Chapter 15

Mama Sun, who had been leaning on someone for support, suddenly lunged forward. Her bloodshot eyes brimmed with anguish as she clutched Zhao Wenyue's arm and screamed at her, "How could you treat Madam like this? How could you do this to her?"

Zhao Wenyue struggled desperately to wrench herself free of Mama Sun's grip, crying in despair, "What's wrong with wanting to marry Young Master Xue? If Mother hadn't kept refusing, I wouldn't have come up with this plan. I never wanted Mother to die. It was an accident."

Mama Sun finally could not hold back any longer. She slapped Zhao Wenyue across the face, glaring furiously at the daughter Madam had spoiled since childhood. "How could Madam have given birth to a creature like you?"

"You old hag! How dare you hit me? You were the one who egged Mother on. If not for you, Mother wouldn't have died."

Even now, Zhao Wenyue was trying to blame someone else for Lady Xiao Lin's death. She did not think she had done anything wrong.

The Zhao family's little drama ended in a complete mess.

"Take them away."

At Bai Xiuming's order, the Mingjing Division Guards stepped forward to separate them. Several of Lady Xiao Lin's personal maids helped Mama Sun, while Zhao Wensheng and Zhao Wenyue were taken away under guard.

With the siblings gone, the courtyard grew much quieter.

Bai Xiuming turned to Mama Sun and asked, "You were the first to find your madam's body. Did you see a jade hairpin?"

Mama Sun tried hard to recall what she had seen. At the time, Madam had been covered in blood, and that monster had still been alive.

She remembered Madam wearing a jade hairpin.

Mama Sun answered with certainty, "She was wearing it. I remember she had it on. Madam was very fond of that jade hairpin and wore it all the time except when she was sleeping."

Thinking that Madam might have died because of that hairpin, Mama Sun began sobbing uncontrollably again.

Mama Sun's words made A Chan furrow her brow. When she had gone to look earlier, there had been no jade hairpin on Lady Xiao Lin's head.

Could the jade hairpin have run away on its own?

She suddenly thought of what had happened to her at the West Market last time. If a Snow Needle Snake was hidden inside the hairpin, perhaps it really could have run off by itself.

Just then, a Mingjing Division Guard came over to report, "My lord, we've searched the room and the surrounding area. We couldn't find the jade hairpin."

Bai Xiuming gave a quiet "Mm," then turned to Jiang Kai. "Fetch Lord Zhao back."

So Zhao Ming was brought back to the Main courtyard once more.

"Does Lord Bai have any further orders?" Zhao Ming asked coldly, his face stiff. He was usually easygoing, but as the victim's family member, he had been put through such a humiliating ordeal today. It was hard to keep his anger in check.

"Your wife's murder is still under investigation. Until the results are in, please keep the people in your household in check," Bai Xiuming said mildly, seemingly unaware of Zhao Ming's hostile attitude.

"Lord Bai needn't remind me of that."

"As for your son and daughter, both are implicated in this case. They must be taken to the Mingjing Division for questioning."

Zhao Ming said gravely, "Understood. I'll keep a close eye on the case. I trust Lord Bai will investigate it as soon as possible and make sure no one is wrongly accused."

The investigation had come to a temporary halt, but the case was far from clear. After all, the jade hairpin had not been found. A Chan had no idea who had used Zhao Wenyue to deliver it to Lady Xiao Lin, or what they had intended.

The Mingjing Division Guards withdrew in an orderly fashion, and Zhao Ming finally noticed A Chan, who was preparing to leave.

He stepped over to speak with her, sorrow still clouding his brow. "You're A Chan, aren't you? Your aunt has mentioned you to me often these past few days."

A Chan stopped and stepped forward to greet him. "Greetings, Uncle. Please accept my condolences."

Zhao Ming looked at Bai Xiuming's back as he was surrounded by his subordinates and heaved a heavy sigh. "Misfortune has befallen my family. It's my fault for raising an unkind, unrighteous, disloyal, and unfilial beast. He brought about your aunt's tragic death."

A Chan felt something was off. Her uncle seemed to think his son, Zhao Wensheng, was the true culprit, while his daughter, Zhao Wenyue, was innocent.

What he had just said to Lord Bai had made the same point.

But from an outsider's perspective, the one who had truly brought about Lady Xiao Lin's death seemed to be Zhao Wenyue, who had given her the jade hairpin. Otherwise, Mama Sun would not have been so provoked that she laid hands on her young mistress.

Why was her uncle's attitude so different from everyone else's? A Chan suppressed her doubts and said, "This isn't your fault, Uncle. Please don't blame yourself."

Zhao Ming shook his head, his expression still despondent.

A Chan glanced at the sky. The curfew had certainly begun, but it was not appropriate for her to stay at Zhao Manor, so she said her goodbyes. "Forgive me, Uncle, but it's late. I should take my leave."

Zhao Ming could not very well keep her there, so he nodded. "I'll have a servant escort you home."

A Chan declined. "There's no need. The officers of the Mingjing Division probably haven't gone far. I can leave with them."

The Mingjing Division was not on the way to Changping Quarter, but that did not matter.

"Very well." Zhao Ming choked up. "I'll send someone to tell you when your aunt's funeral is."

"Thank you for understanding, Uncle. I'll take my leave now."

"Go on." Zhao Ming did not look away until A Chan had disappeared from sight.

He surveyed the people in the Main courtyard and said, "Seal off the Main courtyard. Everyone else, go back and rest."

Then, without lingering, he strode toward his study.

A Chan hurried toward the manor gate and, sure enough, caught up with the Mingjing Division's group outside Zhao Manor.

Bai Xiuming stood beside a tall horse, apparently about to mount.

A Chan made her way around the crowd and stopped behind him. She asked softly, "Would it be convenient for you to take me home, my lord?"

The Mingjing Division Guards around them heard her and gave A Chan strange looks. Plenty of unmarried young women in the capital tried to win their lord's favor, but none had been so bold.

"Inconvenient." Bai Xiuming put his foot in the stirrup and swung neatly onto the horse, refusing without the slightest hesitation.

"But the curfew has already begun. You sent someone to bring me here, my lord. Are you going to leave me stranded now?" A Chan looked up at him, her bright eyes glistening in the dim night.

Bai Xiuming could not help thinking that she seemed ready to burst into tears at any moment.

A Chan looked so pitiful that Jiang Kai could not help speaking up. "My lord, perhaps I could escort her home?"

He had brought her here, after all. There was no problem with taking her back, right? Besides, with the Dragon Blood Horse's speed, they would arrive in no time.

Bai Xiuming shot him a cold look, and Jiang Kai immediately fell silent.

A Chan lowered her head in disappointment. "If it's truly inconvenient for you, then I'll just have to walk home by myself."

She slowly turned around. A drop of water pattered onto the ground.

Bai Xiuming's hand tightened around the reins, then loosened, then tightened again. Finally, he ordered Jiang Kai, "Take the others and go ahead."

"Yes, my lord."

They were all curious, but who would risk their life by watching the Pacification Commissioner's private business? At his order, they quickly formed up and left.

Bai Xiuming dismounted and asked A Chan, who had said she would leave on her own but had not taken a single step, "Can you ride?"

A Chan immediately turned around. "I've learned, but I'm afraid to gallop."

"Get on."

A Chan stepped forward, but the Dragon Blood Horse was so tall that she struggled for ages without managing to climb onto its back. The horse snorted, as if mocking her.

Seeing A Chan, half-hanging off the horse, still stubbornly trying, Bai Xiuming finally took pity on her. He reached out to steady her by the waist and lifted her onto the horse.

A Chan was on the horse, but Bai Xiuming did not ride with her. He led the horse from below.

The horse's hooves clopped rapidly, and the Dragon Blood Horse moved at a good pace. Yet Bai Xiuming, leading it, still strolled along as if he were taking an evening walk.

After they left Zhao Manor, there was no one else on the streets. A lantern could be seen only at long intervals, and apart from the horse's hooves, there was nothing but the wind.

The Dragon Blood Horse had been walking for a long while before A Chan tentatively spoke. "My lord?"

"What is it?"

She asked, "If everything the Zhao siblings said tonight is true, what punishment will they receive?"

"For using a诡怪 to harm someone, Zhao Wensheng will get at least five years."

"What about Zhao Wenyue? Didn't she do the same?"

"She can't be sentenced until the stall owner is caught. If she was led astray and used, her crime will be much less serious."

"What if they can't find the stall owner?" A Chan paused, then added, "If they can't even find the jade hairpin, will she escape punishment entirely?"

If the Mingjing Division could not find evidence, Zhao Wenyue could retract her confession at any time. She might not have thought of that, but Zhao Ming certainly would.

"It's possible."

A Chan suddenly understood why Zhao Ming's attitude had been so different from everyone else's. Zhao Wensheng would serve five years in prison; he was as good as ruined, and had already become a discarded son of the Zhao family.

But Zhao Wenyue still had value. That was why Zhao Ming had said what he did.

"I thought my uncle would blame both his children for my aunt's death, but things seem to have turned out differently from what I expected. My uncle also feels completely different from how my aunt described him," A Chan said softly.

Even now, he could still judge his children by their usefulness. A Chan could not help wondering whether the good man Lady Xiao Lin had seen was real, or just a lie she had made up.

Bai Xiuming's lips lifted. "You see things more clearly than your aunt did."

His words confirmed A Chan's suspicion. Zhao Ming's deep devotion to Lady Xiao Lin was not as sincere as it appeared.

"Perhaps I've seen too many coldhearted people to believe there are still truly good men in this world," A Chan said mockingly.

A Chan did not know whether Lady Xiao Lin had been lucky or unlucky. At least the lie had never been exposed, not even in the final moments before her death.

Bai Xiuming turned his head. "Have you been deceived before?"

A Chan's heart jumped. She forced a smile. "You jest, my lord. I was just thinking of Marquis of Jinyang. Before my mother passed away, wasn't he just as devoted as my uncle?"

Just as A Chan thought he would say something, Bai Xiuming spoke. "We're here."

They had indeed reached Changping Quarter, but with no lantern to light the way, A Chan almost failed to recognize her own door.

She gripped the reins tightly and slowly slid down from the horse. Once she was steady, she curtsied to Bai Xiuming. "Thank you for bringing me home tonight, my lord."

Bai Xiuming gave a perfunctory "Mm" and swung back onto the horse.

He turned the horse around to leave, but then heard A Chan's voice. "Tonight marks the third time we've met, my lord."

Bai Xiuming had already guessed what she was about to say. He was surprised to find himself patiently waiting for her to go on.

"Can't I know your name, my lord?" She looked at him expectantly.

"My name isn't a secret. You can ask someone."

"But I want to hear it from you."

"You certainly have a lot of requests."

A Chan blinked and stubbornly looked up at him. In the darkness, she could make out only his outline. Yet every subtle expression of hers was clear in Bai Xiuming's eyes.

When he did not answer, the corners of her lips drooped, and she pouted slightly.

"...Bai Xiuming."

The clatter of hooves rang out, almost drowning out his voice.