Chapter 33 Double Confusion (Thirteen) Quickly put on your clothes.

“But what reason does Cai Jin have to kill Guan Zhan? He and Guan Zhan have never had any grudges.” Zhang Da put his arm on the octagonal table and buried himself in thought.

Yu Qi, however, was still thinking about Cai Jin's expression when he came out, wondering why he looked so resolute. He then asked Zhang Da, "Who are the members of Cai Jin's family?"

"Cai Jin's parents are both alive, but they are old and have no income. He also has a widowed sister-in-law with four children. His elder brother was also a constable, but he died in the line of duty six years ago. Now his whole family depends on him for support."

"He died in the line of duty, why wasn't he awarded any honors by the imperial court?"

“According to custom, there is a funeral allowance of sixty taels of silver. However,” Zhang Da smiled bitterly, “that is what they say. Every year, the number of people reported by each prefecture is distributed by the imperial court. From the capital to Nanjing, by the time it reaches us, we’re lucky if we can still get half of it.”

Based on this calculation, a family of seven or eight people, who need to eat and drink as soon as they open their eyes, would only have thirty or forty taels of silver enough for half a year's expenses. A minor constable like Cai Jin, whose monthly salary was only a little over two taels of silver, would have to be very frugal to make ends meet, even if he ate coarse food.

If Guan Youjun had secretly supported him all these years, and given her refined and elegant beauty, even a man would be tempted to fall for her. In other words, Guan Youjun's ability to make a man kill for her and willingly take the blame for her is truly remarkable.

If it is just as he expected, as long as Cai Jin takes all the blame upon himself, there is really no way to punish Guan Youjun.

After Zhang Da finished explaining the situation in Cai Jin's family, he seemed to understand something. "According to you, sir, Cai Jin might have killed for someone else for money? But who would want Guan Zhan's life? Could it be one of Guan's uncles or elders?"

He said to himself, "Yes, yes, Guan Zhan is Master Guan's only son. Logically, he should inherit the Guan family business. If he dies, the relatives will naturally benefit."

Yu Qi turned his head and smiled, "Why don't you include Guan Youjun among those who can inherit the Guan family business?"

"Hey, she's still a girl after all. Even if she never marries, doing business isn't a path a woman should take. Back then, it was just a matter of expediency. Guan Zhan was still young and couldn't manage a business at all, so she had no choice but to bite the bullet and take over."

"Yes, now that Guan Zhan has grown up, it's only natural that the business should be handed over to his brothers. Everyone thinks that way, including Mrs. Guan, right?"

“This is not a matter of course. Besides, shouldn’t a young lady enjoy her retirement? It’s a man’s job to rack his brains to do business.” Zhang Da put his arm on the table, his leg shaking as he finished speaking, then suddenly stopped. “Sir, are you saying that the real mastermind is Guan Youjun?”

Yu Qi stood up with a smile, "Who would be willing to let power slip away? In fact, when it comes to fame and fortune, men and women are the same."

After speaking, he took out a broken ingot and placed it on the table, calling the waiter to settle the accounts. He then twisted his hands behind his back and turned to face the Guan family's gate. The gate was half-lit by the setting sun, making the inside seem rather dark. Presumably, the banquet was about to begin, and the flow of people was bustling. There were either shrewd-looking gentlemen or pot-bellied rich men. They would come and go, bumping into each other, bowing and exchanging pleasantries with half-sincere smiles. The Guan family had turned this funeral into a social gathering for businessmen.

As dusk fell, the two returned to the Lychee Garden, where they happened to meet Xu Bai and Du Zhong riding a long way from afar, with a carriage following beside them. Jiu Li must be inside the carriage.

Yu Qi stopped at the gate and looked at Du Zhongyang sitting crookedly on his horse, looking like a noble young master. He couldn't help but want to laugh. Just like when he looked at Jiu Li, he had always thought of Du Zhongyang as just a child. But now, looking at him from a distance, Du Zhongyang's height and stature were the same as Xu Bai's, which seemed out of place to him.

Upon seeing him, Du Zhong quickly dismounted and asked, "Master, Brother Zhang, where have you been coming from?"

Yu Qi nodded, his eyes fixed on the brocade curtain of the carriage.

Zhang Da said, "We went to the Guan family's house."

As Jiuli listened in the car, a hint of displeasure rose in her heart. Hadn't she gone to the Guan family a long time ago? Why was she only returning now? Had she been sitting at the Guan family's house for a whole day?

She pouted, lifted the curtain, and got out of the carriage, only to find that Yu Qi was also displeased when he saw her. "What are you wearing? It's indecent!"

"It's just Xu Bai's outer cloak," she pouted, glancing at the back of her shoulder. "My clothes on the back are torn, so Xu Bai lent me his outer cloak to wrap myself in. What, you can't wear it? Then I'll take it off."

Unfortunately, Yu Qi wasn't wearing an outer cloak today; he was dressed entirely in a green gauze robe with a white base and a round neck. He couldn't take it off, so he could only cough and soften his tone slightly, "How did your clothes get torn?"

"It was all to catch the murderer. Wan San knocked me over and tried to run away, but luckily I was quick-witted and grabbed his trouser leg! He dragged me forward a few steps, and look, my back scraped raw on the ground." She became more and more excited as she spoke, with a rather impressive air about her. "But it's nothing serious, I've applied some medicine."

Yu Qi was already displeased to hear that she was injured, and when she said she had applied medicine, he became even angrier. Out in public, surrounded by men, who could have applied the medicine for her? Even if it was Eucommia ulmoides, it shouldn't have happened.

However, he was more worried than anything else. He frowned and glanced at her back. "Are you alright?"

"It's nothing serious, just a scrape. I bought some ointment for external injuries on the street, but it smelled terrible. You smell it, your 'sore ointment' smells much better and works better. I'm going to go back and take a shower and apply the ointment."

"Don't you know that you shouldn't get wounds wet?"

Even so, Yu Qi knew that she was a clean person and that she might not be able to sleep all night if he didn't let her wash. He was also afraid that the other women would hurt her with their rough hands. Therefore, he secretly told Zhang Da to let Rouge come over, and then went back to his room and asked Du Zhong to go to the kitchen to fetch some hot water.

The sky was dim and the lamp was lit on the kang table. Jiuli sat cross-legged on the couch, took off Xu Bai's cloak, turned around, and sure enough, the back of his clothes was torn in some places, with large patches of ointment mixed with bloodstains, making it look like a serious injury, a bloody mess. He couldn't help but gasp, and a knot formed between his brows.

He sat on the round stool in front of the couch. She turned to look at him and chuckled, "That's just medicine. It looks scary, but I'll take off my clothes and show you if you don't believe me." As she spoke, she bent down and started to pull at the sash of her clothes.

He shouldn't have been reluctant to seek medical help. In the past, when treating women, he had seen both things he should and shouldn't have seen. But at this moment, his heart skipped a beat, and he, as a doctor, became hesitant and pressed her hand down.

Jiuli, unaware of what was going on, turned her face to him and noticed that his neck seemed a little red. She wondered if he was angry because he saw her injury or if there was another reason.

Aren't you going to look?

He turned her head around and, with a tearing sound, ripped open her clothes along the tear, revealing her entire back.

The injuries were mostly on both shoulder blades. He took the handkerchief from her hand, wiped away the excess medicine, and saw that the injuries were indeed not deep. However, his expression did not improve, and his tone remained stern. "Catching criminals, huh, you're getting more and more capable. Are the people in the yamen dead? Do you need to play the hero?"

"I just happened to be standing in front of him. If I saw someone running towards me, should I just run away instead of stopping him?"

She sat cross-legged by the window, tilting her face slightly upward. She saw the moon rise, a hazy white shadow, its edges softened, like a lovely cotton ball. Her upper body swayed slightly, a little itchy from his rubbing, occasionally letting out a soft "hee-hee" and shrinking her shoulders. The candle flame flickered twice, like a mischievous sprite winking in the night.

She moved her shoulder blades as if a butterfly was about to spread its wings, but no wings actually unfolded. Instead, two pale purple ribbons extended from the front of her bones and tied in a knot at her lower back.

When he saw the knot, an impulse surged up from below, wanting to tear it open. He imagined what she would look like if the cloth covering her body fell down, her face filled with fear as she covered her chest and turned around, her eyes showing both shyness and weakness.

He was immediately startled and quickly looked away, throwing the handkerchief on the couch. His voice was dry and hoarse as he said, "Alright, quickly put on your clothes, be careful not to catch a cold."

Jiuli noticed something odd about his voice, and she herself felt a little strange. However, in the past, when the maids in her household fell and injured themselves, they would also undress for him to examine them. It seemed perfectly natural for a doctor to examine anyone, regardless of age or gender, and no one would gossip about it. So, even though she felt a little embarrassed, she had to pretend not to be. Despite her own slightly secretive feelings, she had to feign composure and openness.

She turned to look at him casually, "Is that all?"

Yu Qi suddenly couldn't look her in the eye, so he stood up and said, "When Miss Rouge comes later, I'll ask her to wash and apply the medicine for you again."

As soon as she put on her top, he immediately opened the door, fearing that in this secret space, there was a sense of impending doom for both her and himself. A night breeze blew in after the door opened, thankfully dissipating the sweltering heat of the room.

Jiuli finished tying her belt, turned around and sat down. "So, you're letting Rouge go? Does that mean you've found the real culprit who killed Guan Zhan?"

He stood in front of the door, looked down, and chuckled. "If I'm not mistaken, the real culprit will come forward on his own in a couple of days."

She detected a slight melancholy in his voice and tentatively asked, "Did you discover something at the Guan family's house today?"

He remained silent for a moment, then turned his head and shook his head. "It's not good to make statements without evidence."

He was only speculating and guessing at this, and Jiuli was about to ask further when Du Zhong returned with a pot of hot water. Just as he poured the water, Rouge arrived. Yu Qi thanked Rouge a couple of times and then took Du Zhong to the east of the garden.

Xu Bai and Zhang Da had been waiting outside the morgue with lanterns for a while. When they saw the two of them coming, Xu Bai took two steps to greet them in the corridor. He wanted to ask about Yu Qijiu's injury, but seeing that he looked unwell, he didn't dare to ask. Instead, he quietly asked Du Zhong.

Yu Qi entered the room and heard the two of them still whispering outside the door. He stretched out a hand to the side, his voice cold, "The murder weapon."

Zhang Da hurriedly presented a six- or seven-inch-long boning knife with a curved blade that was only three or four inches long.

Xu Bai personally held up a lamp to illuminate his path, saying, "This was found at Wan San's house."

Yu Qi raised his head and glanced at him, then went around to the other side of the corpse, compared it for a while, straightened up and said, "That's right, it's this knife."

Xu Bai immediately smiled with relief, "Then there's no mistake, it must be Wan San who killed Lin Mo."

"Is Lord Qi so certain?"

"Wan San confessed to the murder today, and it matches your examination perfectly, even the murder weapon matches. How can there be any mistake?"

Yu Qi turned around and handed the boning knife to Zhang Da, then took out a handkerchief to wipe his hands. "I heard about it from Yu'er, but there's something I still don't understand."

"What?"

"According to Wan San, he was going to come to the garden to play tricks that day, and he was afraid that something might happen, so he casually put a meat cleaver from home on his person before leaving. But I heard Yu'er and Zhong'er say that Wan San's place is a tenement, where each family rents a house and shares a kitchen. Presumably, the knives in the kitchen are also shared. Have you asked the people living in that courtyard about this knife?"

Xu Bai handed the lamp to Zhang Da to hold, and chuckled with a hint of disdain, "Is there even a question? Who would find a knife to frame themselves?"

“If we don’t verify this evidence, what if he recants in the future? Wouldn’t it be troublesome to verify it again then?” Yu Qi turned around, his smile deep. “I just think there’s something illogical about this. He said he carried a knife for self-defense. What for? Everyone knows there are guards in the lychee garden. Would he be afraid of encountering robbers in the garden?”

Upon reflection, Xu Bai realized something was amiss.

"There's another point. He said at the yamen that he usually makes a living by either flattering people to get a few coins, or by extorting money from wealthy gentlemen with some unseemly gossip. He sometimes succeeds and sometimes fails, and when he fails, he often gets beaten up. Such a person, who only took a few punches and kicks from Lin Mo that night and was threatened and harassed by him, suddenly couldn't take it anymore. Isn't that a bit abnormal?"

"Even if he suddenly started talking about dignity, the reason he went into the garden that night was to spread rumors so that he could negotiate a lower price with Master Li. Since the matter was already half done, he might be able to earn a few hundred taels of silver later. For this hope of getting rich, he should have been able to hold back. Why did he suddenly lose his temper at this critical juncture?"

Zhang Da found this very reasonable and nodded repeatedly. However, when he noticed Xu Bai's somewhat embarrassed expression, he quickly stopped, not daring to utter a word of agreement.

Xu Bai was embarrassed for a moment, then smiled and nodded, "What you say makes a lot of sense, sir. I told you long ago that I am not good at investigating murder cases. It seems that asking you and Yu'er for help was the right thing to do. According to you, Wan San's confession is false, but how could he describe the process of the murder in such detail? And the knife he handed over is the murder weapon."

"What do you think?" Yu Qi smiled at him. "Lord Qi isn't that stupid. He wouldn't be so slow to figure it out. He's just too lazy to bother thinking about it."

Xu Bai immediately lowered his eyelids humbly, "Wan San either witnessed the entire murder or heard the murderer mention it. In any case, this knife shows that he knew the murderer. Otherwise, something so important would not have fallen into his hands."

Yu Qi turned to Zhang Da with that sarcastic smile again, "See? I told you Lord Qi wasn't stupid. How could a fool possibly be a study companion to King Zhao?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Bai's heart skipped a beat, and he smiled, "That was when I was a child."

“It’s all the same. People only get smarter as they grow up. There’s no such thing as getting dumber as you grow up—” he said, glancing at the butcher knife in Zhang Da’s hand, somewhat lost in thought.

There were already sparse chirping crickets in the night outside the door, giving a feeling of warm spring. If you were in the countryside at this time, you could catch crickets.

The nights in Nanjing are not as quiet as in the countryside. Occasionally, the sound of string and wind instruments can be heard, suggesting that some wealthy family is holding a banquet nearby. However, the sound seems to come from the heavens, and the direction is unclear, making it seem elusive.

“I would rather live here for the rest of my life,” Rouge said suddenly, putting down the ointment.

Clearly, she was commenting on Zhang Da's decision to let her out of the house. It was strange, considering how fiercely she had argued with Zhang Da that day, yet she couldn't blame him for wrongly accusing her. Jiu Li pulled up her clothes and turned to look at her from the bed.

Who is playing the flute? It sounds like a summoning banner. The woman, though looking lost, couldn't help but get up from the edge of the bed and slowly walk to the screen to look out. The moonlight outside the window was cold and desolate.

"It's only the second watch of the night, and the music should be lively right now." She smiled at the window, her expression one of utter desolation.

“My uncle went to the Guan family today.” Jiuli also came out. “The Guan family will be keeping the body in state for half a month. If the case can be closed in the next few days, you can still catch up with the young master Guan.”

"The case can be closed in the next few days?"

She nodded confidently, "Judging from my uncle's tone, it seems like it's almost done."

"Who killed him?"

"I don't know yet, maybe the truth will come out in a couple of days." Jiuli smiled and placed a lamp on the kang table, but did not sit down. She still stood side by side with her in front of the bed. "Sister Rouge, you really like him." It wasn't a question. "Only when you like someone will you shed tears for them. How could someone you don't like hurt your heart?"

Rouge brushed a stray strand of hair from her forehead, looked up and laughed, "And you, have you ever cried for anyone?"

“When I was little, I fought with Du Zhong and cried. I couldn’t beat him, and I was very sad.”

Rouge laughed out loud, turned around and sat down, half of herself was shrouded in darkness, and her expression became unusually warm, "Actually, don't be fooled by Guan Zhan's liking to mess around with women, half of it is an act."

Jiuli looked puzzled and sat down, leaning on the kang table. "What's the point of pretending? Everyone else pretends to be good, why is he pretending to be bad?"

“Yes, he had to pretend to be bad, to pretend to be useless.” Her eyes welled up with tears as she smiled tenderly. “He first told me that his mother was too biased, too good to him. His sister had worked so hard for the Guan family all these years, but his mother didn’t appreciate her intelligence and competence. Instead, she only remembered that his sister was a woman and couldn’t be relied on. In the past two years, she had been subtly and overtly urging his sister to hand over the Guan family business to him. He didn’t want to hurt his sister’s feelings, so he deliberately acted badly, thinking that as long as he was bad, the Guan family would have to rely on his sister.”

As she spoke, she placed a gold fish-shaped pendant tied with a red string on the table. "This is his thing. I stole it from him. Miss Yu, when will you go to the Guan family and return it to them for me?"

The pendant looked like half a piece, because the lotus flower held in the fish's mouth was only half a piece. Jiu Li was picking it up and holding it in his palm to examine it closely when he suddenly heard a knock on the door. Yu Qi pushed the door open and came in.

Rouge then took her leave, and Jiuli rose to see her off, leaning against the door as she watched her disappear into the darkness like smoke and mist. Perhaps the case will be closed in a couple of days, the people from Liyuan will be released, and they will be hard to find again from now on.

With a sense of loss, Jiuli slowly closed the door, walked back to the bed, and handed the fish pendant to Yu Qi. "Take this and return it to the Guan family. It belongs to Guan Zhan. You are more familiar with Miss Guan."

Yu Qi took it, squeezed it in his hand, put it in his pocket, and looked up at her, "Does your back still hurt?"

Jiuli shook her head listlessly, "It won't hurt anymore after applying the sore ointment." After saying that, she slowly walked into the screen and lay down on the bed.

He followed me in, one shoulder resting on the screen at the foot of the bed. "What's wrong? Are you a little unhappy?"

She glanced at him, then sat up, gripping the edge of the bed with both hands and looking down. "Tell me, isn't Guan Zhan's death somehow related to Miss Guan?"

Why do you think that?

"When have you ever spoken so much with a strange woman? If you're not suspicious of her, are you attracted to her beauty? You're not a lecherous man."

Yu Qi wanted to cheer her up, and it was rare for him to joke with her without any sense of propriety. "How do you know I'm not lustful? Every man is lustful."

He immediately regretted his words, realizing the joke had gone too far. Wanting to forget it as soon as possible, he casually walked to the opposite window, opened both windows, and tried to cool off the heat in his face.

Jiuli looked at his back with disdain. He was just talking to himself. If he was really a womanizer, how come he hadn't been seen being a womanizer all these years?

No, maybe he looks down on her, or maybe he's lustful and has a preference for women's temperaments. Could a mysterious woman like Guan Youjun be his type?

It's hard to say, even she herself couldn't help but feel curious and had different, complicated emotions about that kind of woman.

"So you're saying you only talked to Miss Guan because of her beauty?"

Yu Qi smiled helplessly, his back turned. "One minute you're asking about the case, the next you're asking about personal matters. What exactly do you want to know?"

"Can't cases and personal relationships be conflated?"

He nodded, turned around, and raised an eyebrow. "Like you and Qi Xubai?"

Jiuli rolled her eyes. "What, you don't agree?"

He couldn't object, nor could he express his approval, so he crossed his arms and changed the subject, saying, "I always feel that Qi Xubai is not simple. You should be careful when you associate with him."

“He’s an official, how can he be so easily dismissed?” She looked down at her toes, one of her embroidered shoes grinding hard on the footboard. “He came from a proper imperial examination background, he didn’t rely on his family to get an official position by chance. Such a person is already better than many people in the officialdom.”

Yu Qi was displeased, but it was rare to have a heart-to-heart talk in such a quiet night. He remembered that Bao Xianwei had specifically instructed him that when a girl of this age was willing to speak her mind to her elders without hiding anything, the elders should not rush to scold her, no matter whether she was right or wrong, otherwise she would not be willing to tell him anything, no matter how big the matter was in the future.

He could only cautiously probe, putting on a smile and pretending not to care, "So, you do have some admiration for him?"

Jiuli lowered her head and smiled secretly, "What does it feel like to be infatuated?"

"I just like it."

"Is liking someone just a feeling?" She tilted her head. "Have you ever liked anyone? Why don't you teach me?"

Yu Qi leaned his back against the window, trying his best to appear relaxed. "These things are something you'll learn on your own when the time comes; no one can teach you."

"So you said those things to Guan Youjun because you like her?"

He smiled and lowered his eyelids, "Half of it is because of the case, and the other half is because she looks a bit like an old friend of mine."

An old friend? This is the first time I've ever heard him mention an old friend in my life. I thought he never associated with anyone except his itinerant doctor master.

However, he definitely wouldn't tell if you pressed him for details. Jiu Li tapped her chin, her mind racing, going over and over all the possibilities, finally arriving at a very bold conclusion—

"I suspect my uncle used to like my mother."

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Author's note: Thank you for reading.

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