Placid Chang’an Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Fatty

At the entrance of the Su residence, Ah Fu had been waiting. When he saw them coming, he hurriedly went forward to greet them, “Second Young Master, you’ve finally returned.”

Under the eaves of Su Cen’s house, he folded his umbrella. Ah Fu was about to come up and take it, but Su Cen switched the umbrella from his right hand to his left and gestured to someone behind, “Support him.”

Qu Ling’er had just dismounted from Qi Lin’s back. After the thrilling journey, his courage had grown, and he patted Qi Lin’s shoulder, saying, “The last time I attempted to assassinate your master, I had my own mission. This time, I saved you, so we’re even now. When we meet again, there is no need to have an unfriendly face.”

Qi Lin glanced at Qu Ling’er and replied, “If it weren’t for you, I could have caught him.”

“Do you know how to appreciate favors?” Qu Ling’er was so angry that he stomped his feet, “If I didn’t help you, you might have met a terrible fate.”

“Even if it were a smoke bomb, I could have approached and captured him.”

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“Ebyv kq kv olal vsmkn typ, hldsxswp kdplnvp, rskpsdswp yaasop, sa lmrzspkhlp? Eswze usw pvkzz yrrasynb?”

G nsze zktbv qzypble kd Ck Nkd’p lulp. “Yu zkql oyp tkhld vs xl cu xu xypvla, yde R byhl ds nsxrzykdvp ycswv eukdt qsa bkx.”

“Ikdedlpp kp vyjld qsa taydvle,” Cw Nkdt’la oyp lmyprlayvle, zlvvkdt Gb Ww pwrrsav bkp yp bl vwadle yde oyzjle kdpkel, ktdsakdt vbl osseld czsnjblye.

“Mbydj usw qsa uswa vaswczl, Qwyae Ck,” Fw Uld nzyprle bkp bydep kd qyalolzz.

Ck Nkd dseele pzktbvzu, “R okzz nsxl vs rknj usw wr ytykd vsxsaaso.”

“Ebyv?” Fw Uld oyp vyjld ycynj, “Ls dlle, ds dlle qsa vbl vaswczl. R nyd ts cu xuplzq.”

Ck Nkd alxykdle wdxshle, “Mbkp kp vbl Vakdnl’p okpb.”

“Jwv… cwv…” Jwv kq bl oyp lpnsavle vs vbl Pyzk Tyzz cu vbl Vakdnl’p twyae, obyv oswze bkp nszzlytwlp vbkdj?

Qi Lin paid no further attention and disappeared into the night.

When the figure had gone far, Su Cen lowered his head and found the umbrella in his hand.

He had meant to have someone take it back, but he had carelessly forgotten about it.

Su Cen went back to his room and folded the umbrella. He then opened it again and carefully examined it under the candlelight. In the dim light earlier, he hadn’t noticed that there were two lines of poetry written on the umbrella.

“Clouds stretching across the Qin Mountains, where is home?

Snow blocking the Blue Pass, the horses cannot advance.”

Su Cen prided himself on his calligraphy, having received the true teachings of Yan Kai from Lin Zongqing. But before these two lines of poetry, he suddenly felt that his own characters seemed somewhat petty.

The calligraphy on the umbrella was in wild cursive style, round and powerful, with strokes flowing like rings. In an instant, it seemed as if the vast and desolate borderland had leapt onto the paper, exuding a bold and unrestrained fluidity, completed in one breath.

What kind of person could write such characters? And what kind of state of mind could create these lines of poetry, seemingly soaked in tears?

Suddenly, he remembered those dry and warm hands that had held him and handed him the umbrella.

So, were these two lines of poetry written by that hand?

Su Cen couldn’t help but smile bitterly. What was he thinking? The person was none other than Prince Ning, who wielded power over the court and the people. With a wave of his hand, he could decide the life and death of others. How could he sigh over “where is home”?

Replacing it with the lines “With the spring breeze, the horse’s hooves are swift; in one day, I admire all the flowers in Chang’an” would be more appropriate.

Su Cen didn’t know how he fell asleep. When he woke up, the daylight was already bright. He found himself wearing soaked clothes, and his chest hurt from holding the umbrella.

As soon as he recalled Qi Lin’s words about coming to pick him up, Su Cen quickly got up from the bed. Ah Fu and Qu Ling’er were still asleep, and Su Cen didn’t even have time for breakfast. He rushed out of the door, trying to leave before Qi Lin arrived.

Outside the door, he didn’t see Qi Lin’s figure. There was only a luxurious carriage parked at the mouth of the alley. A person in the carriage waved at him, “Su Xiong, come over here.”

“Zheng Yang?” Su Cen was slightly surprised, “Why are you here?”

“I heard you were attacked yesterday,” Zheng Yang lifted the carriage curtain, “Come up, I’ll give you a ride.”

Su Cen got on the carriage and sat down before asking, “Who told you about it?”

“Who else could it be? My uncle! Qi Lin, went to my house early this morning, banging on the door and disturbing my sleep,” Zheng Yang yawned and continued, “So, you really were attacked? Are you injured? Do you need to take a sick leave?”

“I’m fine, thank you for your concern, Brother Zheng.”

“Why be so polite?” Zheng Yang smiled, “The whole court is in an uproar about this incident. The faction led by Liu Xiang demands a swift capture of the culprit. Cui Hao, who is under Liu Xiang’s wing, is fanning the flames, pointing fingers at the notorious influence in the capital, fiercely criticizing the inefficiency of the Dali Hall. The scene was so intense that it almost scared the young officials in the court to tears.“

“Liu Xiang?” Su Cen furrowed his brow, “How did he find the time to care about this case?”

“Isn’t it obvious? The Dali Hall falls under my uncle’s influence. When he criticizes the ministry’s inefficiency, he’s actually trying to provoke my uncle. Does he ever miss a chance to throw someone under the bus?”

“What does the Prince say about all this?”

Zheng Yang grinned, “Cui Hao went on a long rant for almost half an hour, and my uncle responded with just three words to him – ‘Get out of here.'”

Su Cen couldn’t help but laugh; it truly reflected the style of Prince Ning.

“It’s a shame you’re not in the court,” Zheng Yang sighed, “You can’t see the intrigues and scheming, like a play on the stage. Everyone wears multiple masks, claiming to serve the Emperor and the people, but they are actually seeking personal gains. Surprisingly, some can swim like fish in such muddy waters, effortlessly navigating through it all.”

Su Cen smiled and shook his head, “There’s no pure water in the world. Where there’s water, there are fish. Everywhere, there’s a good show to watch.”

When they arrived at the Ministry of Justice (Dali Hall), it was still early in the day. Su Cen went straight to the rear hall and opened a window to let some fresh air in. He took out the cases that needed to be reviewed today and spent nearly half an hour before hearing a commotion outside the hall, with people whispering about the arrest of the culprit.

Su Cen put down his pen and furrowed his brows. After inquiring, he learned that Song Jiancheng, the appointed official, had quickly conducted an investigation and indeed apprehended the culprit. They were currently being interrogated in the front courtyard.

Su Cen walked towards the front courtyard, feeling a sudden sense of panic. When he saw the person kneeling below, his heart skipped a beat.

Gao Miao.

The chubby man who burned paper offerings.

He knelt in the courtyard, sweating profusely, his plump body trembling uncontrollably.

Seeing Su Cen, Song Jiancheng restrained his usual temper and pointed below, “The person you guided us to capture, is there any doubt?”

Following Song Jiancheng’s gaze, the chubby man locked eyes with Su Cen, and there was a moment of icy coldness in his eyes.

Su Cen calmed his mind and asked, “What makes you claim he’s the culprit?”

“Caught red-handed with the evidence, what more needs to be said? Do you know what his house looks like? Just that—” Song Jiancheng pointed to a covered body beside them, “His head hanging from the rafters in his house, the room filled with blood, and he was there sound asleep!”

“It wasn’t me! I didn’t kill him! I know nothing!” The chubby man shouted, struggling against the yamen officers who pressed him face down on the ground, his fleshy face distorted.

Su Cen lifted a corner of the white cloth covering the body and glanced at it, furrowing his brows. He recognized the deceased; it was the skinny man who had berated the chubby man in the examination hall that day.

“The deceased is Wu Qing, a successful candidate in the second-level imperial examination. He and the suspect are both from the same county, and they had a longstanding grudge. Many people witnessed Wu Qing publicly humiliating Gao Miao during the provincial examination,” Song Jiancheng slammed the table, angrily accusing Gao Miao, “So, you held a grudge and killed him afterwards, didn’t you?!”

Gao Miao trembled in fear, his whole body shaking as he was held down, repeatedly denying, “It wasn’t me… I didn’t kill him…”

The body had only two marks on it: a ligature mark around the ankle and a knife wound on the neck. Su Cen squatted down to carefully examine the neck wound—it was on the left side, shallow in the front and deep in the back, consistent with the characteristics of a throat-cutting done when someone is hanging. The knife severed the vital artery, just like the wounds on the previous victims.

The ligature mark on the foot was purplish-blue, indicating that the person was still alive when they were hanged, and there were no signs of the body being moved afterward. As Song Jiancheng said, Gao Miao’s house should indeed be the crime scene.

How deeply must Gao Miao have been sleeping not to wake up when someone was murdered in his own home?

Song Jiancheng asked, “Does Su Cen feel familiar with this method of hanging murders?”

Su Cen covered the body with the white cloth, stood up, and pursed his lips. “Butchering pigs…”

“He comes from a family of butchers, and the knife left at the scene is a butcher’s specialized tool. The talk of ghosts and spirits in the crowd, as well as the injury on his arm, were all deductions made by you,” Song Jiancheng said, glancing at the chubby man whose sleeve had been pulled up, revealing a scratch on his arm.

“I fell! I fell last night!” The chubby man struggled again, only to be pressed back down by others.

“Still trying to argue!” Song Jiancheng grabbed a command stick, but Su Cen quickly interjected, “Lord Song, there are still some doubts in this case. Please allow me to ask a few questions.”

Song Jiancheng gave Su Cen a stern look but finally impatiently dropped the command stick.

Could a young man like Su Cen really find any new insights in this open-and-shut case?

Su Cen squatted in front of the chubby man and asked, “How did you really injure your arm? Yesterday, you told me it happened when you were climbing trees as a child.”

The chubby man gasped for breath, “It’s true that I injured it while climbing trees, but when I went back last night, someone pushed me from behind and I fell, injuring it again.”

“Someone pushed you?” Su Cen asked urgently, “Who pushed you?”

“…The rain was too heavy, I didn’t see.”

Su Cen frowned and continued, “Did you hear any noises last night? Didn’t you notice someone was being murdered in your house?”

The chubby man hesitated for a moment, then suddenly shouted, “It was done by a malevolent spirit! It has nothing to do with me! It was the malevolent spirit from the examination hall who did it!”

“Enough with your deceit!” Song Jiancheng threw down the command stick, “Give him twenty lashes first.”

“Lord Song!” Su Cen turned around in a hurry.

But the command stick had already fallen to the ground. The yamen officers brought the paddle, assumed their positions, and with one step on each side, they prepared to administer the punishment. The paddle swooshed past Su Cen’s face, and with the chubby man’s scream, the lashes struck his body with a loud bang.

“Lord Song!” Su Cen took two steps forward, “This is a coerced confession!”

“Ridiculous! You described the suspect as a failed scholar spreading rumors, with injuries on his body. Now that I’ve captured the person, you accuse me of obtaining a confession through coercion?”

“There are still doubts in the case. The sequence of events is not right. Before the imperial examination, I saw Gao Miao burning paper offerings behind the examination hall. Could he have known he wouldn’t pass the exam back then? Also, someone saw Lu Liang in Pingkang Lane before he died, but his body was found in Dongshi. Dongshi was already under curfew at that time, so how did he get into Dongshi?”

“Where is the evidence?” Song Jiancheng raised an eyebrow contemptuously, “The person died in his house, and he was sleeping in the room. Either provide concrete evidence to prove he didn’t commit the murder, or leave me alone. As for your so-called doubts, we’ll know the truth after the interrogation.”

The dull sound of the paddle continued in the hall, but the screams gradually diminished. Despite being covered in layers of fat, the chubby man seemed weak, his eyes rolling back. It wouldn’t take long for him to collapse.

“Song Jiancheng!” Su Cen stared directly at him, his voice cold and stern, “I will find the evidence, and if you want to hastily close the case and take an innocent person to claim credit, I’ll make sure you climb high and fall hard!”

***