Ming Huashang’s heart seized when she heard there had been a murder in Chang’an, and she hurriedly asked: “What happened?”

The servant woman was still reeling from the shock and said: “This very morning, another body was found in Tongji Ward. The third young lady of Duke Chengguo’s manor hadn’t come home all night. They went to identify the body on the off chance — and it truly was their young lady!”

Zhao Cai, behind her, let out a sharp breath of alarm: “It’s the Duke Chengguo manor’s young miss?”

“Indeed.” The servant woman rubbed the gooseflesh off her own arms, her voice full of horror. “The ones who died before were beggars and women from the pleasure houses, and they all died out in the countryside — one might put those aside. But this time it is the legitimate granddaughter of a duke, found dead right here inside Chang’an, not far from a city gate staffed by soldiers. I’ve heard that when the body was identified, the Duke Chengguo heir’s wife fainted on the spot, and now Duke Chengguo himself is making a scene and accusing Chang’an Prefecture and the Golden Guard of incompetence.”

Chang’an had a curfew, with the Golden Guard patrolling every night to protect the capital’s security, to say nothing of Chang’an Prefecture, whose duty it was to maintain law and order in the capital. Now, under the dual safeguard of the Guard and the Prefecture, a duke’s granddaughter had been murdered inside Chang’an, her body left undiscovered for an entire night.

Zhao Cai screamed in fright. With every word the servant woman added, her face turned one shade whiter. For the earlier victims — beggars and women from the pleasure houses — they had all taken comfort in thinking that as long as respectable young ladies from good families did not follow strange men out into the countryside alone, they would be safe. But this latest case had shattered everyone’s last wishful thinking. Duke Chengguo’s granddaughter had been raised with every possible care and protection, and even she had come to harm. Where in all of Chang’an could there be a safe place?

Ming Huashang’s expression grew grave: “Has the culprit been caught?”

“Caught?” The servant woman said. “The body was found in an abandoned back alley by a few beggar children — it can hardly be the fault of those starving children that a duke’s granddaughter was killed. Everyone in the streets and lanes is now saying it’s that same serial killer from before, who has come into the city to kill!”

Zhao Cai was deeply shaken and immediately grabbed the hem of Ming Huashang’s garment: “It’s terrifying, my lady — let’s go back inside. We absolutely shouldn’t leave the house for the next few days.”

“No.” Ming Huashang said with certainty. “Have the carriage prepared. I am going to Tongji Ward.”

“What?!” Both Zhao Cai and the servant woman were startled out of their wits. “My lady, you must not! Tongji Ward just had a death — it’s inauspicious!”

“It’s precisely because someone just died there that I must go.” Ming Huashang’s gaze was steady; it held a calm decisiveness completely at odds with the usual image of the wastrel Second Young Lady who only knew eating, drinking, and playing. “The first scene of a crime is the most important. Many of the initial clues are still there right now — this is the best chance to catch the killer.”

Zhao Cai was so frightened her soul was nearly leaving her body: “My lady, catching killers is the court’s business — you mustn’t put yourself at risk! The culprit might not even be far away. Going now is far too dangerous.”

“If he hasn’t gone far, all the better.” Ming Huashang clenched her fists, her pupils dark as ink: “I will find him.”

·

Tongji Ward.

The street was packed with onlookers. The runners kept driving them back and barely managed to clear a small open space. Ming Huazhang emerged from the dark, narrow alley, removed his gloves, and his face was as cold as frost. An attendant, seeing his cool expression, said: “Deputy Magistrate, for a matter like this, it would be fine to leave it to the coroner — you needn’t lower yourself to—”

Ming Huazhang said nothing. He handed his gloves to the attendant, clasped his hands behind his back, and slowly looked around at his surroundings.

Tongji Ward was close to the city gates. With people constantly flowing through it every day, it had always been the most lawless and disorderly part of Chang’an. This particular alley had been abandoned for a long time. Dirty water and filth pooled on the ground, and a half-collapsed building on one side had blocked what was already a narrow passage into something barely passable.

A place like this should never, in the normal course of events, have had anything to do with a daughter of a duke’s manor. Yet the body of Cheng Siyue, the third granddaughter of Duke Chengguo, had been found at the very end of this abandoned alley.

That morning, a group of beggar children came searching through the rubbish here and inadvertently found the body. With the rumors of a serial killer swirling through Chang’an these days, the case quickly alerted Chang’an Prefecture. When it happened, Ming Huazhang had been leading his men on a search through Pingkang Ward and was not at the prefecture yamen. By the time word reached him and he arrived at the scene, the Jing Zhaoyiin had already ordered men to carry Cheng Siyue’s body out and return it to the Duke Chengguo manor.

Ming Huazhang did not in truth agree with moving the body before the coroner had examined it and destroying the scene — but in the Jing Zhaoyiin’s eyes, appeasing Duke Chengguo’s manor was more important than protecting the crime scene. Ming Huazhang personally walked the surrounding terrain and asked: “Where is the coroner?”

The coroner stepped forward, clasped his hands, and bowed: “Deputy Magistrate, I am here.”

“Have you examined the body?”

The coroner looked troubled: “Deputy Magistrate, that person was Duke Chengguo’s granddaughter. She has already been carried back to the Cheng family. How could men from outside possibly defile the reputation of a duke’s daughter?”

“Which matters more — her reputation, or bringing the culprit to justice?” Ming Huazhang said. “Where is Duke Chengguo? Lead me to him — I will speak to the Duke in person.”

Everyone hurriedly urged caution: “Deputy Magistrate, please reconsider! Duke Chengguo is furious right now. The Jing Zhaoyiin has already spent a great deal of effort offering conciliatory words. If you go now, won’t that be adding fuel to the fire?”

Any child knew the wisdom of reporting good news and suppressing bad. Duke Chengguo had just lost his granddaughter and was taking his anger out on Chang’an Prefecture — whoever stepped forward right now would get the full force of his rage. Ming Huazhang was a newcomer to the court. Shouldn’t he be keeping his distance rather than charging straight into the line of fire?

Ming Huazhang paid no heed to any of this. He swept up the hem of his long robe and strode forward.

Deep autumn, bleak and bare — a young gentleman in crimson official robes, his face cold, moving with swift purpose. A crowd of people followed behind him. The brilliant red he wore, rather than looking garish, gave it gravity and severity — the single vivid point of color amid the somber grays and blacks of autumn and winter. Ming Huashang stepped down from her carriage just in time to see this scene, and called out in surprise: “Second Elder Brother!”

Ming Huazhang heard the familiar voice and paused. He turned and saw who it was, and the frost surrounding him imperceptibly thawed. He walked toward the carriage and asked with a furrowed brow: “What are you doing here?”

“I heard there was another murder — I was worried about you.” Ming Huashang stood on the carriage step, her line of sight just a little higher than Ming Huazhang’s. She glanced quickly toward the crowded alley entrance and leaned closer to ask Ming Huazhang: “How is it? Any leads?”

Ming Huazhang instinctively took her hand to steady her and sighed: “Still investigating. It’s too crowded here — you’re not safe. Go back first, and I’ll tell you everything when I come home tonight.”

“No.” Ming Huashang was insistent. “With this many ordinary citizens looking on and all these Chang’an Prefecture runners and Golden Guard soldiers patrolling, I’d say there is nowhere in Chang’an right now safer than here. Don’t you need to go speak with someone? Go ahead — I’ll look around on my own.”

Ming Huazhang knew perfectly well that the area was crawling with officials and there was no need to worry about the killer. Yet leaving Ming Huashang in a place this crowded and full of scrutiny still left him ten thousand kinds of uneasy. He called out his two most experienced constables, tasked them with staying at Ming Huashang’s side without taking a single step away, then told her: “Be careful. Stay where people are. Don’t wander.”

Ming Huashang nodded repeatedly, shooing Ming Huazhang away: “Go, Second Elder Brother, quickly.”

After Ming Huazhang left, the two constables assigned to stay were none too pleased. They were officers of the court — not personal escorts for some pampered young lady. This pampered miss was using her brother the Deputy Magistrate’s position to stroll in and out of crime scenes. Wasn’t she just making trouble?

Ming Huashang could see their displeasure. Fortunately, in this era, money and a smile could solve the majority of problems. Ming Huashang sent Zhao Cai to buy hot food and drinks, then followed along with the two constables herself, smiling and saying: “Is this your first time working alongside my second elder brother on a case? How come I haven’t seen you before?”

Since Ming Huashang was asking questions of her own accord, the constables knew she was from a duke’s manor and could not be offended. They brushed her off with: “That’s right — we were pursuing a separate case before and didn’t accompany the Deputy Magistrate outside the city. Today is our first day with him.”

Ming Huashang gave a sound of acknowledgment and in a bright, bell-like voice asked them what their previous case had been like and how they had eventually solved it. Ming Huashang’s manner was sweet and attentive, she was lovely to look at, and those two wide almond eyes gazed at them with such expectation that even the sternest face could not hold against it. Before they knew it, they had said quite a lot — revealing not a few details about the current case.

Ming Huashang quietly listened as they described receiving the report, rushing to the scene, and lifting Cheng Siyue’s body out, interjecting an agreeable word here or there to encourage them to continue.

By and by, the group arrived at the entrance of the alley. Zhao Cai returned at this point too, and Ming Huashang smiled as she passed hot food to the two constables: “You’ve both worked so hard. I don’t know whether you have eaten your morning meal yet — a small token of appreciation; please accept it with a smile.”

The constables immediately began to refuse; Ming Huashang laughed and pressed the oil-paper parcels into their hands: “There’s no need for ceremony. My elder brother will be counting on you both to help him out in the future. You two can stand here and eat at your leisure — I’ll just go inside and take a look.”

Zhao Cai pulled a face at this, and one of the constables also said: “Miss Ming, you really shouldn’t. It’s filthy and foul in there — it’s no place for a young lady of your standing.”

“It’s all right. I want to help share some of the burden with my second elder brother. All these days he’s been out before dawn and back after dusk, barely sleeping. I want to come and see what exactly he has been so busy with.”

With Ming Huashang putting it that way, the two constables had nothing more to say. They agreed: “If the young lady doesn’t mind the filth, then come in. The body has been taken away, at least, so there’s nothing to be afraid of now.”

Ming Huashang answered cheerfully. The constables, who had seen enough murders to be indifferent to such scenes, munched on their steamed buns as they walked in, still pointing things out: “The body was discovered right here. A group of beggar children came to rummage through the rubbish, and when they saw something bright-colored at the very back, they thought it might be something of value — but when they came over, they found themselves looking at the face of a dead person.”

Ming Huashang looked down at the ground. On the broken stone fragments, traces of blood were faintly visible. She looked all around her and said: “This alley, though secluded, is not without people passing through. He didn’t bother to conceal the body at all — he just dropped it right here in the alley. This means he had absolutely no intention of hiding it.”

One of the constables failed to follow her: “What do you mean?”

Ming Huashang pointed to the half-collapsed rotting wooden frame on one side: “If he did not want the body found, he could easily have stuffed it under the wooden frame, or covered it with stones. In this bitter cold, it would take a long time for the body to give off any smell — by the time the authorities discovered it, who knows how much time would have passed. That would have made it far easier for him to hide. But he did not do that. His apparent dumping of the body in this alley, combined with every other move he has made, is nothing but a taunt: come and catch me.“

Both constables hissed in sharp surprise. Now that this young girl put it that way, it really did seem so — the killer actually dared to challenge the authorities?

Ming Huashang asked: “Are there any suspects at this point?”

“None.” The constable sighed. “This area is full of all sorts of people — disorder and vice are its hallmarks, and the foot traffic is heavy and mixed. There are very few stable long-term residents. Apart from those beggar children, no one noticed the body.”

“Were those beggar children questioned?”

“They were. They were all together the entire time and can vouch for one another — no suspicion.”

That was troublesome, then. Another case with no eyewitness. Ming Huashang composed her thoughts and asked: “On the way here, I heard people saying it was that serial killer from a while ago committing another crime. What do you constables think?”

One of the constables stuffed the last of his bun into his mouth and shook his head: “That’s just hearsay from the common folk. In those earlier cases, the victims’ leg bones were removed. This body is perfectly intact — no missing limbs.”

Ming Huashang frowned. The manner of death had changed again — was it that the killer had shifted methods, or that there were actually three separate perpetrators?

She could not work it out. She still needed to see the body. She examined the disposal site carefully, noticed the bloodstains on the ground, and asked: “How did Cheng Siyue die?”

“Unknown.” The constable shook his head helplessly. “The body was taken back by the Duke Chengguo manor, and the coroner didn’t dare examine it. But from the arms that were visible, there were quite a few purple-blue bruises.”

Ming Huashang had learned some basics of post-mortem examination at Xuan Xiaowei and knew that blue-purple bruising indicated injuries sustained while alive — meaning Cheng Siyue had suffered harm before her death. In this regard, her death bore some resemblance to Huang Caiwei’s — Huang Caiwei had also gone unexamined by the coroner, so her cause of death remained unknown, though there too had been bruising on the arms.

Four years ago, the Huang Caiwei case had been botched because the Chang’an Prefecture at the time had simply allowed the Huang family to take the body away and hastily close the matter — the case files looked full, but in reality the cause of Huang Caiwei’s death remained unknown. Even after Ming Huazhang and Ming Huashang took over, they were helpless without sufficient evidence, and had been unable to identify the culprit all this time. Now that another death had occurred, Ming Huashang felt deep sorrow for the victim, but she could not allow the same mistake to happen again.

Ming Huashang asked: “Where are the Duke Chengguo manor’s people? Can we persuade them to let the coroner examine Cheng Siyue?”

The constable shrugged and pointed outside: “Isn’t that them — Deputy Magistrate Ming is speaking to them right now.”

Duke Chengguo heard Ming Huazhang out and responded with a cold laugh of contempt. His gaze was sharp as a hawk’s, and he stared at Ming Huazhang with fury: “My granddaughter was killed on your watch — you can’t even give an explanation for that, and now you want to humiliate her after death?”

Ming Huazhang met the Duke’s ferocious gaze without flinching: “Duke Chengguo, your granddaughter was murdered. I fully understand your grief. But to see justice done for Miss Cheng, the coroner must be allowed to examine her body and find her killer as soon as possible. By hiding and covering things up the way you are, you are no better than an accomplice to her murderer.”

Duke Chengguo erupted in rage: “What did you say?!”

“Deputy Magistrate Ming — mind your manners.” The Jing Zhaoyiin saw the situation deteriorating and swiftly reprimanded Ming Huazhang, then turned to Duke Chengguo with a conciliatory smile: “Your Grace, please do not take offense at a young man. He has only just entered officialdom; he understands nothing and speaks nonsense. You are above quarreling with someone his age.”

Turning to Ming Huazhang, the Jing Zhaoyiin said sternly: “Why have you not apologized to the Duke at once?”

Ming Huazhang pressed his hands together in a respectful gesture, but his bearing remained unyielding as ever: “I have no intention of giving offense. But the law is clear and impartial, and cannot accommodate exceptions. I respectfully request that Duke Chengguo cooperate with Chang’an Prefecture’s investigation and return the body.”

The Jing Zhaoyiin paled in alarm. Duke Chengguo said “Good” twice in furious succession: “I was unaware that Duke Zhenguo raised his descendants this way. You are nothing more than a minor Fourth-Rank official. Do you truly think that because you passed the imperial examinations and been given a little face, you may swagger before me?”

The Jing Zhaoyiin was sweating cold: “Duke Chengguo, please be calm… Ming Huazhang, how many times have I told you — why have you still not begged his Grace’s pardon?”

Their quarrel was in full chaos when from beside them came a clear and bright young woman’s voice — like the first ray of sunlight after weeks of overcast skies, piercing through confusion in an instant and bringing spring back to the world: “This young lady greets Duke Chengguo and the Jing Zhaoyiin. This young lady and the Third Young Lady were acquainted on a few occasions and had long admired her. I could never have imagined she would suffer such a fate at the hands of a villain. Duke Chengguo’s concerns this young lady understands. If the Duke and the Jing Zhaoyiin can trust me, I am willing to go on behalf of Chang’an Prefecture to the Duke’s manor, to examine Third Young Lady’s body and lay her spirit to rest.”