Ming Huazhang was quiet for a moment, then looked downward and said: “Huashang, I am deeply moved by your care for me — but the one who was ambushed was me, and the one who is under suspicion is me. From Prince Wei’s behavior, it does not appear he yet knows that the Twin Jades are two people. You are safe. There is truly no need to get caught up in this.”
Ming Huashang had known he would say this. She felt a flicker of displeasure and said: “Do you think I’m afraid to die, or that you think I’m too foolish and will drag you down, which is why you don’t want me involved in your affairs?”
“Neither.” Ming Huazhang knew she was deliberately picking a fight, yet he still stopped before her, meeting her eyes with sincerity, and said: “I am your older brother — protecting you is my responsibility. How could I let the situation be reversed and have you put yourself at risk for my sake? If you were hurt because of my fault, I would never forgive myself for the rest of my life. I have the matter of the internal traitor in mind. You don’t need to worry about it — just go on doing what you enjoy.”
“But this is what I enjoy.” Ming Huashang puffed out her cheeks, and for some inexplicable reason she was angry. She lifted her head and looked straight at him: “There was a time when I thought that people will die sooner or later regardless, so living steadily and comfortably mattered most. But now I’ve realized — death itself is not hard to accept. What is most pitiable is dying with regrets. What I want to do, I must do right away; and the people I care about, I must treat well. I don’t want you to be hurt.”
Ming Huazhang was visibly taken aback, clearly pausing. He looked at Ming Huashang’s clear, limpid eyes — as clean and transparent as sky after rain — his heart uncertain and hesitant. Was he the one with unsavory thoughts, reading something untoward into an innocent remark? Ming Huashang had just said “the people I care about” — and had followed it immediately by referring to him.
Ming Huazhang’s heart began to beat rapidly, like drumbeats pounding against his eardrums — he almost wondered if Ming Huashang could hear it. He gripped the palm of his hand tightly, forcing his out-of-control pulse to settle down, then said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes: “Huashang has grown up — she even has someone she cares about now.”
“Yes.” Ming Huashang readily agreed, speaking lightly: “Second Brother treats me so well — of course I care about Second Brother. What a pity that I’m the only one who thinks so; Second Brother doesn’t seem to value my sincerity at all.”
Ming Huazhang knitted his brows in a way he tried to keep invisible, with the faint sensation of being teased. Her voice was too open and direct — it left Ming Huazhang unable to tell what she really meant. What exactly did she intend? What kind of “caring about” was this — caring for an older brother, or caring for a man she had feelings for?
Ming Huazhang’s eyes made an involuntary small movement. He strained to maintain his composure and said: “I’d have to see how much of Huashang’s sincerity is really there — whether this is only how she is with me, or how she is with every older brother figure.”
“If I remember correctly, I have only one older brother,” said Ming Huashang unhurriedly. “I’m not sure who Second Brother is referring to.”
Ming Huazhang was checked. He looked at the little mischief-maker still playing innocent before him, gave a faint laugh, and said without haste: “Oh, there are quite a few. All the people you’ve called ‘older brother’ — at least five or six, if not ten. Just the other day there was a ‘Elder Brother Cheng,’ who was even ahead of me in the order.”
Ming Huashang looked at him with something of a speechless expression. Men always had this strange competitive instinct she could not fathom. In the Cheng family, Cheng Xun was the eldest — she had called him Elder Brother in keeping with Cheng Siyue’s form of address, which was entirely natural. Did he expect her to reassign him a different birth order?
Ming Huashang gave a small sigh. Conveniently, she had been meaning to bring up this matter, and since it had come up, she took the chance to explain everything at once: “Young Master Cheng is a good person, but I am not what Duke Chengguo’s house is looking for, and he is not a match for me. On the night of the Lantern Festival, I already made things clear to him. Going forward we will simply be friends, each living our own lives — he has agreed, and will go back and explain everything to Duke Chengguo’s household.”
Ming Huazhang’s brow arched lightly, his eyes clearly brightening. A faint smile came to the corners of his lips, and his whole bearing turned spirited and confident: “Truly?”
“Naturally, truly.” Ming Huashang gave a little humph. “I told Father long ago that it wasn’t a suitable match, and he still insisted I go and meet the man once. That one meeting can stand as my filial duty — after that, whoever wants to go, they can go. I won’t be going back. If I had a young man I truly liked, I wouldn’t need Father to arrange anything — I’d climb over the garden wall myself to go see him.”
The earlier part of what she said had Ming Huazhang in high spirits, but the last sentence sent his mood plummeting: “A young man you truly like? And climbing over the wall? Listen to what you’re saying — clearly the walls of the ducal manor are still too low.”
“So what?” Ming Huashang glared at him irritably and said with pointed sarcasm: “I happen to enjoy getting involved with abnormal things — exploring how a killer thinks, why they became what they are. A woman as peculiar as me — no ordinary family would want me coming through their door. If I could find someone who understands my way of thinking, supports my interests, and is willing to be strange and unconventional alongside me, I wouldn’t just climb over a wall for him — I’d walk through fire and over mountains of blades.”
Ming Huazhang’s expression turned exasperated. He more or less understood now what she had been brooding over. She had been taking this roundabout way of telling him off this whole time. He said in resignation: “I don’t not support you — it’s simply that it’s too dangerous.”
“People choke on water and die too. What isn’t dangerous?” Ming Huashang snapped back. “Only staying locked in the inner courtyard waiting to be married off is without danger — so is that what I should do? Go back and embroider my dowry?”
“That’s not what I meant—”
“That’s exactly what you meant!”
Ming Huazhang looked at her bright and blazing eyes, raised an eyebrow, and with good sense gave up arguing. He let out a sigh and conceded: “Fine — as you wish. But investigating the internal traitor is far too dangerous. Before you do anything, you must discuss it with me.”
Ming Huashang was finally satisfied, and magnanimously nodded: “All right.”
Her promise had clearly not fully registered in her mind. Ming Huazhang pursed his lips, still wearing his customary look of anxious concern. Seeing him so grave, Ming Huashang deliberately teased: “If not for my reminder during the haunted house incident, you might have gone looking in the wrong direction. And recovering the Daming Palace blueprint had at least half my contribution in it — for all we know, Prince Wei’s gnashing fury is actually aimed at me. Since the Twin Jades are two people, then whatever happens, we should face it together. Prince Wei and the internal traitor still don’t know that the Twin Jades are two people — that is our advantage. You’ve already been suspected by Prince Wei, so you can’t be the one to show your face again. From here on, why not let me take the lead? We cooperate with each other — it will always be better than fighting alone. Don’t worry, I’m definitely better at this than you.”
Ming Huazhang said nothing. Ming Huashang watched him, and tentatively reached out to hook his finger: “Second Brother, if you don’t object, that means you agree? I’ll count to three — if you don’t respond, I’ll take it as consent.”
Ming Huazhang was just about to speak when Ming Huashang had already rushed out a “three,” scooped up his hand and linked fingers with him: “There. You’ve agreed. A gentleman’s word cannot be taken back — no going back on it.”
Ming Huazhang was utterly helpless: “I didn’t say a single word.”
Ming Huashang pretended not to hear and said: “Let’s go find out the cause of the Jinxiu Tavern explosion first — we can’t let you take that scolding for nothing.”
She skipped ahead of him, and whenever Ming Huazhang glanced up he could see the side of her face. She was not by nature someone who liked taking risks — she was most fond of safety and stability. Yet for his sake, she was willing to do something so reckless.
What had he done to deserve her treating him this way?
Ming Huashang’s thoughts were fixed entirely on how to crack the case and lure out the internal traitor of the Control Crane Bureau, when she faintly heard a sigh drift from behind her. She stopped, caught off guard, and turned: “Second Brother, what did you say?”
Ming Huazhang’s dark eyes looked at her, and he seemed to hesitate before speaking — but in the end, he reached out and patted the top of her bun, saying softly: “You are worthy of anyone. My Huashang is the finest, most wonderful young woman in the world — deserving of every treasure this world holds.”
Ming Huashang was stunned for a moment before she realized he was answering what she had said earlier. She had spoken modestly, saying she was not worthy of Cheng Xun, and Ming Huazhang had told her with complete seriousness: you are worthy.
Ming Huashang’s eyes grew warm, and she quickly lowered her head. These past sixteen years — no, seventeen now — she had been, without question, a thoroughly useless girl. Even her own father felt he had raised her so uselessly that he was doing a disservice to her future husband. Only her older brother had always, steadfastly believed she was the finest — that others were not worthy of her, not the other way around.
She also knew full well that plotting against the Control Crane Bureau was essentially courting death. But she could not gamble on the chance that the next time the internal traitor set a trap, Ming Huazhang would again be able to escape wounded, and she would again be in time to discover it and cooperate with him. Finding that person was best. Even if she could not, and the consequences fell back on her, she was willing to accept them.
In her dream, she had died at seventeen. This year, she was exactly seventeen. If the fate written for her in death could not be avoided, then at the very least, let her die for something worthwhile.
He had brought her sweet nian gao candy all those years. This time, let her be the one to protect him.
Ming Huazhang, seeing her head bowed for so long, grew solemn and bent toward her to ask: “What’s wrong?”
Ming Huashang hastily blinked back the moisture gathering in her eyes, lifted her head, gave him a smile, and said with deliberate lightness: “The room where the proprietor’s wife is resting is right ahead — I’ll go take care of things. I’ll tell you more later — I’m off.”
Before he could say a word, she was already bounding ahead in two quick steps, clasping her hands together in greeting to the maidservant, lifting the curtain, and disappearing inside. Ming Huazhang stood beside the pillar and watched quietly until her figure vanished entirely — yet even then he stood there for a long time, unmoving.
He realized she had truly grown up. She was no longer the lazy, obedient younger sister he remembered. She had developed her own passions and pursuits; she could speak candidly of actively seeking out a young man she liked. And yet he — he had grown ever more cautious, hesitant, looking constantly before and behind him.
She had said she wanted to find someone who understood her way of thinking, who could accompany her in all her strange and curious pursuits. How desperately Ming Huazhang wished that person could be him.
A voice called “Shaoyin” from behind him. Ming Huazhang cast one more glance at the door, then turned away, his expression blank. A constable ran up to him and bowed: “Shaoyin, all the people from Jinxiu Tavern have been gathered — what would you like to do next?”
“Bring them to the guest room, one by one. I’ll question them myself.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Keep a close watch on the proprietor’s wife’s room. The moment Second Young Miss comes out, report to me immediately.”
“Understood.”
Before he walked away, Ming Huazhang looked back once more. At the window, a silhouette of a woman appeared. Her eyes like clear springs, her face radiant as spring blossoms, she was speaking softly and gently with the proprietor’s wife.
Ming Huazhang could well imagine the sound of her voice comforting others — warm and sweetly charming, like a gentle wind weaving through fallen snow, or a quiet flowing stream, unknowingly drawing all hearts to her favor.
Including his.
Inside the room, Ming Huashang was speaking to the proprietor’s wife: “Madam, I am the younger sister of the Capital Prefecture’s Junior Administrator. My brother is not in a position to approach the inner quarters, so he sent me to check on you both. Madam, how are your injuries and those of your son?”
Jinxiu Tavern was a modest-sized establishment, nothing remarkable by Chang’an’s standards, but its annual income was more than enough to give a family of three a comfortable and decent life.
The proprietor of Jinxiu Tavern was surnamed Qian. His wife was surnamed Liu — graceful and enchanting, the kind of beauty that drew sympathy and tenderness from all who saw her. The couple had welcomed a son the previous year. The family lived in the courtyard attached to the back of Jinxiu Tavern. When things were busy, Proprietor Qian would go to the front to attend to guests; when business was slow, he would come back to play with his son. Madam Qian had no need to show her face publicly and even had two maidservants assigned to wait on her personally. Before the tragedy on the night of the Lantern Festival, her life could only be described as perfect.
But now her husband had been blown to death. Her son was still crying for milk, and all that remained was a tavern with an uncertain future. Madam Qian had wept several times over; she was ill at ease, not knowing what direction fate would carry her.
The corners of Madam Qian’s eyes were still red. She twisted her handkerchief and said: “I’m all right — only some minor flesh wounds. But little Bao’er was frightened terribly. He cried all night and is still crying in his sleep even now.”
Ming Huashang looked over to the side, where a child was sucking on his fingers, sleeping and hiccupping at the same time. He had witnessed his father’s death before he had even developed consciousness. Ming Huashang sighed and said: “Madam, my condolences. The Capital Prefecture will not let any wrongdoing go unpunished. You must be strong — everything will pass.”
Madam Qian gave a listless nod, her expression showing she did not really believe it. Ming Huashang offered no explanation about the change in leadership at the Capital Prefecture and what that meant. She proved it with action instead, asking: “Madam, on the night of the Lantern Festival, Proprietor Qian had made that Hundred-Years Lantern to bless your son — so why would it suddenly explode?”
Moreover, the force of the explosion seemed far too powerful. Ming Huashang had seen people accidentally injured by fireworks and firecrackers before, but the most severe cases were only burns. This time, the man had been killed on the spot, his body burned beyond recognition — it was far too abnormal.
Madam Qian’s eyes reddened again. She dabbed at her tears and said: “I don’t know either. My husband said he wanted to bless Bao’er and had a lantern craftsman specially make the Hundred-Years Lantern. It was perfectly fine up until then — there was no reason it should have gone wrong.”
Ming Huashang quickly pressed: “Who was the lantern craftsman — was he someone you found yourselves, or was he introduced to you by someone?”
Madam Qian gave the craftsman’s name and said: “He is the most famous lantern craftsman in this area. After the lantern was finished, my husband even lit it on the spot to check — it was perfectly fine then, and did not explode.”
So it was not the craftsman’s fault — which meant someone had tampered with the lantern after it was brought back? Ming Huashang asked: “What day was this lantern brought back, where was it kept, and who had access to it?”
Madam Qian’s long, slanted eyes narrowed slightly, and she said in a soft, delicate voice: “I remember the lantern was brought back on the eighth. It was quite a spectacle that day — all the neighbors saw it. My husband had already held a banquet for Bao’er before, so quite a few people knew about all this; many people came to look at the lantern after it arrived. I don’t manage the business affairs myself and don’t know who all came by — if you need it, I can have the bookkeeper draw up a list.”
Ming Huashang thanked her and then asked about the daily routines of Jinxiu Tavern. Madam Qian said she didn’t handle business matters, yet she was perfectly familiar with every detail of the tavern’s operations — what time they opened to welcome guests, when the shifts changed, how the kitchen did its purchasing, where the storeroom keys were kept — she knew it all clearly.
Ming Huashang committed the tavern’s schedule to memory, then asked: “Madam, did you or your husband have any enemies?”
Madam Qian’s eyes flickered briefly, and her gaze dropped downward. Just then the child suddenly woke and opened his mouth to wail loudly. Madam Qian quickly gathered him into her arms and began humming softly to soothe him. Ming Huashang knew better than to press further; she stayed to help Madam Qian settle the baby, and in the process she noticed that the child had a longevity lock hanging around his chest. She asked in surprise: “Madam, is your son born in the year of the horse?”
This year was a tiger year, and the child looked barely a few months old — so why would he be wearing a longevity lock with the horse zodiac motif?
Madam Qian glanced over and said: “Oh, that was sent by someone else. There were so many guests at the banquet that we don’t know who left it. I thought the craftsmanship looked quite fine, so I put it on him.”
That was understandable — who in their right mind would throw away a solid gold longevity lock of such obvious quality?
Ming Huashang still had a few more questions she wanted to ask, but the baby was crying without stop and Madam Qian was visibly flustered, with no attention to spare for a guest. Ming Huashang tactfully took her leave, deciding to go first and check on Ming Huazhang’s progress.
The moment she stepped out, a constable came over to greet her and led her toward one of the guest rooms. Jinxiu Tavern had a dining hall on the ground floor and lodging rooms upstairs. Now that the tavern had been embroiled in a mysterious fatal explosion, all the guests had checked out, leaving the upper floors empty — which suited Ming Huazhang’s purposes perfectly.
He had chosen one of the more spacious guest rooms at random and was calling in Jinxiu Tavern’s waitstaff, cooks, bookkeeper, and odd-job workers one by one for questioning. When she reached the door, Ming Huashang waved off the constables to signal they need not announce her, and slipped quietly inside.
Ming Huazhang swept a glance at her, his expression revealing nothing — but his slender hand opened and extended palm-up toward Ming Huashang.
Ming Huashang tiptoed closer and heard a woman who appeared to be one of the kitchen cooks standing with her arms crossed, sneering: “Do they really think everyone’s dead, and nobody knows about those dirty dealings of theirs? And now they’re playing the grand host and pretending to be charitable. Pah. I reckon it was Proprietor Feng looking down from beyond, taking Qian Yi with him — what a pity he let that wretched woman off. Proprietor Feng doted on Liu Shi so much in life, and yet he didn’t drag her down with him.”
Ming Huashang had walked in on exactly this, and was taken aback. Liu Shi — wasn’t that the name she had just been using to refer to Madam Qian?
Ming Huazhang extended his open palm and waited — but after a long pause, she had not placed her hand in his. A flicker of dissatisfaction passed through Ming Huazhang’s mind and, having no other option, he closed his hand around her wrist and drew her to his side. Ming Huashang was too astonished to bother responding to Ming Huazhang’s rather domineering action, and asked: “Are you talking about Madam Qian? She seemed perfectly well-bred, gentle, and refined — how can you speak of her that way?”
This was, of course, Ming Huashang deliberately provoking her. Madam Qian appeared fragile, but a few more exchanges quickly revealed this was a woman with powerful scheming ability — “well-bred and gentle” was in no way an apt description of her.
Sure enough, the cook took immediate offence and said with cold laughter: “Well-bred? Now that the two of them have turned the tables and taken control, of course things are different. If it weren’t that Jinxiu Tavern couldn’t get along without my signature dishes, I’d probably have been driven away too! Pah. When we were working under Proprietor Feng, that Liu Shi was nothing but a fish-seller’s daughter — if Proprietor Feng hadn’t been blinded by her looks and taken her as his wife, she’d still be out on the streets selling fish right now!”
Ming Huashang leaned toward Ming Huazhang and whispered: “Proprietor Feng is…?”
“The previous proprietor of Jinxiu Tavern — the one who built it up from nothing,” Ming Huazhang explained concisely. “After Proprietor Feng passed away from illness, Madam Qian — that is, Liu Shi — remarried his apprentice, Qian Yi, and the tavern changed hands.”
The cook was a woman of the streets, sharp-tongued and accustomed to speaking her mind, and she paid no heed to the fact that Ming Huazhang was a court official. She planted her hands on her hips and railed: “Passed away from illness! By my reckoning, he was clearly murdered by Liu Shi and Qian Yi! I spit on them both! I say it was Proprietor Feng’s ghost in heaven that came to take Qian Yi — what a pity he let that wretched woman escape too. Proprietor Feng cherished Liu Shi so much when he was alive, yet he couldn’t bring her down with him!”
Ming Huashang gave Ming Huazhang’s hand a small, discreet nudge. Ming Huazhang slowly retracted his cold displeasure and said in his customary, composed tone: “You speak of collusion and murder — these are serious allegations. Do you have evidence? Slandering one’s employer is an offense that will land you in court.”
The cook, seeing this, flew into a rage, and let loose: “I slander her? Proprietor Feng was always in good health. Not two years after she married into the household, he suddenly took ill and died. She didn’t even wait for the Feng family to arrive before she demanded the funeral be held — she didn’t notify the close friends either, just rushed to seal the coffin and put him in the ground. I’d already noticed her and Qian Yi carrying on behind closed doors, and sure enough — not long after Proprietor Feng died, she took the family assets and remarried Qian Yi. That pair of scoundrels lives in the tavern Proprietor Feng built with his own hands, squandering Proprietor Feng’s fortune and even having a son together. What a heartless, conscienceless act — does she still need me to slander her? Unless you’re all being swayed by her good looks and planning to show her favoritism!”
The Capital Prefecture constables’ faces darkened at hearing this, and one was about to speak — but Ming Huazhang raised a hand to stop him. Still as composed and unreadable as ever, he said: “What you call adultery and murder is your one-sided account. Do you have evidence?”
The cook became evasive, her manner turning defiant: “That sort of thing happens behind closed doors — who could know? But I’m certain the two of them were involved. Proprietor Feng and Liu Shi were an old man with a young wife — with Qian Yi, that young apprentice, hovering in front of his master’s wife day after day, how could there not be something going on?”
Ming Huazhang frowned, and his gaze flicked briefly to Ming Huashang. A trace of coldness crept into his expression. In an instant his bearing was like an enraged divine guardian — awe-inspiring, making one feel both reverence and dread, afraid of giving offense. “Enough. This official has tolerated you because of the possibility of a wrongful conviction — not to give you free rein to make a scene. If you continue to stir up trouble with your foul mouth, do not blame this official for showing no mercy.”
Ming Huazhang’s bone structure was strikingly distinguished, his complexion fair as snow. Without expression he had the quality of jade embedded in gold — aristocratic and untouchable. When his face turned cold, he was like a deity in its wrath — instilling in people a reverence that made them fear to offend.
The cook was cowed; her voice dropped several notches and her manner became considerably more reasonable: “I beg the official’s pardon — I was too rash. But I have been unable to stomach the fact that Proprietor Feng’s death has never been properly investigated. I beg the official to examine this case with clear eyes!”
Ming Huashang gave Ming Huazhang’s hand a discreet, gentle shake. Ming Huazhang slowly let his cold manner recede and said: “Tell us what you know, and this official will uphold justice. Why do you suspect Liu Shi and Qian Yi of conspiring to poison Proprietor Feng?”
The cook reined herself in considerably, though her expression remained indignant. She said: “Proprietor Feng occasionally had chest pains, but he had always managed them well. Then she came along and insisted the old prescription wasn’t working anymore, and said she wanted to bring in a certain Physician Chu from Huichun Hall for Proprietor Feng. That physician had a very high opinion of himself. He came, felt Proprietor Feng’s pulse briefly, and declared it was a critical condition of the heart, saying his secret formula was guaranteed to cure it — but he would not share the prescription with anyone; you had to go to their medicine shop with his token to obtain the medicine. We all thought it was nothing but a scheme to extract money. But Liu Shi said they should use only the best medicines, that Huichun Hall was the most renowned for treating heart ailments and their formula was certain to cure him. Proprietor Feng believed her and gave Liu Shi a great deal of money for the medicine. From then on, Liu Shi always went out herself to get the medicine, and whenever she decocted it she would not allow anyone else to step in — she would even drive everyone out of the kitchen first, claiming it would ruin the medicinal properties. We all saw through her theatrical devotion, but Proprietor Feng was utterly won over. Then one morning, Liu Shi came rushing out in tears, saying Proprietor Feng had suffered a sudden heart attack in the night and died — she had only discovered it when she woke up. When we went inside to look, Proprietor Feng’s body was already cold.”
Ming Huashang listened very carefully, but to this point there was no suspicious detail. She asked: “If Proprietor Feng himself had a heart condition, it is entirely possible that he could have died suddenly. Why do you believe it was Liu Shi and Qian Yi who harmed him?”
“Because the afternoon before he died, someone witnessed Liu Shi and Qian Yi meeting in secret. Qian Yi passed Liu Shi something, and the two of them had a furtive, conspiratorial air, as though they were plotting something. That very night Liu Shi drove everyone out and went to the kitchen alone to decoct the medicine. Proprietor Feng drank the medicine Liu Shi brought him and was dead the next morning.”
Ming Huazhang asked: “If you all suspected her and Qian Yi of conspiring to murder for money, why did you not report it to the authorities?”
“We did,” said the cook, laughing coldly. “But the constables came, used a silver needle to test Proprietor Feng’s tongue, and called it a death by illness. Hmph — death by illness! If you ask me, she must have bribed the constables.”
The cook had no restraint in her speech and had utterly forgotten that the “constables who took a bribe” she was condemning were officers of the very Capital Prefecture — it was like pointing at the Dragon King and cursing the Dragon King to his face. Every person in the room felt their expression change for the worse.
A constable’s face went dark and he was about to speak, but Ming Huazhang held him back. Ming Huazhang remained as composed as ever, not betraying even a flicker of emotion, and asked: “Were the medicine dregs handed over to the Capital Prefecture at the time?”
The cook looked embarrassed — only when Ming Huazhang raised it did she even realize the dregs could serve as evidence: “That… with so many people coming and going in the kitchen, who would pay attention to the dregs? They were probably disposed of by Liu Shi long ago.”
“Someone saw Qian Yi meeting Liu Shi in secret and passing her something. What was his explanation?”
“He said he was out shopping in the Western Market and what he gave Liu Shi was something his master had asked him to bring back for her. Hmph — with Proprietor Feng already killed by them, of course they could say whatever they liked.”
After the cook left, Ming Huazhang pressed his fingers to his brow, his head aching from all the clamor. Ming Huashang, seeing this, considerately reached up and began to rub his temples, asking: “Second Brother, what do you make of what she said?”
Ming Huazhang’s expression cleared quickly. He took Ming Huashang’s hand and sat composed, saying: “It is all speculation. No matter how suspicious Liu Shi and Qian Yi’s behavior, without concrete evidence they cannot be convicted. When I get back I’ll look through the old case files and see whether any other evidence can be found.”
“Do you think Proprietor Qian’s death could be connected to all of this?”
“It cannot be ruled out.” Ming Huazhang said: “Regardless of what the truth behind Proprietor Feng’s death actually is, at a minimum we can confirm that the old staff of Jinxiu Tavern and the Feng family all suspect Qian Yi and Liu Shi. Given that, it cannot be excluded that they wanted to take matters into their own hands, secretly tampering with the lantern. Qian Yi liked to show off — word had spread early about the Hundred-Years Lantern — and quite a few people knew he planned to light it himself. If someone with a financial or personal grudge wanted to kill him, this would indeed have been a fine opportunity.”
Having Qian Yi killed in front of the tavern Proprietor Feng had built with his own hands, in front of a large audience of guests — that would satisfy a need for both justice and plausible distance from the deed. Truly killing two birds with one stone.
Ming Huashang nodded and said: “I got a list from Madam Qian. Proprietor Qian showed the Hundred-Years Lantern to all the people on it — perhaps this is also a lead worth pursuing.”
Ming Huazhang took the list and said: “Thank you for your efforts. We’ll split into two directions from here — one to investigate the people on the list, one to look into Proprietor Feng’s family and close associates. The culprit knew so much about Proprietor Feng’s old affairs that they couldn’t have been far removed from that circle.”
·
Su Yuji went out as usual to buy things, but today she had not gone far before she suddenly felt a prickling sensation on her back, as though she were being watched.
Betraying nothing on her face, she turned into an alley and suddenly quickened her pace — but the person behind her had no intention of hiding, and drew ever nearer. At last a voice called out with a trembling cry: “Miss, please wait! It’s this old servant — it’s me!”