The warmth of Lu Chang’s palm seemed to contain boundless strength, solidly enveloping her fist, gradually causing her to unclench it and relax.
Ming Shu thought she had finally said those words.
Though spoken in a moment of impulse, and though she felt sorry for Madam He and Headmaster Xu, she didn’t regret it – her mind was clear. Tang Li was already involved in a murder case; every detail about her could be crucial to solving it. She shouldn’t withhold anything at this moment.
Her words struck like thunder from clear skies. Before others could react, Xie Xi’s expression had already changed. The usually refined young man suddenly turned threatening and vicious, snarling: “Don’t spout nonsense and make wild accusations!”
Everyone stood in the hall, only three to five steps apart from each other. Xie Xi looked as if he might lunge at Ming Shu. Lu Chang’s hand hadn’t left Ming Shu’s, and seeing this, he quickly pulled her behind him, positioning himself in front of her. He raised his arm to maintain distance, saying coldly: “Stay away from her.”
“Insolent!” Zhao Jingran slammed the table again. “Xie Xi, step back!”
“Your Highness, she’s the one making baseless accusations and slandering others!” Xie Xi had lost his previous composure, anxiety showing between his brows.
“Whether she’s talking nonsense can be verified with a simple investigation. There’s no need to shout in front of His Highness,” Lu Wenhan’s smile vanished as he gestured for the guards to proceed.
Song Qingzhao had already forcefully pulled Xie Xi back, pressing him down, saying only: “Xie Xi, calm down!”
“Let go! Don’t go after her!” Xie Xi cried anxiously.
“No need to investigate!” Headmaster Xu fell to his knees again with a thud, hanging his head as he confessed, “Your Highness, this is Xu Yan’s fault! Tang Li is a girl… she is Su Changhua’s only daughter, Su Tangri.”
“Preposterous! You are preposterous!” Zhao Jingran raged, then berated Xie Xi, “And you, Xie Xi! You knew about this all along, yet showed no propriety, even helped conceal and hide it? Do you realize you’re facing a murder case today!”
“She wouldn’t kill anyone!” Xie Xi, still half-restrained by Song Qingzhao, insisted stubbornly.
“Xie Xi, calm down! We haven’t said she’s the killer – isn’t the investigation still ongoing?” Song Qingzhao, seeing his friend transform into a different person, felt both anxious and angry, wishing he could slap him twice to wake him up.
“Bring Tang Li here,” Zhao Jingran commanded in a deep voice.
Xie Xi struggled but couldn’t break free from Song Qingzhao’s grip. He turned to Song Qingzhao and said: “Qingzhao, we’ve been close friends for years. For my sake, please help her.”
Song Qingzhao frowned: “Xie Xi, what do you want me to help her with? His Highness is presiding here today and will surely uncover the truth. If she’s not the killer, what help does she need? If she is the killer, who in this world could help her?” After speaking, he pressed Xie Xi down firmly again. “Xie Xi, stop talking. If you continue, our last bit of friendship won’t survive. Have you spared even a thought for Wen’an in your actions today? She is your betrothed wife.”
At the mention of Wen’an’s name, Xie Xi suddenly fell silent.
Lu Wenhan picked up Ming Shu’s notebook from the table and waved to her: “Little girl, come here.”
Ming Shu took half a step forward before realizing Lu Chang still hadn’t let go of her hand. She shook her hand, slightly embarrassed: “Brother, it’s fine now, you can let go!”
Only then did Lu Chang release her. Ming Shu walked several steps to Lu Wenhan’s side, saying: “What does the Minister need?”
Lu Wenhan pointed at her drawing and asked: “Since there are no footprints in the flower bed of the Bamboo Border, perhaps the killer went in another direction after leaving the bamboo grove. Can you think of any other possibilities?”
His words awakened Ming Shu. She flipped back two pages, tore one out with a “rip,” and placed it beside the map of the Bamboo Border.
“Songlin Academy is too large, and my notebook is too small to fit on one page,” Ming Shu explained with an awkward smile, seeing Lu Wenhan’s slightly surprised look. She then pointed at the map, “The Bamboo Border connects to two other places – south to Yusong Lodge and north to the servants’ quarters. The servants’ quarters are busy preparing today’s meals with many people around – the killer wouldn’t run there after committing murder. I guess they went to Yusong Lodge. Yusong Lodge is…”
Yusong Lodge was where ordinary students resided, and where Tang Li lived. Because she was disguised as a man, Madam He had specifically arranged a single room for her when assigning accommodations.
Ming Shu looked toward Xie Xi as she spoke.
Xie Xi had now calmed down from the shock and anger of Tang Li’s identity being exposed, but stubbornly clung to one point: “So what? I said I lost the sleeve arrow – I never gave it to her. Without the weapon, how could she harm anyone?”
“Your Highness, Minister Lu, Tang Li has been brought,” a guard announced, leading someone into the hall.
Everyone’s gaze turned toward them.
Tang Li bowed with a lowered head. She wore a loose robe, her hair neatly tied up, and her mannerisms showed no obvious flaws – she appeared to be just a handsome young scholar. Not yet aware that her identity had been exposed, she only felt the strange way everyone was looking at her, and seeing Headmaster Xu collapsed on the ground, she began to panic.
“Miss Su.” Zhao Jingran waved his hand, having the guards present both the sleeve arrow case and arrow to her. “Look at these. Do you recognize them? Are they yours?”
Tang Li’s expression changed at this form of address, her first panicked glance going to Xie Xi.
Xie Xi struggled again, trying to break free from Song Qingzhao’s grip to rush to her side, but failed.
“His Highness is asking you a question. Why are you looking at Xie Xi?” Lu Wenhan’s expression, now devoid of smiles, showed traces of darkness as he stared at Tang Li.
Tang Li then looked to Headmaster Xu. He only said: “They all know now. Just tell the truth.” He said nothing more.
She could only speak: “This… these aren’t mine. I’ve never seen them before.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Xie Xi closed his eyes briefly, seeming slightly relieved.
However, someone unexpectedly interrupted.
“Y-Your Highness, we’ve both seen this thing!” One of Yang Zishu’s two friends who had been brought by the guards spoke up.
These two, one named Zhang Song and one named Peng Guo, happened to be tall and short, fat and thin respectively. Because they were close to Yang Zishu, they had been brought to await questioning. The one speaking now was the tall, fat one called Peng Guo.
“Yes, we’ve seen it,” Zhang Song also spoke up.
“Where did you see it?” Zhao Jingran asked.
“In… in Tang Li’s possession,” Peng Guo began but shrank back when Xie Xi glared at him.
“Speak freely, don’t be afraid. His Highness is present – no one would dare act rashly,” Lu Wenhan said.
Peng Guo quickly nodded and said: “For the past month, Zishu has always secretly watching Tang Li for some reason. Zhang Song and I followed him and did plenty of watching too. The day before Young Master Xie came to the academy, we saw him teaching Tang Li how to use this in the bamboo grove. A few days before Your Highness’s arrival, Zishu took us to find Tang Li… to force her to write poetry for him to present to Your Highness. We saw this object in her room then.”
“This student saw it at the same time as Peng Guo,” Zhang Song hurried to confirm.
“Bring that piece of writing for them to identify,” Lu Wenhan ordered.
The guards quickly brought over the piece of writing that had been under Yang Zishu’s hand when he died. Though the paper was largely soaked with blood, a few characters remained unstained. Zhang Song and Peng Guo looked at it briefly before saying one after another: “This is the one Tang Li wrote for Zishu.”
“Do you two have anything else to say? This case appears to be Tang Li, dissatisfied with Yang Zishu’s actions, using the arrow given by Young Master Xie to assassinate Yang Zishu early this morning. We have witness testimony, physical evidence, and motive – almost complete. Won’t you confess everything?” Lu Wenhan said coldly.
“I didn’t! I didn’t! Brother Xie, save me!” Tang Li suddenly stepped backward but was restrained by the nearby guards.
Lu Wenhan glanced at the darkening sky and said: “Your Highness, I believe the Kaifeng Prefect should arrive soon. These two are speaking nothing but nonsense, without a word of truth. Perhaps we should hand them over to the Kaifeng authorities – some torture might loosen their tongues.”
Xie Xi had been watching with eyes nearly bursting from their sockets, shouting “Release her, it wasn’t her,” but upon hearing Lu Wenhan’s words, he suddenly clenched his fists. As if making a momentous decision, he said: “I killed Yang Zishu! It has nothing to do with Tang Li! Besides forcing Tang Li to write for him, Yang Zishu had discovered her female identity and was constantly threatening and pressuring her. That sleeve arrow was something I had made for her self-defense. Just yesterday, that beast Yang Zishu went too far – not only forcing her to write today’s poetry but even trying to violate her. I couldn’t stand it, so I beat him to vent my anger. Later, after returning, I grew angrier the more I thought about it. So early this morning, I went to Tang Li’s room, took the sleeve arrow from her, followed him to Huantao Pavilion, and seized the opportunity to kill him, ending it once and for all. Everything was done by me alone – Tang Li had nothing to do with it.”
“Xie Xi, have you gone mad? Do you know how serious the crime of murder is?” Song Qingzhao felt Xie Xi had lost his mind.
“Brother Xie… you… I…” Tang Li slowly knelt, her eyes red and face streaked with tears, trying to speak several times but not daring to say anything.
“Xie Xi, since you say you committed the crime, tell us: where did you throw this sleeve arrow? How did you return to the Bamboo Grove Lodge after the murder? And how did you kill him? Did you hide beneath the left window or the right window?” Lu Chang spoke up, slowly presenting a series of questions.
Xie Xi was stumped by the questions. After thinking for a moment, he merely lowered his head, avoiding Lu Chang’s gaze, and said messily: “The sleeve arrow… I threw it under the window… Of course, I returned to my room through the bamboo grove and the window… I hid beneath the left window…”
This time, before Lu Chang could respond, everyone heard a crisp “bang” of shattering porcelain.
Zhao Jingran had furiously thrown the celadon teacup on the table. The cup shattered, tea splashing everywhere as he raged: “Xie Xi! You are the heir to the Marquis of Yongqing, meant to inherit the title in the future. Not only do you fail to serve the country, honor your parents, and bring glory to your family name, but you even commit such acts that disregard propriety and law, carrying on improperly with a criminal’s daughter at the academy, covering up for each other! This is a murder case! You repeatedly lie, not only making false testimony in defiance of national law and interfering with the investigation but even claiming to be the murderer to protect the real killer! How can you face your parents and clan with such behavior? I don’t know how the Marquis of Yongqing raised such an heir. When I return to the capital, I will certainly report this matter truthfully to Father Emperor. If you don’t want the title of Marquis of Yongqing, then return it to the court!”
Only then did Xie Xi awaken to the fact that his actions had implicated his family. He wanted to explain further, but Zhao Jingran no longer wished to hear his voice and waved for people to take them both away.
After the two were led away, Lu Wenhan finally advised: “Your Highness, please calm your anger. This case can be investigated further later. You’ve been at the academy for almost a day without a grain of rice – perhaps you should rest and have some food.”
Zhao Jingran’s anger hadn’t subsided, and he sat heavily back in his chair. Lu Wenhan then spoke gently to Lu Chang and Ming Shu: “You two have also worked hard all day – go drink some water and eat something.”
Ming Shu thought this Minister Lu’s face changed remarkably quickly – one moment gentle as spring sunshine, the next dark as autumn frost.
“Minister Lu, Your Highness, might this student examine the sleeve arrow case and arrow?” Lu Chang asked instead.
Lu Wenhan nodded, and the guards brought over the sleeve arrow. Lu Chang took the arrow and turned it gently in his hand, seeming to think of something, then said: “This student would like to take the sleeve arrow back to the crime scene for examination if permitted?”
“Have you found something?” Lu Wenhan asked curiously.
“This student cannot be certain, but whether Tang Li or Xie Xi committed this crime, there are aspects that don’t make sense. I’d like to go back and look again.”
“I’ll go too!” Ming Shu said immediately.
“Aren’t you hungry?” Lu Wenhan asked Ming Shu.
“Yes, but I can endure it,” Ming Shu answered honestly.
“Haha, what an honest child. Full of energy and enthusiasm – ah, youth is wonderful…” Lu Wenhan’s expression showed a trace of melancholy before he quickly recovered, saying, “Go investigate then. His Highness and I look forward to your findings.”
“Thank you, Minister Lu!” the siblings said in unison.
Lu Wenhan watched their retreating figures for a long while before withdrawing his gaze.
——–
Leaving Chongming Hall and seeing the mountains already turning grey, Ming Shu realized it was nearly evening.
What a nerve-wracking day.
“Brother, you suddenly want to take the sleeve arrow back to the crime scene – have you discovered something?” Ming Shu asked curiously as she walked alongside Lu Chang.
“Shouldn’t you eat something first?” Lu Chang worried about her hunger.
Ming Shu shook her head like a rattling drum: “I’m too anxious to waste time.”
Lu Chang stared at her for a moment, then slowly pulled a candy from his sleeve: “Here, have this.”
Ming Shu’s eyes brightened as she took the candy, asking: “Brother, why do you have this?”
Lu Chang walked straight ahead, only saying: “Guess.”
He didn’t eat candy, but this morning when he saw two pieces on the table, he thought of her and inexplicably slipped them into his sleeve. While attending the Third Prince, her meals would surely be irregular – perhaps the candy might prove useful.
Indeed, it had come in handy.
“Now Brother’s playing mysterious too? This isn’t hard to figure out – you don’t like sweets or candy, so this must have been prepared for me,” Ming Shu said indistinctly, the candy in her mouth.
Seeing her contentedly sucking on the candy, Lu Chang’s lips curved upward.
He understood her, and didn’t she understand him just as well?
After walking for a while, they reached Huantao Pavilion. The door was tightly closed with two guards standing watch. Lu Wenhan had sent someone to accompany them, and after that person exchanged greetings with the guards, they let Ming Shu and Lu Chang enter.
Yang Zishu’s body still awaited the coroner’s examination, and the scene awaited investigation by Kaifeng’s constables, so everything remained untouched except for the piece of writing that had been under Yang Zishu’s hand, which had been taken away.
The doors and windows had been closed for a while, and the complex smell in the room made Ming Shu’s chest heave. She stood at the doorway for a moment to recover before entering with Lu Chang.
Upon entering, Lu Chang first opened the closed window and then walked to it. Using a handkerchief to hold the arrow, he inserted it back into the case, then crouched down to window height with the arrow case, aiming toward where Yang Zishu had been.
Ming Shu stood aside quietly watching him. He aimed left and right for a while, then lowered his hand and closed his eyes for a brief rest before raising his hand to aim again.
This time, he moved quickly – raising, aiming, and pressing the trigger.
Whoosh—
The sleeve arrow flew from the case, but instead of flying toward Yang Zishu’s position, it veered toward the main door.
Just then, with a “creak,” the door was pushed open from outside. Song Qingzhao, who had escorted Xie Xi away, had returned after hearing they were investigating at Huantao Pavilion and followed them here, only to be startled by the incoming arrow as he entered.
Ming Shu suddenly stood straight, calling out: “Look out!”
Lu Chang also straightened up.
Fortunately, the arrow whooshed past Song Qingzhao, hitting the wooden board with a “thunk” before falling to the ground…
False alarm, but Ming Shu’s heart was still pounding. She complained to Lu Chang: “Brother, if you wanted to test the arrow you should have said so earlier – you nearly scared me to death!”
Lu Chang went to pick up the arrow, carefully examining the mark it had left on the wood.
Seeing him silent, Ming Shu could only apologize to Song Qingzhao: “Young Master Song, I’m sorry, are you alright?”
Song Qingzhao entered the room, shaking his head: “I’m fine. I heard Minister Lu say you were coming here to investigate, so I came to see.” Then, remembering their previous small arguments about Xie Xi, he said, “Ming Shu, I’m sorry. I never thought Xie Xi would be so foolish. The other day when he…”
Ming Shu’s back tingled as soon as he mentioned the other day – she couldn’t let Lu Chang know about her private interactions with Song Qingzhao, so she quickly said: “Let’s not mention the past. No one could have predicted this, and there’s nothing wrong with defending your friend from your position. Let’s drop it!”
As she spoke, she glanced at Lu Chang, meeting his slightly cold eyes.
Lu Chang stared at her – only he had noticed that Song Qingzhao had called her by name.
That “Ming Shu” sounded particularly displeasing.
Song Qingzhao nodded at Ming Shu’s words, dropping the previous matter and saying: “I came to investigate with you.” He paused, then explained, “Not to exonerate Xie Xi, but because I feel there are still many unexplained points in this case. Whether Xie Xi or Tang Li did it, some things don’t add up.”
“I understand,” Ming Shu said. She and Lu Chang felt the same way.
“Then… may I join you?” Song Qingzhao asked sincerely.
Uh? Join them? Just like that…
In front of her brother, Ming Shu dared not nod, so she looked toward Lu Chang. He had somehow already moved to the corpse’s side and was comparing the sleeve arrow to the wound on Yang Zishu’s neck. Hearing this, he turned his head, looking at Song Qingzhao with a slight smile: “Brother Song’s help would be most welcome.”
Ming Shu suddenly felt that her brother’s smile had a remarkable similarity to Minister Lu’s – placed next to Yang Zishu’s dead face, it was somewhat eerie.
“Brother Lu is too kind, thank you both,” Song Qingzhao clasped his hands in thanks, then asked, “What have you discovered?”
Lu Chang put away his smile and stood up: “The wound on Yang Zishu’s neck wasn’t made in one strike – it was stabbed at least twice, and the wound is slightly larger than the arrow.”
When they discovered the body during the day, the person had just died and the blood hadn’t congealed, with the wound soaked in blood and not visible. Now that the blood had congealed, it was easy to compare.
This statement startled both Ming Shu and Song Qingzhao.
“What does that mean? Isn’t this sleeve arrow single-shot? Even if it weren’t, the probability of hitting the same spot twice is extremely low,” Song Qingzhao said immediately.
“Brother, according to your theory, Yang Zishu might not have been killed by an arrow shot through the window?” Ming Shu quickly asked.
Lu Chang nodded, raising the sleeve arrow in his hand and continuing: “Feel the weight of this arrow. Besides being more delicate than ordinary sleeve arrows, it’s also lighter, meaning the internal components are made very thin. Such thin components necessarily wouldn’t generate much force. I just tested this arrow – its power is much less than ordinary sleeve arrows.”
As he spoke, he handed the arrow to Song Qingzhao and continued: “Sleeve arrows are close-range concealed weapons, used for surprise attacks in combat. Generally, they have a range of only twenty to thirty paces, and this one would be even less. The force weakens toward the end of its range – you saw the arrow I shot couldn’t even penetrate the wood, proving that while this arrow is delicate, it lacks power. Similarly, if the killer shot from the window, given the distance to where Yang Zishu sat, the arrow couldn’t have completely embedded itself in his neck.”
With his explanation, Ming Shu and Song Qingzhao suddenly understood.
But Lu Chang hadn’t finished: “That’s one point. Secondly, there’s quite a distance from the window to where Yang Zishu sat. To kill him with a sleeve arrow, unless the killer was highly skilled in archery, how could they achieve a neck shot? Does Xie Xi have such a precise aim?”
Song Qingzhao shook his head. Though these noble young masters practiced martial arts from childhood for physical fitness, they were far from those truly born into martial arts.
“Then Tang Li would be even less likely. According to Zhang Song and Peng Guo, Xie Xi only started teaching Tang Li to use this a few days ago. It couldn’t be her, or at least it couldn’t be her shooting from beneath the window,” Ming Shu said. “Brother, you just said Yang Zishu’s neck wound is larger than the arrow, so… do you suspect Yang Zishu wasn’t shot, but rather someone entered the room and stabbed his neck from behind, gripping the arrow by hand?”
This would also explain why Yang Zishu fell on the desk with a twisted expression without making a sound – someone must have covered his mouth and nose to prevent him from calling for help.
And Tang Li wouldn’t have had such strength.
“If so, it would explain why there were no footprints in the bamboo grove. The arrow case’s location might not have been left when the killer fled the scene, but placed there beforehand,” Song Qingzhao said.
Lu Chang nodded.
These points of analysis nearly overturned all their previous deductions.
“If they didn’t escape through the bamboo grove from Huantao Pavilion, where else could they have gone? What other paths…” Ming Shu wondered aloud, suddenly remembering something and pulling out her notebook to crouch on the ground.
“What are you doing?” Song Qingzhao asked curiously, seeing her tear page after page from her notebook.
With several “rips,” Ming Shu decisively tore out all her layout drawings and pieced them together, quickly assembling a complete view of Songlin Academy.
They had indeed overlooked one place.
“There isn’t just the Bamboo Border, there’s another place… but how did that person manage it?”
Ming Shu murmured, falling into deep thought.