I Can Play Mind Games Too

Song Caitang’s tools came a lot faster than she expected.

There was no hourglass inside the room and time always seemed to pass slowly when one was in captivity. Song Caitang had no idea exactly what time it was or how long it had been, but…this room had a window.

The window was built very high up and very small, so she couldn’t look out, but she could estimate how much time had passed based on the angle of the light coming in.

It had taken no more than four hours for sure.

To take only four hours to get her box of tools and send them here was no easy feat, unless…

Song Caitang quickly opened the box and picked up a scalpel…

Yup. It wasn’t the set she was used to. It wasn’t the set from home.

The design of the tools were the same, the sizes were identical and they were all very sharp and well made. They fit her hands exactly. But every single tool was brand new.

Empress Chen must have gotten these ready way beforehand.

Song Caitang felt a little deflated. Clever people would never overlook such an important detail, after all. But if the empress already had a set ready, why did she pretend to have trouble obtaining a set when Song Caitang asked about it earlier? Was the empress trying to make her feel smug about getting ahead of the empress, so she would let her guard down? Or what?

She couldn’t figure the empress out at all.

Song Caitang shut her eyes and took a deep breath.

A few seconds later, she opened her eyes again and cleared her mind.

The most important thing right now was to crack this case. She had to stay alive until she could find a way to get out of this place.

Once she had sorted out her thoughts, she began to dissect the body.

“Light the herbs.”
“Alcohol.”
“Ginger slice.”
“Outer cloak.”
“Move the body to the table.”

As she went through the familiar steps, her heart began to calm down and the look in her eyes grew more and more confident. She was not distracted by anything at all as she wielded the scalpel with ease. She looked more like a painting than a real person.

But the two young maids sent to assist her were terrified.

Song Caitang had asked for two maids to assist her and the empress had sent these two. They were unwilling to do it, but nobody cared about what the maids thought. So, no matter how grossed out they were, how frightened they were or how unwilling they were, they had no choice but to stay in this room.

However, they soon realized that Song Caitang did not need very much from them. She really just needed help to do the things that she could not do herself, like lifting the body off the floor. When it came to dissecting the body, Song Caitang told them that they could stay and watch if they liked, or they could go elsewhere if they couldn’t take it.

In other words, if the empress instructed them to watch Song Caitang at all times, they could stay behind. But if the empress hadn’t given such instructions and they couldn’t stand watching an autopsy, she wouldn’t be offended if they kept their distance.

Miss Song was a really sweet woman.

The two maids couldn’t stand witnessing an autopsy, so they walked out of the room. But they were curious, so they opened the window meant for observing her and looked in from time to time.

What they saw was Song Caitang standing fearlessly next to the lifeless, bloodied dead body on the table, her actions quick and gentle… They didn’t know what she was doing, but they were captivated by her movements.

Song Caitang did not look arrogant or domineering just because she possessed such a special skill, but she was very calm and quiet.

She seemed to have the power to make the room feel peaceful.

…

Time ticked by slowly. Song Caitang slowly began to understand what happened to the dead eunuch and her thoughts became clearer.

Perhaps it was because Empress Chen was concerned about how things were going, so from time to time, she would send someone to ask, “How’s it? Any results yet?”

Song Caitang would tell one of the maids to tell that person, “Soon.”

After a while, this person would come and ask the same question.

And Song Caitang would get the maid to tell them the same thing.

Basically, someone would come in every hour or so, but Song Caitang would just say that she was just “almost done”.

Even the maid started getting worried after a while. “Miss Song, do you really…not have any results at all?”

She felt that constantly giving such a response to the empress might anger the empress. That would definitely end in disaster.

“It’s alright,” Song Caitang smiled as she asked the maid another question, “Tell me again, when was the last time you saw Li Qi, what was he busy with recently, and besides you, which other palace workers does he come into contact with?”

The maid had no choice but to look away from the door and start recalling, “The last time I saw him was more than 20 days ago…”

Song Caitang sat by the table and quietly listened to her speak.

The autopsy had been completed. The body was properly sewn up and cleaned, it was placed back on the wooden stretcher and covered with the white cloth again. The two young maids had also swiftly cleaned the room so it looked just as neat and tidy as it was before the autopsy.

Perhaps they had been in the room with the body for a long enough time, so the maids weren’t afraid anymore and they didn’t keep stealing glances at the body.

As Song Caitang listened to the maids talk to her, she started going through her own thoughts.

She had delayed the results not just to stall for time but to also give herself time and space to sort her own thoughts out.

This case had to be cracked. The body had already been presented to her, so she would do her best to find the killer. The truth of the case had to be announced too, but the timing of the announcement… She had to think carefully about that.

Her goal was to stay alive.

And staying alive actually did not have any direct relation to the truth of this case.

When it came to politics, one wrong word could ruin you for life. Song Caitang did not want to go anywhere near politics not because she didn’t know how to handle it, but because she didn’t like it. She had learned a lot from office politics in her previous life. Extrapolating it to her current situation wasn’t too difficult.

Right now, the truth of this murder case wasn’t really important. Or rather, it wasn’t as important as she initially thought it was. What was more important was what sort of truth Empress Chen was after.

If she said what Empress Chen wanted to hear, then this discussion could continue. If she said the opposite of what Empress Chen wanted to hear, then not only would she become even more suspicious of the person she was already suspecting, but she would suspect Song Caitang too.

After thinking long and hard about it, she had no choice but to use the method she hated the most to get out of her sticky situation. She had to go with what Empress Chen would want to hear so that she could stay alive, then find another way to seek justice for the victim.

She had to guess what Empress Chen was thinking about. Who would Empress Chen suspect to be this murderous traitor?

If she could be more confident and perform well, she might be able to get more information out of the empress, something that would benefit herself and Zhao Zhi…

Song Caitang narrowed her eyes.

Doing this was a bold and dangerous move, and if she was discovered, she would surely die.

But since she was already stuck here and at the mercy of the empress, she might as well try. At least she could have some fun.

She straightened her dress and looked down to cover the bright gleam in her eyes.

Zhao Zhi, I’m going to do something very naughty. If I’m not lucky…you’ve got to hang in there!

…

Once again, Empress Chen walked into Song Caitang’s room.

Just like before, a screen was set up along with a table, fragrant tea, an incense burner, and maids kneeling in wait. It was a prim and proper scene.

But this time, the screen was not between Song Caitang and the empress, but between the living and the dead body.

“Speak.”

Since Empress Chen was here herself, Song Caitang couldn’t use the same tactic she used on the maids. She went according to her plan, smiling faintly and looking confidently at the empress, “Forgive me for making a bold guess, but I don’t think the eunuch Li Qi was the first victim.”

Empress Chen narrowed her eyes into a slightly more threatening expression. “Oh?”

Song Caitang’s smile exuded more confidence as well as a little secretiveness. After all, if Li Qi were the first victim, Empress Chen wouldn’t be so concerned. It must be because there were more victims before this and other problems had cropped up, so the empress realized that she couldn’t just ignore these issues and had to resolve the problems as soon as possible.

Song Caitang had guessed this much, but she couldn’t say all that. She stood quietly and smiled warmly, “The murderer seems familiar with how to kill another person.”

Empress Chen’s gaze relaxed a little.

“The poison used was a strong one, colorless and odorless, and works extremely quickly, plus it doesn’t leave much traces in the body. I’ve seen a lot of dead bodies and I’ve also identified a lot of poisons, but I’ve only read about this poison and never seen it with my own eyes.” Song Caitang scanned the rest of the room as she went on, “I’ve heard of a secret poison available in the palace, it’s known as Thousandfold Intensity and it’s used to execute women in the harem who have been sentenced to death, so as to allow them to die quickly but relatively prettily…”

Her emphasis was on the fact that this was a poison available and used in the palace, which meant that only people in the palace had access to it.

Empress Chen frowned very slightly. “The administrators in the palace would never dare to be careless with this poison. This is an extremely powerful poison, so they would not allow just anyone to take some.”

Song Caitang responded, “In other words, it’s very difficult to get this poison. Not everyone has the chance, or is in high enough a position to obtain it.”

She carefully watched the changes in the empress’ expression, especially whom her gaze landed on. This topic had come to an end and Song Caitang did not continue the topic, moving to something else instead, “I know that the killer is familiar with killing not from their use of poison, but from the knife wound in the victim’s chest.”

“After administering the poison, the victim would surely die. But the killer decided to add a knife wound to distract everyone. Or rather, it was to make others think it must have been someone else. The knife wound was made with a short dagger, which would have made the victim bleed a lot. But after dissecting the body, I found that the wound was not close enough to the heart, and there are no signs that the killer hesitated or tried a few times. In other words, the killer does not have very good knowledge of human anatomy, so they were not able to aim for the heart correctly, which means they are not a professional killer. But this person did not hesitate and was not afraid, so it’s obvious that this is definitely not the first time the killer is doing this sort of thing.”

As Song Caitang spoke, she secretly observed Empress Chen’s expression and weighed her options.

After a pause to allow the empress to think about what she just said, she went on, “Thousandfold Intensity is not easy to obtain, while using a dagger to stab another person would leave bloodstains behind. The murderer must have been familiar with the environment and was very confident that this would work. Also, the killer must have had more than enough time to carry this out, so they could make all these arrangements.”

And who would have the flexibility of time within the palace?

It definitely wouldn’t be the large majority of palace servants. They could barely finish all the work given in a day, plus they were constantly on their toes and afraid to be punished. They wouldn’t have the time or the freedom to run out, commit such a crime, and come back like nothing happened.

It had to be someone in power, or perhaps, a very highly ranked servant that worked closely with someone in power.

When you focus all your attention only on one person, every movement this person made and every micro-expression on this person’s face would be magnified several times. You would sense a lot of signals from this person, even if you weren’t familiar with them before this.

Song Caitang noticed that Empress Chen’s gaze often fell on one person.

Her gaze moved very, very slightly and very, very subtly, so it was hard for others to notice. But Song Caitang noticed.

That matched what Song Caitang was thinking about in the first place, so she became even more confident of what she was about say next.

“Also, this knife wound was made at an upward angle. In other words, the killer is shorter than the victim.”

Empress Chen narrowed her eyes slightly.

Song Caitang took a step forward and gave her conclusion, “No ordinary palace servant would be able to get their hands on Thousandfold Intensity, have a lot of flexibility in terms of time, be extremely familiar with their environment, especially when and where Li Qi would go both within the palace and outside the palace. The killer was very familiar with all these. Perhaps the killer had also gone out of the palace before to carry out some duties…”

Her gaze casually moved past Nanny Sun as she smiled faintly.

Empress Chen’s gaze intensified and she looked even more solemn. She looked like she might kill someone.

Song Caitang had no idea what was going on outside of this room, so she didn’t know what other evidence Zhao Zhi had found, or about Lu Yuxue’s confession, or what role Nanny Sun played in all this. But she had a brain and was able to guess.

She didn’t need to know all this. She just needed to watch Empress Chen’s expressions.

When they first met, Nanny Sun stood proudly with her nose in the air, so she was clearly someone put in charge all the time by her employer and a highly trusted servant for many years. Things were always clearer to the onlooker – Empress Chen was a careful and intelligent woman who would not express any opinion or reaction as long as she had not confirmed anything. Nanny Sun didn’t notice any change at all, but Song Caitang had noticed that Empress Chen was starting to distance herself from Nanny Sun.

When the teacup lid hit the cup loudly earlier and Empress Chen chided Nanny Sun, it wasn’t a dig at Song Caitang. It was a dig at Nanny Sun.

But Nanny Sun had been trusted by the empress all her life, so she probably never thought the empress would ever suspect her.

A trusted servant by the empress’ side at all times would know a lot and would also go around carrying out her employer’s instructions a lot, so she would become the first suspect if anything went wrong. Also, only a few people could fulfil all the conditions that Song Caitang listed.

Song Caitang said, “There aren’t a lot of people who would fit the bill. I’m not very familiar with the people around you, but if Your Majesty takes some time to think about it carefully, I’m sure you will know who it could be.”

“You’re good.” Empress Chen looked intently at Song Caitang, then slowly got up to leave.

Song Caitang called out to her, “Your Majesty, wait! You promised to let me go if I cracked the case!”

Of course the empress was never going to let her go in the first place. Empress Chen gave the command icily, “Lock the door.”

This time, she didn’t leave anyone behind. The maids were recalled and even the body was carried out of the room, leaving Song Caitang all alone again.

Song Caitang yelled for a long time until she couldn’t hear anymore sounds on the other side of the door. She then patted her chest, sat down, then poured herself a nice cup of tea and slowly sipped it to soothe her throat.

She knew right from the start that the empress wasn’t going to let her go. But she had to act like she believed it, otherwise she would look suspicious.

As far as things were going, she figured that she should have passed this round. Not bad.

Based on Empress Chen’s expression, however, she didn’t think Nanny Sun would pass this round. Getting rid of a trusted servant was going to be pretty nasty.

Actually, her first suspect in this case was Nanny Sun. But there were many times when the one who seemed most like the killer turned out not to be…

If the killer was betraying Empress Chen, it would make sense to kill someone she trusted. But if the ceremony to remember the royal ancestors went wrong, that would just embarrass Empress Chen. What good would the killer get out of that?

Was the empress so anxious because she was about to pull a major move? The killer knew, so they wanted to seize this chance to get something out of this situation? But if the killer wanted to pressure the empress, wouldn’t they help the empress get through this first?

Song Caitang started getting a little confused.

Wait!

Her eyebrow suddenly twitched. The royal ancestors’ ceremony…

Could it be that the person plotting something was Empress Chen herself?

Someone who was plotting something evil wouldn’t be scared if they were doing the right thing. Even if they made a mistake, they just needed to resolve the issue and they wouldn’t have to hide it. But if their evil plot was at risk of being uncovered, then that would be a big problem and they would definitely get antsy.

Besides, Empress Chen was someone who did not lack patience, otherwise she wouldn’t have gotten this far today. The fact that she was antsy was a problem in itself.

Who knew which other important figures were actually part of this huge scheme? They could be up to anything!

And based on this pattern, something bad was definitely going to happen during the royal ancestors’ ceremony!

Unfortunately, this was a country and society where the monarchy was above everything. Anything could go wrong except this one thing! If it was not handled carefully, it could rock the entire nation!

It hadn’t been easy for Da’an to reach this stage of peace and stability, so it couldn’t endure too many shake ups…

Song Caitang pursed her lips tightly. Zhao Zhi, you’ve got to find something soon!

Stop thinking about saving me! I’m not going to die that easily!