That's all for Chapter 15?
Xiao Yunzhan sat behind his desk, his fingertips pressing against a scroll of secret reports that had just been delivered by his bodyguards, his brows furrowed slightly.
"Your Highness," came the deep, steady voice of Li Rong, the personal guard, from outside the door, "I have important matters to report."
"Enter."
Li Rong pushed open the door and entered silently: "Your Highness, the people who were supposed to meet Qinghe have sent a message."
Xiao Yunzhan took the note and unfolded it, his gaze sweeping over the brief report on the paper: Qinghe will arrive in the capital at Chenshi (7-9 AM) tomorrow.
"Understood." He nodded slightly. "Give the order to be cautious along the way and not make any mistakes."
"Yes." Li Rong responded, stepping back half a step to reveal a guard behind him holding a piece of cloth.
The guard stepped forward and gently placed several bolts of silk on the table, saying respectfully, "Your Highness, these are the fabrics that Lady Pei ordered me to bring back."
Lady Pei said that she thought these fabrics suited His Highness very well, so she selected several bolts; there was absolutely no reason for her to take the prince's fabric back to her own residence.
Xiao Yunzhan's gaze fell on the piece of moon-white soft silk among them.
The scene at Jinxiu Manor during the day suddenly flashed before his eyes—Pei Zhiwei lightly draped the fabric over his shoulders, the smooth silk brushing against his clothes, feeling slightly cool.
He was silent for a moment, then suddenly looked up: "Is that all?"
The guard was taken aback, and subconsciously replied, "Yes, Madam Pei only instructed that the fabric be returned, and there were no other items."
Xiao Yunzhan's eyebrows twitched slightly, and a faint emotion seemed to flash across his eyes, too fleeting to catch.
He stared at the pieces of fabric for a moment before slowly saying, "In that case, take them and have a few sets of everyday clothes made."
"Yes." The guard was slightly surprised. The prince's clothes were always provided by the palace. His Majesty doted on him and sent him food, clothing and other necessities in a continuous stream. There were so many clothes in the storeroom that he couldn't keep up with wearing them.
Besides, the prince has never cared much about these things, but today he specially wanted to make everyday clothes from the fabric chosen by Lady Pei.
But he didn't dare ask any more questions, so he quickly agreed and took the cloth to leave.
"Wait a minute." Xiao Yunzhan suddenly called out to him, his tone becoming more serious. "Go to the Pei residence again and inform Pei Shaoqing that tomorrow at 9:00 AM, he should bring Madam Pei to Zuixianlou to question Qinghe together."
"Understood, I will take care of it immediately." The guard bowed and withdrew, and the study returned to silence.
Xiao Yunzhan picked up the dossier again, his fingertip lightly tapping the four characters "Jiangnan Canal Official," the light in his eyes gradually dimming.
By 9:00 AM the next day, the crowds on East Street had already begun to stir. In the private room of "Tingsong Pavilion" at Zuixianlou Restaurant, the window was half-open, and the sounds of vendors calling out from downstairs drifted in on the breeze, adding a touch of lively atmosphere.
"Your Highness." Pei Lin bowed respectfully, and Pei Zhiwei followed suit, curtsying as well.
"Sit down." Xiao Yunzhan gestured for the two to sit down, and casually pushed the files on the table over to them. "Take a look. Yesterday, the secret guards found out who left fake footprints."
Pei Lin took the file, and Pei Zhiwei leaned over to look at it together.
The handwriting on the paper was neat and clear: "Luo Sheng, a native of Runzhou, was a canal official under the Jiangnan Canal Transport Office."
In the past three years, he has frequently traveled to Beijing due to the scheduling of grain transport. Each time he came with a grain transport boat, he would stay for three to five days before leaving.
This time, they arrived in the capital on the grain transport ship before dawn, and didn't disembark and enter the city until late morning.
Pei Lin frowned slightly, his fingertip pausing on the words "Cao Li" (漕吏).
“Exactly.” Xiao Yunzhan picked up the warmed yellow wine and took a small sip.
"Qin Liang delivered a message yesterday, saying that he has been secretly investigating corruption in the canal transport system for more than half a year."
He suspected that his actions had been too conspicuous and had been exposed, and that the group had killed Qin Chaochao to warn him and force him to stop.
He changed the subject, pointing his finger at the words "arrived in the capital at Chenshi" on the file.
"Although Luo Sheng's footprints match the fake footprints in Zhang Yanzhi's attack case, they don't match the footprints in Qin Chaochao's case."
Qin Chaochao's incident occurred before 3 AM, and Luo Sheng only arrived in the capital at 5 AM, so there was simply not enough time.
Moreover, although he frequently traveled to the capital over the past three years, it was mostly for official business related to the canal transport, at most involving the handling of some smuggled jewelry; there was nothing else unusual, and he never had any involvement with the Qin family.
Pei Lin nodded and continued, "So Your Highness intends to play the long game, keeping an eye on Luo Sheng to see who's behind him and what they're planning next?"
“Not bad.” A sharp glint flashed in Xiao Yunzhan’s eyes.
"Luo Sheng is just a nobody. His assassination attempt on Zhang Yanzhi must have been at someone's behest."
If we arrest him now, we might alert him and end up finding nothing.
"It would be better to send someone to keep an eye on him and see who he contacts, so we can find out more about these people."
Pei Lin agreed: "Your Highness has considered everything carefully. The Grand Canal involves too many issues, so we really cannot act rashly."
As the two were talking, Zhou Ping's voice came from outside the door: "Your Highness, Lord Pei, Qinghe has arrived."
"Let her in." Xiao Yunzhan put down his wine glass, his tone becoming more serious.
The door was pushed open, and a woman dressed in a coarse cloth ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) walked in.
She was about eighteen or nineteen years old, her hair was tied up with only a wooden hairpin, she was clutching an old cloth bag in her hand, and her steps were trembling, clearly she was very nervous.
"This humble woman, Qinghe, greets Your Highness and Your Excellency." Qinghe bowed deeply, her head bowed low, not daring to look up at anyone.
"Sit down." Pei Lin's voice softened, deliberately lowering his tone to try and help her relax.
"I've called you here today to ask about your wife, Wang Yulan. Tell me whatever you know, there's no need to be nervous."
Qinghe sat down as instructed, her knees still pressed tightly against the cloth bag, her hands clenched tightly.
"My wife... can never tolerate a speck of dust in her eyes. She loves openly and honestly, and hates openly and frankly."
How could a heartless man like Su Wenqing deserve her to take her own life? She would never hang herself for him! As she said this, there was a hint of hatred in her eyes, but her tone was exceptionally firm.
Pei Zhiwei said gently, "Take your time, there's no rush."
"Last March, there was a temple fair at the Yue Lao Temple, where there was an activity of reciting poems to the moon. Su Wenqing saw that my wife was very talented, so he went up to talk to her, and that's when the two of them met."
Qinghe gradually calmed down, but her eyes slowly reddened.
"At that time, my wife's whole heart was devoted to Su Wenqing."
She told me privately that although Su Langjun came from a poor family, he was an upright and talented man, and the one she was willing to entrust her life to.
Later, the Wang family wanted to marry her off to the heir of the Marquis of Ding'an. The lady went to Su Wenqing crying, saying she wanted to go with him, but Su Wenqing… dared not.
“My wife spent those days weeping all day, unable to eat or drink, and unable to sleep at night.” Qinghe raised her hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes.
Once, I accompanied her to the Temple of the Old Man Under the Moon to offer incense. The temple keeper saw that she was crying pitifully and asked if something was on her mind.
The woman told Su Wenqing the truth about her affair. The temple keeper sighed and said that if Su Wenqing was willing, he could help them go far away to live in a place where no one knew them.
"But in the end, he still didn't dare!" At this point, Qinghe's voice suddenly rose, and she could no longer hide her hatred.
"The lady went to his residence to find him and told him what the temple keeper had said, but he still said 'wait a little longer,' and 'I will propose marriage after I pass the imperial examination.'"
The woman knew in her heart that he was afraid—afraid of the Wang family's repercussions, afraid of ruining his future.
"That day, after returning from Su Wenqing's place, my wife locked herself in her room and cried all night." Qinghe's tears fell again.
"The next morning, she told me with red eyes that she had completely given up on Su Wenqing."
She said, "Since he doesn't dare, I won't force him. From now on, I'll just settle down and marry into the Marquis of Ding'an's household and live a good life."
Later, she even arranged to meet with Su Wenqing to end things with him in person.
"After that, my wife really started preparing for her wedding," Qinghe continued, her tone filled with heartache.
She personally went to the fabric shop to select fabrics and to the jewelry store to choose jewelry.
Once, at the Temple of the Old Man Under the Moon, she specifically asked for a talisman to bless her marriage—people in Beijing say that the talismans from the Temple of the Old Man Under the Moon are the most effective, and those who have asked for them all have happy marriages.
Pei Zhiwei put down her pen and looked at Xiao Yunzhan and Pei Lin. The three of them exchanged glances. Wang Yulan's situation was exactly the same as Qin Chaochao's: first she refused the marriage, then she prepared for the wedding with peace of mind, but in the end she suddenly "hanged herself".
"After your wife 'gave up' on her mind, did she do anything unusual? For example, did she see any strangers or receive any strange things?" Pei Lin pressed, his tone tinged with urgency.
Qinghe thought carefully for a moment and shook her head: "No. During the time when my wife was preparing for her wedding, apart from going to the cloth shop and jewelry store, she stayed in her room doing needlework. She didn't even attend any banquets invited by other families."
"Did your wife say anything special before she 'hanged herself'?" Pei Zhiwei asked, her gaze falling on Qinghe's face, observing her expression.
Qinghe frowned, trying hard to recall: "No... The night before the incident, she washed up and went to bed early, as usual. The next morning when I went to wake her, I found..."
At this point, she could no longer hold back and covered her face with her hands, bursting into tears.
"My wife had clearly given up hope, and she had even started looking forward to married life. Why would she suddenly hang herself?"
Everyone says she couldn't think straight because of Su Wenqing, but I still don't believe it.
How could someone as passionate and decisive as her go down this path for Su Wenqing…?
Xiao Yunzhan was silent for a moment, then said to Zhou Ping, "Take Qinghe next door first and have her write down all of Wang Niangzi's movements from refusing the marriage to the incident."
Arrange a place for her to rest, and don't let her leave Beijing in the coming days. If you have any other questions later, you'll need to contact her.
Zhou Ping agreed and helped the still sobbing Qinghe away. The private room quieted down, and the noise outside seemed to fade into the distance.
“Although the painted screen hasn’t arrived yet, judging from this, these cases are indeed targeting women who initially refuse marriage but then prepare for it with peace of mind,” Pei Lin sighed.
“Wang Yulan even went to the Temple of the Old Man Under the Moon to ask for a talisman, hoping for a smooth marriage. This shows that she really wanted to live a good life and it is impossible for her to suddenly hang herself.”
Pei Zhiwei nodded, tapping her fingertips lightly on the table, lost in thought: "And in each case, there is a 'sweetheart'."
Su Wenqing, Lin Mo'an, and those rumored "sweethearts" in Qin Chaochao's case.
Could this be the reason the killer chose them?
Do you think that even if they die after their hearts have died, they will still be seen as "troubled by love"?
She looked down at the notes in her hand, then suddenly looked up: "And the Temple of the Old Man Under the Moon. Wang Yulan went there to ask for a talisman, could Qin Chaochao have gone there too?"
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