Silence fell.
Then the crowd suddenly burst into loud chatter, buzzing with gossip.
“The second daughter-in-law of the Pang family looks so quiet and obedient. How could she behave so recklessly?”
“If Pang Sheng went home to catch a cheat, why did he and his mother end up dead in the backyard?”
The public opinion was chaotic and headache-inducing.
Song Qiyun ordered Lu Yang to bring Shen Weimu over.
Upon hearing that she was being slandered, Liu Shi rushed over and confronted Shen Weimu.
“You lie! I have been pure and proper since marrying into the Pang family, always faithful and never involved with other men. Don’t you dare slander my innocence!”
Eldest sister-in-law Chen Shi quickly restrained Liu Shi, who struggled fiercely.
Shen Weimu stepped back to avoid conflict, then coughed again, spitting more blood.
Liu Shi, shocked by his coughing, froze, stopped struggling, and retreated three steps, giving Shen Weimu space as if afraid his coughing would blame her for his death.
“Madam Liu, don’t be anxious. I am merely stating the facts regarding Pang Sheng, not accusing you of anything.”
“What’s the difference!”
Liu Shi sobbed in grievance.
Song Qiyun approached and asked Shen Weimu,
“What is your name? How do you know so much about Pang Sheng’s situation?”
“I am Shen Ersan, a native of the capital and a close friend of Pang Sheng. Yesterday, I met him in the outskirts, where he was eager to return to the city. We talked briefly, and he told me all this. I had planned to invite him for drinks today to help ease his worries, never expecting to find him murdered.”
Song Qiyun listened intently and again studied the boy before him.
Tall and slender, dressed in white and standing among the scattered white pear blossoms, he had an otherworldly, ethereal presence.
Despite his frail body and frequent coughing up blood, his speech was articulate and clear—a contradiction that piqued Song Qiyun’s suspicion.
His eyes carried a hint of scrutiny as he asked,
“You are such close friends with him? Did he confide every sordid detail of his family scandal to you?”
Shen Weimu chuckled,
“Song Shaoqing, you have never had a true confidant, so you can’t possibly understand the feeling of ‘Bo Ya meeting Zhong Ziqi.’”
Song Qiyun furrowed his brow but quickly returned to his usual indifferent demeanor.
Bai Kaiji, witnessing this exchange, couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
It was the first time he’d seen someone so skillfully argue with the usually eloquent and composed Song Qiyun, even turning his expression sour.
“Have all the witnesses been questioned, and their statements recorded?”
Song Qiyun’s sharp question sent Bai Kaiji retreating with his tail between his legs.
Song Qiyun then instructed Shen Weimu,
“Wait here for a moment. We may have more questions for you.”
Shen Weimu nodded calmly.
“Did you hear anything unusual last night?”
Bai Kaiji asked the Pang family.
Pang Pin shook his head.
“I’m just a laborer. When I’m tired, I sleep like the dead. I didn’t hear a thing last night.”
Chen Shi also shook her head.
“Last night, I only heard thunder and rain, nothing else.”
Liu Shi said the same.
“I didn’t hear anything.”
Bai Kaiji learned that Pang Pin and his wife lived in the east wing, while Liu Shi usually stayed in a shed-like structure.
The second son only stayed in the main house when he came home.
Bai Kaiji was somewhat surprised because this shed was not the traditional type but a simple lean-to built behind the north side of the main house.
He had seen it earlier, thinking it was a storage shed, but it turned out to be Liu Shi’s living quarters—a small, gloomy, cramped space.
Pang Pin said,
“Mother said studying is the most important thing for my brother, so he should stay in the sunny main house for better chances at success. My sister-in-law has been married for two years but has yet to conceive. Mother said she was unlucky and didn’t deserve to stay in such a good room when alone.”
“Have you long held grudges against your mother-in-law?”
Bai Kaiji asked Liu Shi.
Since being accused of impropriety, Liu Shi had been crying, and now her sobs became even more pitiful.
Pang Pin hurriedly spoke on her behalf,
“My sister-in-law is virtuous, never arguing with mother and very filial.”
“I don’t think so—barking dogs don’t bite!”
Chen Shi interjected.
“If it were me, I’d hate my mother-in-law so much, I’d want to kill her.”
“Stop talking nonsense!”
Pang Pin scolded Chen Shi angrily.
Chen Shi glared back defiantly,
“What nonsense? Didn’t you see a few days ago when mother-in-law scalded her hand with boiling water and called her a barren hen, saying she should be divorced?”
Pang Pin quickly apologized to Bai Kaiji,
“Please don’t listen to this madwoman. Mother-in-law was just speaking out of anger. She’s said such things countless times, only to vent. If my sister-in-law really held a grudge, she wouldn’t have waited until now. She’s always been virtuous and would never kill mother or my brother.”
The initial examination of the two bodies was complete.
Wei Chifeng washed his hands and reported to Song Qiyun.
“The time of death was last night. The bodies are soaked from the rain, indicating they died before the rain stopped. The cause of death is this sharp arrow. Pang Sheng had a blue sweat cloth pinned to his lower back. The fabric is coarse and does not match his fine clothes; it looks like it isn’t his.”
Wei Chifeng presented the arrow and sweat cloth to Song Qiyun.
An iron-headed arrow without fletching.
A half-worn blue hemp sweat cloth.
When these two items were shown to the Pang family, they all denied ever seeing them.
But Shen Ersan had mentioned the blue sweat cloth.
To verify Shen Ersan’s testimony, Song Qiyun first inquired with the Pang family and learned that Zhang Shi was illiterate.
If she had written a letter to her son, she must have asked someone to write it for her.
After asking who Zhang Shi might have entrusted to write the letter, Song Qiyun sent people to interrogate and verify.
“Cough, cough…”
Shen Weimu, who had been left aside for a while, suddenly coughed low again.
Song Qiyun glanced at him and ordered someone to bring a chair.
He continued his observation near the northern wall less than ten feet from the corpses.
There was a roughly rectangular, over one zhang long thick wooden beam lying horizontally.
Sweeping the pear blossoms off the wood, Song Qiyun noticed a deep crack in the middle.
“This should have been a sturdy beam, but it’s cracked wide open,”
Lu Yang sighed.
Song Qiyun rubbed his finger over a roughly circular hole at the center of the crack.
The hole was just big enough to fit the shaft of an arrow.
He compared it to the arrow and found it a perfect match.
Shen Weimu sat comfortably nearby, wiping the blood from his mouth as he said,
“How can this arrow be the murder weapon? This was a tribute offered by Big Brother Pang to the Chenghuang Temple! A few nights ago, he went to the Chenghuang Temple, and the tribute bag was full of these arrows.”
Just as the murmurs of the crowd quieted, Shen Weimu’s words reignited a commotion.
“Oh my god, oh my god, this arrow belongs to Big Brother Pang?”
“Did he kill his own mother and younger brother?”
“Doesn’t this mean he’s the ‘wild man’ inside Madam Liu’s house?”
Song Qiyun straightened, his cold gaze cutting through Shen Weimu like a blade.
“You know Pang Sheng? Why didn’t I see you two were acquainted before?”
“We’re not acquainted; it’s just a coincidence. Two nights ago, I had a bad cough and couldn’t sleep, so I went out wandering and planned to make a wish at the Chenghuang Temple for health. I happened to see Big Brother Pang, though I didn’t know he was Pang Sheng’s elder brother then. He was holding a bundle and placed it on the Chenghuang altar before leaving. Curious, I peeked and saw it was full of arrows like this.”
Shen Weimu said he had a vague feeling of familiarity with Pang Pin when he saw him earlier but couldn’t place it.
The arrow had jogged his memory.
Song Qiyun pressed again,
“Do you really think someone would place a bundle of arrows on the Chenghuang altar as a tribute?”
“Song Shaoqing, you don’t mingle much in the Jianghu, do you? There, it’s common to kill a man one moment and carry his head to a temple the next to pray and make vows. An arrow is nothing compared to that.”
Song Qiyun:
Is this Shen Ersan really not sent by an enemy to annoy me?
Just as Bai Kaiji finished questioning the witnesses and returned, he saw Song Qiyun frowning and glaring at Shen Ersan with a very unpleasant expression.
He had missed the good part!
Shen Ersan must have said something else that left Song Qiyun speechless and upset.
“Something wrong?”
Song Qiyun’s irritation spread to Bai Kaiji.
Before Bai Kaiji could answer, Lu Yang beat him to it.
“I think I have a lead on this case! Zhang Shi often scolded Liu Shi harshly. Pang Sheng was away studying for a long time. Liu Shi, unable to bear the loneliness, took a lover. When Zhang Shi found out, she informed Pang Sheng. Mother and son planned to catch her and the lover last night, but they were instead killed by Liu Shi and the man. Those who use this kind of arrow are either Jianghu men or military personnel. If we investigate along these lines, we won’t go wrong!”
After Lu Yang’s deduction, he shot Bai Kaiji a challenging look, waiting for Song Qiyun’s praise.
“Detain suspects Pang Pin and Liu Shi at the Dali Temple for interrogation.”
“Pang Pin?”
Lu Yang was surprised,
“What does he have to do with this?”
Bai Kaiji tapped his head,
“Information must be delayed!”
Shen Weimu saw the little attendant Wu Qizheng, who had just returned from buying sweet water, waving at him.
He stood up to leave.
“You can’t leave.”
Song Qiyun said coldly.
“You are also a suspect.”
“Me?”
Shen Weimu blinked innocently, helplessly shrugging.
“I’m just a kind person providing clues. How could I be a suspect?”
“Suspects always claim innocence, but they inevitably reveal flaws in their words.”
“Oh?”
He has flaws in his story?
Shen Weimu lowered his eyes.
Isn’t that normal?
He came to provide clues, not to patch every logical hole.
If everything was flawless, then the detective would be useless.
Song Qiyun stared at Shen Weimu, curious to see how the boy would react to being treated as a suspect.
But he observed nothing.
The handsome youth shrugged nonchalantly and followed them without a trace of anger or protest.
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