Chapter 45: Garlic White Meat (20)
Hua Mei rose with some difficulty. Leng Yue moved to support her, but Hua Mei shrank away slightly and shook her head in refusal.
"Imperial Physician Jing said earlier that before the poisonous sore erupts, it's most contagious... Just sit by the window, away from me."
After speaking, Hua Mei offered a faint, bitter smile—exceptionally beautiful, yet different from Feng Si'er's ethereal beauty. If Feng Si'er's beauty resembled that of a narcissus, then Hua Mei's was like braised pork—full, substantial, and worth every penny spent on her.
Watching the smiling Hua Mei, Leng Yue felt hungry.
Hua Mei seemed terribly cold, wrapped tightly in her quilt with only her head exposed. She didn't throw off the covers when rising, instead shifting like a silkworm larva until she leaned against the headboard. After catching her breath slightly, she said, "Speak... What is it you can't figure out?"
"Sister Hua Mei, have you ever drunk the Cheng family's tea?"
"The Cheng family..." Hua Mei paused, confirming she hadn't misheard, then replied with a mix of amusement and exasperation, "Do you mean Suzhou's Cheng Family Tea House?"
"Yes, that's the one."
Hua Mei shook her head with a weak sigh. "You overestimate me... The Cheng family's tea—I couldn't afford even the lowest grade with three days' earnings..."
Leng Yue lowered her head and pulled out a paper packet from her bosom. "My treat."
Hua Mei stared blankly, then chuckled. "No wonder every girl in the capital wants to marry into the Jing family..."
"No..." Leng Yue's face warmed slightly, but thinking of that still-missing person, her heart chilled again, and she quickened her speech. "I got this from the Cheng family's young master, Cheng Xun. Please taste it for me."
A glimmer of understanding crossed Hua Mei's brow. "Cheng Xun... I've seen him. I heard he's been selected to serve as an official in the Dali Temple."
Leng Yue nodded vaguely. "The case I'm handling is somewhat related to him. When I went to his residence earlier, I discovered the steward he brought from Suzhou had murdered his wife."
Hua Mei jolted, her quilt-wrapped body trembling visibly, her voice quivering faintly. "His wife... wasn't that Si'er?"
"You know Feng Si'er?"
Hua Mei's delicate brows furrowed. She coughed weakly a few times and nodded gently. "She once worked here as a high-class courtesan. Beautiful, supremely talented—she became wildly popular in less than three months after debuting, and in under four months, she followed Cheng Xun..." Hua Mei paused, looking at Leng Yue before adding softly, "It was the Fourth Young Master Jing who personally made her famous."
Leng Yue pressed her red lips together.
From the painting that accompanied Feng Si'er in her smiling departure from this world, it was clear that Jing Yi's relationship with Feng Si'er was far from the simple "lifesaving benefactor" Feng Si'er had claimed.
Jing Yi's devotion to her had far exceeded the limits of how he treated ordinary women who admired him.
Leng Yue felt like strangling him.
But to strangle him, she first had to find him—and he had to be alive.
Preferably in one piece.
Gritting her teeth, Leng Yue whispered, "Jing Yi is missing... It might be related to the Cheng family, or their business. I've always thought the Cheng family's tea was oddly expensive and rising too quickly. I can't discern anything from tasting it—please help me."Seeing Hua Mei's blank expression, Leng Yue said no more. She rose and poured out the overnight tea from the pot, then brewed a fresh pot using tea leaves wrapped in paper.
Steam rose gently, carrying a faint tea fragrance.
Hua Mei furrowed her brows.
When Leng Yue poured the steeped tea into a cup and brought it to her, Hua Mei still didn't extend her hand from under the quilt. Instead, she lowered her head to take a small sip from Leng Yue's hand, her frown deepening.
"Is this really the Cheng family's tea?"
Leng Yue nodded.
Hua Mei shook her head, "Impossible... Perhaps you brought the wrong one. This tea is worth at most thirty wen per liang."
Thirty wen per liang...
At market price, thirty wen wasn't even enough to buy a single tea leaf.
Noticing Leng Yue staring thoughtfully at the tea infusion, Hua Mei coughed lightly and whispered, "About the disappearance of Fourth Young Master Jing... could it be that he had urgent business and didn't have time to inform you?"
Leng Yue set down the cup and shook her head with a bitter smile, "He took Drunken World last night. Even if he had urgent matters, he wouldn't be able to go out."
Hua Mei was slightly startled, "Why would he take Drunken World?"
"I fed it to him..." Seeing Hua Mei's wide-eyed surprise, Leng Yue waved her hand, "Let's not dwell on that. I have something more important to ask you. Have you heard anyone mention any girls who recently escaped from these brothels?"
"Yes, there are every day... What kind of girl are you looking for?"
"Someone bold, familiar with the brothel technique of Removing Bayberries from Poisonous sores, daring enough to use a blade on living flesh."
Hua Mei thought for a moment, then nodded slightly, "It seems there were a few who couldn't bear this suffering..."
"No," Leng Yue shook her head firmly, "She herself probably isn't infected. Even if she is, it likely hasn't reached the sore stage. She still has enough strength to at least move a grown man."
Hua Mei chuckled and shook her head, "This isn't a martial arts school. Where would we find such a girl..."
Leng Yue continued, "Her hands are very skillful, adept at delicate work. She's good at shaving, trimming beards, and polishing nails. She's also quite attractive. If not particularly beautiful, then she's very eloquent—able to easily persuade unscrupulous men to follow her."
Hua Mei continued shaking her head, "Almost every girl in this profession has such skills..."
Leng Yue added, "She also knows the exact times and routes of the night watchmen patrolling the streets."
Just as Hua Mei was about to shake her head again, she suddenly paused.
"There... there is one."
Leng Yue urgently asked, "Who?"
Hua Mei seemed tired from sitting and shifted slightly, burrowing deeper into the quilt until even her slender neck was completely covered.
"You'll probably scold me to death if I tell you..." Hua Mei gave a faint, bitter smile and said lightly, "It's a girl I schemed against when I first entered the Sparrow Nest Brothel to compete for the Top Courtesan position—Bi Xiao. I bribed a regular customer who pretended to be drunk and poured boiling water on her while she slept, leaving her covered in scars. No matter how beautiful she was, she could no longer work in this profession. The madam sold her off cheaply to a night watchman..."
After saying this, Hua Mei quickly added, "However, she left the Sparrow Nest over a year ago, and she doesn't have that much strength... What exactly happened?"
Leng Yue didn't answer, only asked, "Did she previously serve Jing Wang, Master Xiao Yunde, Young Master Qi Xuan, Lord Cheng Xun, and the Third Steward Du Zhong from the Jing Zhaoyin's residence?"Hua Mei shook her head somewhat blankly. "I don't know about others, but I did see her serving Prince Jing..."
"Do you know where she lives now?"
"Only that it's in a small village on the outskirts of the capital. The night watchman seems to be surnamed Jiang..."
Surnamed Jiang.
The village where Prince Jing Xiao Zhaoxuan's body was discovered was surnamed Jiang.
That laundress who was frightened into madness...
Leng Yue's face suddenly changed as if she had been slapped, startling Hua Mei. "What... has Prince Jing gotten into legal trouble?"
Leng Yue still didn't answer. "Sister Hua Mei, do you have anything of Prince Jing's here? The more personal the better. Lend it to me."
"Yes, there's a bracelet. It's in the rosewood box next to the mirror... He left it behind last time he came, and I haven't had the chance to return it yet..."
Leng Yue opened the box and pulled out an agate bracelet.
"Yes, that's the one..."
Before Hua Mei finished speaking, Leng Yue had already leaped out the window.
Leng Yue silently crossed a stretch of rooftops, glancing up at the sky as she landed.
At this hour, there should still be time.
Jing Yi also tilted his head to glance at the sky outside the window.
It was already lunchtime, no wonder he kept smelling food aromas wafting into the room.
Jing Yi took a deep breath.
Hmm... the refreshing taste of simple country fare.
Unfortunately, he didn't care for vegetarian food.
This woman mentioned Sparrow Nest Brothel - there was a good cook there whose crystal sugar pork knuckle was absolutely unparalleled in the capital. Remembering that color, that flavor... he grew even hungrier...
Jing Yi silently swallowed his saliva, earning a cold laugh from the woman.
"It seems you've also been in her bed."
Jing Yi neither confirmed nor denied, still lost in thought about the glistening pork knuckle as he said somewhat absently, "My wife saved her."
The woman made a deep cut with her scissors, snipping off another lock of Jing Yi's black hair. She spoke through gritted teeth, her cold tone carrying suppressed hatred. "She harmed me... made me hide in this wretched place for over a year, doing unspeakable work, living neither as human nor ghost."
Jing Yi was slightly taken aback, then carefully studied the woman's heavily made-up face.
He was certain he had seen this woman before, but...
Over a year ago?
At that time he was still accompanying the Crown Prince in the palace - how could he have met a woman from Sparrow Nest Brothel?
"We have indeed met," the woman's voice softened slightly, the sound of her scissors closing becoming gentler. "You were the kindest man I encountered after leaving Sparrow Nest Brothel..."
Jing Yi was confused.
He had never been particularly bad to women, but if we're talking about genuine kindness, in all his life he had only wholeheartedly treated two women well.
One was Leng Yue.
The other was his mother.
This woman who was currently pulling his hair with such ferocity - he only found her face familiar, couldn't even recall her name. How could he have treated her well, let alone been the kindest...
While Jing Yi was still racking his brains, the woman sighed, set down her scissors, turned to pick up another cold, gleaming object, and continued calmly, "Unfortunately, you're also impure. But don't worry, although I don't like your wife, I'll still help her turn you into a truly pure man... then send you home."
A pure man.
Jing Yi suddenly remembered someone.
The person Leng Yue promised Prince An she would capture within three days.When Leng Yue silently leaped into the dilapidated courtyard, her mind was also occupied with this person.
The last time she had entered this courtyard was on the fourteenth of August. After accepting the case at An Wang's residence, she immediately came here to inspect the scene. At that time, Cui Niang, the washerwoman who lived alone in this courtyard, was huddled in a corner, silent. Anyone who approached her would trigger piercing screams.
Leng Yue asked her a few questions but failed to elicit a single intelligible word from her mouth.
After examining the spot where Jing Wang was discovered, Leng Yue, concerned that Cui Niang had no one to care for her, knocked on the doors of several neighboring households and instructed them to look after her.
Back then, Cui Niang in her green dress trembled as she huddled beneath the courtyard wall, as fragile as a blade of grass—a truly pitiful sight.
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