Protecting Her Own

Li Guangyi’s fingertips were trembling slightly, and his back was a little tense.

Zhao Zhi was right. If that person really came and got angry, he was doomed for sure!

Zhao Zhi wouldn’t snatch the case away from him because of what happened between Zhao Zhi and his uncle. Zhao Zhi had been punished by the emperor for his feud with his uncle, so he was a bit more careful around him. Besides, Zhao Zhi had lost the favor of the emperor and was in trouble himself. He was more concerned with his future and was in no mood to think too much about such work. He wouldn’t care to fight with him over this case.

But that person was not in the same situation.

That person was not going to give him any face. His uncle was not considered that much of a big shot. If that person came and did not make any rash decision, everything was going to be okay. But if that person decided to make some rash decisions and cause some irreversible consequences, the one whom the emperor would end up punishing…would definitely not be that person.

He was still too weak, after all.

When he realized that things were going to be quite difficult, Li Guangyi gulped.

But didn’t that person…not care about this case? Didn’t some people say that he didn’t have time to spare and wasn’t going to come all the way here himself?

And why did Zhao Zhi tell him this?

Was Zhao Zhi trying to be nice and help him?

That was impossible! There was no way things could get better between them.

After observing the excited and interested glint in Zhao Zhi’s eyes, Li Guangyi’s gaze dimmed. He got it now. This man was not saying this because he suddenly wanted to be on good terms with him. He was probably doing this so that he could sit back and watch a good show!

The messier things became, the more lively, the more exciting and the more fun things got, right?

If this man wasn’t always so sadistic, he wouldn’t be nicknamed the king of chaos!

Li Guangyi took a deep breath and gritted his teeth as he thanked Zhao Zhi without any sincerity in his voice, then turned and left.

Song Caitang fell into deep thought after witnessing this scene.

She had a feeling that Zhao Zhi was doing this on purpose.

This man sounded like he was trying to push Governor Li to solve the case faster, but Governor Li was a very paranoid person and was strangely very confident of himself, so Zhao Zhi used his words to lead Governor Li slowly into making a decision as quickly as possible.

Suddenly telling him that “that person was coming” was to purposely make Governor Li anxious.

This person seemed to carry a lot of weight. Who could he be?

There were already more than enough officials here looking into the case. The victim was an aristocrat, but having a prefectural governor, a provincial governor, a local magistrate plus a surveillance commissioner was already giving the case a lot more importance than it deserved. All the suspects were right here too. So someone who was significant to this case…someone who knew martial arts…

It had to be Yun Nianyao’s husband! He was from the Qi family, a family who had made great military contributions to the nation!

Only he fit the bill! He was the only one who could make the prefectural governor so nervous!

Was he seriously almost here?

Song Caitang didn’t know if Zhao Zhi was just creating a smokescreen or if he was for real.

Either way, it meant that Zhao Zhi wasn’t just roaming about aimlessly, and wasn’t someone who didn’t know anything…

“You seem to surprise me in a new way each time we meet, Miss Song.” Zhao Zhi’s voice came closer to her and the man himself turned up on her side of the large rock. He raised one eyebrow as he looked at Song Caitang, “Eavesdropping huh.”

Song Caitang smiled, “And what about you? You’ve put in so much effort and you even displayed some acting chops. Surveillance Commissioner Zhao, do you really not care about this case? Or are you just pretending not to?”

She thought that Zhao Zhi would get angry with her. After all, this man seemed to be angry every time they met and seemed fairly short-tempered. To her surprise, he didn’t get angry this time. He narrowed his eyes slightly, “What…do you think?”

Song Caitang fell silent.

As she stared at his raised brow and the sly twinkle in his eyes, she suddenly understood why this man was nicknamed the king of chaos.

His brows were thick, his gaze was piercing, his nose bridge was high and he exuded an aristocratic aura, but he was smiling deep inside. A smile that was hard to see and just a little wicked. Combined together, it made for a unique aura. A dangerous but very attractive one.

It was really hard to tell what a person like that might do next.

Zhao Zhi did not get angry and did not argue with Song Caitang either. Once he said those words, he turned and left. He seemed to be in a pretty good mood.

Song Caitang didn’t know how to respond to that, but she didn’t have time to think about Zhao Zhi. From her observation of Governor Li’s expression and footsteps when he left, the man probably had a plan. Perhaps he might finalize them once he got back to his room and push the case through as quickly as possible. Major changes might happen today!

It was going to be a good day…

If that was the case, she shouldn’t laze around or remain low profile anymore. She had to head toward where the suspects were gathered, so that she could get some leads based on the situation and change her plans accordingly. She was going to see if she could get the chance to conduct an autopsy on the body!

Song Caitang closed her eyes slightly and inhaled deeply as she faced the sun.

She had a feeling that if she seized the chance and did a good job, her life ahead would be filled with wonderful surprises!

“Qinxiu.”

It was a really lively day at the temple, so Song Caitang allowed Qingqiao to take four hours off work. Only Qinxiu was by her side now.

“Yes, Cousin Young Mistress.”

“We haven’t interacted with each other much, but I’m sure we have a general impression of each other by now. Before today, I didn’t ask you and you didn’t need to report to me. But after today, you will have to make a decision yourself.”

Song Caitang looked quietly at Qinxiu with a knowing look, “You have one morning to decide. After that, you won’t get the chance to regret your decision. So make your choice wisely.”

Qinxiu’s heart skipped a beat.

She…understood what Song Caitang was saying.

She gave Song Caitang an extremely proper and sincere bow, “Got it.”

“Come along with me.”

“Yes, Cousin Young Mistress.”

The two ladies were destined to be enemies, alright. It didn’t take long for Song Caitang to run into Fu Xiuxiu.

Just like always, Fu Xiuxiu’s eyes would immediately grow wide and angry when she spotted Song Caitang, and she would pick up her skirt and run over to block Song Caitang’s way, as though she was afraid that Song Caitang would make a run for it, “Ha! Isn’t this Miss Song, the corpse dissecting expert that the men talk about the most late at night?”

She purposely emphasized on the part about men talking about her late at night and that she was a corpse dissecting expert. Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Qinxiu took a step forward, as though she wanted to say something, but Song Caitang raised her hand and made her remain behind her.

Fu Xiuxiu didn’t stop there, “Song Caitang, does your family know about your reputation? Oh! I forgot!” she smirked, “You don’t have family! Your parents are both dead! And you remained an idiot for the good part of a year and nearly failed to regain your senses! What’s going on now, Song Caitang? Didn’t you dream of your father hitting you or your mother crying tears of blood because of what you’ve done?”

“Oh dear, how could I have forgotten? You’re so thick-skinned, insisting on your way even though you’re living under someone else’s roof and bullying your older sister – how could you still have any shame left? You only care about whether you’re eating well, so you wouldn’t remember your parents or even have a conscience!”

Song Caitang narrowed her eyes slightly at the young lady before her.

“I thought that only poorly brought up women in the city would yell their heads off in this manner. I did not expect the daughter of a well-respected family to aspire to become like such a woman.”

She took a step forward and stared straight into Fu Xiuxiu’s eyes, “What about your parents? Do they know that you speak with no filter, that you say slanderous words that sully the reputation of others and even insult their ancestors? Do your sisters and sisters-in-law know that you’re ruining the reputation of your clan and being inconsiderate toward them?”

The reputation of a woman during this time period did not only affect herself, but her entire clan as well. If the things that Fu Xiuxiu said were known to the public, she would be described as coarse, rude, petty and so on. It would even affect the marriage prospects of any unmarried women in her family as well.

Song Caitang’s gaze was frosty, “Conducting autopsies and investigating murder cases does not go against my conscience in any way and I’ve never hurt anyone by doing so. Your exposure to the world is little and you’ve never seen a woman do such things, but not everyone is as ignorant as you are. How do you know anything about my dreams? Perhaps they’re wonderful, perhaps my parents are proud of me. Miss Fu, please look at yourself first. Do not project your ideas on others!”

“Did you think everyone is just as nasty and mean as you are? Your family must have a lot of quarrels and life must be hard…”

“I’m not born here, I don’t have parents and I don’t have any ties, so to speak. But what about you? You seem very comfortable with saying such things against your conscience!”

Fu Xiuxiu’s words had failed to make Song Caitang angry, but Song Caitang’s words seemed to have stabbed a hole in Fu Xiuxiu’s lungs.

“I’m saying the truth!” shrieked Fu Xiuxiu, “Guan Rongrong has told me everything about the way you behave in the Guan family! You’re a despicable woman! I’m not saying anything against my conscience!”

Song Caitang’s gaze darkened. She got it now.

This Fu Xiuxiu turned out to be good friends with Guan Rongrong.

Song Caitang became a little hesitant since this was now connected to the Guan family.

It was true that she was a guest in their home, so if complaints about her were going around…

…she had to deal with them properly.

“Miss Fu, please do not speak nonsense like that.”

Just as Song Caitang was thinking about how to respond, a familiar voice resounded from behind her. She turned around to see Guan Qing walking toward her.

Guan Qing’s makeup was very light, but her brows were naturally straight and her cheeks were pinkish. She was so pretty, yet she absolutely refused to even crack a smile.

Not only did she not smile, but she glared at Song Caitang, as though to say, how could you just stand there and allow others to bully you? How useless! Don’t you know how to open your mouth and ask for help? Stand aside and watch me teach this insolent child a lesson!

Song Caitang meekly moved aside. Eldest Sister was as domineering as ever.

Guan Qing came closer and glanced indifferently at Fu Xiuxiu, “Looks like you’ve really gone too close to those poorly brought up women and their terrible habits have rubbed off you. Are you sure your surname is Fu?”

Fu Xiuxiu nearly blew her top, “I went to your place to visit Guan Rongrong just the other day and you saw me there as well! How could you…”

“Ah, Guan Rongrong.”

Guan Qing’s gaze suddenly turned icy, “If you ruin your own reputation, at most I might just laugh at you. But not only are you bullying my younger cousin, but you’re lying and smearing my younger sister’s reputation. I think it’s best that I stay away from the Fu family. When you get home, please tell the head of your family that I think our families should stop trading with one another.”

“I’m not smearing her reputation!!! Guan Rongrong really said so!!!” shrieked Fu Xiuxiu.

She was very scared. If the Guans stopped being one of her family’s customers, they would lose a lot of money. Her mother would never let her off!

Guan Qing ignored her shrieks, “My younger sisters get along well and I’ve never heard Rongrong complain about Caitang. Could your ears be a little different from most others?”

“Rongrong and Caitang get along like real sisters and my aunt would know best. If you don’t believe me, you can go ahead and ask her. The two sisters get along well and teasing each other from time to time is only normal. But I guess Miss Fu…”

Guan Qing looked like she pitied Fu Xiuxiu, “I guess Miss Fu has never had such experiences.”

“Also, no matter what was said or done between the two of them is my family’s business. Miss Fu, don’t you think you’ve crossed the line?”

In other words, the Guan family could hit each other or scream at each other if they wanted, but that was none of Fu Xiuxiu’s business.

Fu Xiuxiu’s face turned bright red and she suddenly snapped. She pointed a finger at Song Caitang and yelled from nowhere, “But she seduced Magistrate Wen! I saw it with my own eyes! That’s not a lie anymore, right?”

Guan Qing didn’t get angry and didn’t look at Song Caitang either. She raised an eyebrow and said, “Oh…so you have feelings for Magistrate Wen.”

Fu Xiuxiu instantly paled, “I…I d-don’t…”

“Then again, why would Magistrate Wen fall for someone like you?”

Fu Xiuxiu gnashed her teeth, “Why not?! I…”

Guan Qing’s voice was frosty, “Caitang is here because the authorities have invited her to help and she has done her part in front of hundreds of witnesses. You started hating her because you’re jealous and you’ve even stooped to ruining her reputation. How dare you! Fu Xiuxiu, you’re really shameless!”