Tsk, Women

From afar, Song Caitang spotted the two men speaking ill of her in broad daylight from afar. They were standing right in the middle of the broad pavement that went through one of the hemispherical doorways along the gray wall.

The two of them were standing with their backs toward her, so she could only hear their voices but couldn’t see their faces.

One was tall and one was short. One was confident and snobbish, but he often complimented the other person. Based on what he was saying, he was a coroner. The other one sounded officious and lofty. He was probably a prefectural judge.

The two of them did not purposely speak softly, but they weren’t shouting either.

Song Caitang actually felt a tinge of admiration for the two men who were speaking ill of her in such an open manner.

She wondered if she ought to go over to confront them, or to walk away and pretend she hadn’t seen them. After all, they had only spoken ill of her and hadn’t actually tried to bully her…

But before she could make a decision, the two men made a decision for her.

“Who’s there?” shouted one man. The two men marched toward her and glared at her nastily, “Hiding in the shadows and eavesdropping on others speaking in secret? How thick-skinned you must be!”

Song Caitang narrowed her eyes slightly and stared back at them with a faint frostiness in her gaze, “The sun is shining so brightly and the pavement is in clear sight. Don’t you think it might not be the best place to speak in secret?”

This was a place where many people passed through. They chose this place, of all places, to discuss secret matters, so it meant that they weren’t afraid of others overhearing them, right? But now, they were scolding her for overhearing them? They were the thick-skinned ones!

“There are monks and worshippers passing through the temple all the time. That’s not a fair statement, right?”

Even if she hadn’t walked past, someone else might have and would be forced to overhear their secret conversation and also end up getting scolded for nothing. That wasn’t fair.

Song Caitang continued in a slow voice, “Your own rooms…would be a great place to have such a conversation. I thought most people would know that.”

None of her words were a direct attack on them, but they were dripping with sarcasm and were clearly meant to mock them.

“Tsk, women.”

The shorter and skinnier man scratched his goatee. His beard and hair were black, but his nasolabial folds were so deep, they deserved some sympathy. He had been buttering up to the taller man and remained in a humble position all this time, so when he saw her, it was as though he saw his chance to finally lord it over someone else. He turned his nose up and sneered at her in an arrogant and unfeeling manner.

“Sharp tongued, arguing back, putting on a strong front, and walking about in broad daylight all by herself in a temple filled with men! What a terrible influence on others!”

He then turned to bow slightly to the other man, “Sir, the situation is very sensitive and we can’t afford any mistakes. I think you should give the order to chase this woman out of the temple!”

The prefectural judge was taller and his features weren’t ugly when put together. His back was straight and he gave off the authoritative aura of a court official. After hearing these words, he paused to think for a moment. He looked like he was convinced and sighed quietly, “Coroner Sun, your words do make sense. We ought to be careful…”

He sounded like he had already decided on how to deal with Song Caitang.

Song Caitang scoffed, “I’m afraid I won’t be able to allow the both of you to do something like that.”

Coroner Sun narrowed his eyes and glared at her, “Who do you think you are!”

“I’m not a big shot, but my surname is Song and I’m the woman who did that dissection that stirred up a storm.”

Coroner Sun’s eyes were as wide as saucers as he pointed a finger at her, “Y-y-you’re that woman!”

“You were right about one thing. The work of coroners depend on true skill. But while you think this mountain is the highest, there’s always a higher one. You might not know how to do something, but it doesn’t mean that nobody else knows how to either.” Song Caitang looked carefully at Coroner Sun and shook her head with a sigh, “Dissection is a real skill. Not only do you have to know how to do it, you have to know how to make observations and analyze those observations. It’s very hard to learn and it requires brains to do so. Someone like you…even if you secretly dissected a hundred bodies, you wouldn’t be able to learn it well.”

This blatant disdain made Coroner Sun so angry, even his mustache was flying, “Why, you…”

But Song Caitang did not continue talking to him, as though he was an unimportant person who didn’t deserve any attention. She pointed at him and looked at the prefectural judge, “He’s someone who’s good at talking about not good at working, and he rejects the work of others. Can you count on him to be reliable? I think you need to think carefully about that.”

“How…how dare you!” Coroner Sun nearly spat his saliva out, “Who do you think you are! You think you’re worthy to speak to Judge Guo?!”

Sonog Caitang continued to ignore him and walked around them. As she walked, she said to Judge Guo, “If Judge Guo is suddenly enlightened one day, I, Song Caitang, will be more than happy to help anytime.”

Coroner Sun couldn’t control himself anymore and cursed at her, “You ugly little bitch! Dream on! PUI! Who the hell needs YOUR help?!”

His speech was too coarse and even Judge Guo couldn’t stand it. He frowned and held an arm out to stop Coroner Sun from giving chase, then glared fiercely at the shorter man.

Coroner Sun quickly put his hands properly by his side and hung his head, but his eyes were still trying to glare at Song Caitang. He started regretting his outburst and scolded himself for allowing a woman to make him so angry, which resulted in him embarrassing himself in front of Judge Guo. He gritted his teeth and told himself that if he ever met her again, he was going to teach this bitch how to behave!

Never mind the fact that they were in opposing factions – in just this short interaction, Song Caitang was clearly not going to even pretend to be polite. Judge Guo was treated like dirt by the prefectural governor, but he was very well respected by the people in ranks below his.

He called out after her, “You don’t have to worry your pretty head about this, Miss Song. It’s hard to survive in this world, and even more so for women. I think it’s best that you concentrate on protecting yourself and make sure you don’t get bullied.”

These words sounded like a gentle reminder, but they also sounded like a hidden threat.

Song Caitang didn’t even look back. Her voice was steady as she said, “Sure. I’ll wait for the day Judge Guo runs out completely of ideas and comes asking me for help.”

“I will generously. Offer. My. Advice.”

The sun shone down on her and the entire place was silent. Her pretty figure stood tall and the tassels of her hair pins reflected a rainbow of colors. She seemed so near, yet so far.

And her presence had was definitely more impressive than Judge Guo’s.

Judge Guo had a nasty look on his face as he glared icily at Coroner Sun.

Coroner Sun had made a fool of himself and was looking at the ground to reflect. Never mind speak – he didn’t even dare to raise his head, so he didn’t see how Judge Guo was glaring at him.

Judge Guo angrily flipped his sleeve back and was about to walk away when he heard a voice from a location higher than where he was standing.

“You don’t know how to crack a case, but you seem excellent at bullying women…”

This voice was slow and lazy, and seemed like he had yawned halfway while speaking. There wasn’t the slightest tinge of courtesy in his voice, “You’ve really opened my eyes, man.”

Judge Guo looked up and quickly noticed the man sitting in a tree, partially covered by some branches and leaves. His pupils constricted and he immediately bowed low, “Guo Li greets the surveillance commissioner.”

Coroner Sun quickly bowed low as well.

Song Caitang was a woman wearing commoner clothes and was not an official, so he dared to bully and humiliate her with his words. But the man in the tree was royalty. He didn’t even dare to let out a fart, much less attempt to speak to the man and curry favor with him.

Zhao Zhi sat with his back against the tree trunk and his long legs bent slightly. His eyes were closed and the sun shone through the leaves onto his face. He looked like he was very relaxed. But he didn’t say anything and didn’t react to the greeting. He didn’t motion to them to leave either.

Judge Guo started trying to figure out what he was trying to do.

His words sounded like he was chiding him for bullying the girl, but also sounded like he was mocking him for being useless because he had been unable to crack the case for so long. But he didn’t sound like he was blaming him for it either, since it sounded so lazy and nonchalant…was he actually angry and displeased? Or just annoyed that his afternoon nap had been disrupted?

Judge Guo couldn’t figure it out, so he chose his words carefully and said, “Regarding Mrs. Qi-Yun’s case, it’s not that we have not tried out best. The case is simply too complicated and there are a lot of areas that don’t make sense…” he glanced at Zhao Zhi and his gaze flickered, “The prefectural governor knows about this.”

He was trying to hint at Zhao Zhi that this case was within the prefectural governor’s jurisdiction, and it had not been passed to Zhao Zhi even though he was physically in Tianhua Temple, so…

“Oh, Li Guangyi.”

Zhao Zhi dug his ear nonchalantly, “I have to give him a little face.”

Judge Guo immediately felt relieved.

He was someone in Governor Li’s camp, so as long as the surveillance commissioner gave in to the prefectural governor, he didn’t have to be afraid of anything!

But Zhao Zhi wasn’t done talking, “After all, I’ve smashed his uncle’s courtyard, broke his nephew’s leg and pointed a finger at his niece’s face while telling her that she’s shameless.”

Judge Guo was speechless.

How could he have forgotten? This man was known as a man of chaos! He was always so unpredictable in the way he handled things! He was allowing Li Guangyi to take charge now only because he didn’t want to handle it. But if he suddenly wanted to take charge of it, he could grab it from Li Guangyi anytime!

In that case, he couldn’t afford to offend Zhao Zhi at all.

His mind was a mess and before he could think of what to do, Zhao Zhi spoke again, “But I’ve never heard of a prominent Guo family in Bianliang before.”

He spoke very flippantly and it didn’t seem like an important remark. It even sounded like a genuine comment. But that made chills run down Judge Guo’s spine and he forgot to even close his mouth.

The prefectural governor had a powerful uncle in the capital, but he didn’t! And if the surveillance commissioner already didn’t have to be polite to the prefectural governor, what about him? Nobody would care if he died!

“The journey of a court official is a difficult one, so as a prefectural judge, you should cherish what you have…”

He was yawning, his gaze was indifferent and his back faced the blue skies and blazing sun. But in that instant, Judge Guo felt like he could see the fires of battle and scores of dead bodies.

“If you want to speak in secret, find another place to do so. Don’t disrupt my sleep.”

Judge Guo had mixed emotions but he didn’t dare to defy orders, so he quickly turned and walked far, far away.

After he had gone a long way, he remembered some information he had heard in secret. The sweat on his brow disappeared as he narrowed his eyes and his gaze became more resolute.

Coroner Sun observed the taller man’s expression cautiously and whispered, “The surveillance commissioner is so scary…”

“There’s nothing to be scared of.” Judge Guo’s lips curled upwards slightly, “He’s just someone off his rocker, so he only knows how to shoot his mouth off.”

The provincial governor had not told him anything in detail, but he wasn’t stupid. Based on the past events and some guesses, he could figure out what happened.

Zhao Zhi was someone who was indeed well loved by the emperor as a child and had grown up in the limelight. Initially, he knew his boundaries and would never go too far. But four years ago, Zhao Zhi was sent to the northern border and nobody knew what he had gone through there. He returned to the capital a little more than half a year ago and went completely berserk. Rumor had it that he had hurt his head and forgotten some things, or he had been poisoned, so he would suddenly lose it from time to time, and became more and more unreasonable in his behavior.

Perhaps, he would have trouble controlling his behavior in no time.

He had been removed from the royal guard altogether and lost his post as their commander to become a surveillance commissioner. That was a position that was extremely low ranking among officials and required one to travel far away from the capital city. Zhao Zhi was no longer the apple of the emperor’s eye! He had no more future to speak of! He was just throwing his weight about because he used to be someone powerful!

There was no need to be afraid of him!

But he wasn’t going to tell Coroner Sun any of this.

He switched the topic, staring down at Coroner Sun with an aloof expression, “So, have you gathered any clues at all over the past few days?”

Coroner Sun’s eyes shifted as he glanced left and right, took two steps forward and whispered a few things into Judge Guo’s ear.

Judge Guo’s eyes slowly narrowed.

“A crime…of passion, you say?”

Meanwhile, Zhao Zhi had leaped up, turned his body as nimbly as a leopard and held onto the tree trunk with his fingers immediately after the two men had left. His eyes were bright and he clearly wasn’t sleepy at all.

He looked toward where Song Caitang had left, then looked toward where Judge Guo had gone. His gaze dimmed and he went into deep thought.

In no time, he leaped off the tree, stepped on the top of the wall to gain momentum and leaped into the shadows quickly, disappearing in the blink of an eye.