Chapter 32: As the Sun Sets, It Is Time for Mischief

Xu Qi stared at the pitch-black object. It was a wooden core, reinforced at the corners with iron strips like the frame of a prison cart from the magistrate’s office, and capped with iron plates at both ends. Just looking at it, she knew how deafening a knock from this would be.

She had heard the sound of such things before, but this was her first time seeing one up close.

"So, the thief made an innocent person strike the clapper to create a diversion for him?" Xu Qi asked, curious. "What about the signals? How could the storyteller have known what kind of signals the night patrol would use to relay messages?"

"There was a note in the bundle, but the storyteller said he was too terrified and burned it."

Xu Qi toyed with the iron clapper in her hands for a moment before saying, "I find that a bit strange."

"The storyteller was too afraid to strike the clapper for the thief, yet he dared to speak well of him on the street right in front of the magistrate's office? He might be hiding something. But if that’s the case, the fact that he was willing to hand the object over to you is worth further investigation."

"No need to overthink it. Perhaps it was just out of a sense of compensation. After all, he took fifty taels of pure silver from the thief but didn't do the job, so he must have felt guilty," Tan Jiuding said, arms folded as he looked out at the bustle of the Grand Canal wharf.

"Why would he feel guilty?" Xu Qi frowned. "Those fifty taels were forced upon him; they appeared out of thin air in his room. Wouldn't anyone feel more fear than surprise?"

"Heh, it sounds like you really don’t like this thief who robs the rich to aid the poor?"

"I don't." Xu Qi admitted frankly, tossing the iron clapper aside. "Perhaps his silver has helped some people, but imposing one's own desires upon others is not the act of a gentleman. If things had gone wrong and the soldiers had searched his place, wouldn't he have dragged an innocent person down with him?"

"Besides... no matter how well it's disguised, when you peel back the layers, he is still just a thief who climbs walls to steal. I don't believe in these so-called 'righteous thieves.' They must have their own hidden agendas; they are simply skilled at using disguises."

"Looking at it this way, the deductions of those two runners might be correct. It could very well be a personal vendetta between the thief and the Chen family or the Commander, Zeng Ruji."

"Why do you think so?"

"Looking at the list of stolen items reported, the Qiu family reported some embroidery and an account book, while both Chen and Zeng claimed to have lost gold and silver. The pawnshop, however, lost nothing. In this light, it seems Chen and Zeng are the ones lying. If the thief had been after money from the start, Qiu Jinsheng wouldn't have just lost some embroidery—or if it were embroidery, they would have stolen the most expensive pieces, wouldn't they?"

A flash of inspiration struck Xu Qi, and an absurd thought popped into her mind. She asked Tan Jiuding, "Tell me... could the 'Gust of Wind' anecdote the storyteller told in the teahouse actually be true?"

Her question drew Tan Jiuding’s gaze back, his eyebrows arched high. "True? What do you mean?"

"Well, look, the story mentioned that General Zhang’s manor lost a military tally, and wealthy Mr. Li’s residence lost a deed of servitude... If we draw a parallel, what if Commander of the Huai'an Guard, Zeng Ruji, really did lose a tiger tally, and the Chen family lost... their salt trade permits?"

Tan Jiuding immediately straightened up from his leaning position by the window, his expression turning grave. "That is a capital offense."

"That’s exactly why they lied and claimed they lost gold and silver!"

"If the thief dared to scale the high walls of the Commander’s manor, he surely wasn't just after money. Otherwise, with so many wealthy families in Huai'an City, which ones wouldn't be easier to target than the heavily guarded Commander’s manor or the Chen family, who keep their own private militia?"

For once, Tan Jiuding did not reply. His brows were furrowed as if pressed by a great weight. He turned back to look out the window, his entire frame as still as an iron statue, falling into silence.

The silence magnified the rhythmic chants coming from the wharf, drawing Xu Qi's gaze as well. In the distance, the porters were hunched over like a trail of ants; the green and white grain sacks rose and fell on their backs, resembling a wriggling giant snake weaving endlessly between the Changying Granary and the canal boats.

"The sun is setting," she said after a while. "Are we not going to uncover evidence against Huang Zhang?"

"...We are."

When Tan Jiuding turned back, he had returned to his nonchalant demeanor, as if his previous expression had been an illusion. He curled the corner of his lips in a roguish manner. "But we must split into two paths. As for you, go find Bai Tingyi and borrow two men, then head to the place I told you."

Xu Qi was stunned by his words. Suppressing the urge to roll her eyes, she sighed.

"Fine."

Shortly after, the two left the inn one after the other, heading in different directions.

Following the directions Tan Jiuding had given her, Xu Qi arrived before a cordoned-off inn. Looking back at the way she came, she realized that they had actually been quite close to the Bai family's caravan all along—barely a hundred paces away.

Entering this time, the guards were no longer fierce. Having traveled together for a distance, they were already quite familiar, even greeting her warmly and asking if she had eaten.

The old steward led her to the second floor, where she found Bai Tingyi in the first guest room.

He wore a dark expression the moment he saw her, looking up reluctantly from a stack of books. "Borrow men? That's not a problem, but what do you need them for?"

"To find someone." Xu Qi was initially too lazy to explain much, but the thought of the matter involving Zhiwei made her want to prick him. "I’m not like you, so broad-minded that you can remain at peace even when your own kin is missing, turning a deaf ear to the world outside to focus solely on reading the sages."

"Tsk, you... never mind. A gentleman doesn't bicker with a woman." Bai Tingyi snorted, tossing his book aside and reaching for his fur-lined cloak.

Seeing this, Xu Qi asked warily, "What are you doing?"

The young scholar glanced at her sideways while putting on his cloak, speaking slowly: "Coming with you. A gentleman should reflect within and feel no shame, no worry, and no fear, so that someone doesn't keep calling me heartless. Although the lady of the Zhou family is not yet wed to me, she is technically my fiancée by engagement, so I should contribute what little effort I can."

Xu Qi scoffed. "Just don't get in the way."

"...I truly don't know how Inspector Tan has managed to tolerate you for all these days."

Though they looked at each other with mutual disdain, they chose to endure it for the sake of the same goal.

Picking up three guards, the group headed toward the Huai'an Prefecture Office.

However, Xu Qi's destination was not the magistrate’s gate to beat the drum for justice, nor was it a teahouse to listen to stories—it was to gamble. Yes, to gamble.

On the west side of the Huai'an Prefecture Office stood an abandoned Temple of the Skinning Workshop. The founding emperor had once executed corrupt officials there, stripping them of their skin and stuffing them with hay to create "human-skin effigies" as a warning to all officials. Since it was abandoned, few people visited, and rumors of it being haunted gradually spread.

Of course, all of this was a cover.

If Tan Jiuding was correct, then behind those faded vermilion doors, there had to be a different, extraordinary scene.

Bai Tingyi pulled his fur collar tight, feeling the place was eerie and chilling. Although the sun had not yet fully set, the slanting light already carried a palpable chill, leaving anyone who touched it with goosebumps.

"Hey..." "Hush." Xu Qi silenced him, tensing her back as she stepped forward to knock three long and two short raps on the rusted, iron-reinforced door knocker.

"Creeeak—" The dry hinges emitted a sound like fingernails scraping, causing Bai Tingyi to wince and shrink his neck again.