Chapter 25 (2/2)
Listening to her advice, the constable quickly dispatched another two officials to check out the room Feng Luodi had pointed out, and looked expectantly at her. “What other leads do you have for me?”
Feng Luodi smiled, full of confidence. “Now, we already have the location of the real crime scene, the clothes of the murderer, and we are currently searching for his whereabouts. Why don’t we try to find out his motive?”
“Motive? How would we go about to do that?” The constable furrowed his brows. “The two handmaidens are always in Moonglade and rarely interact with anyone.” That was what impeded his investigation the most.
“But not for the person they served.” Feng Luodi called an official over. “If you will, please fetch a servant from the antechamber by the name of Shun. Tell him that Constable Zheng is looking for him.”
“What do you mean by ‘not for the person they served’?” Constable Zheng looked at her, confusion written all across his face. “Weren’t they responsible for looking after the zithers?”
Feng Luodi shook her head. “They were the personal handmaidens of Miss Linglong. For all the suitors and admirers that Miss Linglong have, the handmaidens would’ve had interacted with them.”
Qi Jianqiu scratched her head in confusion, not understanding what Feng Luodi meant. She turned to Jiang Moyin, but he was looking at Feng Luodi intensely again, his eyes bright with admiration. However, Constable Zheng was enraged by the situation. “How dare they hide it from me! The guts!”
“It doesn’t really matter,” Feng Luodi placated him, “we would have found out sooner or later. But this expression could be useful during the questioning; try to maintain it.” She leaned closer to the constable, and whispered a plan in his ear.
“That sounds like a good plan; let’s just do as you said.” The constable nodded.
Feng Luodi looked around. “Did anyone bring a set of slats and writing materials? We would need a scribe for the questioning.”
An official quickly pa.s.sed the stationery to Feng Luodi. Now she was stunned; there was no way she could be write well enough for the words to be legible – her words look as if they had been chewed by the puppy in her arms. She looked around helplessly, and her eyes landed on Jiang Moyin.
“Why don’t you do it, friend?” She emphasized the last word, a hint of a smile playing on her lips.
Jiang Moyin laughed, and took over the stationery. Seeing that the rest had their attention on Shun who was walking towards them, he leaned closer to Feng Luodi, and whispered in her ear. “I would never have thought that you can’t write, Luodi. What a waste – you have such beautiful hands.” He quickly straightened his body, and acted as if nothing happened.
Feng Luodi turned and glared at him. “I just don’t want to tire out my hands writing these things down.”
“Oh~~~~~~~~~” Jiang Moyin dragged out the word, completely ruining his image of a gentleman. This jeer quickly earned him another glare from Feng Luodi. Qi Jianqiu reverted her attention back just in time to catch him in this act, but now she was more confused, unsure what the two were up to.
Meanwhile, Constable Zheng had begun questioning Shun, putting on his angry face as Feng Luodi advised. “Are you Shun?”
“Yes I am, sir. I’m a servant responsible for the serving of refreshments.” Shun kept his head down, the plan Feng Luodi had clearly working.
“I have a few questions for you, and you are to answer truthfully. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir. I promise to answer truthfully.”
“Are there many suitors and admirers looking for Miss Linglong, on a daily basis?” Surprisingly, Constable Zheng’s first question was one that seemed unrelated to the investigation.
“Of course! Miss Linglong’s beauty, gentle personality and musical talents are famous in Chang’an. All the n.o.bles and officers in the city fight to hear her play. From Master LI, the nephew of the Chamberlain for the Imperial Insignia, to Master Xiao, grandson of the Chamberlain of the Palace Garrison…” Once the topic of Linglong was brought up, Shun spoke with much more confidence than before, even looking Constable Zheng in the eye. However, once he looked at Qi Jianqiu and Feng Luodi standing at the side, his gaze dropped. Undoubtedly, Qi Jianqiu was much more beautiful than Linglong, and Feng Luodi had bested Linglong in a ‘compet.i.tion’ playing a song on the zither during that gathering. If it wasn’t for the 7th Prince tarnis.h.i.+ng her reputation with the rumours he spread, Feng Luodi would definitely have many admirers by now.
However, Constable Zheng had no patience to listen to Shun’s list of patrons. He quickly interrupted, “If that’s the case, do they still turn up after knowing what happened at Moonglade?”
“No, they don’t. We haven’t had many patrons visiting as of late, but many of the young masters send their servants to enquire about the situation at Moonglade every day.”
“Seeing as how you have such a good memory, why don’t you list out the people who were admirers of Miss Linglong, but who never sent their servants to Moonglade after the incident?”
“Oh…” Shun hesitated. “I might not be able to remember all of them. And…and I don’t think it’s right for me to disclose their information. They are our guests after all.” He looked up meekly at the constable.
Constable Zheng smiled suddenly, but it was a menacing smile. “I wasn’t asking for your permission.” His face darkened. “Do it.”
“O-okay.” The effect was immediate. Shun immediately listed out all the names that satisfied the two criteria, including the background of the client and the number of times they’ve visited Moonglade in the past month. Now it was Feng Luodi and Constable Zheng’s turn to be surprised. They never knew that Moonglade had kept such detailed registers on the comings and goings of their patrons.
Beside them, Jiang Moyin tirelessly copied down the information that Shun had said. Feng Luodi leaned over and took a look at his writing. d.a.m.n, his penmans.h.i.+p is superb. He looks handsome, is well versed in the arts, and even is the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince! Not to mention that his father is the Censor-in-chief, a governmental official of the 1st Rank. If he was in my world, he would have been very popular amongst the girls… Feng Luodi’s attention started to wander..
Before she realised, Jiang Moyin had already taken down the information Shun provided, and handed the slats back to Constable Zheng.
Constable Zheng nodded at him. “Thank you for your help, Grand Tutor Jiang.” Then, he turned to Shun. “You may go now.”
He looked at the bamboo slats in his hand, and then back at Feng Luodi. “Miss Feng, now I understand what you meant. Do not worry, I will quickly go through these names, and immediately put my officers on investigating them. Please go back and rest; I’ll let you know if I make any progress on the case.”
“Thank you, constable. We appreciate the effort you’d put in to solve this case.”
Constable Zheng promptly excused himself, and left with the rest of his officers to continue the investigation.
Qi Jianqiu sighed, then quickly complained. “I never thought that investigating a case would be this tiring. I’m hungry again!”
“Alright then, let’s go for a meal then. We’ll order all your favourite dishes!” Feng Luodi smiled, and invited Jiang Moyin along. “Master Jiang, why don’t you join us?”
Before he could reply, Qi Jianqiu quickly cut in. “Of course he’s coming with us!” She winked at him. “You’re the only one among us to have a salary. This meal is on you!”
“Of course. It’s my honour to do so.” Jiang Moyin smiled, and gestured for the ladies to walk ahead.