Compendio de hombres apuestos en el mundo de las artes marciales

Capítulo 21

Zhao Ting kept his eyes closed, his chopsticks hovering over a plate of food, causing everyone at the table to stare in surprise. What did this mean? Was he saying that no one else was allowed to touch the dish, and it was all his? Zhan Yun cleared his throat, patted Zhao Ting's arm, and said gently, "These eggs are quite well-cooked."

Zhao Ting snapped out of his daze, slammed down his chopsticks, stopped drinking the porridge, and turned to leave the room.

The people at the table were taken aback again. Li Qinglan put down his chopsticks and started drinking his porridge, thinking to himself, "It just rained, and the weather isn't dry at all. This young man is so young; it's not good for him to have too much temper!"

After dinner, Xiao Duan stood up, cupped his hands in farewell to the others, and took his leave. Old Master Li stroked his beard and beckoned to Xiao Duan, gesturing for him to sit down. Tao Hanzhi spoke first: "Xiao Duan, Lord Li has already had a room prepared, and all your belongings have been taken there. Stay here tonight! Going to an inn will cost a lot more money, and it's inconvenient to get up in the morning, having to make multiple trips."

Xiao Duan hesitated for a moment: "Lord Li, it's better not to trouble yourself..." After all, she was a woman disguised as a man, which would inevitably cause some inconvenience. Moreover, she had been used to being alone and quiet for many years, and she felt a little awkward about living in the courtyard with everyone.

Li Qinglan seemed to see through Xiao Duan's thoughts and said with a smile, "Xiao Duan, don't be so polite with me. Don't worry, that room is at the far west end of the courtyard, and the room next to it is empty. It's the quietest place there, and no one will bother you."

Since things had been said to this extent, it would be too rude to refuse. Xiao Duan frowned slightly, cupped his hands in thanks, and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you."

Jiang Cheng sat for a while, then said goodbye to the others and went home. Li Qinglan, Tao Hanzhi, Zhan Yun, and Xiao Duan remained inside, drinking tea and discussing the case. "So, the problem really is with that 'Drunken Beauty' shop?" Li Qinglan said, slapping the armrest of her wooden chair. "Tomorrow morning, seal off the shop first thing, and have Jiang Cheng go with us to check all the rouge and powder products to see if there are any problems."

As he spoke, Old Master Li stood up and paced around the room with his hands behind his back. "Sigh, if so many rouges are problematic, then the trouble will be immense. 'Drunken Beauty' is the most famous rouge shop in Hangzhou. Countless people go there to buy things every day, and many passersby come specifically to try it." The old man grew increasingly agitated as he spoke. "The Zhu family owner is so reckless! How could he let such a rare and potent poison mix into his lip rouge? They've been open for so many years, how could they still cause such a mess!"

Li Qinglan was sweating profusely with anxiety. Tao Hanzhi took a sip of tea, frowned, and comforted her, "Don't worry. If many rouges were problematic, someone would have already taken it to the authorities. Apart from the Shen family's daughter and the Zhong family's wife, there haven't been any other cases. Have someone post a notice first thing tomorrow morning. Anyone who has bought 'Drunken Beauty' rouge in the last three days must have it recalled."

Tao Hanzhi's words made a lot of sense, but Li Qinglan was still quite angry. She paced back and forth in the room, and finally lifted her robe, casually found a chair to sit on, and glared at Xiao Duan, asking, "Xiao Duan, tell me, what's going on with this case?"

Xiao Duan was taken aback by the question, and after a moment he said slowly, "I haven't been to the rouge shop yet, so I can't say for sure. But there are only two possibilities. Either it was by accident that poison was accidentally added to the rouge during the production process, or someone sabotaged it intentionally."

Zhan Yun gently waved his folding fan and said softly, "But now it seems that the latter possibility is much more likely. After all, this is no ordinary poison. There aren't many places in Hangzhou where poppies grow, are there?"

Tao Hanzhi stroked his mustache, his narrow eyes slightly narrowed: "There aren't many indeed. It seems there's a small patch of those flowers in the 'Yandang Valley' area in the southern suburbs. I haven't heard of them anywhere else."

After chatting for a while, the group went back to their rooms to rest.

The next morning, Zhao Ting opened his door early, his eyes dark with embarrassment. He saw someone washing their face by the well in the courtyard, bent over. In the dim light, the person wore a blue robe, their black hair tied high behind their head, swaying gently with their movements. Zhao Ting closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and thought, "Oh no, I barely slept a wink last night. My head is spinning, and my eyes are dry. Am I hallucinating this early in the morning?"

When he opened his eyes again, he saw that the person had straightened up and was wiping his face with a cloth. Slightly thin but smooth shoulders, a slender waist, and long legs. Zhao Ting couldn't help but rub his temples and call out softly, "Little Duan?"

Xiao Duan draped a cloth over his forearm, picked up the wooden basin, and turned around. The morning sun was slowly rising, and the orange-red light shone on Xiao Duan's face, giving his jade-colored skin a light golden hue. His narrow phoenix eyes blinked slightly, as if he still had the hazy sleepiness of just waking up. His pink lips were slightly damp, and perhaps because of the light, his expression was much softer than usual.

Zhao Ting felt his heart pounding faster and faster, so fast it made his chest ache. His eyes were fixed on the person in front of him until Xiao Duan said "Good morning" softly, then turned to pour water from the sink and carried the wooden basin back to his room. Zhao Ting stood there dumbfounded at the door, unable to come to his senses for a long time.

During breakfast, Zhao Ting didn't dare to lift his head, only picking at his food, eating buns, and drinking porridge, afraid of being bewitched by that person again. Xiao Duan, who always ate with his eyes half-closed, naturally didn't notice anything amiss. Li Qinglan and Tao Hanzhi simply assumed it was because young people had good appetites and didn't think much of it.

Only Zhan Yun noticed that Zhao Ting was acting strangely. He'd knocked on Zhao Ting's door last night, but no one answered. Zhan Yun knew Zhao Ting was a late sleeper, so he must still be awake at that hour. But given Zhao Ting's temperament, if he didn't want to talk to anyone, no amount of effort would change anything, so Zhan Yun simply gave up. But seeing his expression today, Zhan Yun couldn't help but shake his head inwardly. He'd heard that when the young Prince Zhao was sixteen, leading troops against the Liao, he could go three days without sleep and still be full of energy, fighting with heroic spirit. How could one sleepless night have left him like this!

After breakfast, the three men, accompanied by several constables, hurried eastward into the city. When they arrived at the "Drunken Beauty" shop, it was just opening. The constables quickly went up to the shopkeepers and told them not to open the shop yet, as assisting the government in their investigation was the priority.

The shop assistants were all quite aggrieved, grumbling that if they were investigating a case, they shouldn't be shutting out business! They were worried about how much money they'd lose if the shop closed for even a day. Someone went to fetch the manager, and the group followed Uncle Zhang into the shop. At that moment, half of the door panel had been removed, and thanks to the outside light, the shop was quite bright inside.

"Gentlemen," Steward Zhang, addressed as Uncle Zhang, bowed, "If there's anything you need our cooperation with, please don't hesitate to ask. Our 'Drunken Beauty' is an old shop on this street, and we're just doing honest business. Please be lenient and don't let our shop go out of business."

Zhan Yun and Xiao Duan were negotiating with someone when Zhao Ting had a constable hold up a cloth bag and swept all twenty-odd celadon heart-shaped boxes off the table. Manager Zhang panicked immediately and rushed forward, grabbing Zhao Ting's arm: "Hey, sir! This is unacceptable! This is a new rouge my boss developed a few days ago; it's only been on display for four days. You can't..."

"We've already caused someone's death, what else is unacceptable! Quickly call your boss out and come with us to the yamen!" Zhao Ting was clearly in a very bad mood, raising his sword-like eyebrows and coldly ordering.

"This..." Manager Zhang hesitated slightly, "Our boss hasn't been to the shop for a long time..."

"Manager Zhang, two young ladies have already died from poisoning caused by your lip rouge. We still can't determine how much more of that deadly poison has been mixed into your rouge. This shop must close for now, and we absolutely must meet your boss." With each sentence Zhan Yun spoke, Manager Zhang's face paled further, and he shook his head, muttering, "Impossible, impossible..."

"Sir, you must have made a mistake. How could our rouge be poisonous? We..." Manager Zhang was explaining frantically when a young boy ran into the shop, his face flushed, shouting, "Manager Zhang, something terrible has happened! You must come home quickly, something terrible has occurred at the manor!"

Old Zhang was already confused by what Zhan Yun and the others had said, and now, hearing the child's clamor, he felt even more helpless and his scalp tingled. He felt a severe dizziness: "What is it now? The officials are here to inspect our shop. Don't worry about anything else, please invite the young lady over—"

"Something's happened to Madam!" The boy interrupted the old man, panting heavily, tears welling up in his eyes. "Madam... Madam... she's not breathing!"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the shop was shocked. Old Zhang was already extremely anxious and flustered, and when he heard that the pillar of his family had passed away, his eyes rolled back, his legs went weak, and he fainted.

Author's Note: Hmm, in a good mood~ I wish all of you readers a good mood too~

twenty three

Chapter Four: Doubts and Confusion...

The backyard of the Zhu family mansion.

Jiang Cheng has already conducted a preliminary examination of Zhu's body, confirming that she died of poisoning. An identical celadon heart-shaped lip rouge box was found in front of her dressing mirror in her bedroom. The lip rouge has also been tested and found to contain highly toxic ingredients, and like the previous two victims, it was made from poppies.

Zhan Yun instructed Steward Zhang to find several pieces of white cloth and spread them out on the grass. He then placed all the rouge and powder from the "Drunken Beauty" shop on them. The constables who had come with him squatted on the grass, testing each box of the powder for poison, as instructed by Jiang Cheng. The Zhu family members stood in the courtyard, waiting to be questioned by Xiao Duan and his companions.

The Zhu family's rouge shop was a business passed down from their ancestors, but unfortunately, in this generation, the only male in the family died of illness before he was thirty. Zhu Fanghua, who was only in her early twenties at the time, took over the "Drunken Beauty" business from her brother. She worked day and night to develop new fragrances while also managing the shop. The work of several people fell on her shoulders as a frail woman. Over the past twenty years, she has made the shop's reputation more and more renowned, and the business is even more prosperous than in her father's generation.

Zhu Fanghua's husband's surname was Xu, and he had married into the Zhu family. He was five years younger than Zhu Fanghua, in his early forties, and of average appearance, but possessed a scholarly air. According to Steward Zhang, he never interfered in the shop's business, firstly because Zhu Fanghua, as the shop owner, forbade it, and secondly because he was indeed not cut out for business. He spent his days leisurely in the mansion, reading, painting, and occasionally attending poetry gatherings.

At this moment, Xu Shilan's face was ashen, his lips were blue, and his eyes were somewhat vacant as he stared ahead. He seemed to be having a hard time accepting the sudden death of his wife. The women standing beside him were Zhu Fanghua's sister, youngest daughter, sister-in-law, and niece.

Zhu Fanghua had one son and two daughters. Her eldest son was a county magistrate in a small place in Dengzhou, while her eldest daughter married far away to Fuzhou. Only her youngest daughter, who was only fifteen years old, remained at home. The woman standing next to the young girl was Zhu Fanghua's younger sister. She looked to be in her early thirties. It was said that her husband had passed away a few years ago, and she had only moved back to the Zhu family mansion the year before last.

The young woman standing gracefully beside a woman in a snow-white satin dress was none other than Zhu Qiaolian, whom they had met just two days prior. She gently wiped her eyes with a silk handkerchief while softly comforting the woman beside her. It turned out that the deceased "Drunken Beauty" Boss Zhu, the "Big Boss" everyone spoke of, was Zhu Qiaolian's aunt. And the woman beside her, needless to say, was her mother, Zhu Fanghua's sister-in-law.

At this hour, the sun was high in the sky, and not a single cloud could be seen in the azure sky. It was late spring, early summer, and the warm sunlight shone into the courtyard, creating a scene of bright spring sunshine and blooming flowers. Unfortunately, the people in the courtyard had no heart to appreciate the scenery. Everyone's face was solemn, and several women huddled together in twos and threes, supporting each other, all silent as if afraid of being frightened.

"Everyone, who was the first to notice that something was wrong with Boss Zhu?" Xiao Duan looked around at the people in front of him and was the first to ask.

"It's me," Zhu Qiaosi said timidly. Seeing everyone's gaze fixed on her, the girl's eyes were swollen like small walnuts from crying, her hair slightly disheveled. She said in a trembling voice, "My mother said she had to go to the shop today. After breakfast, I begged her to hurry up. As soon as we reached the gate, my mother started having trouble breathing and said her chest hurt. I quickly helped her back, but after only a few steps, she fainted..."

As she spoke, the girl began to sob again. Zhu Fangqing pulled Zhu Qiaosi into her arms, comforting her repeatedly. She then looked up at Xiao Duan, her beautiful eyes also red and swollen: "Sir, the child is still so young. Such a terrible thing has happened to her family; she's been terrified. If there's nothing else, could you please let Qiaosi go back to her room and rest..."

Zhu Fangqing's eyes were filled with pleading. Xiao Duan glanced at the girl sobbing in Zhu Fangqing's arms, her delicate shoulders shaking, and nodded gently. After Zhu Qiaosi was helped away by her maid, Xiao Duan spoke again, this time asking Xu Shilan, "Did you have breakfast with Boss Zhu?"