TL: Hua
Chapter 27 Clues – Xiao Pei’s way of getting along
It was May after all, so the water on the road dried up overnight, leaving only a mess of sand and mud.
The next day, Pei Xiting went to work with his painting box on his back. He arrived at the document building wrapped in stuffy air and took off his shoes to enter.
Lu Mang was writing furiously at the desk in his thin shirt. Pei Xiting stepped forward lightly. Before he had time to greet his boss, the other party said, “I am doing your job now.”
Pei Xiting said, “So?”
Lu Mang said, “Draw something for me, and you will finish your work today.”
This boss is very flexible, which Pei Xiting very much appreciated. “Deal.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Mang quickly picked up the book at hand, raised his head, and handed it over: “This book is–”
Seeing Pei Xiting’s appearance, Lu Mang’s eyes froze, and after a while he blinked and was extremely angry, saying, “Why are you only ranked ninth on the ‘Yejing Beautiful Jade List’? There must be someone secretly manipulating it. I’m going to find the boss to clarify this matter!”
Pei Xiting remembered that the original book mentioned the beautiful jade list, saying that although “Pei Xiting” had a very beautiful face, he lacked vitality and was too dull. In front of the pile of dazzling jades, he was naturally inferior.
“Wait a minute,” Pei Xiting stretched out his hand to stop him and tried to appease him. “His Highness is ranked first, which shows that this list is still very prestigious.”
Lu Mang disagreed and said, “That’s because no one dares to do anything behind the scenes to His Highness, but you are different.”
“This thing is evaluated every year. Chief Lu, you can just vote for me more at the end of this year.” Pei Xiting said, “By the way, what do you want me to draw?”
“Oh, it’s this book,” Lu Mang remembered the business and picked up the book again and handed it to Pei Xiting. “This is a book of various flowers, which originally had a peony calligraphy note inside. However, when I came out of the library yesterday, I fell on the road. It’s really troublesome to find a calligraphy note in such a large East Palace. Even if I find one, I can’t use it if it’s dirty. His Highness’s books have corresponding notes, which are selected by His Highness himself. I dare not go out and buy one casually. I heard from Lord You that His Highness likes your paintings very much, so I want you to draw one to make up for me.”
Pei Xiting flipped through the book and asked, “Did His Highness agree?”
“He didn’t say no.” Lu Mang sat down again and motioned Pei Xiting to sit at the desk opposite. “I have prepared all the plain paper for you.”
Pei Xiting put down his painting box and sat down. He took out the powder model and sketched a few pictures. He was not very satisfied with any of them. But when he turned his head and thought of the beautiful Crown Prince, he immediately had an idea.
The hall was lit with the herbal aroma of May’s anti venom sting, with a faint bitter taste. Lu Mang was busy for most of the hour before finally putting down his brush. He stood up and patted his waist to go to the tea table and asked, “Which one do you want to drink, calamus wine, chrysanthemum tea, or coconut water?”
Pei Xiting said, “Coconut water, thank you.”
Lu Mang took out a gourd from the ice jar, filled two single-handled cups of green and white jade, and placed one of them on Pei Xiting’s table. Seeing that he had almost finished painting, he leaned over to take a closer look and said, “The silhouette under the pomegranate tree… This silhouette looks very much like His Highness. Have you been to the East Palace?”
Pei Xiting said, “No.”
Lu Mang said, “Then how do you know there is a pomegranate tree in front of the annex room of Mingzheng Hall?”
“Coincidence.” Pei Xiting said, “In May, the pomegranate flowers are blooming as gorgeous as clouds. Every time I am attracted, I stop to admire them. Since His Highness has collected this book of flowers, I think he is also a person who cherishes flowers. I will use my own experience to imagine what he looks like under the tree.”
“I see.” Lu Mang looked at the paper. The leaves were green and the pomegranate flowers were bright. They matched with the fluttering black clothes of the crown prince. The colors were particularly rich and vibrant, just like the sky in May, warm and unrestrained.
Pei Xiting put down his brush, and Lu Mang said, “Is it done?”
Pei Xiting said, “I need to sprinkle gold.”
“Excuse me,” You Zong stepped into the door and said concisely, “‘Forty Four Cases of the Jiangnan Wang Family’ in the fifteenth year of the Xining reign.”
Lu Mang said, “Yes,” turned around, and rushed into the numerous bookshelves, quickly found a document, and presented it to You Zong, saying, “Aren’t you investigating the Pixia Mountain incident? How come you suddenly turned up this old unsolved case? Is there a new clue?”
“Yes. That Third Wang is indeed not the real person. I have sent people out to look for her, but there is no response yet.” You Zong quickly flipped through the documents. “Remember the mysterious employer who died in the eastern suburbs of the city? I thought it was just a knife to the throat, but when I was about to dispose of the body today, I found another fatal wound on his heart, which was a plum blossom sleeve arrow.”
The coroner[mfn]A person in the old days who was in charge of examining corpses in murder cases. They were equivalent to modern forensic doctors.[/mfn] of Longhe Division returned to his hometown to take care of his widowed mother, who was seriously ill. He was still on his way back to Yejing. Longhe Division’s cases could not be handled by coroners outside. Otherwise, it would not have been delayed for two days until a clue was discovered by You Zong, who took a walk in the morgue after dinner.
Lu Mang had an excellent memory and said, “If I remember correctly, the case of the Wang family in Jiangnan also had the traces of plum blossom sleeve arrows—”
“Yes,” You Zong turned around and shoved a page of documents into Lu Mang’s face. “Exactly the same.”
Lu Mang leaned back skillfully to avoid the shove, took a step back to see the plum blossom-shaped wound drawn on the paper, and clapped his hands, saying, “By tracking down this person, we can uncover the clues of the person who took Po Yinlin and also close the old case.”
“The question is how to find them?” You Zong closed the document and handed it back to Lu Mang. “This plum blossom sleeve arrow is different from the ordinary plum blossom sleeve arrow, but I have never heard of its name anywhere.”
Lu Mang scratched his head, and when he turned his head, he saw Pei Xiting sprinkling gold on the painting with a steady hand. You Zong followed his gaze to look at Pei Xiting’s face. When Pei Xiting put down the string of the brush that he used to sprinkle gold, You Zong asked, “Pei-wenshu, do you have any ideas?”
Pei Xiting said, “Ah,” raised his head, and pointed at himself, “Me?”
“Although you are not an official investigating the case, you are also meticulous and intelligent. Why don’t you share some thoughts?” You Zong said, “It doesn’t matter if you are wrong.”
Pei Xiting was not interested in investigating the case, but he had already been involved in this muddy water where killing was a constant event, so it’s better to try to take the initiative as much as possible. Besides, the look of his immediate superior was gentle, as if encouraging him to speak boldly. So he stood up and walked over, saying, “Has this plum blossom sleeve arrow appeared in any other crime scene since the 15th year of Xining until now?”
Lu Mang shook his head and said, “He was already convicted of murder. There are arrest warrants in various places. Once he makes any move, it will be reported to Yejing right away, but there has been no trace of plum blossom sleeve arrows in recent years.”
“If he is a hired killer, the frequency of his orders is too low.” Pei Xiting said, “What case was the Wang family involved in back then?”
You Zong glanced at Lu Mang, and Lu Mang handed the document to Pei Xiting, saying, “The Wang family is a wealthy merchant family in Jiangnan, doing cloth business. Back then, Old Master Wang personally led a team to the northern cloth shop to discuss business but was intercepted on the road. Forty-three of the forty-five escorts died, and only two escaped. There were exactly forty-four people who died, so the authorities suspected that someone was intentionally seeking revenge. Later, the plum blossom-shaped arrow wounds were found on several corpses, all of which were fatal.”
“Was there any arrowhead at the scene?” Pei Xiting asked.
You Zong shook his head.
“Speaking of this, I find it very funny,” Lu Mang said. “Did the murderer shoot people to death and then pull out the arrows one by one?”
“Probably not.” You Zong said, “I guess it was an arrow connected to a string or something like that, which could be retracted after being shot into the human body so that the arrowhead would not be left behind and it would be reusable.”
Pei Xiting flipped through the documents and said, “My bold guess is that this wasn’t a revenge killing. The two escapees said: ‘Dozens of masked men in black suddenly appeared and surrounded the convoy and then drew their knives to chop people. The old master asked about their identities, but they remained silent and only focused on killing.’ If it was for revenge against the Wang family, then this is too ‘quiet’. Wouldn’t they want the enemy to know who they are and kneel down to beg for mercy, be extremely frightened, and finally witness the death of the enemy with their own eyes? Moreover, these murderers not only killed people but also took money. They moved away all the valuables. In addition, there is a bug[mfn]He said this in English.[/mfn].”
Lu Mang said, “Bage (bug)?”
“There is another loophole,” Pei Xiting corrected the wording, “that is, in my opinion, it’s almost impossible for the escapees to have survived this massacre. According to the survivors, the assassins surrounded them, and the mountain road was narrow, unlike the forest where they could run around. They were sandwiched back and forth, and in the situation of a huge disparity in strength between the two sides, how could they escape the encirclement and smoothly descend the mountain?”
He closed the document and guessed, “Is it possible that the so-called 44 people are just a cover, which is to lead this murder case to revenge killing, so as to cover up the real intention? After all, businessmen are bound to make enemies outside, and it’s not uncommon for colleagues to kill colleagues. The Wang family is wealthy, so it’s possible that some people are jealous of them.”
You Zong said, “I have this suspicion, but the whereabouts of the murderer are unknown, so it’s difficult to confirm.”
“The Wang family case is still shrouded in questions. Yet several years later, this plum blossom sleeve arrow suddenly appeared and killed the buyer. These two things may have some connection.” Pei Xiting shrugged, “My mind is in a mess.”
“Then don’t think about it.” Lu Mang is a good boss, and he said immediately, “Let Lord You worry about it.”
You Zong took the documents and left to have a headache by himself. Lu Mang took the lead to leave early, and Pei Xiting naturally ran away as well.
Yuan Fang was planting potted plants in the yard. Seeing the person coming back, he couldn’t help but say: “Your job is too idle.”
“My superior is really good.” Pei Xiting walked to the corridor, took a seat, and asked the person who was fiddling with the soil and plants nearby, “Have you heard of plum blossom sleeve arrows?”
Yuan Fang said, “This weapon is not rare.”
Pei Xiting said, “It’s not the broad sense of plum blossom sleeve arrows, but the plum blossom sleeve arrows that will leave plum blossom wounds when the arrow enters the flesh.”
Yuan Fang said, “I haven’t heard of that.”
Pei Xiting thought for a while, “Then do you remember what the buyer looks like?”
“I remember,” Yuan Fang said, “Do you want to investigate this matter?”
Pei Xiting said, “What’s your opinion?”
“No opinion,” Yuan Fang said, “I say, you draw.”
Pei Xiting immediately opened the painting box, took out a piece of paper, and said, “Tell me everything you remember.”
Yuan Fang thought for a moment and said, “Middle-aged, probably in his early forties, half a head shorter than me, neither thin nor fat. The face is very square; the eyebrows are neither thick nor light, shorter than mine, about this long, this thick—”
Pei Xiting looked up at the stroke of his finger and let out an “hmm.” Yuan Fang continued, “The eyes are neither big nor small, but the eyelids are a little swollen. The mouth is a little thick, just like the meat pie shop owner’s.”
Pei Xiting said skillfully, “I’ll take you to eat there later. Is there anything else?”
“This should be all. This person is dressed very plainly and does not wear any jewelry.” Yuan Fang picked up a bag of camellia seeds. “He doesn’t know martial arts, but he didn’t come alone. He said he had spies following him or something.”
“But he was the only one who died in the eastern suburbs.” Pei Xiting said.
Yuan Fang said, “Maybe his spies are still in Yejing. When he traded with me in Baiyou Mountain that day, there were indeed several masked men following him.”
“He brought people with him when he traded with you, so it’s unlikely that he returned alone with Po Yinlin. There must be a reason… It’s done,” Pei Xiting handed the book to Yuan Fang. “Take a look.”
“It looks about 70% like him,” Yuan Fang pointed to the neck. “The neck should be thicker and shorter, about this much,” he compared the length with his fingers and said, “The face should be squarer.”
Pei Xiting revised it again and showed it to Yuan Fang. Yuan Fang nodded and said, “It’s almost the same. But how are you going to identify the person? The world is so big; looking for someone is like looking for a needle in a haystack, and if people know that this portrait was drawn by you, troubles will come your way one after another.”
“I won’t do it myself. I will let others do it.” Pei Xiting said.
Yuan Fang said, “Although Shopkeeper Qi is well-informed, his origin and identity are unknown. He is both good and evil. He’s difficult to understand and cannot be fully trusted. This matter involves the royal family, and it is too big to guarantee that he will not leak any information. Compared to him, it is safer to find the Crown Prince.”
Pei Xiting asked, “Will the Crown Prince kill you?”
Yuan Fang said, “If I don’t covet Po Yinlin.”
“You are after money; you didn’t know it in advance.” Pei Xiting said, “I will guarantee your life with my life.”
Yuan Fang was a little surprised. “We haven’t known each other for long.”
“Have you heard of the saying, ‘Though aged, like strangers; though brief, like old friends[mfn]白首如新，倾盖如故 (metaphor): The depth of feeling cannot be measured by time. Some people knew each other for a long time, but they’re like new acquaintances. Some just met, but they feel like old friends.[/mfn]?’” Pei Xiting lowered his head to pack up the painting box. “I believe in fate and intuition. If I don’t like someone at first sight, there is probably a reason.”
Yuan Fang said, “Do you like me?”
“I like you very much. The best state of two people getting along is just two words: comfortable. I feel comfortable getting along with you.” Pei Xiting said, “You have been in the underworld since childhood. You are bold, but not evil. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have left me, a witness, at Fumeng Tower that day. Even when you threatened me with a dagger, you were very measured and didn’t hurt me at all. In the past few days, you haven’t talked much, but you have been very polite to ordinary vendors outside. You will help the blind cross the streets, help the fish stalls catch escaped fish, and help children get the cuju (ball) hung on the tree, which shows that you have a kind heart. To put it simply, in my opinion, you are neither a good nor a bad person. As for how you see yourself and how others evaluate you, it has nothing to do with me.”
“Is that so?” Yuan Fang showed a rare smile, with a color reminiscent of natural flower and bird patterns carved from shattered wood and stone. He stood up and clapped his hands. “I have a request.”
Pei Xiting looked up at him: “Tell me.”
“You have to make the Crown Prince promise not to reveal my whereabouts to anyone.” Yuan Fang’s face showed another rarely seen expression—gloom. “Otherwise, if the Crown Prince doesn’t kill me, someone else will come to trouble me.”
This “someone else” seemed to be a specific person, but Pei Xiting didn’t ask much. Who doesn’t have enemies in the underworld?
“I can’t be sure whether the Crown Prince will agree to this condition. Just in case, I have to think about it before deciding whether to give the portrait to the Crown Prince.” After that, Pei Xiting got up and left.
Yuan Fang said, “Meat pie!”
Pei Xiting stepped out of the courtyard and was about to ask Yuan Fang to follow him when a light smoke suddenly clouded his eyes. He had a bad feeling and wanted to retreat, but it was too late.
After taking a puff of the smoke, Pei Xiting felt dizzy and fell forward.
The visitor grabbed Pei Xiting’s arm and was about to carry the man over his shoulder when suddenly his shoulder ached and was clamped down by a large hand.
He turned his head to see an expressionless face.
“Put him down,” said You Zong.
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