Chapter 108 – Inspector Xiao Song
Everyone turned around as their eyes followed the sound, revealing a tall and upright man in a crimson official uniform. He stood at the door with his hands folded. The wheat-colored skin showed a strong vitality under the sunlight, and he had a pair of dazzling star-like eyes. At that moment, he was looking at Ran Yan with a smile.
“Xiao Song!” Xing Niang exclaimed. The last time she saw him was around nighttime. She only thought that this man was very handsome and extraordinary, but she didn’t expect to see him during the day. She couldn’t pick out a single flaw in him.
Ran Yan also saw Xiao Song. Ordinary people would always expose some shortcomings in brightly lit places, but he even took advantage of the momentum of the brilliant sun to make him more and more awe-inspiring, compelling people not to dare directly look at him.
Xiao Song slightly nodded towards Xing Niang, then turned to look at Ran Yan and said, “Why? I haven’t seen you for more than a month, so the Seventeenth Miss no longer remembers me?”
“Your Excellency!” The team saluted Xiao Song.
An emissary was dispatched by the imperial court to inspect and assess the governance of officials, which was equivalent to a prison sentence in the Song Dynasty. Xiao Song, as the minister of the Ministry of Justice, appeared in Suzhou City and Yingmei Nunnery as an inspector at this time. Its meaning was self-evident.
Ran Yan felt that Liu Pinrang’s position as governor might be shaken, but replacing the governor of a state might seem simple, but in fact, the relationships involved were intricately intertwined, and it affected the whole body. They really wanted to replace him because of these two cases, but it wasn’t necessarily that easy.
“Greetings Mr. Xiao.” Ran Yan bowed slightly to him.
“Seventeenth Miss doesn’t need to be so polite.” Xiao Song’s smile did not diminish, but it did not weaken his imposing aura in the slightest. He looked around and asked unintentionally, “Miss Ran lives near the crime scene. I wonder if she has found anything suspicious?”
This question was tricky. He clearly knew she would have an opinion, but he asked it like this.
Ran Yan thought about it for a while. Since he was on business, then she should be an ordinary passerby, “I only heard that there were hosta flowers at the scene of the crime. I know that there is a hosta flower garden not far behind this yard, so it has already been reported to Inspector Liu.”
“Can I go take a look?” Xiao Song asked.
Ran Yan nodded, turned around, and instructed Wan Lu, “Take the emissary to the window where you can see the vista of hosta flowers.”
Wan Lu responded, bowed to Xiao Song, and guided him to the location.
Xiao Song took two steps forward, turned his head, and left a faint sentence, “Miss Ran, come with me, and explain the details to this official.”
It’s not a tour. What explanation do I need to make?
Ran Yan always felt that Xiao Song liked to find fault with her when he had nothing to do, but he was working now, so Ran Yan could only cooperate with him.
After Xiao Song entered the inner room, he did not rush to the window but casually looked at the inner surroundings. The furnishings in the room were notably simple. After the curtains were folded upwards, it could be said that it was clear at a glance. Several government soldiers were still rummaging, stacking suspicious items on a small table.
Xiao Song didn’t seem to be interested in these so-called “suspicious items”. He just glanced at it lightly and then turned his eyes away. When he saw the bed, his eyes paused and finally settled on the plain oil-paper umbrella closely placed beside the bed.
Ran Yan’s heart skipped a beat, and she secretly hated herself for not putting away her umbrella just now. While she was regretting that, Xiao Song had already walked over to the couch and picked up the umbrella.
Those slender and powerful hands held the body of the unadorned umbrella, which looked particularly pleasing to the eye. But for some reason, she was a little nervous. However, after contemplating about it, even if he found out that it was actually a sword, what could he do? There was no rule in the Tang Dynasty that stipulated one or two swords were not allowed at home, and there was no rule that swords were not allowed to be made into umbrella handles.
“Seventeenth Miss is really interesting.” Xiao Song – with a half-smiling face – caressed the purple umbrella handle that glowed with cold light. He held the front end of the handle, but he didn’t exert any force. Putting it back in place, he said half-jokingly, “The umbrella you placed on your pillow when you sleep is not a token of love, right?”
Xing Niang nervously responded, “Inspector Xiao must be joking. She is innocent. How could she have a relationship with someone.”
Xiao Song didn’t look angry after being disrupted by Xing Niang. He just smiled lightly and walked towards the window.
By the open window, one could see that there was a large lush hosta flower on the slope not far away, which appeared to be like a piece of unmelted snow from a distance.
“Such a picturesque view. What does the Seventeenth Miss usually do when she sits here?” Xiao Song turned his head and asked.
Ran Yan’s voice was flat as she declared, “Embroidery.”
Ran Yan usually liked to sit here looking at the scenery outside and think about things, but she couldn’t say that. If she answered “thinking about things”, Xiao Song would definitely ask again: What are you thinking about? Does what you think have anything to do with the case? Have you noticed anything unusual when you look at the flowerbed every day? Did you find any characters? Who usually takes care of the garden?
She answered Embroidery, although she knew Xiao Song wouldn’t believe it, it was better than being asked a stream of questions.
“I heard that ladies who do embroidery usually have to take a break for an hour in between. Have you ever noticed who takes care of the flower garden?” Xiao Song seemed to be completely unaware of Ran Yan’s mood and continued to ask.
Ran Yan quietly sighed, thinking about how could he go around to the top of everything. She said in a flat voice, “If you have something to say, you can directly say it. I’m aware of everything I say, and it is important to be efficient in handling cases. What do you think?”
At that moment, everyone in the room was stunned, and even the soldiers who were rummaging through boxes and cabinets froze in their tasks. They no longer dared to close the opened box lid, instead gently put it down, trying not to make the slightest sound.
Xing Niang quickly said, “Xiao Song, she is outspoken. I hope Xiao Song will not be offended.”
Xiao Song smiled undeniably, picked up the teapot from the table, and seemed to nonchalantly enjoy it. “It’s alright. I also know a thing or two about Seventeenth Miss Ran’s temperament. Naturally not… Well, the taste of this tea is not right. “
Halfway through speaking, he suddenly changed the subject.
Su Fu had added medicine to the tea last night. The medicine had no taste at the time, but the tea was easily spoiled. Ran Yan suspiciously glanced at him. The tea would taste bad overnight, isn’t that normal? Does he also know how to dispense medicine?
“It’s rare to see people brewing tea in a pot.” Xiao Song put down the teapot, took out a handkerchief, and wiped his hands as if he had just touched something awful.
Ran Yan was stunned. If this Xiao Song did not have a habit of being clean then he should have an excellent understanding of drugs. The drug would be slightly toxic after a night of qualitative change, especially when mixed with tea. The toxicity was several times that of usual; although it wouldn’t cause much harm to the human body through the skin, it wouldn’t always be comfortable.
The soldiers of the government retreated one after another, and the team leader came over to salute and said, “According to the Inspector, the search is complete, and the suspicious items were placed there. Would you please take a look?”
Xiao Song walked, leaned over and picked up a vial, and said slowly, “Have you never heard that Seventeenth Miss Ran is a medical expert? What caused the deceased to die? Why are these medicines suspicious?”
The corpse was covered in wounds, and it really couldn’t be said that it was poisoned to death.
His several questions were neither hard nor light, but the team leader was speechless, so he could only say, “The Inspector said that we must not dismiss anything suspicious.”
“Oh.” Xiao Song put down the medicine bottle, glanced at him leisurely, and concluded casually, “It’s no wonder that the case can’t be solved for a month.”
The team leader was sweating profusely. No matter what Xiao Song meant by saying that Provincial Governor Liu was not good, or whether their subordinates were too stupid, he couldn’t afford it, because Xiao Song made this conclusion because of his words.
Ran Yan wanted to laugh a little, but this Xiao Song liked to find fault, probably because of his “occupational disease” as the Minister of Justice.
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