Doesn’t Look Like The Murderer At All

The next morning, the sun shone brightly in the sky.

It was almost the 3^rd month of the lunar calendar now, so it wasn’t that cold anymore. Not even at the temple high up in the mountains. Timid little buds appeared on branches and gave off a faint fragrance as the breeze made them sway slightly.

Zhao Zhi and Wen Yuansi still had not come with any new information.

Song Caitang cupped her chin as she sat by the window and watched as the sunshine grew brighter and brighter. When she felt it was about time, she got up, got changed, then made her way toward Madam Ge’s residence.

The yard was bustling with activity. Servants were running back and forth, their feet almost never stopping. Some were pulling horse carriages along, some carried beddings, some carried suitcases, some carried containers for food. Some were even preparing mobile toilets.

It was obvious that Madam Ge was getting ready to leave the temple.

Song Caitang closed her eyes gently and sighed quietly.

Madam Ge was only someone connected to the case and wasn’t even a suspect at this point, so it was impossible to restrict her movement. She could come and go as she liked and nobody could stop her.

Qingqiao found someone to let Madam Ge know that Song Caitang was here. It didn’t take long for someone to show Song Caitang in.

Compared to the chaos in the yard, the room seemed incredibly quiet.

Once the door was shut, all the noise was kept outside. The room’s window faced east and overlooked a bamboo forest which looked simple, clean and elegant. Incense was stuck into a three legged copper cauldron in the corner, sending wisps of white smoke swirling slowly into the air.

Madam Ge wore a white blouse and skirt. Her make up was light and her black hair looked like it had been tied into a quick bun with only one jade hairpin on the side.

When Song Caitang entered the room, she was holding a sleeve up as she poured tea into a teacup.

The sun fell on her hands, which were smooth and dewy. She had no polish on her nails. Her nails were clean and trimmed neatly, with perfect white crescents on the ends of each nail. They looked lovely. It was very pleasant to watch her make tea in the sunlight.

If Song Caitang didn’t already know what sort of family Madam Ge was born into, she would have thought that Madam Ge was a well trained daughter of a prominent family.

Madam Ge did not look like she had suffered greatly for the sake of her family and brother when she was younger at all. The effects of her skincare routine were amazing.

A maid led Song Caitang to the table. Madam Ge poured tea into a cup perfectly and smiled as she pushed it toward Song Caitang, “Please help yourself, Miss Song.”

“Were you expecting another important guest? Or did I happen to come at the right time?”

Song Caitang sat down comfortably and smiled faintly as she spoke playfully but within limits, “I get to drink your good tea today!”

“It’s not anything to shout about. I like tea, so I often make some for myself,” said Madam Ge with a smile, “You’ve come at the right time.”

Her response seemed to be responding to Song Caitang’s question, and seemed like she was explaining her own habits. There was nothing unusual about it.

But when a person was conversing with another with a particular thought in mind, everything the other party said and did seemed to speak volumes.

Song Caitang felt exactly this way.

She felt that Madam Ge was saying these things on purpose. It could be understood in so many different ways.

This woman was very clever and calm no matter what happened. If she was really the killer, she was going to be extremely difficult to catch.

Because she was thinking about these things, she ended up staring a little longer than normal at Madam Ge.

Madam Ge chuckled, “Why are you staring so hard at me?”

This woman did not fear her, thought Song Caitang.

Even though she was the coroner for this case.

“Your hands are very pretty,” Song Caitang randomly found a reason, “An ordinary cup of tea seems to taste better because you were the one who made it.”

Madam Ge did not try to be modest, “Women’s hands have to be like that.”

She cast her glance downward but the smile on her face did not fade in the slightest, “Hands are a woman’s second face. Men love it when you lift your hand up a little and reveal a bit of your wrist. To make my husband happy, I have to make sure these hands are pretty. But hands are also the things that suffer the most as you grow up. A girl working on the farm might be only 17 or 18 years old, but if she doesn’t take care of her hands, it will be ruined and others will laugh at her if she shows off her hands…how could a woman live without putting in time and effort into taking care of them?”

She then looked at Song Caitang with a glimmer in her eyes, “You enjoy wielding blades, so you need to take even greater care of your hands. Otherwise, you’ll see ugly calluses on them one day. I really think it’s better to leave such work to the men.”

Song Caitang quietly held up her teacup. Her eyes were clear and clean, as though it were black glass in clear waters, “Madam Ge, why don’t you live as you like? Don’t you find that thinking about so many things all the time makes one very tense and very tired?”

Madam Ge burst out laughing. She pointed at the tea on the table, then pointed at the activity in her yard, “Look at me. Does it look like my life has been tiring or constrained?”

It was true that she didn’t seem constrained by anything. She lived very freely indeed.

Song Caitang shook her head.

Madam Ge went on, “Many people say that it’s hard for a woman to live in this society. But I don’t think it’s that hard. As long as you live earnestly, work hard and manage your life well, there are advantages to being a woman…on the contrary, I think you’ve been a little too stubborn. Why do you want to take up a despised job, fight with men and speak with the lowly? Someone like you could grab a man and get married even with your eyes closed, and you’d still be better than them, no?”

Song Caitang merely smiled and did not respond.

Madam Ge spoke for a bit more before finally asking, “So, what made you decide to visit me today?”

Song Caitang’s lashes fluttered slightly.

Madam Ge had asked the question very casually, and had chosen to do so only after talking about completely unrelated matters. But was she really being casual about it? Or did she sense that she had been noticed and the authorities were suspicious of her, so they had sent someone here to sound her out?

Song Caitang pressed down on the corners of her sleeve as her expression grew solemn, “You helped my older sister and I that day and we have yet to thank you for it.”

“You’re referring to…” Madam Ge looked a little confused. She couldn’t remember what she said to Song Caitang that would have evoked such a response.

Song Caitang explained, “Fu Xiuxiu tried to pick on us, then Madam Ji came along and stood on her side. Thankfully, you spoke up for us and even reminded us to be careful.”

It was mostly thanks to Madam Ge that Song Caitang had guessed that Madam Ji was going to ruin Guan Qing’s reputation.

And perhaps the sense of gratitude made her subconsciously cast aside the idea that Madam Ge could be the killer. When she thought about it now…if Madam Ge had been kind on purpose back then, then that made Madam Ge a true master of manipulation.

“I didn’t do much,” Madam Ge waved it off. She looked into her cup and sighed, “Mrs. Fu is so pitiful though…”

Song Caitang’s gaze flickered, “You don’t think she’s the killer?”

“Why would I think that?” Madam Ge looked shocked, “Didn’t she already admit to her crimes? Are the authorities not accepting her confession?”

Song Caitang did not reply to her questions and went on, “You didn’t suspect her before this, didn’t you?”

Madam Ge laughed, “I’m not a court official, so whether I suspect her or not doesn’t matter.”

Song Caitang persisted, “But it’s such a big case. You mean you never felt afraid and never suspected anyone of being the killer?”

“I’m just an ordinary woman and I’m not as brave as you are. Of course I was afraid after finding out that a murder had happened. You can laugh at me if you like, but at that time, everybody looked like the killer to me and I dared not speak to anybody on my own…but when I saw that the courts had sent people here to investigate and they were led by so many high ranking officials, I calmed down again. With so many important people on the case, I’m sure they will be able to nab the killer. Why should I continue being afraid?”

The smile on Madam Ge’s face never faded as she spoke. Her voice was gentle, sweet and meek. Combined with her approachable facial features, she felt more like the warm spring breeze after a freezing winter. She didn’t look like the murderer at all.

“An important piece of evidence was found at the door to Gao Zhuo’s residence – the bowl that contained sweet fermented rice balls,” said Song Caitang nonchalantly as she picked up her teacup, “You didn’t suspect him?”

Madam Ge took a moment to think, then said, “I was rather surprised when I heard about it. Mr. Gao is a very sentimental man and had helped me before so how could he have done something like that? But since the authorities found evidence, I had no choice but to believe it. Then when Mrs. Fu stepped forward to reveal the truth, I realised that this was a result of unrequited love, a love that turned to hate…”

“But how the case will finally turn out is not up to you or me. Are you extra concerned about this case because you really have feelings for Magistrate Wen and you want to help him?”

Madam Ge made a joke with a teasing voice.

But this was not an appropriate joke.

Madam Ge was already married, while Song Caitang was not. They were not related to each other and marriage was an extremely private matter, so this joke made it sound like Madam Ge thought that she was very close to Song Caitang when she wasn’t at all. Someone like Madam Ge should not have made such a mistake.

Also, most young ladies would turn red in the face and avoid the topic because they felt shy…

But not only did Song Caitang not feel shy at all, she also understood that Madam Ge was purposely trying to change the topic.

Madam Ge was unwilling to spend any more time talking about the case or about murderers in general.

Her unwillingness said something, though.

Before coming, Song Caitang was suspicious of her based purely on her analysis of the situation. After this brief conversation, she didn’t become any less suspicious. In fact, she became even more suspicious.

Madam Ge was too confident. Too steady.

Without any actual evidence or facts on hand, it was too hard to trap her, since she was so clever. Song Caitang did not think she could get any key evidence from talking to her either. But knowing more about her was something too.

She stopped talking about the case and looked around the room, her eyes quickly spotting a box of golden needles, “I heard you have excellent acupuncture skills.”

“I only learned it after I got married and I’m nowhere near the level of older doctors who’ve had decades of experience. But my husband’s family did compliment me before and said that I’m talented in this field. Do you want to see the needles?”

She did not wait for Song Caitang to speak and brought the box over, then opened it for Song Caitang to have a closer look.

When Song Caitang emerged from Madam Ge’s room, a gentle, warm breeze started blowing. It smelled faintly like peach flowers.

The weather was truly lovely and she was in no hurry to return to her residence, so she decided to enjoy a leisurely stroll.

Her sense of direction was poor and before long, her random stroll had taken her very far from the path back to her residence. After some time, she finally spotted a residence in the distance. But this one was different from the others. There were runners keeping watch at the gate.

Qingqiao noticed Song Caitang’s surprise. She whispered, “Young Mistress, that’s Mrs. Fu’s residence.”

Mrs. Fu. Also known as Madam Ji.

Madam Ji had taken the rap for Gao Zhuo, claiming that she was the murderer and even handed over evidence. She was a key suspect in this case, so naturally, she was watched around the clock.

After knowing who was staying here, Song Caitang was no longer surprised by the presence of runners. But this commotion…

“Is someone…yelling?”

Qingqiao paused to listen carefully and scrunched up her round face, “It sounds like Mrs. Fu…does she regret doing this and doesn’t want to take the rap for Mr. Gao anymore?”

But this was a very grave matter. You couldn’t just claim you were the killer one day and then say you weren’t the next day.

Besides, Madam Ji had declared her guilt so readily and thought her actions were so noble. It wasn’t going to be easy for her to back out now. Screaming and crying was definitely not going to solve the problem, and she might not even be able to speak to the person in charge of the case.

But Song Caitang was very curious to find out why Madam Ji had suddenly changed her mind.

“Let’s go over and take a look.”

She was the coroner for the case, supported by the magistrate and the provincial governor, and also highly valued by the surveillance commissioner. She wasn’t powerful enough to take Madam Ji away, but the runners were willing to let her go in and speak to Madam Ji, except that she had to keep it brief.

Song Caitang didn’t need to stay there for too long anyway. She immediately realised why Madam Ji was behaving like this when she went in to see her.

Madam Ji looked at Song Caitang as though Song Caitang were her saviour. She ran desperately to the younger woman and started shouting, “Save me! Save me!! I’ll give you anything you want! Just please, please save me!!”

Song Caitang smiled faintly and sat down at the table.

She was very pleased with her poor sense of direction. After all, that had actually led her here.

By the time she was done with Madam Ji, it was already past noon. Song Caitang didn’t care about lunch and started running as quickly as possible toward Zhao Zhi and Wen Yuansi’s residences.

She needed to sort out the details again and regardless of which person she could find, she would be able to discuss this case with him!

But she was running too quickly, turned the corner too fast and was overly focused on getting to her destination. She saw someone coming her way but couldn’t brake in time, so she ended up running straight into him.

Zhao Zhi waited until both of them could stand properly before pushing the “overly eager” Song Caitang aside cruelly. His voice was filled with disdain, “You’re a woman for crying out loud! Can’t you have a little shame? Don’t you ever feel embarrassed? How could you run into a man’s embrace in broad daylight?! You’re really something, Song Caitang!”

“Sorry, I was running too quickly and didn’t see you.”

That didn’t give her the licence to run straight into his chest like that either!

Zhao Zhi glared fiercely at her.

But she ignored his glare and said, “I found new clues!”

And when she remembered what Zhao Zhi was investigating, her eyes widened further and grew brighter, “You have new clues too?”

He took a deep breath and reminded himself that the case was more important right now. He decided against berating her and replied, “That’s right. I went to visit the Lu family and found out that someone from the Lin family did try to speak to Lu Guangzong twice and they were very anxious. But the two families are not familiar with one another at all, so there was no way they could get to see Lu Guangzong.”

“A few days ago, Madam Ge suddenly paid him a visit and showed the gate guards a jade token. She said that Pacification Commissioner Lu would definitely let her in if he saw this item. She spoke with great confidence, as though she was certain that this was going to work. But in the end, Lu Guangzong didn’t respond that way at all. He didn’t even ask who she was and told the guards to throw her out. She was in utter disbelief.”

Song Caitang narrowed her eyes, “In other words, Madam Ge got her hands on a jade token and believed that Lu Guangzong would definitely be concerned about how she got it and talk to her, but it turned out to be a misunderstanding…”

Why would Madam Ge be so confident?

Where did that jade token come from?

Song Caitang’s breathing quickened and she could hear her heart pounding more rapidly and loudly, “What about his golden ornamental ball? How many people know about that?”

Zhao Zhi knew that she had guessed what must have happened and grinned, “This ball represents his network in the capital, so he is very careful about who he gives it to and very few people know about it. But someone like him would definitely give certain people such tokens. Everyone knows that.”

So…

There was a flicker in Song Caitang’s eyes as she picked up her skirt and started running again in a different direction.

It was clear that she was in a great hurry.

Zhao Zhi raised a finely trimmed brow and snorted. His tone was filled with haughtiness, “At this rate, those short legs of yours will take until tomorrow to reach your destination.”

He used a martial arts skill to run swiftly toward Song Caitang and reached out to her…

A rope flew out of his sleeve and he tied it around her waist. Then he flew upward and dragged her into the sky with him.

Song Caitang was speechless.

“AHHHHH!” Qingqiao shrieked hysterically.

She thought Zhao Zhi was going to hold onto her Young Mistress, but he tied a rope around her instead?!

And that rope was so thin!!!

It was going to make her vomit from being too tight!!!

This surveillance commissioner was absolutely RIDICULOUS!!!!!