Lu Zhuoguang did not understand why he had to move somewhere else just to ask a question. However, he was genuinely curious, so he followed Zhou Xing out of the study and walked a short distance with her until they reached a covered corridor sheltered from the wind.
He hoped she would stop making small talk and answer his question quickly and concisely.
Unfortunately, Zhou Xing did not look like someone who valued efficiency. She seemed to have no bones in her body. When she stood beside a door, she leaned against the doorframe. When she stopped beneath the corridor, she sprawled over the railing.
Now, she gazed lazily into the courtyard and asked, “Scholar Lu, are you from the capital?”
Lu Zhuoguang lowered his eyelashes slightly, taking in her rather improper posture. He answered gently, “I simply grew up there.”
Zhou Xing continued asking questions. “What do you do for a living?”
“I am currently staying with the Zhao family as a guest attendant.”
“I’ve heard that powerful nobles and aristocratic families often keep idle scholars and attendants in their households. However, their standards are strict, and ordinary, mediocre people rarely catch their attention.”
Zhou Xing turned around and rested her elbows on the railing. With the plum blossoms blooming behind her throughout the courtyard, she looked at him expectantly.
“I suppose Scholar Lu must have some exceptional talent to distinguish yourself from all the other attendants and earn the Zhao family’s favor.”
Her gaze was so eager that it seemed the moment Lu Zhuoguang nodded, she would immediately beg him to demonstrate his abilities.
Lu Zhuoguang smiled faintly.
“I’m good at studying.”
Zhou Xing thought to herself, Does that even count as a special skill? If I’m good at eating, does that mean I can also join a prestigious family as an attendant?
She let the thought roll around in her mind without saying it aloud. Instead, she asked, “How good are you?”
“I’m a fast reader. I also speak clearly and recognize all the written characters.”
“No wonder you passed the scholar examination! In all the villages around my hometown, we couldn’t find a single person who reads as well as you.”
Zhou Xing effortlessly produced one flattering remark after another, praising him so sincerely that it was impossible to tell she was merely buttering him up.
Then she suddenly changed the subject.
“Do you enjoy listening to opera?”
“I listen to it occasionally in my spare time.” Lu Zhuoguang nodded slightly before returning to his question. “Why is opera forbidden in Danyu County?”
A hint of mischief appeared in Zhou Xing’s eyes.
“That has something to do with a romantic scandal involving Magistrate Xu. I asked you to come outside because I didn’t want to gossip about the dead at the very place where he died.”
She continued, “I heard that when Magistrate Xu first arrived in Danyu County, he often visited the opera house to listen to performances. After going there repeatedly, he fell for the leading actress of the troupe.
“Unfortunately, performers are fickle. Magistrate Xu spent a great deal of money on her, but she turned around and tried to cut off all contact with him.
“Of course, a dignified county magistrate couldn’t very well commit the crime of abducting a woman by force. So he took his anger out on the opera house instead. He found some excuse to have it demolished and developed a hatred for opera performers.
“He then issued an official order banning opera performances. As a result, Danyu County hasn’t built another opera stage or allowed any traveling troupes into the city for years.”
After hearing this scandalous story, Lu Zhuoguang showed no surprise. He took his time before offering a slow, measured comment.
“Magistrate Xu certainly seems to have been a man of passion.”
“Exactly! He’s over fifty, yet he’s more impulsive than young people like us.”
Zhou Xing suddenly lowered her voice, adding a mysterious note to her tone.
“There are no opera stages left in the city, but I happen to know a place where you can still hear someone sing a few lines.”
Lu Zhuoguang looked into her eyes and noticed that her irises were not as black as those of most people. They were somewhat brown, and under the sunlight, they resembled amber.
“What place?”
“Fengyue House.”
The name alone made it clear that this was no respectable establishment.
Lu Zhuoguang was just about to decline when a quiet voice sounded behind him.
“Scholar Lu.”
They both turned around.
A young guard was approaching quickly. He had regular features and sun-tanned, wheat-colored skin. His stern expression made him appear rather severe.
He was Li Yangu i, the head of Zhao Ke’s personal guards.
He stopped in front of Lu Zhuoguang and first gave Zhou Xing a scrutinizing look before speaking.
“We’ve received a new report. Someone claims to have seen Magistrate Xu leaving a brothel through its back entrance shortly before he was murdered. Young Master Zhao is going to investigate the brothel now and has sent me to bring you along.”
The authorities had already searched the Xu residence several times. Feng Zong and his men had practically turned the place upside down looking for clues.
As a result, the study and the other rooms were exactly as described in the case files. There was nothing new to discover.
Although Qi Xuan was unwilling to give up, he had no choice but to stop investigating the residence for the time being.
Fortunately, a new lead had arrived from one of Zhao Ke’s informants, so the group hurriedly left the Xu residence.
Since they were going there to investigate rather than drink and have fun, Qi Xuan ordered someone to return to the county office and obtain a search warrant.
However, Zhou Xing stopped him.
The moment she heard they were going to Fengyue House, she slapped her thigh enthusiastically and volunteered to lead the way.
“What a coincidence! I’m very familiar with that place. There’s no need to get a search warrant. I’ll take you inside myself and guarantee that everything goes smoothly!”
The others had no idea what sort of person Zhou Xing really was. The way she spoke about Fengyue House made it sound as though she were discussing her own backyard.
They couldn’t help looking at her suspiciously.
Yet Zhou Xing spoke with such confidence that she did not seem to be boasting. To everyone’s surprise, she led them straight toward what she called the brothel’s “secret passage.”
Fengyue House was the largest brothel in the city, but it was neither grand nor particularly luxurious. The building had only two floors.
Two faded red lanterns hung at the entrance, and between them was a plaque bearing the name Fengyue House, written in bold, flowing calligraphy.
The brothel’s “secret passage” was little known. It was located in a narrow alley barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
A single carriage parked at the alley’s entrance could completely block the view, making it an ideal place for people sneaking around to hide their activities.
The group entered through the back door.
The guards immediately split into two rows, preparing to lead the way forward.
Zhou Xing hurried ahead and blocked their path, smiling apologetically.
“My lords, most of the women in a brothel are delicate and easily frightened. These guards are so imposing that they might scare the girls if they all go in together. Why don’t they wait downstairs first?”
Qi Xuan waved his hand. He brought only a few guards upstairs and ordered the constables to wait below.
Zhou Xing led the way.
She was clearly a regular at the establishment. As soon as she entered, a young attendant hurried over, bowed repeatedly, and greeted her.
“Sister Xing!”
Zhou Xing slipped a few copper coins into his hand and told him to fetch the madam. Then she led the group to a private room on the second floor.
The room was not large, but its furnishings were elegant, and everything was clean and orderly.
“The girls here all have lovely singing voices. Yingniang, in particular, is unmatched when it comes to musical performance. She can sing practically any tune.
“Before opera was banned in Danyu, she often played the role of a young female lead. These days, however, she’s the madam and no longer performs professionally. She only sings when she feels like it.”
Zhou Xing poured tea for everyone with great enthusiasm.
When she reached Lu Zhuoguang, however, her movements noticeably slowed. She even personally placed the teacup in front of him before leaning slightly closer and lowering her voice.
“I’m on good terms with her. If Scholar Lu wants to hear her sing, I can ask her to perform for you. It shouldn’t be too difficult.”
As she spoke, she became bolder and brushed the back of Lu Zhuoguang’s hand with her own.
Without changing his expression, he quietly withdrew his hand and declined with a polite smile.
“Thank you for your kindness, Miss Zhou.”
Her interest in him was so obvious that Qi Xuan and the other two men immediately noticed it.
Feng Zong knew that although Zhou Xing was not always particularly proper, she usually understood the difference between important matters and trivial ones.
Why, then, was she suddenly so captivated by a handsome face that she had begun acting shamelessly in front of officials from the capital?
Seeing what was happening, he hurriedly covered his mouth with his fist and coughed loudly.
Qi Xuan was focused entirely on solving the murder and had no interest in paying attention to such insignificant matters.
Zhao Ke, however, found the situation amusing.
“Brother Zhuoguang really does have an exceptionally handsome face. He’s quite popular in the capital, too. Two years ago, a female chieftain who came to our court to pay tribute took one look at him and immediately fell for him.
“She secretly sent people to my residence several times to ask for him. She even offered a huge sum of money to buy him and keep him as her male favorite.”
Zhou Xing looked surprised and examined Lu Zhuoguang from head to toe once again.
“What kind of female chieftain was she? She must have been terribly shallow! Scholar Lu’s talent and learning are worth a hundred times more than his looks. Sending someone as gifted as him to become a male favorite in some remote, uncivilized region would have been a terrible waste.”
Zhao Ke gave a mocking laugh.
“Who knows? If he’d agreed to go with her, at least he could have followed the chieftain out to the grasslands and enjoyed a life of luxury. That would have been better than attracting the attention of a toad living in a ditch.”
Zhou Xing paid no attention to the sarcasm in his words. She simply looked at Lu Zhuoguang and smiled.
“The winds on the grasslands are fierce. I hope Scholar Lu prefers the clear springs of the countryside.”
Lu Zhuoguang seemed unaccustomed to being teased so openly. A faint blush appeared on his ears.
He shook his head without responding, then simply took out a book and immersed himself in the world of knowledge.
Zhou Xing turned to light the charcoal brazier. She also sprinkled a handful of fragrant powder above the warming stove before standing beside it and rubbing her palms together.
The room soon grew warm, driving away the winter chill. A faint fragrance spread through the air, while the sound of a zither drifted up from downstairs.
The peaceful atmosphere made everyone relax almost without realizing it.
Before long, the door to the private room opened.
A woman entered with small, graceful steps, her feet moving delicately as though she were walking on golden lotus flowers. She bowed elegantly.
“This humble woman, Tao Ying, pays her respects to Lord Feng. Everyone in Fengyue House earns an honest living, and the girls here are timid and well-behaved. They would never dare to break the law. May I ask why the authorities have come to visit?”
Tao Ying appeared to be in her thirties. Her hair was arranged in an elegant bun, decorated with pearl hairpins. Her plum-colored dress complemented her fair, rosy face, which seemed to glow with a springlike charm.
Although she was no longer young, she remained exceptionally beautiful.
No one knew where Zhou Xing had produced a handful of sunflower seeds, but she was already cracking them between her teeth as she drifted over to Tao Ying.
“Don’t be nervous, Yingniang. Lord Feng has come to investigate Magistrate Xu’s murder. You only need to tell us the truth about anything related to him. They won’t make things difficult for you.”
Tao Ying did not recognize Qi Xuan or Zhao Ke, who had come from the capital. She had also dealt with Feng Zong before.
Assuming this was merely another routine questioning, she asked casually, as though chatting with an old acquaintance.
“Everyone outside is saying that Magistrate Xu was killed by the underworld’s messengers. Is that true?”
Zhou Xing was rather wary of talk about ghosts and spirits herself. She instinctively lowered her voice.
“Who knows? It’s hard to say! Everyone says that the end of the year is a time when dark energy gathers and the forces of evil grow stronger. All sorts of ghosts and monsters come out to cause trouble.
“Anyway, I always pray to the Bodhisattva before leaving home every day. I don’t want to encounter anything unclean.”
“Is that really a Bodhisattva you have at home?” Tao Ying asked. “Isn’t it just a clay statue of the local earth god?”
Zhou Xing sighed.
“It rained heavily a few days ago, remember? My roof leaked, and the water washed the earth god away. The clay was taken from the wall of a temple. I couldn’t bear to throw it away, so I molded it into a Bodhisattva instead.”
What kind of nonsense was this?
Qi Xuan’s brows drew together, and he was just about to lose his temper.
Feng Zong noticed his expression and immediately stepped in to smooth things over.
“You ignorant woman! Stop talking nonsense! Magistrate Xu was the guardian of Danyu’s people, a dedicated official who devoted himself wholeheartedly to serving the public.
“Even if the underworld’s messengers truly appeared in this world, they would never claim the life of someone like Magistrate Xu. He was murdered by a criminal, and we have come here today to uncover the truth and bring the culprit to justice!”
He delivered this speech with such righteous conviction that anyone would have thought he had never spent the previous night kneeling on the floor and crying that Xu Feng had been killed by the underworld’s messengers.
Tao Ying quickly smiled and agreed.
“Exactly! Our Magistrate Xu was such a good official. Even if Black and White Impermanence were collecting souls, they should have taken that scoundrel who slept with a girl last night and ran away without paying!”
Realizing that the atmosphere had become tense, she stopped making idle remarks and began discussing the actual case.
Xu Feng had visited the brothel quite often. His visits to Fengyue House were no secret among its staff.
However, he always arrived in a carriage through the back alley and went straight to a private room on the second floor. Consequently, few outsiders knew about his visits.
In fact, the very room they were sitting in was where Xu Feng had regularly spent his time listening to music.
On the day he was murdered, he had come to listen to the performances as usual.
Unfortunately, the girl he usually favored had already been booked by another customer. That customer was none other than Lord Li, the nephew of the prefect of Lingzhou, whose official rank was higher than Xu Feng’s.
Xu Feng had no choice but to give way.
Tao Ying arranged for one of the newer girls to attend to him instead. Unexpectedly, the inexperienced girl was clumsy and accidentally spilled wine on Xu Feng.
Furious, Xu Feng loudly reprimanded her before storming out of the room.
Tao Ying paused at this point, looking as though she wanted to say something but was unsure whether she should.
The others immediately noticed her expression.
Zhou Xing popped a piece of dried fruit into her mouth and spoke around it.
“Yingniang, this matter is extremely important. Please tell us everything you know. Don’t hide anything.”
Tao Ying explained, “It’s not that I’m deliberately withholding information. It’s just that what I’m about to tell you was something Magistrate Xu said while he was drunk. I’m not sure whether we should take his words seriously.
“Speaking of Lord Li, the prefect of Lingzhou’s nephew, he and Magistrate Xu had a disagreement several years ago. Everyone in the city knows about it.
“When Magistrate Xu first banned opera within the city, Lord Li insisted on buying a plot of land outside the city and building an opera stage there. No one knew why he was so determined to do it.
“Unfortunately, the land wasn’t very suitable. Halfway through construction, the stage collapsed on its own, and Lord Li eventually abandoned the project. Even so, Magistrate Xu held a grudge against him.
“A few months ago, Magistrate Xu came here, drank too much, and got drunk. During that visit, he happened to mention that corruption and bribery were rampant along the Grand Canal in Lingjing.
“He said that if he could skim even a little money from the canal’s operations, he would have enough to build a luxurious residence in Danyu. He complained that he was stuck serving as an official in this poor, barren place, where there was nothing to gain, and that he was far worse off than Lord Li…”
The speaker might not have intended anything by her words, but the listeners understood their implications.
Tao Ying clearly had no idea how recklessly she was speaking.
The expressions of everyone in the room changed at once.
Qi Xuan was especially furious. He interrupted her sharply.
“How dare you! You’re making false accusations against a court official! How many heads do you think you have to spare?”
Tao Ying shuddered in fright.
When she saw the look of terror on Feng Zong’s face, she immediately realized that she had said something terribly wrong. Her knees gave way, and she fell to the floor.
“Please calm down, my lords! I spoke carelessly just now. Please don’t punish me!”
The Grand Canal in Lingzhou stretched from the north to the south across the entire Great Qi Empire, passing through numerous regions.
By claiming that corruption and bribery were rampant along the canal, Tao Ying had effectively smeared hundreds or even thousands of officials.
Worse still, she had attributed those words to Xu Feng himself, placing an enormous accusation on the shoulders of Qi Xuan’s teacher.
Naturally, Qi Xuan was enraged.
“My teacher was an honest and incorruptible man! Even when he lived in the capital, he maintained a spotless reputation and never set foot in a place like this.
“I now suspect that your claim about his frequent visits here is nothing but slander. Perhaps you used some means to lure him into this establishment!
“Guards! Take this woman into custody and bring her back for questioning. Find out exactly why Magistrate Xu came here that day and what made him leave in such anger!”
Tao Ying was a sheltered brothel madam who had little experience dealing with such terrifying situations. She could barely withstand the pressure.
Hearing Qi Xuan repeatedly refer to himself as “this prince” and threaten to have her taken away for interrogation, she immediately burst into tears and begged for mercy.
Feng Zong also stood up and tried to intervene, despite his fear.
“Your Highness, please calm down!”
The room descended into chaos. Tao Ying’s sobbing mixed with everyone’s attempts to calm the prince.
Meanwhile, Zhou Xing tucked her hands into her sleeves and shrank into a corner, pretending to be nothing more than a pillar.
“Wait.”
Zhao Ke raised a hand to stop the guards.
“Your Highness, there’s no need to rush. I have a way to determine whether she’s telling the truth.”
He turned to Tao Ying.
“Come here.”
Trembling, Tao Ying moved forward on her knees until she was kneeling before Zhao Ke.
He reached out, grasped her chin, and lifted her face.
Tao Ying possessed strikingly beautiful features, with the alluring charm of a woman accustomed to the world of pleasure houses. Her eyes were filled with tears, and crystalline droplets clung to her eyelashes, making her look utterly pitiful.
Zhao Ke lowered his eyes and studied her with an amused expression.
Then he suddenly turned to the person beside him and asked, “Brother Zhuoguang, do you think she’s telling the truth or lying?”
Lu Zhuoguang had been so eager to learn that ever since taking out his book, he had devoted himself entirely to reading, paying no attention to the commotion around him.
Only when he heard Zhao Ke’s question did he slowly raise his head.
He closed his book without haste. His dark eyes were calm and gentle as he fixed his gaze on Tao Ying.
Then he spoke in a measured, soothing voice.
“You don’t need to be afraid. I only want to ask you one question.”