Chapter Twenty-Six: Finding the True Culprit

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The moment Tao Zhengyue finished speaking, an uproar swept across the boat.

“She looks so frail and scholarly. Who would have thought her heart could be so vicious? No doubt Brother Song was deceived by her beauty...”

“Look closely. There are bloodstains on her collar. Isn’t that proof that she committed the murder?”

“But she is a County Princess. How are we supposed to deal with this?”

“So what if she is a County Princess? Even the Son of Heaven must be punished as an ordinary subject if he breaks the law.”

...

“How could our young mistress possibly have killed anyone? What right do you have to slander her like this?”

As the surrounding whispers grew louder and people even began discussing how Jiang Zhuo should be dealt with, Tonghua’s eyes reddened. She turned furiously on Tao Zhengyue.

“Tonghua, calm down,” Jiang Zhuo said evenly. “Lord Tao merely said that the murderer was a woman. He never said that I was the one who killed him.”

Tao Zhengyue nodded approvingly and looked Jiang Zhuo directly in the eye.

“Before that, might I see Miss Jiang’s hands?”

Jiang Zhuo found the request inexplicable, but she still extended both hands and spread her palms.

“Forgive my impertinence, but may I also examine the wound on Miss Jiang’s neck?”

Jiang Zhuo hesitated.

“If Lord Tao already knows that it is impertinent, why ask again?”

Bai Feijun, his brows furrowed, stepped forward to come to Jiang Zhuo’s aid.

“It is indeed an imposition, but it is necessary for the investigation. Rumors are already running rampant. If Miss Jiang is not the true culprit, then I can at least clear her name.”

“What do you mean, rumors are running rampant? Wasn’t it all stirred up by you, you old man?”

Jiang Lie was even more incensed. He stepped forward, reaching for Tao Zhengyue’s collar.

“My sister’s innocence is known in every heart. She does not need you to prove it for her.”

Jiang Zhuo hurriedly stopped him.

Their father had died in Quzhou, and Jiang Zhuo was certain to travel there on this journey. If she had to deal with Lord Tao again when she arrived, it would be unwise to offend him now.

“It is nothing,” Jiang Zhuo said softly, attempting to soothe him.

“Then may I ask Lord Tao this: if Miss Jiang is innocent, what will you do?”

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Jiang Zhuo was just about to reach up and untie the bandage around her neck when Bai Feijun spoke again, his voice cold and his bearing severe. All the warmth and easy humor he had shown before had vanished, startling even Jiang Zhuo.

To be fair, Bai Feijun’s words and manner were nothing like those of an ordinary commoner. He seemed more like a general born of noble blood.

Tao Zhengyue was also taken aback, but he quickly made a promise.

“Then I shall publicly clear Miss Jiang’s name and apologize to her.”

Bai Feijun looked toward Jiang Zhuo. She silently nodded, then untied the neat bandage and revealed the long, straight wound on her neck.

The slender cut had not yet scabbed over, and against Jiang Zhuo’s fair, delicate skin it appeared all the more terrifying.

Tao Zhengyue did not approach. He merely glanced from side to side and discovered that the wound did not extend past either side of her neck.

“Is this a sword wound?”

Jiang Zhuo nodded and explained, “My elder brother and I were attacked in the Bamboo Chamber just now. The assassin took me hostage, but fortunately my brother has seen countless battles and drove the assassin away.”

“I see.” Tao Zhengyue nodded in understanding.

He then summoned one of the boat’s attendants and asked the usual questions: whether anyone had been seen entering or leaving the Chrysanthemum Chamber before the body was discovered, what Young Master Song had enjoyed during his lifetime, who had accompanied him, and so forth.

At last, he bowed to Jiang Zhuo and apologized.

“It was I who offended you today, County Princess. I beg your forgiveness.”

“It is nothing,” Jiang Zhuo replied with a calm return of the bow. “You were merely eager to apprehend the murderer, Lord Tao.”

Faced with this sudden turn of events, the people aboard the boat looked at one another and began voicing their doubts and dissatisfaction.

“On what grounds have you proved that she is not the murderer?”

“Could this be officials protecting one another? Has the judicial commissioner grown afraid of the Jiang siblings?”

“Who knows?”

“Rank crushes rank. The only people aboard this boat with any real authority are those few officials. Isn’t whatever they say simply taken as fact?”

...

“The victim was strangled from behind with a zither string. The murderer was a female musician skilled in playing instruments, most likely a physically weak woman, and the marks of strangulation should still remain on her hands.”

Tao Zhengyue turned toward the crowd and explained, “I have determined that Miss Jiang is not the murderer for three reasons. First, there are no marks from a zither string on her hands. Second, Miss Jiang holds a higher status than the deceased. Even if she had entered his room alone carrying an instrument and attempted to please him, he would not have lowered his guard so completely in her presence. Third, I saw Miss Jiang around midday today, and there was no wound on her neck at the time. The injury must therefore have been sustained sometime around noon or in the afternoon. Yet the deceased was unskilled in martial arts, and there are no signs of a struggle upon his body.”

“I, Tao Zhengyue, am willing to vouch for Miss Jiang. She is not the true murderer.”

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Tao Zhengyue’s explanation of the evidence rang with authority. The crowd, which had been clamoring moments before, fell instantly silent, though no one seemed to know what to do next.

“Hahahaha! I said all along that a County Princess as beautiful and gentle as this could never be a murderer!”

Seeing the awkward atmosphere, the boatmaster once again stepped in to smooth things over.

“It was all a misunderstanding, nothing more than a misunderstanding.”

Tao Zhengyue calmly continued, asking the boatmaster, “Can you follow my earlier deduction and inspect the palms of the women aboard one by one to find the true culprit?”

“Of course, of course.”

The boatmaster gave Jiang Zhuo and Jiang Lie an ingratiating smile.

“To corroborate Lord Tao’s judgment and clear the County Princess’s name, this humble servant shall do everything in his power.”

Finding the true murderer was only the proper thing to do. It had nothing to do with his own responsibility as the person overseeing the investigation, still less with clearing anyone else of suspicion.

Tao Zhengyue frowned, but seeing that the boatmaster had already issued the orders, he said nothing more.

“You nearly frightened me to death, Young Mistress.”

As the crowd gradually dispersed to submit to inspection, Tonghua pushed through the throng and reached Jiang Zhuo’s side.

“Go back to your room and rest easy,” Jiang Lie said, patting Jiang Zhuo on the shoulder.

Bai Feijun, carrying a medical chest and wearing a faint smile, was also preparing to bandage Jiang Zhuo’s neck again.

Just as the matter seemed to have come to an end, a woman’s wailing cry suddenly rang out from the stern, drawing everyone’s attention.

“I am a courtesan who sells her art, not her body! It was that man named Song who forced himself on me! I—I was only acting in self-defense!”

A frail woman dressed in flowing silk stood with both hands wrapped around a dagger, holding its blade against her throat. Even from a distance, the dark-red marks of strangulation could faintly be seen across her palms.

“Whatever your reasons, the law will decide the proper punishment. If Song Qingchen was guilty, he would have been punished as well. But in what happened today, your crime is far greater than his.”

Tao Zhengyue stood facing the woman with several men at his side.

“Song Qingchen has already been punished for his wrongdoing. As the killer, you must also submit to the law.”

The woman’s eyes were bloodshot. Seeing that there was no hope of escaping punishment, she resolutely thrust the dagger forward and drove it through her own throat.

She had taken her own life on the spot.

A musician who entered the upper cabins?

Jiang Zhuo unconsciously turned her gaze toward the foreign woman standing beyond the surrounding crowd.

Perhaps sensing Jiang Zhuo’s scrutinizing stare, Shule Guli raised her head and smiled sweetly at her, like a dangerous mandala in full bloom.