Chapter 22

“That lotus pond has actually dried up a long time ago – oh right, it was just after the New Year too – and the Oldest Young Lady managed to fall inside somehow. When the Oldest Young Lady was found, she was looking at that lotus pond, crying and screaming that there was a ghost inside. At that time, the Marquis was very angry because the Oldest Young Lady had yet to recover from her hysteria and she could barely speak in a coherent manner. The Marquis felt that there was some evil spirit inside the lotus pond which had caused the Oldest Young Lady’s hysteria, so he immediately ordered for the levelling of the lotus pond.”

A hint of fear, albeit restrained, appeared at the bottom of the steward’s eyes, “This compound was the travelling residence of a previous dynasty’s Qinwang many years ago; the residence was filled with high buildings and water pavilions, which was incredibly extravagant and befitting of a feudal aristocrat. Since the social status of the compound’s owner was respected and noble, the servants must have been plentiful in the deep residence with big courtyards. It’s more than likely that in the dried-up lotus ponds and wells, someone had died in there before…”

Upon seeing Huò Wēi Lóu listen with an attentive gaze, the steward continued to speak: “Before the Oldest Young Lady fell ill, she already possessed the demeanour of a daughter from a noble house despite being young of age, but she seemed to become a different person altogether after falling ill. Her entire person was inarticulate, far gloomier, and even afraid of light and fire; as long as there was no one by her side, she would slip under the bed or into the closet or run out of the room to find a pitch-black hole in the fake mountains to hide. Because of this, the wetnurses, Momos, and servants by her side were changed a few times. Later on, this issue was corrected, and she became slightly picky with regards to her choice in personal servants. In those two years, xiaoren even helped the Oldest Young Lady buy a large quantity of young maidservants, but only a scarce few were retained in the end.”

Huò Wēi Lóu furrowed his brows, “She was scared of fire back then? But benhou heard that was nearly burned by fire that year, did that occur?”

Without needing to recall his memories, the steward replied: “That incident did occur. After the Oldest Young Lady fell ill, she was exceedingly afraid of fire at the start, to the extent where she would fear it whenever the candles were lit up in her room at night. However, after a month approximately, the Oldest Young Lady’s hysteria turned for the better by two parts, and she started to absolutely adore things that emitted light. It was going to be the New Year then, and Lao Furen wanted the New Year’s celebration to be livelier, so she purchased a lot of fireworks and firecrackers. The Oldest Young Lady saw it being released twice, and it’s unknown what she was trying to do, but she toppled the lantern oil in her room, and ignited a folded notebook with said flame…

“That fire burned away the draperies in the Oldest Young Lady’s room, and a terrible accident nearly occurred. When the Marquis asked the Oldest Young Lady why she did that, the Oldest Young Lady instead questioned if the fire could burn someone to death, which frightened the Marquis, and he even went as far as inviting a Taoist priest to conduct a religious ceremony…”

The steward heaved a sigh, “Truth to be told, what Oldest Young Lady experienced that year while she was lost for the whole night is still a mystery even now, which led to that series of frankly bizarre behaviour. The Oldest Young Lady was only six-years-old back then; she was quite pitiful in all honesty.”

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Huò Wēi Lóu found it stranger the more he listened, “How long did it take her to recover from her illness?”

The steward thought about it, “The fire incident happened at the end of the twelfth lunar month, the falling into the lotus pond happened after the New Year… It was in February at the beginning of spring that the Oldest Young Lady became more normal, except she still couldn’t speak, and it took almost a full year before she recovered her ability to speak normally.”

Huò Wēi Lóu remained wordless though his eyes were heavy. It had already been one day and two nights since Zhèng Wén Yàn’s death, and he initially assumed that this was just a case of brothers vying for the noble title, but now, it was dredging up old, past events. He posed another question: “You’ve been in the residence for many years, but have you ever heard of the Marquis admitting concubines, or rumours of Da Furen having more than one daughter?”

Once Huò Wēi Lóu voiced that question, the steward looked visibly surprised, “The Marquis admitting concubines? That has never happened, Lao Furen doesn’t like the male masters having concubines. Moreover, Da Furen came from a prestigious household, and Oldest Young Lady was engaged to His Second Highness from childhood. The Marquis has always been inviting renowned doctors to treat Da Furen’s illness, and the thought of admitting concubines had never occurred to him. Since Da Furen did not have any auspicious news for the years that followed, it’s natural that there were no other children.”

Fifteen years ago, the servants of the Marquis Residence were cleaned out and changed, and this steward was the person who had worked in the Marquis Residence for longest period of time afterwards, and yet he knew nothing, which was more than sufficient to prove that the change in personnel was for the purposes of concealing past affairs. Huò Wēi Lóu commanded him to withdraw, then called for the other servants who had worked for more than ten years to enter the room for questioning.

He personally questioned them, and the remaining old servants in the Marquis Residence answered like they were pouring beans, genuinely afraid that they would invoke Marquis Wuzhao’s ire if they spoke too slowly. Despite their many recollections, it merely added details to the first steward’s account, and Bó Ruò Yōu could not find any traces or hints that supported Da Furen having another daughter from start till end, and the matter of Zhèng Yún Ní falling ill and running into misfortune was also shrouded in dense and heavy fog.

蛛丝马迹 (pinyin: zhu shi ma ji) – spider threads and horse tracks.

By the time the last steward departed, there were still no gains. Bó Ruò Yōu pursed her lips slightly before she spoke hesitatingly, “Hou’ye, Zheng da xiaojie met with an accident ten years ago, perhaps… it is unrelated to the homicides…”

Bó Ruò Yōu was merely afraid that having a wrong trajectory would delay Huò Wēi Lóu’s business, but who could have expected that Huò Wēi Lóu would turn around and look at her instead, “There is no need to disparage and doubt yourself. The deceased in this case might be people from a Marquis Residence, but they are no different from the ones you have witnessed in Qingshan County. The command and understanding of wounds, observation, analysis, judgement, and extrapolation, are all your strengths; since there is a cause for doubt, be firm and unwavering about them.”

There were no clear leads right now, and when Bó Ruò Yōu remembered that Huò Wēi Lóu had official business attached to his person, she did not dare to be overly confident about her conjectures in the end. However, when she heard that speech from Huò Wēi Lóu, she felt each and every word of his reverberate, as if he had everything within his grasp; not only did he refuse to tolerate the doubts of others, but he had never doubted himself as well. Bó Ruò Yōu sighed, her nature could not stand against his contingencies. 

Upon seeing her heavy expression, Huò Wēi Lóu assumed that she had etched his words in her heart, and was living in constant fear, so he stated: “It is undeniable that benhou dislikes women being involved in official business, but your post-mortem autopsies have been satisfactory, and even if you have erred in terms of deduction, benhou will not censure you.”

Bó Ruò Yōu’s position was low and her words held no weight. In the past, she could speak more freely when she was helping Hè Chéng, but now she was working under Marquis Wuzhao’s eyes, it was unavoidable for her to hope that this case could pass without any credit or transgressions at the start. It was just that after Huò Wēi Lóu saved her life that morning, she felt indebted in her heart, which was why she was sparing no effort, and it was even reaching the point where she was unable to change how much she was invested in this.

Her current hesitation, was not because she was afraid of censure.

However, there was no need for Huò Wēi Lóu to hear about that. Hence, Bó Ruò Yōu replied in respectful manner: “Min’nü understands.”

Huò Wēi Lóu shot a look at her, only seeing her lowering her eyes respectfully, thus exposing the graceful arc of her neck, while a strand of dark hair cascaded down the side of her face, the resulting contrast making the porcelain skin at the side of her face and neck luminously white and exquisite. Since she was not wearing a cloak today, her delicate shoulders and back appeared frailer and thinner.

Huò Wēi Lóu retracted his line of sight, “You have attended to your duties diligently and attentively, your post-mortem autopsies can be considered adept as well. After this case is solved, is there anything [you] wish for?”

Bó Ruò Yōu was a little perplexed, “Min’nü… has no requests.”

Huò Wēi Lóu looked over again. Even if it was a coroner recorded in the government office’s documents, the monthly official salary was mediocre at best, to say nothing of how Bó Ruò Yōu was not a bailiff in the government office. Owing to Hè Chéng, she would never lack in transportation money, but it would not be in surplus. Huò Wēi Lóu could not fathom why Bó Ruò Yōu continuously helped Hè Chéng; no matter how much assistance she offered in the case solving, it would be difficult for her to gain any credit, and it couldn’t possibly be that she was genuinely doing it all for the sake of redressing the injustices the deceased suffered.

“Every person has demands to some extent; you are a woman, and working as a coroner is even more challenging, how could you be without requests?”

Huò Wēi Lóu’s eyes seemed like it was capable of seeing through the hearts of humans. Bó Ruò Yōu lowered her eyes, but her pupils were trembling fiercely.

Upon seeing her purse her lips wordlessly, Huò Wēi Lóu continued to say: “Hè Chéng mentioned that you helped him solve numerous unresolved cases, and it can be considered as exerting a great deal of physical and mental effort for the common people. Barring the fact that women cannot serve as officials, if you have any wishes, benhou can grant you one request.”

Being the Marquis Wuzhao who served under one while being above tens of thousands, even the hundred officials of the imperial court might not be able to earn a single allowance from him, and yet she was in possession of a golden opportunity that was being bestowed by the heavens. Bó Ruò Yōu went quiet for a moment, “Hou’ye saved min’nü once, min’nü does not dare to be negligent for the sake of repaying Hou’ye.”

Huò Wēi Lóu raised his eyebrows since he did not expect that she would have such thoughts. For him, it was just the exertion of lifting his hand, and he essentially forgot about that particular incident. Furthermore, as someone who was in an eminently high position, what could she possibly repay him with?

The corners of Huò Wēi Lóu’s mouth pulled into a smile that was not a smile, and she heard him say: “Repay benhou?”

“What high-sounding sentiments.”

His tone was light and mild, and tinged with light reproach. There was no perceivable arrogance, but these words were asserting that even if the favour was as heavy as Mount Tai, it was merely as light as dust to him; it was not worthy of mention, nor was it worth repaying, and since he was so far removed from the masses such that he could call the wind and summon the rain, wanting to repay him also required having enough weight first; and with how he and Bó Ruò Yōu were as different and apart as the clouds and mud, the word ‘repayment’ was an object for ridicule.

Bó Ruò Yōu’s back became rigid, and a thin layer of sweat started to form in her palms unconsciously.

At this moment, Huò Wēi Lóu asked another question: “Do you know, what will happen if these words were spoken to anyone else?”

A beautiful and delicate lady with snowy skin and blossoming beauty, who had nothing but her body to her name, what else can happen when she said that she wanted to repay a debt?

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Bó Ruò Yōu’s pupils shrank. Huò Wēi Lóu wanted to say more, but Fu gonggong and Hè Chéng happened to walk in right then and there. Fu gonggong’s gaze was keen, and once he noticed that the atmosphere in the room was wrong, he blinked his eyes and asked: “What’s going on here?”

Bó Ruò Yōu’s back remained taut, nor did she lift her head. As Fu gonggong observed Huò Wēi Lóu, however, he inexplicably felt that his current state of mind was rather amused…

But when Huò Wēi Lóu glanced towards the two arrivals, his expression became strict again.

In a low voice, he asked Hè Chéng, “What of the Taoist priest’s calculations?”

Some solemnity seeped into Hè Chéng’s complexion, “Hou’ye, the Taoist priest calculated all the days in the Sixteenth Year of Jianhe, but, none of them can be ascribed as a Yin year and Yin hour. However—”

Huò Wēi Lóu’s eyes focused and Bó Ruò Yōu looked over as well. Then, they heard Hè Chéng say: “However, when the Taoist priest calculated the year before, his calculations showed that there were actually a few days that matched the saying in the Fifteenth Year of Jianhe.”

The Fifteenth Year of Jianhe?

Huò Wēi Lóu’s phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, “Zhèng Yún Ní, happens to be born in the Fifteenth Year of Jianhe.”