CH 14

Upon seeing Zhèng Wén Róng, Zhèng Xiāo hid behind his mother out of fear, and Second Furen shielded him with a hand, though she did not look very surprised expression-wise. Zhèng Hào stiffened first, and then he could not help but shout, “Father—”

Third Furen covered Zhèng Hào’s mouth. “It’s Fourth Uncle.”

As Third Furen looked at the face that was identical to her husband’s, tears started to well in her eyes again uncontrollably. Zhèng Yún Ní took a step forward, “Why has Fourth Uncle come to this place?”

There was interrogative intent lining her words, but Zhèng Wén Róng’s visage remained unperturbed, as if he did not notice the repulsion and blame at the bottom of their eyes. “A chain of homicides has taken place in the residence; Mother, Second Brother, and Third Brother, even they have lost their lives. Is the rest even important anymore?”

Zhèng Wén Róng shifted his gaze heavily before cupping his hands and bowing, “One pays his respect to Hou’ye, if Hou’ye has any questions, zaixia can be questioned too.”

Zhèng Wén Róng had not returned to the residence for many years, and his general aura was completely unlike a son of an aristocratic and influential family. Huò Wēi Lóu peered at him momentarily, before turning towards an embroidered emissary again. “Check the servants outside first.”

That embroidered emissary complied verbally, immediately bringing some men out with him.

The murderer’s traits were already explicitly stated, they only needed to match them with Huò Wēi Lóu’s criteria one by one. There were a lot of servants, but only those who were similar to the murderer’s appearance remained while those who didn’t were allowed to leave. Then, those who were left behind had their alibis checked, if they had an authentic witness testimony, they would be ruled out. Through a process of elimination, only low-ranking young male servants with weak and frail statures remained.

“Hou’ye, among these three people, Liú Zhōng Yuán is only fifteen, he is the gardener of the residence, had a fever when he was younger, has a shorter and smaller figure, and because he’s considered nimble when doing odd jobs, the people in the residence said that whenever he trims the taller tree branches, he never uses the stepladder and climbs up on his own.

“The person in the centre is called Zhào Wǔ, a guard in the residence, he looks skinny and small, but he practices martial arts, and is proficient in the bow and horse-riding.”

“The person from the right is called Hé Lì, a shift man who only does coarse labour, he was bought by the residence last year. He was originally a refugee who was later kidnapped by a middleman and sold to the Marquis Residence.”

“There are external injuries on their hands, and though they have given excuses, no one can testify for it.”

After the embroidered emissary was done speaking, Huò Wēi Lóu swept past them with a deep gaze. The three that were being made to stay were already wearing panicked expressions right now, but that panic was not necessarily derived from having guilt on their conscience, but a simple fear of Marquis Wuzhao’s reputation.

Huò Wēi Lóu internally thought about how they had gained nothing from their extended troubles, but he still turned his head to look at Bó Ruò Yōu. Bó Ruò Yōu nodded and walked out of the hall doors, coming to a standstill in front of the three. “Where are your injuries?”

Once she asked the question, the trio promptly stretched their hands out. Bó Ruò Yōu glanced past them, her irises darkening slightly. She studied them briefly, then scrutinised their physique and expression before finally returning to Huò Wēi Lóu’s side with furrowed brows. Shaking her head, she said: “Liú Zhōng Yuán and Hé Lì’s injuries are old injuries, from two days past at least; while Zhào Wǔ’s injury is new, it was caused by a sharp weapon and the wound is rather big. Moreover, Zhào Wǔ might be short, but his physique is robust, so he’s definitely heavier than the murderer.”

Huò Wēi Lóu asked: “Is everyone in the residence really accounted for?”

The embroidered emissary quickly said: “There are a total of sixty-six people recorded in the servant registry, everyone is here apart from Momo Yu.”

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Huò Wēi Lóu’s brows knitted together, waving his hand at the embroidered emissary to signal him to release them. The three servants outside the courtyard bowed and retreated with due haste. The courtyard, which was once teeming with black, emptied out in an instant. Huò Wēi Lóu shifted his eyes towards the masters of the Marquis Residence, saying in a cold voice: “The murderer kills once every seven days, as of right now, [your] mother and older brothers have been harmed by the murderer. Who will be the next victim in seven days?”

These words made everyone’s complexion change, but Huò Wēi Lóu was wearing an indifferent expression as he said: “Fourth Zheng stay behind, the rest may withdraw.”

Bó Ruò Yōu arched her eyebrows slightly, and she could not hold herself back in the end as she said: “Hou’ye, tarry a moment.”

She was a small and insignificant coroner, and yet she spoke without Marquis Wuzhao’s command. Although they turned their attention towards her, the tinge of irreverence was apparent at the bottom of their eyes. Having expected it, Huò Wēi Lóu merely looked at her faintly, “What’s the matter?”

Bó Ruò Yōu said: “The Oldest Young Lady has a new injury on the back of her hand, and one wonders how it came about.”

In an instant, Zhèng Yún Ní’s gaze shot towards Bó Ruò Yōu’s face like an arrow, the hands underneath her sleeves shrinking inwards subconsciously. Huò Wēi Lóu noticed her small movement at a glance. He did not ask any questions, only staring at her with an impenetrable gaze.

Zhèng Yún Ní gritted her teeth, “Could it be that Hou’ye suspects me? The injury on the back of my hand… was scratched by Mother. All of you saw it just now, Mother was in the throes of her illness, so I sent her back, it’s just an injury that was left behind during the pulling and tugging.”

Zhèng Yún Ní glowered at Bó Ruò Yōu as she sneered coldly, “You’re not going to accuse me of a crime based on this alone, are you?”

Zhèng Yún Ní was like a cat with its hackles raised, but her hateful words and severe tone were akin to an ant trying to shake a big tree in front of Huò Wēi Lóu. “Stretch the hand out.”

Zhèng Yún Ní scowled at Bó Ruò Yōu viciously, extending her hand in a rustle of fabric. The injury ran horizontally across Zhèng Yún Ní’s exquisite back hand, all crimson red and glaring, making for a horrible sight with its inflamed state. The amount of strength that Da Furen exerted during infliction could be well-imagined. Bó Ruò Yōu stepped forward and inspected it. Indeed, it was a wound from a scratch, and beside that, a few marks of fingernails finding purchase in her skin were also left behind.

Bó Ruò Yōu retreated, nodding towards Huò Wēi Lóu.

Zhèng Yún Ní snorted in response. Huò Wēi Lóu gave the people present a sweeping glance, albeit attentively. “The murderer has murdered thrice and has an exceedingly deep understanding of the residence’s layout. Perhaps, they are hiding in your midst, and if you’re lucky, a murder case will happen again without needing to wait for seven days. Therefore, if anyone has thought this through, they can look for benhou at any time.”

Zhèng Yún Ní pursed her lips, a glint of fear flashing past the bottom of her eyes, and the others revealed terrified expressions as well.

Huò Wēi Lóu only advised them to this point, “All may withdraw.”

When Zhèng Wén Ān was leaving, he looked back once every three steps, deeply unsettled by Zhèng Wén Róng’s general presence. Upon walking to the middle of the yard, he realised that Zhèng Yún Ní was waiting for him at the courtyard entrance, so he strode over quickly, only to hear Zhèng Yún Ní say: “Fifth Uncle should go and see Momo Yu. Now that the matter has developed to this stage, one fears that only she, an elderly, knows what is going on.”

Zhèng Wén Ān’s visage changed a few times, “Yún Ní, you…”

Zhèng Yún Ní narrowed her eyes, “The seventh of March is arriving soon, and we should be setting out on a journey towards the capital by the middle of February. There’s less than a month left, and Fifth Uncle is well-aware that we’ve been waiting for this for so many years, how could it possibly be ruined in one day?”

Zhèng Wén Ān revealed a difficult expression while Zhèng Yún Ní turned her head back to look at the brightly lit central hall, throwing down the next line sarcastically, “Fourth Uncle should not have returned.”

She left after saying those words. Zhèng Wén Ān stood there for a long moment, but he still turned around and headed north in the end.

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Inside the hall, Zhèng Wén Róng said: “Zaixia is one part of the twins with Third Brother, whom were thought to be inauspicious upon birth. Mother chose to have Older Brother stay in the residence, while zaixia was sent to a Taoist temple to be raised, and then an inconspicuous time would be chosen every year, wherein I would come back to stay in the residence for half a month. However, the last time I returned to the residence, was ten years ago…”

Zhèng Wén Róng’s gaze became mournful all of a sudden, “Perhaps the saying about the inauspiciousness of twins is true; Mother allowed me to stay for five more days during that instance, just a mere five days, and something bad happened in the residence.”

Huò Wēi Lóu narrowed his eyes, “What happened?”

Zhèng Wén Róng heaved a sigh, “Yún Ní became gravely ill; she was unable to speak, and unable to recognise anyone, as if she had become a fool. Doctors were sourced to no effect; Taoist priests and senior monks were invited, and they only said that she might have been touched by an evil spirit and was afflicted with hysteria as a result. Oldest Sister-in-law was ill to begin with, and her illness worsened after that, and she never became better afterwards. From then on, I never returned to the residence again. It was only when Mother brought my older brothers and older sisters-in-law to the Taoist temple to cleanse and cultivate five years ago, that I was reunited with my huge family once again.”

“Why do you feel that Zhèng Yún Ní’s illness was related to you?”

After Huò Wēi Lóu posed that question, Zhèng Wén Róng laughed bitterly, “Yún Ní was gifted and intelligent ever since was young and learned how to speak early too. She was betrothed to His Second Highness from birth, and though there was no imperial edict, Guifei niangniang would dispatch someone to make inquiries every year, and the marriage was an indisputable conclusion. Mother did not dare to be negligent in her education either, and she began schooling at four years old. She learned how to read the entire Thousand Characters Classic in only one year, was even more talented in the four arts of zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, to the point where Mother even hired a few renowned teachers…

“When I returned to the residence to stay for a short duration, she was already six-years-old, and it’s precisely because I taught her how to paint that she became ill without any cause or reason. Not only she was muddleheaded and stupid, but she even lost the ability to speak, only slowly turning for the better after a full year, except she was no longer interested in a single discipline of the four arts, nor did she have the cleverness she possessed at four-years-old. Fortunately, I didn’t return to the residence afterwards, and she managed to grow up smoothly.”

Zhèng Wén Róng seemed to really blame himself for it, “For the same reason, her agitated reaction after seeing me is technically normal.”

Huò Wēi Lóu said: “Whenever you returned to the residence ten years ago, they allowed you to interact with Zhèng Yún Ní?”

As Zhèng Wén Róng recalled the past, his sighs became more frequent, “They didn’t allow it at the start, but Yún Ní was different from the others. Whenever someone saw that I looked identical to Third Brother, they would only feel fearful, but every time Yún Ní saw me, not only could she distinguish between us clearly, but she wasn’t even afraid, and she liked listening to me talk about the novel things outside. Moreover, since I had some cumulative experience in terms of calligraphy and painting, she would frequently ask me to teach her. She was really very smart, and she already understood what the negative spaces in paintings meant…”

Even as Zhèng Wén Róng talked about it now, he was full of exultation for that shockingly talented and utterly admirable little girl, “That is how it was for zaixia. My return to the residence this time around was to attend Mother’s funeral, but I did not think that so many tragedies have happened with the residence. I am aware that no one wishes for my return.”

Huò Wēi Lóu’s eyes congealed, “Are you aware of why all the servants were changed fifteen years ago?”

Zhèng Wén Róng faltered slightly. He was just a young man fifteen years ago, and with how far back it was, it was a genuine struggle for him to remember it clearly, “Fifteen years ago… I don’t have an impression of it anymore. Every time I returned, I didn’t go out much, and most of the time, only a scarce few within the residence knew of my return. Hence, it’s hard for me to know about any changes in the servants whilst away.”

Huò Wēi Lóu asked another question: “Your Oldest Brother, once had a small concubine that died during childbirth, are you aware of this?”

Zhèng Wén Róng paused again, “My Oldest Brother… I don’t have knowledge of this matter either, but Oldest Brother is a loyal and honest man, I never knew that he had admitted a concubine, or when he did so.”

“When did Da Furen become mad?”

Zhèng Wén Róng was barely in the residence and there were too many things he didn’t know, but with regards to this matter, he was actually aware, “It was the year after Yún Ní was born. I returned to the residence for a small stay that year, and Oldest Sister-in-law no longer partook in a meal with us. I asked about it, and Mother said that Oldest Sister-in-law was ill.”

“Do you know why she was ill?”

Zhèng Wén Róng shook his head, “I do not know.”

There were too many oddities in all levels of the Marquis Residence, and yet, contrary to all reason, the only person who spoke about everything without any reservations was the one who knew exceedingly little.

Huò Wēi Lóu tossed out his final question: “When is your birthday? Do you know what Yin year and Yin hour means?”

“My birthday is on the Third Year of Jianhe, April the Second, hai shi (9-11PM).” Zhèng Wén Róng’s eyebrows creased slightly, “Yin year and Yin hour? I’m confused by Yin year and Yin hour…. If I was born on a Yin year and during a Yin hour, I fear that I wouldn’t be able to live.”

Zhèng Wén Róng laughed bitterly, “Being born as twins is already inauspicious as it is; if one were born in a Yin year and Yin hour, it would truly be a yin foetus coming to wreak havoc in this world.”