Old Master Feng’s death descended like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky. It seemed as though everyone on the upper floor had finally come to their senses all at once: Baozhu knelt on the ground, silently weeping; the steward called out “Old Master” in a panic; Feng Kun pushed the people in front of him aside and came charging over to Old Master Feng’s side, nearly tripping on the way: “Father, what has happened to you? You must not die!”
Feng Kun shook Old Master Feng’s body forcefully as he spoke, as if he could shake the old man awake. Feng Yi could bear it no longer and shoved Feng Kun aside: “Stop! Father was sagacious and far-sighted in all things — how could he simply die like this? Get a physician at once! Perhaps there is still hope!”
Feng Yi hardly appeared to have used much force, yet Feng Kun stumbled back two steps and, catching his leg on the walking stick propped against the reclining chair, fell with a loud crash and knocked over the small side table beside it. The teapot on the table shattered on the floor, and tea dripped and trickled through the cracks.
Feng Kun sprawled on the ground and pointed at Feng Yi, shouting abuse: “Feng Yi — how dare you! With Father gone, I am the Feng Family’s heir. How dare you disrespect your elder brother?”
Feng Yi paid no heed to Feng Kun’s cursing; he knelt beside Old Master Feng, his fingers trembling uncontrollably, as though he had completely lost his wits: “Father, you cannot die. What will we do without you?”
The killer had not yet been caught, and the Feng household was already on the verge of tearing itself apart. Li Huazhang, without any visible fuss, called in his officers, secured the interior and exterior, then with decisive authority took control of the situation: “Enough. A death has occurred — it must be handed over to the authorities. All those who are not directly involved, leave. I will find the killer, recover the Marquis of Sui’s Pearl, and give the Feng Family an accounting.”
Neither Feng Kun nor Feng Yi would agree to leave, and even Baozhu wept and pleaded to stay, saying that Old Master Feng had lived his whole life with dignity and should not go out in a mean fashion — she wished to help change him into his burial clothes. This was precisely when Li Huazhang’s six months of reorganizing Shangzhou’s civil administration and military affairs proved its worth: every guard post at the tower entrance and every staircase landing was now staffed by men from the prefectural office. Since reasoning with the Feng Family got them nowhere, Li Huazhang simply had his soldiers “invite” each person downstairs to grieve, and in no time the third floor was empty.
Li Huazhang had his soldiers seal off the scene; no one not directly involved was permitted to enter the third floor, and absent his personal accompaniment, no one was to approach Old Master Feng’s body. Once the crime scene was under control, Li Huazhang sent men back to the prefectural office with his official token to summon the coroner as quickly as possible.
The Star-Picking Tower blazed with light, like a torch burning in the wind against the dark winter night, foretelling that this night would not pass in peace. Feng Kun, Feng Yi, Baozhu, and the steward were compelled to go downstairs. Ming Huashang looked around, then quietly said a few words to Li Huazhang, excusing herself on the grounds that she could not bear to look at a body, and came downstairs to rest.
With such a great upheaval, everyone’s nerves were frayed; no one was in any state of mind to stand on ceremony, and Ming Huashang was free to move about. She noticed that Feng Kun had followed Baozhu into the flower cottage, and so she told Jin Bao and her guards to stay close behind her and quickened her step toward the flower cottage.
A thick cotton curtain hung at the door of the flower cottage, keeping in the warmth and cutting out both sound and sight from outside. Ming Huashang crept close and listened; the people inside seemed to be arguing about something. The voices were muffled, as though heard through a layer of gauze. The man’s voice was urgent and angry: “You are nothing but a maidservant. The master has seen fit to favor you, and that is why you have a measure of dignity. If the master stops favoring you, you are just a servant. Now that Father is gone, I am the one in charge of the Feng household. You had better know your place — or I’ll have you sold off to a brothel!”
The woman’s voice was thick with tears: “First Young Master is so powerful — go ahead and sell me. A worthless life like mine, it would be better to die sooner and be reunited with my parents in the underworld.”
Baozhu finished speaking and quickly walked out. She swept the door curtain aside and found herself face to face with Ming Huashang, who had been eavesdropping — or rather, who had happened to come by — outside. Ming Huashang immediately adjusted her expression, combining gentle innocence with a hint of bafflement, and said: “What a fright you gave me! I thought there was no one inside. I came here to wait for His Highness — as it turns out you are here too, Baozhu. Come and keep me company.”
As she spoke, Ming Huashang looked inside, affecting surprise and awkwardness, her gaze going back and forth between Baozhu and Feng Kun: “First Young Master Feng — you are here as well. Please, if you have something to discuss, I can find another spot?”
Baozhu could not possibly let the Princess of Yong move aside on her account; she quickly composed her expression and recovered the deft attentiveness befitting a senior maidservant, though the strain at the corners of her mouth was still just perceptible: “What is the Princess saying? I only happened to run into First Young Master here. It is cold outside — please come in, Princess.”
Feng Kun had not expected to run into the Princess of Yong here. Fortunately, she had apparently not heard anything. He had just been putting on airs in front of Baozhu, and the sudden sight of Ming Huashang left him somewhat sheepish. He paid his respects to Ming Huashang, then — using the excuse of the separation of men and women — tucked his tail between his legs and hurried out.
After Feng Kun left, Ming Huashang took a seat in the flower cottage. Baozhu deftly and graciously poured tea for Ming Huashang and brought a brazier over, without a trace of the unpleasantness she had just endured. Ming Huashang watched her move and said: “I have no appetite at the moment — Baozhu, do not trouble yourself. Sit here and keep me company.”
Baozhu gave a murmur of assent and placed a plate of pastries in front of Ming Huashang, then seated herself opposite — but only perching on the edge, not settling fully. Ming Huashang asked: “What did First Young Master want with you? I thought I heard raised voices as I was walking over — are you all right?”
Baozhu shook her head and managed a smile under obvious effort, saying: “Nothing is wrong. The Old Master’s accident has upset First Young Master, and he spoke to me too loudly. It really is nothing — Your Highness need not worry.”
“That is good.” Ming Huashang nodded, and then appeared to notice the pastries Baozhu had set out, feigning surprise: “How did you come to have fresh pastries here? Goodness — they are still warm.”
Baozhu said: “In reply to Your Highness: this servant had just fetched them from the kitchen. Near the hour of Zi, I was feeling a little sleepy; thinking too that Second Young Master had a hard night’s watch, I went to the kitchen to find something to eat and to walk about to rouse myself. On my way back I heard firecrackers, and I followed the sound and ran over, where I found the Prince of Yong, the Princess, and the Second Young Master already there. After that, His Highness said the Star-Picking Tower might be dangerous, so I left the pastries in the flower cottage and went along to the tower. Who could have imagined…”
Baozhu’s voice trailed off toward the end, and her eyes dropped. Ming Huashang sighed: “I am sorry for your grief. No one could have foreseen this. Now the only thing to do is find Old Master Feng’s killer as swiftly as possible, to give him peace in the afterlife.”
Baozhu looked down and said: “Yes — the pearl is gone, the killer still at large. It is distressing just to think about. Heaven sees all; retribution will come. I too hope the killer is found soon, so the departed soul can rest in peace.”
Ming Huashang pressed Baozhu’s hand: “Do not worry. My Second Eld— His Highness the Prince of Yong is exceptionally skilled at solving cases. In Chang’an he earned the name of a brilliant investigator, having unraveled many cases of injustice. Now the soldiers have already surrounded the Feng estate — whoever stole the goods and killed that person cannot have left this compound. I trust him — the truth will be found very quickly.”
Baozhu pressed her lips together and smiled faintly, saying quietly: “His Highness is wise indeed.”
Ming Huashang settled into a more comfortable position and asked casually: “Baozhu, when you ran upstairs — what did you see?”
Baozhu sighed: “I saw the Old Master lying completely still; something felt wrong to me, and so I rushed upstairs without heeding the Prince of Yong’s orders. But there was only one lamp lit on the third floor, and the light was very dim. I saw the Old Master lying in the reclining chair and hurried over to call to him — I did not pay attention to anything else. I called out two or three times and the Old Master still did not respond; my heart sank. Then Second Young Master came upstairs, and after that the Prince of Yong and the Princess arrived.”
“When you arrived, was there anyone else on the upper floor?”
Baozhu shook her head: “I did not see anyone.”
“What was around Old Master Feng?”
“Just as you saw it at the scene. I was in such a hurry to call out to the Old Master that I did not touch anything nearby.”
Ming Huashang made a quiet, incredulous sound. Something truly strange had happened: at the third quarter of the hour of Hai, everyone had seen with their own eyes Old Master Feng get up, drink some water, and settle into his reclining chair. Throughout that time, the Star-Picking Tower had been under strict, continuous surveillance; through the window it could be confirmed that no one had entered or left the third floor. Yet at the hour of Zi, when they came rushing up, Old Master Feng was dead in full view of everyone — and most striking of all, he remained in exactly the same posture as before, as though he had been killed in his sleep.
Ming Huashang was quiet for a moment, then asked: “After you came down from the Star-Picking Tower, did you stay in the flower cottage the entire time?”
Baozhu nodded: “Yes. Even though the Old Master had not allowed anyone to follow him, I was worried he might need to get up in the night, so I did not dare go far and stayed nearby downstairs to await his call.”
“That must have been tiring.” Ming Huashang said this with apparent gravity. “A young woman like you, keeping watch through the night alongside all those men — it must have been quite exhausting.”
“It was all right,” Baozhu said lightly. “I am used to it.”
Ming Huashang asked with solicitude: “I heard that First Young Master wanted to take you as a concubine — and yet tonight you had to stay with them all. You were all right?”
Baozhu shook her head; an expression came to her face that was not quite a smile: “I thank the Princess for her concern — I was fine. First Young Master speaks that way as an act of elevation; he is the master, there is no shortage of women for him — why would he be fixated on me? Besides, with so many people present, First Young Master has his pride and would not do anything to a servant girl. As long as I keep my distance and do not draw the master’s attention, everything will be fine.”
Baozhu said this lightly, but those few short words concealed a great deal of suppressed grievance. Ming Huashang did not press the subject further, and instead asked: “Just now, First Young Master and Second Young Master nearly came to blows — it did not seem like a quarrel that started tonight, and First Young Master in particular was unusually agitated. What did the two of them do tonight? Did some conflict break out?”
Baozhu furrowed her brow in thought and said with difficulty: “I did not witness anything. I was busy until the hour of Hai, and only came to the flower cottage after that. After the Prince of Yong and the Princess left, Second Young Master went out to patrol about the space of a cup of tea later. Not long after, First Young Master said he needed to freshen up and went out as well. It was a long while before First Young Master came back, and when he did, his expression was not good. I assumed he was in a bad mood and did not dare approach him and risk annoying him further. Then Second Young Master returned from his patrol. By that time it was nearly the hour of Zi, so everyone pulled themselves together and kept their attention on the Star-Picking Tower. I saw how hard they were all working, so I went to the kitchen to fetch something warm to eat. I had only just walked into the flower garden when I heard the sound of fireworks, and I hurried over at once. After that, Your Highness knows the rest.”
“First Young Master went out during that time and came back with an unpleasant expression?” Ming Huashang asked. “Why? Did he encounter something outside?”
“I do not know.” Baozhu shook her head, then, with some apparent hesitation, said: “It is not right for me to gossip about the master’s family, but First Young Master has an impetuous temper and is quick to anger. Even on days when no one has irritated him, he will find some reason to take it out on others. Nine days out of ten he has a scowl on his face.”
Ming Huashang sighed: “I see. Tonight he started a scene in front of everyone, quarreled with Second Young Master, and knocked over the walking stick and teapot — that is quite the temper.”
Ming Huashang put it diplomatically; Baozhu smiled — the kind of restrained smile that said there was more that could not be said.
Ming Huashang glanced outside and said: “His Highness has been up there so long without coming down — I had better go and check. So much has happened tonight; you must be tired as well. Go back and rest. The killer has not been found yet, so be careful tonight and do not move about on your own.”
“Thank you, Princess.” Baozhu rose and walked Ming Huashang to the door. “Take care on your way, Princess.”
Ming Huashang exchanged a few parting words with Baozhu as they made their way out. She lifted the door curtain and stepped out to find a great many guards standing outside — far more than the people she had brought with her. The one at the front bowed: “Greetings, Princess of Yong.”
Ming Huashang quickly asked: “Why are you all here? Where is he?”
The guard replied precisely: “The Prince of Yong sent us here to protect the Princess.”
Ming Huashang was at once anxious and exasperated: “I came with my own people — I hardly need you to protect me. Never mind that now — take me to him immediately.”
Ming Huashang was escorted away by the guards. Baozhu stood in the doorway and watched until the group disappeared from sight; only then did she let the thick cotton curtain fall behind her and turn back inside.
Li Huazhang was still on the third floor examining the scene. Ming Huashang came upstairs with a lantern and found him half-kneeling on the floor, carefully inspecting the spilled tea. The braziers had gone out; there was nothing on the upper floor to provide warmth. The cold clung to the bones like a festering parasite. Old Master Feng lay back in the reclining chair with his eyes closed, his limbs unnaturally rigid, as though he might stand up at any moment — a deeply unsettling sight.
Ming Huashang set down the lantern, gathered her skirts, and walked to Li Huazhang’s side, complaining in a low voice: “On a night this cold, why have you not had someone bring up a brazier?”
Li Huazhang knew it was her without looking up: “I did not want to disturb the scene, so I would not let them light one. This cold is nothing compared to Chang’an.”
Ming Huashang had witnessed Li Huazhang’s powers of endurance firsthand. In winter in Chang’an he kept no braziers, calling it training his willpower. She knew that whatever hardship or discomfort he was suffering, he would say he was fine. She crouched beside him and cupped his hands in hers, warming them with her own body heat: “How can it be nothing? If you freeze and fall ill, will I not be the one who suffers?”
“I am all right—”
“Enough.” Ming Huashang did not want to hear it; she cut him off directly. “I will stay here with you. I know you are worried about disturbing the evidence — I will use my own hands to warm yours. Surely that is all right?”
Li Huazhang could not argue with her and let her have her way. He went through the items on the upper floor one by one while Ming Huashang paced slowly, carefully studying the crime scene.
Old Master Feng was clearly a man long accustomed to comfort; even in a temporary one-night stay, the third floor had been furnished with considerable elegance. Ming Huashang swept her eyes over the curtains and antiques, then stopped beside Old Master Feng’s body.
The upper floor was so large — why had Old Master Feng chosen to put his reclining chair in this particular spot? Perhaps a servant had simply placed it here at random, but this location was both draughty and exposed. Someone as attentive as Baozhu would not have put sleeping furniture here. It could only have been at Old Master Feng’s own insistence.
Ming Huashang tried to think from Old Master Feng’s perspective — why would he have chosen this position? To keep close watch over the Marquis of Sui’s Pearl? Possibly — this spot was only two steps from the casket; lying in the reclining chair, he had only to turn his head to see it. But if Old Master Feng was that worried about the pearl, he could easily have had the chair placed right against the casket. Why leave so large a gap?
For comfort through the night? Even less reasonable — this spot was open and exposed on all sides, with the wind from the windows blowing directly onto whoever sat here. It had nothing whatsoever to do with comfort. The more Ming Huashang thought about it, the more it seemed that the one irreplaceable advantage of this position was that standing up from it, one could be clearly seen from outside.
Could it be that Old Master Feng placed himself here in order to signal more easily if something went wrong?
Unable to reach a conclusion for now, Ming Huashang went over to trouble Li Huazhang instead: “What have you found?”
Li Huazhang had been testing the pastries and fruit on the small table with a silver needle. He straightened up, looked at the cold gleam of the needle in his fingers, and said: “Old Master Feng’s lips are purple-black, and his fingernails and toenails are all darkened and livid — it appears to be poisoning. But I have checked all the food and drink on the upper floor, and none of it has been tampered with. The one thing I have not been able to check…”
Li Huazhang and Ming Huashang both looked down at the same moment, their eyes settling on the shattered teapot on the floorboards. Ming Huashang asked: “It is too difficult to test now?”
Li Huazhang shook his head: “There was only half a pot of tea to begin with, and when Feng Kun knocked it over, the tea seeped through the floorboards. It will be very hard to test.”
Ming Huashang was not discouraged; she lightly held his arm, full of energy: “Feng Kun cannot be quite so stupid as to personally carry poisoned tea upstairs and then smash it in front of everyone. It may have been some kind of delayed-action poison. We will find out once we question people — we will certainly find something.”
Li Huazhang knew Ming Huashang was reassuring him. He put away his tools and took off his gloves; his slender palms clasped hers firmly in return: “All right.”
Only then, on touching her fingers, did he feel a pang of alarm. He was accustomed to cold and had not felt the crime scene as cold, but Ming Huashang’s hands were already ice-cold. Were it only himself, Li Huazhang would certainly have persisted until the end — he would not have left without finding the poison. But she was here too. Li Huazhang was very much aware of how easy and comfortable Ming Huashang’s life had been before this; now she was with him groping through darkness in the cold. He was afraid of her coming to harm from the chill and, without pressing any further for answers, gave the order for people to guard the scene and then quickly took her back.
The night was already advanced; they were inevitably going to spend the night at the Feng estate. As it turned out, the small courtyard the Feng Family had given over to them did serve a purpose after all. Back in the room, Ming Huashang sent all the maids away and began preparing what was needed for the night herself. But with Li Huazhang present, there was almost nothing left for Ming Huashang to do. He changed his clothes, washed his hands, refreshed the hand warmers and the bed warmer, and even made the bed — Ming Huashang had only to climb in. His movements were smooth and unhurried; at one point Ming Huashang saw him take out and fold the undergarments she would change into tomorrow, and she said with slight embarrassment: “Let me do that.”
“It is fine — I am already nearly done.” Li Huazhang spoke while arranging her clothes: “What did you find out when you went to question people?”
Her elder brother was impossibly capable — more attentive and meticulous than she was, and faster to boot. Ming Huashang tried and failed to insert herself and eventually gave up entirely, lying back and accepting the situation with a clear conscience: “I went and had a chat with Baozhu. She told me that after the hour of Hai, both Feng Yi and Feng Kun went out. Feng Kun came back first; Feng Yi did not return until nearly the hour of Zi. Not long after he was back, the fireworks went off.”
Li Huazhang nodded: “From the look of the scene, I already suspected these two had some dirty secret between them. And Feng Kun deliberately knocked over the tea — he was the one who had the tea in hand the whole time, wasn’t he?”
“That is right,” Ming Huashang said. “Baozhu needed to go catch the parrot, and he insisted on being the one to deliver the tea. Come to think of it, when I came downstairs just now, the two of them were arguing in the flower cottage, and he was threatening to sell off Baozhu.”
Li Huazhang gave a quiet, contemptuous sound and said nothing more. “It seems Feng Kun has quite a few things he is hiding.”
“I think so too.” Ming Huashang climbed onto the bed and yawned, her eyes watering. “Then there is also Feng Yi — we need to question him as well. It is too late tonight; I am a woman, so if I go to find them by myself they may not tell the truth. Tomorrow, come with me to question them.”
Li Huazhang nodded — he agreed without a second word. He checked the hourglass: with all this commotion, it was nearly the hour of Yin. Li Huazhang, feeling bad for Ming Huashang, urged: “We can think about all this tomorrow. Go to sleep quickly.”
“You too,” Ming Huashang said. She knew Li Huazhang far too well and, broking no refusal, took hold of his sleeve: “Stay here and sleep with me — otherwise I will not sleep either.”
Li Huazhang hesitated; his original plan had been to wait for her to fall asleep and then slip outside to check again. But Ming Huashang held on stubbornly, clearly prepared not to back down until he agreed. Li Huazhang could only take off his shoes and lie down beside her — and the moment he did, Ming Huashang clung to him like a koala, leaving not the smallest gap.
Li Huazhang resigned himself: “Sleep properly. We are at someone else’s house — it would look bad if someone were to see.”
“I am sleeping with my husband — what does it matter who looks.” Ming Huashang buried her face in Li Huazhang’s shoulder, voice muffled: “Good night, Second Elder Brother. See you tomorrow.”
Ming Huashang naturally slept well, and besides, it was so late — she had barely finished speaking before her head drooped and she was asleep. Li Huazhang lay still, feeling the rhythm of her breathing. He raised his other hand and, very lightly, stroked her hair: “Good night, Huashang.”