At the thought of his father’s leg being examined by a physician, YangYue couldn’t sleep but only lay down a little. The sky was starting to light up, therefore he got up and went to cook porridge, as well as scallion pancakes. Afterward, he went to wake his father up. Seeing there were no movements in Jinxia’s room, he went to knock on her door: “Jinxia, wake up! Look at what time it is already!”
Still there was no activity in the room.
“If you’re not hungry, then I won’t leave any scallion pancakes for you.” YangYue declared.
As soon as he finished saying that, he heard a thud noise in the room and the sound of a person wearing shoes. In the end, the door was opened: Jinxia came out while rubbing her eyes.
“Brother, I’ve just closed my eyes, don’t you feel sorry for me?” She walked out grunting.
“You’ve slept for two hours, it’s enough. Go wash your face with cold water and freshen yourself up, there are a lot of things to do today.” Looking at her tired face, YangYue continued to push her toward the wash bin.
“Aiyoo…” Jinxia’s eyes were still not open, she was being dragged by YangYue and accidentally crashed into a wooden barred cabinet: she screamed in pain.
Before she could speak, YangYue nagged at her first: “Can you be more careful?”
Jinxia held her head and glared at him: “Da Yang, police must be humane.”
“That’s why I made scallion pancakes to honor you, that’s humane enough.” YangYue pushed her towards the wash bin stand, nagging in his mouth, “I tell you, Lu Daren told you to investigate Zhou Xian’s lover, therefore you must move a little faster. Don’t be slow like this, give him a good impression.”
Jinxia held the water in her hands then splashed it on her face. The coldness of the water made her tremble. She turned her head and looked at YangYue in surprise: “Was your brain kicked by a donkey?”
“All of these things, we must think far ahead. You see, in Jiangnan there are famous physicians: he’s not the only one, but if he can’t heal my father’s leg, I will beg Lu Daren to call another doctor.”
“It turns out your vision is far ahead, no wonder you and my mother are perfect for chatting together.” Jinxia praised him.
“Let’s talk less. In short, you must be cautious, humble and work diligently. Remember what Lu Daren ordered, even the smallest thing is a big deal. Don’t blame others, don’t provoke Lu Daren or displease him, don’t say disrespectful words, it’s not good to say them behind his back either.” YangYue’s face was serious and he kept at it with another sentence, “Be careful, there are ears on the wall.”
Salt was put on top of a small brush, Jinxia brushed it hard on her teeth. She didn’t care much about it and said carelessly: “Right now, he must be sleeping, he can’t hear anything with his ears.”
“Lu Daren woke up early in the morning, he’s now practicing martial arts in the backyard.”
Jinxia remained silent, feeling confused. “Early morning? Did he not sleep?”
“Oh, I almost forgot to ask you, how were you and him together last night?”
“Don’t mention it…” Jinxia stretched her back and pinched her neck while walking, then she said, “Did you know that last night was the seventh day since Zhou Xian’s death? I was with Lu Daren all night at the place he hanged himself.”
YangYue was stunned for a moment, after that he lowered his voice and said: “You are so brave… I heard that ghosts who have died unjustly are very vicious. Didn’t you see anything strange?”
Jinxia stopped her steps and turned her eyes to YangYue: “Do you think he died unjustly too?”
“Aren’t you the one who kept saying that?”
“I say that, and you believe it?!”
Jinxia, feeling irritated, walked into the dining room, saw that on the table were the cooked scallion pancakes, hence she tore some of them apart and started eating straight away.
Thinking his father would be coming soon, YangYue scooped the porridge into a bowl to let it cool down. As he saw Jinxia sticking one of her oily hands into the bowl, YangYue slapped her hand, then scooped another bowl of porridge for her.
Speaking of etiquette, both of them were considered to be juniors, thus when eating at the same table with seniors, they should wait for them to eat first before they could join the meal. However, due to the special nature of police work, investigations could happen both morning and night and, if you were in the middle of an investigation, you couldn’t have any meals. Because of this, Yang ChengWan had never wanted them to wait for him: being full was more important.
The hot porridge let out a thick and strong fragrance. Jinxia was not afraid of it being hot, she immediately pulled the bowl and ate it. YangYue, seeing what she did, could only chuckle.
“Indeed, nothing can beat a hot bowl of porridge, it gives people more energy.” After eating half of the bowl, she couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
YangYue, pitied, looked at her. “Yesterday night, did you meet a ghost?”
Jinxia took another scallion pancake. Whilst eating, she ranted: “At midnight, after climbing over walls, he told me to open the padlock… If people didn’t know we were investigating a case, they would have thought we were thieves.”
“I think that Lu Daren is very concerned about this case.”
Jinxia glared at him: “He’s paying attention? Then I’d be really serious and careful not to forget to eat and sleep!”
Seeing her stuffing food until her mouth was fully rounded, YangYue shook his head: “Since when did you start to forget to eat and sleep? If that ever happens, the search for Emperor Jianwen* will become hopeless.”
*[Emperor Jianwen = The 2nd emperor of the Ming Dynasty. It was rumoured that he had escaped death and disappeared until now. The late Emperor had ordered the troops to continue searching for him nonetheless.]
“Go away!”
Jinxia was too lazy to care about him. As she was eating and chewing, she heard a familiar ‘meow’ at the door and she turned her head to look around. The yellow leopard-hair cat found in the building last night was now eagerly looking straight at her.
“How did you come here?” She wondered.
“Meow, meow.” The fat cat walked in, scratching its legs, its round eyes staring at the pancake in Jinxia’s hand. He meowed again.
“You really recognize good stuff. Did you know there was good food here?” YangYue fed the cat a small piece of a pancake: “This is the last one… This cat crouched at the door by the stove when I was making pancakes and ate almost two of them. Why are you still hungry?”
“And you’re still feeding him?” Jinxia saw the fat belly of the big round cat that almost touched the floor. She was annoyed and said, “You know that, every morning and night, meaning twice a day, he eats rice mixed with pork? How could he possibly starve?”
While she was talking, Yang ChengWan walked into the dining room and YangYue rushed to support him.
“Master, how’s your leg?” Jinxia asked, “Did Da Yang tell you yet? Lu Daren has asked a famous physician in Jiangnan to come and take a look at your legs today.”
YangYue helped his father sit down in a chair: “This is an old disease, what a wasteful spending.”
“Even though the disease is old, it must be examined.” The one who spoke was Lu Yi, who had just entered the room, “Yesterday, I found out Shen Mi is the descendant of a long line of physicians generations: he is very experienced in foot injuries due to falls or old diseases . After breakfast, I will bring the senior to go see him.”
The fat cat, after seeing another person he knew, quietly meowed and walked toward Lu Yi, his rough tail swaying left and right through the lower skirt of the young man’s robe.
“I’m afraid my problem is troubling Daren, this…” Yang ChengWan was dodging away, but was interrupted by Lu Yi’s hand gesture.
“Senior, please don’t think of me as a stranger. You have an injured leg, it’s inconvenient to do any investigation, it’s only reasonable to cure it.”
YangYue understood his father’s pain, especially when his illness was recurring. He also tried to persuade him: “Father, you must go. Although it is not certain that it can be cured, at least let the physician take a look at it first and teach you some methods to treat the injury.”
“That’s right, Master, every time your leg’s pain recurred, Da Yang can’t sleep soundly at night, just treat it as you feel bad for him and go see the doctor.” Jinxia helped YangYue persuade him.
Hearing their words, at last Yang ChengWan nodded in agreement. “Then, I must thank Daren.”
Lu Yi winked and said: “No need for courtesy. After breakfast, wait for me at the east corner.”
As he turned around, he glanced at Jinxia. Though he didn’t say anything, there was a hint of unpleasantness in his eyes. Stunned for a moment, and then realizing something, she immediately put all of the scallion pancake in her mouth and jumped on her feet: “Beize…will now go to… investigate the lover.”
After nodding, Lu Yi turned around and walked out. The fat cat hesitated for a moment, then guessed that there would be more delicious food at Lu Yi’s place, hence he wagged his tail and followed him.
After Lu Yi exited the door, Jinxia was left there coughing like shaking heaven and earth, for she had swallowed her cake too fast in just a mouthful. YangYue hurriedly fetched water for her. With difficulty, she succeeded in stabilizing her breath.
“Later, when there is time, I will definitely go check out Bazi*.” Jinxia said while frowning, “It’s certain we are in constant conflict!”
*[Bazi = chinese horoscope, it similar to getting your fortune read but you can see the compatibility between two people using the horoscope, TN]
It was not difficult to find Zhou Xian’s lover, but before that Jinxia had to look for someone. She asked Liu Xiangzuo for a warrant, then went to the Yangzhou Judicial Department Prison.
Zhou Xian’s servant, Zhou Fei, was only thirteen-fourteen years old, similar in age to Jinxia’s younger brother, Yuan Yi, but born with a thin body. The black and white of his eyes were clearly separated: it indicated that, on regular days, that child would be very smart. Sad to say, after a few days in prison, his eyes were already filled with fear. When he saw the guards, he immediately thought that he would be pulled away to be beheaded.
Jinxia asked a number of things related to the river repair funds, all of which were answered in ignorance, so she changed the topic and her questions to Zhou Xian’s daily life. The child, in a small voice, answered everything in detail.
“The young master was calm and quiet, especially when he was reading a book. I would not be allowed to enter the study room, not even for pouring tea.” Zhou Fei answered in a low voice.
“What time did your young master usually sleep?”
“Young master slept late, at home [in the Capital], usually after two zheng [9-11]. After coming here, he even slept later than that. I did not dare to go up and bother him, the candlelight wouldn’t be extinguished even after three zheng [past midnight].”
Jinxia thought for a while then asked again: “He just went to bed that night, didn’t he require any snacks?”
Zhou Fei shook his head, “Young master didn’t eat snacks, except when he was at home [in the Capital]. When the old lady cooked some for him, he would only eat a little out of respect.”
“Your young master, it seems he was not picky about food, huh?”
“Actually, young master, he…everyday, his food and clothes, everything was very simple. They said the young master embezzled the funds, I also do not know whether that is true or not…I don’t know anything…” Zhou Fei started to cry, his robes were thin and worned, which caused his body to tremble for the cold.
He was still a kid after all, and it was pitiful. Jinxia used the cuffs of her robes to wipe his tears. Thinking about it, she took out a scallion pancake wrapped in oil paper, a bit unwilling to give it to Zhou Fei: “Hungry or not, you eat first, then try to tell me about your young master’s lover. He had a girlfriend in this place, didn’t he?”
Zhou Fei held the pancake with both hands: the cake was still slightly warm and fragrant. He nodded his head.
“Eat first.”
Jinxia looked at him and sighed. Her lunch was being bitten piece by piece until it was finished. Without realizing it, she let out another sigh.
A moment later, Zhou Fei had finished eating the scallion pancake and his body felt warmer. He said to Jinxia: “Her surname is Zhai, her maiden name is Lanye. The young master met her while relaxing on a boat on the lake…”
At the thought of his father’s leg being examined by a physician, YangYue couldn’t sleep but only lay down a little. The sky was starting to light up, therefore he got up and went to cook porridge, as well as scallion pancakes. Afterward, he went to wake his father up. Seeing there were no movements in Jinxia’s room, he went to knock on her door: “Jinxia, wake up! Look at what time it is already!”
Still there was no activity in the room.
“If you’re not hungry, then I won’t leave any scallion pancakes for you.” YangYue declared.
As soon as he finished saying that, he heard a thud noise in the room and the sound of a person wearing shoes. In the end, the door was opened: Jinxia came out while rubbing her eyes.
“Brother, I’ve just closed my eyes, don’t you feel sorry for me?” She walked out grunting.
“You’ve slept for two hours, it’s enough. Go wash your face with cold water and freshen yourself up, there are a lot of things to do today.” Looking at her tired face, YangYue continued to push her toward the wash bin.
“Aiyoo…” Jinxia’s eyes were still not open, she was being dragged by YangYue and accidentally crashed into a wooden barred cabinet: she screamed in pain.
Before she could speak, YangYue nagged at her first: “Can you be more careful?”
Jinxia held her head and glared at him: “Da Yang, police must be humane.”
“That’s why I made scallion pancakes to honor you, that’s humane enough.” YangYue pushed her towards the wash bin stand, nagging in his mouth, “I tell you, Lu Daren told you to investigate Zhou Xian’s lover, therefore you must move a little faster. Don’t be slow like this, give him a good impression.”
Jinxia held the water in her hands then splashed it on her face. The coldness of the water made her tremble. She turned her head and looked at YangYue in surprise: “Was your brain kicked by a donkey?”
“All of these things, we must think far ahead. You see, in Jiangnan there are famous physicians: he’s not the only one, but if he can’t heal my father’s leg, I will beg Lu Daren to call another doctor.”
“It turns out your vision is far ahead, no wonder you and my mother are perfect for chatting together.” Jinxia praised him.
“Let’s talk less. In short, you must be cautious, humble and work diligently. Remember what Lu Daren ordered, even the smallest thing is a big deal. Don’t blame others, don’t provoke Lu Daren or displease him, don’t say disrespectful words, it’s not good to say them behind his back either.” YangYue’s face was serious and he kept at it with another sentence, “Be careful, there are ears on the wall.”
Salt was put on top of a small brush, Jinxia brushed it hard on her teeth. She didn’t care much about it and said carelessly: “Right now, he must be sleeping, he can’t hear anything with his ears.”
“Lu Daren woke up early in the morning, he’s now practicing martial arts in the backyard.”
Jinxia remained silent, feeling confused. “Early morning? Did he not sleep?”
“Oh, I almost forgot to ask you, how were you and him together last night?”
“Don’t mention it…” Jinxia stretched her back and pinched her neck while walking, then she said, “Did you know that last night was the seventh day since Zhou Xian’s death? I was with Lu Daren all night at the place he hanged himself.”
YangYue was stunned for a moment, after that he lowered his voice and said: “You are so brave… I heard that ghosts who have died unjustly are very vicious. Didn’t you see anything strange?”
Jinxia stopped her steps and turned her eyes to YangYue: “Do you think he died unjustly too?”
“Aren’t you the one who kept saying that?”
“I say that, and you believe it?!”
Jinxia, feeling irritated, walked into the dining room, saw that on the table were the cooked scallion pancakes, hence she tore some of them apart and started eating straight away.
Thinking his father would be coming soon, YangYue scooped the porridge into a bowl to let it cool down. As he saw Jinxia sticking one of her oily hands into the bowl, YangYue slapped her hand, then scooped another bowl of porridge for her.
Speaking of etiquette, both of them were considered to be juniors, thus when eating at the same table with seniors, they should wait for them to eat first before they could join the meal. However, due to the special nature of police work, investigations could happen both morning and night and, if you were in the middle of an investigation, you couldn’t have any meals. Because of this, Yang ChengWan had never wanted them to wait for him: being full was more important.
The hot porridge let out a thick and strong fragrance. Jinxia was not afraid of it being hot, she immediately pulled the bowl and ate it. YangYue, seeing what she did, could only chuckle.
“Indeed, nothing can beat a hot bowl of porridge, it gives people more energy.” After eating half of the bowl, she couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
YangYue, pitied, looked at her. “Yesterday night, did you meet a ghost?”
Jinxia took another scallion pancake. Whilst eating, she ranted: “At midnight, after climbing over walls, he told me to open the padlock… If people didn’t know we were investigating a case, they would have thought we were thieves.”
“I think that Lu Daren is very concerned about this case.”
Jinxia glared at him: “He’s paying attention? Then I’d be really serious and careful not to forget to eat and sleep!”
Seeing her stuffing food until her mouth was fully rounded, YangYue shook his head: “Since when did you start to forget to eat and sleep? If that ever happens, the search for Emperor Jianwen* will become hopeless.”
*[Emperor Jianwen = The 2nd emperor of the Ming Dynasty. It was rumoured that he had escaped death and disappeared until now. The late Emperor had ordered the troops to continue searching for him nonetheless.]
“Go away!”
Jinxia was too lazy to care about him. As she was eating and chewing, she heard a familiar ‘meow’ at the door and she turned her head to look around. The yellow leopard-hair cat found in the building last night was now eagerly looking straight at her.
“How did you come here?” She wondered.
“Meow, meow.” The fat cat walked in, scratching its legs, its round eyes staring at the pancake in Jinxia’s hand. He meowed again.
“You really recognize good stuff. Did you know there was good food here?” YangYue fed the cat a small piece of a pancake: “This is the last one… This cat crouched at the door by the stove when I was making pancakes and ate almost two of them. Why are you still hungry?”
“And you’re still feeding him?” Jinxia saw the fat belly of the big round cat that almost touched the floor. She was annoyed and said, “You know that, every morning and night, meaning twice a day, he eats rice mixed with pork? How could he possibly starve?”
While she was talking, Yang ChengWan walked into the dining room and YangYue rushed to support him.
“Master, how’s your leg?” Jinxia asked, “Did Da Yang tell you yet? Lu Daren has asked a famous physician in Jiangnan to come and take a look at your legs today.”
YangYue helped his father sit down in a chair: “This is an old disease, what a wasteful spending.”
“Even though the disease is old, it must be examined.” The one who spoke was Lu Yi, who had just entered the room, “Yesterday, I found out Shen Mi is the descendant of a long line of physicians generations: he is very experienced in foot injuries due to falls or old diseases . After breakfast, I will bring the senior to go see him.”
The fat cat, after seeing another person he knew, quietly meowed and walked toward Lu Yi, his rough tail swaying left and right through the lower skirt of the young man’s robe.
“I’m afraid my problem is troubling Daren, this…” Yang ChengWan was dodging away, but was interrupted by Lu Yi’s hand gesture.
“Senior, please don’t think of me as a stranger. You have an injured leg, it’s inconvenient to do any investigation, it’s only reasonable to cure it.”
YangYue understood his father’s pain, especially when his illness was recurring. He also tried to persuade him: “Father, you must go. Although it is not certain that it can be cured, at least let the physician take a look at it first and teach you some methods to treat the injury.”
“That’s right, Master, every time your leg’s pain recurred, Da Yang can’t sleep soundly at night, just treat it as you feel bad for him and go see the doctor.” Jinxia helped YangYue persuade him.
Hearing their words, at last Yang ChengWan nodded in agreement. “Then, I must thank Daren.”
Lu Yi winked and said: “No need for courtesy. After breakfast, wait for me at the east corner.”
As he turned around, he glanced at Jinxia. Though he didn’t say anything, there was a hint of unpleasantness in his eyes. Stunned for a moment, and then realizing something, she immediately put all of the scallion pancake in her mouth and jumped on her feet: “Beize…will now go to… investigate the lover.”
After nodding, Lu Yi turned around and walked out. The fat cat hesitated for a moment, then guessed that there would be more delicious food at Lu Yi’s place, hence he wagged his tail and followed him.
After Lu Yi exited the door, Jinxia was left there coughing like shaking heaven and earth, for she had swallowed her cake too fast in just a mouthful. YangYue hurriedly fetched water for her. With difficulty, she succeeded in stabilizing her breath.
“Later, when there is time, I will definitely go check out Bazi*.” Jinxia said while frowning, “It’s certain we are in constant conflict!”
*[Bazi = chinese horoscope, it similar to getting your fortune read but you can see the compatibility between two people using the horoscope, TN]
It was not difficult to find Zhou Xian’s lover, but before that Jinxia had to look for someone. She asked Liu Xiangzuo for a warrant, then went to the Yangzhou Judicial Department Prison.
Zhou Xian’s servant, Zhou Fei, was only thirteen-fourteen years old, similar in age to Jinxia’s younger brother, Yuan Yi, but born with a thin body. The black and white of his eyes were clearly separated: it indicated that, on regular days, that child would be very smart. Sad to say, after a few days in prison, his eyes were already filled with fear. When he saw the guards, he immediately thought that he would be pulled away to be beheaded.
Jinxia asked a number of things related to the river repair funds, all of which were answered in ignorance, so she changed the topic and her questions to Zhou Xian’s daily life. The child, in a small voice, answered everything in detail.
“The young master was calm and quiet, especially when he was reading a book. I would not be allowed to enter the study room, not even for pouring tea.” Zhou Fei answered in a low voice.
“What time did your young master usually sleep?”
“Young master slept late, at home [in the Capital], usually after two zheng [9-11]. After coming here, he even slept later than that. I did not dare to go up and bother him, the candlelight wouldn’t be extinguished even after three zheng [past midnight].”
Jinxia thought for a while then asked again: “He just went to bed that night, didn’t he require any snacks?”
Zhou Fei shook his head, “Young master didn’t eat snacks, except when he was at home [in the Capital]. When the old lady cooked some for him, he would only eat a little out of respect.”
“Your young master, it seems he was not picky about food, huh?”
“Actually, young master, he…everyday, his food and clothes, everything was very simple. They said the young master embezzled the funds, I also do not know whether that is true or not…I don’t know anything…” Zhou Fei started to cry, his robes were thin and worned, which caused his body to tremble for the cold.
He was still a kid after all, and it was pitiful. Jinxia used the cuffs of her robes to wipe his tears. Thinking about it, she took out a scallion pancake wrapped in oil paper, a bit unwilling to give it to Zhou Fei: “Hungry or not, you eat first, then try to tell me about your young master’s lover. He had a girlfriend in this place, didn’t he?”
Zhou Fei held the pancake with both hands: the cake was still slightly warm and fragrant. He nodded his head.
“Eat first.”
Jinxia looked at him and sighed. Her lunch was being bitten piece by piece until it was finished. Without realizing it, she let out another sigh.
A moment later, Zhou Fei had finished eating the scallion pancake and his body felt warmer. He said to Jinxia: “Her surname is Zhai, her maiden name is Lanye. The young master met her while relaxing on a boat on the lake…”
