Chapter 18: Home-style Tofu (Part 18)
Go? Of course Jing Yi would go.
Not only did Jing Yi go, but he didn’t go empty-handed either.
After exiting the alley and passing by Qingxiang Restaurant, Jing Yi bought an entire steamer basket of freshly steamed meat buns. Carrying both the buns and the steamer basket, he headed straight to Xiao Yunde’s residence in the city.
When Qin Hehuan took the steamer of buns from Jing Yi, her face turned ashen.
“Yesterday, there were some trivial matters at home, so I couldn’t properly entertain you when you visited, sister-in-law. I heard you looked rather weak, inside and out, so I specifically picked the largest buns I could find. There are about twenty in this basket. If you eat them all in one go, I guarantee you’ll feel completely grounded.”
Jing Yi had a face that made everything he said sound like the truth. Qin Hehuan gritted her teeth for a long moment before finally squeezing out a “Thank you” through clenched teeth.
Leng Yue frowned slightly, watching as Qin Hehuan pulled her bruised lips into a strained, humorless smile.
Yes, Qin Hehuan’s lips were bruised. Even before she took the steamer of buns from Jing Yi, her lips were already discolored.
“What happened to your lips, sister-in-law?”
Noticing Leng Yue’s gaze fixed on her lips, Qin Hehuan coldly shoved the steamer basket into her maid’s hands and replied irritably, “I tripped and fell. There’s no need for Madam Jing to concern herself. I have many trivial matters to attend to today, so I won’t see you two out.”
Leng Yue smiled amiably. “Sister-in-law, you were born in the Year of the Rooster, weren’t you?”
Qin Hehuan was taken aback by this seemingly random question. After a moment’s pause, she asked, “Why do you ask?”
“No reason. I just thought that if someone could bruise their lips from a fall, their lips must be shaped in a peculiar way—like those of a bird, perhaps.”
Jing Yi chimed in at the perfect moment, “I think so too.”
Qin Hehuan’s face turned completely purple.
Leng Yue narrowed her phoenix eyes, her amiable expression fading slightly. “However, even if you were born in the Year of the Rooster, that injury wasn’t from a fall. It looks more like it was caused by a fist… You seem a bit weak again. Would you like to eat a couple of buns to steady yourself?”
Qin Hehuan placed one hand on her waist and the other on her prominently swollen belly, taking two deep breaths before replying, “I encountered a thief on the street yesterday. The thief did this.”
Leng Yue raised an eyebrow. “And then you lost your coin purse?”
Qin Hehuan gave a perfunctory nod.
She was already regretting letting these two into her home. At this point, if they would just leave, she’d gladly toss out a hundred coin purses.
Unfortunately, Leng Yue showed no intention of leaving.
“What did the coin purse look like? On which street did you lose it? Do you remember what the thief who hit you looked like?”
Qin Hehuan’s patience seemed to have reached its limit. She furrowed her finely shaped brows and snapped impatiently, “The matter has already been reported to the Capital Prefecture. There’s no need for Madam Jing to concern herself.”
Leng Yue’s brow relaxed. “It’s good that you reported it to the authorities.”
Just as Qin Hehuan began to breathe a half-sigh of relief inwardly, she saw Leng Yue’s expression turn serious as she drew a slender, black-lacquered plaque from her robe. On it was carved the image of a horseshoe."I suppose you've heard what I do, so let me add something you definitely haven't heard... This token belongs to Prince An's residence. The horseshoe symbolizes unimpeded access. With this token, I can intervene and inquire about any case in any government office at any time. Since this case was reported to the Capital Prefecture, I'll go ask them about it and urge them to solve it quickly.Jing Yi looked over Leng Yue's shoulder at the large character "刑" (Criminal Affairs) engraved on the back of the token, biting his tongue in silent amusement.
If he couldn't hold back and showed even a hint of laughter now, he might never get to laugh again in this lifetime...
Qin Hehuan choked on her half-held breath, staring at the horseshoe engraving on the token. Her face alternated between green and pale as she examined it for a long moment.
She truly had never seen such a token before, and looking at it now, it seemed genuine...
Qin Hehuan forced out, "Th-there's no need to go to the Capital Prefecture... It's just a stolen money pouch, not worth much..."
"What kind of money pouch?"
"Gr-green... satin surface with embroidery... not much money inside."
"Green?" Leng Yue feigned surprise, putting away the token and pulling out the emerald green satin money pouch from her sleeve. She waved it before Qin Hehuan's face. "Cousin-in-law, take a look. Is this the green color, satin surface with embroidery?"
Qin Hehuan's face instantly turned pale. "Th-this isn't..."
Before Qin Hehuan could finish her denial, Leng Yue cut in cheerfully, "If you can't remember, I'll show this to the maids and servants in your household. Perhaps someone will recognize it."
As she spoke, Leng Yue glanced at the young maid standing nearby holding the steamer basket.
In a panic, Qin Hehuan exclaimed, "This is my money pouch!"
Jing Yi cleared his throat twice, maintaining a straight face as he kindly suggested, "Cousin-in-law... why don't you have a bun first?"
Qin Hehuan's hand, poised to grab the money pouch, froze mid-air. Her face took on an eggplant-like hue.
Leng Yue withdrew the money pouch, avoiding Qin Hehuan's reach. "Cousin-in-law, are you certain this is the pouch that was stolen from you?"
"Absolutely!"
"How strange..." Leng Yue frowned deeply. "This pouch was found at the home of a worker named Zhang Chong from your husband's porcelain kiln. Could it be that the person who robbed you in the street was actually an employee from your own family's kiln?"
Hearing Zhang Chong's name, Qin Hehuan looked as if struck by lightning. Her face changed dramatically, and her lips trembled for a while before she could speak. Her voice came out strained and piercingly shrill, "Y-yes... yes, it was that Zhang Chong! He did it! Our Qin family has already sent people to find him. If he has the nerve... let him hide until his next life!"
Jing Yi couldn't help himself. He stood up, took two buns from the maid's steamer basket, and handed them to Qin Hehuan before sitting back down with relief.
Qin Hehuan clutched the warm buns, her expression growing even more complicated.
"Cousin-in-law..." Leng Yue looked at Qin Hehuan with three parts sympathy and seven parts amusement. "Have a bun to calm down, then think carefully about when exactly this money pouch was stolen. If I remember correctly, when I saw you at home yesterday, this pouch was already missing from you."
Jing Yi nodded silently.
It seemed... that was indeed the case.If Qin Hehuan had been wearing that embroidered purse with its emerald satin and dark green drawstring at her waist back then, that vague sense of something missing wouldn't have been so pronounced.
Qin Hehuan held her belly with one hand and clutched a steamed bun with the other, squeezing it so hard she nearly crushed the filling. When she spoke again, her voice was noticeably weaker. "Y-yes, I suppose so..."
Leng Yue gave a faint smile, weighing the purse in her hand. The clinking of loose silver inside made Qin Hehuan inexplicably uneasy. "Since the purse was no longer on you at that point, what did Zhang Chong gain by robbing and beating you in the street?"
Qin Hehuan's face shifted through a series of expressions, until even her lips turned ashen and pale. Her overly delicate frame seemed unable to support her prominent belly, trembling slightly.
Her loose tongue was one thing, but if fear and stress disturbed the fetus, that would be another matter entirely.
Leng Yue tucked the purse into her sleeve and reached out to take Qin Hehuan's ice-cold wrist.
The sudden touch made Qin Hehuan recoil as if struck, yanking her hand back with a sharp cry. She stumbled several steps away, and the bun in her hand fell to the ground, rolling to the wall. "What are you doing!"
Leng Yue stood frozen in equal shock. "You... you're certain it was Zhang Chong—Zhang Lao Wu's grandson, Zhang Chong—who did it?"
"It was him!" Qin Hehuan clutched her wrist where Leng Yue had touched it, screaming hysterically. "That beast! It was him! I'll carve him into a thousand pieces! A thousand pieces!"
Even after they left Xiao Yunde's residence, Qin Hehuan's shrill cries seemed to echo in their ears.
Walking under the already harsh sun, Jing Yi still felt a chill creeping up his spine. He sighed helplessly and rubbed his ears. "My dear... could that charred corpse belong to someone else?"
Leng Yue gripped her sword, lips pressed tight, and shook her head without hesitation.
Jing Yi sighed silently. Ignoring whether her razor-sharp sword had eyes, he grasped her shoulders and halted her steps, meeting her fiery gaze squarely. "My dear... I may not know much about the dead, but I understand the living a little. Since we stepped inside, ninety percent of what Qin Hehuan said was nonsense. Only ten percent was truth—and her accusation against Zhang Chong was part of that ten percent."
He spoke calmly, then added with even greater composure, "If I'm lying, I was born in the Year of the Dog."
Even if Jing Yi truly were born in the Year of the Dog, Leng Yue would still believe him.
Generations of the Jing family had served as capital officials, making observation and lie detection a hereditary skill. Not even Qin Hehuan—nor those nearly supernatural old foxes at court—could deceive a Jing without revealing flaws.
In this art, Jing Yi was the one who had inherited the most from Master Jing.
Leng Yue met his gaze unflinchingly. "If I'm lying, you were born in the Year of the Dog too."
"...Why?"
"Because I'm one year younger than you. If you were born in the Year of the Dog, I'd be born in the Year of the Pig."
"I believe you aren't lying..."
Leng Yue glanced around. At this hour, the streets and alleys were still relatively quiet.Leng Yue rose slightly on her toes, bringing her lips close to Jing Yi's ear as she whispered something. Before she even finished speaking, Jing Yi let out a loud howl.
"Fake..."
Leng Yue immediately clamped her hand tightly over Jing Yi's mouth. Though his mouth was sealed shut, his eyes remained wide open, his exquisite fox-like eyes rounded in shock.
"What are you howling about..."
This habit of his—bellowing loud enough to shake the heavens at the slightest provocation—really made it seem like he was born in the Year of the Dog...
Leng Yue shot him an exasperated look and said quietly, "Her belly is fake, but the pregnancy was real... It was still real when she came to our residence yesterday, but she miscarried. The child must have been lost just yesterday."
Jing Yi nearly popped his eyes out of his head.
Keeping her hand firmly over Jing Yi's mouth, Leng Yue sighed softly. "She's extremely weak. If she weren't wearing makeup, she'd probably look no different from a corpse... Judging by how terrified she was when I took her pulse earlier, it seems very few people know about this. She likely hasn't even seen a physician. Tell me, what could she possibly gain by risking her life to keep this hidden?"
Jing Yi made a few muffled sounds before Leng Yue remembered to release her hand.
Jing Yi took several deep breaths.
His wife certainly didn't hold back when dealing with him...
"I don't know... But if you want to find out, I can help you uncover the truth."
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