Through the wards (14)

Zhang Xing had underestimated Inspector Bai Yousi's ability to get things done.

The next morning, Zhang Xing yawned his way from Jingshan Ward to the tavern for roll call, only to discover that things had changed considerably. The man standing in the main hall with a register, waiting to take attendance, was none other than Qin Bao-Qin Erlang-dressed in brocade.

Not only that, the tavern's main hall had been cleared out and filled with chairs and benches. After answering roll call and being required to surrender their sabers, the Street-Cleaning Tigers took their seats at the direction of some Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry stationed around the edges. When Zhang Xing's turn came, he could hardly pretend not to know Qin Bao, so he greeted him as he stepped up to answer his name, then hurriedly lowered his head and found a seat under the strange gazes of the two Squad Leaders and the other commandants and strongmen.

Roll call ended just like that, but there was no questioning and no summons. Everyone exchanged looks. Yet this was only the third day since the murders, and a Vermilion Sash apparently sat upstairs, so no one dared make a commotion. They actually sat there patiently for half the day.

They endured until afternoon. Just as everyone was growing restless, a flurry of footsteps suddenly sounded from the rear residence. Bai Yousi then entered with several familiar faces from the river embankment, prompting everyone to rise and salute in surprise and uncertainty.

"Han Min."

The female inspector entered the main hall, then climbed the staircase and stopped four or five steps up. Surveying everyone from above, she raised the sword in her hand and pointed it loosely at one man: Junior Banner Officer Han, one of the two Squad Leaders. She plainly had no intention of exchanging pleasantries. "Before the murders, on the day before Feng Zongqi purged the Green Fish Gang, you drank with one of their lodge masters in Gentlemanly Ward. You said that Feng was playing dirty, making a fortune himself while refusing to let his subordinates earn anything on the side... did that happen?"

Junior Banner Officer Han flushed and hurriedly stood. "Ins-Inspector Bai, please forgive me. I dare not deny it, but I truly was speaking my mind at the time. Feng Zongqi had indeed sent men to sweep my jurisdiction without warning, and I resented it for a while... but it was only ordinary frustration. It wasn't enough to... to... to make me want to harm anyone."

"Then why, the following day, when you accompanied Feng Zongqi to the Green Fish Gang with that frustration still in your heart, did you personally kill the very Helmsman you had poured your heart out to the night before?" The female inspector's expression was cold as she questioned him directly. "After that, would you count as having the intention to harm someone? And before that, did you have any intention of harming that Helmsman?"

At these words, everyone throughout the tavern, whether Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry, Street-Cleaning Tigers, or bailiffs from the Henan County office assisting with the case, cast sidelong glances at Junior Banner Officer Han... the streets naturally carried the spirit of the martial underworld. Zhang Xing had made a similar observation just last night: the peculiar existence of true qi made that spirit even stronger in this world.

Thus, Junior Banner Officer Han's conduct was truly contemptible.

In fact, even Junior Banner Officer Han himself could only lower his head in silence.

"Wang Li." Seeing Junior Banner Officer Han bow his head, the female inspector paid him no further attention and pointed at another man: Old Wang, who had originally taken Zhang Xing on street patrol with Xiao Zhao. "According to Feng Zongqi's household, in the five days before the Green Fish Gang incident, you met privately with Madam Feng in the rear residence at least four times... what were those meetings about?"

"Reporting to Inspector Bai." Old Wang's face was ashen as he cupped his hands toward her. "I've served here a very long time and was considered a trusted subordinate of Feng Zongqi and his wife. Most of the men here with any seniority know that. And Madam Feng didn't simply ignore everything while living in the rear residence. Many business matters required her attention. She summoned me during those days because the major case involving Yang Shen remained unresolved, and the Chief Banner Officer had grown afraid and wanted to wind up his businesses. Madam Feng privately instructed me to take care in overseeing and settling them..."

"Was it also Madam Feng, rather than Feng Zongqi, who directly instructed you to collude with Deputy Gang Leader Shen Hui of the Green Fish Gang, teach him how to kill Zhao Shanhai and Zhang Xing under Sun Wogua's very nose, how to hide the bodies, and how to open the gates for you when you attacked the Green Fish Gang?" The female inspector's expression remained unchanged, but her words were startling. "Why do you think I waited until now to come and question you? With the Feng couple dead, what do you think Shen Hui could hold out against? Or did you think Shen Hui wouldn't be furious when he learned that the couple planned to leave the Eastern Capital for Feng Zongqi's hometown in Jingxiang, leaving him alone in charge of the Green Fish Gang, doomed to suffer retaliation?"

The whole hall erupted. Several people beside Old Wang immediately moved away, and Old Wang himself turned livid.

"It seems that when Madam Feng sent you to do such a vicious thing, she didn't tell you that she and her husband planned to abandon everything in the Eastern Capital and return to Feng Yong's hometown in Jingxiang... you already knew that you, too, were nothing but a discarded pawn, never truly worth anything in their eyes." Bai Yousi suddenly seemed rather bored, but she gestured toward the rear with her chin. "Bring him in."

At Bai Yousi's command, two Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry shoved a man inside. It was the same Deputy Gang Leader Shen from before. Though he looked dejected, he bore no injuries and could even walk in on his own. Clearly, he had confessed outright.

At the sight of Shen Hui, Old Wang finally grew despondent. "I did so much for her. Yesterday, when I heard..."

"Shut up!" Bai Yousi, who had seemed utterly bored, suddenly cut off his account and pressed him. "Spare me all that nonsense. I only ask this: Feng Yong, an appointed official of the court, secretly colluded with a gang to murder his colleagues. As his accomplice, are you now admitting to that in front of everyone?"

Old Wang panted, his eyes bloodshot and his fists clenched, but said nothing more.

"Zhang Xing."

Just as Zhang Xing was watching Old Wang, wary of the man lashing out like a cornered dog, the female inspector above suddenly called his name. "You were originally under no suspicion at all, but now we know that you, too, were set up by Feng Yong and nearly lost your life alongside Xiao Zhao. It would be quite natural for that to give you thoughts of murder, wouldn't it?"

Zhang Xing cupped his hands. "Inspector, please judge clearly. If I wanted revenge for myself, killing Feng Yong and his wife would be understandable. But why wouldn't I kill Commandant Wang and Deputy Gang Leader Shen as well? Besides, they did it so seamlessly that not even heaven's robes showed a stitch-how could I have known? And a day or two after the murders, word had already spread that one of the killers must have used Longevity True Qi and called himself Li Taibai. I've only just arrived here. Where could I find such an accomplice? Please judge clearly, Inspector."

Bai Yousi glanced down at Zhang Xing, then turned upward and cupped her hands toward the second floor. "Inspector Chai... I've brought Shen Hui, and we've also investigated that saber. It should indeed be Xiao Zhao's. His saber went missing from his home. His body has also been examined: he was ambushed from behind and killed with a single stroke. That corroborates quite a few things as well."

"How efficiently you investigate, Inspector Bai." The Red Sash surnamed Chai suddenly emerged from an upstairs room, stroking his beard. "The whole case has become clear in an instant. I'm simply sitting here reaping the credit."

"It isn't enough yet." Bai Yousi cupped her hands toward the man upstairs. "The saber was Xiao Zhao's, which ties it to this matter, and those words were deliberately written as well. From that, whether the killer was a chivalrous hero is difficult to say, but he certainly knew the full story of Xiao Zhao's case within this case. Therefore, this man-or one of them-must have been someone in the Green Fish Gang or the Street-Cleaning Tigers who knew the truth, or perhaps both... as for who exactly, we must rely on your wisdom and discernment, Inspector Chai."

"What discernment? You've already pointed out the four most suspicious men from both sides for me, Inspector Bai." Inspector Chai continued stroking his beard and smiling. "Letting me pick another one or two out of four... you've certainly left me enough face."

"It wasn't me!"

Bai Yousi was just about to speak again when Junior Banner Officer Han suddenly roared from below and pointed at Wang Li. "Why would I risk killing a Chief Banner Officer? It must have been Old Wang and Shen Hui! They suddenly learned that Feng Zongqi and Madam Feng were leaving, that they were being abandoned and would face retaliation from Eunuch Sun of the Northern Office, so they grew resentful. As for writing in midair and Longevity True Qi, that stuff is everywhere. Could the Green Fish Gang really lack someone to open a gate at midnight? In any case, out of the three of us Street-Cleaning Tigers, with Old Wang looking this suspicious, how could it fall to me and Little Zhang to suffer for it? Little Zhang and I only learned what happened to Zhao Shanhai today!"

The clever people present had already realized that this was precisely Bai Yousi's intention. Zhang and Han were merely there to make up the numbers; Wang and Shen were the real suspects. They remained expressionless. The slower ones only now looked as though they had suddenly seen the light... though perhaps they were not slow at all and were merely playing along.

Zhang Xing had of course seen this intention early on as well, but only after Han Min shouted it out did he admire Bai Yousi's method of clearing him even more... with Han added to the mix, he did not even have to speak for himself.

Naturally, that did not stop him from putting on the same look of sudden understanding.

As for Shen Hui and Wang Li, both faced a death sentence sooner or later. And with Eunuch Sun of the Northern Office involved, they were dead whether painted black or white. Under everyone's pressing stares, Shen Hui merely lowered his head in silence, while Wang Li had long since stopped making a sound, his face the color of dead ashes, for reasons no one knew.

"Indeed." Inspector Chai also stroked his beard and smiled. "This fellow Han catches on quickly. He knows that he and Commandant Zhang are the extras Inspector Bai threw in to preserve this old man's dignity. Besides, with these circumstances involving Wang and Shen, closing the case on them would satisfy everyone above and below... however, Inspector Bai."

Bai Yousi promptly answered, "Please speak, Inspector Chai."

"May I ask one more person about two things?" The elderly Vermilion Sash surnamed Chai smiled at her.

"Of course. You are the one in charge of this case, Regular Inspector." Bai Yousi's manner was entirely proper.

"Very well. Zhang Xing, was it?" Inspector Chai lowered the hand stroking his beard and pointed at Zhang Xing, who had remained silent, questioning him slowly and deliberately. "Two things... first, are you certain you only learned today that Feng Yong and his wife nearly had you killed?"

Zhang Xing froze briefly, then immediately cupped his hands. "Yes. I only just learned."

The others frowned... not because Zhang Xing had suddenly exposed some flaw, but because Inspector Chai's question was too ordinary, too casual.

While everyone was still puzzled, Inspector Chai put his hands behind his back again and questioned the man below. "Then let me ask you another question, Zhang Xing. Xiao Yu, whom you previously asked to take with you, is pregnant. Did you know? When did you find out?"

Before the others could grasp the significance of those words, Bai Yousi froze, then looked toward Zhang Xing in surprise.

Because now it fit.

The others needed only a moment to catch on and understand what Inspector Chai's follow-up question meant... after all, everyone knew that Xiao Yu and Zhao Shanhai were lovers. Zhao Shanhai was dead, but Xiao Yu, a trusted personal servant of the Feng couple, was carrying his child. She had ample opportunity to learn the truth, and ample motive to pass on the information, tell Zhang Xing what had happened, and draw him into taking revenge.

Seen that way, even Zhang Xing's initiative in asking for Xiao Yu that day began to look deliberate.

Would the next step be to bring Xiao Yu out and have them confront each other before everyone?

"I only just found out, but doesn't that make everything fit?"

While everyone entertained their own thoughts, Zhang Xing drew a deep breath in the tavern hall, then proudly cupped his hands and answered in a voice that shook the roof tiles, startling everyone into looking at him. "We all assumed that Xiao Yu had pledged herself to Zhao Shanhai, never imagining that, as a bondservant, she had long since been ** by Feng Yong and conceived his only child. Yet Feng Yong feared his wife and dared not speak of it, which was why Zhao Shanhai lost his life for nothing. Even Feng Yong's desire to withdraw and return home may have been connected to this... Inspector Chai, Inspector Bai, forgive my bluntness, but this makes everything fit."

Inspector Chai and Inspector Bai stood looking down from above, one with his hands behind his back on the upper gallery, the other holding her sword below the turn of the stairs. Hearing those words, they looked at the man. What Inspector Chai thought was unknown, but for a moment Bai Yousi seemed to return to that day on the river embankment, inexplicably feeling that this man had grown roots beneath his feet.

There was no other reason.

Feng Yong and Xiao Zhao were both dead. Apart from Xiao Yu herself, no one could possibly know whose child it was. Zhang Xing could not possess some heavenly eye either, yet he had immediately declared with absolute certainty that it was Feng Yong's. Why?

Zhang Xing had already given the reason himself: Xiao Yu was registered as a bondservant, a slave of Feng Yong's household, legally on a par with livestock.

If she carried Xiao Zhao's child, or anyone else's, the baby would still be a bondservant when born. With Feng Yong and his wife dead, the authorities might very well sell them again in accordance with the law. But what if, as a maidservant, she carried her own master's child?

After all, with Feng Yong and his wife dead, there was no one else in their household.

Besides, Feng Yong had held the seventh rank and possessed a considerable fortune. Even if he were held accountable for killing Xiao Zhao, there was no reason to confiscate his entire estate without leaving a scrap. Someone from the Eastern Pacification Office might even intervene to cover it up, describing it merely as excessive enforcement rather than formally charging him. And since Xiao Yu had been his wife's maidservant, her position was perfectly legitimate. There would always be a little broth left over for the widow and orphan.

Thus, Chai and Bai could certainly continue pursuing the matter today and establish whose child it really was. But if they kept asking, what would become of that mother and child?

By contrast, Zhang Xing, a suspect himself, had unhesitatingly declared first that Xiao Yu's child was Feng Yong's. From his manner, he might even have considered this matter long beforehand.

Of all the people here, was this soldier actually the first to think of leaving a little room to survive for the weakest among them?

"Well said!" Before Inspector Chai could speak, Bai Yousi suddenly spoke first from the staircase. "Well said... that makes everything fit. And Xiao Yu herself has stated that the child is Feng Yong's... Zhang Xing, you've been put through a great deal these past few days. Once this case is closed, I'll transfer you back to my Patrol Group... as for the loose ends here, Inspector Chai will take care of them."

Inspector Chai gave Bai Yousi a long look, then stroked his beard and nodded toward the floor below. "Indeed. That makes everything fit."

Zhang Xing stood where he was, utterly motionless.

PS: It's so painful now that my stockpile of chapters is completely gone... I'm writing and posting on the spot now.

.Providing you with Exorcising the Dragon: Zhang Xing and Bai Yousi, by the great author Water-Fearing Grenade.