Early in the morning, Jingzhao Prefecture received a report, and the constables, yawning, went to notify the Dali Temple that a case had come in.
This matter originated from yesterday’s court session, where the Dali Temple Minister and the Jingzhao Yin had a heated verbal clash.
The two had already held opposing views on the choice of personnel for flood control, and after failing to resolve it, they ended up shouting at each other with flushed faces.
The Dali Temple Minister insulted the Jingzhao Yin, saying that aside from good looks, he was useless and that since taking office, the handling of criminal cases in Jingzhao Prefecture had worsened considerably.
In return, the Jingzhao Yin mocked the Dali Temple Minister for being ugly and ineffective, claiming that his way of governance was to shirk all responsibility and remain stagnant for ten years in the same post without any achievements.
The Emperor, intrigued by this, waved his hand and ordered the two to swap positions for one month, wanting to see how well they could perform in each other’s roles.
Thus, today’s case from Jingzhao Prefecture was reassigned to the Dali Temple for investigation.
“小 Yu, this is the first case our Dali Temple has taken over from Jingzhao Prefecture. You must investigate it thoroughly and make a great start — slap those Jingzhao bastards right in the face!”
Dali Temple Minister Zheng Chengliang, his graying beard trembling, passionately instructed Song Qiyun not to disgrace him.
Song Qiyun remained calm,
“Zhi Jin.”
“What?”
“Zhi Jin.”
“Young as you are, why be stubborn with your superior? Let me ask you, doesn’t ‘Zhi’ mean young? And doesn’t ‘Jin’ mean jade? So what’s wrong with me calling you Xiao Yu?”
Song Qiyun lowered his gaze.
“I heard the Jingzhao Yin is handsome and cherishes talent, and never calls his subordinates by the wrong name—”
“Ha ha ha, I’m just joking with you. As long as you investigate the case brilliantly, I don’t care if I call you Zhi Jin or even ‘Ancestor’!”
Zheng Chengliang did not want to lose face in court a month later.
Song Qiyun was his most favored and trusted subordinate, and he could not let Shen Yuzhang have an advantage.
With great expectations, Zheng Chengliang patted Song Qiyun on the shoulder.
“You’re the one I’ve chosen, so you must be extraordinary. Go! Let those mongrels from Jingzhao Prefecture witness the true power of our Dali Temple!”
Song Qiyun bowed lightly and took his leave.
If the old man didn’t talk a hundred words a day, he could almost be considered a likable person.
When Song Qiyun and his men arrived at the murder scene on Yulin Alley, a crowd had already gathered.
The Patrol Army was first on site, securing the scene.
Dali Temple Supervisors Bai Kaiji and Lu Yang had already arrived earlier, conducting a preliminary survey and recording the scene.
Lu Yang said,
“The household’s surname is Pang. Six people in total, living in Yulin Alley for over thirty years. There are two victims, found beneath the pear trees in the backyard…”
Suddenly, Song Qiyun lifted his head and locked eyes on a young boy in white clothes amidst the crowd.
Among the commoners clad in coarse linen, he stood out like a crane among chickens—his skin pale as paper, his features delicate and beautiful.
He was as frail as the white pear blossoms on the tree, as if a gust of wind could make him fall.
After two coughs, the boy spat up blood.
He seemed accustomed to this.
Seizing a moment when no one noticed, he calmly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with a white handkerchief and stared blankly in their direction.
A strange person.
Song Qiyun mentally noted this, then dismissed him, focusing back on the crime scene as Lu Yang continued.
There were three large pear trees in the Pang family’s backyard.
Under the northernmost third tree, two bodies lay intertwined, thickly covered by pear blossoms.
Last night’s violent east wind during the storm, blowing northward, coupled with the barrier of the courtyard wall, caused the blossoms to pile heavily over the bodies.
The pear blossoms were soaked by the rain, layering over the victims’ faces and bodies, making it impossible to identify them without clearing the flowers.
However, from their outlines and the few strands of hair and parts of clothing and shoes visible, the victims were determined to be a man and a woman, with the woman on top.
The backyard was cluttered with piles of timber, some complete wood pieces, others partially made furniture.
Most of the finished and unfinished woodwork was stored under a shed built against the back wall of the house.
Some discarded wood was stacked haphazardly in the corners and along the walls.
Only two unfinished chairs lay toppled beside the wood piles, washed by the rain.
Chen Shi, who had gotten up early to make breakfast, went to gather some scrap wood behind the house for firewood and suddenly discovered the two bodies buried under the pear blossoms.
She screamed loudly, attracting her husband Pang Pin’s attention.
Both were timid and dared not approach, so they called the neighbor Zhao Dalang to report the case.
“The Pang family consists of six members: the elderly mother Zhang Shi, eldest son Pang Pin and his wife with their three-year-old son, and second son Pang Sheng and his wife Liu Shi. Pang Pin is a carpenter, and the backyard is his workshop. Pang Sheng is a scholar, twenty years old this year, currently studying at Sanlu Academy in the outskirts of the city. He has been married to Liu Shi for two years but rarely returns home except for festivals.”
“Currently, Zhang Shi is missing. Pang Pin said his mother was still at home before going to bed last night.”
Wei Chifeng parted the pear blossoms covering the bodies.
The two figures lying as if embracing were fully exposed.
The woman, older, tightly pressed her body over the young man’s head and torso below.
“How can this be Aunt Zhang? Why is she lying dead under the pear tree hugging a man?”
“Oh dear, at her age, what a scandal…”
The northern courtyard wall of the Pang family was only about half a zhang high.
The commoners outside the wall could see the scene inside.
People naturally gathered to watch, especially when a murder was involved.
More and more spectators crowded the area.
The constables raised their batons, setting up barriers and scolding the crowd to keep their distance, but to little avail.
Some even climbed onto the rooftops to get a better look.
Wei Chifeng gently shifted the woman’s body, discovering an iron-headed arrow had pierced through the man’s throat and then stabbed into the woman’s chest.
Using a handkerchief to stem the bleeding, he coordinated with the constables and carefully separated the two intertwined bodies.
Song Qiyun noticed moss stains on the man’s shoe soles and went to inspect the wall’s edge.
At the northern wall, he found broken moss marks.
“Cough, cough, isn’t this Pang Sheng?”
The boy’s refined appearance and melodious cough immediately drew the crowd’s attention.
“What a handsome young master! Where did he come from? How did we just notice him now?”
Song Qiyun also looked at the boy with a scrutinizing gaze.
With his innate sharpness as an investigator, he had sensed the boy’s strangeness from the start, but did not expect him to speak so soon.
“And you are?”
Just as Shen Weimu was about to reply, he suddenly coughed again, quickly covering his mouth with a handkerchief.
When the white cloth was removed, a bright red bloodstain showed.
“Spitting blood!?”
“Sir, are you all right?”
The noisy crowd instantly quieted at his sudden scare, then murmurs of concern followed, one after another.
Shen Weimu weakly smiled and shook his head to indicate he was fine.
“This is nothing. The real tragedy is that Pang Sheng is dead and cannot be revived.”
“Yes, yes…” the commoners sympathized.
“I just saw Pang Sheng yesterday. He was wearing these clothes.”
Shen Weimu sighed repeatedly as he looked at the bodies.
“Pang Sheng had a hard life. Yesterday, he specifically asked the academy teacher for leave to come home and catch a cheating spouse. He said his mother’s letter mentioned the blue sweat cloth as evidence that his wife was having an affair with another man.”
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