Lady's Home

Chapter 33

"Qiming, seeing Xiaoge reminds me of our youth. Youth is truly wonderful," Shen Biyun said with a sigh, leaning her slender arm against the car window.

Jian Dongping wasn't surprised at all that his father would be traveling with Shen Biyun. However, just as he was about to greet the two elders with his usual elegance, his father, Lawyer Jian, grabbed him by the collar with his large, fat hand and dragged him to a corner of the room like a little kid.

“James, what the hell are you doing?” Attorney Jane leaned close to his face and asked fiercely.

"Attorney Jian, could you please let me go?" Ling Ge and Shen Biyun were watching from the side, which made him extremely embarrassed.

"Why did you want to chat with Shen Biyun? What are you up to? Do you think she's the murderer?" Lawyer Jian didn't let go of her hand; he asked gruffly.

"I, I just wanted to, wanted to discuss with her, discuss..." He felt breathless; the smell of cigarettes and perfume on his father was too strong.

“What is there to discuss? As her lawyer, I need to find out first,” Attorney Jane persisted.

"Dad, Dad, please, please let go!" He felt his father's body pressing down on him like a tank, and he couldn't help but beg for mercy like he did when he was a child.

Attorney Jane finally let go, and he breathed a sigh of relief as he regained his breath and straightened his clothes.

"Speak quickly, don't dawdle."

“I already said I was just discussing it with her, do you have to be so nervous?” He glared at his father, resenting that he had made him lose face in front of Ling Ge.

“I can tell you that the murderer could not possibly be Shen Biyun. I know her. She is greedy for life and extremely realistic. A woman like her would not easily ruin her good life for anything.”

"Since you have so much confidence in her, what's the rush?" He glared angrily at his father, and just then caught a glimpse of Ling Ge covering his mouth and chuckling. He became even angrier and couldn't help but complain, "You're moving too fast. I can hardly breathe. You only have one son."

“You only have one dad! Be careful, I don’t want things to fall apart between you and Shen Biyun because of you. She’s not only an old friend of mine, but also an old client. I used the money I earned from her lawsuit to pay for your education until you finished high school.” Lawyer Jian patted his neck with his thick hand. He felt the weight of the pat as if two large steaks had been thrown onto a scale with a thud, and he could hear his heart skip a beat.

"Understood." He said, quickly breaking free from his father's control and walking towards Shen Biyun and Ling Ge.

"Have the father and son finished talking?" Shen Biyun asked with a smile.

“Dad tried to bribe me, but I’m not falling for it,” he smiled at Shen Biyun. “Please sit down.” He invited Shen Biyun to sit on one side of the long dining table, and then said to Ling Ge, “Ling Ge, you sit with me.”

“Okay.” Ling Ge quickly sat down next to him.

The last lawyer to sit down was Attorney Jian, who sat at one end of the table with Shen Biyun.

“Alright, let’s hear what you have to say. Do you mind if I smoke, Biyun?” Jian Qiming asked Shen Biyun beside him.

"Whatever you want, I know you really need a smoke right now." Shen Biyun seemed very relaxed.

“This kid has caused his father a lot of worry his whole life.” After saying this, Jian Qiming glanced at Jian Dongping and said, “Let’s begin.”

“Then I’ll say it. First of all, what I find most strange is how Xiao Ge got the chance to live in the Shen family.”

“It was Yushan who invited me. Because I…” Ling Ge interrupted, but Jian Dongping gently took her hand and interrupted her.

"Xiao Ge, listen to me," he said. Ling Ge glanced at him and remained silent.

“Of course, it just so happens that Xiao Ge’s TV exploded, and she just so happens to call Zeng Yushan. Out of sympathy, Yushan invited Xiao Ge to stay at her house. Everything seems to be going smoothly, but I believe that Yushan alone cannot make the decision to bring someone into her home to stay. Moreover, my dad knows that Xiao Ge is a policeman. Although Xiao Ge is currently suspended from duty, Dad knows that Xiao Ge and I are investigating this matter, right, Dad?” Jian Dongping turned to ask his father.

“I didn’t know you were investigating, but you seem very interested in this matter, always asking questions,” Jian Qiming said.

“Aunt Shen, you are also one of the suspects, am I right?” Jian Dongping asked Shen Biyun again.

Shen Biyun nodded.

“Yes. When a husband is murdered, the wife is usually the first suspect,” she said.

“So I don’t understand why my dad, who is so protective of the Shen family, would allow Xiao Ge to move in during such a sensitive time. I believe he already told you Xiao Ge’s true identity, Aunt Shen.” Jian Dongping looked at Shen Biyun, then at his father, and seeing that neither of them denied it, he continued, “So, I think you two planned this together. The reason you let Xiao Ge move in was to see what he could find out. You know that I am behind Xiao Ge.”

“You always have such a high opinion of yourself,” Attorney Jane chuckled.

Shen Biyun looked at Attorney Jian and said with a smile:

"Qiming, I think we should tell the truth."

Attorney Jian nodded deeply and said, "Okay." Then he turned his gaze to Jian Dongping.

“That’s right. When Yushan said she wanted Xiaoge to move in, Biyun called me immediately. I told her directly that Xiaoge was a policeman. I told her that I thought it was very likely that there was no TV explosion at all (seeing that Lingge was about to refute, Jian Dongping stopped her with his eyes). The whole thing was Dongping’s doing behind the scenes. He wanted to send Xiaoge into the Shen family to investigate.”

“That’s a miscarriage of justice. Xiao Ge did it all on his own, and I only found out about it later,” Jian Dongping said.

“Uncle Jian, this wasn’t something Jian Dongping asked me to do. I contacted Yushan to ask her if any charities would provide assistance for my situation. She told me to wait, and then she invited me to stay at her home.” Ling Ge seemed quite aggrieved. “How could I make up a lie like a TV exploding, Uncle Jian?”

"Regardless of how you two arrange things, Biyun and I have decided to let Xiaoge move in." Jian Qiming lit a cigarette. "Do you know why?"

"Because Aunt Shen has two questions in her mind: she wants to find out the cause of Yushan's father's death many years ago and who tried to murder her a few months ago. Am I right?"

Shen Biyun's eyes lit up.

“You guessed right, Dongping. These two things have been bothering me. But my husband passed away in 1998, which was many years ago. I’m not sure about my suspicions, and I’m not sure if I’m just guessing. As for what happened a few months ago, I don’t want to openly lay my suspicions on the table, because that would cause a lot of suspicion and conflict. Dongping, although I haven’t seen you for many years, I still know you a little. I know you like riddles. Back then, Yushan wanted to invite Xiaoge to stay, and we did think it was your scheme, so we discussed it and decided to see what you would do. I didn’t expect it to be Xiaoge’s own idea. Xiaoge, what were you thinking back then? Were you planning to secretly investigate Xiaosu’s case?” Shen Biyun asked Lingge gently.

"Yes, yes, I'm sorry." Ling Ge felt ashamed that he had lied.

"Any progress?" Shen Biyun asked.

“I’ve got it,” Jian Dongping answered for Ling Ge.

“I heard Xiang Bing has been arrested,” Lawyer Jian interjected.

“He is not the murderer; the murderer is someone else,” Jian Dongping said briefly.

"Oh?" Shen Biyun's eyes widened, then she asked seriously, "Dongping, what do you want to tell me today?"

"I want to tell you some things first, and I also want to know some things."

What are you trying to tell me?

“First, I want to tell you that your husband, Zeng Hong, was murdered.” He saw that Shen Biyun was looking at him intently, so he continued, “The method was very simple: he was tripped up by the rope you used to tie your books to the stairs.”

“A rope?” Attorney Jane frowned.

“You wrote it yourself in the book ‘Lady’s House’ that the day after Zeng Hong’s accident, you discovered that two of the ropes used to bind the books were missing, so you had to ask Zhang Yufen to go out and buy more ropes.” Jian Dongping said as he turned the pages of “Lady’s House” to show her.

Shen Biyun read the passage carefully and said, "I always suspected that someone pushed him from behind, but I never expected it was a rope."

Jian Dongping noticed that Shen Biyun seemed a little nervous, so he continued speaking.

"This is how the murderer did it: First, she recorded the phone ringtone on a tape recorder and placed it in the living room. The first half of the recording was likely a blank tape. While the tape was playing, she tied a rope to the stairs, then sneaked away. When the phone rang and Zeng Hong noticed, she saw him trip and fall, then untied the rope and left, taking the tape recorder with her. Then she made a call from a public phone booth. This way, she could have carried out the whole thing all by herself. The reason Zeng Hong didn't answer the phone in his room was because the phone there wasn't ringing; the ringtone he heard came from the living room, and he felt..." It was strange, so I went downstairs to check. The killer didn't attack Zeng Hong from behind because it would be easy to be spotted there. There were framed paintings everywhere in the house, and Zeng Hong could easily see someone behind him through the reflections in the frames. Unless the killer was extremely confident, believing they could achieve their goal even if discovered, but the killer didn't have that confidence. This suggests the killer understood the significant physical difference between themselves and Zeng Hong, so the killer was likely a woman. She knew you wouldn't be home that day, knew your home environment, and knew Zeng Hong's condition; she knew he was addicted to alcohol during that period.

"You mean, she's a member of the family?" Shen Biyun's voice was dry, and her brows furrowed even more.

“Yes.” Jian Dongping paused for a moment and then asked, “Can you tell me where Zhang Yufen was that night?”

Shen Biyun turned to look at Lawyer Jian beside her, who said in a comforting tone:

“Biyun, haven’t you always wanted to know the truth? Why don’t you tell us your doubts and thoughts today? It’s been so many years, it’s time to talk about it.”

"But……"

“It’s time to come to a conclusion. Don’t drag this out,” Attorney Jane advised.

Shen Biyun thought about it for a while, and finally seemed to have made up her mind.

“Okay, she had relatives visiting that day, so I gave her a long day off. After I left, she should have left too, but of course, I didn’t see her leave.”

What is her relationship with Zeng Hong?

“She doesn’t like Zeng Hong because he hasn’t been very nice to Fang Qi since their son died,” Shen Biyun said cautiously.

Jian Dongping understood that Shen Biyun's use of "not very good" actually meant "very bad." This implied that Zeng Hong might have retaliated against Fang Qi by abusing her after their son's death. Jian Dongping felt sorry for Fang Qi, but he knew now wasn't the time to delve into the family's dark secrets. He continued asking:

"And what about Fang Rouzhi?"

“She didn’t live with us back then. But…” Shen Biyun paused for a moment, “I later remembered that she would call the day before and say that she was coming to dinner that night. I forgot to tell her that we were out, but later she said that she didn’t come because her husband wouldn’t let her come out. Of course, that’s just her own version of events.”

"Was she already married at that time?"

“Yes, she got married young. Her husband seems to be a worker at the same factory; he’s a bad person. She often comes to me to complain, saying her husband is a gambler and cheats her out of money.” Shen Biyun’s tone turned cold. “Of course, I often help her out.”

"Does she have a house key?"

“She once had her husband beat her, and she fled here for refuge. I later prepared a room for her.”

"So where was Fang Qi that night?"

A hint of unease flashed across Shen Biyun's face, but she still spoke:

“I took her and Yushan to a friend’s house to play,” Shen Biyun hesitated slightly, “but I played mahjong all night and didn’t pay attention to what the two children were doing. Later, (she sighed softly) I heard from Yushan that the two of them had a fight over a small matter that night, and Fangqi went out alone and didn’t come back until the early hours of the morning.” Shen Biyun seemed to have a headache. She supported her head with her hand and her brows were furrowed.

Jian Dongping finally understood the source of her troubles and why she hadn't voiced her doubts for so many years. He smiled and said:

“Aunt Shen, I’m going to tell you the murderer’s name now.” He quickly wrote a name on a piece of white paper and pushed it in front of Shen Biyun.

Shen Biyun, Attorney Jian, and Ling Ge all leaned closer to look. Their expressions were all different: Attorney Jian was smug, Shen Biyun was puzzled, and Ling Ge was surprised.

"What did I tell you? Biyun, you lost." Attorney Jian smiled smugly at Shen Biyun, then asked him with a hint of admiration and kindness, "Son, I guessed it was her a long time ago, but I couldn't find any evidence. What evidence do you have?"

"I don't have it either. That happened in 1998, and it's extremely difficult to find evidence from that time. But because this case is closely related to the later cases, working backwards, she is the most likely candidate."

"The case you're referring to next, is it Su Zhiwen's case?" Attorney Jian asked.

“The case of Aunt Shen’s fall should come first. This should also be a case, an attempted murder case.” Jian Dongping stared at Shen Biyun. “Did Aunt Shen call Su Zhiwen’s ex-wife because she suspected that Su Zhiwen was the one who tried to kill you?”

Shen Biyun looked at him in surprise, a smile slowly spreading across her lips.

“I didn’t expect you to have even investigated this,” she said, taking a sip of tea. “After I fell, I discussed this with your father. We were both very suspicious of him, so we tried to find his ex-wife. I knew they had been in contact, and I wanted to hear what she thought of Zhiwen. After talking to her, I felt she was a rational woman. Although she still had feelings for him, she wouldn’t conspire with him to do anything stupid, because she has a good job, a very stable family, and two children in the United States. I don’t believe she would give all of that up for Zhiwen. She also told me that Zhiwen has money of his own, and he has a sum of money in her account.”

"Moreover, he also writes poetry. He published a collection of poems, and at that time he used the pen name Haifeng. Fang Qi even had a fierce conflict with him because of this collection of poems." Jian Dongping continued, picking up where she left off.

"Xiao Ge, you're doing a good job as a little informant," Lawyer Jian said with a mocking smile.

Ling Ge felt embarrassed by what he said, and Jian Dongping quickly said, "Xiao Ge is great anyway."

Ling blushed and gave him an awkward smile.

Shen Biyun said calmly, "Seeing Zhiwen's reaction that day, I suspected it was written by him. I've read his work before, and I even had him write text for my cheongsam series. He wrote very well, much better than the copywriting girls at the company. So, I have no doubt that he published a poetry collection before." Shen Biyun took out a few photos from her bag and handed them to Jian Dongping. "Look, this is the copy he wrote back then."

Jian Dongping picked up the photos. The first one was of a thin female model wearing a white cheongsam with small blue floral patterns, standing by the window in deep thought. Behind the photo were a few lines of small print: "A small flower blooms in the mountains, not beautiful or fragrant enough, only a little bit of loneliness and sorrow."

Indeed, it is beautiful and natural, and quite memorable.

"If I may be so bold as to ask, Aunt Shen, why did you marry him in the first place?" Jian Dongping asked cautiously, noticing his father glaring at him. "Was it because of his literary talent?"

Shen Biyun laughed heartily.

“Dongping, there are just too many reasons to marry him. First, he’s a very attractive young man, and I feel honored to marry him at my age. Second, I want to tell my family that the price of ignoring family ties is that I can find someone to inherit all my assets at any time, and this person is quite young. Third, marrying him is explosive news, which greatly increases the company’s visibility; it’s like I’ve done a huge advertisement. For me, this marriage is a really good one.” Shen Biyun’s gray eyes flickered with mockery.

Jian Dongping felt that these three reasons fully reflected Shen Biyun's personality: shrewd, pragmatic, willful, and fond of manipulating others. He believed that such a Shen Biyun wouldn't leave her daughters much money for them to squander while she was alive, because she understood that money was the best means for her to control them. Su Zhiwen perhaps knew this, which was why he wanted to give Fang Qi his 800,000 yuan, hoping she could break free from her mother's control and become truly independent as soon as possible.

If Fang Qi knew that Su Zhiwen was Haifeng and had left her so much money, I wonder what she would think.

His thoughts drifted far away, but he was suddenly pulled back to reality by Attorney Jane's words.