INVESTIGATING A CASE that had occurred the previous night, and in this infernal weather no less, was a horrendously difficult task.
The ambush had occurred a stone's throw from Liugong City. The Khotanese envoy had come to offer tribute to Great Sui yet was assassinated along the way. News of the incident spread back to the city, terrifying the county magistrate, who feared the blame would land on him.
At the same time, this dignitary in white had arrived in Liugong City under orders from the emperor to receive the Khotanese delegation. Yet instead of greeting an envoy, he'd found himself with a murder case on his hands.
The magistrate of Liugong County trembled with fear, deferential and subservient. He wished for nothing more than to drop this hot potato. But what truly defied his expectations was the dignitary from the capital. Despite the man's unfriendly demeanor, upon receiving such shocking news, he and his companions had simply turned and left the city to investigate without another word.
County Lieutenant Liu Lin looked up and saw the wind had subsided and the snow abated. He heaved a long sigh. Now that the imperial court was looking into the death of the Khotanese envoy, Liu Lin would be hard-pressed to evade responsibility. He wracked his brain but couldn't think of any bandits brazen enough to assassinate a foreign emissary. Come to think of it, he'd never heard of any particularly audacious bandits near Liugong City. None of those petty robbers would dare make trouble so close to the city walls…
Thoughts spiraling, he trailed behind the constables as they inspected the corpses. They had bustled about sweeping away most of the snow in the area to gradually reveal bodies strewn over the frozen ground. Most were like the first victim: throats slit with a single stroke. Only the sumptuously dressed man in the carriage had died from a blade through the chest.
Liu Lin picked up a long saber standing upright in the snow and examined it. After a moment he cried out in surprise: "A Göktürk saber!"
"Here's another!" yelled back one of the constables.
The blade was wickedly curved, its length stained with blood; it was clear at a glance that it had slain many people.
Could the Göktürks be behind this?! Liu Lin was stunned. But the more he thought about it, the likelier it seemed.
Everyone knew war would erupt between the Göktürks and Great Sui at the slightest spark. Soldiers stationed at the borders slept with their weapons, ready to leap into battle at any moment—they dared not be lax. The Göktürks had long been dissatisfied with Khotan's intent to seek protection from the Sui dynasty. Thus they'd killed a Khotanese envoy within Sui's own borders, aiming to drive a wedge between the two nations and ensure Khotan would bear a grudge against Great Sui.
Most of the others thought the same as Liu Lin.
With the discovery of the sabers, the case was as good as closed. But Liu Lin couldn't help agonizing over what came next. If the Göktürks had been here in the night, they might already have infiltrated the city. Linlang Pavilion's annual auction would soon be held in Liugong City, and all the world's idle rich, as well as various representatives of the jianghu's many schools of thought, would gather here. For a murder related to Khotan to materialize at the exact same time…
Liu Lin saw plainly the bind he was in. Letting the Göktürks infiltrate Liugong City's borders and kill the Khotanese envoy—taking the blame for such a blunder would land him in serious trouble. At the prospect of losing his hard-won position of county lieutenant, Liu Lin's vision grew dim and his limbs weak.
The young man from earlier, Pei Jingzhe, was the mysterious dignitary's subordinate. Now Liu Lin watched as he squeezed his way out of the overturned carriage carrying a small cabinet for valuables.
The design of the cabinet was one that had become fashionable within the capital in recent years. It was exquisitely crafted, with three drawers each divided into eight compartments. The compartments were meant to hold sundries like rouge and snacks, and as the cabinet itself could easily be stowed in a carriage for long journeys, it was popular with women. The cabinets of some wealthy women were even more luxurious: not only were they decorated with tortoiseshell and agate, they might also be inlaid with gems and pearls. This transformed the cabinets from practical items into precious accouterments used to flaunt their status.
The small cabinet Pei Jingzhe currently held wasn't nearly so lavish as some in the capital, but it was still crafted from high-quality wood. A closer look revealed carvings of dancing women dressed in Khotanese garb. The design gave the cabinet an air of exotic romance.
Pei Jingzhe pulled out each of the three drawers, one by one.
The first held dried peaches, apricots, and candied fruit. The second contained hair accessories. When Pei Jingzhe opened the third, at first all Liu Lin saw was glistening yellow. Only when he looked more closely did he discover the drawer was full of forehead adornments, pieces of gold foil cut into the delicate shapes of fish, insects, moons, and stars.
There must have been women in this convoy, Liu Lin reasoned. That in itself was nothing out of the ordinary. The envoy had allegedly been a Khotanese aristocrat; that he would bring a lovely concubine and maid or two on diplomatic missions was expected. Unfortunately, the owner of this cabinet had lost her life before she'd had the chance to marvel at the prosperity of Daxing City.
At that moment, the dignitary in white spoke. "Search around; see if there's another female corpse."
When he spoke, all obeyed. The constables dismounted and one after the other began to search.
The expensive coat the dignitary had worn now lay lonely and discarded on the snowy ground. Liu Lin cast it an anguished glance, then mumbled to himself, rallying his spirits as he began searching alongside his men.
In addition to the guards on horseback, the convoy had consisted of a total of four carriages. One was for the Khotanese envoy's exclusive use, while another held the convoy's supplies. A third carried tribute meant for the emperor of Sui, and the final small carriage was most likely set aside for the envoy's maids. As the group approached that final carriage, they discovered two dead women buried beneath the snow. Like their companions, their throats had been slashed. They'd obviously been dead for some time.
The two deceased maids were lovely even in death. Liu Lin suspected they'd probably doubled as the envoy's bed warmers as well as attendants.
As he watched, the man in white leaned in nose to nose with one of the maids, almost close enough to kiss her. His handsome profile, lit by the brilliant glare off the snow, was juxtaposed with the bruised and mottled face of the corpse. The hair on the back of Liu Lin's neck stood up, yet the man seemed not to mind at all. His thin lips hovered near the cheek of the deceased maid, then moved downward. He unfastened the girl's blood-soaked collar, looking for all the world like a lecher with the worst intentions. Even the young man with him, previously so composed, couldn't hide his revulsion as he exclaimed, "Sir!"
"What are you yelling for?" the man scoffed. He strode over to the other corpse and crouched again, sniffing around her ruined throat for a long time before finally speaking again. "There's one more woman. Find her."
Was there still someone else? Liu Lin was taken aback.
"There's a fragrance lingering in the carriage," said the man impatiently. "It's different from the perfume on these women. There must be another woman. Find her!"
At this, everyone hurried to scour the area. They located a total of twenty-one corpses in the end—but aside from the two maids, they found no more women.
"Leave one team here to clean up the crime scene," the man in white ordered Liu Lin. "Take all the bodies back."
We're already done here?
The Khotanese envoy had been murdered in cold blood; the king of Khotan would certainly pursue the matter. Once the bodies were removed and the sun rose and melted the snow, any remaining evidence would disappear with it. How would they investigate the case after that? Liu Lin was baffled. But he didn't have the guts to speak up, and instead sent glance after pleading glance toward Pei Jingzhe, hoping he would take the hint.
Pei Jingzhe sighed and picked up the coat the man in white had dropped. He seemed to have accepted his fate. "We're leaving, just like that? What about the carriages and the horses, sir?"
"You tell me," the man in white countered. "What can we achieve by remaining here?"
Liu Lin stammered as he intervened. "Sh-shouldn't we at least bring the murder weapons and carriages back as evidence? That way, when Khotan questions us later, we'll at least have something to show."
"Leave the carriages," the man said. "You may bring the weapons."
Without further explanation, he strode to his horse and swung up into the saddle. Then he lifted his riding crop and galloped off, a white-robed figure on a gray steed. The remaining men looked at each other, at a loss.
The constables of a small border town couldn't compete with ones from the capital, to say nothing of a man from the infamous Jiejian Bureau. Pei Jingzhe was left to direct Liu Lin on how to clean up the crime scene. He split the party in two and sent half back to the city with the bodies and weapons. Only then did he ride back himself and head to Qiushan Manor.
Qiushan Manor was located in the southeast quarter of Liugong City, surrounded by mountains and facing the water. It was a place of tranquility amid the bustle of the city. County Magistrate Zhao's wife hailed from a prominent local family, and Qiushan Manor had been part of her dowry. Every year, the magistrate brought his family to the manor at the start of the spring holidays and stayed a few days. He'd had someone tidy the manor in anticipation of the arrival of the dignitary from the capital, and had opened the manor immediately after receiving him. If his distinguished guest enjoyed his stay, perhaps less blame would fall on Magistrate Zhao's head.
Pei Jingzhe was instantly fond of the place, especially now, when the winter snow had yet to thaw and hints of green budded anew on the branches. The place was rather more refined than his residence in the capital, and every time he entered, his mood soared. He knew that right then, however, Deputy Bureau Chief Feng's mood would be foul.
Copper chimes rang beneath the eaves. The man who sat leaning against the veranda pillar had been there for some time, having ridden back first, and had an indolent and careless demeanor. Yet his fingers were nimble as they rolled up a letter and inserted it into a bamboo tube the thickness of his thumb.
Pei Jingzhe instinctively quieted his steps, but the man's lashes quivered slightly as his eyelids flickered—he had already noticed him.
Feng Xiao passed the tube to Pei Jingzhe. "For Qiemo—send men to investigate everyone in the Khotanese convoy,"
Qiemo was situated between Khotan and Liugong City. Though the city belonged to the Sui dynasty in name, the court had its hands full dealing with the Göktürks and the Southern dynasty. For now, they gave little thought to the place. But when traveling from the Central Plains to the Western Regions, it was necessary to pass through Qiemo. Passing merchants from all over gathered there to rest, and thus, over time, it had become neutral territory. In addition to merchant goods, it was a convenient location for the collection and transmission of information. The Jiejian Bureau had long had a base of operations there.
"Yes sir," said Pei Jingzhe as he received the bamboo tube. He couldn't help but ask, "Do you already have a lead on this case?"
Feng Xiao picked up a nearby file and tossed it at him; Pei Jingzhe caught it, fumbling. When he opened it, he found a letter penned in the Khotanese king's own hand—a royal edict printed on gold foil that he'd entrusted to the envoy for the emperor of Sui, Yang Jian.
The identity of the Khotanese envoy was outlined within: the man's name was Yuchi Jinwu, nephew to the king. The Khotanese ruler expressed his admiration of the Celestial Empire, along with his hopes for an alliance to repel the Göktürks.
The Khotanese king obviously wanted Great Sui to help him deal with the Göktürks, yet he also feared the Sui dynasty would take this chance to annex Khotan. The language of the edict walked the line, striving to please the emperor of Sui while taking care not to promise too much. This edict had been meant for their sovereign's eyes—but the envoy was dead, and it had become one of their only leads in his murder case. What had been held in private keeping for the throne now passed through their hands first.
Yuchi Jinwu's convoy had been massacred on the road, yet nothing was stolen. Even this golden edict had remained in the carriage, completely intact.
Pei Jingzhe finished reading and closed the edict. "Sir, a Khotanese man was murdered within Great Sui's borders. Something like this occurring under our own noses undermines our prestige and creates friction between Khotan and Great Sui. It does seem like something the Göktürks might do."
"So the Göktürks infiltrated our borders to commit murder. In that case, why use Göktürk sabers? If they'd used weapons from the Central Plains, they'd have left neither witness nor evidence."
Pei Jingzhe scratched his chin. "The Göktürks are crude in their thoughts and savage in their actions. It's not out of the question for them to be so brazen. Both the Göktürk Khaganate and Central Plains are sharpening their swords for war. Perhaps they were confident that even if we did realize they were behind the attack, we'd be powerless to act against them."
"Didn't you notice?" said Feng Xiao. "Something important was missing from that carriage."
Pei Jingzhe thought long and hard. Even the golden edict was there; what could be missing? The Khotanese envoy had entered Great Sui to offer tribute, and all those tributes had been left there as well…
Then it hit him. "The tribute list!" he blurted. "Earlier, I couldn't find the tribute list!"
Feng Xiao hummed acknowledgment, as if he thought Pei Jingzhe wasn't beyond hope after all.
Pei Jingzhe had long grown accustomed to the deputy bureau chief's temperament. Such a mark of approval was slightly overwhelming. Encouraged, he pressed on: "The murderer took the tribute list. Was it because they stole one of the tributes and didn't want us to know? But all we'd need to do is write a letter to the Khotanese king. Wouldn't that get us a clear answer?"
"In the time we wasted on such a back-and-forth, the murderer could do many things," said Feng Xiao. "Fetch me that cabinet from the envoy's carriage."
Pei Jingzhe went at once. He returned a short time later carrying the small cabinet and pulled the three drawers open, one at a time.
"Something's missing," said Feng Xiao.
Pei Jingzhe was confounded. He examined the drawers again. It didn't look like anything was missing to him. But saying as much out loud would almost certainly result in another scolding, so Pei Jingzhe said meekly, "My lowly self is dull-witted. I beg your instruction, sir."
Feng Xiao didn't keep him in further suspense. "Rouge."
Pei Jingzhe had worked closely under the Jiejian Bureau's deputy chief for years; he was no fool. After a moment's thought, he connected the dots. "The cabinet held forehead adornments, which means it must have held makeup and rouge as well. But the fragrance lingering within the carriage didn't match the perfume of the two maids—so there must have been another woman in the convoy, most likely a favored concubine of Yuchi Jinwu. Did the murderer kidnap her? No, that's not right… The drawers show no signs of being rifled through; the contents are neat and orderly. So she probably wasn't taken by force…" He jolted in surprise. "Could the missing woman be the murderer?!"
Feng Xiao gathered his sleeves. "Whether she is or not, she certainly has something to do with them. And though the murderer used a Göktürk saber, they might not be a Göktürk themselves. Go and investigate. Report back within three days."
Pei Jingzhe gave a slight nod. "Yes, sir."
***
Three days wasn't a long time, but it wasn't short either. If one spent it in idleness, the time would pass slowly and arduously—but if one had much to do, it would pass in the blink of an eye.
Pei Jingzhe knew Feng Xiao's temperament. Three days meant exactly that, and not an hour more. So after Feng Xiao gave his order, Pei Jingzhe wasted no time setting about his investigation. He sent both messenger pigeons and men on fast horses to the Jiejian Bureau's base in Qiemo. The pigeons met a sandstorm and never returned, but fortunately, his contingency plan bore fruit. On the evening of the third day, he received a letter from the men he'd dispatched.
"Speak." Feng Xiao's eyes were half-lidded; he didn't deign to look at the letter Pei Jingzhe presented to him.
Pei Jingzhe related the details: "Yuchi Jinwu came to the Central Plains several years ago and met a woman here in Liugong City. She was surnamed Qin and came from a respectable family. Yuchi Jinwu found her mesmerizing, and after pursuing her for some time, finally took her as his concubine and brought her back to Khotan. He adored this Lady Qin fiercely by all accounts. Even now, when he came to the Central Plains to offer tribute, he brought her along. The single woman missing after the massacre of the convoy must be this Lady Qin."
"Is that all?"
"I've already sent men to investigate Lady Qin's movements and daily activities in Khotan. Due to the vast distance, a timely response will be difficult to obtain. However, my subordinates did learn that she lived with her paternal aunt here in Liugong City after the death of her parents. After she left with Yuchi Jinwu, her aunt's family moved away as well. According to her old neighbors, Lady Qin was devoutly religious. Prior to her marriage, she was most commonly seen at Liugong City's Yufo Temple and at Zixia Monastery. On the first and fifteenth of practically every month, she'd go to one or the other to offer incense."
Feng Xiao finally opened his eyes and snorted. "After half a day's worth of drivel, you finally say something useful!"
"But this subordinate could only tell you the end after getting through the earlier parts!" Pei Jingzhe said indignantly. "I've already sent people to investigate Yufo Temple and Zixia Monastery. Yufo Temple has always been the most popular temple in Liugong City, but Zixia Monastery is a bit of an oddball. The temple at the monastery has been deserted for a long time; these days, few people go there. If Lady Qin wished to offer incense, why didn't she look for a busier Daoist monastery?"
When Feng Xiao didn't reply, he continued. "Even stranger, two months ago, a new abbot arrived and assumed leadership of Zixia Monastery, and its popularity rose immediately. Now everyone says Zixia Monastery is the best spot to seek medical expertise, and that the priests there are honest and kind. They say the gods receiving offerings there will answer any request, often manifesting themselves."
"What is this new abbot's name? Where did he come from?"
"His surname is Cui—Cui Buqu. They say he was a wandering Daoist; we haven't yet been able to find anything else."
Cui Buqu. Buqu as in "won't go"?
Where wasn't he going? And why? The world was vast. Was there any place one couldn't go? Feng Xiao rolled the name around on his tongue, and his lips tugged into a slight curve.
How interesting.