“Lao Si [Fourth Brother]!” Shangguan Xi finally spoke, with her tone raising loudly. Offending JinYiWei was no joke, let alone this man was Lu Yi!
At this moment, Yang ChengWan limped out of the restaurant, he then continued to walk to the front of the bearded man. He was smiling warmly and his eyes continued to look at him from top to bottom: “Are you little Xiao?”
The bearded man was suddenly stunned, surprised at the old man in front of him.
“When you were little, you looked like your mother, now your beard grew so much like your father,” Yang ChengWan laughed, “How is your father?”
The bearded man was indeed Xie Baili’s son. Xie Xiao looked at him in confusion, “You, how do you know my face is similar to my mother’s?”
“Senior, you are…?”
Shangguan Xi also couldn’t help but ask.
Yang ChengWan with a warm expression said: “My surname is Yang, I knew your father when he was still an armed guard, you might not remember me.”
“You are uncle Yang… uncle Yang that helped my father find the Buddha jade statue!” Xie Xiao looked again at Yang ChengWan’s feet, suddenly snapped out of his thoughts and politely greeted: “Please forgive this nephew’s disrespectful attitude. I remember that my father used to take me to the Capital to pay his respects to you. As a child, I often heard my father say he was lucky to have you or else he wouldn’t be able to keep his life. Uncle Yang, please accept the respect of this nephew!”
As a Young Master Bangzhu, this bow was considered normal, but even Shangguan Xi next to him, and each one of their subordinates, one by one were paying their respect to Yang ChengWan.
Lu Yi thought to himself: I don’t know what was this incident relating to the Buddha jade statue, but how did Yang ChengWan help Xie Baili that resulted in Xie Xiao unexpectedly treating him with such respect? Did this incident occur when he was still in JinYiWei or after he entered Liu Shanmen?
***
In Yangzhou City, at a government official post station, behind the kitchen.
Blossoming magnolia flowers, a glass plate and hosta lily flowers. The petals were being plucked piece by piece, wrapped in the dough of starch that has been soaked in sweet root water, then they were fried in oil and finally placed in the middle of a bamboo container. The result was a snack that smelled up to the nose, crispy and tasty.
Next to the stove, Mingqian tea had already been cooked, there was a gurgling sound like bubbles made by the fishes.
YangYue took the tray, put on it the snacks and a teapot and he then took it to the yard behind the post station. In the backyard pavilion, Lu Yi was looking at the list of autopsy reports that had just been written by Yang ChengWan. Yang ChengWan was sitting in the back side, while Jinxia was fiddling with the fragrance pouch they brought home, using a small knife to open the bag’s strap and to investigate its contents, then turning the front and back from inside to outside.
She smelled the sweet scent and immediately jumped to her feet. As soon as she saw the shiny snack on the tray, she said with joy: “Done, already?”
“Father, Jingli Daren, please enjoy.” YangYue kicked Jinxia’s leg, “Master Xia, I was looking for you while warming up the fire, but you weren’t there, hurry up and pour some tea!”
“Don’t forget, I was the one who picked these flowers.” Jinxia kicked him back, then poured the tea for everyone.
When they were on their way home from the edge of town, YangYue saw that there were many flowers blooming, soft and beautiful, bright and clear, with a very fragrant scent, so he’d pulled Jinxia to go pick some stems. As soon as he arrived at the police station, he’d immediately made those snacks.
Lu Yi had finished looking at the autopsy report list. He picked up the chopsticks and took a slice of the cake: it tasted crispy in his mouth. When he chewed, the sweet fragrance filled his entire mouth, so he laughingly said, “Ling Lang is so kind, Senior, you’re so blessed.”
[Ling Lang = referring to the son of the person they are speaking to, a way of showing respect, TN]
Yang ChengWan took the cup of tea offered by Jinxia, “This boy is really smart at non-serious work, making Daren laugh… Jinxia, let’s talk about this fragrance bag, are there any clues?”
“Uh…uh..” Jinxia looked happily at the fried flower petal cake, but had to sit down again in order to pick up the fragrance bag while saying: “This bag has a very nice decoration: the technique is a flat embroidery, also the colour and the engraving are to be considered of a very high level of difficulty and they are really unique. It was definitely made by a very skilled woman. When it is opened, you can see orchid flower petals, but beside that, there is still this!”
A roll of black hair neatly rolled up with a fine red thread was stuck to her fingers.
“Hair oil mixed with gilding dark blue which has the effect of hair dye… This lady, I mean, I’m ninety percent sure she is a good lady.” She paused, looking a little sad. “There seems to be a disease in her body, that she doesn’t want others to know. Judging from this fabric, it’s very certain this is a fine white hemp one, originating from Jiangnan, an uncommon fabric.”
“Is it possible that this fragrance bag was left by someone else?” YangYue asked, “That happened to be picked up by us?”
“Based on the brightness of the colour, this fragrance bag couldn’t have been buried in the ground for more than five days. If it had rained before, it wouldn’t have been more than three days, while Zhou Xian was buried seven days ago. Not to mention, the inner trousers that were on Zhou Xian’s body, they match the light purple of the white hemp fabric. From the stitches I’ve seen, the pants and this bag are the work of the same person.” Jinxia tilted her head, adding some words of praise, “This lady’s sewing skills are really good, the clothes she made are also excellent.”
“Who knows, she could be beautiful too.” YangYue sipped his tea, “Maybe that’s why Zhou Xian deliberately did not bring his wife and kids.”
Yang ChengWan gave the order: “You pay attention carefully, you must find this person. Find out how close she was to Zhou Xian, there must be a clue on his body.”
“Understood.”
Jinxia answered right away. Then she picked up the chopsticks and took a piece of fried flower petal cake, eating a few more pieces afterwards.
Lu Yi came forward to take the thin roll of hair. He carefully examined it: the strands of hair had turned yellow and had split ends. It could be concluded that the owner of this hair was not very healthy. He glanced at Jinxia who was eating big pieces of cake and chewing them in a flash. Since the autopsy, he only thought that she was doing things recklessly and reluctantly, he didn’t realize that even the clothes on the corpse were examined by her in detail.
“Senior, I’m sorry if Yan Yuan is a little rude, there’s one more thing I want to ask.” Lu Yi said.
“Jingli Daren, please say.”
“I don’t know what’s the relationship between Senior and Gang leader of Wu’An Gang, Xie Baili… Why would Xie Xiao pay such a big tribute to you?”
Lu Yi remembered the incident that happened during the day. Xie Xiao’s attitude was arrogant and unsubmissive yet he could turn into a respectful man and kneel in front of Yang ChengWan. He thought that maybe the Xie family had a great debt toward Yang ChengWan.
Yang ChengWan chuckled and said: “Twenty years ago, Xie Baili was still a small-armed bodyguard, he was guarding people’s belongings, a Buddha jade statue. This object was of great value, but unfortunately, he lost it in the Capital. At the time, I happened to luckily recover this Buddha jade statue.”
“Twenty years ago…” Lu Yi kept asking, “That was when Senior was still in JinYiWei, right?”
Yang ChengWan nodded, Jinxia and YangYue next to him were both shocked.
“Master, you were once in JinYiWei? Why now…”
“Father, you…”
His hands were slowly raised, preventing them from continuing to ask questions, then he said briefly, “Be quiet!”
Both of them fell silent.
To be honest, Lu Yi was a bit surprised too, he didn’t think that even YangYue didn’t know. This man used to be into a unit within thousands of units in JinYiWei, yet he’d resigned with no clear reason. It seemed that he now wanted to cover up all the traces of his past and never desired to bring it up again.
“Senior, you’ve been in the Capital all these years… Does Xie Baili not know?”
Xie Baili had now become a leader of Wu’An Gang, a very powerful gang in Jiangnan and other areas. If he’d known the condition of Yang ChengWan who was experiencing difficulties, it would have been impossible for him not to reach out his hand to help.
Yang ChengWan chuckled: “He did invite me, but I’m used to the food in the North and did not want to move around.”
Having said that, Jinxia and YangYue exchanged glances, still didn’t dare to speak.
Yang ChengWan wanted to live using his own strength and did not want to be sheltered under Xie Baili. Lu Yi stopped asking, changed topics and said: “This time Zhou Xian invited Wu’An Gang to transfer the river funds. I’m not sure where the idea came from. After this, whether we like it or not, we have to be in contact with them, but this Young Master Bangzhu has a rather harsh temperament. Senior, do you know him well?”
“I’ve rarely met him, so I can’t say much about him. I have only heard that, three years ago, Xie Baili wanted Xie Xiao to take over the gang after being married. I did not know why but, on his wedding day, Xie Xiao left home making Xie Baili furious.”
“Who was he marrying?” Jinxia asked in surprise.
“Well, it’s the person you saw today, Shangguan Bangzhu, Shangguan Xi.” Yang ChengWan continued to say, “Her father, Shangguan YuanLong, and Xie Baili were brothers and, seeing that she and Xie Xiao were both brother and sister who had grown up together, they made a marriage promise between the two of them. After Xie Xiao left home, Shangguan Xi personally asked Xie Baili to end the marriage. Some said that she wanted to end the marriage promise because she didn’t want Xie Xiao to bear the reputation of running away from his wedding, some said she’d had someone else in her heart for a long time.”
“Three years ago…” Lu Yi recalled the words of Zhou Prison Officer, “It was the year when she provoked Shui Zhai of the Dong family in Jiangnin.”
“Shui Zhai’s provocation from the Dong family was an event after she ended the marriage. Next to that occurrence, she finally took the leadership of the Red Bird Bangzhu.”
Jinxia propped her cheeks and recalled: “I could see that she treats Xie Xiao very well, every sentence is ‘Young Master Bangzhu.’ When she panicked, why did she call Xie Xiao ‘Lao Si’?”
“When they became sworn-siblings, according to the hierarchical order, Xie Xiao was a fourth-ranked, and she was a second-ranked.”
“Lao Si [Fourth Brother]!” Shangguan Xi finally spoke, with her tone raising loudly. Offending JinYiWei was no joke, let alone this man was Lu Yi!
At this moment, Yang ChengWan limped out of the restaurant, he then continued to walk to the front of the bearded man. He was smiling warmly and his eyes continued to look at him from top to bottom: “Are you little Xiao?”
The bearded man was suddenly stunned, surprised at the old man in front of him.
“When you were little, you looked like your mother, now your beard grew so much like your father,” Yang ChengWan laughed, “How is your father?”
The bearded man was indeed Xie Baili’s son. Xie Xiao looked at him in confusion, “You, how do you know my face is similar to my mother’s?”
“Senior, you are…?”
Shangguan Xi also couldn’t help but ask.
Yang ChengWan with a warm expression said: “My surname is Yang, I knew your father when he was still an armed guard, you might not remember me.”
“You are uncle Yang… uncle Yang that helped my father find the Buddha jade statue!” Xie Xiao looked again at Yang ChengWan’s feet, suddenly snapped out of his thoughts and politely greeted: “Please forgive this nephew’s disrespectful attitude. I remember that my father used to take me to the Capital to pay his respects to you. As a child, I often heard my father say he was lucky to have you or else he wouldn’t be able to keep his life. Uncle Yang, please accept the respect of this nephew!”
As a Young Master Bangzhu, this bow was considered normal, but even Shangguan Xi next to him, and each one of their subordinates, one by one were paying their respect to Yang ChengWan.
Lu Yi thought to himself: I don’t know what was this incident relating to the Buddha jade statue, but how did Yang ChengWan help Xie Baili that resulted in Xie Xiao unexpectedly treating him with such respect? Did this incident occur when he was still in JinYiWei or after he entered Liu Shanmen?
***
In Yangzhou City, at a government official post station, behind the kitchen.
Blossoming magnolia flowers, a glass plate and hosta lily flowers. The petals were being plucked piece by piece, wrapped in the dough of starch that has been soaked in sweet root water, then they were fried in oil and finally placed in the middle of a bamboo container. The result was a snack that smelled up to the nose, crispy and tasty.
Next to the stove, Mingqian tea had already been cooked, there was a gurgling sound like bubbles made by the fishes.
YangYue took the tray, put on it the snacks and a teapot and he then took it to the yard behind the post station. In the backyard pavilion, Lu Yi was looking at the list of autopsy reports that had just been written by Yang ChengWan. Yang ChengWan was sitting in the back side, while Jinxia was fiddling with the fragrance pouch they brought home, using a small knife to open the bag’s strap and to investigate its contents, then turning the front and back from inside to outside.
She smelled the sweet scent and immediately jumped to her feet. As soon as she saw the shiny snack on the tray, she said with joy: “Done, already?”
“Father, Jingli Daren, please enjoy.” YangYue kicked Jinxia’s leg, “Master Xia, I was looking for you while warming up the fire, but you weren’t there, hurry up and pour some tea!”
“Don’t forget, I was the one who picked these flowers.” Jinxia kicked him back, then poured the tea for everyone.
When they were on their way home from the edge of town, YangYue saw that there were many flowers blooming, soft and beautiful, bright and clear, with a very fragrant scent, so he’d pulled Jinxia to go pick some stems. As soon as he arrived at the police station, he’d immediately made those snacks.
Lu Yi had finished looking at the autopsy report list. He picked up the chopsticks and took a slice of the cake: it tasted crispy in his mouth. When he chewed, the sweet fragrance filled his entire mouth, so he laughingly said, “Ling Lang is so kind, Senior, you’re so blessed.”
[Ling Lang = referring to the son of the person they are speaking to, a way of showing respect, TN]
Yang ChengWan took the cup of tea offered by Jinxia, “This boy is really smart at non-serious work, making Daren laugh… Jinxia, let’s talk about this fragrance bag, are there any clues?”
“Uh…uh..” Jinxia looked happily at the fried flower petal cake, but had to sit down again in order to pick up the fragrance bag while saying: “This bag has a very nice decoration: the technique is a flat embroidery, also the colour and the engraving are to be considered of a very high level of difficulty and they are really unique. It was definitely made by a very skilled woman. When it is opened, you can see orchid flower petals, but beside that, there is still this!”
A roll of black hair neatly rolled up with a fine red thread was stuck to her fingers.
“Hair oil mixed with gilding dark blue which has the effect of hair dye… This lady, I mean, I’m ninety percent sure she is a good lady.” She paused, looking a little sad. “There seems to be a disease in her body, that she doesn’t want others to know. Judging from this fabric, it’s very certain this is a fine white hemp one, originating from Jiangnan, an uncommon fabric.”
“Is it possible that this fragrance bag was left by someone else?” YangYue asked, “That happened to be picked up by us?”
“Based on the brightness of the colour, this fragrance bag couldn’t have been buried in the ground for more than five days. If it had rained before, it wouldn’t have been more than three days, while Zhou Xian was buried seven days ago. Not to mention, the inner trousers that were on Zhou Xian’s body, they match the light purple of the white hemp fabric. From the stitches I’ve seen, the pants and this bag are the work of the same person.” Jinxia tilted her head, adding some words of praise, “This lady’s sewing skills are really good, the clothes she made are also excellent.”
“Who knows, she could be beautiful too.” YangYue sipped his tea, “Maybe that’s why Zhou Xian deliberately did not bring his wife and kids.”
Yang ChengWan gave the order: “You pay attention carefully, you must find this person. Find out how close she was to Zhou Xian, there must be a clue on his body.”
“Understood.”
Jinxia answered right away. Then she picked up the chopsticks and took a piece of fried flower petal cake, eating a few more pieces afterwards.
Lu Yi came forward to take the thin roll of hair. He carefully examined it: the strands of hair had turned yellow and had split ends. It could be concluded that the owner of this hair was not very healthy. He glanced at Jinxia who was eating big pieces of cake and chewing them in a flash. Since the autopsy, he only thought that she was doing things recklessly and reluctantly, he didn’t realize that even the clothes on the corpse were examined by her in detail.
“Senior, I’m sorry if Yan Yuan is a little rude, there’s one more thing I want to ask.” Lu Yi said.
“Jingli Daren, please say.”
“I don’t know what’s the relationship between Senior and Gang leader of Wu’An Gang, Xie Baili… Why would Xie Xiao pay such a big tribute to you?”
Lu Yi remembered the incident that happened during the day. Xie Xiao’s attitude was arrogant and unsubmissive yet he could turn into a respectful man and kneel in front of Yang ChengWan. He thought that maybe the Xie family had a great debt toward Yang ChengWan.
Yang ChengWan chuckled and said: “Twenty years ago, Xie Baili was still a small-armed bodyguard, he was guarding people’s belongings, a Buddha jade statue. This object was of great value, but unfortunately, he lost it in the Capital. At the time, I happened to luckily recover this Buddha jade statue.”
“Twenty years ago…” Lu Yi kept asking, “That was when Senior was still in JinYiWei, right?”
Yang ChengWan nodded, Jinxia and YangYue next to him were both shocked.
“Master, you were once in JinYiWei? Why now…”
“Father, you…”
His hands were slowly raised, preventing them from continuing to ask questions, then he said briefly, “Be quiet!”
Both of them fell silent.
To be honest, Lu Yi was a bit surprised too, he didn’t think that even YangYue didn’t know. This man used to be into a unit within thousands of units in JinYiWei, yet he’d resigned with no clear reason. It seemed that he now wanted to cover up all the traces of his past and never desired to bring it up again.
“Senior, you’ve been in the Capital all these years… Does Xie Baili not know?”
Xie Baili had now become a leader of Wu’An Gang, a very powerful gang in Jiangnan and other areas. If he’d known the condition of Yang ChengWan who was experiencing difficulties, it would have been impossible for him not to reach out his hand to help.
Yang ChengWan chuckled: “He did invite me, but I’m used to the food in the North and did not want to move around.”
Having said that, Jinxia and YangYue exchanged glances, still didn’t dare to speak.
Yang ChengWan wanted to live using his own strength and did not want to be sheltered under Xie Baili. Lu Yi stopped asking, changed topics and said: “This time Zhou Xian invited Wu’An Gang to transfer the river funds. I’m not sure where the idea came from. After this, whether we like it or not, we have to be in contact with them, but this Young Master Bangzhu has a rather harsh temperament. Senior, do you know him well?”
“I’ve rarely met him, so I can’t say much about him. I have only heard that, three years ago, Xie Baili wanted Xie Xiao to take over the gang after being married. I did not know why but, on his wedding day, Xie Xiao left home making Xie Baili furious.”
“Who was he marrying?” Jinxia asked in surprise.
“Well, it’s the person you saw today, Shangguan Bangzhu, Shangguan Xi.” Yang ChengWan continued to say, “Her father, Shangguan YuanLong, and Xie Baili were brothers and, seeing that she and Xie Xiao were both brother and sister who had grown up together, they made a marriage promise between the two of them. After Xie Xiao left home, Shangguan Xi personally asked Xie Baili to end the marriage. Some said that she wanted to end the marriage promise because she didn’t want Xie Xiao to bear the reputation of running away from his wedding, some said she’d had someone else in her heart for a long time.”
“Three years ago…” Lu Yi recalled the words of Zhou Prison Officer, “It was the year when she provoked Shui Zhai of the Dong family in Jiangnin.”
“Shui Zhai’s provocation from the Dong family was an event after she ended the marriage. Next to that occurrence, she finally took the leadership of the Red Bird Bangzhu.”
Jinxia propped her cheeks and recalled: “I could see that she treats Xie Xiao very well, every sentence is ‘Young Master Bangzhu.’ When she panicked, why did she call Xie Xiao ‘Lao Si’?”
“When they became sworn-siblings, according to the hierarchical order, Xie Xiao was a fourth-ranked, and she was a second-ranked.”
