Chapter 30: No Good Banquet 9 Life is a Play
Qiu Anping withdrew his hand and looked at the person who spoke.
The night was pitch black, and there were no lights in the passage. The full moon was half-obscured by passing dark clouds, flickering, and the clear light it cast could only barely illuminate everything in front.
He was a young man of about twenty, dressed in ordinary cloth, his sleeves and trouser legs tied with rope. He looked extremely capable. He walked from the darkness at the end of the passage, his back straight, approaching step by step. Although the corners of his lips were clearly smiling, his eyes were like sharp swords, flashing coldly in the moonlight.
He had seen this man yesterday. His name was He Xuan. He followed the only young lady at the banquet, watching her all the time with his eyes, as if everything around him had nothing to do with him except the young lady.
Now it seems that it was just an illusion.
He had an air of dignity that was definitely not that of an ordinary person; how could he possibly be a boy in a coffin shop?
Qiu Anping stared at He Xuan intently, only to see He Xuan's smile grow wider and wider, while his own mood grew increasingly irritable. He twirled his fingers and snorted coldly, "It's Brother He! It's a dark and windy night. Where are you coming from, Brother He?"
He Xuan stretched, moving his arms, and unknowingly loosened the bandages around his forearms. He smiled and said, "I couldn't sleep, so I went to the back garden to stretch my muscles." He tilted his head and looked around. Seeing that the passage was empty, he gave a fake look of surprise. "I remember Brother Qiu lived in the east courtyard. Why are you here? But where are you going?"
"What a coincidence! I couldn't sleep either, so I wandered around the house and ended up here before I knew it. I thought I heard some noise in the yard where you live, and was about to go in and take a look when you came."
He Xuan said meaningfully, "So that's how it is. I was wondering who you followed here." He glanced at the half-open door and said with a smile, "My sister lives in this courtyard. Brother Qiu, it's better not to come in and out casually. Otherwise, people will misunderstand that you have ulterior motives and are a pervert."
Qiu Anping chuckled, his smile not reaching his eyes. "I was negligent. Since Brother He is here, I will leave first." He tilted his head slightly, his gaze seeming to penetrate the wooden door. "Brother He, you should be careful when you go back. What if the murderer is hiding in the yard and accidentally hurts you? That would be terrible."
After he finished speaking, Qiu Anping turned and left without lingering. He Xuan stood there, watching him leave, not moving for a long while, until he heard what sounded like a mouse rustling away behind the courtyard gate. A moment later, there was a soft sound, as if the door was closing. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
Everything returned to silence. He Xuan stared at the lonely shadow on the bluestone slab and sighed.
Ah Shu is right, people really can't lie.
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Xun Shu lifted her skirt and carefully moved back into the room. After gently closing the door, she realized that her clothes were already soaked with cold sweat.
She leaned against the door, staring at the darkness in front of her, her mind full of the scene just now.
If He Xuan hadn't suddenly arrived, she would have been caught red-handed by Qiu Anping. Would he kill her to silence her? Was he the murderer of Magistrate Zhao? What was he doing here tonight? Was he with the man from before? Or did he follow him here?
There were so many suspicious points about Qiu Anping that Xun Shu didn't know where to start thinking for a moment.
As for He Xuan——
Xun Shu bit her lips lightly, wanting to escape in her heart, but still forcing herself to think further.
When she met the injured He Xuan in the mountains, she did look at his face and palms and concluded that he was a wealthy and powerful man, so she rescued him and brought him back to the coffin shop.
She was very self-protective and didn't want to interfere with the karma of others. She did have ulterior motives in saving him. From this point of view, it was understandable that He Xuan was hiding something.
But, they have been living together for more than half a year, is he still unwilling to believe her? If the speculation about his memory recovery is true, he has countless opportunities to tell the truth, why has he never spoken?
Is she really that stupid in his mind?
Because of her profound understanding of the mystical arts, she intentionally slowed her observations of those around her, unwilling to delve into the truth or investigate the reasons behind her actions. However, this didn't mean she was foolish. Ever since the case of Madam Zhao had occurred and she had been drawn into it, He Xuan had shown many strange traits, such as his keen understanding of the case and his familiarity with the laws of the prison system. If these could be attributed to residual memories, an involuntary act, then Xun Shu could not find a reasonable explanation for his sudden questioning and the sudden burst of pressure he had unleashed when he went to visit Zheng yesterday.
It was just a moment, which might be insignificant in the eyes of others, but for Xun Shu, who lived with He Xuan day and night, it was enough for her to realize that the person next to her might not be the familiar old friend, and it was enough to make her feel disappointed.
During the past six months together, she and Jiang Zheng had treated him sincerely and truly considered him a family member. She had originally thought that he must be a poor man born in a wealthy place, having been missing for so long and with no one from his family looking for him. This made her feel even more sorry for him. But if he really remembered something but kept it secret and refused to tell her, then everything would be different.
He must have wanted something, so he concealed his identity and continued to stay in the coffin shop. But I don't know if what he wanted or wanted to know was related to her.
If it's a secret, it's fine. But what if it's a conspiracy?
Xun Shu's body slid down the door panel to the ground, he sat down with his knees bent, his arms wrapped around his legs, his head resting on his knees, his whole body looking listless.
Also, why did he suddenly go out tonight? Where did he go, what did he do, who did he meet? Tomorrow morning, should she pretend that nothing had happened, or should she question him about what was going on?
My heart seemed to be entangled with a huge ball of silk threads, red, green, blue and yellow, tightly wrapped around it, unable to separate and unable to breathe.
Xun Shu sat for a while longer, her legs and feet numb and her limbs cold, but she still couldn't think of a solution. She scratched her head, leaned against the doorframe, and struggled to get up. She stretched her numb limbs, then walked dejectedly to the bed and dove into the covers.
The room was pitch black, and Xun Shu's movements lost some of their accuracy. With a crisp "bang", she bumped her head against the corner of the bed, and a big bump instantly appeared on her forehead.
She had no time to care about the wound on her head. She used her hands and legs to crawl to the innermost side of the bed, touched the loose wooden board that she had knocked against, knocked on it with her knuckles, and heard the same hollow sound again.
There's a secret compartment underneath.
She groped in the darkness, found the fulcrum and pried it apart with force, and the secret compartment that had been sealed for many years finally saw the light of day again.
This secret compartment is about three inches long and two inches wide. It contains some paper-like things, and I don’t know what is written on them.
It was late at night and Xun Shu couldn't see clearly. Because of what happened just now, she didn't want to light a lamp and let others know that she hadn't rested yet. She could only put the matter aside and thought about looking at it again after dawn tomorrow.
He Xuan's figure and the yellowed papers kept floating in his mind. Xun Shu tossed and turned all night, and finally made it to dawn. He could no longer bear it, so he took out all the papers in the secret compartment, walked to the window in his slippers, pushed it open, and took a closer look in the dim light.
The paper had already turned yellow and would break if not handled with care. The handwriting on it was elegant and flowing, like a woman's.
Xun Shu flipped through the pages one by one and read them carefully.
The contents written on the paper are all daily trivialities, including the complex relationships in a large family house, the difficulty of managing the household chores, and the joy of watching children grow up.
This is the daily record of a mistress of the house, a mother.
The author's name was not mentioned in the text. Xun Shu was curious about his identity, so she looked more carefully and finally found a clue.
"...I've been feeling uneasy lately, as if something's about to happen. Shu'er has been feeling down lately, and I'm worried. A few days ago, my husband said he wanted to dig a pond in the backyard so we could escape the summer heat and cool down. I originally disagreed, but then I thought about how Shu'er has loved water since she was a child. If we could bring some running water into the house, I hope she'd find joy again..."
Shu'er...
Magistrate Zhao had addressed Zheng as "Ah Shu," and Jiang Zheng had also mentioned that the daughter of the former Chaozhou magistrate had a single name, "Shu." If she was right, the person who wrote these diaries must be the former owner of this courtyard, the former magistrate's wife, and Zheng's mother.
Xun Shu continued to read.
The following papers did not mention Zheng Shu again, but contained a lot of things related to the pond in the backyard.
"...I don't know what my husband is thinking. The weather is still cold and the ground is frozen, yet he's in such a hurry to start digging a pond. Moreover, it's just a pond in his own yard, so why invite so many people to watch? He even brought County Magistrate Feng and several people dressed as Taoist priests in and out of the backyard several times, showing no regard for the women in the backyard...I must tell Shu'er tomorrow not to leave the yard for the time being, so as to avoid being bumped into..."
This must have happened sometime in the winter, but I don't know which year it was. I'll ask Zheng when I get a chance; maybe she still remembers the exact time.
Xun Shu flipped through a few more pages.
This diary did not record daily activities, and she soon turned to the last page.
"...Every rainy season, I'm always upset. A few days ago, my husband told me that several nearby counties were submerged by heavy rain, causing a flood. Many victims have fled to Chaozhou for refuge. It's truly merciful... Come to think of it, my husband hasn't been home for a while, and it must be because of this... When the rain stops, I'll definitely take Shu'er to the temple to pray for my husband and the people of Chaozhou."
The flood five years ago was an indelible pain in the hearts of countless people. After the flood, a plague broke out in Chaozhou. Countless people lost their lives in this disaster, and countless families were left broken by it.
It was during this disaster that she was picked up by the kind-hearted Jiang Zheng and taken to the coffin shop, where she had a place to live.
She had just turned ten that year, and a major disaster had struck. She doesn't remember many things clearly. She only vaguely remembers that after the weather cleared, many high-ranking officials arrived from the capital, and many people died, leaving the people of Chaozhou in a state of panic. A year later, Magistrate Zhao took office, and everything returned to normal.
I think that when this last diary was written, the disaster in Chaozhou City happened.
What was written in the diary seemed to have nothing to do with the death of County Magistrate Zhao. Xun Shu took a few more glances at it, thought for a moment, and then carefully put it into his bag.
This courtyard must have been where Zheng's mother once lived, and the papers were preserved because of the hidden compartment. Now that the deceased is gone, and the case has nothing to do with them, it would be better to hand them over directly to Zheng Shu, so that they can at least keep a memory.
Xun Shu had just put the paper away when he heard the sound of a door opening in the wing room on the left. He looked up and saw He Xuan.
The sun rose, its rays illuminating He Xuan's body and face, radiant and exceptionally bright. He seemed to be surprised to see her at this moment. He froze for a moment, then smiled and waved, "Ah Shu! Did you sleep well last night?"
This sentence sounded like a test. Xun Shu said slowly: "I'm fine. How about you? Did you sleep well last night?"
He Xuan's expression remained normal, his smile bright and unclouded. "I ate a bit too much last night and had trouble sleeping, so I went for a walk in the back garden. On my way back, I ran into Qiu Anping. I think he's quite strange. What do you think, Ah Shu?"
This sounded very true, and Xun Shu nodded perfunctorily: "It is indeed a bit strange."
"What's wrong with your forehead?" He Xuan looked surprised and walked quickly to the window. He wanted to touch the purple bruise on Xun Shu's forehead through the window, but he was afraid of hurting her, so he stiffly retracted his outstretched fingers. "It looks like a bump. Did you bump into something while walking carelessly?"
He was quick to recognize her. Xun Shu slowly raised his head and was about to say something when the courtyard door was violently pushed open from the outside. In a moment, Fang Yan appeared before them, his face filled with shock and anxiety. He shouted, "Oh no! County Magistrate Feng has tied up Zheng and says she's the murderer. He wants to try the case in the main court! There are still many doubts in this case. How can they be so careless? What should we do?"
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