TGCFNM -Chapter 27 The Prefect’s Wife Is Not Home

Master Qin personally escorted the group to the residence. After the steward received them, he led them to a thoroughly cleaned courtyard.

The courtyard was fairly spacious, more than enough to accommodate them all.

Chu Ling glanced around the courtyard and then smiled at the prefect’s steward. “I apologize for the intrusion. I wish to pay a visit to the prefect’s wife to express my thanks.”

The steward bowed humbly and replied with a polite salute, “You are too kind, sir. Our master already instructed us this morning to take good care of you. As for the lady… Madam isn’t well and truly cannot receive visitors.”

Chu Ling let out a small “oh” and said apologetically, “I didn’t consider that carefully enough.”

“Sir, it’s nothing. Truly, Madam’s health isn’t good…” The steward sighed.

Chu Ling smiled faintly. “Alright, I understand. You may attend to your duties now.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll leave a servant outside the door to attend you. You need only call for him if necessary.” After saying this, the steward bowed once more and withdrew.

Zhang Dong went outside the courtyard, glanced at the waiting servant, and instructed him to bring some hot water for washing off fatigue, as well as some tea and snacks, then closed the courtyard gate.

Chu Ling looked at Wang Long and Wang Hu. “After washing up, go rest first. Conserve your strength.”

“Yes, sir,” the two responded in unison.

Su He tugged at Chu Ling’s sleeve. “Aren’t we going to inspect the corpse now? The longer it stays out, the more chances there are for things to change.”

Chu Ling made a quiet gesture, signaling Zhang Dong and Xiao Hua to stay put, and led Su He inside.

Once inside, Chu Ling exhaled deeply. “The timing doesn’t really matter anymore. I suspect they may have tampered with the body, so right now we first need to lower Prefect Zhang’s guard.”

“They want us to investigate, but also keep an eye on us… why?” Su He hugged his toolkit tightly.

Chu Ling shook his head. “I don’t know why. That’s why we need a night investigation.”

Su He’s eyes brightened. His mind immediately clicked into place. Without further instructions from Chu Ling, he returned to his room to rest and replenish his energy.

Chu Ling closed the main door and looked at Shen Lizhou. “Tonight, you’ll stay by your own bones. Can you handle that?”

“I can,” Shen Lizhou replied, his eyes red.

He had already learned from the county magistrate how pitifully his mother had fared. Since her son couldn’t return to her, at the very least, she needed to know how he had died.

“Master, can you stay behind?” Chu Ling asked.

The Ghost Scholar shook his head. “No. I could have stayed at the Sishui County office, but not outside. I can only follow you, sir.”

“Understood.” Chu Ling felt a twinge of regret—this ghost couldn’t stay behind to provide early warnings.

Cui Xi was eager. “Sir, how about we go out for a walk now?”

Chu Ling immediately agreed. Cui Xi was her top maid. When they had been at the General’s residence, she could remember the layout of all the many courtyards and people. For this smaller estate, she would quickly map it out.

“Cui Xi, familiarize yourself with the layout of the residence. Take note of the more important people inside, and pay special attention to the prefect’s wife,” Chu Ling instructed.

Cui Xi acknowledged and, along with Bai Su, left the courtyard.

The Ghost Scholar remained, sitting with Chu Ling. “Master, how do you plan to conduct the night investigation?”

Chu Ling propped her chin with her hand. “Master, actually, my excuse of a night investigation was just to test this Magistrate Zhang.”

Since she was living in the magistrate’s residence, going out—even cautiously—would inevitably draw attention. Moreover, she was taking a coroner with her, so any perceptive onlooker could guess their intentions.

She was waiting to see whether Magistrate Zhang would seize the opportunity to punish her, or pretend not to notice and let her investigate freely.

She needed to figure out what Zhang’s true intentions were.

“Magistrate Zhang is not someone to be trifled with. If he takes this chance to cause trouble, it would be problematic for you, My Lord,” Ghost Master said.

Chu Ling smiled calmly. “Naturally. That’s why tonight we can find out whether this Magistrate is acting out of vengeance for his brother, or has some larger scheme.”

A while later, the household servants brought hot water. After washing up, everyone lay down on their beds to rest.

The servant outside had been observing for a long time, then quietly left.

Two hours later, Cui Xi and Bai Su returned and reported every detail of the information they had gathered to Chu Ling.

Chu Ling took a charcoal pencil and, following Cui Xi’s descriptions, sketched on paper, quickly producing a layout map of the magistrate’s residence.

Ghost Master leaned over to look. “Very detailed. Clear at a glance.”

“Miss, there aren’t many patrols in the residence. Probably because it’s an official residence, no one dares,” Cui Xi added.

Chu Ling nodded and pointed to a few spots. “Under cover of darkness, we’ll leave from our courtyard, head west, avoid the back gate, and climb the wall directly—this area is concealed.”

“There’s a street outside the courtyard. I looked and saw it’s all residential houses; they should all be asleep at night,” Bai Su added.

Chu Ling nodded again. “Tonight, Cui Xi and Sister Bai will scout ahead. We follow the planned route and climb the wall to the charity hall.”

“By the way, Miss, I dragged Madam Bai Su around the whole residence today, and we didn’t see the magistrate’s wife anywhere,” Cui Xi said, eyes wide. “Not a single servant or maid mentioned her. I even phased through the largest courtyard to look, and no one was there.”

Chu Ling was surprised. “So the steward was lying?”

But why lie about the magistrate’s wife being unwell?

A flash of insight struck Chu Ling’s mind, and she immediately grabbed Shen Lizhou.

Shen Lizhou, still stunned by the sudden contact, heard Chu Ling ask, “One of the people traveling with you—does that person have a connection to the magistrate’s wife?”

Shen Lizhou shook his head in panic. “They’re all just poor scholars living at the Mountain God Temple…” He couldn’t continue; Pei Yuan clearly wasn’t a poor scholar.

On the contrary, Pei Yuan’s family seemed quite well-off and was even prepared to take action against the magistrate investigating the case.

“Is there anything special about you that allowed those people to disguise themselves as poor scholars and get close to you?” Chu Ling asked, curious.

Shen Lizhou thought carefully, then said, “My Lord, I don’t know.”

Chu Ling didn’t press. She continued, “Fine. Forget the other four disguises. But the one traveling with a book attendant—he clearly doesn’t look like a poor scholar, right?”

“That one’s surname Yang, given name Sheng, from Yuzhou. His family declined in fortune, but they had some wealth. His attendant was his wet nurse’s son; they studied together since childhood and can read,” Shen Lizhou recalled.

Chu Ling nodded. That made sense—natural, even.

“Tell me about the others in detail too. Once I’ve organized the information, I’ll have Xiao Hua give it to Master Wan when she goes out to buy groceries. He can investigate. It should be easier for Wan Sanjin to handle this side,” Chu Ling said.

Shen Lizhou immediately recounted everything meticulously.

The more Chu Ling listened, the more uneasy she felt. How could all their names and backgrounds seem so natural? This was clearly all fabricated!