Chapter 45 Mother-of-Pearl Incense (08) You must wipe my hands. ...
After waiting under the large banyan tree for about a quarter of an hour, Zhang Da and Du Zhong still hadn't returned with the captured man. Jiu Li couldn't help but feel worried. She went behind the banyan tree to look out for Shi Qi's house. It didn't seem far away, so why hadn't they returned? Had Shi Qi run away? Or was someone in his family causing trouble?
He then turned to the woman selling tea and asked, "Sister-in-law, who else is in Shi Qi's family?"
The woman shook her head. "The entire Shi family is dead, only he remains."
One person was manageable, but Jiu Li couldn't sit still and paced back and forth around the table. A wild breeze blew, and Yu Qi caught a glimpse of her pomegranate-red skirt hem, which seemed to sway like a fish tail swimming in water, elusive and alluring.
Yu Qi glanced at the house and told her to sit down again. "Don't worry, Zhang Da is quite skilled. Nothing will happen to him."
"How do you know Zhang Da is quite skilled?"
He didn't answer, but asked the woman for another pot of tea. Jiuli gradually remembered something, glanced at him, and shut up without asking. But for some reason, she was getting anxious while waiting, and couldn't sit or stand still.
Before long, the three of them finally came out of the bumpy mud road. Zhang Da grabbed Shi Qi by the back of his hand, while Du Zhong walked limping beside him, dragging his leg.
Jiuli knew something was wrong and stamped her foot. "Uncle, look! Du Zhong seems to be injured!"
Yu Qi jumped up and stared intently at Du Zhong. Seeing that he was only unsteady on his feet but otherwise in good condition, he breathed a sigh of relief and strode towards the three of them.
Jiuli followed closely behind, running up to Du Zhong. Upon looking at his leg, she saw that it looked like he'd been slashed, bleeding profusely, soaking even the hem of his trousers and outer robe. "How did this happen?" she asked, quickly crouching down to examine him. Fortunately, the injury wasn't deep and hadn't damaged any bones or tendons.
Du Zhong said smugly, "That bastard tried to run away and tripped me. I stepped on his shoulder, but he somehow found a knife and slashed at my leg. I took the blow but couldn't move my foot!"
Zhang Da also praised with a smile, "Du Zhong looks weak and frail like a good-for-nothing young master, but when he gets serious, he's not intimidated at all. He's more professional than the new constables in the yamen. He's a good lad, and he's sure to have a bright future!"
Jiuli, however, was seething with anger and had nowhere to vent it, so she kicked Shi Qi's legs repeatedly, yelling, "I told you to cut him! I told you to cut him!"
"Alright." Yu Qi grabbed her, then carried Du Zhong to the tea table and sat him down. He tore off a piece of cloth from his robe and used it to wrap around Du Zhong's calf to stop the bleeding. At the same time, he instructed Jiu Li, "Go to the fields and see if there are any thistles."
Jiuli agreed and went with the woman to the nearby fields. After a while, they picked some thistles, mashed them, wrapped them in the cloth, and tied it around his neck. Then the group thanked the woman, carried the Eucommia ulmoides on their backs, and went back to the riverbank. They boarded the same boat and sailed downstream until they reached Lansong Tower, where they parted ways with Zhang Da. They then hired a carriage to return to Liuli Street.
Upon arriving at the pharmacy, Fengqiao panicked when he saw that Du Zhong had been carried in by Yu Qi. He abandoned the other customers who were getting medicine and followed them into the inner room, asking, "What's going on?"
As soon as Yu Qi put Du Zhong on the chair, Du Zhong said with a smug look on his face, "I caught a murderer!"
Toyohashi frowned and scolded him, "You can still laugh!"
Yu Qi straightened up, glared at Du Zhong, sent Feng Qiao to get more medicine, and instructed Jiu Li to fetch some water to clean the wound and reapply the ointment. He then ordered Jiu Li to help Du Zhong back to the back to rest, while he stayed behind to see a patient.
The moment they started fetching water, they alerted the people behind them. The old lady was rushing to greet them at the cave entrance. As soon as she saw Du Zhong jump in, she scolded, "You always say your sister is disobedient, but I think when it comes to important matters, you're even more disobedient than her! I heard you went to help catch some thieves and robbers? You're getting more and more capable. Are you planning to become a constable in the future?!"
She offered a helping hand and together with Jiu Li, helped him back to the room. Xiu Zhi had already made the bed and, taking the old lady's hand, helped Du Zhong lie down on the bed. The old lady was worried and asked Jiu Li several times if he was alright. Jiu Li was afraid that she would worry too much, and since the wound was bandaged and could not be seen, she comforted her by saying that it was just a one-inch-long cut.
"Why wrap a one-inch opening so tightly?"
Jiuli smiled and nudged her, "You know how meticulous your uncle is. Go eat first, we'll be there in a bit."
"Then I'll go ask Yuqing to stew a pork hock. I need to eat pork hock since my leg is injured!"
Jiuli turned around and came in, only to see Xiuzhi pouring a cup of tea and handing it to Du Zhong. But Du Zhong suddenly lost his previous energy and looked listless as he leaned against the pillow and smiled at her, "Thank you, Aunt Guo. You go and eat, Aunt Guo. I'm fine."
Xiuzhi gave him a playful glare, "Didn't you hear the old lady just say she wanted to stew a pork hock? Who knows when it will be ready?"
Du Zhong smiled apologetically as he held up the teacup, "I'm so sorry, you must be starving after a long day. I've delayed your dinner."
Xiuzhi sat on the edge of the bed, her skirt billowing. "Let me take off your outer robe for you, so you don't get the bed dirty. It's not that I don't want to wash it, but it's not comfortable for you to sleep in."
She reached out to untie the belt under his arm. For some reason, his face turned red, which made Jiu Li stare blankly. She looked at him under the screen for a while before realizing that this brat blushed whenever he saw a pretty woman. She wondered when he had grown into such a lecherous man!
She rolled her eyes and walked to the bedside. "Weren't you so capable just now? How come you can't even take off your clothes by yourself and have to trouble someone to do it for you?"
Du Zhong glanced at her sideways and said, "Why don't you go out? It's already hot enough in this room, and you're still standing here blocking the wind."
Jiuli glared at him angrily. Xiuzhi, who had seen them bickering before, smiled and tried to smooth things over, saying, "Miss, just act like an older sister and forgive him this time. He's injured, isn't he?"
"If it weren't for Aunt Guo pleading for you, I wouldn't care if you were injured or not!"
That being said, when it came time for dinner, Xiuzhi wanted to set aside a portion for Du Zhong and send it to his room. She hurriedly stood up and picked up a lot more meat onto the plate, mocking Du Zhong for being a glutton and needing to eat even more good food now that he was injured.
After the meal, she went to see him in the room again, but after only a few words, they started arguing again. As the argument raged, she stormed out of the room, just as Yu Qi closed the shop door and came down from the corridor. "I heard you arguing outside. Zhong'er is injured now, so please give him a break."
She snorted, turned around, and plopped down on the Wu King's bench.
Seeing that she was holding back her anger, Yu Qi was much more considerate of Du Zhong than usual, so he smiled, put one hand behind his back, and walked past her.
Jiuli followed him with her eyes darting around. It was sunset, and the last rays of the setting sun clung to the windows and doors of the east wing. He pushed the door open, and some dust fell onto it, scattering golden specks. Soon after, the window of the small study on the left opened as well. He sat behind his desk, grinding ink and tidying up papers, a layer of glistening sweat on his forehead.
She then remembered that he hadn't rested for a moment since he returned. First, he treated Du Zhong's injury, then he saw patients, hurriedly ate dinner, and then went to see another patient waiting. Now, he was on the board and had to carefully consider the prescription. There were no maids to serve him in the room, and the old lady, Yu Qing, and Xiu Zhi were all focused on Du Zhong. Feng Qiao was also busy cutting and grinding herbs in the front yard, so no one paid attention to him. It seemed that he hadn't even had a sip of tea since dinner.
She felt uneasy and felt a pang of sadness when she looked at his profile. So she went to the kitchen and, while the fire was still burning, boiled water to make tea and carried it to his room.
Yu Qi glanced at her from behind the desk and saw that she was sweating profusely from boiling water. He said, "Let Yuqing and Aunt Guo do these things. Aren't you afraid of the heat?"
She placed the tea on the table and casually put the wooden tray down. "Aunt Qing is making bone broth for Du Zhong, Sister Guo is decocting medicine for Du Zhong, and even the old lady is in Du Zhong's room checking on his legs. If I don't make you a bowl of tea soon, you'll die of thirst."
He chuckled. "Perhaps I don't have hands?"
She spun to the side of the table, snatched the inkstone from his hand, and continued grinding. "You only have two hands, and you have to grind ink and work on those prescriptions. You're so busy, how can you still find time to scoop water for yourself?"
He didn't reply and focused on writing the prescription.
Jiuli tilted her head and glanced at him. Seeing that he had prescribed two prescriptions, Angelica sinensis and Rehmannia glutinosa, she knew it was a common case of blood deficiency and wind-dryness. So she pulled him up and said, "I'll prescribe it."
Can you do it?
"What's wrong with that? It's just to nourish the blood and moisturize dryness. I'll prescribe a Siwu Tang (Four-Substance Decoction)." He quickly added two more ingredients, picked up his pen, and looked up. "Are you getting a rash?"
Yu Qi nodded, "We still need to dispel the wind and relieve the itching."
He watched her write at the desk, recalling how she had just learned to write at the age of four, standing in his lap, holding the pen with her fist. He had told her several times to stop, but she didn't change. He lost his patience and scolded her. She looked at him with tears in her eyes, until he softened and began to teach her from the beginning, taking her hand gently.
Later, it was discovered that because of her tendency to be soft-hearted, she could never be properly taught. When she was five years old, she had to go to the city to find an old scholar to tutor her. On the very first day the old scholar arrived, he beat her with a ruler until she cried.
She came to him with tears streaming down her face to complain, "I don't want that old man, he's so fierce! He almost broke my palms!" As she cried, she showed him her bruised hands. He glanced at her coldly, "Who doesn't get a beating while studying? I told the teacher to keep hitting me."
She stomped her foot in anger, "I'm never talking to you again!"
She was beaten again the next day. He heard the sound of the ruler striking his heart, each sound sending shivers down his spine. But for her own good, he could only pretend not to hear or see it.
Now her handwriting has become elegant and graceful. He smiled as he looked at it. "Write another herbal tea recipe to relieve heat and thirst, and give it to Yuqing. Tell her to boil a big pot of it first thing tomorrow morning."
She put down her pen, saying, "There's no need to write this down; Aunt Qing knows the recipe for herbal tea."
"Then go ahead."
Where to?
"Go back to your room and rest."
She remained seated, gripping the armrests and turning her face away. "You really are someone who only uses people when you need them, and then you kick them out as soon as they've prescribed the medicine for you."
Yu Qi smiled and didn't argue, nor did he chase her away, letting her sit there. He went to the bookshelf, took a small paper package, sat down on the chair under the window, and opened the package to look at it.
"Is it something scraped off from under Tang Chengguan's fingernails?" Jiuli looked at the paper package and found it to be familiar. She went over to take a look and indeed found some small bits of filth.
He found a needle somewhere and began to examine the filth closely, picking at it bit by bit. Jiuli sat down on the chair next to him, her head resting on the table, sometimes looking at the paper package, sometimes at his face. The afterglow of the setting sun shone on his face, giving it a decadent and desolate beauty, and her thoughts gradually became lost in his earnest expression.
Fortunately, Tang Chengguan's nails were a bit long, allowing Yu Qi to pick out two tiny specks of crimson color, each the size of a speck of dust. He dabbed a little with his fingertip, looked up, and met Jiu Li's dazed gaze.
The table in the middle was a bit small, so the two people were too close together. She held half of her face with her hand, squeezing her face with her hand, and pouting her lips, as if waiting for someone to kiss her.
He suddenly felt an urge to kiss her, something he hadn't done before, so he felt he was getting worse every day.
He knew he had to keep his composure, he silently warned himself, coughed, leaned back in his chair, and raised his fingertips to examine and caress them, but he was always distracted and intoxicated.
"What is this?" Jiuli rested her elbows on the table and leaned even closer to him, the scent of roses from her hair filling his nostrils.
He raised his other hand and pushed her forehead back, saying, "Don't block the light."
Jiuli glanced out the window; the afterglow had faded, and the sky was dim, like a cold, desolate remnant of the setting sun. But it was still visible. She added another candle to the table, and like him, picked up a small piece of crimson petal, rubbed it, and sniffed it. "It's not fabric, it's not paper scraps, it looks like flower petals."
Yu Qi nodded gently, "At this time of year, the flowers blooming in the water are in all their vibrant colors. What kind of flower is the most abundant?"
"Naturally, it's a lotus flower."
“That’s right, lotus flowers.” He smiled. “That makes sense.”
Jiuli wanted to ask, but after thinking about it for a while, she understood. "No wonder you said that Tang Chengguan did drown, but he didn't drown in the river."
He tucked the lotus petals from his fingertips into a paper packet, glanced at Jiuli, and Jiuli did the same. He wiped his hands with a handkerchief and then handed it to Jiuli to wipe hers as well.
Jiuli didn't take the handkerchief. Suddenly, she felt playful and stretched out her hand like she did when she was a child, waiting for him to wipe her face. He was initially unwilling, and the two were at an impasse for a while. However, he couldn't resist her charming and pitiful appearance and took her hand.
She cupped her face in her hand again, watching as he turned her hand over and over in his palm, wiping it with extra care. She secretly hoped that his hand would get even dirtier.
For some reason, not speaking seemed a bit awkward, so she muttered to herself, "I wonder if Brother Zhang got any useful clues out of Shi Qi."
Yu Qi shook his head, put down her hand, and raised his eyebrows. "I mean, maybe we can find out something, maybe we can't find out anything. Shi Qi probably just heard about Tang Chengguan's death from his wife and that's why he's just making it up."
She suddenly leaned closer. "Do you think it could be that daughter-in-law who killed him? This afternoon, the woman from Xiaorong Village said that although this daughter-in-law had an affair with Tang Chengguan, she often came home. It's clear that she still cares about Shi Qi. Could it be that she killed someone so that she could go back and reunite with Shi Qi?"
This was not impossible. After pondering for a moment, Yu Qi suddenly stood up, said "Go," and strode out of the room.
Jiuli hurriedly followed him out the door, asking, "Where are we going?"
They exited the ceremonial gate in a moment and turned onto the street. Yu Qi walked to the right and said, "Zhang Da said that Tang Chengguan's body has been brought back by his wife today. Let's go to Tang's house to take a look."
They weren't far apart anyway. When they reached Taibao Lane, it was just getting dark. The gate to the Tang family's courtyard was closed, but a piece of the wooden door was broken at the bottom. Jiuli bent down and looked inside. He saw an unpainted coffin in the courtyard, and the woman was burning paper money in front of it. It was just dry burning, and he didn't hear a single cry.
Jiuli took a step back, glanced at Yu Qi, and then raised his hand to knock on the door. A moment later, the woman opened the door with an oil lamp, held it up to the two of them, her expression changed, and she puffed out her chest, pressing herself against Yu Qi while yelling, "It's you again! What are you doing here?! I told you I didn't see anything from you. If you don't believe me, come in and search! If you don't find anything, I'll sue you for breaking into my house and trying to rape me!"
Forced to take two steps back, Yu Qi quickly squeezed between the two, one hand on her hip and the other pointing at her, "Don't you dare spout nonsense! I'm not here today to steal anything, I'm here to investigate your murder of your relative, oh no, your lover!"
This forced his wife to take two steps back towards the door. Jiuli turned her head and glanced at Yu Qi, her face full of smugness.
The woman suddenly came to her senses and, puffing out her chest, pressed closer to her. "Who are you to investigate me?! You're just a young girl, neither an official nor a soldier, yet you dare to accuse me of murder. I think you're trying to extort me. Bah! I'm the one who always extorts people!"
Jiuli looked down and saw that although the woman was thin, her breasts were quite full. Not wanting to lose face, she puffed out her chest, pointed at Yu Qi, and arrogantly said, "You have no respect for esteemed figures! Let me tell you, this is Lord Qi Xubai of the county government. If I can't question you, does he have no right to question me?!"
When the daughter-in-law went to the yamen to collect the body during the day, she heard that there was a magistrate named Qi. Seeing that Yu Qi was extraordinary in appearance and had a dignified aura, and then coughed coldly, she was so frightened that she lost her nerve and hurriedly led the two of them into the door.
The courtyard was cramped and easily visible. Besides some junk piled in the corner, Yu Qi noticed a large round vat. He and Jiu Li approached to take a closer look. The vat was filled with water, and a bright moon reflected in the water, illuminating the layer of mud and algae covering the bottom. Some flower petals floated on the water. Looking up, they saw that the neighbor had planted a pomegranate tree, which stretched over the courtyard wall, its pomegranate blossoms as fiery as fire, some of which had fallen into the vat.
Had he been wrong before? Did this woman really kill her lover with Shi Qi's help? Yu Qi was pondering this in front of the water vat when he heard the woman whisper, "What exactly do you want to find out?"
Jiuli thought it was too dark outside and he couldn't see clearly, so he said, "Let's go inside and talk."
To his surprise, when he went inside, the house was a mess, and a strong smell of sweat and baby excrement filled the air. He quickly retreated, saying, "Let's talk in the yard."
There was a stone mill in the courtyard, so she sat casually on the millstone handle. "What's your name?"
"Yue Hong".
"Do you know someone named Shi Qi?"
Yue Hong placed the oil lamp on the stone mill, smiled, and shook her head, "I don't know him."
Jiuli sized her up and sneered, "Isn't this Shi Qi your husband? How could you not recognize him?"
Yue Hong's eyes darted around, her expression changing to a fierce glare as she said, "Hmph! Now that he's sold me out, who would even recognize him?!"
"So, you and Shi Qi don't keep in close contact?"
She nodded repeatedly. “Why keep in touch when we’ve already broken up? Shi Qi has no conscience. Ever since I married him, I’ve never complained about his laziness or poverty. Who knew he would turn around and complain about me, saying that marrying a wife wouldn’t help him at all, but would only add another mouth to feed. So he sold me to Tang Chengguan for a string of cash. It’s been more than two years since then. I haven’t seen Shi Qi since I came to the Tang family.”
"You're still lying!" Jiu Li shouted angrily, pointing at the coffin. "If Shi Qi hadn't helped, how could you have dragged the body back from the yamen by yourself?!"
Yue Hong suddenly trembled with fright, unsure if she was being tricked, and immediately changed her story, admitting, "Yes, yes, it was Shi Qi who helped. He accompanied me to the yamen this morning to retrieve the body. But I really couldn't find anyone else to help, and he happened to come to town to see me today, so I asked him for a hand. Hey, we didn't kill anyone!"
Jiuli smiled at her, "How do you know he was murdered?"
She stared wide-eyed at her surroundings. “Hey, this isn’t what your officials said. They said she might have been murdered, or she might have fallen into the river and drowned, which is why they opened her up to examine the body.”
Jiuli suddenly felt awkward. Just then, Yu Qi walked from the corner to the coffin and asked, "Is this coffin nailed shut?"
Yue Hong shook her head, "Not yet. The lid doesn't fit perfectly. I'll have to go to the coffin seller tomorrow to get a replacement."
Yu Qi glanced at her and said, "Alright, don't seal the coffin tomorrow either. I'm coming to open it and examine the body." With that, he walked towards the courtyard gate.
Yue Hong was startled again and hurriedly said, "No, we've already checked it, why do we have to check it again? What if we wake up his ghost?!"
Jiuli stood up and glanced at her. "Since you say you didn't kill anyone, what are you afraid of? The grievances have their perpetrators, and the debts have their debtors. Even if there are ghosts, they can't find you. Go find the person who killed him."
As they spoke, they followed Yu Qi out of the Tang family's house. Fortunately, the moon was full today, illuminating the street so brightly that the two of them could see each other even without lanterns.
Jiuli leaned close to Yu Qi and asked, "Uncle, you've been staring at that water vat in the yard. Is that where the person drowned?"
Yu Qi paused for a moment, then shook his head. "It's a bit hard to see clearly at night. We'll call Zhang Da to come and check again tomorrow. Besides, if we're going to do an autopsy, we need someone from the government to witness it. After all, we're not government officials."
A breeze picked up, making it a little chilly. Yu Qi glanced down at her and asked, "Aren't you cold?"
"How could it be cold in the middle of summer? Even if the wind blows at night, it will be cool and not cold."
He turned his gaze back and said, "You've always been susceptible to the wind since you were little; you even catch a cold in the summer."
She has always refused to admit that she is somewhat frail, saying, "That's because the mountain winds in the countryside are a bit cold; I don't feel it in the city."
He felt relieved, remained silent for a moment, and then suddenly asked, "Why did you say I was Qi Xubai just now?"
Judging from his tone, he seemed a little angry. Jiu Li glanced at his face, but his expression was still the same as usual. She said, "If you think of him, then you should say it's him. If you say you are Lord Wang, then no one will believe you. Everyone knows that Lord Wang is quite old."
Was this a compliment on his youthful appearance? Yu Qi didn't know whether to laugh or be angry. He knew he shouldn't ask, but he couldn't help but press on: "Why did you think of him?"
Jiuli was a little confused. Why else? Naturally, mentioning the yamen made her think of the officials. But she felt it was strange that he asked such an unnecessary question. Was it that she could think of him or not?
She couldn't figure it out, so she glanced at him and said, "It just came to mind naturally."
"Do you think about him often?"
She looked up at the moon and suddenly felt a sense of ease. "Didn't I just visit his residence a couple of days ago? When you say 'often,' how often do you mean you think about him? Would thinking about him every two or three hours count as 'often'?"
He didn't say anything and walked right into the alley near the ceremonial gate. The walls on both sides blocked most of the moonlight, so his face was no longer visible. But when he saw the glint in his eyes, he didn't feel warmth, but rather a chilling aura.
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Author's note: Thank you for reading.
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