“I don’t—”
“Let’s get settled and eat first,” Xing Muzheng interrupted her.
He sounded hungry, so everyone began moving on their own. Wang Yong and Ah Da, not having seen Li Qing in ages, greeted him warmly with playful punches.
“Where was your old room?” Qingya looked around the courtyard—it was barely larger than the small yard Qian Jiaoniang had at the marquis’ manor. She glanced between her and Xing Muzheng, curious. So this was where they got married and had that odd little boy.
Qian Jiaoniang pointed to the easternmost room, “There. I’ll show you.”
She led Qingya away. Xing Pingchun and Li Ding exchanged glances—one ran, the other chased. Xing Muzheng stood in the courtyard with his hands behind his back, breathing in the familiar scent of osmanthus blossoms.
He had never really looked at this courtyard carefully—his eyes had always been set beyond these few square meters. But every plant, every tree here—he remembered. He remembered welcoming Jiaoniang into this home—also when the osmanthus was in bloom.
Creak—the sound of a window being pushed open from his room. That sound was familiar too. Every morning after their wedding, he would hear that exact sound.
Xing Muzheng turned to look—and met a pair of serene, beautiful eyes.
A light breeze passed. Osmanthus petals floated down.
Ah, he remembered. It was like a locked memory had just been opened. He remembered those eyes. Every morning, when he practiced martial arts, their owner would appear at the window, silently watching his every move. Only when he finished and looked up would she suddenly duck away. Only once did she not. It was the morning he was about to leave home. She didn’t look away; their eyes met—and in her gaze was something he hadn’t understood at the time.
Xing Muzheng’s chest warmed. But in the next moment, he snapped out of it—what he’d just caught was a cold, indifferent glance. The woman turned away and gave him the back of her head.
That look she had back then was different from now. Different from when she cared for him too.
He had seen that look many times in others—it was a young girl’s expression of affection. She had once… admired him.
“Commander!” Li Qing’s voice interrupted Xing Muzheng’s thoughts. He reined in his emotions and cleared his throat, “Hmm?”
Li Qing invited him inside to take the seat of honor. Xing Muzheng said, “I’ve been on horseback all day—let me stand for a while.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Li Qing’s wife standing timidly with a cup of tea. He waved his hand, “I’m not thirsty… take it to the Madam.”
Qian Xiao’e bowed and headed to the eastern room.
Xing Muzheng glanced at the little wife a couple more times. He remembered that Li Qing had once complained about her looks—and indeed, she was plain. “How are you two getting along?” Li Qing’s story was somewhat like his own—he married before going to war, leaving behind a wife and child.
Li Qing immediately broke into a wide grin. “Good! My wife treats me so well—she doesn’t mind that I’m missing a leg, and she makes sure I eat and drink well, won’t let me lift a finger, just tells me to sit around like a big lord. Tell me, isn’t this the kind of blessing one earns over several lifetimes?”
It was Xing Muzheng who asked the question, and now he was the one feeling sour. How come this guy was clever enough not to despise his wife? Now he lived a carefree life, waited on like a master.
“Enough, enough, I don’t want to hear any more of that,” Xing Muzheng waved a hand.
Li Qing looked wronged—wasn’t it the Commander who asked him in the first place?
“The matter I asked you to look into—how is it going?”
At those words, Li Qing straightened up, glanced toward the eastern wing, and lowered his voice. “Commander, even if you hadn’t told me to check into it, I was going to bring it up with you anyway.”
Xing Muzheng gave him a glance, and Li Qing continued, “Do you know, Commander? The local kids call this place a haunted house. Say it’s got ghosts.”
“Nonsense.”
“Yes, yes, it’s nonsense of course—those little rascals talking rubbish. But there is a reason this place has earned the haunted house reputation.”
“What reason?”
Li Qing lowered his voice even more. “Someone died in this house.”
He whispered so low that Xing Muzheng didn’t catch it. “What?”
“Someone died here, Commander. There’s been a death in this courtyard.”
When the house was purchased, his father had consulted someone; it wasn’t supposed to be a cursed or unlucky property. If someone had died, it was only his father, and what death is that? Every family has someone who dies of old age or illness. But this death—could it be…
“Who died?”
Li Qing replied, “I investigated. The one who died was a local scoundrel named Li Xiangui. A loafer with no proper occupation—just a sneak thief who liked petty crime.”
Xing Muzheng’s eyes turned sharp. “Are you saying—”
“I suspect that’s how it went. Li Xiangui must’ve thought this house had no man in it, so he broke in at night to steal. Maybe the madam and the old madam caught him in the act and beat him to death.”
Xing Muzheng shook his head. “Jiaoniang wouldn’t act so recklessly.” She seemed rough and impulsive on the outside, but in truth she always had a clear head. If it were just a matter of stolen money, with an old woman and a child in the house, she’d probably wait till morning and go report it—far safer. Unless… Xing Muzheng clenched his fist. Unless she had no choice but to kill to protect herself.
“That part I don’t know,” Li Qing said. “But I also found out that Li Xiangui had an older sister, who just happened to be the county magistrate’s favored concubine at the time. I’m guessing the madam and the old madam knew this too. Fearing the magistrate might cover things up and seek revenge, they fled with the young master. Neighbors said they didn’t see either woman for two or three days, and there was no sound of a baby crying. Then someone broke in with a group and found Li Xiangui’s body. No one knew where the madam and old madam had gone.”
Li Qing added, “This case is still an open investigation at the county office. The list of suspects—madam’s name is still on it!”
Xing Muzheng’s expression turned cold and serious. He nodded slowly.
Li Qing asked, “Commander, has the madam never told you about this?” Given that she now had someone powerful to rely on, and had returned to Gui County, she could’ve tried to set the record straight. There was no reason to let a murder fugitive charge hang over her.
A flicker of embarrassment passed through Xing Muzheng’s eyes. He hadn’t wanted to hear it back then. And now she didn’t want to speak. But in these nearly ten years, just how much had she endured?
“Come, come, the food’s ready!” Li Qing’s mother-in-law bustled out of the kitchen with flour-covered hands. She had been so caught up hosting that she forgot her guest was a grand nobleman. Realizing her slip, she shrank back in nervous silence.
Li Qing quickly said, “Mother, I understand. Go on back and take care of things.”
He invited Xing Muzheng into the main hall. Two large tables had been set—one in the center, one off to the side. The main room hadn’t changed much since Xing Muzheng had last been here. There was still a shrine for the household gods, though a calligraphy couplet he had once written was gone—no doubt worn away with age.
Xing Muzheng said, “This house was given to you—arrange it as you see fit. No need to hold on to the old ways. It’s just a place for us to stop by and pay respects to our ancestors now and then.”
Li Qing smiled. “The house was well arranged to begin with. Just a pity those couplets were too old. Madam told me they were all written by you, Commander.”
Xing Muzheng raised an eyebrow. “When did she tell you that?”
Li Qing said, “When you came to pick up Madam and the young master last time, just before you left.”
Xing Muzheng slowly nodded and looked toward Qian Jiaoniang, who had just entered with Li Qing’s wife.
