Jing Kang District was the noisiest place in Bian Jing City. Although lined with shops, it wasn’t considered an upscale area, catering instead to ordinary people’s commerce. The shops along both sides of the street sold daily necessities for common folk—things like pottery jars, wicker baskets, incense, and ceremonial paper horses. At daybreak, there would be an early market where open-air vendors sold fresh goods like sheep heads, chickens, rabbits, fish, and crabs. The butchered innards were carelessly tossed into wicker baskets, blood flowing everywhere across the ground, and it wasn’t until the hour of Si that someone would begin cleaning up.
When Ming Shu arrived, the early market was just closing down. Early shoppers carrying their vegetable baskets were gradually dispersing, revealing the wet ground beneath, all covered in bloody wastewater, with a rank smell permeating the entire street. Ming Shu lifted her skirt and tiptoed, running a few steps to reach clean ground, just in time to see Ying Xun standing in front of a shop.
————
Ying Xun didn’t look well. With the pressure from above mounting, he hadn’t slept properly for two days because of Wei Xian’s case.
The deadline set by his superiors was approaching. If they couldn’t find new evidence, to satisfy the higher-ups, the Chief Constable intended to hand over Wei Chao. Wei Chao was indeed the most suspicious person—he had both motive and opportunity, and there were even witnesses who saw him following Wei Xian into the East Garden… But Ying Xun felt there were still major questions in the case, and they hadn’t found any direct evidence proving Wei Chao committed the murder. He didn’t want to rush to conclusions.
However, the investigation wasn’t going well at all. It was as if heaven itself was deliberately protecting the murderer. Even after searching the entire Wei household, they couldn’t find any useful clues. Everything seemed coincidental—how the Palace Commander happened to switch the drugged wine, giving the murderer an effortless opportunity to kill, how Wei Xian happened to enter the East Garden after being annoyed by Wei Chao, how nobody happened to see anyone else enter the East Garden, and how the crime scene happened to lack any evidence sufficient to identify the killer—except for the luminescent powder, they had found nothing.
Even though he had his suspicions, he still lacked evidence.
“Officer, the person died almost ten years ago, I can’t remember clearly. Besides, once she married into the Wei family, she became their person—even in death, she was their ghost. Why should I care about Wei’s family matters!”
The shop’s door panel was only halfway removed, and the person who appeared to be the owner was holding onto it while yawning as he answered Ying Xun’s questions.
This was an herbal drink shop with a small storefront, just big enough for a counter displaying bamboo signs listing the drink names. There was a small square table beside it, and behind that would be the kitchen for brewing drinks and cooking. The business operated downstairs while the living quarters were upstairs, just about the size of one bedroom.
Such a small shop could barely make enough to survive and couldn’t afford to hire help, so the owner typically did everything himself.
The man now leaning against the door appeared to be nearing fifty, with disheveled hair and a shiny, wrinkled face showing signs of a hangover. His clothes were in disarray as if Ying Xun had just woken him up. He looked irritated, and the shop counter hadn’t been tidied—not ready to open for business.
Ying Xun couldn’t get any new information from him, and just as he was feeling frustrated, he suddenly noticed someone peering around behind him. He immediately snapped, “Why is it you? What are you doing following me?”
Ming Shu had been peeking into the shop—besides the messy counter, there was a small table with leftover food and wine. Among them was a plate with a few remaining peach blossom-shaped pastries, two wine cups facing each other, and an empty wine jar with the character “Tribute” written on red paper.
“I’m asking you a question!” Ying Xun wanted to pull her away.
Ming Shu withdrew her gaze and said, “I came to find you.”
“What for?” Ying Xun walked out while saying, “Don’t tell me you’re here to ask about Wei Xian’s case. No comment!”
Ming Shu’s prepared words were blocked before she could speak them. She could only purse her lips. Behind them, the herbal drink shop owner had already replaced the door panel, seemingly not intending to open a shop today. The shop’s sign was half-worn and faded—Huang’s Herbal Drinks—the owner must be surnamed Huang.
“Officer Ying is investigating the deaths of Wei Xian’s two concubines, right? Is this shop owner related to Concubine Huang’s family? Is he her father?” Ming Shu guessed.
“…” Ying Xun turned to stare at her before finally saying, “No comment!”
Ming Shu nodded, not pressing him further. She looked around and said, “Officer Ying, could you wait for me a moment?”
Ying Xun frowned. “Wait for you for what?”
“Just a moment, please don’t leave!” Ming Shu smiled and ran toward the shop across from Huang’s Herbal Drinks.
Opposite Huang’s was another herbal drink shop with a bold sign—Ten Years of Business, Ancestral Secret Recipes.
Ming Shu rushed into this shop, which was twice the size of Huang’s. It was kept spotlessly clean, with over twenty varieties of herbal drinks neatly arranged on the shelves. The counter displayed several jars of signature drinks with their names attached. A woman sat behind the counter, eating pumpkin seeds while watching the shop. Seeing Ming Shu enter, she immediately wiped her hands clean and stood up with a welcoming smile.
This was how a proper business should look.
Ming Shu smiled and leaned her elbows on the counter, first placing down a few coins before asking, “Proprietress, I’d like to buy two jars of herbal drinks. What are your specialties? Please tell me about them.”
The woman began introducing the shop’s drinks, and after listening for a while, Ming Shu said, “I’m afraid of bitter tastes, big sister. Could you recommend something for me?”
The proprietress was well into her thirties, with children not much younger than Ming Shu. Hearing Ming Shu’s form of address, she beamed with pleasure. “You sweet-talking girl!”
Ming Shu continued smiling: “Has your shop been open on this street for ten years, big sister?”
“Even longer.” The proprietress selected two drinks for her while answering, “This shop was passed down through my husband’s family. It was already operating when I married, so it’s been over ten years. We’re quite well-known.”
“That’s truly an established business then, must be fresh, unlike the shop across the street.”
“Across the street? Do you mean Huang’s? What about that shop?” The proprietress became interested.
“That shop owner is dishonest. My mother was tempted by their lower prices and bought two urns of herbal drinks a few days ago. But that owner sold her drinks that had been sitting for who knows how long. When my mother opened the urns at home, the liquid had gone sour. She was so angry!”
Ming Shu feigned indignation while glancing at this shop’s price list—the prices between the two shops differed by nearly double.
“Well, I always say you get what you pay for. You can’t be too cheap when buying things,” the proprietress said with a meaningful look. “Don’t worry, young miss. Although our prices are slightly higher, our herbal drinks are made from ancestral secret recipes using genuine, quality ingredients. We’re different from other shops, especially Old Fourth Huang’s place. What can you expect from a man who survived by pawning his wife and selling his daughter? He only opened an herbal drink shop because he was jealous of our good business. Without the proper skills, he dares to brew herbal drinks! Customers come to complain every other day, and none of the residents dare buy his drinks anymore—he can only fool newcomers. Are you new to the capital, young miss?”
Ming Shu nodded: “Indeed, we just moved here recently. You seem to know their family situation well?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say I know everything, but my husband has been neighbors with Old Fourth Huang for over thirty years. I do know some of those nauseating old stories about his family.” The proprietress placed two urns of herbal drinks on the counter and leaned closer to Ming Shu.
Ming Shu’s eyes brightened as she asked, “Please tell me about it, big sister.”
————
Ying Xun was leaning against the wall outside the shop waiting for Ming Shu, growing impatient and about to leave when her voice called out.
“Officer Ying!”
He turned his head to see Ming Shu running out of the shop.
“For you.” Ming Shu reached Ying Xun and pressed a small earthen jar into his hands.
“What’s this?” Ying Xun asked, holding the jar in confusion.
“Twenty-four Herb Liver-Cooling Drink.” Ming Shu smiled, hugging her jar of sweet and sour preserved plum drink. “I noticed your liver fire seems quite strong—this will be perfect for you.”
“…” Ying Xun’s face darkened as he turned to leave.
“Don’t be angry.” Ming Shu caught up in two steps, walking alongside him. “Don’t you want to hear what the proprietress and I talked about? Old Fourth Huang, the owner of Huang’s Herbal Drinks, is the father of Huang Xing Zhi, one of Wei Xian’s two deceased concubines, right?”
Ying Xun stopped abruptly: “What are you trying to say?”
“Old Fourth Huang is a good-for-nothing rascal. He was idle in his youth, living off his parents. Even after marriage and having a daughter, he didn’t change. When his parents passed away one after another, there was no one left to keep him in check, and he became even worse—drinking and gambling, taking out his frustrations on his wife and daughter at the slightest provocation. Over twenty years ago, he couldn’t repay his gambling debts, so he pawned his wife to settle them, leaving only his daughter Huang Xing Zhi. When she came of age, he accepted a bride price from the Wei family and sent her to be a concubine, using that money to open Huang’s Herbal Drinks for a living.” Ming Shu spoke slowly and deliberately.
Ying Xun lowered his eyes: “I already knew all this information. No need for you to investigate.”
He was here to investigate the deaths of the two concubines in the Wei family. The Wei family members were tight-lipped about this matter, and although he couldn’t prove that the events from ten years ago were related to Wei Xian’s death, he had to try every possibility.
“I know you’re here to investigate the deaths of the concubines.”
“Did you find anything?” Ying Xun asked her.
Ming Shu shook her head: “News from the Wei family barely reaches the streets, let alone the cause of death of two concubines. If there was anything suspicious about Huang Xing Zhi’s death, even if Old Fourth Huang was her father, Wei Xian wouldn’t have let him know.”
From previous events, they knew Wei Xian’s methods well enough—asking Old Fourth Huang about Wei’s family secrets would be pointless.
Ying Xun didn’t want to respond. Didn’t he know this as well? He had just come to try anyway.
“Although I couldn’t find out about the deaths of the Wei family concubines, I did learn something else,” Ming Shu said.
Ying Xun looked up at her.
“Old Fourth Huang’s wife from thirty years ago, Huang Xing Zhi’s birth mother, had the surname Lu.”
Events and people from thirty years ago were barely remembered now, especially a woman who had been pawned away early on. She had left so few traces that they had almost vanished in the memories of the streets and alleys.
Ming Shu had gotten quite lucky.
“Well? Shouldn’t you thank me again?” Ming Shu said.
Sometimes women were much better at gathering information than these fierce-looking constables.
Ying Xun looked at her silently for a long while before finally speaking: “Than—”
Before he could finish saying “thank you,” Ming Shu cut him off: “Including this jar of Twenty-four Herbs, you now owe me three favors. I don’t want your thanks—I just want you to solve this case clearly so I can give Second Madam Wei a proper explanation. That shouldn’t interfere with your work, right?”
“Alright, I promise you,” Ying Xun nodded.
“Let’s drink to that.” Ming Shu clinked her jar of preserved plum juice against his earthen jar and took a hearty drink.
The sweet and sour taste was refreshingly satisfying.
Ying Xun unconsciously lifted his jar and also took a big gulp, his entire face immediately wrinkling.
Bitter, intensely bitter!
“The proprietress said their drinks use genuine quality ingredients!” Ming Shu watched Ying Xun’s face, which rarely showed any expression other than his usual one, and laughed until she could barely breathe.