ended up watching a romantic tragedy instead.

These two…were serious about each other?

So, when Jiang Shaoyuan said all those dismissive things about Linglong after turning himself in, was he saying those things on purpose, or was there more to it?

Regardless of the reason, some things had become obvious by now.

The tension between these two and their conversation made sense, but if one observed them carefully, one would realize that even their casual gaze and words contained a lot of deep, hidden meanings. Their conversation seemed to be going nowhere, but there was a lot inside that nobody else would have understood from just listening to these words.

Clearly, there were secrets between them. But they hadn’t said anything that could possibly implicate either of them!

Qi Yan couldn’t help but bite his nails in frustration. “What are we going to do? This meeting turned out to be useless! We didn’t get anything out of them at all!”

He was very frustrated, but the other three looked less tense than before.

Zhao Zhi’s expression had gone from looking anxious and wary to a calm one. “The way things have gone is a clue in itself.”

At the very least, it proved that their earlier conjecture was correct.

Wen Yuansi paused to think, then said, “We’ll still have to concentrate our efforts on her after all.”

Why would the killer behave this way? There had to be a reason.

“That’s right,” Song Caitang glanced at the room and lowered her gaze slightly. “What did Linglong go through as she grew up? What did she like? What did she fear? If we can find answers to those question, we’ll get to the bottom of this.”

Linglong had lost her family at a young age. Her father, Ling Minfang, died on Beiqing Mountain 18 years ago. Back then, Beiqing Mountain served as a base for a group of notorious bandits. If her father died there, was it possible that Linglong might have been accidentally implicated somehow?

After all, the leader of the bandits back then was a man who enjoyed raping women.

Linglong was young and still looked androgynous, so a lot of people thought she was a boy simply because she was dressed in male clothing. But she had pretty features. If the leader of the bandits was in the mood, he didn’t care if his target was male or female.

The fact that she turned up in a brothel later showed how hard her life must have been. She might have been kidnapped or sold, then saved by someone and was able to leave that world for a few years.

Regardless of who that person was, they must have had something to do with why she disappeared for a few years. Perhaps they were friends, perhaps they were lovers.

Which was it?

Song Caitang took some time to think through everything she remembered from her meetings with Linglong and what Linglong had said…

She always wallowed in self pity, saying that someone like her did not deserve love, did not deserve to be protected, and told Song Caitang to cherish the person who truly loved her. Most people who said such things earnestly had gone through a similar experience.

Linglong probably had someone like that in her heart. She might have lost him, or for some reason, they could not be together.

By the time she finished going through these thoughts, the drama in the prison cell had ended. Zhao Zhi got his men to clear the place and send Jiang Shaoyuan back to his cell, while Wen Yuansi and Qi Yan saw Linglong out and had already returned.

When Qi Yan saw that Song Caitang was in a daze, he waved his hand in front of her face. “What are you thinking so hard about?”

“The case.” Song Caitang saw that they were all back, so she shared her thoughts with them.

“There’s someone she likes?” Qi Yan plonked himself on a chair and didn’t care that he looked rude. “Isn’t it obvious? It’s Jiang Shaoyuan!”

Had she already forgotten the drama they just watched?

But Zhao Zhi shook his head. “No, that’s not what it looks like.”

Wen Yuansi threw Zhao Zhi a rather surprised glance, as though to say: you know what true love looks like?

Zhao Zhi waved his hand and had no expression on his face as he said, “When you’ve seen it a lot, you’d recognize it immediately. Not everyone is like our friend here, who walks around without bringing his brain along.”

He stared at Qi Yan when he uttered the last sentence.

Qi Yan screamed inwardly. There was no need for personal attacks!!!

Wen Yuansi was a man, but he had a more sensitive and observant personality. Not only had he noticed the same thing, but his analysis was more detailed than Zhao Zhi’s. “The two of them had put up a really good show earlier, but if you’re talking about their feelings for each other, it’s clear that Jiang Shaoyuan’s feelings for her are more genuine. I think he really likes Linglong.”

Qi Yan rubbed his nose. “Then who does Linglong like? Where’s he hiding?”

Song Caitang looked down. “We’ll…probably have to ask her.”

She had a feeling that they would get closer to the truth once they found out who this person was.

Of course, Linglong would not tell them anything if they asked her directly. They would have to do a thorough, detailed and serious investigation.

Humans always hid the things most precious to them in a place that was hard to find. The closer to danger they were, the more they were like that. It had to be a hiding place that nobody expected, not even themselves. Linglong had seen a lot from working in a brothel and knew a lot too, plus she was a smart girl. It would be hard to find any item that she really wanted to hide from others.

The four of them put their heads together and raised all sorts of crazy possibilities. After much discussion, they finally decided to look into the place where she lived.

It was common for people to hide something important to them in the most secret of places, but since it was very important, they would not throw it away and most certainly would not want to lose it. If they hid it too far away, they would be worried about it. So, perhaps there was something right next to Linglong.

Or perhaps it was in her room.

Of course, they weren’t going to give up their investigations into her past or her previous connections. While Zhao Zhi sent his men out to gather information on those matters, while also arranging for Linglong to get very busy and eventually attend a party outside the brothel. That way, there would not be anybody in her room for some time.

Zhao Zhi brought the other three to the brothel where they cleared the place and started to search Linglong’s room.

As the top courtesan of the brothel, Linglong got the biggest room and the most number of things. There were boxes and boxes of just clothing and accessories alone, so it was hard to search through everything. Also, because Linglong was a little older and had gone through a lot in life, she had a lot of hobbies and interests, so she had a huge collection of odds and ends. It was going to take a long time to look through all of them.

On top of that, she was a sentimental person who kept quite a number of old things. Such things were also of interest to them.

Unfortunately, the four of them were the ones most familiar with the case. If they got the guards and runners to help, they might overlook something or leak some information to others, or they might attract unnecessary attention because they caused too much of a commotion.

The four of them had to do this themselves.

“This one looks interesting…”
“This one looks like…nope, nothing here.”

“Have I just been looking at too many things? Why does this thing look familiar?” Qi Yan rubbed his eyes and frowned at one item for a while before putting it down again. “Never mind, I don’t remember what it is, so maybe I don’t know what it is after all.”