Chapter 106 The Qi-Liang Boundary (18) Daoist Fan Yi. ...
As expected, Jiuli waited in the room for a while until it was broad daylight. Zhang Da came from home and, seeing her sitting in the room, exclaimed in surprise, "Why did you come so early?"
Jiuli said she hadn't slept well because of the rain, so she decided to come early and bring some tea for Yuqi. Zhang Dawen said, with a shameless grin, "Then brew me a bowl of your good tea too, don't be stingy."
Just as Jiuli was about to make excuses, he overheard Yuqi and Zhao Liang talking as they came from the inner hall. Soon after, everyone left the yamen together. Zhao Liang took his leave, and Jiuli, Zhang Da, and Yuqi headed straight for the Qi family.
On the way, Jiuli squeezed past Yu Qi and whispered, "What important thing are you and Uncle Zhao discussing?"
Yu Qi glanced at her sideways and said, "Don't ask too many questions."
She glared back at me. "I know everything about my mother. What else do you have to hide from me?"
"What's wrong with you? Why are you so curious?" He sighed and walked away alone.
Jiuli walked angrily to the front of the Qi residence. Coincidentally, Du Zhong also arrived. When she saw him, she immediately felt uneasy. She was afraid that he would ask about her not returning home last night. Wouldn't she have to tell Zhang Da in front of her? She was afraid she wouldn't be able to cover up her lie.
But he didn't ask. After waiting for a while, Jiuli hesitated and pulled him behind the others. "I didn't have a home to go to last night. Did Aunt Qing ask me?"
Du Zhong said nonchalantly, "I asked, and I told you it was raining heavily and difficult to travel, so you must have stayed overnight at the yamen. Isn't that right? Where else could you be running around in the pouring rain?"
Seeing the complete calm on his face, Jiu Li Lai felt her own guiltyness was unnecessary. She quickly smiled and waved her hand, "Of course not, where else could I go in the middle of the night?"
Du Zhong chuckled, "Didn't you and Qi Xubai run off to a deserted inn in the middle of the night last time?"
Jiuli raised her arm and gave him a hard nudge. "Say it again! Is it any kind of honor to keep bringing this up?"
"You knew it was dishonorable, yet you still did it?"
For some reason, Jiuli felt guilty under his cold, mocking gaze, so she turned and walked ahead, saying she was going to the backyard to pay her respects to Sirou.
The three ignored him and went straight to Xu Bai's study, where they found Xu Bai already waiting inside, asking Chai Fang which of the servants in his household had a grudge against Chen Zifang.
Chai Fang recounted each story one by one: which servant had argued with him while gambling, which servant had borrowed a few taels of silver from him and hadn't paid it back, which maidservant had shoved him, and which maid had been harassed by him—
"Anyway, he's a man of questionable character, prone to shirking his duties, and has had many arguments. However, because he's in charge of purchasing miscellaneous items for the general administration, so—"
Yu Qi, holding his handcuffs, walked over and sat down next to Xu Bai. Knowing that he couldn't speak directly in front of Xu Bai, he spoke up for him, saying, "So he often uses trivial things from the government office to do favors, and people don't really hold it against him, is that right?"
Chai Fang was embarrassed, and Xu Bai didn't bother to argue about it. He thought that the trivial matters of money were nothing to worry about, and might not lead to murder. But the entanglement with the servants was another matter entirely. The word "wicked" was always the easiest way to cause death.
He asked, "Which of the servants were pulling at him?"
Chai Fang suddenly said, "There are two or three of these women, but they are just joking around with him and don't take it seriously. There is only one Zhou, I heard that she and Chen Zifang have some shady dealings behind the scenes. I don't know if it's true or not, but her husband works in our household. I'm afraid he heard about it and he might hold a grudge."
"What's the name of the man in the Zhou family, and what's his job?"
"His name is Tan Chu Shi. He's in charge of delivering messages and things at the door."
Xu Bai remembered that there was such a person, who was also in his thirties and was fat. Xu Bai then said, "Go and call him here."
Chai Fang left as instructed. Zhang Da smiled as he watched his retreating figure, thinking to himself that even if he summoned these people to question them, he wouldn't get any useful clues. He still suspected that the case was the work of Man Bao.
He then said, “Lord Qi, the servants in your household have been working here for more than ten years. They must all have some personal relationships. Even if they really have some issues with Chen Zifang, I’m afraid they will cover for each other and I won’t be able to get the truth out of them. So yesterday I thought I should ask them but I didn’t. It’s better to ask some important people.”
The word "important" struck a chord with Xu Bai. Ever since his mother inexplicably came to his room last night and said those words, he had felt suspicious. Although he had asked Xiao Yan about Enoki's whereabouts that day, it was precisely because of Zhang Da's words that he felt he hadn't been able to get a complete answer. In this household, servants and masters were one, and servants and servants were another. They had all been together for many years and had formed deep bonds, so their testimonies couldn't be taken too seriously.
Therefore, the more he wanted to question people, the more likely he was to find other, more suspicious individuals, thus reducing the possibility of Enoki being implicated.
Lost in thought, he didn't respond to Zhang Da's words. Yu Qi glanced at his preoccupied profile, then turned to Zhang Da with a smile, "You can't say that. You should ask whether you can get the answer or not. It's the usual practice. That's how we found out about Tan Chu Shi."
As they were talking, Chai Fang brought Tan Chushi over and asked him about Chen Zifang and his wife Zhou. At first, Tan Chushi lowered his head and remained silent for a while, but after a while, he raised his head and patted his chest, saying, "I killed him! That fool who didn't know his own mortality dared to steal someone from me. I should have killed him a long time ago!"
Chai Fangquran walked up to him and gave him a push, "Speak properly! Second Master is still here!"
Tan Chushi glanced at Xu Bai, sniffed, tilted her head, and said the same thing, only in a much lower voice, "I killed him. I've been angry with him for a long time."
This made Yu Qi laugh. "So what did you use to kill him?"
He knew perfectly well that Chen Zifang had been killed by a blunt object, yet he insisted, "With a kitchen knife!"
Yu Qi smiled silently and remained silent. Zhang Da, annoyed, stood up and tugged at him, "I'll ask you one more time, did you kill him? Let me tell you, lying will get you punished!"
Tan Chushi didn't dare to utter another word. Chai Fang then understood. It turned out that everyone knew that Zhou Shi and Chen Zifang were not very proper and had always been ridiculed and mocked by them. Now that they were asking him questions, he deliberately acted as if he had no regard for the law, so that people would not think he was a coward. However, he was also afraid of being taken away as a murderer, so he deliberately gave irrelevant answers.
Chai Fang was so angry he couldn't help but laugh. He kicked him and said, "Don't talk nonsense again!"
As usual, Zhang Da asked him about his movements on the night of the 12th. He had no choice but to honestly say that he was at home, and that his neighbors could testify to this.
Zhang Da glared at him a few times, sent him away, and turned back, smiling and shaking his head at the same time.
Xu Bai felt disheartened and pondered for a moment: if he couldn't find any suspects among these servants, he would still have to investigate the Qi family's master. If he really found out about Enoki, what should he do?
Yu Qi secretly observed him for a moment, then suddenly heard the ritual being performed again. He stood up abruptly and said, "Let's go to the Four Seasons Pavilion and see what's going on."
So the group left the study and headed towards the southwest corner. Yu Qi, with his sharp eyes, spotted a green shadow moving behind a clump of brambles in the distance, and remembered Jiu Li's green dress. Looking around, he saw a woman not far from the brambles heading towards the second gate, who looked like Man Bao. Yu Qi deliberately lagged behind, and when the others weren't paying attention, he slipped through the lush green shade and disappeared.
Jiuli was startled when someone lightly tapped her shoulder. She turned around abruptly and saw it was Yu Qi. She glared at him angrily, "You scared me to death!"
What are you hiding here watching?
"I was originally there with my grandmother and a group of people watching the ritual, but my grandmother left halfway through, and Master Fanyi also disappeared. So I followed my grandmother to take a look." Jiuli peeked out and saw that Manbao had already disappeared. She then pulled Yuqi and followed him down the road.
At this moment, most of the servants in the Qi household were watching a religious ceremony, and there was no one around, making it a perfect time for a secret rendezvous. Jiu Li pulled Yu Qi along for a short distance before spotting Man Bao again. She cautiously glanced around before slipping into a room with its doors and windows tightly closed.
Jiuli tugged at Yu Qi's sleeve as they walked, whispering, "Look, there are many empty rooms in the Qi residence, so this must be an empty room too. Could it be that they're secretly meeting here while everyone's watching the commotion? That stinky Taoist priest knows how to take advantage of loopholes. He can make a scene by having his disciples bang drums and gongs and send everyone over there so he can avoid being seen."
Seeing her walking ahead with her back hunched over, Yu Qi couldn't help but laugh. He pulled her to straighten up and said, "There's no one around, so why are you sneaking around like that? Go around to the back corridor."
The two walked to the back corridor, their voices lowering considerably, "Where has Qi Xuyun been this morning?"
"I heard he went to the yamen after breakfast." Jiuli waved to him from under the window, but he refused to come down and just stood by the window. She rolled her eyes. What kind of time is this to be concerned about appearances?
The two peered through the gauze window and saw two figures vaguely facing each other. Manbao seemed to be handing something to the Taoist priest, saying, "Just this once, I won't have any more next time."
Fan Yi chuckled, causing his plump body to sway slightly. "I know, Grandma, don't worry. I won't come looking for you again. After the ceremony, when you come to Baiyun Temple, we'll act the same as before. You'll be your dutiful grandma, and I'll be my dutiful Taoist priest."
Does this mean they're going to end their relationship?
Jiuli's legs went numb from fidgeting in and out of a squatting position. She glanced at Yu Qi, then slipped over to his side and peered over his shoulder.
Manbao said, "I hope you keep your word. I can instruct you not to let a single word out of anyone."
"You can rest assured about that. If I wanted to leak this to others, I wouldn't have come to you. I would have gone to find the right person myself."
"Okay, I'll go out first. You can come out later so no one sees you."
Fan Yi laughed and said, "Grandma is too cautious. You care about appearances, but others don't. You're just too considerate."
Manbao sneered and went out through the front door. A while later, the Taoist priest also went out through the front door.
Jiuli and Yuqi walked out of the corridor and slowly headed towards the Four Seasons Pavilion. Jiuli was puzzled the whole way, and said with both hands clenched together, "Judging from their tone, they don't seem to be having an affair. How could a man and woman in love talk like that? They're not gentle at all."
Yu Qi looked down and realized that she wasn't pinching her fingers, but rather plucking a bright red flower, staining her fingertips with its vibrant juice. He suddenly felt dizzy, stopped, took out a handkerchief, grabbed her hand, shook it to knock the flower to the ground, and wiped her hand.
She gave an awkward smile. "What do you think Grandma gave him? Something that looks like paper, could it be a banknote?"
Yu Qi frowned and said, "If it's precious paper money, that Taoist priest will definitely be eager to redeem it. Let's see if he leaves the mansion this afternoon. If he does, have Zhang Da follow him."
-----------------------Author's Note: Thank you for reading.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
