Chapter 13 You Should Worry Whether I Will Take You First…

Chapter 13: You Should Worry Whether I Might Just…

Jiang Kai spotted Bai Xiuming and strode forward to salute, "My Lord, Ji Chan has been brought."

This Qianhu Jiang’s voice boomed, almost forcibly drawing everyone’s attention.

A Chan had little choice but to step forward and curtsy, "Ji Chan greets my Lord."

Bai Xiuming looked at the demure A Chan, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the hilt of his sword. He recalled the report his subordinates had submitted the day after the Flower Goddess Festival—its contents were quite… *colorful*.

As Bai Xiuming stared at Ji Chan without speaking, the others held their breath, unsure what had displeased the Commander.

Fortunately, Jiang Kai, who was clueless about reading moods, had accompanied Bai Xiuming today. Feeling the awkward tension, he couldn’t help but call out again, "Commander?"

Bai Xiuming glanced at him and finally spoke, "Take them separately for questioning."

"Yes."

Jiang Kai directed his subordinates to take the Zhao family members to empty side rooms for interrogation, while he personally handled the remaining key members of the Zhao household.

He had initially intended to take A Chan as well, but Bai Xiuming stopped him.

"Leave her here."

"Ah? Understood." Qianhu Jiang turned away to continue his work.

The courtyard bustled with people coming and going, yet everything proceeded in an orderly manner. The seemingly rough-and-tumble Qianhu was, in fact, quite capable.

Left alone, A Chan remained unruffled—after all, she had experienced such a scene once before.

"Follow me," Bai Xiuming turned and led her toward the main chamber.

A Chan hesitated briefly before lifting her skirt and following.

Just at the doorway, she was hit by the pungent stench of blood mixed with an overpowering fishy odor, forcing her to cover her nose and mouth.

The floor was drenched in blood, inexplicably still wet. A Chan stared at the crimson pool, unsure where to step.

Finally, she couldn’t hold back her question, "My Lord, how exactly did my aunt die? Why is there so much blood?"

"Suicide."

"What?" A Chan thought she had misheard.

Bai Xiuming replied indifferently, "She cut open her own stomach with a dagger and bled to death."

"How is that possible? Why would she do such a thing?"

"Good question—I was going to ask you the same." Bai Xiuming looked at A Chan. "Under what circumstances do you think she would do this?"

"I don’t know."

"If you can’t come up with anything, stay here tonight and keep thinking." Bai Xiuming’s tone was gentle.

A Chan felt he was deliberately provoking her today. She needed to be careful to avoid truly angering him.

But given Xiao Lin Shi’s temperament, even if something terrible had happened, she would never have chosen suicide.

A Chan suddenly recalled the large urn she had seen earlier. "My Lord, could you tell me what’s inside that urn?"

"The contents of her belly."

"Contents?" A Chan’s voice rose slightly.

Bai Xiuming smirked. "With such a good memory, you must know of the Widowfish?"

A Chan did know. Before she had left the mountain, the clan elders had told stories about such creatures.

The Widowfish looked almost identical to ordinary fish—even experienced fishermen could hardly tell them apart.

Though called fish, they were actually monstrous beings born from the unresolved resentment of pregnant women who had died unjustly. They did not actively attack people and posed little harm. Their sole purpose was to create more of their kind.

Even human accounts of the supernatural documented cases where women, after eating fish caught in the wild, returned home pregnant—only to give birth to monstrous offspring after ten months.

*Eating…*

A Chan’s stomach dropped. She looked up at Bai Xiuming, only to find his gaze fixed on her face—he had been observing her all along.

*This man won’t budge.* A Chan grumbled inwardly, deciding to take the initiative.

"Does the Lord suspect me in every case?"

Bai Xiuming averted his eyes. "I never said that."

A Chan curved her lips. "Oh? Perhaps my Lord doesn’t realize—his eyes say it all."

Unbothered by the teasing from a young woman, Bai Xiuming merely said, "Then can you tell from my eyes what I’m about to ask you next?"

A Chan lowered her gaze and sighed before answering, "During my visits to the Zhao residence, I often heard people mention how filial my cousin had been lately. My aunt craved fresh fish, so he specially bought live fish for her—every meal, without missing one."

From the moment she ate the Widowfish, it was destined that her aunt would lose her child. But why would Zhao Wensheng do such a thing?

"Was it because my aunt found out the child she carried wasn’t human and couldn’t bear it?" A Chan ventured cautiously.

But she quickly dismissed the thought. If Zhao Wensheng had deliberately fed her the Widowfish, he wouldn’t have revealed it—let alone informed her. So how could she have killed herself over it?

It didn’t make sense.

"Ask her dear son, and we’ll know," Bai Xiuming said, though he made no move to leave.

A Chan understood. "My Lord must have already suspected that, right?"

Zhao Wensheng’s fish deliveries weren’t a secret—anyone paying attention could have learned of it. The Bright Mirror Bureau had dealt with countless cases; they wouldn’t need an outsider like her to point it out. There must be unanswered questions.

"My Lord called me here not just to hear about my cousin, right?" she probed.

"Tell me about the other members of the Zhao family. What are your impressions of them?"

A Chan pondered for a moment. "Let’s start with my cousin. My Lord must already know—my uncle seemed intent on marrying her to Xue Mingtang. My cousin was very fond of him, even vowing she’d marry no one else. But my aunt disagreed, and the two often argued over it.

"Last time at the Flower Goddess Temple, we ran into Xue Shi and her siblings, along with Xue Shi’s children. My aunt quarreled with the Xue family—it was a spectacle. My cousin argued with her again afterward, though she later bought a jade hairpin to make it up to her."

Bai Xiuming raised an eyebrow at her detailed account. "You’re hinting the Xue siblings are suspects."

A Chan pretended to be hurt. "My Lord misunderstands me. I merely have questions. Did Lord Xue try to kill me because I blocked his sister’s path—or because I am of Lin blood?

"Now that my aunt is dead, it seems other than those exiled, I’m the only one left of the Lin family. If not for my Lord that night, I might not have survived either."

Though she had intended to voice her suspicions, her doubts weren’t baseless.

First, Ji Chan's mother died, then Ji Chan, and now it's Xiao Lin Shi's turn. Though she didn’t see the connection, it was far too coincidental.

She couldn’t help but wonder—how many of the exiled Lin family members were still alive?

Bai Xiuming scoffed, "You owe your survival to more than just meeting me."

"You flatter me, my lord. Without you, how could I have kept my life?"

"So?"

"So, my lord, aren’t you really going to investigate Xue Mingtang? He’s suspicious as hell."

From hinting to inciting, and then to outright framing, A Chan’s whole performance gave Bai Xiuming quite the show.

Finally, she added, "Just calling it as I see it. My lord, don’t misunderstand."

"I’m not misunderstanding. I just think you shouldn’t worry about him coming to kill you."

A Chan looked at him, puzzled.

Bai Xiuming narrowed his fox-like peach-blossom eyes. "When you told Xue Shi that you and I had a *close relationship*, you should have worried whether I’d take your life first."

A Chan fell silent.

A Chan cleared her throat and straightened up. "My lord, let’s return to the main topic."

Bai Xiuming continued to stare at her intently.

Avoiding his gaze, A Chan plowed ahead, "Actually, something else happened on the mountain that day, which I found rather strange."

This finally diverted Bai Xiuming’s attention away from her.

Under his scrutiny, A Chan’s back prickled with cold sweat. Who would have thought this man had actually sent someone to spy on her!

Fortunately, he didn’t seem overly concerned about his reputation being "tarnished" by her.

If he truly cared, he would have dragged her back to the Bright Mirror Bureau on the second day of the Flower Morning Festival to have her flayed alive.

"Speak."

"It’s about the jade hairpin my cousin bought for my aunt. My lord can send someone to ask Sun Ma and my aunt’s personal maid—they can vouch for it."

After saying this, A Chan quickly realized that since he had people watching her, he probably already knew everything.

However, the spies only reported her actions, not necessarily her thoughts, which gave her wiggle room.

"What’s wrong with the jade hairpin?"

"Truthfully, I didn’t notice anything wrong with it. I just thought the jade quality was excellent, yet my cousin only paid five taels for it—suspiciously cheap. Later, when my aunt asked me to go shopping, I looked for the stall that sold the hairpin but couldn’t find it.

A vendor selling velvet flowers nearby told me the seller only sold my cousin one jade hairpin, exchanged words with her, then vanished without a trace. I found that rather odd."

Bai Xiuming watched A Chan’s face for tells, unsure if her fear was genuine or just for show.

Setting aside the glaring inconsistencies about Ji Chan, after several interactions, Bai Xiuming’s impression of her had held steady in the positives.

Clever, bold, adaptable, and knew exactly how far to push.

Shame—such qualities had never been evident in the old Ji Chan.

He shifted his gaze away from her and said, "What about Zhao Ming? What do you think of him?"

A Chan thought for a moment. "In my recent visits to the Zhao household, I haven’t seen my uncle, but according to my aunt, he was a husband without equal."

"How so?"

A Chan smiled. "For a woman, a man who never strays, keeps no concubines, and remains devoted solely to his wife is already better than most.

Besides, my uncle climbed the ranks steadily. His rank wasn’t high, but it kept my aunt content. I also heard Sun Ma mention that throughout their marriage, even when they argued, it was always my aunt who started it, and he was the one who patched things up every time."

"And that proves Zhao Ming was a good man?"

"Isn’t he?" A Chan’s gaze sharpened. "Does my lord know something?"