After Lu Ying regained consciousness, her body remained weak. She issued orders for her subordinates to follow the plan and investigate guests who had left false names and addresses at the Si family inn in separate groups, searching for new suspects without any errors.
Lu Ying was always swift and decisive. Once she gave orders, her subordinates “swarmed out like bees from a disturbed hive.”
Only Wang Daxia, who had just joined the Embroidered Uniform Guard yesterday, remained at the office since Lu Ying hadn’t had time to assign him a task yet.
On any normal day, Wang Daxia would have been delighted—while others braved the scorching sun to investigate cases, he could earn money without doing anything.
But Wei Caiwei and Lu Ying were alone together, and they had driven him out. Wang Daxia felt deeply hurt—even such good fortune as lying around earning money couldn’t cheer him up, showing how deeply wounded he was this time!
Wang Daxia was heavy-hearted and lost his appetite. At noon, though he could normally eat three bowls of rice, he only managed two.
He was forbidden from entering Lu Bing’s courtyard, but after lunch, his scheming heart refused to die. He circled around the courtyard walls, looking for a gap to climb over and secretly observe what Wei Caiwei and Lu Ying might be doing in the room.
But it was useless.
There were no trees around the courtyard to aid climbing, and watchtowers were positioned at the four cardinal directions—east, south, west, and north—with guards taking turns on duty. Seeing Wang Daxia lurking suspiciously near the walls, they shot a headless arrow at him as a warning: “Hey! Go away!”
The arrow embedded itself in the mud beside Wang Daxia’s shoe.
Wang Daxia immediately raised both hands high and took three steps away from the wall. “I’m Wang Daxia. I want to see if Commander Lu has recovered from his heatstroke.”
The guard said: “Retreat! You can only enter with superior’s orders.”
Wang Daxia had to withdraw. After walking about ten steps, another feathered arrow landed beside his shoe. Looking back, he saw the guard at the watchtower waving at him: “Commander Lu wants you to come in.”
It turned out that Wei Caiwei heard the commotion at the watchtower and worried that Wang Daxia didn’t understand the rules and might rashly barge in. What if something happened and he got injured or killed?
So she informed the resting Lu Ying of the situation, and Lu Ying ordered the guards to let him in.
Wang Daxia entered the courtyard and walked directly toward Lu Ying’s room.
The guard leading the way said: “You’re going the wrong way. It’s over here.”
He was actually led straight to Wei Caiwei’s room!
This morning, saying she needed to treat his illness made keeping him in her room barely acceptable, but it was already afternoon—why was he still in her room?
Wang Daxia’s stomach felt sour, as if he had monopolized all the sour plum soup in the cafeteria. He stood at the door, raised his fist to knock, but never brought it down.
What if he opened the door and saw the scene he least wanted to witness?
Without him knocking, Wei Caiwei proactively opened the door. “Come in quickly, all the cool air is escaping.”
To cool Lu Ying down, the room contained two large water tanks piled high with ice, making the entire room refreshingly cool.
Wang Daxia slipped inside, and Wei Caiwei immediately closed the door. Lu Ying was half-reclining on a beauty couch, intently studying a large map of Beijing’s various districts on the wall, as if trying to imprint the map in her mind.
Wei Caiwei had returned to her desk, holding a medical book with “Miscellaneous Words on Female Medicine” written on the cover, authored by “Tan Yunxian.” There was a leaf bookmark in the medical book. Wei Caiwei turned to the bookmarked page, continued reading intently, and occasionally wrote excerpts in a small notebook.
So they were each busy with their own tasks, with no improper behavior.
This scene made the anxious Wang Daxia feel guilty: My mind is too dirty, thinking ill of these two. Lu Ying is an old-fashioned person, and Doctor Wei likes dashing, understanding, and charming young men like me. Nothing would happen between these two!
Thinking this, the gloom in Wang Daxia’s heart immediately dispersed, turning from cloudy to sunny.
Both were busy and neither paid attention to him. Wang Daxia remembered he had entered under the pretext of inquiring about his superior’s condition, so he first ran to the beauty couch, half-squatted down, and flatteringly began pounding Lu Ying’s legs with both fists. “Is Commander Lu feeling better? Commander Lu is magnanimous and won’t hold my mistakes against me, right?”
Wei Caiwei couldn’t bear to watch such fawning behavior and lowered her head to continue reading.
Lu Ying naturally enjoyed Wang Daxia’s leg massage. “This wasn’t your fault to begin with. I got heatstroke myself.”
Having received confirmation, Wang Daxia immediately clasped his fists: “Commander Lu is magnanimous and doesn’t hold it against me. I will definitely serve Commander Lu with complete devotion from now on, until death!”
Lu Ying raised her hand slightly. “Not for me, but for the Embroidered Uniform Guard. You eat the court’s salary, not my private money. Also, now that you’ve joined the Embroidered Uniform Guard, you should address yourself as ‘this subordinate’ when speaking to superiors.”
Wang Daxia said: “This subordinate obeys orders!”
Lu Ying said: “Stand up and speak. You don’t need to massage my legs. You’re here to serve on duty, not to be my servant.”
Wang Daxia continued flattering: “Commander Lu cherishes his troops and shows consideration for subordinates. This subordinate is truly moved.”
Lu Ying thought: If this guy went down the wrong path, he’d definitely be a great villain.
From the corner of his eye, Wang Daxia watched Wei Caiwei, who still presented herself as a widow. She looked so beautiful when reading seriously…
Lu Ying said: “Alright, now that you’ve seen I’m fine, you can leave.”
With Wei Caiwei here, how could Wang Daxia bear to leave?
Moreover, seeing that Lu Ying and Caiwei kept to themselves like oil and water with no hint of intimacy, he immediately “forgot the pain once the wound healed,” casting aside all his wild thoughts. Like weeds full of vitality, he was back in action!
Wang Daxia bowed his waist and rubbed his hands together. “This subordinate eats one day’s salary, so must work one day for the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Everyone else has gone out to investigate suspects, leaving this subordinate with nothing to do, which is quite shameful. So I’ll stay by Commander Lu’s side on duty. Please give any orders you wish.”
Lu Ying said: “Actually, you only need to do one thing.”
Wang Daxia leaned in closer. “Please speak, Commander Lu.”
Lu Ying said: “Shut up, stay quiet, and don’t disturb Doctor Wei and me.”
Wang Daxia nodded repeatedly, placed his index finger on his lips in a shushing gesture, then retreated to sit on the arhat bed by the window, occasionally stealing glances at Wei Caiwei.
Being husband and wife in the previous life, Wei Caiwei had a telepathic connection and sensed Wang Daxia’s gaze, so she looked up.
When their eyes met, Wang Daxia quickly averted his gaze as if caught in adultery.
Wei Caiwei remembered how she had urgently treated Lu Ying’s heatstroke this morning, calling guards to forcibly “tear” Wang Daxia away. Thinking now of Wang Daxia’s shocked and disappointed expression when being carried away, she felt somewhat guilty.
Wei Caiwei wanted to make amends, so she put down “Miscellaneous Words on Female Medicine,” picked up a plate of purple jade-like grapes, and placed them on the table in front of Wang Daxia. “Eat these. They’re grapes tributed from the south, bestowed by His Majesty to Lord Lu.”
Whenever Emperor Jiajing received something good, he would invariably bestow a portion on his milk brother Lu Bing. Lu Bing saved them for his precious daughter Lu Ying, who gave them to Wei Caiwei as thanks for helping keep her secret.
Wei Caiwei was offering flowers to Buddha by giving them to her deceased husband, and through this roundabout way, they reached Wang Daxia.
Beijing’s grapes weren’t ripe yet, making purple grapes a rare delicacy.
Wei Caiwei wanted to give a slap followed by a sweet date to comfort Wang Daxia.
Wang Daxia ate them with his mouth but felt the sweetness in his heart. As the saying goes, when basic needs are met, other thoughts arise—Wang Daxia’s extinguished passion rekindled from the ashes.
The room was cool and comfortable. After finishing the grapes, Wang Daxia covered his mouth and yawned several times, then actually lay down on the arhat bed and fell asleep.
Meanwhile, in the torture chamber of the imperial prison, Zhou Xiaoqi had been brutally tortured for a day and night. His left eye had been blinded by dripping wax, his body was completely battered, and he only wished for a quick death.
The jailers naturally wouldn’t let him die. They ordered him to be carried away for proper medical treatment and delivered a thick stack of confessions to Lu Ying.
Lu Ying could now walk normally, though she was still somewhat weak. She was a principled person—since Ding Wu hadn’t yet come to verify Wei Caiwei’s identity, Wei Caiwei remained one of the suspects. It wouldn’t be appropriate to read the confessions in front of her, so she woke Wang Daxia and asked him to move the confessions to her own room.
Under severe torture, Zhou Xiaoqi had completely broken down and confessed everything he knew. He revealed how he resented Lu Ying being favored by Lu Bing, how he had snatched away the Chen Qianhu father-son death case, how he had followed Lu Ying’s investigation activities, how he learned that Wei Caiwei was the prime suspect, how he climbed over her wall to enter her home, preparing drugs and torture instruments while waiting for Wei Caiwei to return…
Lu Ying read through the confessions one by one, her gaze settling on a particular line.
According to Zhou Xiaoqi’s testimony, after Chen Qianhu’s mysterious death, Yan Shifan—the only son of Chief Minister Yan Song, Lu Ying’s second sister’s father-in-law, and Left Vice Minister of Public Works—had asked Zhou Xiaoqi whether Chen Qianhu had recently mentioned his former in-law He Qianhu.
Zhou Xiaoqi was Chen Qianhu’s personally promoted confidant, his most loyal dog who was almost inseparable from him, naturally most informed about Chen Qianhu’s recent activities.
Lu Ying read this and circled the message with a red brush.
Wang Daxia, who was standing nearby organizing the confessions, said: “How strange. At that time, we hadn’t yet gone to Huaqing Pool to drag out the book boy for interrogation, nor had we investigated Wang Pozi at West Three Li River, or dug up the He family graves at midnight. Why did Vice Minister Yan seem to have prophetic knowledge, asking Zhou Xiaoqi about the He family?”
Wang Daxia whispered: “Could Vice Minister Yan know about Chen Dalang’s rape of First Miss He back then?”
Lu Ying was actually thinking the same thing.
Yan Shifan couldn’t have mentioned the He family, who had been dead for ten years, without reason.
Lu Ying said: “No walls are completely soundproof. Perhaps the evil deeds of the Chen father and son leaked out somehow, and Vice Minister Yan learned of them. Chen Qianhu used silver to bribe Vice Minister Yan to conceal the matter.”
Hearing this, Wang Daxia was so shocked he stepped backward. “Commander Lu, this Vice Minister Yan is your relative! How can you speculate about your own family like this?”
Everyone knew that Lu Bing and Yan Shifan were connected by marriage.
But Lu Ying showed no hesitation whatsoever.
Lu Ying wrote Yan Shifan’s name in her small notebook. “Relatives are relatives, but a case is a case. There’s no contradiction. Even Doctor Wei is still a suspect, so naturally I’ll investigate this lead about Vice Minister Yan.”
Wang Daxia clicked his tongue repeatedly. “Isn’t this like flood waters washing away the Dragon King’s temple—family members not recognizing family members? If Commander Lu investigates Vice Minister Yan, what about Commander Lu’s second sister and brother-in-law?”
Wang Daxia thought Lu Ying was Lu Bing’s illegitimate son.
Lu Ying said indifferently: “My second sister is well-educated and reasonable, and my brother-in-law is a gentleman accomplished in both civil and military arts. They won’t obstruct my search for the truth. Besides, Vice Minister Yan isn’t a suspect yet. Since he mentioned He Qianhu, he must know some inside information from back then. What if He Qianhu still has relatives or friends who killed the Chen father and son to avenge the He family? This is a new lead that I’ll personally follow.”
Wang Daxia said: “But Commander Lu just suspected that Chen Qianhu used silver to bribe Vice Minister Yan. This… they’re all family, so it’s not good to investigate, right?”
Lu Ying smiled faintly: “Stop pretending in front of me. I know my second sister’s father-in-law’s behavior better than you do. He loves money even more than you. When others come bearing money asking him to handle affairs, as long as it’s not rebellion, he’ll take the money and get things done. Not just Chen Qianhu—my father has personally bribed Vice Minister Yan several times. Vice Minister Yan doesn’t refuse because my father is his in-law; he takes it all.”
Wang Daxia was dumbfounded: The world of the powerful is so terrifying! I thought I was already quite money-loving and shameless, but apparently I still overestimated myself!
Author’s Note:
Yan Song and Yan Shifan, father and son: When it comes to being villains, we two are professionals.