Jiang Shan said proudly, “Of course. The battlefield can be deafening sometimes, so when people can’t hear you, a whistle is the best way to get their attention.”
“I think you’re just making that up.” Yan Tongshu pressed her fingers to her lips and tried, but no sound came out.
Jiang Shan immediately explained, “That’s called a finger whistle. The battlefield is chaotic, and ordinary whistles are easy to lose. Besides, a finger whistle is louder and carries farther, so all of us soldiers use them.”
“Like this. Bring your index finger and thumb together.” He held out his own hand and patiently taught Yan Tongshu step by step. “Use your fingers to push your tongue back. Keep your fingers and lips pressed tightly together, then blow.”
He did exactly as he had described. His fingers pushed against his tongue, and when he blew, a clear, piercing whistle rang out.
Yan Tongshu tried, but nothing happened.
Jiang Shan adjusted her fingers for her. On her second attempt, she succeeded.
Yan Tongshu tried changing the pitch of her whistle, producing two notes of different heights: “Wooo—wooo—”
Meng Zheng pulled on the reins and rode over, teasing casually, “Did Lord Yan call for me?”
Yan Tongshu asked in delight, “You could tell?”
Meng Zheng laughed heartily, then gave her a look that was half amusement and half exasperation. “Lord Yan, I’ve been in the army for years. If I couldn’t hear something that obvious, wouldn’t that make me an idiot?”
Yan Tongshu immediately cupped her hands and bowed. “Impressive, impressive. Lord Meng truly is remarkable.”
Meng Zheng accepted her compliment without hesitation and asked, “Have you finished asking your questions?”
Yan Tongshu nodded.
Meng Zheng tugged on the reins. “Come on, Lord Yan. Let’s have a race.”
Yan Tongshu immediately pulled on her own reins. The horse beneath her reared and then charged forward, racing after Meng Zheng.
Across the open ground, their horses galloped at full speed, their manes streaming in the wind.
Before long, Yan Tongshu had fallen behind.
She sighed. Her mediocre riding skills really were no match for a professional.
Meng Zheng pulled on the reins and waited. By the time Yan Tongshu caught up, the two of them had slowed down. They waited for the Divine Guard Army to arrive before organizing themselves and entering the city.
As they parted, Yan Tongshu returned the horse to Meng Zheng. Meng Zheng took the reins, then suddenly called softly, “Lord Yan.”
Yan Tongshu turned. “Hmm?”
She looked at Meng Zheng.
Meng Zheng smiled. “See you tomorrow.”
“Mm!” A warm current flowed through Yan Tongshu’s heart, and she answered brightly, “See you tomorrow.”
Yan Tongshu climbed into the carriage. “Pearl, Jinbao, the sun is shining, the breeze is gentle, and the weather is perfect for a good meal. Come on, we’re going to the Jadeite Tower.”
Tonghe Tower had been sealed, but the Jadeite Tower was still open.
Without Tonghe Tower’s braised pork knuckles, they could have lotus-wrapped fish buns from the Jadeite Tower instead. They were just right for summer.
The moment they heard there was delicious food to be had, Pearl and Jinbao immediately shouted excitedly, “Yes, Young Master!”
…
That afternoon, Yan Tongshu disguised herself along with Pearl and Jinbao and entered Qian’s Silk Shop through the back door, keeping a low profile.
They had waited for less than half a quarter of an hour when Lin Shuang’er and Wan Jie arrived.
The two women were escorted to the rear courtyard. The moment they saw Yan Tongshu, they fell to their knees.
“Please, benevolent magistrate, seek justice for us!”
Pearl helped them to their feet and had them sit down properly. Then they recounted what had happened on the sixteenth day of the seventh month.
Lin Shuang’er and Wan Jie had originally been unwilling to recall the pain, madness, and cruelty of that night. But after speaking with Yan Liangrong the previous day, the phrase “drugged” had not only eased the self-loathing they felt deep inside; it had also intensified their hatred of that group of villains.
The previous night, the two women had slept in the same bed. They had encouraged each other, bolstered each other’s courage, and sworn that they would catch those men and take revenge.
Now, they recounted the events together, each filling in the details the other missed.
They had already told the story once before, so their emotions were calmer. Their descriptions of that night were more composed and more detailed.
When they mentioned, “A pack of wild dogs rushed in,” Yan Tongshu immediately spotted something suspicious.
“You’re certain they were wild dogs? Were there many of them?”
Lin Shuang’er tried hard to remember. “Thinking back now, they probably weren’t wild dogs. I’ve always remembered them that way because I didn’t want to examine the events of that day too closely. Everything was so chaotic. I only heard someone screaming, ‘Ah! There are so many dogs! They’re terrifying! Get away, you filthy dogs!’ After that, I simply assumed they were wild dogs.”
Wan Jie also struggled to recall the details. “Those dogs really did seem identical. They were large and fierce. They rushed over and clamped down on Tan Ming, who had refused to take part in the gambling game. No matter how hard Tan Ming struck it or how much the women nearby tried to pull it away, the dog wouldn’t let go. It bit down on Tan Ming’s arm and held on until that whistle sounded.”
Yan Tongshu asked softly, “How did the whistle come about? Did you see who made it?”
The two women shook their heads in unison. It had all been too terrifying and chaotic. Their minds had gone completely blank.
Lin Shuang’er continued recounting what had happened that night.
During the first round, a man had shot arrows at them, forcing them out of the pool.
Yan Tongshu pressed her. “What did the arrows look like? Do you remember?”
Lin Shuang’er furrowed her brows tightly, and her head began to ache. “They were just arrows. I’d only ever seen the crude arrows used by the hunters in my village, and I’d never seen anything else. The arrows that man used had white feathers at the ends. They were more finely made than the hunters’ arrows…”
“No, that’s not right.” Wan Jie interrupted her. “I remember those arrows. One of them landed in the water right in front of me. I was so frightened that I froze. I saw that the shaft was cracked, and the arrowhead was crooked. They weren’t like the hunters’ arrows. In fact, I thought they were even worse than the ones used by the hunters in our village.”
They were discarded arrows.
Yan Tongshu seized on the point. “Did they have any markings?”
Wan Jie replied, “I saw traces on the shafts where something had been ground away. Maybe there used to be markings, but they’re gone now?”
“Was every arrow like that?”
Every arrow?
Wan Jie froze.
She closed her eyes and forced herself to remember—to recall every moment, every instant of that night, every detail of the experience that had caused her so much pain.
The unrestrained, mocking laughter.
The countless arrows that drove them forward like dogs.
One arrow after another.
They had been the prey, while those wicked men stood above them, arrogant and domineering.
“Yes!” Wan Jie suddenly opened her eyes. Her voice trembled, yet her answer was filled with extraordinary certainty. “I remember clearly. I desperately tried to climb out, but those arrows never stopped. They struck the floor around us. I saw several of them. Some had feathers at the ends that had been completely worn away. Others were cracked. Several of them—seven or eight, at least!—had traces in the same place on their shafts where something had been ground off!”
Wan Jie’s soul was struggling, while her body trembled uncontrollably from fear.
But she forced herself to remember, pushing herself to the absolute limit.
She had had enough of her own cowardice, of barely clinging to life, of living in nightmares day after day and night after night.
She had had enough!
Sensing Wan Jie’s trembling, Lin Shuang’er clasped her hand. Her own body began to quiver as well.
Yan Tongshu’s expression grew grave.
They were indeed discarded arrows.
The imperial court strictly controlled iron goods. Arrowheads and shafts were manufactured by the Directorate of Military Equipment and distributed uniformly to the army.
The small number available among the common people was made only by blacksmiths and bowyers registered with the court.
Private smelting was illegal. Even on the black market, only an exceedingly small number of such weapons circulated.
If black-market sellers stamped their own marks on their arrows, they would practically be inviting the authorities to arrest them. That was why arrows sold on the black market bore no markings.
These arrows, however, showed traces of having had their markings ground away. That meant they had not originally been circulated through the black market.
Blacksmiths in the common folk all stamped their own marks onto bows and arrows. Some even added the customer’s name as a way of identifying them, making it easier to trace their origins.
These culprits were very wealthy. If they had truly taken the arrows from their own homes, it would have made no difference to them whether the arrows were good or bad. At most, once the game was over, they could simply collect the arrows and take them home to use again.
Only arrows discarded by the army would be uniformly sent to warehouses for waste registration and disposal. The culprits had wiped away the marks on the shafts because they were afraid someone would discover their origins.
Which army did they belong to?
Perhaps they were men on leave who had grown bored and gone to an estate in the countryside to play a “game” for the thrill of it.
Or perhaps they were stationed outside the city.
The largest military force stationed in the outskirts was the Divine Martial Army.
Pearl replaced Lin Shuang’er and Wan Jie’s tea with honey water, then placed some sweet red-bean pastries on the table.
She felt that the two girls had suffered too much and endured too much pain. They needed something sweet to eat.
Deep down, she believed that once their mouths tasted sweetness, their hearts would become a little sweeter too.
After taking a moment to recover and drinking some water, Lin Shuang’er and Wan Jie continued.
The second round.
The third round.
The fourth round.
In the fourth round, they had come into intimate contact with those villains. That was when they were most likely to have obtained clues to the men’s identities.
Yan Tongshu softened her voice as much as possible so as not to pressure the two women. “How old did you think those men were?”
Lin Shuang’er hesitated. “Judging from their voices and the condition of their skin, they seemed to be only in their twenties.”
Yan Tongshu asked, “What about their clothes? Was there anything distinctive about them?”
Lin Shuang’er replied, “They all wore the same clothes—white—and the same mask.”
Wan Jie added, “They wore no accessories.”
Yan Tongshu asked again, “What about their hands? Did you notice anything unusual?”
At the mention of their hands, both women shuddered.
Yan Tongshu did not press them. She waited until they had calmed down, and then Lin Shuang’er took a deep breath before speaking.
“They were very rough. I thought people from wealthy families would have smoother, more delicate skin than women like us. But those men’s hands were extremely coarse. When one of them stroked my face, it felt like a wrinkled, hard, dry piece of tree bark—much like the hands of the men in our village who work in the fields all year round.”
Wan Jie said, “The man who chose me… I felt that it wasn’t only his hands that were rough. When he ordered me to please him and made me touch him, I noticed that the skin on his neck, hands, and chest was all extremely coarse.”
Combined with the clues from the arrows, the evidence now pointed even more clearly to the army.
Soldiers trained hard and endured exposure to the sun and rain. Their skin could not possibly remain soft.
They were wealthy, yet they were soldiers. And they behaved outrageously.
They chose the weak and humiliated them. They were arrogant, yet insecure at the same time.
The soldiers of this era were not the people’s sons and daughters. Serving in the army was not an honor. Whenever soldiers were needed, local thugs and ruffians were all conscripted by force.
There was even a widely circulated saying: A good man does not become a soldier; good iron is not forged into nails.
Few wealthy young masters joined the army.
Even when they did, they usually joined to seek a future, build up experience, and obtain an official position.
So, in truth, the range of possible culprits was not very large.
But…
There was still one question.
Yan Tongshu had not asked it.
The men had already gone as far as making the girls please them. Why had they not gone further?
Was it because they feared that, if the girls lost their chastity, they would be unable to bear the humiliation from their future husbands’ families and the damage to their reputations—and might therefore decide they had nothing left to lose and go to the authorities?
What happened after the fourth round was the source of the girls’ greatest pain and deepest trauma. For that reason, Yan Tongshu had stopped questioning them once they reached the fourth round.
Lin Shuang’er and Wan Jie rose to leave.
Before departing, they turned back once more.
“Lord Yan.”
With both hope and fear in their eyes, they asked, “Will those men be arrested?”
“I swear to Heaven that I will never let them off.” Yan Tongshu’s expression was solemn. “And we already have some leads.”
The leads were not yet sufficient to identify the culprits with certainty, and there was not enough evidence.
Yan Tongshu did not want to discourage them, so she did not tell them that.
Besides, even if they could not find evidence, she still had one last move: draw the snake out of its hole.
She smiled and reassured them. “Go home for now and don’t concern yourselves with anything else. Just take care of yourselves. Don’t reveal anything that might alert them and cause them to destroy the evidence ahead of time.”
A few days later, the sixteenth arrived.
A feast of extravagant food and wine. Bows and arrows. War hounds.
And an estate outside the city, along with carefully selected targets.
With so many things to prepare, the men must have made their arrangements in advance. Perhaps everything was already in place.
Then why the sixteenth?
Could it be that those men all had the day off on the sixteenth?
…
At dusk, the gongs and drums of the opera performance fell silent. Yan Liangrong and Yan Liangyu led the people from the Legal Office in putting everything away.
Yan Liangrong was slowly rolling up a backdrop painted with mountains, water, pavilions, and towers when someone lifted a small corner of the curtain nearby. A dirty little face appeared behind it.
Tao Jiang’s large eyes darted around timidly. When her gaze met Yan Liangrong’s, she hurriedly shrank back behind the curtain.
This was backstage, and everyone here belonged to the Legal Office.
Yan Liangrong set down the rolled backdrop and walked over at an unhurried pace.
Ever since learning what had happened to those girls, Yan Liangrong had felt that Tao Jiang was already very brave.
At the very least, she had continued testing the waters and searching for a chance to report the matter to the authorities.
She simply could not read or understand the law. She was afraid that she and her sister would be arrested, and so she had never dared to take that first step.
Tao Jiang lowered her eyes, nervously rubbing the hem of her clothes between her fingers. Her voice was small. “My lord, are you angry with me?”
“How could I be?” Yan Liangrong’s voice was as gentle as spring water. “Why would I be angry with Tao Jiang?”
Tao Jiang raised her head, her eyes already rimmed with red. “You haven’t come to see me in so long… I thought you were upset with me…”
Yan Liangrong touched her cheek. “Silly girl, haven’t I simply been busy lately? Every day I have to rehearse the opera, put up the stage, and make sure nothing goes wrong at the venue. By the time everything is done, it’s already dark. How could I have found the chance to come see you?”
Tao Jiang gazed at Yan Liangrong, hesitating to speak. Her hand was so warm and soothing.
She had missed her.
She had missed her terribly these past few days. She often came to watch the opera, but she never dared to approach. It was only today, after countless rounds of gathering her courage, that she had finally lifted the curtain.
“My lord.” Tao Jiang clutched the hem of her clothes. “Are those stories true? If someone is forced to kill, can they really avoid being sentenced to death?”
Yan Liangrong nodded.
Tears suddenly spilled down Tao Jiang’s cheeks.
“My lord…”
She threw herself into Yan Liangrong’s arms. The emotions she had suppressed for so long broke through all at once, and she began to sob uncontrollably.
Knowing that Tao Jiang had something to say, Yan Liangrong discreetly led her out from backstage and into her family’s carriage.
Inside the carriage, Tao Jiang sobbed as she recounted what had happened.
She and her sister, Tao Yang, had depended on each other since childhood. Tao Yang was skilled at weaving and embroidery. Though their family was not wealthy, they had always had enough food and clothing.
On the sixteenth day of the seventh month last year, Tao Jiang had slept unusually deeply. When she woke the next day, she realized that something was wrong with Tao Yang. Her sister would often sit alone in a daze, muttering to herself. At night, she frequently suffered nightmares, screaming and shouting in her sleep. She stopped weaving and no longer embroidered.
As time passed, her mental state deteriorated day by day. She became delirious and erratic. At first, she would lose consciousness only once or twice a day. Later, it happened more and more often, and each episode lasted longer than the last. She began harming herself and inflicting injuries on her own body.
Tao Jiang had no idea what had happened. She could only piece together a few clues from the incoherent things her older sister said.
Once, Tao Yang had grabbed her by the shoulders and wept bitterly. “Jiang’er, you have to run. You’re too beautiful—you can’t be beautiful, you have to run! Otherwise they’ll catch you, bully you, force you to kill… Your sister killed someone…”
She held out a hand covered in bloody scratches, her eyes unfocused. “Look! Look quickly… There’s so much blood on my hands… It’s red… Can you see it?”
As Tao Yang sobbed, she tried to chop off her own hand. Tao Jiang had no choice but to knock her unconscious with a clay pot. It was the first time she had tied her sister up.
After that, Tao Yang grew more and more deranged, until she was impossible to control. Tao Jiang had to stay home to watch over her and couldn’t earn any money. They sold everything in the house that could be sold. Then Lu Lan, Ding Xin, and the others seemed to realize how desperate the Tao family’s situation had become, and began secretly bringing them food.
At first, Tao Jiang didn’t know Lu Lan and Ding Xin were the ones leaving it. She hid by the door and waited, then caught the two of them. She asked why they were bringing her things, and whether it had anything to do with her sister.
Ding Xin burst into tears and ran off.
Lu Lan, however, spoke evasively and told Tao Jiang not to ask. She said Tao Jiang was safer knowing nothing. If she found out, she would be guilty of covering it up—and covering it up was a crime, too.
At this point, Yan Liangrong’s tears suddenly fell.
She wiped them away and pulled Tao Jiang tightly into her arms. Last year, Tao Jiang had been only thirteen—a child who had to care for her deranged sister, struggle to find enough to eat, and endure despair while searching for that faint chance to avenge her. How much suffering must she have carried in her heart?
Those beasts had done it on purpose!
They deliberately preyed on helpless women, choosing kind souls who were mild-mannered. They took advantage of their loneliness and goodness.
Yan Liangrong clenched her teeth.
Those villains wouldn’t even dare pick a woman with a slightly forceful temperament. In her eyes, they were nothing but a pack of cowardly, insecure weaklings who were all bluster and no substance!
Once she had comforted Tao Jiang, Yan Liangrong thought for a moment, then wrapped up a pastry from the carriage and placed it in Tao Jiang’s hands. She also took out a tael of silver for her. Tao Jiang tried to refuse. She had already received so much kindness from the official.
“No. You have to take it.” Yan Liangrong was firm as she pressed the things securely into Tao Jiang’s palm. “Those people are hiding in the shadows. Neither of us knows who might be working with them, so we have to keep everything secret. Take these things with you. If anyone asks, say you had nothing to eat and were starving, so you came to beg me for food because I once helped you.
“Don’t tell anyone what you’ve told me. If Tao Yang remembers anything else, or if you find any new clues, come find me at Qian’s Silk Shop in North Lane. Understand?”
Tao Jiang clutched the things to her chest and wiped her tears away with her sleeve. “I understand. I promise! I won’t tell anyone a single word!”
“Good.” Yan Liangrong lifted the carriage curtain and watched Tao Jiang climb down.
Tao Jiang had barely stepped out of the carriage before people noticed her. They saw her carefully hiding the food, but thought nothing of it.
Not far away, Gao Qi was playing one last game of leaf cards with a few village ruffians.
He played while keeping an eye on everything around him.
Tao Jiang turned onto a narrow path through the fields and headed home. It was a route many people took, so there were quite a few people both ahead of and behind her.
Over the past few days, Gao Qi had gotten to know nearly everyone in these villages. He could recognize anyone who had come to watch the play twice, and knew where they lived.
But among the seven or eight people behind Tao Jiang, the man standing right in the middle—with a radish in his hand—was someone Gao Qi had never seen before. He looked to be in his thirties.
The villagers’ clothes were mostly patched, with frayed, worn edges. But this man’s gray-blue outfit was newly made that year, neat and clean enough to stand out.
Gao Qi quickly ended the game. “Ah, well. I thought I’d win a little more today, but I lost it all in the last round.”
He tossed all the coins in his hand onto the table. “Split them among yourselves. I need to step out. I’m heading back.”
The others burst out laughing. The moment Gao Qi turned away, they scrambled for the money.
They’d had a rough time of it these past few days. They didn’t dare actually win Gao Qi’s money, but they couldn’t let him lose, either. They had to play along while keeping count of the points. It was exhausting.
Gao Qi rounded a corner, picked up a bag that had been lying nearby, and followed the man from a distance.
The man tailed Tao Jiang to a secluded spot near her home, then quickened his pace and blocked her way.
It was nearly dark, and no one was around. The man grew bolder, letting his lecherous gaze roam over Tao Jiang as he asked with a greasy grin, “Tao Jiang, I saw you climb into someone’s carriage just now. What were you doing?”
“There’s no food at home, so I went to beg the official for some.” Tao Jiang clutched the pastry to her chest and warily backed away. “I’m telling you, this is for me and my sister. If you dare take it, I—I’ll tell the official! She’ll have you thrown in jail!”
So she’d only been begging for food…
The man looked toward the bundle in Tao Jiang’s arms. The light was dim, but he could just make out the shape of something like pastries.
“Tao Jiang.” The man reached out and touched her face. Tao Jiang recoiled in alarm.
He brought the fingers that had touched her to his nose and inhaled deeply, as if intoxicated. “Little Tao Jiang, you must be pretty when you wash your face. I remember you used to be fair and clean. Why did you stop taking care of yourself after your sister went mad?”
Tao Jiang trembled with fear. She bent to pick up a dead branch from the ground and shouted at him, though it had no real force behind it, “Get away from me!”
The man chuckled and edged closer. “Tao Jiang, let me tell you something. A woman needs a man. A pretty little thing like you will end up on someone’s plate sooner or later, just like your sister. Better to give yourself to me than let someone else have you.”
“Get away from me!” Tao Jiang swung the branch wildly. “I’m warning you, I know the official very well. She even gives me food—she treats me like a younger sister. If you touch me, she won’t let you get away with it!”
“Then let’s see!” The man gave a savage laugh and lunged at her.
Tao Jiang frantically waved the branch, scraping his face. The man flew into a rage, spat out a curse, and knocked her to the ground. He was about to pin her down when, suddenly, someone grabbed him by the collar and yanked him backward.
Gao Qi slammed him to the ground, then punched him in the face. “You filthy bastard! You think there’s no law? You can just do whatever you want?”
“W-Who are you?” the man cried, clutching his face. When he saw the constable’s uniform Gao Qi was wearing, his bravado vanished at once. “B-Brother… It’s not what you think! I know this little girl. I’m her uncle. I was just, just talking to her…”
“You piece of trash!” Gao Qi glared at him, his voice cold as iron. “Just now, I heard you call yourself the little girl’s brother, and now you’ve suddenly become her uncle? Have you even looked at how old you are? You’re old enough to be her father, yet you still stoop to this kind of bestial behavior. Don’t you have any shame?”
