Ning Yan sent Zhang Xingben and Liu Zhan away and entered an alley by herself. After turning a corner, she suddenly scaled a wall and climbed onto a rooftop. Circling back, she quickly spotted a man sneaking along behind her. The moment the man realized he had lost her trail, he began looking around in a panic.
“Looking for me?” Ning Yan jumped down from the roof. When she got a clear look at his face, she was surprised.
“You?” When she went to the yamen to apply for a constable’s position, a chubby young man called her “big sister.”
The person before her was that very same youth.
“Big Sister, you remember me?” The young man’s eyes lit up. When he smiled, two dimples appeared at the corners of his mouth.
Ning Yan nodded. “Why are you following me?”
The smile immediately vanished from the young man’s face, replaced by anger. “I’m not following you, Big Sister. I just want to catch the murderer.”
A thought struck Ning Yan. “You’re Mudan’s sworn younger brother? The butcher named Jin Shu?”
“That’s me,” Jin Shu replied. “I want to avenge Sister Mudan.”
Jin Shu explained that his parents had died when he was very young. At five or six years old, he had nearly starved to death. Mudan had secretly saved two steamed buns for him every day, letting him survive.
“I worked desperately hard to earn money because I wanted to buy Sister Mudan’s freedom,” Jin Shu said, his eyes reddening. “But she wouldn’t let me. She told me to save my money and marry a wife instead.”
“I have to catch the murderer and avenge her.”
Ning Yan had not expected Jin Shu’s circumstances to be like this. “Do you know anything?” she asked.
Jin Shu lowered his voice. “Sister Mudan liked Second Master Zhang. She said he had promised to take her into his household.”
“And that commander often came to see her too.”
“If Second Master Zhang didn’t kill Sister Mudan, then it must have been that Commander Ma, because Commander Ma also said he would take Sister Mudan home.”
Something stirred in Ning Yan’s mind as she listened.
Ning Yan suddenly understood how the killer had committed the murder. After a pause, she asked Jin Shu, “Has Mudan seen you recently?”
Jin Shu nodded. “We met at the back side gate two days before she was killed.”
“Did she give you anything?”
Jin Shu shook his head. “No, she didn’t give me anything.”
Ning Yan asked no further questions. Instead, she leaned close and whispered a few words into Jin Shu’s ear.
Jin Shu pondered for a moment. “Alright. I know where that place is. I’ll go take a look right now.”
Ning Yan stood alone in the alley for a while. Then she changed direction, hired a physician, and brought him to the county yamen. The coroner was in the morgue. The moment he saw her, caution filled his face. Examining corpses was one thing, but matters involving a physician were different. Those were outside her expertise.
That afternoon, Ning Yan returned to the Zhang residence.
Zhang Xingben was not home.
Liu Zhan explained, “The master has been terribly busy lately with Chamber of Commerce affairs.”
“And now that Second Young Master has gotten involved in something like this, he’s even more overwhelmed. Sigh.”
Ning Yan paused. “Chamber of Commerce affairs?”
Liu Zhan nodded. “The Qiantan Chamber of Commerce. The master has served several consecutive terms as its chairman.”
“Ning Yan!” Liu Ye hurried in from outside and pointed toward the entrance. “The Regional Military Commander is here! H-he’s at the gate!”
Before she finished speaking, Ning Yan heard the thunder of footsteps.
A moment later, Pei Yan strode inside. His cold gaze swept over her briefly before he headed straight into the main hall and took a seat.
With Zhang Xingben absent, Madam Zhang hurried out, with Zhang Heting trailing behind.
“Commander Pei, what instructions do you have for us?” Madam Zhang was visibly nervous. Standing behind her, Zhang Heting secretly stole glances at Pei Yan.
Pei Yan was exceptionally handsome, the sort of appearance rarely seen in ordinary life. Zhang Heting’s cheeks flushed red as she looked at him.
“Has your family’s case been solved yet?” Though Pei Yan appeared to be speaking to Madam Zhang, his gaze passed right over the mother and daughter and landed directly on Ning Yan.
Standing in the courtyard, Ning Yan was looking back at him.
“N-not yet. However, my son truly was framed. Our maid has already investigated it and determined that someone murdered that woman to frame him.”
Pei Yan’s eyebrows shot up. “A maid?” he repeated. As he spoke, he looked at Ning Yan with an amused smile.
Madam Zhang froze. The important part of what she had just said was surely that her son had been wrongfully accused. Why had Commander Pei singled out the word maid?
“This one right here,” Zhang Heting said quickly when her mother didn’t respond. She pointed directly at Ning Yan and shouted, “Why are you still standing there? Come inside!”
The smile in Pei Yan’s eyes deepened.
Ning Yan stepped into the hall.
Zhang Heting shot her a glare, then turned back to Pei Yan. “Commander, she’s the one investigating the case. If you’re here about the case, just ask her.”
Ning Yan offered a formal salute.
“A maid?” Pei Yan looked her over and laughed. “You can actually work as someone else’s maid?”
With a temper like hers, a woman who even dared to show him attitude, was she really capable of serving another master? Wouldn’t she end up wringing her master’s neck?
“Not anymore,” Ning Yan replied calmly. Then she looked at him and asked, “Commander Pei, what brings you here so suddenly?”
“Commander Pei, she doesn’t understand the rules. Please be magnanimous,” Zhang Heting quickly said. Then she turned and scolded Ning Yan, “How can you speak to the Commander like that? Kneel at once!”
Pei Yan laughed again, crossing one leg over the other as he watched Ning Yan leisurely.
Ning Yan frowned at Zhang Heting. “Miss Zhang, do you think I wouldn’t dare hit you again or something?”
“You—!” Zhang Heting’s face flushed crimson with anger. But remembering Ning Yan’s temper, she did not dare say another word.
Ning Yan looked at Pei Yan. “Commander Pei, what brings you here?”
Leaning back in his chair, Pei Yan regarded her with an amused expression and said, “Oh, I got distracted watching the excitement and nearly forgot the real reason I’m here. Ma Si was ambushed. Was it someone from the Zhang household who did it?”
Ning Yan was baffled. “We’re investigating a case. Why would we ambush him?”
“Exactly, exactly!” Zhang Heting chimed in. “General, there must be some misunderstanding.”
Pei Yan tossed a waist token onto the table. “See for yourselves.”
Zhang Heting hurried over and picked up the token with Madam Zhang. Both women’s expressions changed instantly.
The token belonged to an employee of the Zhang family business. All of their workers wore identical ones.
“Don’t believe me?” Pei Yan glanced at Ning Yan and called toward the door, “Bring him in.”
A moment later, Shiwen dragged a servant inside.
The moment the servant saw Madam Zhang, he cried out, “Madam, save me! We were only carrying out orders! You have to save us!”
The servant had effectively confessed. He had carried out the Zhang family’s orders to ambush Ma Si.
Madam Zhang’s face turned deathly pale. “That can’t be right.” She had not been involved in the investigation and immediately turned to Ning Yan. “What exactly is going on?”
“I don’t know,” Ning Yan replied.
“How can you not know?” Zhang Heting exploded in anger. She pointed at the servant and demanded, “Who sent you?”
The servant replied, “It was the master. The master ordered us to bring Deputy Commander Ma back for questioning, to find out whether he was the one who committed the murder and framed Second Young Master.”
Madam Zhang collapsed into a chair with a thud. How could her husband possibly have found the nerve to order people to kidnap Ma Si for questioning? Ordinarily, their family avoided the military at all costs. They barely even dared cross paths with anyone from the camp. Someone must have encouraged him.
Madam Zhang and Zhang Heting turned to look at Ning Yan at the same time.
“Was it you?” Madam Zhang demanded. “Did you encourage my husband to abduct Deputy Commander Ma?”
“Mother, it must have been her,” Zhang Heting immediately agreed.
Madam Zhang seemed to find confirmation in that idea and became even more convinced. She hurriedly explained to Pei Yan, “General, Ning Yan must be the one who persuaded my husband to have Deputy Commander Ma captured.”
“Ning Yan, you have some nerve!”
Hearing the mother and daughter talk over one another, Ning Yan rubbed her forehead irritably. “Enough!”
“Shut up,” she said.