Chapter 32 Double Mystery (12) Even heroes can't resist the allure of a beautiful woman. ...
Xu Bai said, "Oh? But he said he saw you outside Baiyulou on the 12th of last month. The staff at Baiyulou also said that you were indeed waiting outside their door that day, trying to freeload. Have you forgotten so quickly?"
Wan San, still grinning, said, "Hey, I often stand guard outside the White Jade Pavilion for those wealthy gentlemen. You don't know, sir, but these gentlemen often behave improperly outside. I, Wan San, am in charge of finding out about their disreputable affairs. If I encounter someone who cares about their reputation, they'll spare a couple of coins to shut me up. If I encounter someone with a bad temper, I might get a beating, but it's nothing. Anyway, I, Wan San, am thick-skinned and tough."
The yamen runner behind him grew impatient and stomped hard on his ankle, saying, "Stop spouting nonsense! Answer the questions the magistrate asks you."
A creaking sound came from inside the room, but Xu Bai ignored it, simply getting up and leisurely sipping his tea, his eyelids barely open. A few translucent glazed tiles on the roof let in a sliver of sunlight, which he found quite beautiful, and for some reason, he thought of Jiu Li's shimmering eyes. He slowly stirred the tea with the lid, watching it ripple, and gradually smiled.
Once the constable had stopped and Wan San had ceased shouting, he set down his teacup, his smile fading. "Remember now?"
Wan San grinned and nodded, "I remember now, I do recognize him, I do recognize that Master Chu!"
"Tell me how you recognized him."
On the twelfth of last month, Wan San went to the entrance of Baiyulou as usual to "find work" and saw Chu Fengchun walking by with his men, chatting and laughing. Wan San saw that he was a stranger and that he was from out of town, so he thought he would trick him out of some money. Taking advantage of the fact that the shop assistants of Baiyulou were not paying attention, he followed Chu Fengchun into Baiyulou.
This Baiyulou was the most luxurious and magnificent restaurant in Jiangning, with four floors, the fourth floor of which was all private rooms. Therefore, prominent figures in the city often discussed matters here. Wan San followed Chu Fengchun up to the third floor, pressed his ear against the door of a private room to listen for a while, and found that he was discussing the sale of the Lychee Garden with the notoriously stingy Master Li.
Judging from his tone, Chu Fengchun was a generous man. However, Master Li was truly infuriating. Seeing that Chu Fengchun could produce ten thousand taels of silver notes, Master Li tried to swindle him out of more, demanding twelve thousand taels. Unexpectedly, Chu Fengchun, in a fit of pique, changed his mind and asked for eight thousand taels.
Eight out of the ten pavilions in this lychee orchard knew it was unlucky, and it had been stuck in Master Li's hands for several years. Now, let alone eight thousand taels, even six or seven thousand wouldn't be impossible to sell. Isn't this a stroke of luck falling from the sky? We're about to make a fortune!
"I waited for Master Chu to come out so I could go up and talk to him. Master Chu promised that if I could get Master Li to agree to pay eight thousand taels, he would give me a reward."
Wan San stopped there, and after a moment of silence, Xu Bai asked with a sidelong glance, "And then what happened?"
"Later," Wan San glanced at him, lowered his eyelids and said, "Later, when I went back and thought about it, I realized that the men under Master Chu kept telling me to get lost, so I was afraid that he didn't really mean it and was just saying it to get rid of me. Besides, I didn't have any way to persuade Master Li, so I had to let it go."
Xu Bai fell silent and winked at the constable behind him. The constable immediately bent down, lifted Xu Bai's dislocated arm, and made him cry out in pain.
Jiuli was startled by the shout and hurriedly tried to lift the curtain to go out. Guo Sao, who was applying medicine to her, rushed over and grabbed her hand, saying, "Miss, you haven't put your clothes on yet."
He pulled her back to sit on the chair, saying, "Wait until the medicine has dried a bit before wearing it, otherwise it will all get on your clothes." As he spoke, he smiled and moved behind her, bending down to examine the clothes piled around her waist. "Some of them are torn. It's such a pity that such good material is damaged."
Jiuli's mind wasn't on this at all; all she could hear were the screams from outside. She couldn't help but furrow her brows. "Is this how the yamen always handles cases?"
Aunt Guo turned back to the person opposite her. "That's how it is. Girls get used to it and don't find it strange anymore. Sometimes I can hear it even from the back kitchen. Tsk, it just goes to show that you shouldn't do anything illegal."
"But that's not necessarily true; he may not have broken the law."
"If he's already going to be sentenced, why bother hitting him? Some people are just stubborn; you have to hit them a couple of times for them to tell the truth. See, now they're forced to tell the truth, aren't they?"
Sure enough, they heard Wan San shouting, "Stop twisting! I'll talk, I'll talk!"
Xu Bai then winked at the yamen runner, who then let go of his hand.
"I, I have not come up with a way to suppress Master Li, but I am afraid of losing this opportunity, so I wanted to go to Master Chu, but I don't know where he lives, so I have to give up."
Xu Bai smiled and said, "I think you don't want that arm of yours anymore either."
The bailiffs were about to step forward again when Wan San panicked and hurriedly kowtowed, "No, no, no, I'll talk!"
"If there is any more falsehood, even two legs cannot be spared."
"No, no, I wouldn't dare." He forced a smile, his face covered in sweat, and let out a long sigh. "I'll confess, I admit it! I killed that man in Liyuan."
According to him, he secretly wanted to bid seven thousand taels, so he could ask Chu Fengchun for a hundred or two as a thank-you gift. However, he was afraid that the stingy Master Li would refuse to pay the price. After planning for many days, he came up with an idea: he would sneak into the lychee garden and play tricks, spreading even bigger rumors. Even if Master Li was reluctant, he would have no choice but to agree. So, on the evening of the fifth day, he disguised himself as a slop bucket carrier and sneaked into the garden, deliberately creating a maze in the small bamboo grove.
"Who knew I'd run into that Mr. Lin going to the outhouse? I knew him before, and I'd swindled some money from him. When he saw me, he tried to hit me and even threatened to call the officers to arrest me!"
“I begged and pleaded, even begging to go to his room, but he ordered me to kneel and kowtow, and then he made fun of me and made things difficult for me in every way. I don’t know why, but I suddenly got very angry, so I took out the knife I always carried and slashed him! He pressed his neck and fell onto the bed. I panicked, but when I saw that he was still alive and could still make a sound, I was afraid that he would call the officials, so I decided to go all the way and climb on top of him! I slashed him several more times, and only then did he breathe his last.”
Jiuli found that the murder method he described was not much different from what Yu Qi had examined. Moreover, Wan San was probably not very literate, so it was normal for him not to know the pulse points on the neck. Furthermore, the Liyuan Garden was not well guarded at that time, and it was dinnertime when swill was being carried out. It was reasonable that he could easily sneak in.
She still felt something was off, so she frowned slightly in her chair. She heard something like a mouse gnawing on something, making a clattering sound. Looking in the direction of the sound, she saw that it was Guo Sao's teeth chattering across from her.
She glanced at her with amusement, "Aunt Guo, are you scared just listening to this?"
Aunt Guo frowned deeply. "My goodness, killing someone is one thing, but cutting their throat with so many cuts! How much blood must have been shed! Just thinking about it makes me shudder. Aren't you afraid, young lady? You seem to have seen it all at such a young age."
She said with a hint of pride, "To be honest, I even examined the body of that deceased."
"You're a coroner? Tsk, you don't look like one to me."
She gave a guilty smile and said, "My uncle performed the autopsy, and I was just watching."
"Is the girl's uncle a coroner in the yamen?"
"No, my uncle is the doctor in charge of epidemic control at Liyuan."
Aunt Guo exclaimed in surprise, "Oh! So you're the daughter of Doctor Yu? I've heard people who came back talk about Doctor Yu; he's a legendary doctor, isn't he?"
Just then, Du Zhong came in with a grin. "This case is over. I didn't expect we'd beat Master to it. Master should reward us. Hey, what do you want?" He tilted his head back and thought to himself, "I've got it all figured out. If Master rewards me, I want his jade wrist pillow."
Yu Qi often took the jade wrist diagnostic tool with him when he went out to see patients. Whenever he took it out of his medical kit, wealthy patients would take a look and, fearing that he wouldn't be able to afford the consultation if he didn't pay a small fee, would often offer a large sum of money.
As Jiuli put on Xu Bai's cloak, she couldn't help but sneer, "You haven't even finished your apprenticeship yet, and you can't even treat patients yourself. What use is that wrist pillow to you?"
Aunt Guo turned her gaze to him and smiled, "Are you the apprentice of Physician Yu?"
Du Zhonggang was already feeling a bit embarrassed after being mocked by Jiu Li, and now that a stranger was asking him a question, the blood rushed from his neck to his face. He coughed twice, walked over and sat down next to Jiu Li, crossed his legs, and looked at Aunt Guo a little embarrassedly, "Don't let my youth fool you, I've learned a lot of skills from my master."
Aunt Guo covered her mouth and turned her face away, letting out a soft laugh. Du Zhong couldn't help but look at her. Upon seeing her, his heart felt as if it had been struck. She was still quite young, probably not yet thirty. Her hair was loosely tied up, without any hairpins, earrings, or pearls, except for a few pearls below her ear that swayed gently with her laughter. She covered her mouth with one hand, and her slightly narrow eyes glanced at him furtively.
So that's how seductive and alluring he was; his young heart was still reeling.
A moment later, Xu Bai also came in, seemingly having finished the interrogation. Jiu Li quickly stood up and asked, "Don't you think there's something wrong with what Wan San said?"
Xu Bai frowned and thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "But what he said matches the circumstances of the deceased, and he also said the time of the murder was correct. Could Mr. Yu have made a mistake? Besides, the yamen runners have taken him home to find the murder weapon. Let's wait here for a while, find the murder weapon, and go back to Liyuan to ask Mr. Yu to compare it with the wounds on the deceased. If they match, then there is no mistake."
He sat down, and Aunt Guo, with great perceptiveness, got up, curtsied, and said she would go back to the kitchen to make tea for them. Out of the corner of his eye, Du Zhong involuntarily glanced at her as she went to lift the curtain, letting in a brief sliver of light before it went dark again, like a seed falling to the ground and being covered by soil, wondering if it would ever have the chance to sprout.
Opportunities are truly unpredictable. Who knows whether the days ahead will grow warmer or colder? In any case, when Youjun recalled the time she was betrothed, she always felt that it was a turning point in her life. She couldn't say she was moved, but she never felt that warmth again afterward.
In the silence, she glanced at Yu Qi before remembering to thank him, "Fortunately, Mr. Yu is here today, otherwise, if they had gone to fetch a doctor, who knows when they would have been able to do so, and my mother would have been in grave danger."
"It was just a coincidence."
“A coincidence—” she smacked the word with a half-smile, “or perhaps it could be put another way,”
Yu Qi waited for her to finish her sentence, but when he didn't hear it, he turned to look at her. Seeing her meaningful gaze, his heart skipped a beat, and he felt that she had guessed his purpose.
“Fate.” Unexpectedly, her expression took a turn for the better. Her smile gradually widened, then slowly faded back into a gentle smile. Her voice lowered as she nodded to herself, “Perhaps it can also be called ‘destiny’.”
Yu Qi tied her hands behind her back, looking at her dejected face. In a daze, he seemed to see an old friend, and couldn't help but feel pity. "Does the young lady believe in fate?"
"I can't say whether to believe it or not. When I was little, everyone said I was lucky, born into a wealthy family, and that I would definitely live a peaceful and happy life. I also thought that would be the case. I grew up safely, married a good man, and lived the life a woman should live. But things don't always go as planned. That year, my father passed away, and the Guan family was in turmoil. I had no choice but to give up the idea of marrying out and stay at home to protect the family's foundation."
"Why don't you find a son-in-law to come and live with you?"
“Even family members can’t agree with each other’s surnames, let alone outsiders?” She smiled sadly and then suddenly changed the subject, “Why didn’t you, Mr. Yu, pursue your studies and become an official? Isn’t a man’s ambition always to enter officialdom? Why did you become a doctor?”
"Fate," he laughed it off. "And I'm not cut out for officialdom."
“It’s rare to find a man who doesn’t crave power.” She turned her face away, still smiling, but with a sharper edge. “I guess Mr. Yu has never experienced the feeling of having the power to command the wind and rain. If he had, he wouldn’t have a choice.”
He smiled and remained silent, then slowly nodded. "It seems that Miss Guan has gone from being forced into this situation to now being completely absorbed in it."
Youjun took a step forward, stood still in front of him, smiled and looked at him for a while, her eyes gradually falling to one of his hands, her gaze piercing into his palm, "Look, men's hands are naturally this big, and a woman's fate is always in a man's hands. Every woman hopes to meet a man with a gentle heart."
Yu Qi withdrew his hand and laughed, "It's a pity, everyone says I'm the hardest-hearted person."
Youjun was not surprised and calmly walked forward with him.
He added, "However, Miss Guan is wrong about something. Sometimes a man's fate is also in the hands of a woman."
"Oh? What do you mean by that?"
"There's an old saying, 'Even heroes can't resist the charms of a beautiful woman,'" he said with a cold, mocking smile.
Youjun's smile faltered slightly, but she quickly regained her composure. However, when she smiled again, it was a weak and feeble effort. Looking at the golden light that filled the road ahead, she felt as if it were the end of the world, and a sense of desolation washed over her.
The conversation returned to the small hall, where Zhang Da had been sitting and waiting for half a day, and was quite bored. As soon as the two of them entered, he hurriedly got up to greet them, "Is Madam well?"
Youjun glanced at Yu Qi, smiled and bowed, "Thank you for your concern, Constable Zhang. It's also thanks to Mr. Yu that I've woken up and my relatives are with me."
Zhang Da chuckled, "Isn't this fate? What a coincidence that a miraculous doctor is in your home today!"
Fate, what a poetic word, yet when Youjun heard it today, it didn't sound like a good word at all. Fate, fate, isn't it also called destiny? And who knew where this Yu Qi would appear from? He's survived all these years of scheming and backstabbing in the business world; is it going to be his doing today?
She stood by the window, her slender arms folded, listening to the monks and Taoist priests chanting sutras for the deceased outside. The faint buzzing sound was unreliable, easily dissipated by the wind. She squinted, tilted her head back to let the sun shine on her face, and thought to herself, "Thank goodness I'm not superstitious about karma and retribution."
Turning to the side, she saw an inappropriately placed pot of red peonies on the table, so she plucked the flower, tossed it into the pot, and called her mother into the bedroom, saying, "Go and invite Cai Jin here."
The woman hesitated for a moment, then approached and said, "I'm afraid it's not the right time. Mr. Yu and Constable Zhang just left not long ago. What if they run into them on the road—"
Youjun smiled and walked towards the large, round-cornered cabinet that covered the entire wall. "You think you can avoid them by hiding? Believe it or not, they're right outside our door right now, waiting to catch Cai Jin red-handed."
"Wouldn't that make it even worse to call him? What if they see that Cai Jin has any connection with us—"
She opened a cabinet door, her gaze drifting out from behind it like a ghost, "Mr. Yu wants to stir up trouble, and I'll grant his wish."
Niangzhuang's face flushed with anxiety. "Are you saying that Mr. Yu came today specifically to test you?"
“I think this Mr. Yu is an extremely meticulous person. Since he has revealed his intentions, it is not unintentional. He guessed that I was the mastermind, but he was short of evidence, so he deliberately came to test me, hoping to make me panic and reveal my ponytail.”
How did he figure it out?
Youjun rummaged through the cabinet for a while, but couldn't find anything, so she lowered her hand and slowly walked to the dressing table. "I've been thinking about this since I got back to my room. I think he must have noticed it when I went to Liyuan with Wen Guan that day."
"Did the young lady slip up that day?"
She let out a sigh, "I've thought it over and over, but Mr. Yu is still suspicious about those two bowls of tea."
"Tea?" Niangzhuang frowned and walked over to help her choose her hair ornaments.
"That day, our Lord Qi wasn't home, and Constable Zhang invited us to sit in his room. It turned out the room belonged to Cai Jin. He was such a kind man, he was almost too kind; worried I wouldn't like the coarse tea from Liyuan, he specially brought out his own good tea for us. And I, too, didn't pay attention to that, and just ate it because it tasted good. And Mr. Yu's eyes—"
She shook her head with a smile, "It was such a small oversight that made him realize that Cai Jin and I actually knew each other. But that day, to avoid suspicion, we didn't say a word and pretended not to know each other. If we had exchanged a few polite words with Cai Jin that day, it would have been normal for him to offer tea to us."
Niangzhuang still couldn't quite believe it, "Is Mr. Yu so powerful? It's just a bowl of tea."
"It's also my fault. I always felt there was something hidden in his words, and I lost my composure for a moment. So I dragged Rouge into it, hoping they would suspect that she killed him out of love turned to hate." She put down the jade hairpin and scratched her head, then smiled at herself in the mirror. "Sure enough, I heard they took Rouge, but they didn't take her to the yamen. They just kept her at the Liyuan Garden, as if it was all for my benefit."
Niangzhuang was shocked. "Then wouldn't it be even more inappropriate for her to meet Cai Jin at this time?"
After picking and choosing, she couldn't find any suitable jewelry. She got up again, smiled at her, and went to the cabinet to continue looking for clothes. "But Mr. Yu only knows that heroes can't resist the charms of a beautiful woman, but he doesn't know what it means to 'find joy in it'."
The young lady still hesitated, "Are you absolutely certain about Cai Jin, young lady?"
“I know Cai Jin. People who are used to hardship are probably willing to risk their lives for a little bit of sweetness. At this point, we can only take a gamble.”
Youjun met Cai Jin a couple of years ago. He came to her house to collect taxes for the yamen (government office). Over time, she learned that his family was poor and that even as a constable, he only earned two taels of silver a month, which was not enough to make ends meet. At that time, she was doing well in business and felt lonely when she had free time, so she used him as a pastime.
However, she had never been married and was not very good at flirting with men, so she was inevitably awkward and clumsy. It was precisely that clumsiness that revealed her sincerity. Cai Jin got her money and her "true feelings," but he didn't get her "body." These combined were enough to make a man fall head over heels for her and be willing to risk his life for her.
It was also because she had never been married that she sometimes liked to play the role of a woman who was completely obedient to men, to experience the taste of being a wife. So in front of him, she was also willing to put on a submissive and weak posture.
She finally slammed the cabinet door shut, looked down at herself, and smiled faintly. "People say that if you want to look pretty, you have to wear mourning clothes. Isn't that what I am? Oh well, there's no need to bother looking for any clothes. Let's go and invite him over."
They waited until the sun was setting. Yu Qi and Zhang Da sat in the teahouse across from the Guan family for a long time. Zhang Da drank three or four pots of tea, and his stomach was too weak to handle it. He was starving and urged Yu Qi to find a restaurant on the street ahead for dinner. He patted his chest with great enthusiasm and said that he would treat them.
Yu Qi smiled and said, "How could I dare to spend money?" He remained seated. Zhang Da, growing restless, asked again, "What exactly are you waiting for, sir?"
Thinking he would remain silent again, he chuckled softly, "Coming."
Cai Jin, dressed in casual clothes, walked from the street and disappeared into the alley next to the Guan residence, seemingly intending to enter through the back gate. The alley was filled with a steady stream of guests, but Cai Jin blended in unnoticed.
Zhang Da recognized him at a glance, and his anxiety turned into confusion: "Why is Cai Jin here at the Guan family's house?"
Yu Qi poured himself some tea. "If you can come, why can't he?"
That's true. Most of the officials in the yamen knew the Guan family better than the Guan family. It wasn't unusual for the Guan family to run into colleagues here while they were holding a funeral. But then Zhang Da thought about it and realized that what was strange was that he had instructed Cai Jin to send the coffin back yesterday. He should have done his duty yesterday, so why was he here again today?
He was completely baffled, so he simply sat down. "Mr. Yu, you've been sitting here for so long, just waiting for him?"
Yu Qi nodded. "It seems that Constable Zhang has been neglecting your men. He doesn't even know that he has frequent dealings with the Guan family."
"How would I know? After they've finished their shifts, who would ask about their private affairs?" Zhang Da lowered his head and turned his face to the side. "But who in the Guan family does he usually associate with?"
"Take a guess."
After guessing and guessing, Zhang Da guessed everyone the Guan family knew, but he could never guess that it would be Guan Youjun. No one would have thought that a wealthy young lady who had vowed never to marry would have a connection with an inconspicuous constable. It really proved the saying that a woman's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea.
Women are truly unpredictable, Yu Qi thought with amusement. His thoughts drifted, and his expression gradually became serious.
Sure enough, after waiting a while, Cai Jin walked out of the Guan family's gate. Unlike when he first entered the alley, he no longer looked around as if afraid of being seen. Now, from a distance, his expression, though downcast, had a resolute and open-minded air.
Zhang Da was about to get up and strike up a conversation with him when Yu Qi pulled him back down. "I don't think you need to ask anything. If I'm not mistaken, your questions will be answered in a couple of days."
"What's the question?" Zhang Da sat back down, watching Cai Jin walk away from the bustling street, looking lost and dejected. "Mr. Yu, you've really confused me. Why did you come to the Guan family's house for no reason today, and why are you waiting for Cai Jin here for no reason—oh right, I remember, you asked me about Cai Jin a couple of nights ago!" His mind raced, and he finally figured it out. "Is Cai Jin related to Guan Zhan's case?!"
He continued to connect the dots, finally realizing that the biggest difference between Guan Zhan's case and Lin Mo's case was the wound on the neck. Lin Mo's wound was caused by multiple cuts, while Guan Zhan's was killed with a single stab. The killer clearly knew the location of the pulse points on the neck, indicating an experienced assassin. Cai Jin, having worked as a constable for many years, possessed martial arts skills and had killed countless bandits, perfectly fitting these criteria.
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Author's note: Thank you for reading.
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