Lady Li’s every word carried the same regret: if she had spoken sooner, perhaps none of this would have happened.
Murong Qing did not know how to comfort her. Everyone interpreted guilt differently. When Murong Qing had seen her own family dead before her, she had thought the same. She had discovered traces of the Plum Blossom Thief early and still failed to pursue them to the end.
“Everyone has a fate, Lady Li. No one person is to blame. What matters now is uncovering the truth and clearing Lord Li’s name.”
Shangguan Jin looked at her more carefully. He had expected the woman behind the rumors to be different. Perhaps she truly was.
Those who survived suffering always asked themselves the same question.
A’Mei grew more anxious as they spoke. Gentle questioning tested the last fragile piece of a secret that had not yet been exposed, and she was holding such a secret.
Lady Li nodded. “I know where my husband often went for entertainment. Wanhe House, nearby.”
Murong Qing considered the famous restaurant. It hardly resembled a place for hidden vice. Perhaps its true business operated beneath the respectable surface.
“Do you know anything else?” Shangguan Jin asked.
Lady Li shook her head. They would have to question the entire household.
A’Mei hurried to inform the senior housekeeper, relieved that she would no longer face them alone. The servants soon gathered at the gate. Murong Qing questioned the women while Shangguan Jin questioned the men.
Nearly an hour passed.
Tired, Murong Qing waited beneath a pavilion and organized what she had learned. She had never imagined Lord Li’s private conduct would be so sordid. Her father’s faction had not been friendly with the Li family, but the two men had cooperated when official work required it. Li Ren had not seemed like this.
Why had he changed?
According to the maids, after upheavals at court, Lord Li began leaving frequently. Sometimes he drank to drown his worries. Sometimes he visited Wanhe House after curfew.
Murong Qing sighed.
“Has Deputy Minister Murong uncovered something worth such deep thought?”
Shangguan Jin had appeared behind her without warning. She jumped.
“Minister Shangguan seems in good spirits. Did you learn anything?”
“No. I was wondering what occupied your thoughts.” He sat at the stone table. “The male servants knew little, or claimed they knew nothing.”
“Who says only women enjoy gossip?” Murong Qing objected. A rumor needed only one mouth to cross the whole city, especially a rumor about demons. Men spread those eagerly enough.
Then again, servants might truly know little about their employer’s private affairs.
“My witnesses offered mostly indecent details,” she said. “But everything points toward Wanhe House.”
“It does not appear to conduct such business,” Shangguan Jin said, rubbing his chin. “Many officials hold banquets there, but that hardly makes it a den of vice. Shall we change clothes and investigate?”
“Do we need disguises?”
“Who would discuss a murder with two officials in uniform?”
That was not what she meant. Murong Qing explained that she often visited Wanhe House. Its staff already knew she had become a deputy minister. Any disguise would be exposed the moment she entered.
She thought, then looked up sharply and understood his intention.
—
Murong Qing returned home and changed into masculine clothing. From her maid Qiukui, she took a false mustache.
“My lady, must you truly do this?” Qiukui asked helplessly.
“For the case, I must.”
Qiukui did not doubt her abilities. She feared only that the investigation would drag Murong Qing back into the memories of her family’s massacre.
“My lady…”
“Qiukui, prepare your best dish for me when I return.”
Murong Qing hurried out before more could be said.
She and Shangguan Jin had agreed to meet behind Wanhe House. The distance from her home forced her to walk quickly. She arrived at the appointed time.
Shangguan Jin stood by the entrance, as conspicuous as ever. Murong Qing suspected her own disguise might attract equal attention. She hunched and approached him.
He looked down at her. “Your first time dressing as a man?”
“No. I was simply rushed.”
Smiling, she tugged her clothes into a few extra wrinkles. Shangguan Jin looked at her once more and suppressed a laugh.
“Very well. Let us go inside.”
—
Wanhe House was one of Chang’an’s best-known restaurants. Its food and setting surpassed ordinary establishments, which explained its popularity among officials.
A server hurried over. “What would the honored guests like?”
“The finest private room,” Shangguan Jin said. “The best view upstairs.”
Silver slid from his broad palm. The server’s eyes nearly left his head.
Money could make even ghosts turn millstones.
They received the best room, complimentary wine, and an elaborate meal.
Murong Qing ignored the drink and watched the hall below, searching for anyone unusual.
“A’Mei said the woman accompanying Lord Li has been a regular here.”
She carefully unfolded the portrait she had drawn and angled it toward Shangguan Jin, wary of anyone entering. The woman possessed elegant phoenix eyes and dressed like a celebrated courtesan.
“I’ll question the server,” he said.
“Won’t that expose us?”
Shangguan Jin smiled. “Not if the gratuity is generous enough.”