Chapter 70: Chopped Chili Fish Head (Part 21)
Shenxiu gave a slight nod, slowly blinking once. The delicate flutter of his long eyelashes seemed to convey a soft sigh that its owner couldn't voice aloud.
From the very first moment Leng Yue laid eyes on Shenxiu, her suspicions about this person had never truly subsided. Whether it was personally killing Zhang Lao Wu or persuading Zhang Lao Wu to take his own life, Shenxiu possessed both the capability and the opportunity.
However, up until now, suspicion remained merely suspicion. For one thing, there was indeed no concrete evidence. For another, even if Zhang Lao Wu and Consort Hui truly shared that fatal past, it had nothing to do with this young monk who had been ordained since childhood, spending his days secluded in the temple eating vegetarian meals and chanting Buddhist scriptures. He really had no reason to begrudge Zhang Lao Wu a few more years of life.
Moreover, as Jing Yi put it, what Shenxiu wanted to tell them but had been beating around the bush about should be related to the tea leaves from Cheng Family Tea House. This had even less connection to Zhang Lao Wu.
Yet Shenxiu's current demeanor clearly indicated silent acknowledgment.
Before Leng Yue could ask why, Jing Yi had subtly moved to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with her. While continuing to rub his sore chin, he casually explained to Leng Yue as if narrating a play: "Why is he telling us this? Because he wants us to know that Zhang Lao Wu crashed to his death following his instructions... Why does he want us to know that Zhang Lao Wu crashed to his death following his instructions? Because he wants us to wrap up this matter quickly and leave soon... Why does he want us to leave soon? Because he knows he can't deceive me with lies, and he can't hide fabricated evidence from you. If we stay any longer, we'll definitely discover that the person who truly convinced Zhang Lao Wu to die wasn't actually him."
Jing Yi's words were crude enough, but also clear enough.
To be even clearer: Shenxiu wanted to take the blame for persuading Zhang Lao Wu to commit suicide.
Leng Yue frowned.
In previous cases of murder and arson she had handled, there had indeed been instances where people willingly took the blame for others for various reasons. But this time was different - the dynasty's penal code never mentioned what crime it was to persuade a living person to no longer want to live. Shenxiu really had no need to cover for that person.
Unless...
The smile at the corners of Shenxiu's mouth and eyebrows faded slightly, but he still maintained the kindness cultivated over many years of practice. "Why would you say that, junior brother?"
"Because there are words written on your face."
Jing Yi said this naturally and sincerely. If Shenxiu hadn't seen his completely unmarked face reflected in Jing Yi's clear fox-like eyes, he might have really reached up to touch his own face.
"What words?"
Jing Yi raised his hand and successively pointed to his own forehead, right cheek, chin tip, and left cheek. With each point, he uttered one character. After four points, four characters emerged.
"Living. Is. Worse. Than. Death."
Leng Yue had grown accustomed to Jing Yi seeing things on others' faces that she could never perceive. But to say that this calmly smiling person's face was covered with "living is worse than death" - Leng Yue still felt somewhat doubtful in her heart.
Shenxiu also acted as if he had heard some irrelevant joke. The previously fading smile suddenly intensified, making Jing Yi wave his hands dismissively."You don't need to laugh, it's useless anyway. Those four words were already written on your face when I first saw you at the temple as a child. Over the years, they've become permanently etched into your expression. Even if you smiled like a blooming sunflower, you couldn't cover them up..." Jing Yi said, shaking his head with a sigh. "All this time, I thought you became a monk here out of necessity. These past couple days, I've even been considering whether to rescue you and take you with me when I leave."
The smile on Shenxiu's lips stiffened slightly, though it remained. "Thank you for your concern, junior brother."
"You're not the only one who's concerned about him."
Leng Yue spoke lightly, narrowing her eyes slightly as she scanned the impeccably clean monk's quarters—to be precise, the quarters that had been impeccably clean before Jing Yi moved in. After just two days of Jing Yi staying here, the room already bore subtle traces of his presence.
When Leng Yue first entered these quarters, she had assumed Shenxiu was simply someone who loved cleanliness. But carefully observing Shenxiu now and then looking around the room, she finally understood where that persistent sense of discomfort she'd felt every time she saw Shenxiu these past two days came from.
Compared to the excessively tidy monk's quarters, Shenxiu was remarkably careless about his own appearance. It wasn't about being unclean, but rather the telling traces he carried—the wear on his left sleeve cuff indicated he frequently used his left hand, yet the way his waist sash was tied matched how right-handed Jing Yi tied his, suggesting he was originally right-handed but had for some reason forced himself to switch to his non-dominant left hand.
Before Jing Yi moved in, this room showed no such traces. Back then, the overturned teacups formed a perfect circle around the teapot, all centrally placed objects were perfectly centered, items like brush holders and inkstones that typically reveal hand preference were stored on the bottom shelf of the bookcase, and all frequently touched surfaces of furniture were polished clean. Just by looking at this room alone, one could never tell whether the person who grew up here was left or right-handed.
Therefore, it was likely that this room hadn't been tidied by Shenxiu himself all along.
Previously focusing only on the suspicious aspects of Shenxiu's words and actions, she had let such obvious clues slip right under her nose...
"The person who cleans your room every day has put far more thought into you than he has," Leng Yue said, her eyebrows slightly raised, her voice three parts softer and five parts colder. "How did you repay that person? By taking the blame for persuading Zhang Lao Wu to commit suicide, to protect their reputation so they wouldn't be driven out of the temple, is that it?"
Shenxiu neither admitted nor denied it, merely using the vague manner typical of monks by ambiguously reciting a Buddhist chant.
Jing Yi's eyebrows lifted slightly.
He didn't know how Leng Yue had figured it out, but clearly she had reached the same conclusion as him.
That was good.
"Um..." Jing Yi pursed his lips and interjected with something completely unrelated to the current situation. "I just remembered—that vase Wang Tuo broke was borrowed by me. Even if it's shattered to dust, I still have to return it. I should go collect those fragments now, before the other monks clean up and throw them away as trash... You two continue talking, I'll clean up and be right back."After speaking, Jing Yi gave an apologetic smile, turned, and walked away, as leisurely as if Leng Yue and Shenxiu were merely guests at his home engaged in casual conversation.
Young Master Jing Yi’s tendency to act on whims was almost common knowledge in the capital. Leng Yue didn’t stop him, and Shenxiu seemed to have heard of this quirk as well. Both watched as Jing Yi scurried off in such a tense moment to pick up some broken bottle, yet neither showed the slightest surprise on their faces.
It was Leng Yue who first withdrew her gaze from the direction Jing Yi had left. She stared expressionlessly at Shenxiu’s calm, evenly smiling face for a long moment before clearing her throat lightly. "I’ve forgotten where we left off."
"..."
Though Shenxiu said nothing, his face was a clear invocation of Amitabha.
Shenxiu couldn’t tell whether Leng Yue had genuinely forgotten or was pretending, so he had no choice but to recount patiently, "Patron Leng asked this humble monk whether I was shielding the person who has long taken care of my quarters out of gratitude, to protect their reputation."
"Oh..." Leng Yue nodded casually, her willow-leaf brows lifting slightly as she spoke unhurriedly, "So there really is someone who’s been tidying your room all along."
Shenxiu was taken aback for a moment, but before he could collect his thoughts, Leng Yue continued, "Abbot Qingguang, isn’t it?"
Shenxiu was stunned once more.
"If the one who urged Zhang Lao Wu to die were a layperson, it wouldn’t matter much even if others found out, because Zhang Lao Wu died by crashing into the coffin himself. No one would need to pay with their life for him." Leng Yue slowly released her grip on the sword hilt, a faint smile curling at the corner of her lips as she drawled, "But it’s different for a monastic. Monastics emphasize that saving a life is worth more than building a seven-story pagoda. If an abbot were to persuade a living person to commit suicide, and word got out, he’d be drowned in public scorn, wouldn’t he?"
Shenxiu frowned slightly, his gaze toward Leng Yue tinged with an indescribable complexity.
"As for why Wang Tuo used the method of written exams to select scripture-copying monks—even if you didn’t realize it at first, you should have figured it out afterward, right?" Leng Yue narrowed her phoenix eyes, watching Shenxiu’s subtly shifting expression as she slowed her speech, as if deliberately ensuring he heard and remembered every word. "You didn’t stop him from going through all that trouble because Koreans hold great faith in buddhas and bodhisattvas, revering an abbot as they would a monarch. So when Wang Tuo gathered monks to write the exams, he called upon every ordinary monk in the temple, except the abbot. That’s why you believed that with his half-baked intellect, he’d never in a million years suspect the abbot, right?"
Shenxiu remained slightly frowning and still did not speak.Leng Yue wore a faint smile that didn’t quite convey joy, her voice softening further. "But we martial artists share a common flaw: the slightest uncertainty makes us uneasy, and the stronger our skills, the more pronounced this becomes. So, you still worry about the 'what-ifs.' You know Wang Tuo isn’t the sharpest—he has a habit of jotting down important matters. Witnessing a Bodhisattva’s manifestation in the Central Plains was such a monumental event that he’d surely record it. You deliberately sent his notes to the embassy, letting the Ministry of Rites discover them, hoping they’d quickly remove him from the temple. But before they could act, you realized Jing Yi had caught on. So, you stepped forward and took the blame yourself... However, whether it was the abbot tidying your room or you covering for him, none of it was done willingly. That’s why you’ve been wearing that look of utter misery all along, right?"
Shenxiu gave a slight nod and uttered an ambiguous Buddhist chant.
Leng Yue let out a slow sigh, as if expelling the chill from her smile along with it. Seemingly tired from standing, she turned and settled back into her chair, placing her sword on the table and crossing her legs.
Having grown up in the temple, Shenxiu had seen few women, and this was the first time he’d witnessed one sitting cross-legged in a chair. Strangely, what would appear crude if done by a man seemed charmingly lazy and endearing when she did it—like a cat lounging on its back, basking in the sun, a sight that brought nothing but comfort.
"Honestly, there’s no need to jest with me..." Leng Yue yawned leisurely, not bothering to cover her mouth, and silently smacked her lips before continuing. "Taking testimonies is the duty of officials like Jing Yi. The meager salary the Ministry of Justice pays me is only for apprehending suspects. Whether I’ve arrested the right person isn’t up to me—that’s for the higher-paid, more authoritative judges to decide."
Gazing at Shenxiu’s slightly bewildered face, Leng Yue pursed her red lips lightly, her beautiful eyes blinking as a hint of spirited resolve intensified. She then added languidly, "But since childhood, I’ve been a light sleeper, and the fear of arresting the wrong person would only make my nights more restless. So, before making an arrest, I must clarify all the details. That’s my personal quirk, not part of my official duties. Thus, everything I just said was merely idle chatter to pass the time and delay things a bit..."
As she spoke, Leng Yue curled the corners of her mouth slightly and pointed toward the door Jing Yi had closed on his way out.
"What he’s handling now—that’s official business."
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