Chapter 36: The Murder at Changying Granary

The morning light, the color of crab shells, had barely touched the twelve-zhang-high wind-and-fire walls when Xu Qi and Tan Jiuding arrived at the Changying Granary.

The iron wind bells hanging from the eaves chimed with an ominous, clattering rhythm. At this moment, the "Granary of the World," with its rows of interconnected storehouses, resembled the jagged edge of a saw, undulating beneath a sky of gloomy, heavy clouds.

The Western Public Office, where the crime had occurred the previous night, was already sealed off with black-lacquered strips by the Transport Commission. With every step taken deeper into the area, the scent of blood grew heavier and more pungent.

As they approached, a murder of crows took flight in alarm, their wings flapping violently as they shed black feathers.

One such feather drifted right before Xu Qi's eyes.

The man she had spent the previous day painstakingly tracking lay dead right there—dressed in a cyan cotton-padded undergarment, sprawled face-up in the drainage ditch. The gash across his throat had bloomed like a crescent moon, the blood spray nearly frozen in the damp chill, turning the surrounding area into a pool of scarlet.

She exhaled a plume of mist, feeling a sense of surreal unreality, as if she were trapped in a bizarre and absurd dream, and the current lightheadedness was merely the sensation of not having fully awakened.

Tan Jiuding looked back, his eyes questioning her. She nodded woodenly, confirming that the deceased was indeed Huang Zhang, the man she had seen at the gambling den only yesterday.

How absurd it all was.

Having chased a lead for thousands of miles, she had only just caught the faintest glimmer of a thread, only for it to be ruthlessly severed.

A familiar wave of nausea surged in Xu Qi’s chest. She rushed to a nearby drainage ditch and vomited, purging the little tea she had consumed until nothing remained.

"The body has already begun to stiffen." Tan Jiuding squatted beside the corpse, touched it, and then used a discarded stalk of straw to probe the depth of the wound. "It must have occurred between the hours of the Ox and the Tiger."

"Tan... Magistrate Tan," Xu Qi said, her face crumpled like a walnut soaked in bitter water, as she pointed to the ditch nearby.

Tan Jiuding understood. He walked over and looked down to see a blood-stained wrist-knife lying there. He immediately ordered his men to retrieve it. Once the filth and mud were washed away, the character "Bing" was revealed, cast into the hilt.

"Bing. This year, the Ministry of Works issued a batch of 'Bing'-grade wrist-knives to every transport guard station, with a blade width of one inch and two fen," Tan Jiuding added. "Almost every chiliarch and centurion carries one."

Xu Qi wrapped her handkerchief around her nose and mouth to block the overwhelming stench of blood, then leaned in, frowning. "Is it Huang Zhang's own?"

Tan Jiuding turned to the Chiliarch of the Dahe Guard, who had been the first to arrive and seal the scene, and asked, "Who were the fellow officers serving with Centurion Huang?"

The Chiliarch pushed three other centurions forward. Tan Jiuding inquired, "Can you identify this object?"

The three men nodded and shook their heads, appearing quite hesitant. One of them drew his own blade to demonstrate: "Magistrate, please look. Our knives are almost exactly the same."

Xu Qi stretched her neck to inspect them one by one. Indeed, if they were all dropped on the ground together, it would be difficult to tell them apart. If one had to point out a difference, it would be that some had wrapped cloth around the hilts, while others had not. The one in the ditch, clearly, was in its most original state.

Given how close it was to the body and how casually it had been discarded, it seemed likely that it belonged to Huang Zhang himself.

"Search," Tan Jiuding commanded the Chiliarch. "See if Huang Zhang's knife is in their quarters."

Xu Qi shifted her gaze inch by inch across the scene, as if to etch every detail into her memory. She muttered her doubts: "Such high walls—how can it be concluded that this was the work of the serial thief? Never mind climbing it bare-handed; even if someone built me a high ladder, I would be trembling too much to take a step." Furthermore, the night watchman, when reporting the news, had stated quite firmly that the officials who sealed the scene had immediately announced it was the work of that thief.

Was this a conclusion that could be reached just by a casual glance?

Yet the Chiliarch argued persuasively: "The perimeter walls of the Changying Granary were once damaged, and for the past two years, they have been under repair and reinforcement. Scaffolding has often been set up against the walls. Given the skills of that thief known for breaking into homes, scaling the wall would not be difficult."

Xu Qi looked around. She did not see any scaffolding, so she blurted out, "It seems that thief is quite familiar with the layout here, then?"

The Chiliarch looked as if his mouth had been stuffed with mud, and he immediately fell silent.

Those sent to search the quarters soon returned, reporting that no extra wrist-knives were found. "The thief must have caught Centurion Huang while he was relieving himself, caught him off guard, and snatched his knife to kill him," someone remarked.

Tan Jiuding was thoughtful. "Tell me again about Centurion Huang's whereabouts."

The three fellow centurions exchanged glances. An older one stepped forward and said, "Reporting to the Magistrate, we had all gone to sleep last night when Centurion Huang finally returned. He lay down for a while, then got up, put his clothes back on, and said he needed to relieve himself. He never returned."

"When was he discovered?"

"We were sleeping soundly and only woke up when the night watch patrol sent someone to pound on the door."

"Did none of you hear any unusual sounds during that time?"

The three men shook their heads, all claiming they had been fast asleep.

Xu Qi whispered to Tan Jiuding, "The latrine is not far from the quarters. If Huang Zhang had been attacked and cried out, he would have woken at least one or two people; they wouldn't have waited until the patrol arrived to discover him. Huang Zhang was not a frail man. The person who struck must have had some skill, but..."

"But?"

Xu Qi opened her mouth to answer, but felt that a demonstration would be clearer. She moved behind Tan Jiuding, wrapped her arms around him, and reached toward his waist and then into his robes.

Tan Jiuding suddenly pressed down on her restless hands, raising an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

"Look, isn't this movement quite awkward?" Xu Qi, oblivious to his discomfort, said with earnest intensity. "To snatch his knife before killing him? And to act with such speed that Huang Zhang had no time to shout? A single blow to kill? And if Huang Zhang didn't alert anyone, why wouldn't the thief just sneak away? Why kill him? If he had been discovered, why didn't Huang Zhang shout or put up a fight? Furthermore, if he intended to kill from the start, why wouldn't he bring his own weapon?"

"But this knife is certainly the murder weapon. The wound is about one inch and six fen deep, with serrated edges, matching the wrist-knife."

"I am not questioning the authenticity of the murder weapon, but rather wondering... is this knife truly Huang Zhang's?"

Tan Jiuding’s eyes sharpened at these words. Before he could respond, a sound like a giant beast cracking through the ice of a frozen lake suddenly echoed in their ears, rushing toward them with startling, rapid intensity.

The crowd looked on in horror as the shoulder plates of dozens of soldiers’ cotton-padded armor collided, the copper-bound scabbards of their waist-knives clattering in rhythm, their armor skirts fluttering like blades as they ran.

Standing their ground amidst the exhaled mist, they parted to the left and right, clearing a path for a man mounted on a tall, powerful steed.

The newcomer dismounted with a flourish, his black boots crushing the thin mist. He wore a deep red robe patterned with gold-woven clouds and wild geese, draped in a raven-fox fur cloak. He removed his deerskin gloves with agonizing slowness before walking over in an unhurried manner and bowing slightly to Tan Jiuding.

"I am Zeng Ruji, Commander of the Huai'an Guard. I welcome the Magistrate to our humble inspection. You have traveled a long way, Magistrate Tan; if you have any commands, I shall do my utmost to serve."

Tan Jiuding held his breath, bowed, and said in a deep voice, "Commander Zeng, there is no need for such formalities. I am here by imperial decree to conduct an inspection. I trust we will cooperate for the sake of the crown."

The two men were polite in their speech, but the scent of gunpowder in the air was strong enough to sour Xu Qi's nose.