"Veil, gloves, money, and a few bottles of medicinal powder..."
The young man listed the contents of his bag as readily as someone counting his family treasures. When he found the note, he swiftly unfolded it for a look, then shifted his gaze away like a thief with a guilty conscience.
What had that person named Mo Chi written this time?
Lou Yun grumbled inwardly, unable to explain where this inexplicable anger had come from.
She raised a hand in a gesture. "Let's go."
She entered the Li residence with Pei Qing. Doors large and small had long since been forcibly removed during the firefighting and evacuation, leaving the two of them an unobstructed path.
According to the person who reported the crime, the doors to both the inner and outer courtyards had been locked when the murderer struck. As the two headed farther inside, the buildings grew increasingly blackened and damaged.
The young man's expression changed along with the extent of the fire damage. Perhaps Pei Qing had a particularly keen sense of smell; the stench of corpses kept making him frown.
It was late autumn, after all, cool and rainless, so the bodies had not decomposed too badly. Lou Yun did not smell anything particularly unusual.
But Pei Qing had already put on his veil while she was not looking. As before, an endearingly innocent tiger was embroidered in its lower right corner.
Her attention caught, she glanced at the embroidered tiger again. Did all of Pei Qing's intimate garments have this little creature on them?
Lou Yun took the lead into the most devastated inner courtyard. Numerous charred corpses lay strewn across the ground, most beyond recognition. One seemed to be clutching something.
She crouched, pinched up some ash that had fallen beside the hand, rubbed it between her fingers, then brought it to her nose for a sniff. It was probably wood. This person had likely been trying to fetch water before dying.
Following the direction of the hand, she saw that Pei Qing was already standing beside the water vat, a trace of distress and indignation in his clear, pale eyes.
His long, clean hand rested on the rim. "This isn't water. It's oil."
Lou Yun was appalled. Replacing water with oil-the murderer had never intended for anyone in the Li household to get out alive.
They continued inward, reaching the most severely burned area. The room had been burned beyond recognition. This should have been Li An's room.
There was only one corpse inside, curled up. Very little information could be gleaned from a burned corpse. A body would instinctively assume a forced posture while being burned alive, making it impossible to confirm even Li An's posture before death.
Lou Yun was about to step forward and turn the corpse over, but Pei Qing stopped her.
Completely unlike his earlier bewildered, uncomprehending manner, Pei Qing now looked clearheaded, his gaze serious. After putting on his gloves, he examined the corpse with considerable proficiency, looking every bit the unsmiling, composed imperial preceptor everyone knew.
"There are drugs on the body. Your Highness had best not come too close."
"Drugs?"
Lou Yun had barely asked when the young man took out a porcelain bottle and poured a small heap beside the corpse. In an instant, the white powder turned pink.
"Death in the saddle."
Lou Yun's lips twitched. She walked around the corpse to investigate elsewhere. Every craft had its specialist; examining the body was best left to Pei Qing.
The wooden bed had lost all semblance of its original appearance. Beside the ashes of the burned-out bed, Lin Yun unearthed numerous iron implements beneath a pile of debris. Strictly speaking, they were not all iron-quite a few were made of gold or silver.
There was, for instance, a whip whose lash had burned away, leaving only its gold-and-jade-inlaid handle, as well as numerous rod-shaped objects made of jade, daggers, and other things.
Li An certainly played elaborate games in bed.
Pei Qing had clearly seen them too, and his face had turned considerably grimmer.
"These things are scattered around," Pei Qing said.
Lou Yun had noticed as well and continued, "Which means they were all in use before the fire."
"There was at least one other person in this room," they said in unison.
They exchanged a smile, and Lou Yun asked:
"Did Li An have any particular proclivities?"
Pei Qing shook his head, his expression darkening. "Everyone at court praised the deep affection between Li An and his wife, saying they were a rare example of a devoted young couple."
"Deep affection?" Lou Yun sifted through the implements with her dagger. Though they had been scorched by the fire, the flames had not reached gold's ignition point, and the mottled signs of use remained plainly visible.
Lou Yun gave an inscrutable scoff, took out a handkerchief, and leisurely wiped her dagger.
"I hardly think Madam Li's body, so tender you could squeeze water from it, could withstand these things."
Outside the window, birds cooed as though echoing Lou Yun. The young woman looked out at the sound, then sank into thought again.
The room was locked. Had it been locked before the fire was set, or afterward?
"There are two possibilities now," Pei Qing began.
Their gazes met, the understanding in their eyes seeming to say that their thoughts had coincided without consultation.
"First, the person sharing Li An's room killed him, then set the fire, locked the door, and escaped."
"Second, there is a secret passage in this room."
They spoke one after the other.
Lou Yun tapped the handle of her dagger. "Are there any external injuries on Li An's body?"
Where there had just been a small heap of reddened powder before the corpse, there was now another heap that had turned black.
Pei Qing's red lips parted slightly. "Yes." As he spoke, he took out a silver needle as thick as a silver hairpin, inserted it into the corpse's back behind the heart, and withdrew it. It was pitch-black as ink.
"A double safeguard. A revenge killing is even more likely now."
Just as the two were engrossed in their deductions, a sudden jumble of footsteps came from outside.
Both their expressions sharpened, and they looked outside together, their faces grave. Flayed by those two piercing gazes, the young woman's legs trembled, and she dropped to her knees before them with a thud.
Realizing that the person before them had no martial arts, Pei Qing was the first to soften his expression. He helped her up and cautioned, "We are investigating a case here. You mustn't wander in. Be careful not to take a wrong turn, miss."
Unlike Pei Qing's friendliness, Lou Yun's gaze was entirely appraising. With the Li residence burned to this state, anyone with a brain would not enter casually. Not only had this young woman walked right in, she had come straight to Li An's bedroom. Even a three-year-old would hardly believe it was an accident.
The woman had not expected Pei Qing to think that, either, and hurriedly explained, "No, I came to find you because I have..." information to tell you.
Before she could finish, Pei Qing covered her mouth with a handkerchief, stopping her. Lou Yun also seemed to sense something then and looked toward the doorway. A dark figure swiftly vanished from sight.
To think someone was following them on the very first day. Who
would be so impatient? Come to think of it, just what realm had Pei Qing reached, to detect the person following them before she did?
She made no attempt to conceal her puzzlement, and Pei Qing answered, "My hearing is naturally sensitive."
Lou Yun understood. Still, "What you said just now may not fool the master behind that spy. For her safety, we'd best take her back with us."
Pei Qing nodded. Naturally, he knew that such clumsy words could not deceive the person lurking in the shadows. He had only said them to stop the young woman from speaking outright.
"Would you be willing to come with me?" Pei Qing asked.
The young woman raised her head and clasped Pei Qing's arm with both hands, her expression frightened yet carrying a trace of trust. "I'm willing to go with you, Imperial Preceptor."
Seeing her gesture, Lou Yun instinctively frowned, an inexplicable discomfort rising in her heart. When she heard the young woman explicitly identify Pei Qing's position, her expression as she looked at her became unreadable.
Was this woman reporting the case for the sake of reporting it, or was she reporting it because it was Pei Qing?
"Then shall I take her back first?"
Seeing Pei Qing completely unguarded, assuming the young woman had grabbed him out of fear, foolishly helping her up and even worrying enough to escort her back to his residence himself, Lou Yun felt a surge of anger.
He wasn't some green boy. Trusting a stranger so easily, even worrying about her-was the exalted imperial preceptor really so kindhearted?
"Let's take her to my residence first."
Lou Yun straightened and looked at the sky. The bright sun hung high; it was already noon.
"I reserved a table at the Rain Ripple Pavilion. Would you do me the honor of joining me, Imperial Preceptor?"
Chapter 4
At the mention of the Rain Ripple Pavilion, joy and longing nearly overflowed from Pei Qing's eyes. He nodded instinctively. "Yes!"
Then he remembered something and glanced at the young woman, his words to Lou Yun full of apology. "But I need to first..."
"Take her to my residence first. It's on the way. Afterward, I'll have someone escort her to yours." Lou Yun cut Pei Qing off and offered her arrangement first.
The young woman had been standing obediently behind them. At Lou Yun's words, her head snapped up, her expression pitiful, and she was about to refuse. Lou Yun casually stepped in front of her and shot her a warning glance, after which she silently lowered her head.
All trace of her earlier frailty vanished, her eyes darkening. She had been right. This young master did indeed harbor a faint hostility toward her.
As for the reason... the young woman lifted her eyelids thoughtfully. It probably had something to do with this imperial preceptor of Great Yan.
She bowed and said docilely, "Then I shall return with you first, young master, and quietly await the imperial preceptor."
Even though the young woman had already shown considerable tact, her inability to go three sentences without mentioning the imperial preceptor was still irritating.
The three of them traveled leisurely toward the crown prince's residence on two horses. The unmistakable shock and panic on the young woman's face when she saw its plaque did not escape Lou Yun.
She recognized Pei Qing, but not her face?
Lou Yun kept the question to herself. As she let the woman inside, she made a point of instructing, "Shutang, this is an important witness in the censor's case. Take good care of her. Once she's rested, have someone escort her to the imperial preceptor's residence."
The green-robed female official who had come to meet them at the entrance bowed, already understanding that her mistress meant for her to question the woman first. "Yes."
Having finally managed to shake off the outsider, Lou Yun turned to find Pei Qing looking up and staring straight at her, no different from the cat in her previous life that would jump onto her desk at every mealtime and urge her to feed it.
Lou Yun suppressed the impulse to stroke the young man's head and cleared her throat. "This way, please."
As soon as they arrived at the Rain Ripple Pavilion and sat down, the young man began covertly watching the bamboo slips the attendant brought over. When the slips made their way into Lou Yun's hands, Pei Qing looked as though a pigeon already in his grasp had flown away, the disappointment in his eyes plain to see.
Amused, Lou Yun deliberately refused to hand him the bamboo slips, enjoying his eager gaze. Only once she was satisfied did she generously ask, "Do you prefer sweet-and-sour flavors, Imperial Preceptor, or spicy ones?"