“You think Gu Ling’s intentions with A-Wu are not pure?” Hua Yao asked.
Zhong Li let out a cold laugh. “Not pure is an understatement. It’s highly likely that this incident will fundamentally change A-Wu.”
“What do you mean, Li’er? How did you figure that out?” Hua Yao looked puzzled.
Zhong Li pondered for a moment before replying, “There are many suspicious points about Gu Ling. Firstly, her marriage to A-Wu is so soon after meeting him. Secondly, she knows full well that A-Wu works for the Dali Temple, which is currently short-handed investigating the Hua Man Lou case. She could have used A-Wu’s absence to keep him from reporting for duty for days. What are her intentions?
Thirdly, when A-Wu and she were getting married, you were outside and must have heard her. Everything she said made it sound as though A-Wu was merely a money tree. How much genuine affection does Gu Ling truly have for him?
Fourthly, when A-Wu was kowtowing to me, Gu Ling hid in the house and didn’t come out. Only when A-Wu was too weak to stand did she awkwardly emerge. Put yourself in her shoes: if A-Wu were in Lan Heng’s current state, how would you act? If Gu Ling truly loved A-Wu, why would she put him in such a difficult position?”
“Heavens, I missed so many details!” Hua Yao exclaimed, tapping her head in frustration after hearing Zhong Li’s analysis.
Zhong Li poured her a cup of clear tea and handed it to her. “That’s why you need to drink some water and clear your head. Some things are not as they appear on the surface.”
Hua Yao took the cup and took several sips, her emotions gradually calming.
After a while, she put down the cup and suddenly recalled something. “Wait a minute. If Gu Ling is such a selfish person, why would she kill herself for some so-called righteousness?”
Zhong Li, who had been dozing in the carriage, grew serious upon hearing Hua Yao’s question. “That’s precisely why I said A-Wu might be fundamentally changed by this.”
As she spoke, she remembered something Lu Wuxie had told her: “Li’er, trust no one, not even those closest to you.”
Could he have been referring to A-Wu?
The carriage traveled for about an hour before arriving at the Dali Temple.
Zhong Li gracefully alighted from the carriage. She didn’t even glance back at A-Wu and the others following her, heading directly for the outer hall.
Since the perpetrator had been apprehended and had committed suicide, she skipped the interrogation process. With a few casual instructions, everyone began to busy themselves.
Gu Ling’s mother was temporarily detained. As for Gu Ling’s body, due to A-Wu’s insistence, the Dali Temple officials, with Zhong Li’s tacit approval, allowed him to temporarily take it to his room.
Zhong Li changed into a scholar’s robe, ate something, and, with Hua Yao, rushed to the Dali Temple interrogation room.
Gu Ling’s mother, still reeling from the pain of losing her daughter, became like an enraged lioness upon seeing Zhong Li, unleashing roars and curses.
Zhong Li seemed not to hear her. She found an official’s hat chair and sat opposite, finished reading the dossier in her hand, and then addressed the woman before her, “State your name.”
Gu Ling’s mother, already frail, had exhausted herself from shouting and crying. She lay prone on the ground, panting, gazing forward.
Seeing that she did not answer, Zhong Li was not annoyed. Instead, she picked up a booklet and flipped through it. “So your surname is Tuo. An unusual given name. Tuo Shi, tell me about your daughter, Gu Ling.”
“Bah! You dog official, you dare?” Tuo Shi spat at Zhong Li.
Zhong Li glanced at her indifferently. “How about this? I’ll tell a story. You can correct me if anything is wrong.”
“There was a young girl who lost her father at a young age and lived with her mother, relying on each other. When she was approaching her coming-of-age ceremony, her mother suddenly fell ill. The illness was serious enough that it required medication.
This further burdened the girl’s already impoverished family. Although the medicine itself wasn’t expensive, due to the matters of the Divine Maiden Sect, one of the ingredients, Tian Hua Fen, became incredibly difficult to obtain.
The girl had no choice but to seek employment at Hua Man Lou, a place where women could earn the most money. However, she was not favored by the madam due to her appearance, and she struggled to earn any money. She knew her own life was long, but her mother’s life was not.
To save money, she found a doctor and learned medicine. Fortunately, she was very bright and became proficient in a short time. Initially, she only treated her own mother. One day, she noticed that girls at Hua Man Lou were ill but ashamed to seek medical help, thus discovering another source of income.
At first, she was honest. But three years ago, when the price of Tian Hua Fen skyrocketed, she began to harbor sinister intentions. Her first target was a girl named Jia Yue at Hua Man Lou.
Jia Yue was beautiful and had a special physique, which greatly pleased the patrons. Because of this, Jia Yue earned a considerable amount of money, but she also fell ill. The girl who treated her was this young woman.
The girl was always worried about money. So, after treating Jia Yue, she would steal some insignificant items from Hua Man Lou from the empty room next door. Initially, these were items left behind by previous courtesans. As time went on, she felt her income was insufficient. After a certain incident, she set her sights on Jia Yue, who was doing quite well.”
“What nonsense are you talking about? My daughter would never steal! Never!” Tuo Shi’s emotions ran high upon hearing this part of Zhong Li’s account.
She stood up, glaring at Zhong Li, her face etched with righteous indignation.
Zhong Li had anticipated her reaction. She casually produced Jia Yue’s suicide note, the items that had gone missing from Jia Yue, and account books obtained from a pawnshop.
“Look at these. The evidence is all here. If you still don’t believe me, I can have the pawnshop clerk come and confront you directly.”
“No… no… how could this be?” Tuo Shi held the items before her in disbelief. She had never imagined that her usually gentle and well-behaved daughter had been doing such things behind her back.
“My story isn’t finished yet.” Zhong Li took a sip of the clear tea in front of her, moistening her throat, and continued. “I mentioned earlier that Jia Yue’s physical condition was special. How was it special? She was very sensitive to everything around her. Men liked her sensitivity, which also became the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Because every time this young girl rummaged through rooms nearby, she could hear it. So, while treating Jia Yue, she confided her suspicions to the girl.
The girl knew she couldn’t keep it a secret. If Jia Yue didn’t realize, the madam of Hua Man Lou would eventually find out. Her only recourse was to silence Jia Yue.
Coincidentally, the girl was in dire need of money, and a plan began to form in her mind. Since Jia Yue’s body was special, she used her medical skills to tamper with Jia Yue’s vital acupoints, supposedly to treat her mental state. This was to facilitate her sneaking into Jia Yue’s room to steal things and create the illusion of a haunting, thereby pushing Jia Yue, whose mind was already strained, into utter despair.”
“No… it wasn’t like that. My daughter wouldn’t do that!” Tuo Shi shook her head like a rattle drum, still refusing to believe.
Zhong Li looked sadly at the sobbing woman before her, mused for a moment, and then said, “After that, she repeated her methods. For money, she successively killed Jin Yi and Qiong Er. Now that she has taken her own life, it is fitting retribution.”