Chapter Ninety-Nine: A Moonless, Wind-swept Night for Murder

Within the county magistrate’s office, Qin Hui wore a face full of sorrow and paced back and forth through the hall. Zhu Ling found it unbearably irritating and snapped, “Can you stop pacing back and forth all the time? You’re making me annoyed.”

Qin Hui shot him a deeply resentful look. “And you think I want to? You know what that boy is like now. He’s already found out about Blackwater Village. There are several tents set up at the village entrance now; it’s obvious they were placed there on purpose. You should be thinking of a way out.”

Zhu Ling gave a cold snort. “Now you know how to worry. What were you doing before? I told you long ago: either don’t do it at all, or do it cleanly. You always leave yourself an escape route. Now look at the mess you’ve made. You want to deal with those villagers, and now you can’t even finish the job.”

Qin Hui sighed softly. “Sigh... I thought it was a matter from five years ago. So much time has passed; I figured no one would remember anymore. Who could have guessed there would still be loose ends? I thought it would be enough to settle the villagers properly. Who would have expected a leak?”

“You thought, you thought—how many times have you been wrong about what you thought? When have you ever listened to me? Always so full of yourself. Enough, stop overthinking it. The key person here is still Gou Ye. Without him, none of this can go forward. Leave the rest to me.” With that, Zhu Ling narrowed his eyes and looked out beyond the house, lost in thought.

Meanwhile, at the Duke’s Manor, Gou Ye and Yun Niang were tallying the silver they had left. After setting aside the twenty taels for the woodcutter, they had less than seventy taels remaining. Seeing Yun Niang’s worried face, Gou Ye grinned and said, “No need to fret, my silly girl. In a few days we’ll go back to the village again. The house may have burned down, but the silver should still be there.”

“Really?” Yun Niang asked, half in doubt.

“Of course. True silver isn’t afraid of fire. When have I ever lied to you, hmm? Money isn’t what matters. As long as we can recover the things your mother and your father left behind, that will be enough.”

“But Mother’s keepsakes were all destroyed in the fire. I didn’t even get a chance to take a single piece of clothing she wore.” At that, Yun Niang was overcome with sorrow again. Gou Ye held her close and comforted her again and again, not knowing what else to say.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside, followed by a knock at the door.

“Brother Gou Ye, is this a bad time? I’m coming in.”

Hearing it was Gu Shen, Gou Ye immediately answered, “Come in, why would it be inconvenient?”

After entering, Gu Shen broke into a grin and looked at Gou Ye and Yun Niang with a mischievous expression. Gou Ye gave him a mock scowl and pushed him lightly. “Quit fooling around and speak properly. How did you get back so soon? It’s only been a day.”

“For something ordered by Young Master Gou, how could I possibly be slow?” Gu Shen said. “It’s more than forty li there. I didn’t rest once on the way—I rode hard and reached the neighboring county directly. Luckily, that physician really was in the city. I brought him back for you.”

Gou Ye’s eyes lit up. He sprang to his feet at once. “Where is he? Why didn’t you bring him here?”

“This is Miss Yun Niang’s room. How could I just bring another strange man in here? I sent him to the hall. He’s waiting for you there...” Before Gu Shen could finish, Gou Ye had already shot out like an arrow toward the hall.

When Gou Ye saw the physician, he could not help but pause.

In his mind, such a man ought to have been an old veteran like Divine Physician Hua, or at least a middle-aged man. Instead, this physician looked to be not yet thirty. His features were not exactly handsome, but his complexion was fair and clean, giving him something of an elegant young master’s bearing. When he saw Gou Ye, he even bowed slightly. “I am Murong Bai. Greetings, Young Master.”

Quite courteous, indeed. Gou Ye returned the salute. “I am Gou Ye. Greetings, Young Master Murong.”

After the two were seated, Gou Ye asked directly, “Young Master Murong, may I ask whether you know of the plague that struck Blackwater Village five years ago?”

Murong Bai smiled and nodded, speaking in no great haste. “I do know of it. At that time I had only just begun practicing medicine. The county constables were searching everywhere for physicians, and I was among those called. But perhaps they thought I had been at it too briefly and lacked experience, so suddenly I was no longer needed. Around then the Duke’s Manor happened to be recruiting physicians to treat Young Master Gu Shen, so I came here instead. Though I had only just begun practicing, my skills were not bad. I cured Young Master Gu, and so I stayed for a while.”

Murong Bai’s unhurried manner only made Gou Ye more anxious. He had spoken at length without getting to the point, so Gou Ye could not help but interrupt, “Then did you go to the village afterward? Was the plague there real?”

Murong Bai still did not quicken his pace. He answered slowly, “It was real. I was present when we first examined those villagers. After confirming it, we returned to the county seat. After that, I was never summoned back to treat them, so what I can say for certain is that Blackwater Village truly did suffer a plague. And later, I did in fact go there again. What puzzled me then, and still does now, is that when I first went there, there were still many households. By the time I returned, there were fewer than twenty left. The villagers said they had all died of the disease, but in my opinion that is impossible. Infection by plague can indeed kill very easily, but not so quickly. Though I found it strange, it had little to do with me, so I returned to the manor. Then, when Old Master Hua arrived, I left.”

At last Murong Bai finished speaking, and Gou Ye finally let out a breath of relief.

Still, one thing was now certain: Murong Bai had indeed been to Blackwater Village and could prove that a plague had broken out there.

The two spoke a while longer, but Gou Ye could not endure the man’s slow and rambling way of speaking. It was only early evening, so he quickly used dinner as an excuse to end the conversation.

Even so, Murong Bai’s arrival lifted Gou Ye’s spirits considerably. He called everyone over, and since the weather was fine and there was no wind, they set up a roast chicken in the back courtyard. At first it was only Yun Niang, Gu Shen, Murong Bai, and him, but before long, the smell drew over Gu Shen’s brothers and sisters as well.

As Gou Ye turned the chicken over the fire, he looked up at the hazy moonlight. Just then, the moon was partly veiled by a mass of dark cloud. Murong Bai, following Gou Ye’s gaze, also looked up into the night sky and blurted out, almost to himself, “What a perfect night for murder.”

Gou Ye froze, thinking how strange it was that he would say something so abrupt and out of nowhere, when suddenly many masked men in black flew over the wall from outside the courtyard. The moment they landed, without another word, they loosed a volley of throwing stars straight at Gou Ye.

Gu Zhi shouted, “How dare you!” In an instant, the belt at his waist snapped free and became a soft sword. It flashed before Gou Ye in a single sweep, knocking several of the darts to the ground. Even so, Gou Ye still gave a muffled groan as a hidden weapon struck his right shoulder.