97 — Bait

Zhao Zhi and Song Caitang decided to work separately in hope of making some discoveries at the Gao family party.

The party was a very grand one, so it was bustling with activity and people, which made it seem more difficult for one to gather any evidence or information. But this was also the sort of occasion where people slipped up, ran into accidents and revealed things they normally wouldn’t have.

Wen Yuansi had managed to get Guan Rongrong off his tail, and after some thought, Zhao Zhi left Pang Qian and Loo Zhong to him. He got Wen Yuansi to get ahold of Loo Zhong first, then sound Pang Qian out. He was certain that these two men were hiding different secrets.

He, on the other hand, continued to keep tabs on Cao Zhang and Manager Liu.

Besides the earlier incident at the pavilion, Cao Zhang didn’t seem to want anyone to know where he was or that he was even around at all. He kept a low profile, did not make any noise or speak, and he even used martial arts to move swiftly and silently through the trees and leaped from wall to wall so that nobody would notice him.

But that was a piece of cake to Zhao Zhi.

His body moved with even greater ease than Cao Zhang, jumping from wall to wall without making even the slightest sound. He was like a huge but nimble cat, as though he was naturally born with the ability to conceal his presence. Nobody could detect him at all.

Cao Zhang had gone to look for some rather influential officials in Luanze. His conversation with them had been very casual, as though he was really familiar with them.

None of these officials were any lower in rank compared to Lu Guangzong.

The fact that this man’s connections were this superb… It seemed like this new gang leader who had gone through great dangers and tribulations was certainly no ordinary person.

Cao Zhang didn’t seem to need the deal with Manager Liu and use that to pressure Lu Guangzong at all.

Zhao Zhi continued watching him and remembered all the people he came into contact with. He even tried to test Cao Zhang from time to time, but Cao Zhang did not seem suspicious in any way.

But that wasn’t the case for Manager Liu.

Madam Zhang had been sent home by Guan Qing after that spate at the pavilion, but because Manager Liu wasn’t a Guan, his movements weren’t restricted and he remained at the party. This place was not small, but it wasn’t that big either. Manager Liu ended up running into Cao Zhang three more times.

The first time was purely by coincidence. Cao Zhang deliberately ran into him two more times.

Cao Zhang seemed very unhappy to see Manager Liu. Every time they ran into each other, he would sneer and threaten Manager Liu.

Or he would smile wickedly, or narrow his eyes, or run his hand across his neck. The consecutive scares made Manager Liu actually develop a bodily reaction to seeing Cao Zhang. The man would break into a cold sweat and his entire body would tense up immediately.

Cao Zhang remained steady. He wasn’t willing to cooperate with the authorities, but he didn’t do anything that made him suspicious. Nobody could find any reason to suspect him at all. But Manager Liu was not as steady. The changes in his emotions were so obvious. It was a good time to break past his defenses.

Zhao Zhi gave up following Cao Zhang himself and got his subordinates to continue keeping tabs. He started tailing Manager Liu instead.

Now that his deal with Madam Zhang was off, Manager Liu seemed intent on trying to repair his relationship with Guan Qing. But Guan Qing was a young, unmarried woman, so her activities and the people she talked to moved around a different part of the house and he couldn’t find her. At the same time, he knew that this party was a rare chance for him to find more opportunities, so he went around trying to look for capable or prominent characters to speak to. Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on his side and none of his conversations went well.

After he had been frightened by Cao Zhang a few times, he was a bit like a bird in a tree that went into a panic from just the sound of the wind blowing in the grass. He was so wary all the time, he could barely focus, never mind gaining some new connections.

Given how Cao Zhang had run into Manager Liu a few times and how Cao Zhang had smiled creepily at Manager Liu each time, Zhao Zhi figured it was time to strike.

As a breeze began to blow, he leaped into the air, floated to where Manager Liu was and quickly took away something in Manager Liu’s sleeve…

It was a very small pouch.

Manager Liu had subconsciously touched this pouch many, many times, so this item must be very important.

Manager Liu hadn’t even noticed a human fly past him and didn’t sense anything amiss. But he was constantly nervous, so he reached for the pouch in his sleeve again, only to find that it was gone!

He… dropped it somewhere?

That was impossible. The pocket in his sleeve was not loose and open, so it couldn’t have fallen out. And even if it had, he would have noticed. But since he hadn’t noticed anything…

Someone must have stolen it!

He recalled the smug smile on Cao Zhang’s face, as though he was hinting at him. Manager Liu grit his teeth.

It was impossible for a thief to be among the dozens of distinguished guests at a party like this. Besides that gangster, who else would even think of stealing something? Who would be capable of doing such a thing?!

But these thoughts also made him worried.

When he had discussed this deal with Cao Zhang, Cao Zhang had remained very calm throughout, as though it didn’t matter if this deal went through or not. Even after Lu Guangzong was confirmed to be dead, Cao Zhang did not become worried or scared. Instead, Cao Zhang kept taunting and trolling him…

There had to be a reason why he was so confident and steady.

Did Cao Zhang steal that important thing?!?!

He knew what the Green Gang was capable of, so when he embarked on his plan, he had already placed it in a very safe place and didn’t take it out or look at it at all, afraid that someone might notice and steal it from him. But now…

Manager Liu was instantly drenched in sweat.

This would not do. He had to go over and take a look right now!

Once he was decided, he left the Gao family residence, made a few turns, then secretly headed elsewhere…

His plans for the party hadn’t worked out anyway!

Meanwhile, Zhao Zhi stood on a tree branch, throwing the little pouch from one hand to the other while observing Manager Liu. His lips slowly curled into a smile.

When Manager Liu was about to disappear out of sight, he leaped off the branch and landed with ease.

---

While all of that was going on, Qi Yan’s plans to deal with Fourth Missy Gan had gone very well and hadn’t run into any issues.

His method… had been pretty simple too.

It was hard for a woman to survive in this society and Madam Gan was certainly no stupid woman. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have made it this far all by herself with a son in tow. Being pretty was both a strength and a weakness. She used her beauty to her advantage, but had turned it into a bad habit. She was used to getting men to help stand up for her.

She was pretty, so once she started crying, no man could just stand by and not do anything. This method was easy and gave quick results, so it was very useful. After some time, she was too lazy to think of other methods and just used this all the time. After all, there were men anywhere she went.

But she had forgotten that there was one place where there were practically no men.

For example, the kitchens of rich families.

The Gaos had put in a lot of effort to throw this party and welcome Ling Qianqian, their aristocratic relative from the capital. That included making sure that they did everything as properly as they could, so the kitchen was just filled with female cooks.

Qi Yan and his cousin were staying with the Gaos during their stay here and were well aware of the preparations. Reassigning the servants wasn’t a problem at all. Qi Yan could decide if the kitchen was going to have no men at all, one man, or just a few men, or whatever combination he needed.

Most women were more hostile toward pretty women. If the prettier one knew how to befriend women well, then she was going to be fine. But if she wasn’t good at befriending women and was better friends with men instead, most women around her would dislike her.

Also, most of the people working in the kitchen were servants of the Gao family and were indentured. Fourth Missy Gan, on the other hand, was hired because she was good at making braised meats. She was seen as someone who was taking away their chance to perform well.

It would be weird if the other servants liked her.

With so many women working together in the same place, almost anything could go wrong. Qi Yan didn’t even have to set something up and the women started quarreling all by themselves.

The kitchen at this hour was not considered very busy, since the items due earlier had already been sent out and it wasn’t quite time to prepare lunch yet, so they could rest for a while. To them, the reason for arguing wasn’t important. The most important thing was to push Madam Gan out of the picture.

Just then, a man appeared in the kitchen.

Her first reaction was to look toward this one man with tears in her eyes. She wasn’t trying to flirt with him. She just wanted him to help her.

She was very pretty, so most men would stop and take a second look at her, especially when she looked at them. But what they did after that was entirely dependent on their personality and temperament.

This man paused for a moment, then turned to look the other way and did not say anything.

The woman did not get physical and just kept insulting her with their words, and Madam Gan couldn’t take it after some time.

But she had her own usual way of dealing with this. She waited for a while, then found a suitable time to privately talk to the man, apologizing to him as she bit her lip.

She hadn’t done anything wrong.

She was just used to doing it this way. She wanted the man to know how sweet she was, to pity her and help her.

What she didn’t know was that this man had a very, very fierce wife, and he was extremely afraid of her.

These two had met privately away from prying eyes, and the man’s wife happened to spot them. Of course the wife wasn’t going to just let it go.

Not only did the wife start railing at Madam Gan, she started trying to hit her too.

The man was mesmerized by Madam Gan’s beauty, but he was more afraid of his wife. The moment his wife appeared, he forgot about any other woman and fled the scene like his wife commanded him to, and got ready to kneel the whole night as punishment.

As for Madam Gan…

Luck was really not on her side at all.

First, she was insulted by the other women, then she got hit by this man’s wife. Everyone glared at her when they saw her, and if she made even the slightest mistake, she would get a good dressing down.

Nobody wanted to help her with her chores either, so she had to prepare the ingredients, gather firewood, watch the fire and so on all by herself.

This was a party for a lot of people, so she needed to prepare many portions at once. It was impossible to do everything by herself and everyone had to split the work to get things done. It wasn’t difficult to imagine how hard things were for her.

And she couldn’t find any man to help her, since she was in a kitchen full of women.

Qi Yan felt that the tension was just about right to move to the next step. He snapped his fingers and proceeded to… add fuel to the fire.

Every person had something or someone especially precious to them. Madam Gan worked so hard and disregarded the nasty comments and threw her pride away all for the sake of her son, Gan Zhixuan. Gan Zhixuan was her weakness.

Qi Yan didn’t know where Gan Zhixuan had gone, but he didn’t need to know. He just needed to make sure Madam Gan was stuck in the kitchen and nobody could get to her from outside. In a situation where it was hard to get any information from elsewhere, if he spread a lie and many people said the same thing, Madam Gan would probably believe it.

And so, rumors went round the kitchen that Gan Zhixuan had offended a big shot and his life might be in danger.

Madam Gan immediately panicked and tried to get help, but because there were no men for her to approach, she had no choice but to beg the aunties in charge and the maids with more clout to help her so that she could get her work done more quickly and leave to help her son.

She had signed a contract with the Gaos for this party and had to prepare the same amount of food as stated in the contract, or else she would have to compensate the Gaos with a lot of money and she couldn’t afford to pay them that kind of money.

But nobody wanted to help her.

Nobody.

---

Qi Yan sat on the wall to observe what was happening while taking a few swigs from a bottle of wine in his hands, “Poor, poor thing… I’m sorry, but that’s not quite enough yet…“

He finished the bottle and rubbed his chin to think.

It was easy to make Madam Gan go through a meltdown, but where should he lead her after that? He had to find a direction for her.

Before this, he wanted to find out what secret Madam Gan was hiding and who Gan Zhixuan’s biological father was. But Zhao Zhi told him that Song Caitang said Madam Gan might be doing this because she was making use of the situation to cover up something.

What could it be?

If he didn’t get the direction right, all his efforts would go to waste.

If only Song Caitang were here.

He turned his body and feet toward where Song Caitang was.

---

After Song Caitang had fished enough information from Lu Shen and saw him off, she left her little corner too.

She didn’t even care about how Lu Shen had said again at the end that regardless of the situation, the Lu family would not agree to a dissection of his father’s body. The only thing on her mind was what to do next.

So, she did not notice that she and Lu Shen weren’t the only ones here. There was someone else too.

A middle aged man emerged and sneered, “This woman is pretty smart.”

His assistant standing behind him said, “Not only is this woman good at dissecting bodies, but she’s also able to read a person’s thoughts, so we must not underestimate her abilities… Master, our next step…“

The man rotated the ebony token in his hand distractedly, “Women should stay obediently at home. Showing themselves in public comes at a price.”

The assistant seemed to understand what he was implying and bowed his head, “Yes, Master.”

---

Song Caitang soon found out what Qi Yan had done after she sent Qingqiao to ask around.

This situation had really put Madam Gan in a terrible position, and she was surprised that Qi Yan had found it in himself to push such a pretty woman into such a desperate corner.

But the results had clearly paid off. Song Caitang was certain that Madam Gan would be willing to say something quite soon.

As she thought through the details of the case, she walked toward where Qi Yan was, in case he needed her help. But she hadn’t reached her destination when she spotted Gan Zhixuan and Niu Baoshan.

They were in a secluded corner and nobody was walking past at all. Gan Zhixuan had Niu Baoshan by the collar and pressed the older man against the wall. His eyes were bulging and he was rather agitated, “… do you know my mother’s secret or not?! Did my mother tell Niu Xingzu? Did Niu Xingzu tell you since you’re his father?!”

Gan Zhixuan was only 15 and had spent most of his life studying, so he had barely done menial work. Niu Baoshan was getting on in age and his heavy drinking had weakened his body, but he did menial work to make a living, so he was way stronger than the young man.

He pried Gan Zhixuan’s hand off his collar with just one hand, “If I knew, would I let the two of you live in peace? Your mother’s a whore! A jinx! She brings misfortune to everyone around her, and you’re no better! You’re filial and polite? PUI! You’re nothing compared to my son!”

“What was so great about your son? You think he’s great, but he wanted to become my stepfather! You think he’s great, but he’s dead now!” Hatred glowed in Gan Zhixuan’s eyes, “You’ve held onto some insignificant pieces of information and kept harassing us and ruining our reputation – Niu Baoshan, aren’t you afraid that your son can’t rest in peace in the nether world? Aren’t you afraid that he’d come back in your dreams to curse you?! He told my mother he was going to be with her even in the next life, and whoever died first will wait for the other at the bridge leading to the other side!”

Niu Baoshan was so angry, he burst out laughing, “He’s MY son, so I know him through and through, and no matter what happens, he will never dare to oppose me. But what about you? You’re so anxious to look for your biological father? Is it because whatever your mother gave you isn’t enough, so you find her embarrassing? Are you very anxious to find a rich and influential father so that you can live a comfortable life?”

“Nonsense!”

“You know deep inside whether I’m spouting nonsense or not,” said Niu Baoshan before walking away.

Gan Zhixuan glared at Niu Baoshan’s disappearing back for a long time, then stormed off as well.

Song Caitang fell into deep thought after witnessing this.

Niu Baoshan hated Lu Guangzong because of the death of his son, and would sling insults at the old man whenever they crossed paths. He hated Madam Gan and her son as well, so his words to them were equally nasty. Lu Guangzong was already dead, so she didn’t know what his reaction to Niu Baoshan was like. But the reaction that Madam Gan and her son had were… different.

Song Caitang recalled that Niu Baoshan had cursed at this mother and son many times. He had said many nasty things about them and had used several expletives as well. But their response was completely different.

Gan Zhixuan would stand up and argue back in a fairly confident and angry manner, but not his mother.

His mother never defended herself and never yelled at Niu Baoshan. At most, she would look very upset and cry a little.

It was as though…

She was feeling very guilty.

But why?

What had she done?

Could it be…

Song Caitang looked toward Niu Baoshan and a bold guess came to her mind. Could it be that she had something to do with Niu Xingzu’s death?

Niu Baoshan was disapproving of his son’s relationship with Madam Gan, so Niu Xingzu had worked hard at both working for his father as well as keeping his relationship with Madam Gan stable. But just when things seemed to be going well, Niu Xingzu suddenly went missing. And after the body was dug up, it was confirmed that the young man had died back then.

There was something fishy about the timing and his death.

Had Madam Gan… done something?

Niu Baoshan suspected she had, but didn’t have any evidence. Was that why he took issue with her all these years?

If that was the case, she had an idea on how to help Qi Yan.

Her brain worked quickly as she thought things through, then called Qingqiao over and whispered some words to her.

Qingqiao’s face was a little red, “Young Mistress, do we… really have to do it like this?”

Song Caitang patted her head, “If you don’t want to, I’ll get someone else.”

“I’ll do it,” Qingqiao bowed slightly even though her face was still red and she looked a little worried. “What about you?”

“I’ll go and look for Mr. Qi.”

Qingqiao was even more worried, “What if you get lost?”

Song Caitang pointed at the pavement in front of her, “Didn’t you say I could just follow this pavement? Don’t worry, I won’t get lost following an actual path.”

But Qingqiao was still worried and reminded her, “Remember to follow the main path all the way. Don’t turn into any of the forks you see.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

Song Caitang proceeded to head down the pavement.

Qingqiao rubbed her cheeks, looked in Niu Baoshan’s direction, picked up her skirt and turned into a small lane, then… ran as quickly as she could!

Niu Baoshan was in no hurry, so he did not walk very quickly. And because he felt thirsty, he even stopped and sat down to drink some water for a while.

After he was done drinking water, he was ready to continue with his work. When he came to a wall covered in vines, he suddenly heard some people speaking.

“Gosh… did you hear which plays the Madams wanted to watch? That particular woman doesn’t know the rules at all! She actually wanted to watch Yingying’s Biography¹?! Doesn’t she know what sort of party she’s at? It’s not good for the young ladies to watch this…“

“Exactly. These commoners don’t know anything, and their tastes totally reflect that. They just know the main character is a student, and so they think it’s a very classy play…“

“Tsk! If you ask me, they should ask for one befitting of their status! She should have asked to see Wu Song Fights the Tiger!”

“HAHA! You’re so funny! Of course she wouldn’t dare to ask for that. There’s Pan Jinlian and Ximen—”

“Shhh! Don’t say more than you should!”

“What are you afraid of? This is a quiet place that only the servants would pass through, so who else would hear it? That Pan Jinlian was a real heroine for daring to serve poison to her own husband!²”

---

Niu Baoshan’s expression was surly as he walked away from that wall of vines.

The frivolous conversation between a few maids in their free time had reminded him of his poor son.

That whore! That wicked bitch!

Niu Baoshan was angry, so his footsteps slowly became stomps.

He hadn’t gone far when a young maid in green blocked his way, “Hello uncle, I’m really sorry but there are some young mistresses using the area in front. Could you help to give them some privacy and go by the other way instead? I’m so sorry!”

The young maid raised her hand to point in a particular direction.

Niu Baoshan knew where that pavement led to. It made his journey a little further, but it didn’t matter. As a helper among the servants, his job was to ensure that the young ladies invited to the party had fun.

He turned and walked down that path instead.

That was the path that was headed straight for the main kitchen where Madam Gan was.

---

As Song Caitang said so herself, if she followed a path strictly, she wouldn’t get lost.

She found Qi Yan without problem and told him what her plans were. They split up – he would keep watch on Madam Gan, while she would find a good spot where she could watch and wait for Niu Baoshan to approach.

When she spotted the man coming, she started signaling to Qi Yan with her hands.

200 steps…

100 steps…

50 steps…

Qi Yan had to do his best to distress Madam Gan as much as possible in this short time. The closer she was to a meltdown, the better. Madam Gan on the verge of a breakdown paired with the furious Niu Baoshan was definitely going to create some sort of explosion!

30 steps…

20 steps…

10 steps…

5 steps…

Song Caitang gave a mighty wave of her hand…

NOW!

Qi Yan’s timing was perfect. The instant Song Caitang waved her hand, Madam Gan got pushed out of the kitchen.

She had suffered so much in the kitchen and nobody came to her rescue, so she was feeling very down and kept praying that the heavens would send a good person to help her. And just when she had reached the brink of despair, someone had pushed her out, and she spotted someone coming from afar.

It was hard to see who it was through the trees and bushes, but that was a man’s robe for sure!

A man was coming her way!

Hope instantly welled up in Madam Gan’s heart. Salvation was near!

She got really excited and almost felt blessed!

But when she finally got to see the man’s face, the expression on her face instantly froze. She couldn’t even maintain her usual teary-eyed expression. Her emotions had gone through an overly dramatic upheaval and she nearly fainted on the spot.

Niu Baoshan…

The man coming her way was Niu Baoshan!

Why did it have to be him?!

After his run in with Gan Zhixuan and overhearing what the maids had been talking about earlier, Niu Baoshan was in a rage. He pointed a finger at Madam Gan and yelled, “YOU! Were you the one who killed my son? You’d better come clean!”

His gaze was as piercing as a knife, more sinister and frosty than it had ever been. It seemed able to literally slice her to pieces.

Madam Gan was already about to go through a nervous breakdown and Niu Baoshan’s expression was so terrifying, it felt like a huge mountain weighing down on her heart. Before she could even think about what she was saying, she blurted out, “NO! Niu Xingzu wasn’t poisoned by me!”