Inside Prince Wei’s mansion, charcoal fires had warmed the rooms to a spring-like comfort. Prince Wei sat on the low platform-bed and said, frowning: “The Cheng family business — was that your doing?”
His subordinate was equally puzzled by it. “It was not, my lord. Even at my most reckless, I would not dare lay hands on a daughter of Duke Chengguo’s household.”
“Then that is very strange.” Prince Wei’s frown deepened. “If it was not your people who acted, why was a body found in Tongji Ward?”
At the outset Prince Wei had simply wanted to dangle a case as bait to lure out the Twin Jades, to settle the great grudge in his heart. And so he had selected the most difficult, least-evidenced of all the unsolved cold cases — the chain-murder — and had his subordinates mimic the killing method of those earlier murders, impersonating the serial killer of four years ago, and then lay in wait at the scene, expecting the Twin Jades to walk right into the trap.
But after lying in wait for more than ten days without finding the Twin Jades, he instead heard that another murder had occurred somewhere in the city. The killer had claimed two lives within a single month — a mark of breathtaking audacity. The case had rapidly alarmed the Empress and had by now become the largest matter in court.
Prince Wei was entirely bewildered. The case in the city had nothing to do with his people — so who was the killer? Prince Wei sensed trouble. He had only wanted to use someone else’s knife; he had no desire to be set ablaze himself. He absolutely could not allow this case to reach back to him in any way.
If the Jing Zhao Prefecture followed the trail of the pleasure-quarter woman back to him and pinned all the earlier cases on him as well, making him the scapegoat for the real killer — that would be a fine farce indeed.
Prince Wei said, “Keep your subordinates in line. Have those who acted keep a low profile — no more showing their faces in the capital before the new year. This case has already landed in front of the Emperor’s aunt; whoever touches it will be ruined.”
His subordinate clasped his fists in acknowledgment. On the subject at hand, Prince Wei could not help asking: “How is the Jade Broken plan proceeding? Any progress on finding the person?”
His subordinate looked embarrassed and chose his words carefully. “To report to Your Highness — the Su household remains entirely as usual. In the Ming household, Ming Huazhang is in the city handling the case every day — very busy, but nothing unusual about him otherwise. His younger sister spends all her time thinking about food, and shows nothing out of the ordinary either.”
In truth the subordinate had told a small lie. When one’s masters spoke of “keeping watch” it always sounded simple enough, but it was not simply a matter of moving one’s lips and having a person’s whereabouts appear on paper. It required someone to stand outside the target’s gate for all twelve hours of the day without moving an inch, and wait. In summer surveillance was a little easier, but now it was autumn and winter, and making someone stand in the bitter cold for an entire day — and then be back for the shift change before first light the next day — who would willingly do that?
Ming Huazhang and his sister Ming Huashang were two extremes. The elder brother was extraordinarily driven: from sunrise to sunset every day he was running between five or six different locations. The people trailing him simply could not keep up, and had inevitably let up their efforts. In any case he was either handling the case or handling the case — you could just ask the Jing Zhao Prefecture about his movements afterward; there was no need to personally shadow him. The younger sister, on the other hand, was excessively unambitious — every day without exception she was either eating something or buying something to feed to her elder brother. The manor’s elite guards, trailing along as she wove through eatery after eatery, grew more and more resentful. She was such a thorough waste of surveillance resources that the people below had started going to keep watch later and later each morning — after all, going early only meant watching her buy breakfast in all its varieties, which made no difference whatsoever.
Prince Wei frowned, clearly dissatisfied with this report. He thought of the Empress, whose moods had been growing ever more unpredictable of late, and gave a sigh. “Never mind. Haste makes waste — this sort of thing cannot be rushed. Keep watching.”
“As you command.”
The murder of a daughter of Duke Chengguo’s estate had sent shockwaves through Chang’an. Yet as time passed and the ceaseless novelties of the world came pressing in, the public’s attention shifted and the murders were quickly forgotten. In the blink of an eye, another ten days had gone by.
The month had turned to the eleventh. The days grew shorter. Withered grass stretched to the horizon. Sharp northern winds swept the land. A scattering of snow had fallen two days earlier, and winter had arrived all at once.
Ming Huashang woke that morning to a sky that was leaden and overcast, with the clouds pressing down low — it looked as though it might snow again. A message arrived from the Old Madam saying that no attendance was required today, and Ming Huashang took full advantage and went back to bed, sleeping in until a second layer of drowsiness had passed before she finally rose.
Jin Bao was outside arranging the morning meal. Zhao Cai and Jixiang were in the inner room, attending to Ming Huashang’s hair. Ming Huashang asked, “What time did Second Elder Brother leave this morning?”
Ruyi carried in a piece of charcoal and used it to stoke the hill-shaped incense burner into a livelier glow. She said: “He was gone before the third drum had even finished sounding. These days the Second Young Master leaves at dawn and returns at dusk — you can barely even catch a glimpse of him. And a pity too — he’s in the Jing Zhao Prefecture, working himself this hard, yet no one will give him the credit.”
Ming Huashang said: “His Majesty is paying very close attention to this murder case and has ordered it solved before the new year. It’s already the eleventh month — he has to focus on the case. How would he have time to think about anything else?”
“That is precisely why I feel so wronged on the Second Young Master’s behalf,” said Ruyi, pouting. “Of all the scholars in this year’s examinations, the one who placed first is at the Censorate reading and writing history — a distinguished and respected position. The one who placed third is also in the Eastern Palace, reading books and engaging in leisurely discourse with men of letters each day before he goes home. Only our Second Young Master toils by starlight, running about in all directions — exhausting himself without so much as a word of appreciation. And the Second Young Master ranked second among all the jinshi — his placing was higher than anyone else’s!”
Ming Huashang thought to herself that the Empress’s assignments were not made by examination ranking. She said: “Second Elder Brother has always wanted to handle real matters. Going to the Jing Zhao Prefecture was his own heart’s desire. Winning redress for the living is better than writing chronicles for the dead.”
Just then, from outside, Jin Bao called: “My lady, breakfast is ready.”
“Coming.” Ming Huashang answered, and walked out from the inner room. She gathered her skirts and settled at the table, and before taking up her chopsticks asked: “Has today’s things been sent over to the Jing Zhao Prefecture yet?”
“Not yet.”
Ming Huashang said: “Around midday, go to the Eastern Market and buy some ancient-style meat pies. Send them over while they’re still hot. And separately brew a cup of chenxiang drink and send it along with them for Second Elder Brother.”
Jin Bao acknowledged the instruction, and Zhao Cai sighed and went inside to get the money. She counted out the copper coins from the dressing case and said to Ming Huashang: “My lady, even if you had a mountain of gold it should not be spent this way — and you hardly had much to begin with. Never mind that you send food to the Second Young Master — but those unrefined and rough constables are not worthy of such consideration.”
The government offices had a dining hall that provided midday meals free of charge. But what could a mass-produced meal really taste like? Court officials complained constantly about the food, but eating there was not optional; if an official left during meal hours to get food elsewhere and a censor happened to see, the resulting impeachment could cost him his post. Only officials at the rank of chief minister were permitted to have something better prepared separately.
The Jing Zhao prefectural offices were in Guangde Ward — regulations there were more relaxed than inside the imperial city. These past few days Ming Huashang had been sending snacks to the prefecture every now and then — sometimes baked breads, sometimes porridge, sometimes a drink — not interfering with the dining hall’s rules, but genuinely improving the daily meals of the officials and constables working there. By now there was not a soul in the Jing Zhao Prefecture who did not recognize the Deputy Prefect’s second younger sister — especially the junior clerks, who were more excited to see Ming Huashang than they were to see Ming Huazhang himself.
Ming Huashang knew that Zhao Cai was worried about money, and reassured her: “Matters that can be resolved with money are no matters at all. If spending a little here means that the constables and runners of the Jing Zhao Prefecture will support Second Elder Brother and listen to him — then it is more than worth every coin.”
After breakfast, once she had tidied herself up, it was already the si hour. Ming Huashang asked Zhao Cai to bring out her painting brushes. Zhao Cai set out the brushes and ink one by one, thoroughly mystified. “My lady, when did you develop such an elegant interest in painting?”
In all honestly, not even in the days when Duke Zhenguo had spent good money bringing in a renowned master to teach her had Ming Huashang applied herself this diligently. Ming Huashang rinsed her brush and said offhandedly: “Because I used to feel it had no practical use. No matter how accomplished my painting and calligraphy, all it would give me was the title of ‘talented young lady’ when a marriage match was being discussed — and once married, I would never paint again. Given that, what was there worth learning? But now I’ve found that drawing has many important uses. Better that I learn it myself.”
Zhao Cai heard this and only half understood, but obligingly said: “My lady, as long as you’ve come to see it that way, that’s good.”
Ming Huashang did not reply. She took up her brush and began carefully sketching the features of several of the maidservants. It was not that she had “come to see it a certain way” — it was that she had found another kind of choice. She could go and do things that were genuinely meaningful. Even if her grandmother and Zhao Cai still did not understand, there was at least Ming Huazhang.
And on the strength alone of those words he had said that evening — “I trust her” — without a moment’s hesitation, Ming Huashang was determined to develop her skill in painting, so that she could render the killer’s likeness better and more accurately.
Ming Huashang practiced painting all day long. That evening, when she heard Ming Huazhang return to the estate, she wrapped herself in her cape and went to his courtyard as usual to ask about developments in the case.
Solving a case was never one person’s achievement alone. Ming Huashang had managed to sketch a rough portrait of the killer, but when it came to actually finding people, she was no match for the experienced constables who had spent years working cases at the grassroots level. So for these past few days she had stayed peacefully at home, waiting for Ming Huazhang to turn up new evidence before she refined the portrait further.
Working from Ming Huashang’s portrait, Ming Huazhang had led his men in a thorough sweep of every area along the route where Cheng Siyue had gone missing, and within ten days had compiled transcripts of testimony so extensive they nearly reached the floor. Ming Huashang walked in, was startled to see the towering stacks of case scrolls, and asked: “Second Elder Brother — all of this is what you’ve investigated in these past few days?”
Ming Huazhang nodded. “It is.”
Ming Huashang picked up the nearest scroll and unrolled it, asking: “Do you have any persons under particular suspicion?”
“There are a few at present.” Ming Huazhang pinched the bridge of his nose, closed his eyes, and for once let a rare weariness show in his expression. “But the ones who fit the portrait don’t satisfy the conditions for having committed the crime, and those who could have committed it don’t match your portrait.”
“Oh?” Ming Huashang quickly sat down. “How so?”