Da Li Temple - Chapter 25.1
Chapter 25.1
Brothel
Su Moyi stayed in the palace for the dinner. In the evening, he bid farewell to the Empress Dowager. Then, he boarded Ye Qing’s carriage at the palace gate, preparing to return to the Da Li Temple.
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After they left the Danfeng Gate, they passed through Yong Xing Hall. Ye Qing suddenly leaned the carriage against a small stall, lifted the curtain, and said, “Lord, there’s a carriage behind us that has been following us since we left the palace gate.”
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Su Moyi pinched his brow and blandly said, “I already realized it a while ago.”
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Ye Qing lifted the sword in his hand, “Should we capture the person and ask for clarification?”
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Su Moyi lifted half of the carriage’s curtain and saw a two-wheeled vehicle crashed not far behind. The person inside also lifted the curtain to look out: it was a pale man without a beard. His orchid fingers (*) were particularly noticeable when he lifted the curtain.
T/N : (???) A hand gesture where the tip of the thumb gently touches the distal part of the middle finger, and the remaining fingers are slightly flexed, making the hand resemble the petals of an orchid flower. It is considered a sign of grace and feminity. In other words, that man was an eunuch.
Su Moyi sighed out a breath and helplessly said, “It’s Imperial Grandmother’s people.”
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“Then ……,” Ye Qing hesitated, “Should I drive them away?”
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“No need,” Su Moyi leaned towards the carriage’s wall with a sullen face, “Go directly to Ping Kang Hall.”
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“Ah, ah?” Ye Qing thought he had heard wrong.
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“You return to the Da Li Temple and bring all the files of those cases I’ve been working on lately.” He looked impatient, tapping his long fingers on his knees as he added, “I’ll be lodging there for the last few days.”
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The matter of Su Moyi wanting to lodge elsewhere was premeditated. Ever since that day when he had briefly lost control over Lin Wanqing, he had deliberately avoided her for several consecutive days. Including today’s trip to Chang’an Hall, nominally to visit the Empress Dowager, but in reality, he wanted to leave Da Li Temple. But moving elsewhere for no apparent reason inevitably made people feel strange. Especially since Lin Wanqing was so mindful and suspicious, he couldn’t let her misunderstand that he was avoiding her.
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The Empress Dowager has sent someone to follow him, so she must have heard about the incident in the Taiyi Pond where he jumped into the water to save someone.
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Su Moyi was too lazy to explain. He might as well use actions to prove that he was not into males and not returning to Da Li Temple, killing two birds with one stone. He then let Ye Qing park the carriage in Nan District and walked by himself.
On the other hand, in a wonton store in the East Market, Lin Wanqing, who had not seen Liang Weiping for a few days as if it were three autumns, had not even noticed that a person was missing from Da Li Temple recently. She slammed a wonton from her spoon into Liang Weiping’s mouth and said, “Nothing happened between me and that dog official!”
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Liang Weiping gulped down the scalding wontons in his mouth and slurred, “The hell I believe you! He came to my Qing Ya Residence that day and nearly lifted the roof of my room. If you hadn’t used any foxy tricks to serve him comfortably, would he have let you go so easily?”
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Lin Wanqing’s face suddenly looked unnatural and defended, “With his unsympathetic nature, I’m afraid that even if I had used any tricks, it wouldn’t have helped.”
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“Eh! You don’t understand,” Liang Weiping swallowed the wontons and pointed at Lin Wanqing with a spoon, “The softest time for a man’s ears is when you serve him that thing comfortably. He will agree to whatever you ask him!”
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“Bah!” Lin Wanqing was too lazy to say more to Liang Weiping, took two cents from her pocket, put it on the table, and returned to Da Li Temple.
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Recently, Su Moyi was busy and didn’t assign things to Lin Wanqing, so she had nothing to do. To avoid her rambling thoughts, she simply took out the schedules of all the victims of the r*pe and murder cases and examined them again.
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The four victims had all once been songstresses in the Ping Kang Hall, aged thirty-five or more, and none of them had ever seen a man before their deaths. The first two victims died in October, one in February, and the last in May. According to her previous judgment of the murderer, he was a twisted and inferior person, and such a person would usually only prey on familiar people. Almost all the perpetrators of murder and r*pe cases would have a history of r*pe. The reason why they turn to r*pe and murder is usually because of sudden changes and traumas in their lives that they find hard to accept, so they take out their anger on their victims. Perhaps, if she started with the r*pe cases, she would make a breakthrough. Because in this type of crime, usually, the victim can provide helpful information about the murderer. It seemed that Ping Kang Hall was still the key to making a breakthrough, and she was almost sure that the murderer must be lurking inside. But what method did he use to make it impossible to find him?
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Lin Wanqing rubbed her hair in annoyance and decided to go to Ping Kang Hall again that night to take a look. However, what she didn’t expect was that the pimp told her that the previous gentleman who came along with her had already booked the courtesans she had seen last time.
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Seeing that they knew each other, the pimp took Lin Wanqing to the private room on the third floor.
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When the door opened, incense and tea scent filled the room. Lin Wanqing and Su Moyi, who had not seen each other for many days, locked eyes and froze.
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Su Moyi was the first to react. When he met Lin Wanqing’s surprised gaze, he explained: “I am here to ask questions.” As if he was afraid she would misunderstand that he was not doing his job but seeking pl*asure.
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However, after explaining, Lord Su regretted how he had the illusion of sneaking into a brothel only to be caught by his wife. He coughed twice with his fist against his lips, seamlessly switching back to his previous unsmiling appearance, pulling up his robe, and sitting on the couch.
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Lin Wanqing did not think much. She thanked the pimp and walked over to sit next to Su Moyi. On the rosewood desk were two neat stacks of documents with brush holders, in which the brushes hung orderly based on length and thickness.
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Paper and brushes are Su Moyi’s.
Tea leaves and tea cups, too.
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Lin Wanqing didn’t know whether to laugh or sigh. She only picked up the file that Su Moyi turned over – the r*pe and murder case. It turned out that this person had come here to help her investigate the case.
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“Lord,” she said to Su Moyi, “I still have a few questions I want to ask.”
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The courtesans sat down again with trepidation. Lin Wanqing pulled out the previously organized questions from her bosom, fetched another brush, and began to ask questions.
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“Have you all ever heard of any r*pe cases in the brothels of this Nan District?”
When the question came out, the crowd fell silent. Seeing this, Lin Wanqing comforted, “You don’t have to mention the victim names.”
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A courtesan couldn’t help but muttered, “Yes, but no one reported the case.”
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“Why is that?”
A courtesan said lightly, “It’s not that no sisters have gone to the police before. But, women in the brothels are selling their bodies for a living, so if they go to the police because of something like this, the government will do nothing but ridicule and satirize them. Who will really report the case?”
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Lin Wanqing felt her heart a bit blocked and said, “Then has sister ever heard anyone talk about the r*pist?”
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“I did hear about it,” another courtesan spoke, “Rumor has it that he likes to attack from behind and cover their eyes when he does that. Oh! He also bit the n*pples off a few girls.”