TGCFNM -Chapter 79 Taking a Walk to Clear One’s Mind

Second floor of the pleasure boat.

Wan Sanjin pulled out a folding screen, dividing the second floor into two sections. In the back half, Su He conducted the autopsy. In the front half, Chu Ling handled the questioning.

Everyone on the boat had been brought over. One by one, they stood there nervously, unsure what this official intended to ask.

Chu Ling first pointed to the singing girl who had let out the piercing scream and called her forward.

“Why did you go to the stern of the boat?”

“I went to clear my head,” the songstress replied.

Chu Ling then gestured to several other singing girls to step forward as well. “Who bullied her? Or did something happen that made her need to clear her head?”

The girls exchanged glances, none daring to speak first.

Noticing the difference in their clothing, Chu Ling turned to the steward and asked, “Does the steward know?”

“This is Miss Shaoyao,” the steward explained. “Miss Shaoyao specializes in dance. Those girls over there are her backup dancers.”

“So Zhengzheng plays the zither, and Shaoyao performs the dance. The two are partners.” After saying this, Chu Ling looked again at the group of backup dancers. “But the two of them don’t get along, do they?”

“My lord!” Shaoyao stepped forward and bowed, her eyes brimming with tears. “It’s true that Zhengzheng and I appeared cordial on the surface but were at odds in private. We often quarreled. But I would never kill anyone.”

“Was your need to clear your head related to her?” Chu Ling asked.

Shaoyao pressed her lips together. After a long pause, she gave a slight nod.

“When I was at Wan Hua House, I had a patron—Young Master Song. Young Master Song was different from the others. He… treated people kindly. I fell deeply in love with him. He even promised to redeem me and take me home as a concubine.”

Chu Ling lifted a hand. “You don’t need to say the rest. I can guess. You discovered that Young Master Song had grown close to Zhengzheng. The two were very intimate. And Zhengzheng even told you that Young Master Song intended to redeem her instead, didn’t she?”

Shaoyao froze, then tears streamed down her face as she nodded.

Chu Ling sighed. “Have you ever considered that if your Young Master Song were truly a good man, how could he flirt with two women at once? If I’m not mistaken, the matter of him redeeming you was known only to you. Did he tell you not to speak of it?”

Shaoyao stared blankly. “My lord… you guessed correctly.”

Chu Ling raised a brow. “It’s nothing more than a man’s lies—keeping one foot in two boats. In your eyes, Zhengzheng was shameless for competing with you. But in her eyes, you were the shameless one competing with her.”

“How could that be? Young Master Song even gave me a family heirloom jade pendant.” Shaoyao immediately pulled a jade pendant from her collar.

“My lord!” Wan Sanjin called from the other side. “Zhengzheng also has a jade pendant!”

Chu Ling shrugged at Shaoyao. “See? The same.”

Shaoyao’s whole body went stiff. The pendant slipped from her hand and fell.

“This Young Master Song spoke of redeeming you both, yet never took action. Which means he was only making empty promises. So every time he came to Wan Hua House, wasn’t it you and Zhengzheng who entertained him—and paid for it?” Chu Ling raised a brow and sighed.

At that moment, one of the scholars raised his hand. “Young Master Song once treated me to a banquet. He said he would invite Miss Zhengzheng to accompany us, and she even poured our wine.”

“He… treated me as well.”

“Young Master Song was quite generous. Whenever he hosted, it was always at Wan Hua House.”

“Could it be that going to Wan Hua House didn’t require him to pay?”

Only then did everyone finally understand. Someone else had paid the money, yet he had taken all the credit and the good reputation for himself.

At that moment, a series of heavy thudding footsteps sounded. Young Master Song, having changed his clothes, strode over and pointed at Chu Ling. “I am a dignified juren! How dare you privately subject me to punishment? This is a blatant disregard for the laws of Great Zhou. Even if I take this case all the way to the capital, I will never accept such humiliation!”

“You won’t be going to the capital,” Chu Ling sneered. “I suspect you are connected to Zhenzhen’s murder. I have the authority to detain you.”

“Y-you’re slandering me!”

“With so many witnesses here to prove that you and Zhenzhen were closely involved—and that you even said you would redeem her and bring her into your household—yet she died tragically and unexpectedly. You are under grave suspicion,” Chu Ling declared, sealing the matter with a single statement.

Young Master Song lifted his chin. “I never said I would take her as a concubine. She was the one constantly pestering me, wanting me to redeem her. But I am a dignified juren—how could I possibly take a woman from a pleasure house as a concubine?”

“She told me with her own mouth that you were going to take her as a concubine. I am a witness!” Shaoyao’s eyes brimmed with tears as she glared at Young Master Song in hatred.

He gave a mocking laugh. “You sisters are naturally close—you would of course speak for her. But falsely accusing a juren is a serious crime!”

“So, you refuse to confess?” Chu Ling asked.

Young Master Song spread his hands, amused. “I have done nothing. What crime would I confess to?”

Resting her chin on her hand, Chu Ling glanced at the water ghost Zhenzhen and signaled with her eyes for her to look at the man before them. To lose one’s life for someone like this was truly not worth it.

Zhenzhen, the water ghost, bowed. “My lord, only after entering the Yellow Springs did I realize this man was not my destined one. But the person who killed me was not him.”

Chu Ling silently asked: Did you see clearly who it was?

Zhenzhen nodded, then shook her head. “I saw his face clearly, but I don’t know who he is. My lord, I had actually gone to the stern to get some air. By chance, I ran into two people having a secret meeting. When I heard their voices, I hid. Who would have thought that the man still found me, snapped my neck, and threw me into the lake?”

The Ghost Scholar’s expression turned grave. “What did you hear?”

“They said the gathering on the twenty-third of this month was canceled, and that everything would wait until they returned to the capital. The voices of those two sounded familiar—I feel like I’ve heard them before—but I truly cannot remember who they were,” Zhenzhen said.

Bai Su lowered her brows. “She must have overheard their secret conversation and was silenced for it. The killer’s strike was steady, precise, and ruthless. He’s a trained martial artist, and his strength is likely not low.”

At that moment, the autopsy inside concluded. Wan Sanjin removed the screen, and Su He walked out holding the autopsy report.

Someone craned his neck curiously and asked, “The autopsy’s done? Why does it look like nothing changed?”

“An autopsy is to let the corpse speak its final words,” Su He replied, his face as expressionless as a dead man’s as he stared at the questioner. “After that, we do our utmost to restore the body so the deceased may be buried whole and at peace. That is the rule of our trade.”

The man shrank back in fear.

Chu Ling flipped open the report and said, “The deceased’s neck was snapped before being thrown into the water, so there are no signs of water entering the nasal cavity or abdomen. To break someone’s neck barehanded requires martial skill. The killer is someone trained—and we do not yet know whether he is still aboard this ship.”

Fu Qingyu, who had remained silent for a long while, stepped forward. “If he truly knows martial arts, he likely escaped long ago. A mere ship would not be able to trap him.”

Young Master Song looked smug. “I told you it had nothing to do with me. But framing a juren is already a violation of the—y-you, what are you doing?!”

Chu Ling strode over without another word and kicked him to the ground.

“Yes, yes, you’re a juren. Instead of studying properly, you haunt pleasure quarters every day, seducing the singers of Wanhua Pavilion. You host banquets without paying, pretending to be deeply devoted in front of others.” Chu Ling withdrew her foot. “You’ve disgraced all the juren under heaven. That kick today was letting you off lightly.”

“You—you dare—!”

“Manager, later write up a formal complaint and submit it to the Prefect of Qingyang City. I’d like to see whether he can still keep that juren title of his,” Chu Ling scoffed coldly.