You Know It’s Late Too

The golden ornamental ball was made from gold, with a tiny gold pearl right in the middle, surrounded by a few spheres with flowers and branches cut out of it. The petals and leaves were longish in general and it was both an elegant and beautiful design.

Also, it was definitely very expensive. This was the sort of thing a thief would go for.

But the presence of the word “Lu” here was very unusual.

The spheres could be moved independently, so you had to rotate them carefully and put them against the light in order to see the word. The more they looked at it, the more obvious it looked. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that it was the owner who wanted it to be part of the design.

The surname “Lu” wasn’t the most common but not the rarest either. In fact, there was one in the Yun Nianyao case.

The pacification commissioner, Lu Guangzong!

Zhao Zhi’s gaze darkened as an icy glint flashed in them, “Judging from the quality of the materials, the craftsmanship and the cleverness of design…not a lot of people could have thought of it and made something like this.”

No one who could get close to an aristocrat like Yun Nianyao would be an ordinary person.

There was no need to guess who this ornamental ball belonged to. It was definitely the Lu family.

Song Caitang tilted her head slightly and held the ball between her fingers. Her fair skin against the bright gold color of the ball gleamed like polished jade, “Why would something belonging to the pacification commissioner end up in the victim’s room?”

An Pengyi and his two brothers stole as uh, “part of the job”, while Yun Nianyao wouldn’t go around stealing from others, so this item…

Either Lu Guangzong gave it to her, or he dropped it in the room by accident.

He had gone to her room the afternoon she died, after all.

Zhao Zhi narrowed his eyes slightly as he glanced at Song Caitang, “Lu Guangzong was lying.”

Song Caitang raised an eyebrow, “Or, he’s hiding something.”

Or…he was the killer!

Regardless of what the truth was, these details were very important to them now.

Zhao Zhi took the ball back from her and looked at it over and over again. His gaze was far away as he murmured, “Looks like there are still many things we still don’t know.”

Just having suspicions and some small items that couldn’t serve as concrete evidence weren’t enough to solve a crime. One had to look through every detail and put all the events together before everything could be understood clearly.

He paced the room several times and came to a decision quickly, “I’m going to investigate Lu Guangzong.”

“Good idea,” Song Caitang’s eyelashes fluttered as she understood what Zhao Zhi was thinking about, “Anyone connected to the case is obliged to cooperate with the authorities, and there are some things that you can ask the pacification commissioner directly, but…”

Her eyes were turned slightly upward and there was a glint in her eyes as she looked at Zhao Zhi and spoke in a voice that was mostly teasing and a little of a reminder, “Some details should not be made public.”

When a girl of her age made such an expression, she would look playful yet sweet at the same time. A more mature woman wouldn’t have given off the same feeling. But Zhao Zhi didn’t get it at all and even snorted as he folded his arms into a ridiculously arrogant stance, “Do I look like an idiot to you?”

Song Caitang did not say anything and merely cast Zhao Zhi a meaningful glance.

Zhao Zhi had no expression on his face, but he was extremely wary inside. What was Little Miss Smarty Pants going to say now?

But Song Caitang did not do what he had expected. She smiled gently, bowed, then turned to walk down the stairs, “We’re done here, you have matters to attend to and so do I, so I’ll take my leave.”

And…she walked down the stairs quietly.

Without turning back.

Zhao Zhi was speechless.

He pursed his lips tightly and felt even more annoyed.

Song Caitang hadn’t made it back to her residence yet when Qinxiu came looking for her. Something bad had nearly happened to Guan Qing.

A giant rock that was part of the landscaping had suddenly collapsed when Guan Qing walked past. If Guan Qing hadn’t suddenly remembered an outstanding bill and paused to think about it because she was disturbed by it, then stopped walking to turn around and go back to her residence, that rock would definitely have fallen on her.

“Don’t worry, Eldest Young Mistress is fine. The rock just missed her and didn’t even hit her skirt.”

Even so, Song Caitang frowned worriedly and immediately turned to walk toward Guan Qing’s residence.

Guan Qing was instructing Chunhong to pack her things at this time. She had already given thanks to Buddha for granting her wish, burned incense and lit the lantern, so it was time she headed home.

“You’re here,” said Guan Qing rather calmly when she saw that Song Caitang had arrived, “I just knew you’d be worried. You’re so young but you overthink everything. I thought I’d tell you what happened myself so that you don’t end up hearing some twisted version from someone else and scare yourself over nothing. But you’re clearly still so affected.”

She sighed heavily, “This wasn’t even serious. So many things happen to me when I’m out conducting my business. If you react like this all the time, you’re going to frighten yourself to death!”

Song Caitang was relieved to see that Guan Qing was fine and broke into a smile, “One should always be careful when you have to go outside. If you don’t have anything urgent to attend to, why don’t you stay here with me for a few more days? Old Madam Li is here to offer prayers and incense to Buddha, but she’s also taking care of me here.”

Besides, she had a feeling that this case was going to be cracked real soon.

Guan Qing looked at Song Caitang with a bright but knowing smile, “I know you want to take care of me, and Old Madam Li is very magnanimous toward those younger than herself, so getting close to her isn’t a bad thing. But it can’t be helped – I’m really busy. I’ve got a spring party in two days’ time and I have to bring Wan’er along. I actually wanted to bring you along too, but I don’t think you’re in the mood to go. There’ll be plenty of chances for you to attend such gatherings in the future, so I’ll bring you along next time.”

“Since you’re here, I might as well mention a few things to you. For some reason, perhaps I’ve offended the gods or something, I’ve been fairly unlucky recently and problems keep cropping up. Of course, I’ll be careful, but you should be careful too. If there’s someone trying to target our family…” There was a frosty glint in Guan Qing’s eyes that was replaced with a gentle warmth when she met Song Caitang’s gaze. She touched Song Caitang’s small face with a frown and concern written all over her face, “I know you’re a very clever girl, but it’s hard to live in this world as a woman and there are so many unforeseen dangers out there. You have to be alert at all times and take care of yourself. I’ll leave some maids and servants behind for you, so you’re not allowed to leave their line of sight and run off by yourself, you hear me?”

Song Caitang felt a warmth in her heart as she looked back at Guan Qing, who spoke resolutely in a voice that left no room for negotiation.

“Got it.”

After she saw Guan Qing off, Song Caitang ran into Wen Yuansi on her way back.

Despite spending an entire day running about, his clothing a little crumpled, his hair a little messy and his footsteps a little harried with some dirt on his shoes, Wen Yuansi looked just as elegant and classy as ever. Looking at him alone was enough to lift one’s mood.

Song Caitang said, “I see that you look very relaxed and you don’t seem tired at all. The case all wrapped up?”

Wen Yuansi smiled faintly and greeted politely, “I have to thank you for all your help. If you weren’t such an expert at examining bodies, I’m afraid we’d still be cracking our heads over this case now.”

“Oh no, no, you’ve been very careful and steady, and worked extremely seriously on this case. The person in charge of each case is very important, so you don’t have to be modest about it.” Song Caitang did not want to be credited with too much. She tilted her head and smiled, so half her face basked in the last rays of sunshine of the day, “The fact that the case has been cracked is enough reason to celebrate.”

Wen Yuansi was still thinking about the case and spoke like he was sighing, “The Shi Qun and Ximen Gang case happened on the same day as Yun Nianyao. The two parties did cross paths in the temple but not very much, which added to complexity of the case. It’s been hard on the people on the case like ourselves.”

Song Caitang nodded. Based on the evidence and clues so far, she had a preliminary conclusion and judgement of the case. She couldn’t be sure who the killer was right now, but she was pretty sure who definitely wasn’t the killer.

Wen Yuansi folded his hands behind his back, looked up at the sky, then looked at the young lady in front of him, “I happen to have some time now, would you be willing to listen to me talk about the case?”

Song Caitang wanted to talk to him about some things too, like their discovery of the golden ornamental ball. She smiled and said, “Why not?”

“After you, Miss Song.”

They walked over to Song Caitang’s residence. Qingqiao served them dinner, and they even shared a flask of warm wine so that they could eat and chat at the same time.

Wen Yuansi told her the details of the Shi Qun and Ximen Gang case, what An Pengyi said, what he saw and thought about recently. Song Caitang shared her conjectures, both old and new clues from the Yun Nianyao case, including the golden ball they found and the word “Lu” in the design of the ball…

Before they knew it, three hours had passed. But they still hadn’t run out of things to talk about.

Wen Yuansi was very well read and knowledgeable, so besides the cases on hand, they could talk about many other things. The arts, traditions, history, the court, folklore…there was nothing he didn’t know. Chatting with him was an enjoyable activity.

Song Caitang…was pretty well read too, but most of the things she read were related to her profession, so her scope was narrower than Wen Yuansi’s. But she had the soul and worldview of modern day society, so her take on some matters were novel and interesting and Wen Yuansi couldn’t stop talking to her.

The dishes on the table went from meat and vegetables to dessert, then to fruit, then to tea, then to dried fruit and small snacks…

Neither of them noticed how much time had passed and had no idea what time it was.

Until Zhao Zhi appeared.

Zhao Zhi had arrived very suddenly and with a bang. Unlike what most guests would do, he didn’t enter through the main door and get Qingqiao to let her employer know he was here. He leaped in directly through the window!

His level of martial arts was higher than most, yet he did not land as quietly and silently as a leopard. He landed with a loud bam, as though a giant rock had flown in. His landing was both loud and flashy, so it was impossible for anyone not to notice!

Song Caitang’s eyes twitched, “Surveillance Commissioner Zhao, it is night time now.”

What if he gave someone a heart attack with that landing?

“So, the both of you are aware that it’s late at night.”

Zhao Zhi grinned as he looked at Song Caitang, then at Wen Yuansi. His gaze was not friendly at all, “Instead busying yourself with work…you’re really good at talking, eh?”

After he was done being sarcastic, he plonked himself onto a chair and went on without waiting for a response, “That golden ornamental ball. Lu Guangzong said he gave it to Yun Nianyao.”

The atmosphere immediately turned serious upon mention of the case. Wen Yuansi felt like he would seem petty if he gave Zhao Zhi a snarky reply, while Song Caitang didn’t mock him because she was more concerned about the case. Her thoughts were instantly drawn to his words and she asked, “He gave it to her? When? On the afternoon of the 8^th?”

“No, no, that can’t be…” She refuted her own words instantly.

According to the sequence of events of that day, Yun Nianyao had met with Gao Zhuo before noon. An Pengyi and his two brothers had been busy trying to steal from her at the same time and Yun Nianyao hadn’t met with Lu Guangzong yet, so it couldn’t be that day itself.

“It was the night of the 3^rd,” Zhao Zhi provided the answer as he tapped a finger against the table, “Lu Guangzong did not visit her himself and got his butler to pass it to her.”

Wen Yuansi paused to think for a moment, “What is this golden ball supposed to be?”

Why did Lu Guangzong give it to Yun Nianyao?

“It’s a token,” Zhao Zhi’s gaze darkened, “A token that guarantees a huge favor.”

Wen Yuansi seemed to have caught on and he narrowed his eyes slightly, “What sort of favor would be considered a huge favor?”

Song Caitang glanced at Zhao Zhi and her gaze flickered. This token…was it the sort of favor she was thinking about?

Zhao Zhi glanced at her from the corner of his eyes and nodded as he picked up a cup lazily.

The people of this era loved giving each other tokens. Tokens were given when one formed an alliance, when one got engaged, as a show of gratitude or even to settle feuds. As long as it was a matter of significance, a token would be used as a special symbol of sorts. For example, if you wanted to make use of the special connections that an official like Lu Guangzong had, you needed to have something on hand that would prove that you were given access by Lu Guangzong. A token was very suitable for such purposes.

“Yun Nianyao’s grandfather and Lu Guangzong were very old friends and they were extremely close.”

Zhao Zhi slowly revealed this hugely important piece of information, then said, “Once Yun Nianyao got to Tianhua Temple, she sent a message to Lu Guangzong and asked when she could visit him personally. But Lu Guangzong felt that it was too hard for a pregnant woman to make the journey, so he replied to say that he would come to Tianhua Temple to visit her when he had the time. Not many people know about the trouble the Yun family is in, but Lu Guangzong knows about it. He was worried that Yun Nianyao might worry unnecessarily about it and fall ill as a result, so he got his butler to bring the ball to Yun Nianyao to assure her that he would visit her personally on the 8^th after he was done with whatever he needed to do.”

Wen Yuansi tilted his head and lowered his gaze as he fell into deep thought.

Some news about the Yun family had only reached his ears over the last two days or so. He only understood what was going on after Song Caitang explained the situation to him.

Lu Guangzong had been an official in the capital for decades and was trusted by the emperor, so he knew countless important people and he was definitely more powerful than anyone could imagine. Even though he was no longer based in the capital, he just needed to say the word and it would be done.

“What did Yun Nianyao ask of Pacification Commissioner Lu?”

At this juncture, Zhao Zhi’s lips curled upward into a smile, “She asked Lu Guangzong to find her a calligraphy expert.”

Song Caitang blinked a few times, then realized the implications of these words, “A calligraphy expert would be extremely knowledgeable about paper and handwriting. They would know by just one look if something is genuine or not.”

For example, they would be able to tell a counterfeit painting or counterfeit calligraphy piece from a real one, or…if a letter was forged.

Yun Nianyao definitely knew about the trouble her family was in and she was taking real action!

She knew that her family was in turmoil but everyone was keeping it from her because they didn’t want to affect her health adversely. So, she pretended she didn’t know anything and even went along with her husband’s plan, eventually leaving obediently for Tianhua Temple in Luanze.

Luanze was a place too far from her husband’s reach, so she secretly started receiving visits from her old friends to see if she could find a chance to help her family. She initiated contact with Lu Guangzong and made use of his friendship with her grandfather to get access to his network. She managed to get her hands on the golden ball that could grant her access, and even secretly got Lu Guangzong to find a calligraphy expert for her…

This woman was definitely holding onto the supposed secret letter between her grandfather and Liao!

Yun Nianyao was looking for someone with clout to speak up for her grandfather. At the same time, she wanted to get someone to prove that that letter was fake!