Chapter 32
Chapter 32
Sure enough, guilt flashed across Master Chang’s face before a sanctimonious mask concealed it.
“The Qiao family has declined year after year, while my own family has prospered with my wife’s support. You may only be my concubine, which sounds less respectable, but you’ll enjoy far greater wealth than you ever could as the young lady of the Qiao Residence.”
Cheng Miao silently seized on his choice of words. The Chang family’s current prosperity was entirely due to his wife.
Suppressing the urge to hit him, she raced to find a way to reject Master Chang while preserving a reason to remain in the Chang Residence. Otherwise, her mission might fail.
“With a wife as beautiful as a celestial maiden, how can you still have designs on another woman?” Sweat dampened the palm wrapped around her dagger. She flexed her fingers.
Master Chang poured himself another cup of tea. Fear flickered over his face, then vanished without a trace. “Even a celestial beauty grows tiresome after so many years. Besides, she’s still keeping secrets from me. We’ve been married for years, but only two days ago did she tell me her maiden family name was Wei.”
He sighed. “If she weren’t truly beautiful and hadn’t borne me a fine son, how could I dare keep a woman of such unknown origins?”
You certainly didn’t object to those unknown origins when you accepted her money, you bastard.
Still, a wealthy woman with a mysterious background whose family name was Wei… Why did that sound so familiar?
“Besides, my wife knows I intend to take you as a concubine.”
Master Chang’s words broke Cheng Miao’s train of thought just as an idea began to form. “Madam Chang… knows?”
“Of course.” He appeared rather proud, puffing out his chest as he stroked his beard. “A man should marry a virtuous wife. My wife is remarkably open-minded about such matters.”
Open-minded?
The image of Madam Chang, beautiful beyond anything mortal, rose again in Cheng Miao’s mind.
Quick footsteps approached from outside. Recognizing Lin Zhu’s return, Cheng Miao looked at Master Chang, who clearly had no intention of leaving, and dismissed him. “Mu’er is back. You should go. I’ll consider your offer.”
At those words, Master Chang behaved as though success were already assured. He left in high spirits and even patted Lin Zhu on the shoulder as the boy was about to enter.
Lin Zhu watched him go, utterly baffled. “What did he want?”
Cheng Miao’s face was expressionless. “He came to ask me to be his mistress.”
Lin Zhu stared at her. What? He had only been gone for an hour or two. How had the plot already gotten this far?
Shaking her head, Cheng Miao summoned a maid and asked her to remove the cup Master Chang had used.
The maid asked no questions. Displaying the admirable discretion expected of a servant in a great household, she took the cup and left.
By now, Cheng Miao was certain the food and drink in this instance were safe. She rinsed a teacup, poured the first wash into a flowerpot, then filled it again and pushed it toward the still-panting Lin Zhu. “Tell me what you found first.”
Lin Zhu sobered at once. He took a drink and said, “It’s strange. Every servant in the Chang Residence was bought this month. I heard the household replaces its servants often, about once every six months, and prefers people from out of town.”
“I asked a lot of people before finally finding an old woman who washes clothes. She seems to be related to one of Master Chang’s mother’s former maids. She’s among the very few servants who were already here before Madam Chang married into the family. She’s served the longest and knows the most.”
“Master Chang was originally from Luoyang, but he met Madam Chang in Shandong. When he returned home, he brought her directly with him. His mother initially opposed the marriage, but Madam Chang had an enormous dowry and exceptional beauty, so she ultimately agreed.”
“Two years ago, Madam Chang’s younger sister came to visit. Madam Chang arranged for her to marry Master Chang’s younger brother, and the two couples now live together. At the beginning of this year, both sisters gave birth to sons at the same time. Everyone called it a wonderful coincidence.”
“Did anyone mention Master Chang’s name?” Cheng Miao asked. For some reason, it felt like a crucial clue.
Lin Zhu shook his head regretfully. “I asked a lot of people, but most of them can’t even read. Nobody knew.”
Cheng Miao digested the information, then gave him an approving look. “Good work.”
Lin Zhu’s face reddened slightly, and he grinned. “Sister Miaomiao, do you have any ideas?”
Cheng Miao nodded, holding nothing back. “A few, but they’re still scattered. I can’t connect them yet. I need more time.”
“I suspect Madam Chang is the problem.” She lowered her gaze as she analyzed the clues. “What is her full name? Why would a respectable family’s daughter refuse to tell anyone?”
“Everything we’ve learned also shows that the wealth now enjoyed by the Chang Residence came from her dowry. Yet she’s only one woman, and no one even knows her family. Where did she obtain so much silver?”
“Oh, right. I saw a very pretty young woman when I passed the garden. A maid called her the Second Madam,” Lin Zhu added.
They had no further leads for the moment, so Cheng Miao set those thoughts aside.
After dinner, Lin Zhu sat to one side reading a book he had taken from the shelf. “The Chang family really loves flowers. As if that gorgeous garden weren’t enough, even the books in this room are all about raising, planting, and appreciating flowers.”
Cheng Miao had noticed something unusual about the books long ago. There were no novels or miscellaneous records, not even the poetry and literary collections found in any ordinary scholarly household. Every volume concerned flowers.
She had planned for the two of them to search the books together, but Lin Zhu volunteered to do it alone.
In his words, a student preparing for the gaokao was at the peak of his mental powers. Combined with his usual top-student abilities, he might not have a photographic memory, but his short-term retention was excellent.
After watching him for a while, Cheng Miao had to admit he read astonishingly fast. There was a reason he was a top student.
It was nearly the third watch by the time Lin Zhu finished skimming every book. His face fell. “No clues. They’re all about cultivating flowers, and most of them discuss peonies.”
Peonies…
The most important connection hovered indistinctly in Cheng Miao’s mind, but she could never quite grasp it.
As she struggled against her own memory, a sound suddenly came from outside the window.
Rustle… rustle…
Those were not human footsteps.
The sound drew closer and louder, as if something massive and heavy were dragging itself over the pebble-covered path.
Cheng Miao’s expression sharpened. She swiftly drew the Fishbone Dagger. Here it came.
Any trace of drowsiness Lin Zhu had felt vanished. He sat rigidly in his chair and watched Cheng Miao creep toward the window.
The temperature in the room seemed to drop. Lin Zhu swallowed, forced himself to stand, and tiptoed to the other side of the window. A thick book appeared in his hands.
Cheng Miao had not discovered where he kept his Space Backpack, but the book was clearly an Item. Before that realization could bring her any relief, the sound stopped directly outside their window.