Southern City of Beijing, Jiangmi Alley, Imperial Guard Office.
Several major government offices such as the Office of Transmission, Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of War were all located in this area. At dusk, offices were successively locked up as officials sealed their official seals and returned home.
Civil officials rode in sedan chairs, military officers on horseback, and there were also ornate carriages of high-ranking officials—the entire road was filled with the powerful and noble.
Officer Mu and his men remained stationed at the entrance of the Imperial Guard Office, eagerly watching but never seeing Wang Daxia emerge. They repeatedly urged the Embroidered Uniform Guard to release him.
Lu Ying, unable to bear the disturbance, fabricated a lie: "We released him long ago. He’s skilled in petty theft and somehow stole a set of our clothes, disguised himself, and slipped right past you."
Officer Mu, hearing this, thought it sounded exactly like the kind of "mischief" Wang Daxia was capable of, so he had no choice but to sound the retreat and return to report.
Wang Daxia had gone into hiding.
After escaping from Lu Ying, he had concealed himself in the carriage house of the Imperial Guard Office, which was why the Embroidered Uniform Guard had been unable to find him.
He had even taken a long, comfortable nap in a carriage as luxurious as a small house. When he woke, the sky was ablaze with sunset, and he heard someone outside say, "Hurry and harness the carriage. Commander Lu is heading home."
It turned out this was the carriage of Lu Bing, the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Wang Daxia parted the curtain slightly and saw several coachmen hitching the lavish carriage to five horses.
All five horses were pure white, without a single stray hair, each worth a fortune. Just riding them would be a mark of prestige—though someone like Wang Daxia would hesitate to ride them, content just to admire them.
Yet here in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, they were merely carriage horses.
Tsk, tsk, what a waste of fine things! Wang Daxia’s envy surged.
Once the coachmen finished harnessing the horses and began brushing their manes, Wang Daxia seized the chance to slip out through the window and climb under the carriage. Using a few ropes, he rigged a simple net beneath the chassis and slipped into it.
To support a carriage as large as a small house, massive wheels were needed. The wheels of this grand carriage were nearly half a person’s height, leaving ample space between the chassis and the ground. Wang Dasia could tie himself underneath and hitch a ride to slip through unnoticed.
It would soon be dark. Once the carriage left the Imperial Guard Office, Wang Daxia could find an opportunity to drop from underneath.
The wheels rolled, and Wang Daxia swayed with the carriage’s vibrations. Soon, the carriage stopped, and two people boarded one after another before it continued on its way.
Pressed tightly against the carriage floor, Wang Daxia could hear every sound from inside clearly.
"Any progress today?" Commander Lu Bing asked.
"Today, we thoroughly screened the guest list of the Inn Opposite the Shuntian Prefecture Yamen and identified several key suspects. We currently have them under surveillance."
It was Lu Ying’s voice!
Why was Lu Ying in Commander Lu’s carriage?
Lu Bing seemed somewhat disappointed: "That’s all?"
Lu Ying: "Father, since you’ve entrusted this case to me, please trust me and give me some time."
Wang Daxia was shocked: Wasn’t he supposed to be the nephew? Why was he calling him father? Lu Bing’s two sons were Lu Yi and Lu Cai—he had never heard of a third son.
Could it be… Lu Ying was Lu Bing’s illegitimate son?
It must be!
No wonder he was so arrogant.Lu Bing said, "Your direction in investigating the murderer is correct—searching for suspects in the inns near the Shuntian Prefecture Yamen. But this needle-in-a-haystack approach won’t solve the case quickly. You need to pursue two strategies simultaneously. To untie the bell, one must seek the one who tied it. Since Thousand Household Chen and his son were both killed, you need to find someone who holds a deep-seated grudge against both father and son."
Lu Ying’s reply was somewhat stiff. "I know. My people are already investigating the social connections of the Chen father and son, but there’s no result yet."
Lu Bing said, "My informant has a lead. Do you want to hear it?"
"Father! You’re at it again—" Lu Ying bit back his words and slammed the table with a thud. "Just this once, and never again. I’ll handle my own affairs. Stop treating me like a child."
"You’ll always be my child." Lu Bing took a sip of tea. "Have you heard of Wang Daxia?"
Lu Ying: "Why him again? He caused a scene at the Imperial Guard Office today. There’s more water in his head than in Shichahai. He couldn’t possibly have the meticulous, ruthless skill to hide a poisoned needle in a saddle. He can’t be the murderer—he lacks the brains and the means."
Wang Daxia under the carriage: I thank you very much!
As luck would have it, the carriage had just left the office and was traveling on the main road. Since it wasn’t dark yet, Wang Daxia didn’t dare to slip out from under the carriage and escape.
It was the peak hour for officials from various offices to return home, and the road was congested. Especially when crossing the narrow plank bridge, the luxurious carriage, as large as a small house, required clearing all pedestrians from the bridge.
The carriage stopped at the bridgehead, waiting for the guards ahead to clear the way.
Nature calls for all living things, horses included. During the brief wait, the middle one of the five white horses pulling the carriage seized the moment to relieve itself, piling up a spiraling "mountain" of waste.
Just as the bridge was cleared, the coachman raised his whip, urging the horses forward.
Wang Daxia, hidden beneath the carriage, was instantly horrified: to conceal himself, he had tied himself to the center of the carriage’s underside, directly beneath the middle white horse...
Wang Daxia estimated the height of the horse dung. If he was lucky, he might just brush past it.
If he miscalculated even slightly, he’d end up with his head buried in the fresh pile, his face smeared with dung.
Wang Daxia chickened out. He didn’t dare take the risk.
He still had some dignity to uphold.
So he cut the rope and rolled out from under the carriage.
"Who’s there!"
"An assassin!"
"Protect Lord Lu!"
Wang Daxia, covered in dust and grime, raised his hands high. "Don’t move! I’m Wang Daxia! I was a guest at your Imperial Guard Office all day today! Commander Lu personally received me! If you lay a hand on me, you’re disrespecting Commander Lu!"
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. Lu Ying glanced out the window and came face to face with the disheveled Wang Daxia, who looked like a stray dog.
Wang Daxia shamelessly waved and grinned. "Ah, Commander Lu, you’re truly impressive. No matter how well I hid, you still found me. Thanks for the ride! We’ll meet again. Farewell!"
Lu Ying gritted his teeth. "Seize him—"
Behind him, Lu Bing said, "Bring him up. This lead is related to him. It’ll be clearer to question him face to face."
Solving the case took priority. Lu Ying had no choice but to hold back and change his command: "Get in the carriage. I have questions for you."
Wang Daxia was swarmed by the Embroidered Uniform Guards and hauled into the carriage.
Lu Bing asked him, "I heard you fought with Chen Dalao over Miss Yingying at the Red Sleeve Brothel and exchanged insults? What did you say to each other? Don’t lie."Wang Daxia, holding a high position with immense authority second only to the emperor, exuded an intimidating presence. He got straight to the point with his question. Having previously experienced court proceedings at the Shuntian Prefecture Yamen, Wang Daxia was like a newborn calf unafraid of tigers—he responded calmly and showed no fear of Lu Bing, saying:
"When insulting someone, you naturally target their weaknesses. Don’t you agree, Commander Lu?"
The Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Northern City Military Command had once brawled. Wang Daxia thought to himself, "Even if I lose face, I won’t lose my composure. Though I hold no official position, I’ll maintain a calm facade. You can’t treat me like a suspect anymore." "I’ve never insulted anyone, unlike you with your wealth of experience," Lu Ying impatiently pointed at the carriage door. "If you keep speaking in riddles, you’ll spend the night in the Imperial Prison."
"Don’t rush," Wang Daxia asked, "Do you know Chen Dalao’s greatest weakness?"
Lu Ying replied, "He has no scholarly honors to his name—he’s an uneducated commoner, idly waiting to inherit the Thousand-Household Title in the Embroidered Uniform Guard after his father’s death."
Wang Daxia rubbed his nose and chuckled, "In that regard, Chen Dalao and I are exactly the same. I’m also waiting to inherit a Thousand-Household Title. If I targeted that weakness, wouldn’t I be inflicting a thousand losses on the enemy at the cost of eight hundred to myself?"
Lu Ying was astounded. "You can still laugh? How can you be so shameless?"
Wang Daxia thumped his chest. "Since my family has a title to pass down, why should I strive for scholarly honors? Better to leave those opportunities for commoners. This is my noble virtue—I don’t compete with the people for benefits."
Hearing this, Lu Bing grew interested in Wang Daxia: "This profligate son is rather intriguing."
Wang Daxia continued, "So, Chen Dalao’s greatest weakness is that the Chen family has had only one male heir for five generations. He’s already twenty-seven, married for seven or eight years, and still has no children—not even a daughter. I called him a castrated rooster that can’t fertilize hens even in a henhouse."
Lu Ying was taken aback. "Your tongue is vicious."
Wang Daxia felt wronged. "He started it by saying I had a mother who gave birth to me but didn’t raise me, that I’m a jinx who killed my mother. I retaliated by calling him a castrated rooster. Tit for tat—perfectly fair."
Lu Bing asked, "What else? How did Chen Dalao respond?"
Wang Daxia thought for a moment. "Well... we were both drunk at the time. After trading insults, we started fighting. Chen Dalao’s body is already wasted by debauchery—he was no match for me. I took on him and his page alone, and it was more than enough."
Wang Daxia gloated over his "achievements." Lu Bing remarked, "My informant said you called him a castrated rooster, and he retorted, ‘You’re lying! My fiancée was once pregnant with my child. I’ll have another one sooner or later.’"
Wang Daxia sneered. "Men love to boast about their prowess in bed. Miss Yingying once said never to trust a single word men say in brothels."
"Except for me, of course," Wang Daxia grinned at Lu Bing and Lu Ying. "You can trust me just like Miss Yingying does. I mean what I say and follow through."
Lu Ying flew into a rage and lunged to hit him. "Who are you comparing to that brothel woman?""Stay calm." Lu Bing raised a hand to stop them. "This is a lead. Chen Dalao did have a fiancée, surnamed He. Her father was once my subordinate. When the Chen and He families arranged the marriage, they sent numerous invitations, and I sent a gift. Later, the He family fell into disgrace, and Miss He was sold into official slavery. The Chen family bought her and reportedly settled her in the suburbs. Commoners and slaves cannot intermarry—how did Miss He become pregnant with his child? And in the end, she didn't survive. The more you think about it, the more chilling it becomes."
Author's Note: The Embroidered Uniform Guard is indeed well-informed. Da Xia has escaped, but Caiwei is in danger. Judging from the comments on the previous chapter, most of you are likely younger than me and unfamiliar with neighbors sharing food. When I was little, I lived in a compound similar to the Machang Hutong in the novel. Whenever we had something delicious at home, we had to share it with the neighbors. Once, we received a basket of oranges, and I was forced to run through two stairwells (each three stories tall)—it was exhausting.
The neighbor on the first floor had built a shed in the yard to raise pigs. Every day, I had to bring our leftover food to feed their pigs. This usually happened around 6 p.m., right when cartoons were airing. To avoid missing the opening theme, I'd clutch the bowl and dash downstairs frantically. Later, when they slaughtered the pig for Chinese New Year, they shared the meat across both stairwells. My mom preserved our portion as cured meat. That year's cured meat was incredibly fragrant.
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