Eavesdrop

Song Caitang walked for a long, long time. When her feet were about to give way, Qingqiao finally came to her rescue.

“Young Mistress! Where have you been! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

Qingqiao picked up her skirt and ran like crazy toward Song Caitang. She checked her Young Mistress over carefully and breathed a big sigh of relief when she found that Song Caitang was unhurt and even had a healthy pinkish glow on her cheeks. But she was a little upset, “No matter how beautiful the scenery in spring is, it’s not fun admiring it alone. Don’t forget to bring me along next time…”

“Actually…it isn’t that beautiful,” said Song Caitang with a sincere smile, “How did you find me?”

“I went down every pavement! I didn’t expect you to stray this far…are you very tired? Do you want to go back to have some tea and get some rest? I discovered a short cut on my way here, so we can get back to our residence in less than 15 minutes!”

Song Caitang held her arm out so that Qingqiao could support her, “Sure.”

“Let’s go!”

Qingqiao wasn’t the smartest or the most scheming of maids, but she was efficient and knew what to do at the right time. She didn’t have anything to attend to and her Young Mistress looked tired, so she entertained and distracted Song Caitang with all sorts of little facts and stories she had heard.

“Tianhua Temple is a very busy temple and is considered one of the best in Luanze. The place is especially big, with guesthouses in the west and east parts of the temple grounds. The northern side even has VIP rooms. If we came as ordinary worshippers, we would be allocated a room on the west side and the room would be more comfortable. But because there was a murder case, the officials are all staying there, so Young Mistress has to stay here instead.”

“The monks here are very serious about their meditation and training, and avoiding trouble and bad repute is very important to them. The time and place for their morning and night training is fixed, so they don’t wander elsewhere most of the time and they don’t meet with anybody who doesn’t work for the temple individually. The monks’ accommodation in the northwest part has very strict rules and they don’t allow anybody else to enter the area…”

“It’ll be the 19^th day of the 2^nd month soon, which is the birthday of the Goddess of Mercy. The temple is very busy on this day every year because anybody who believes in Buddha will definitely come here to offer incense to both make wishes and to thank the Goddess for wishes granted…I’m sure there’ll be a lot of people then!”

“Our Old Madam has a cold and has been unwell, so Eldest Young Mistress came to pray for her health. I wonder if she’ll come here again on the 19^th to thank the Goddess…but since Old Madam is a Buddhist, she will definitely make sure Eldest Young Mistress thanks the Goddess, so I guess she has to come…”

Qingqiao suddenly became very worried, “Madam Zhang didn’t know at that time that you were coming to Tianhua Temple with Old Madam Li, but I’m sure she’s found out about it by now. Do you think she’d come over to make trouble for you?”

And also…to take advantage of the situation.

Qingqiao wasn’t very clever, but she too, knew the difference in status between a court official and a merchant. Any merchant family would try to butter up court officials when they got the chance. Old Madam Li and Magistrate Wen fell into the court official category and were of good repute. Madam Zhang couldn’t possibly let this chance slip by.

And when that happened, Young Mistress would be caught in the middle…

Qingqiao had a conflicted look on her face.

But Song Caitang laughed and pinched her cheeks, “Silly girl, you don’t have to worry about that. Is your Young Mistress someone who gets bullied easily? No, right?”

Qingqiao nodded, “You’re right.”

After Song Caitang regained her senses, she seemed to have opened the door to a brand new world and everything had changed. Nobody could bully Song Caitang now!

Song Caitang watched as her maid’s round eyes lit up again. She smiled faintly and her eyes twinkled merrily as well.

She wasn’t worried about Madam Zhang. Based on her observations, Madam Zhang was a scheming one, but she was careful to upkeep her reputation. She wanted to reap benefits for herself, but she didn’t want to cheapen herself to get them. If she came over in a hurry, that would make her look desperate and others would despise her.

So, Madam Zhang was definitely not coming personally.

But the two maids she had sent to Song Caitang might have to.

Then again, she didn’t have to worry about those two maids. Once they watched her cut a dead body open, they would be too frightened to walk again…

Song Caitang though about these things as she responded to Qingqiao from time to time and slowly made her way back.

All of a sudden, Qingqiao stopped walked, “Young Mistress, there are people over there.”

Song Caitang looked in the direction where Qingqiao was pointing.

This was a fairly secluded path, so it was rather narrow. If they wanted to get back to their accommodation, they had to continue on this path. There was no way of going around it at this juncture. But at the same time, judging from the behavior of the people in their way…these two looked like they were here to have a secret conversation.

She paused to think, then said, “Let’s move out of the way and wait for a while.”

Qingqiao nodded and looked around. She spotted a fairly large and clean rock nearby, “Young Mistress, let’s sit over there.”

Song Caitang was rather tired and was happy to sit down. She nodded and left the path with Qingqiao to head for the rock.

The scenery here was not bad at all.

There was a lake in the distance, a pavilion in the corner, as well as some odd shaped rocks which formed a mountain-like landscape. It was quite interesting.

She had purposely moved aside – this place was quite far from the two in their way, so she couldn’t see or hear them from here and that was showing them enough courtesy. But for some reason, the two of them decided that they didn’t want to talk while standing and began walking.

They were walking toward her direction.

In no time, she could see them and hear what they were saying too.

Oops.

Unfortunately, the two had come over too quickly and there was nowhere else to go from here. Song Caitang had no choice but to put a finger on her lips to motion to Qingqiao not to speak and quietly waited for the pair to pass by them.

But the pair came nearer and stopped walking. They didn’t stop talking, though.

It seemed like the heavens wanted her to eavesdrop on their conversation…

Song Caitang sighed quietly.

The pair consisted of a man and a woman. The woman looked like she was around 30 and exuded a proper and gentle but elegant aura. She had phoenix-shaped eyes and the ends were slanted at an interesting angle. It made her look gentle and pleasant, so she looked like a warm and comforting person you would want to confide in.

The man was a little younger, around 25 or 26. He was in the prime of his youth and both his figure and mannerisms were not bad. But he seemed to exude this sense of gloominess. His brows were furrowed, his beard was a little messy and his gaze was sorrowful. Everything about him said “I’m very unhappy, please don’t come too close”.

The woman’s voice was low and gentle, “Nianyao has already passed on and her husband will be here soon. Why do you still look like that? Who’s going to see it? It’s time you pulled yourself together.”

The man paused before responding, “Mrs. Lin, I know you’re right, but knowing something in theory doesn’t always translate into my emotions…”

Song Caitang’s eyes focused on them. Earlier on, they were too far away for her to see their features clearly. But now, she put their facial features and the words they had exchanged together, and she could guess who these two were immediately.

They were suspects in the Yun Nianyao case – Gao Zhuo and Mrs. Lin-Ge!

Gao Zhuo came from an excellent family and grew up in Bianliang. He was childhood playmates with Yun Nianyao, but after Yun Nianyao eventually married into the Qi family, she cut all ties with him and he left Bianliang with a broken heart, choosing to move temporarily to a place not far from Luanze. When he heard that Yun Nianyao had arrived in Tianhua Temple, he came to Luanze as well. Governor Zhang’s review of this man was: this guy was a very sentimental one.

Mrs. Lin-Ge was the wife of the head of the Lin family in Luanze. The Lins were a family of doctors with a good reputation. The Ges were a literary family and wasn’t a very well-to-do family, but they finally had a descendant in this generation who managed to pass the civil servant examination and became an official. This official was well taken care of by Madam Ge when he was still studying at home, and before she got married, she had been very busy taking care of this brother and even went to Bianliang to take care of him when he had to sit for the exam.

During her time in Bianliang, Madam Ge met with Yun Nianyao and saw each other just a few times, so she wasn’t very close to Yun Nianyao. But when she met Gao Zhuo again after he had moved close to Luanze, Gao Zhuo, a magnanimous man, helped Madam Ge husband to clinch several major deals because they knew each other from before, so Madam Ge was very grateful to him.

And so now…it was probably Gao Zhuo being very sad over Yun Nianyao’s death. He was very depressed, so Madam Ge was trying to counsel him.

“I didn’t meet with Ms. Yun very much but I do know that she was a lovely girl, so it’s only normal for you to like her. But she has already passed on…” Madam Ge sighed quietly, “It’s very hard for a woman to survive in this society. A woman’s reputation not only follows her while she’s alive, but also after she’s gone. If you don’t want other people to spread nasty rumors about her, then don’t be like this.”

Gao Zhuo folded his hands behind his back and looked at the sky in silence.

He knew that very well. But it was still the same problem as before. He couldn’t control his emotions.

Madam Ge’s gaze fell slightly, “You’re upset that she has died a tragic death and nobody was there with her. But there’s also someone else who hates to see you like this.”

Gao Zhuo froze, “You mean…”

Madam Ge went straight to the point, “Madam Ji. I’ve seen it many times now. She seems…very concerned for you, and a little disrespectful toward Yun Nianyao.”

Gao Zhuo covered his face with his hands. His body tensed up and his voice trembled unnaturally, “It was me…I’ve caused her to…”

His emotions, his sorrow, his pain – it was clear who he was feeling for.

Madam Ge was understanding and knew that men did not like feeling embarrassed in front of their friends, so she finished saying what she wanted and walked away, “That’s all I will say. You decide what you want to do from now on.”

Gao Zhuo finally wailed after she had disappeared for a long time. It sounded like the low growl of a wild animal, his voice deep and suppressed. It exuded so much pain.

He could only do this here. In public, he could only mourn for the deceased in his heart. In front of others, he had no right and was in no position to grieve like this.

Most men cried very little, but once they did, some would cry in a rather terrifying manner. Qingqiao’s face paled and she quietly moved closer to Song Caitang.

Song Caitang looked at the ground and started thinking. Her slim fingers tapped the back of her other hand lightly.

Madam Ji…

…was also someone connected to this case.

Madam Ji was someone much more closely connected to Yun Nianyao than Madam Ge. The two women were around the same age and would meet each other often at events. They knew each other personally, so while they weren’t besties, they were at least friends.

According to Governor Zhang, Madam Ji and the victim were old acquaintances. Madam Ji married someone from another city and moved away, so they met less and less. When Madam Ji heard that Yun Nianyao was in Tianhua Temple, she came over to visit and reconnected with Yun Nianyao.

And now, it seemed like that wasn’t all to their relationship. There was a cringey love triangle in between all of this?!

Madam Ji liked Gao Zhuo, but Gao Zhuo liked Yun Nianyao. She didn’t know what Yun Nianyao’s feelings were but she eventually married into the Qi family. Gao Zhuo was still in love with her, but to avoid unnecessary gossip, he moved far away from Bianliang. Madam Ji…Gao Zhuo did not have feelings for her and she didn’t get together with him, so she married someone far from the capital. Regardless of how they had been over the past few years, they had met again here. Many things had changed, but she still had feelings for Gao Zhuo.

Gao Zhuo was depressed and dejected over Yun Nianyao’s death, so…it was inevitable for Madam Ji to feel jealous and angry.

Song Caitang was suddenly very curious. Why did Yun Nianyao leave her comfortable home in the capital city and come all the way to a small place like Luanze? She was already five months pregnant and she came without any friends and family members with her?

What…what sort of person was she?