◎Suspicion◎

The incident of the woman in emerald falling to her death was bound to spread through the whole city within half a day.

Qu You didn’t even get the chance to spend a night in the Bureau of Minor Offenses before the magistrate of the capital prefecture arrived in person, sweat beading on his forehead.

“Lord Zhou, the guards didn’t recognize you — my apologies for the negligence! When I went to the Ministry of Justice today to prepare the case transfer, I only then learned that you and your lady wife had also been at Fan Tower. According to the statements of the attending servers, you had no contact whatsoever with the woman who fell — in fact, you could even serve as a witness! The moment I had the statements in hand, I rushed over. Please don’t hold this against me, my lord!”

Zhou Tan said, “Procedure is procedure. You’ve worked hard.”

Qu You was somewhat surprised at how quickly he’d come. “The statements shouldn’t have been hard to gather, but for the capital prefecture to transfer a case to the Ministry of Justice, by procedure it has to go through review by the Three Judicial Offices, and the Court of Judicial Review has to be notified too — that’s at least three days’ work. And today’s incident happened less than four hours ago…”

She seemed to know this whole procedure remarkably well.

Zhou Tan glanced back at her but said nothing. The magistrate hurriedly explained, “The capital prefecture hasn’t even submitted the transfer request yet. The transfer was ordered because Chancellor Gao, who holds the reins of government, came in person to relay His Majesty’s verbal decree.”

Qu You had previously wondered whether this whole elaborate procedure could ever actually be carried out in full. Now it seemed that no matter how elaborate the procedure, all it took was one word from the emperor to speed everything up.

But how had Emperor De learned of this so quickly?

The two of them rested for a moment in the hall while the magistrate went to have a carriage prepared.

Qu You glanced around, then leaned in closer to Zhou Tan. “What did he mean by that? His Majesty already knew about this within four hours?”

“There must have been someone important in the East Tower today,” Zhou Tan said thoughtfully. “For that woman to fall to her death like that — I’m afraid…”

He didn’t finish the thought, but Qu You immediately understood what he meant. “She deliberately chose the day the reigning courtesan was performing, and perhaps she even knew there was someone important in the East Tower. If she jumped on purpose, it was probably to stir up talk, to make the matter as public as possible, in order to achieve some goal of her own.”

Zhou Tan didn’t deny her reasoning. “If she hadn’t slipped that ornament into your hand, I might not be so certain of it.”

“So was this act of hers meant to seek justice for some wrong, or to bring an accusation against someone?” Qu You recalled the peony, vividly stained crimson with blood, that she had seen from the fifth floor looking down at noon, and felt a pang of sorrow. “To use one’s own life as bait — that’s a last, desperate gamble. Since this is the only thing she left behind, we should start from here.”

“Mm.” Zhou Tan closed his eyes as if resting, and Qu You couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

After a moment, he suddenly spoke. “If you’re determined to involve yourself in this, when we get back to the Ministry of Justice, go change into men’s court clothes.”

“Why—”

“If you don’t want to, never mind.”

“I’ll change, I’ll change!” Qu You agreed at once, afraid he might change his mind.

She soon learned why Zhou Tan wanted her to dress as a man. After leaving the Ministry of Justice, on the way to Fan Tower to investigate, Zhou Tan suddenly ordered the carriage to change course. After they had traveled a while, Qu You lifted the curtain and stepped out, and saw a plaque above the entrance ahead bearing five characters.

— The Hall of Spring Breeze and Timely Rain.

Had Zhou Tan actually brought her to a pleasure house?

She followed close behind Zhou Tan as he made his way, with obvious familiarity, straight up to the fourth floor. The maids coming and going all seemed to recognize him, and silently led him into a woman’s boudoir.

The moment the door opened, Qu You caught the sweet but not cloying scent of plum blossom incense burning in the room.

Ye Liuchun sat before the table holding a round fan, her slender hand held in the grasp of a man in white. Hearing them enter, the man turned with a smile and greeted them.

It was Bai Shating!

Zhou Tan showed no surprise at all. He walked straight to the other chair at the table and sat down, gesturing with his eyes for her to sit as well. Qu You complied, and only after sitting down did it dawn on her. “When Master Thirteen said he’d bring us to ask someone, you already knew who this friend of his was?”

“He carries the scent of ‘Spring Tidings in the Snow,'” Zhou Tan said flatly. “That plum blossom fragrance from Princess Shouyang — Madam Chun is famously the only one known to wear it.”

Ye Liuchun covered her mouth and smiled radiantly. “Lord Zhou is sharp-witted.”

She turned to look at Qu You, her eyes shifting with a hundred alluring shades of charm. “This must be your lady wife, I presume?”

Her looks were only middling by comparison, nowhere near the world-conquering beauty Qu You had imagined a reigning courtesan to possess, but every smile and glance of hers carried such allure that it stirred tenderness in whoever beheld her.

Qu You stared at her, entranced, unable to speak. Ye Liuchun gave a small cough first, reaching out to smooth the hair at Qu You’s temple. “I’ve long heard the name of Miss Qu — what a lovely lily-of-the-valley hung with rain, so delicate it stirs pity in the beholder. Lord Zhou, what fine fortune with beauty you have.”

Zhou Tan, however, said coldly, “I’d ask for Madam Chun’s help.”

Qu You came back to herself and immediately pulled the hairpin ornament from her long sleeve. Ye Liuchun took it and began examining it carefully, while Bai Shating attentively poured tea for everyone. “Thanks to Lord Zhou’s good graces, otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten out of the Bureau of Minor Offenses so quickly either…”

Qu You asked, curious, “Why were you sent in there in the first place?”

Bai Shating gave an awkward laugh, glancing at Zhou Tan. “I’d had too much to drink that day, and there was a bit of a misunderstanding on a boat on the Bian River.”

“Drunk in a public place, harassing a woman of good family, and got into a fight with someone,” Zhou Tan said flatly.

Qu You was about to ask how he knew all this, when she heard him continue, “Zhou Yang may be a wastrel, but at least he’s smarter than you — he knew better than to raise his fists.”

“He was extorting me!” Bai Shating protested indignantly. “He came up in the military camps — my hitting him wouldn’t have even hurt. He turned right around and had people drag me in, all while playing the pitiful victim!”

He clicked his tongue. “That younger brother of yours really needs some proper discipline, Lord Zhou. You think I’m the only regular at the Bureau of Minor Offenses? He races his horse through crowded streets, knocks over vendors’ stalls, and mouths off however he pleases — and when trouble comes, he just drags you out to clean it up. I’d wager most of your bad reputation around the marketplace is his doing.”

Ye Liuchun picked up the cup of tea he’d just poured and took a sip, then gave him a light, helpless pat, and Bai Shating immediately fell silent.

“This ornament was made in the Liu family’s workshop on East Street — it’s a very fashionable hair accessory in the capital these days, you can see plenty just like it walking down the street.”

Qu You made a small sound of dismay. “Wouldn’t that make it nearly impossible to trace whoever bought it?”

Ye Liuchun shook her head, and pointed out a finely carved mark beneath the ornament for her to see. “Quite the opposite. The reason this particular piece from the Liu workshop became so fashionable and sold so well is that the craftsman devised a clever scheme together with a woman skilled in carving — anyone who buys this ornament can have a name engraved on it. Many young lovers use it as a token of their bond, engraving both their names together to show how much they treasure each other. So although the price runs high, people still flock to buy it.”

“Look, here — these are two surnames carved together.”

Qu You looked closely, but the characters were in seal script, which she couldn’t read. She had just set the ornament down when Ye Liuchun said, “If Lord Zhou remembers this design and goes to the Liu workshop, they keep records of the patterns for this business, with proof of purchase — it shouldn’t be hard to trace.”

Zhou Tan rose at once and gave her a slight bow of acknowledgment. “My thanks.”

He turned and started walking out, but seeing that Qu You hadn’t followed, he hesitated a moment in his steps. Qu You, quite reluctant to part with the lovely elder sister, could only promise to visit again another day, glancing back repeatedly with each step as she left the Hall of Spring Breeze and Timely Rain.

Night had already fallen over the capital. A string of festival lanterns lit the way from the Hall of Spring Breeze and Timely Rain, stretching far along the Bian River all the way to the bustling cluster of towers around Fan Tower, the whole street ringing with the sound of revelry and song.

The Ministry of Justice official who had driven their carriage earlier had somehow found a boat from somewhere. Standing at the bow, Qu You noticed that the East Tower had gone dark, only a faint flicker of light showing, standing out starkly amid the glittering towers around it. “Are the Ministry of Justice’s people at the East Tower now?”

“The capital prefecture dispersed the guests from the East Tower this afternoon. The verbal decree came down fast — the Ministry of Justice had already sent people there before I’d even left the Bureau of Minor Offenses,” Zhou Tan said, standing beside her with his hands clasped behind his back. “Though I doubt there’s much to be found inside. You and I both witnessed her fall with our own eyes — she wasn’t being chased by anyone. The most important thing is that ornament in your hand. Once we reach the East Tower, it’ll need to be taken in as evidence.”

He didn’t speak quickly, but he’d said quite a lot — Qu You could hardly recall him ever speaking this much before.

“No wonder you were so eager to go to the Hall of Spring Breeze and Timely Rain first,” Qu You said. “Well, if it needs to be taken in, so be it. You’re the one in charge at the Ministry of Justice — does it really make a difference whether it’s taken in or not?”

Zhou Tan fell silent again. Qu You had almost gotten used to his habit of avoiding conversation by now, though thinking back, even when Zhou Tan dodged a question, he usually ended up saying something else eventually. “Things are complicated within the Ministry of Justice. When we get there, stay close to me and don’t say much.”

The Ministry of Justice had left a dozen or so people at the East Tower to investigate. The moment they walked in, Qu You spotted Liang An, the man who had come looking for them before. Liang An seemed extremely nervous, bowing low to Zhou Tan with downcast eyes, not even daring to look up, and so he failed to recognize Qu You.

The two of them made a quick circuit of the fifth floor of the East Tower. There had been far too many people there at noon, and even though the guests had been dispersed immediately, no clues of any real value had been left behind.

Qu You noted down the design carved into the ornament, then handed it over to the guard collecting evidence.

From his report to Zhou Tan, Qu You learned that the only thing the fallen woman had left behind was a conical bamboo hat, discarded on the wooden staircase leading from the fourth floor up to the fifth.

Which meant she had worn the hat into Fan Tower, walked all the way up to the fifth floor, and then jumped directly.

It really had been planned in advance.

As Qu You walked out the door alongside Zhou Tan, she asked, almost offhandedly, still thinking it over, “My lord, how do you know whose hat that was?”

The guard didn’t know her identity, but seeing how close she stood to Zhou Tan, he didn’t dare be careless, and answered respectfully, “Her surname was embroidered on the hat. We’ve already confirmed she was a low-ranking courtesan from a brothel on North Street. It’s too late in the day now, but tomorrow we can bring in the madam of the establishment for questioning.”

Zhou Tan asked, “Was she from the capital originally?”

The guard answered, “Yes. This woman, surnamed Gu, was originally the daughter of farmers from the outskirts of the capital, only…”

Qu You, who had still been thinking about the hairpin ornament, was caught completely off guard by this and froze. “Wait — you said… what was her surname?”

The guard repeated it. “Gu — as in the character for grain crops. It’s a common surname among farming families on the outskirts of the capital.”

In her research into the laws and punishments of Northern Yin, Qu You had read not only the official histories’ treatises on criminal law, but also a good deal of unofficial folk anecdotes and records.

There had been a few vaguely recorded stories, with no dates and no clear beginning or end, that simply noted: during the reign of Northern Yin, a woman surnamed Gu had once fallen to her death in a bustling area of the capital, causing an uproar throughout the city, and even exposing a number of scandals involving powerful and privileged men abusing their position and forcing decent women into prostitution.

The minor clerk who had recorded this incident hadn’t written much, only vaguely noting that the matter was ultimately suppressed by whoever had been assigned to investigate it and simply faded away without resolution. Collusion between the powerful had always been common throughout history — who was to say whether the very officials in charge of the law weren’t themselves among the culprits abusing these women?

Qu You shut her eyes tightly, and the scene from earlier that day immediately came rushing back — how Zhou Tan had frozen for a moment upon seeing the woman, and how the woman, upon seeing Zhou Tan, had seemed to open her mouth as if about to say something.

Could it be… they knew each other?

Worse still, if there were even a grain of truth to the unofficial records, and that woman had truly been toyed with and driven to her death by someone powerful — then could Zhou Tan… be one of the culprits too?

Seeing that she hadn’t followed, Zhou Tan turned back, puzzled, only to find Qu You standing there staring at him, the sharp lines of her sword-brows — drawn deliberately for her male disguise — making her eyes look as cold and distant as stars.

Author’s Note:

Little Zhou: Zones out looking at Thirteen, zones out looking at the reigning courtesan too — heh, and in the end even zones out looking at me.

Youyou: Er… actually, I was thinking about something else. Like whether I’ve been thinking too highly of you.

Little Zhou: ?