Chapter 111 The Qi-Liang Boundary (Twenty-Three) You are slandering my mother and my elder brother...
The three pondered for a moment. Jiu Li, resting her chin on her hand, turned her eyes to the window, watching the yamen runners coming and going, and slowly said, "If I were Chen Zifang, I definitely wouldn't try to extort Qi Xuyun. He's well-read and has seen all kinds of storms in officialdom. I might not be able to fool him and end up being subdued by him instead. The people in charge of the household are the Madam and the Second Concubine. They must have quite a bit of private money. If I were to extort money, I would definitely target the Second Concubine."
Yu Qi held a teacup to his lips, looked at her with a smile, and said, "You're right. Chen Zifang is still a servant. You have to think from his perspective. He just wants money and doesn't want to offend anyone. Asking Qi Xuyun for money is likely to get him nowhere and he might even end up in trouble. Women are timid and can't be easily intimidated. Of these two women, you should naturally target the one who did something wrong."
Zhang Da frowned. "But Fan Yi extorted money from Zhang Manbao."
"That's not surprising. As soon as Fan Yi arrived at the Qi residence, Second Madam stayed in the inner courtyard to take care of the ailing Madam Qi, rarely leaving the house. Zhang Manbao became their contact person. Since Fan Yi was able to contact Zhang Manbao, he naturally chose to blackmail her."
Jiuli couldn't help but chuckle softly, "Qi Xuyun has become someone who's detached from this."
Yu Qi put down his teacup and seemed to sigh, "Not necessarily."
All this discussion was just speculation. To prove that Fan Yi and Chen Zifang were indeed using this affair to extort money, clues or evidence needed to be found inside Baiyun Temple. Without hesitation, Zhang Da and Du Zhong volunteered to go to Baiyun Temple to investigate before it got too late.
Before he left, Yu Qi specifically instructed him, "Don't make a fuss about it."
After the two left, Jiuli poured herself a cup of tea. As she sipped the tea, she observed Yu Qi's expression. After a while, she finally couldn't help but ask, "You didn't tell Du Zhong and the others to make a fuss. Are you trying to save face for Qi Xuyun and Second Aunt?"
Yu Qi got up and walked behind the desk. "This is not something to be proud of. If they weren't the ones who committed the murder, why would they expose someone else's private affairs for no reason? Even Zhang Manbao is keeping it a secret for them."
Jiuli put down her teacup and turned around on the stool. "I'm bold and responsible. If it were me, I'd rather be known than be blackmailed."
"You might not think that way when spittle is raining down on you."
Jiuli lowered her head and calmed down to think carefully about the relationship between Enoki and Qi Xuyun. The two faces were always hidden in the darkness. Even if their eyes met unintentionally, they would immediately look away. Perhaps they thought they loved each other, but love is something that cannot be seen. In the eyes of others, they would only be seen as shameless adultery.
Xu Yun was probably scared, which is why he hid in the yamen all day long. He was driven homeless by two pairs of burning eyes.
She thought of herself and Yu Qi. Was he also feeling helpless right now? Would he also run away in the future?
"He's usually so eloquent, why is he suddenly silent?" Yu Qi suddenly looked up.
"Nothing to say." Jiuli smiled dejectedly, shuffling her toes on the ground while keeping her eyes fixed on it.
After a while, she noticed him approaching. She looked up, her eyes filled with grievance, and turned her face away.
"Are you unhappy again?" Yu Qi touched her face, but was afraid that someone would see if the window was open, so he only touched it lightly before letting go. He laughed and said, "See, you get so upset just thinking about it. What are you talking about? When will you ever grow up?"
Jiuli pouted, "Growing up means being able to endure being wronged, right?"
He just smiled, and when he saw a yamen runner passing by the window, he called out to him, "Could you please go to the street and buy me some pomegranates? They should be ready by now."
The constable hurriedly agreed and left. He turned around and saw that Jiu Li finally smiled.
"You love pomegranates the most."
Back in the countryside, when she ate pomegranates, Aunt Feng and her maid would peel them one by one into a bowl and scoop them out for her with a spoon. Now that there was no one around, Yu Qi had to do it herself, like picking pearls out of a seashell, picking them one by one into a clean teacup. She slowly picked them up and ate them. It was getting dark when Du Zhong and Zhang Da still hadn't returned, so he asked A Liu to take her home.
By the time they reached their doorstep, it was already pitch black. The shops were closed, the stars were shining, and the alley was bathed in silver light. Jiuli took the lantern, sent A-Liu back, and then wandered into the alley. When he reached the ceremonial gate, just as he was about to knock, he suddenly saw a figure emerge from beside the door.
She quickly lit the lantern and saw it was Xu Bai. Seeing that he looked a little dazed, she frowned. "Xu Bai, why are you here so late at night? Is something important?"
Xu Bai stammered, looking lost and dejected, "I want to show you something."
Jiuli nodded suspiciously, opened the door, instructed Xiuzhi to light a lamp in the main room, and led Xubai inside to sit by the round table, tilting his head to stare at his hand.
His hand slowly emerged from his cloak sleeves and placed a Duan inkstone, about the size of a brick, on the table. The inkstone's head was carved with simple cloud patterns. Jiuli found the inkstone somewhat familiar but couldn't recall where she had seen it before, so she looked at it and asked him.
“This is the inkstone in my elder brother’s study.” He paused after saying only one sentence, and then turned the inkstone over after a long while. “Look what this is.”
"What?"
Jiuli shifted her gaze. The inkstone was originally blue, but upon closer inspection under the light, she noticed a darker patch at the bottom. A sense of foreboding washed over her. She glanced at him, removed a delicate hairpin from her hair, laid a white handkerchief on the table, and gently used the hairpin to cover the dark patch of color.
Sure enough, I scraped off some powder, added some water to dissolve it, dabbed a little on my fingertip, and rubbed it against the light; it turned a bright red color.
"It's blood." She frowned. "Could this be the murder weapon that killed Chen Zifang?"
Regardless of whether it was true or not, Xu Bai stood up and told her that in the afternoon she noticed that her elder brother's hands seemed to be red and itchy. Remembering what she had said that morning about the toxicity of oleander, she became suspicious of her elder brother. Therefore, after dark, she went to Guiyanzhai to check and found this inkstone.
"I couldn't make up my mind, so I had to ask you."
Jiuli stared at him for a long time. "Are you asking me whether I should tell the authorities to arrest your elder brother?"
Xu Bai sat back down, his face glowing yellow from the candlelight. He rested one hand on the table, lowered his head, and remained silent for a long while. After a while, Jiu Li suddenly saw a tear fall on his leg. She was startled, as this was the first time she had ever seen him cry since she had known him.
“You know, I lost my father when I was eleven. Although my wife wasn’t very affectionate towards me, my elder brother treated me extremely well. He’s only three years older than me, yet he’s raised me like a father. I just can’t understand how my kind and benevolent brother could possibly kill someone!”
He paused, then suddenly grabbed Jiu Li's arms. "Yu'er, tell me, did you find out something you didn't tell me?"
Seeing the tear stains on his face, Jiuli felt a pang of sorrow in her heart. She pinched her sleeve to wipe away his tears, but dared not speak.
"You must be hiding something from me." He knew it must be Yu Qi who told them to keep it a secret; she always listened to Yu Qi, so he figured he wouldn't get anything out of her.
He gave a wistful smile, leaning on the table as he rose. "Then I'll investigate myself. Maybe my brother is innocent. Maybe Chen Zifang and those two Taoist priests tried to harm him first, and he only lost because he was fighting back—"
Jiuli quickly grabbed him and advised, "Why don't you just leave this case to your uncle and Brother Zhang? Since the case involves your family, it's only right that you don't get involved. Lord Yan won't blame you."
Xu Baimu shook his head blankly, then smiled again, "I can't ignore this. It concerns my older brother, and I don't trust anyone else to handle it."
Jiuli lowered her voice, "What if the truth is something you can't accept?"
Xu Baining snapped out of her daze and grasped her arm again. "Fish, please tell me, what exactly have you found out?"
Anyway, he was bound to find out sooner or later. After hesitating for a long time, Jiu Li pressed him back down on the stool. "I might as well tell you. Your mother, that is, your second aunt, had an affair with your eldest brother. Chen Zifang and Fan Yi found out about this and that's why they're blackmailing your family. Your eldest brother did that because of this—"
"You're talking nonsense! My mother and my older brother? How could that be!"
Just as Jiuli was about to explain in detail, Du Zhong happened to return and stood at the door, saying, "Yu'er is not talking nonsense."
"You're back?" Jiuli greeted her in the outer room. "How did it go? Did you find anything?"
Du Zhong walked to the table, poured himself a cup of tea, and noticed an inkstone and a blood-stained handkerchief on it. He quickly turned to look at Jiu Li. Jiu Li shook his head and came over to show that nothing was wrong. Du Zhong then saw Xu Bai standing there in a daze and gave a slight, cold laugh.
"Fish isn't talking nonsense. How do you think Chen Zifang and Fan Yi knew about your mother and your older brother's affair?"
Jiuli, sensing his deliberate attempt to provoke Xu Bai, shoved him, "Just say it already, stop rambling on and on!"
Du Zhong sat down and said, “Brother Zhang and I searched for most of the day in Baiyun Temple and finally found something useful. There is an old locust tree in Baiyun Temple, and the tree is covered with wishing talismans. The worshippers write their wishes on a piece of yellow paper, fold it, and hang it on the tree with red thread. There are hundreds of talismans. Brother Zhang and I opened them one by one and finally found two written by your mother. One is a prayer that she can achieve great things and become famous in the future; the other is a prayer that your brother will change his mind and grow old with her.”
As Xu Bai listened, veins bulged on his forehead. He suddenly slammed the teacup in front of him to the ground, grabbed Du Zhong by the collar, and lifted him up from the stool. "Stop slandering my mother and my elder brother!"
Du Zhong smiled at him, "The names of you two brothers, as well as your mother's name, Liang Enoki, are clearly written on those two talismans, right? If you still don't believe me, it's very simple. The two talismans are right here in the yamen. You can go and take a look. You can surely recognize your mother's handwriting, can't you?"
Speaking of Enoki's handwriting, Xu Bai suddenly remembered that his mother was originally from a poor family and didn't know many words. It was only after his father died that she stopped crying and, bored all day, began to study tea, cooking, and needlework. Later, she also began to study reading and writing.
“Xu Bai, come here and teach me how to pronounce this word, ‘Mother’?” That year, she sat on the couch and beckoned to him.
He glanced at it and saw it was a primer, the "Three Character Classic," for children. He was about ten years old at the time, and had already finished reading the Four Books and Five Classics. He was studying various historical, agricultural, and legal texts, so he naturally had no patience to teach her these. He smiled dismissively and said, "Why would you want to learn this? You might as well learn to paint, or at least draw a needlework pattern."
"Mother would rather learn more characters and read some historical novels in her spare time than sit here doing nothing."
"Then why don't you go find my elder brother? He taught me most of my books."
He gave a perfunctory reply, grabbed the things, and rushed out, completely unaware of Enoki's disappointed face.
She craned her neck to watch him disappear, flipped through the Three Character Classic again and again, sighed, and put it on the kang table. Then she had no choice but to pick up her needle and thread.
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Author's note: Thank you for reading.
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