302 — Final Request

The candle flame leaped in the wind, the quiet night was almost silent.

Linglong shared everything she had been through all these years and did not hide anything.

18 years ago, ten years ago, five years ago… She told the team of four everything she had seen, sensed and guessed.

The more she said, the deeper their hearts sank.

It seemed utterly terrifying. It was as though there was a gigantic web they couldn’t see that had its bloodthirsty mouth wide open, waiting in the darkness, watching and judging. If you were not a threat, you could stay alive. But if you were even just a tiny bit suspicious, they would rather kill the innocent rather than give anybody the benefit of the doubt.

And all of this started from 18 years ago.

That night, the authorities sent their soldiers to raid Beiqing Mountain. So many people were involved, their fire torches made the night look like it was daytime. This raid implicated a lot of people. Some by accident, some who knew about the raid, some who had no idea. But who had come prepared, who had made plans a long time ago, who was completely innocent…nobody knew. Nobody even knew how many parties were involved.

The person who used that box with secret drawers and its design to send messages, who used the salt shipping routes to secretly ship bribes and pieces of gold, and who was currently selling the country out, had reached a decision that night and was determined to carry out their decision.

Perhaps this person had been implicated in some other matter, perhaps someone had caught hold of their weakness. Or perhaps, for some special reason, this person became very obsessed with something. In any case, they only started acting after that night.

They found people to work with, threatened others if necessary, tempted others if necessary, in order to weave a huge web bit by bit and to gain power little by little…

Also, who was that newborn?

Based on Linglong’s description, one of those trying to get hold of that baby was a foreigner, and very likely a Liao man from the upper echelons of society. Instead of staying on his side of the border, why did he come all the way to Beiqing Mountain in Da’an?

Why would he try to get hold of a baby that had just been born?

But then again, if this Liao man was just an ordinary commoner, it would be hard to find out who he was. Since he was no ordinary man, someone with resources like Zhao Zhi might be able to find out who he was…

Song Caitang glanced at Zhao Zhi when she arrived at this conclusion.

Zhao Zhi knew what she was thinking about and nodded seriously at her.

Now that he knew someone from Liao was involved, he had to get to the bottom of this matter. He had gone to war with the Liao people countless times and sent out even more spies. As long as he wanted to know about what was going on in Liao, he would eventually be able to get information.

There was just one problem with the three points in time that Linglong had mentioned. They knew about the raid on Beiqing Mountain 18 years ago as well as the dangers Jing Yan faced five years ago. But this point in time about ten years ago… Even Linglong wasn’t particularly sure whether it was ten or eleven years ago. They had no information on this.

And when they thought about it, Song Caitang’s father, Song Yi, seemed to have moved far away at this point in time and disappeared from sight.

Was it because he sensed some sort of danger?

But based on Linglong’s description, the people who died during this time were just a little suspicious. She found it strange, but had no evidence to prove so. Also, all the victims had nothing to do with the treasonous traitor, the box with secret drawers or the shipping of gold. They had just unfortunately appeared on Beiqing Mountain 18 years ago.

Song Yi wasn’t even there that night. He was just one of the many coroners who had to work on the mountain after that night.

“I still think this is a silencing that’s gone too far, so it’s become more obvious instead,” declared Qi Yan as he slammed the table, his brows furrowed. “There can’t be this many coincidences in the world!”

Wen Yuansi nodded in agreement. “What did those people see? Or was someone just worried that they saw something?”

Linglong was upset too. “Maybe everything is linked. And that’s how Jing Yan died five years ago!”

Song Caitang frowned slightly as she fell into deep thought.

They could make a few bold conjectures, given the information they had. 18 years ago, everything was fine until that raid, and the emperor had no idea about any of this. Ten years ago, someone caused a bit of a stir and was worried they’d be exposed, so they started getting rid of everyone they suspected might know about it, but that only revealed even more. After that, the emperor started noticing something and became more wary, and he also decided to send his Eagle Guards to investigate this matter.

And after the Eagle Guards started investigating, they realized they did have a problem on their hands. But because they had very little information, which put them at a disadvantage, many of the Eagle Guards were hurt or killed in the process. Jing Yan was one of the unfortunate ones.

Time was tight and their mission was important, but the other party was good at covering their tracks and worked in secret, so it only made sense for the emperor to fail to see the full picture. But the emperor’s response seemed a little strange. At least it seemed strange to Song Caitang.

Besides getting the Eagle Guards to investigate this matter secretly and telling Zhao Zhi to keep a lookout overtly, he didn’t seem to be doing anything else about it at all.

Why?

“Is it because he’s not sure how powerful the other party is? Or he knows, but is still unable to do anything about it?”

If it was the former, then it meant that the other party was way too powerful. Any rash moves would affect the country. If it was the latter, then it was a completely different story. It meant that this person possessed something that the emperor was fearful of or didn’t want people to know about.

Zhao Zhi looked at Song Caitang and did not say anything.

He understood the emperor’s intentions the best. He had gone with the emperor to act out this big show of falling out of favor with the emperor so that he could be sent to other places to work, but he knew what he was really there for and knew what sort of danger and difficulties he would face. He didn’t mind being used by the emperor to weed out these problems, since that’s what he lived for.

As long as the country was safe and peaceful, and free of any hidden threats!

“The fact that this person is able to hide themselves so well and do so much in secret, it means that they are extremely powerful and certainly no ordinary person,” he folded his arms and leaned forward slightly, his eyes gleaming brightly. “What we need to find out very urgently now is whether this child has any connection to the traitor we’re looking for.”

“Whose child is this? Who gave birth to the child? Where is the child now?”

And given everything they knew, there was one possibility that was a bit more obvious.

Wen Yuansi thought for a moment, then said, “If…everything was done for the sake of this child, then I think we can explain everything else.”

It would explain everything.

Song Caitang gave a nod of approval. “The appearance of this child is the biggest change that happened. If it is connected to both parties, then it is most likely to be the catalyst here.”

“But the problem is, we don’t know where the child is or who the child’s mother is! How are we going to find anything?” Qi Yan was rather frustrated and began to speak even more quickly, “My uncle and Linglong had worked so hard for so many years. They managed to find out a little bit about everything else, but they know nothing about these two people! That’s how hard it is to find answers! We should be able to find traces, but there aren’t any – maybe they’re already dead!”

His voice rang loudly. He was just short of slamming the table.

Zhao Zhi tapped his knuckles against the table and said quietly, “I don’t think so. Everything would have been resolved if these people were dead, and there would not be any need to cover up or silence anybody. These people must be still alive.”

Qi Yan was stunned for a moment, then he started counting his fingers off, “If we try to calculate how old they are…the woman can’t be any younger than 30, and probably won’t be older than 50 now. If the kid is still alive, they’d be 18 this year…”

The next step was obvious. They had to find these two people.

Anyone who could cause such a big commotion and stir up such a huge mess had to be someone important. The mother of this child was definitely no ordinary person.

The room fell silent for a while. Linglong looked at Song Caitang, then at Zhao Zhi before speaking up, “Just now, I said those things about Zhao Zhong because I was annoyed and was trying to agitate both of you. I don’t know who Zhao Zhong’s boss is, and I don’t care, because it has nothing to do with me. I just needed to know if he was connected to that treasonous organization, or if he had gotten his hands dirty before. That would be enough for him to become part of my hit list.”

“He seems to be easygoing, but he’s actually an extremely careful person. It was hard to get him to come out. I noticed something unique about his situation and tried to bait him with it, and he took it immediately. I was only a little suspicious at first, but his reaction confirmed my suspicions. The person he is truly loyal to is very important to him… But it’s too bad, he’s already dead, so he can’t tell us more.”

Linglong looked down at the floor and sighed.

She had not expected things to end up like this at all. She did not expect anyone to convince her to come clean. Her plan was to bring everyone down with her if something were to happen.

“There’s no point in talking about it now and having regrets is useless too.” Linglong’s face was a little pale as she smiled sadly at Song Caitang. “Since I’ve been so cooperative, can you promise me one last thing?”

Song Caitang felt that there was something a little odd about Linglong and pushed Linglong’s teacup nearer to her. “What is it? Take your time to tell me.”

Linglong shook her head and did not pick up the teacup. She just stared straight at Song Caitang with tears in her eyes. “Give me a…water burial, won’t you? Just throw me into the river in front of his grave.”

Song Caitang was not expecting that.

Linglong lowered her gaze and her lips curled into a shy smile. “When he was alive, I was the one who kept pestering him. But he was so nice and never said I was irritating. But he also never tried to get any closer to me or say that he liked me… Now that he’s gone…I don’t want to disturb him too much. I…wouldn’t dare to ask to be buried with him, given the way I am now. I just want to be able to see him from afar. That’s enough for me.”

Song Caitang looked more closely at her. Her eyes suddenly widened in horror and she stood up.

Linglong was bleeding.

Not only was she pale faced, but blood was slowly dribbling out of her mouth. Her tears were no longer clear but the color of blood.

It was obvious – she had consumed poison.

When did she do that? Was it when she was taking the list out from the cupboard?!

Linglong!” Song Caitang ran over to stop Linglong from just sliding off the chair.

Linglong stared at the blood on her sleeve and seemed a little stunned too. “Oh…the poison has taken effect…”

She grabbed hold of Song Caitang with one hand and touched her own face with the other. “Tell me, do I look old? Are my crows feet very obvious?”

Song Caitang stared at Linglong’s face and replied very sincerely, “You’re very pretty and you don’t look old at all.”

She was telling the truth. Linglong had done a good job of maintaining her beauty. If she hadn’t been suspicious of Linglong’s true identity and looked very closely at Linglong’s face, she wouldn’t have noticed anything.

“You’re lying…even though these are words I wanted to hear.” Linglong’s voice was a little weak and her eyes were half closed because the poison’s effects were getting stronger. But it didn’t affect her beauty and she still looked beautiful when she smiled. “You could tell I was much older than my reported age. How else would you have realized I was the killer?”

“I knew this day would come, so I don’t feel indignant about it. I just hope that…when I go to see him, I’d still look like what I did the last time he saw me and he wouldn’t despise me. Otherwise, he’d be that outstanding, valiant young man, while I’m some old woman with graying hair. We’d look terrible standing next to each other.”

Linglong sounded a little breathless as she looked past Song Caitang’s shoulder and saw the lone branch of pear blossoms. Its petals were as white as snow, clean and bright.

“I was always sure that the people I killed deserved to die, that they were people with filthy hands. But actually, my own body and hands are also… I hope that in my next life, I’ll be a clean and untainted woman who would be worthy of him.”

“Your body has returned to dust while I’ve continued growing old in this world… Jing Yan, have you finally come to take me away?”

Song Caitang felt the grip on her arm tighten, as though the other person was holding onto her with all their might. Then suddenly, the hand around her arm loosened and fell away.

Linglong was gone.

She had lived courageously and was decisive in her death. The poison she consumed took her very quickly.

But in Song Caitang’s opinion, Linglong was also a victim of this feudal, patriarchal society. She could have been independent and found a way to shine, given how strong and resilient she was. But the education and social norms she learned from a young age oppressed her. No matter how proud she was of her achievements, she continued to have an inferiority complex and kept feeling that she wasn’t worthy.

If she wasn’t in such an environment, she might not have gone down this road and her life wouldn’t have ended this way.

Qi Yan started crying.

“Why did this happen… Why do we never get a happy ending…”

He couldn’t say that Linglong didn’t deserve to die, since she had killed so many people out of a disregard of the law and an intolerance of certain human behaviors. But he also couldn’t find it in himself to say that it was good that Linglong was dead, or that she should have died a long time ago.

As the person closest to his uncle, he didn’t know how he ought to feel about Linglong.

Song Caitang patted his shoulder. “Sometimes, really unfortunate things happen. Once it happens, there’s no turning back. When it comes to judging whether someone did the right thing or not, we’ll leave it to the law, so don’t get too hung up about it. But the fact that someone remembered your uncle so dearly and understood what he was trying to do, is still something to be celebrated.”

Wen Yuansi chimed in, “Any sort of companionship means something to a man, regardless of whether he said anything about it or not.”

Qi Yan did not understand what they were trying to say.

Zhao Zhi whacked the back of Qi Yan’s head hard. “What sort of person was your uncle? Don’t you know how capable he was? You think he would really have trouble getting a woman off his back?”

They couldn’t be sure how deep Jing Yan’s feelings were toward Linglong, but it definitely wasn’t zero.

Qi Yan stared silently at Linglong’s lifeless body for a while, then used his sleeve to wipe his tears. “I’ll settle her last rites personally.”

…

The truth of the case had come to light, there was sufficient evidence to convict and the killer had been dealt with. Linglong had no living family members to come forward to collect her body, so once the court was done with all the procedures, they didn’t care how the body was taken care of, so Qi Yan was able to do what he needed to easily.

He didn’t hold a grand funeral or anything like that, but he went with Linglong’s wishes and prepared a newly made bamboo raft, picked out fresh flowers and placed them on the raft, then got Song Caitang to get Linglong dressed in new clothes and put on some light makeup.

Linglong lay on the green bamboo raft, her hands folded in front of her abdomen and her body surrounded by fresh flowers covered in dew. The sun shone on her beautiful, clean, porcelain skin and made her look more like a sleeping fairy among the flowers, and not one who had already passed away.

The birds flew away as waves was created to send the raft with Linglong on it away.

For some reason, even though she had floated far away, the raft never rotated, so her head was in the same direction and seemed to be…constantly looking toward Jing Yan’s grave.

Qi Yan was the one who had chosen the location for Jing Yan’s gravestone back then. It was in front of a mountain and surrounded by this river.

“My uncle always loved water. He said it was a powerful and resilient force, yet kind and gentle. It was tough but also flexible. It was willing to adapt and tolerate all things, and it could become any shape you wanted. Sometimes it was a wide river, sometimes a trickling stream, but either way was wonderful. He said that in his old age, he wanted to find a village by the waters to live in…”

Qi Yan couldn’t continue speaking. He squatted down and began to sob loudly.

The raft floated further and further away until it was out of sight.

It would eventually choose a spot to sink.

Regardless of where Linglong’s final resting place was, she would always accompany Jing Yan and they would be able to be together.

Song Caitang felt tears come to her eyes.

Two graves, two people.

Because of their past together, she found herself understanding Jing Yan and the Eagle Guards even better than before.

Life always included regrets. If only this hadn’t happened, if only that hadn’t happened…

She felt a warmth on her shoulder. Zhao Zhi was patting her gently.

Song Caitang turned to look at him and saw the most gentle gaze in the world.

It reflected the blue sky that stretched beyond the long and winding river, as though it carried the warmth of time.