Treason

Zhao Zhi was born in the capital and grew up there as well. He knew the situation between Yun Nianyao and the others very well.

Yun Nianyao, Gao Zhuo, and Qi Zhaoyuan came from comparable family backgrounds. Because their elders were on good terms, they would often run into each other at various events. For a large part of their childhood, they had practically grown up together…

Song Caitang interjected, “So Yun Nianyao wasn’t just childhood playmates with Gao Zhuo, but also with Qi Zhaoyuan?”

Zhao Zhi nodded, “When they were children, they were young and innocent and just played together without any other motives. The three of them got along very well and were very close, until Qi Zhaoyuan was sent to guard the border.”

The Qi family became a prominent family through their military contributions. The family was worried that the emperor would become wary of them because of their military prowess and authority, so they let go of their military positions. The two generations after focused on non-military work, but when it came to this generation, Qi Zhaoyuan, a legitimate heir to the family, went down this path once more, choosing to pursue a military career.

Zhao Zhi was on familiar terms with Qi Zhaoyuan because they were in the same camp back then, and after the troops were reorganised, Qi Zhaoyuan had even been his subordinate.

“Qi Zhaoyuan is a pretty good fighter, his train of thought is logical and he’s a big picture person. The two generations before him did not practise martial arts, so he’s lacking in some areas. He’s not very good at arranging the troops, so there’s no way he’ll become a general. But he could possibly become a lieutenant general of the vanguard, and he’d be a really good one too.”

Zhao Zhi had a good impression of Qi Zhaoyuan.

To him, Qi Zhaoyuan was a talent who could be groomed to become greater than he was now. He was a little obtuse in nature, but he definitely wasn’t someone petty or scatterbrained.

Perhaps the distance made him miss Yun Nianyao, and this emotion turned into love. After Qi Zhaoyuan was able to transfer back to the capital, he went to the Yun family to ask for her hand in marriage.

Yun Nianyao liked him too, so she nodded and agreed to this marriage.

Song Caitang blinked, “That’s it?” Nothing dramatic happened?

“What about Gao Zhuo? He just let this happen and didn’t do anything about it?”

Zhao Zhi held up the empty teacup with three fingers and played with it, “The three of them only spent more time together when they were children. After they grew a little older, Yun Nianyao abided by the rules of society and didn’t meet with men outside her family much. Qi Zhaoyuan was stationed at the border, so she never saw him at all. Gao Zhuo was still in the capital, but they hardly met either.”

Yun Nianyao did not purposely agree to the marriage to spite Gao Zhuo or anything like that. To her, Gao Zhuo was like an older brother.

But Gao Zhuo did not see Yun Nianyao as a younger sister. However, there was no one competing with him for her, and he was young and shy, so there were some things he couldn’t bring himself to say and he wasn’t that brave…

Song Caitang got it now, “So, Qi Zhaoyuan got lucky.”

Zhao Zhi nodded, “Since everything was already confirmed, then regrets were useless. Besides, the two of them already liked each other in the first place. So now, you have a good idea of the relationship between the three of them.”

Song Caitang nodded. She did have a good idea.

Gao Zhuo was naturally filled with regret and hatred, as well as helplessness and a broken heart. Yun Nianyao and Qi Zhaoyuan did not live unhappily like he had thought. The couple came from comparable family backgrounds and they loved each other, so they should have lived happily ever after.

This was just the preface.

The reason why the situation looked like this now was because something changed.

That change was the Yun family.

Zhao Zhi tapped the tabletop as his gaze darkened, “The Yun family got into trouble.”

Song Caitang instinctively sensed something wrong from his expression, “Big trouble?”

Zhao Zhi nodded, “They were in contact with another country and were planning a coup.”

Song Caitang’s eyes widened.

In societies where the emperor was the highest power in the land, the most serious of crimes was treason. Even if you were very loosely connected to a treasonous act, you could forget about getting out of it unscathed…

And because he was now talking about classified matters, Zhao Zhi had to lower his volume, “Someone secretly made a report, saying that the head of the Yun family was hiding an item that proved his secret communication with the nation of Liao.”

Song Caitang’s eye twitched suddenly, “Is it really okay for you to tell me such things?”

Zhao Zhi stared intensely at her. His quiet voice and the dark night sky made this look like a scene from a horror movie, “The more you know, the faster you die. What do you think?”

Song Caitang’s expression fell.

She just wanted to do a good job of examining bodies and cracking cases! She just wanted to make ends meet while doing something she enjoyed! She didn’t want to be embroiled in country secrets! Politics and the like were not her interest at all!

Zhao Zhi scoffed when he saw that she finally looked scared, “So, be good and stop angering me with sarcasm, then I’ll make sure you’re safe.”

Song Caitang rolled her eyes inside, but didn’t say anything about how sarcastic HE was.

This man looked arrogant, unbridled and haphazard, but he was actually very good at scheming and was extremely meticulous. He wouldn’t tell her anything that he knew he shouldn’t. The fact that he was telling her all this meant that to a certain extent, this matter wasn’t really a secret.

But Luanze was too far from the capital and news did not travel so quickly. So, the news did not go far and most people did not know about it.

Zhao Zhi cleared his throat in a pretentious manner and returned to business, “After wind of this started going round, the emperor had barely sent anybody to investigate when the head of the family killed himself. He even left a handwritten suicide note behind, saying that he was the only one at fault, and begged the emperor to consider how his family had been loyal and kind, plus his ancestors had contributed greatly to the country, and not punish any of his descendants.”

Song Caitang frowned.

This sudden suicide sounded fishy.

“He wrote that letter himself?”

“Many people are familiar with his handwriting, so it’s confirmed that he wrote it himself.”

“He only admitted his mistake but didn’t state what that item is and where it is?”

“Nope.”

The room fell silent suddenly, except for the sound of the candle flame burning.

After a long time, Song Caitang finally spoke again, “This concerns treason and someone died. It’s going to be impossible for the Yun family to come out of this unscathed.”

It would be impossible for them to keep all of their wealth, and how many family members were allowed to live would depend on the fight between all parties affected as well as what the emperor himself thought.

She suddenly thought of something, “Does Yun Nianyao know about this?”

Zhao Zhi shook his head, “She was the most doted upon in the family and she practically grew up under the care of the head of the family. She was a very filial girl and would definitely be very upset if she heard about what happened. She was pregnant and Qi Zhaoyuan was worried that her body wouldn’t be able to take it. But unfortunately, she was also clever and difficult to coax into doing things, so Qi Zhaoyuan had to cook up some story and find a reason to fault her, thereby successfully ‘chasing her out’ of the capital to come to Luanze.”

That was why Yun Nianyao had come to Tianhua Temple all by herself without any family members despite being pregnant.

“Who would’ve known that something still happened to her even after she had made this trip…”

Zhao Zhi’s voice sounded like a sigh against the backdrop of the dark night.

It was a long time before Song Caitang’s voice was heard again.

She raised her eyes slightly. They were bright and quiet in the night and looked like lake waters clear enough for one to see all the fish and plants in it, “Is that all there was to it? You mean Qi Zhaoyuan wasn’t worried that his own family would be implicated at all?”

“Don’t despise all the men in the world like that.” Zhao Zhi glared at Song Caitang and scoffed, “There are douchebags everywhere, but there are many good men too. Don’t always judge others so negatively.”

Song Caitang raised her brows. Her gaze was so clear and sharp, she looked frightening, “I should be saying that to you. Don’t despise the women of the world.”

“Men always think that women are very weak and very stupid, so they have to hold up the sky above their heads for them and protect them, or the womenfolk will fall apart and have no idea how to survive. But in reality, women are not stupid. They might be weak or not strong enough, but you men are often unable to imagine how resilient and strong willed women can be.”

“Did you think Yun Nianyao really didn’t know just because you guys thought she didn’t?”

Song Caitang closed her eyes and thought through several of the case’s details.

The way her room had been furnished, what sort of person Yun Nianyao was, the reputation she had, the things she did when she arrived at Tianhua Temple…

She suddenly thought of a person.

“Pacification Commissioner Lu.” Song Caitang looked at Zhao Zhi and spoke with a voice lower than usual, “Was Yun Nianyao visiting him really just to say hello? Not ask for help?”

Zhao Zhi was a little stunned for words.

That was…a new perspective to the case.

Song Caitang went on, “You said that Yun Nianyao grew up under the protection of the head of the family, so they must have been especially close. Is it possible that she might have gotten something from the old man…”

She narrowed her eyes and kept her voice low. The glint in her eye flickered like the candle flame, twinkling like the stars.

“Surveillance Commissioner Zhao, you’re very concerned about this case precisely because you’re looking for this item, aren’t you?”

Zhao Zhi grit his teeth, “Song Caitang, being too clever isn’t a good thing!”

Song Caitang retorted, “You’re angry just because I hit the nail on the head? You’re supposed to be the king of chaos from Bianliang, the emotionless lord of hades guarding the border – and you’re so petty?”

Zhao Zhi started grinding his teeth from being too angry. He already knew that this woman was too clever and he had to be careful if he wanted to work with her. If he wanted her to help, he had to be prepared to come clean with her!

But since things had already come to this, then there were some matters he could stop trying to hide.

He was angry, but also straight to the point, “The implications of a rebellion in the capital are great and a lot of information has been kept under tight control. At this point, the truth of the case is no longer that important. The changes in the situation in the palace are more important. Rearranging the people within the factions involved is more important. The emperor is in charge of the capital, so things won’t become chaotic. But this matter involves Liao and it’s very sensitive, so I was sent to go round the country and see if anything has gone wrong anywhere.”

And in the end, he ran straight into this case.

He had to admit that based on his understanding of Qi Zhaoyuan’s character, Yun Nianyao wouldn’t have known much about what had happened. But…

…what if she did?

He had to pay close attention. He had to be very careful. And he had to act fast.

He knew very well how irritating and difficult it was to shake off the Liao people after fighting them for so long. After years of war, the Liao storehouses were empty and they lacked good soldiers and brave generals, so they were behaving properly now. But who knew if they were secretly plotting something else and were about to raise a riot?

The long years of battle made him see every general and member of the royal family of Liao as a mortal enemy. He couldn’t wait to tear them all to pieces. And he strongly believed the other party viewed him the same way. He could not allow anybody from Da’an to have secret communication with Liao!

This case had to be investigated and solved properly!

If that item truly existed, he had to find it and destroy it!

And now, Song Caitang had a clear understanding of why Zhao Zhi did what he did.

Everything revolved around this treason case, because the possibility of political infighting was very great. The emperor did not really think the Yun family would rebel, but the evidence was vague and he couldn’t just rely on his instincts, so he sent Zhao Zhi to go round the country and have a look. Zhao Zhi had been guarding the border for many years and Liao was the nation that had given him the most trouble. If he noticed anything amiss, he would definitely watch it very carefully. But in the end, he ended up discovering Yun Nianyao’s case. Even if he didn’t think the Yun family was really guilty, he had to watch the situation and raise suspicion where it was warranted. He had to focus on the facts and evidence, and could not brush things off casually.

That was why he was in a hurry to crack the case, and was in a hurry to intervene.

She nodded and continued asking him, “And you’re the one behind what happened with Qi Zhaoyuan? You purposely blocked off information and twisted the truth in order to pull the wool over Governor Li’s eyes?”

“I had no choice. I wanted the case but I didn’t want to embarrass myself, so that was the only way to make Governor Li beg me to take the case at all costs.” Zhao Zhi threw his hands up in the air, “And I also used some wondrous way to tell Qi Zhaoyuan about your incredible autopsy skills.”

The Yun family matter was too sensitive. If this happened earlier, Qi Zhaoyuan might have taken a long time to decide if he wanted the autopsy or not. But there wasn’t enough time to do that now, so he had to go ahead with the autopsy no matter how unwilling he was inside. He wanted more than anybody else for the case to be resolved and concluded. If this case dragged on any longer, implicated factions would start to intervene and fight each other. His wife’s death would become unimportant by then and nobody would be willing to focus on finding the killer.

And when that happened, he wouldn’t even know who to seek revenge on.

Song Caitang paused to think, “He didn’t know you were here.”

Zhao Zhi grunted, “I trust him, but I am more focused on facts. As long as I don’t have any concrete evidence, not communicating with him at all will allow me to see his true colours.”

That was a pretty good point. Song Caitang couldn’t help but give Zhao Zhi a look of admiration.

But that annoyed Zhao Zhi. He raised his eyebrow, which made him look like an arrogant, snobbish aristocrat again, “Why, am I that lousy in your eyes?”

“Oh no, no, no.” Song Caitang had the guts to offend Zhao Zhi, but keeping the peace was more important while they were still investigating a case together, “Surveillance Commissioner Zhao is such a wonderful man, a magnanimous man with an even temper who is principled and perseveres, whose heart is always concerned for the people and specialises in doing good and saving others like it’s part and parcel of your life. Look at how muscular you are – isn’t it a result of all the hard work you have put in?”

Zhao Zhi’s lips seemed to have curled upward a little, but he did his best to keep them from doing so. His expression was terse as he muttered, “You women are always so superficial, always fancying men who look strong and reliable.”

Song Caitang nearly fainted. Couldn’t he tell that she was being sarcastic?!

“But then again, it’s hard for most people to get this look.”

Song Caitang got it now. This surveillance commissioner had another signature trait – he was an egomaniac!

To prevent her eyes from burning up after seeing that smirk on his face, Song Caitang tilted her head slightly to avoid looking at him directly and dragged the conversation back to the original topic, “So now, besides cracking the case, we also need to confirm if Yun Nianyao had that item, and if she did, where it is now…”

“Have you questioned Pacification Commissioner Lu yet?”

Zhao Zhi frowned, “I did, but he said that when he met with Yun Nianyao, they just chatted casually to catch up and didn’t talk about anything else.”

Song Caitang asked another question, “How many of the people here know about what happened to the Yun family back in the capital?”

Zhao Zhi replied, “The pacification commissioner has a lot of connections in the capital, so he should know. Gao Zhuo’s family still lives in the capital, so he might know too. The rest are hard to say.”

Song Caitang paused to think.

If Yun Nianyao really had that thing with her and others found out about it, many people would pay attention. This was an item from Liao, after all, so they could use her or threaten her, or do whatever they liked…

This case was looking less and less like a simple crime of passion.

But all the clues they could gather from the scene of the crime had been gathered already. Any other investigation would require time to investigate thoroughly in all sorts of directions.

If only there could be a breakthrough…

This time, Song Caitang got what she wished for. She had wished for something that could affect the case to happen, and something did happen.

Zhao Zhi’s subordinate came to report that the bowl used to serve the sweet fermented rice balls had been discovered outside Gao Zhuo’s residence!

The bowl had even been buried and covered with a layer of old soil, so it was hard to notice unless one looked very carefully.

Besides that, they also discovered a secret compartment inside Gao Zhuo’s room. The secret compartment was filled with a lot of writings and paintings, and the object of the paintings was the same person – the victim, Yun Nianyao! There was Yun Nianyao smiling, Yun Nianyao crying, Yun Nianyao walking among the flowers, Yun Nianyao seated on a chair, and some of them had her clad in less clothing than she ought to…

The writings were all Gao Zhuo’s thoughts in writing, including how he longed for her, reminiscing the good old days and his regret, as well as the outrageous thoughts he had after consuming too much wine, like how if he couldn’t have her then it was better to just destroy her, or that if he locked her up then she would belong to him alone and so on…

Either way you looked at it, Gao Zhuo seemed like a pervert.

Also, he was now more of a suspect than before.

Judge Guo and Coroner Sun were especially elated. They had already called for the justice department’s runners (in the Ming Dynasty, which this book seems to take a lot of reference from, these runners were the lowest ranked workers in the law enforcement/justice department, working as anything from bodyguard to tax collector to summoning witnesses) to arrest him!