Chapter 33: Riding Together

Ma Bing cast a sharp glance over.

Zhang Baoyue, however, clapped her hands and chuckled, “It seems I guessed right. Madam, as the saying goes, no business, no visit to the Three Jewels Hall. If Zhou Xun hadn’t run into trouble, how could you have graced this humble place with your presence? If it were just a minor issue, you would have gone directly to him to inquire, so why come to me?”

Hearing this, Ma Bing smiled bitterly and shook her head. “You’re truly a clever lady.”

The most miserable thing in the world must be drinking companionship and forced smiles. A woman who can earn the title of “renowned courtesan” is never merely a beauty; she must possess extraordinary ability to read people’s minds and gauge their moods, which allows her to move gracefully among officials, aristocrats, and cultured scholars.

From the cracks in the hall door, music and stringed instruments seeped in. No one knew what the singers had done, but suddenly the room burst into thunderous applause.

Amid the cheers, Zhang Baoyue sighed, “So it seems Zhou Xun has indeed died, explaining why he hasn’t come around for days.”

She looked down at her vividly painted fingernails and murmured, “He still owed me a song. What a pity.”

Then she laughed again, “Ah, when the news spreads, I wonder how many more tears will be shed over cosmetics.”

Zhou Xun’s lyrics and tunes were widely spread, not only favored by courtesans, but also adored by many noblewomen and young ladies locked in their inner chambers.

Previously, some had said that although Zhou Xun might have failed in the imperial exams, it wasn’t a big deal. With such talent, plenty of women would be willing to support him in his old age and mourn at his death.

“When did you last see Zhou Xun? Did he mention anyone he had been meeting recently?” Ma Bing asked.

Zhang Baoyue recalled briefly and said uncertainly, “About half a month ago. I had previously asked him for two songs, and that time he came to deliver the first one.”

Who knew there would never be a second.

“As for who he was meeting,” Zhang Baoyue said with a smile, “Madam, just check which flower pavilions in Kaifeng have welcomed new beauties recently.”

Men, after all, tend to prefer novelty.

“I might be asking something impertinent,” Ma Bing inquired, “but where were you and what were you doing yesterday?”

Zhang Baoyue covered her face with a fan, revealing only a pair of sparkling eyes from above. “Madam suspects me?”

Ma Bing replied seriously, “I once heard a senior official say that before a case is solved, anyone could be a suspect.”

Zhang Baoyue clicked her tongue and lazily replied, “Where else could someone like me go? Just drinking and entertaining, as usual. Yesterday, I was entertaining an important guest. Who it was, I’m afraid I cannot disclose, but I definitely didn’t leave the Bai Hua Lou. If you don’t believe me, Madam, feel free to ask Mama and the pimps.”

“Do you know if Zhou Xun had any conflicts with anyone?” Ma Bing asked.

Based on the clues currently available, this case was either a crime of passion or revenge. If the former, it was more likely due to love turning into hatred, making it both a crime of passion and revenge.

“Conflicts?” Zhang Baoyue laughed again. “He spent his days indulging in sensual pleasures and doing as he pleased, leaving emotional entanglements everywhere. Even if he hadn’t died today, he would have tomorrow.”

“What do you mean?” Ma Bing sensed hidden meaning in her words.

Zhang Baoyue suddenly stared at her for a while, then shook her head, looking quite regretful. “Madam, if you were a man, I would certainly give you a hard time. But you happen to be a woman, sigh!”

Ma Bing vaguely understood her feelings.

It must be that those from all walks of life usually endure others’ cold eyes, and it’s rare for officials to come to “ask” them for help, so they would inevitably feel a complex sense of satisfaction.

Zhang Baoyue clicked her tongue a few times, seemingly abandoning the idea of making things difficult, and stopped beating around the bush. “As for Zhou Xun, should I say he was affectionate or indifferent? He could be extremely passionate and tender with everyone he met, showering them with sweet words and promises, even saying he would pluck the moon from the sky for them. Courtesans have grown up in bitterness and hardship, how could they resist such flattery? Before long, someone inevitably fell into his tender trap and truly regarded him as a confidant.

But Zhou Xun, when in love, indeed loved passionately; when love faded, he would silently let go without much ado. He wouldn’t hurt you directly, but would cut you slowly like a soft knife. If you wanted to wait, you could wait; if not, that was fine too…”

“So you mean, possibly someone loved him and turned to hatred?” Ma Bing asked cautiously.

Zhang Baoyue shook her fan and replied with a sly smile, “Oh my, I didn’t say that.”

Fair enough, Ma Bing knew that people in her profession must be cautious by nature, so she just kept it in mind silently.

Zhang Baoyue seemed to have no intention of continuing, and since she rarely had a break from entertaining clients, she lazily swung her feet and fanned herself, her exquisitely embroidered shoes peeking out from under her skirt, looking very comfortable.

Suddenly, she heard the girl opposite say, “Let me take your pulse.”

Zhang Baoyue was startled, thinking she had misheard, “What?”

Ma Bing smiled and said, “To be honest, I’m also a physician. If I’m not mistaken, you must often suffer from abdominal pain and distension. Every evening you develop a fever, sometimes your period is delayed, sometimes it lasts too long. Am I right?”

Zhang Baoyue opened and closed her mouth, finally revealing a respectful expression, looking at her somewhat incredulously. “Exactly.”

Though elegant in appearance, the singers still bore the stigma of being courtesans. If high-ranking officials specifically requested her company, she inevitably had to perform.

Since the end of last year, Zhang Baoyue had privately developed this condition, sometimes having to decline, which had already offended several regular customers.

Moreover, due to her poor health, her looks had increasingly become haggard. For now, youth could still be masked with cosmetics, but if this continued and the illness worsened, where would she have a place to stand?

Ma Bing looked around, rolled up a dry towel hanging on the copper basin rack by the wall, and placed it on the table, gesturing to her. “Come on.”

Zhang Baoyue hesitated for a moment but eventually sat upright, carefully extending her wrist toward her and whispering, “Thank you.”

This time, she didn’t smile.

Ma Bing concentrated and took her pulse. “This condition is caused by deficiency-cold in the conception and thoroughfare vessels and blood stasis. You’ve been overworking yourself daily, worrying too much, and often unable to sleep at night. These symptoms have accumulated over time without timely regulation, so they naturally flare up.”

Zhang Baoyue smiled bitterly upon hearing this. “Who wouldn’t want to recuperate? But in this polluted place, where can a doctor be found willing to come here?”

Not only would they not come, sometimes when they went to the clinic for treatment, they were even driven away.

Among the various social classes, the lower classes were especially looked down upon, even by those doctors who claimed to save lives and heal the wounded, who would rather see them die than get involved.

Many so-called flower champions might be famous for a time, but within a few years, they would fall ill and die, eventually being buried in a common grave with just a thin coffin…

Hearing this, Ma Bing felt uneasy in her heart, wanting to comfort her but at a loss for words.

In such a situation, how could a few words of hers change anything?

Ma Bing asked her to bring paper and brush, then after a moment’s thought, wrote down several herbs: “Angelica, Chuanxiong, Peony…” “You’re still young; it’s not too late to recuperate properly. I’ll prescribe you a warming menstruation decoction, which also smells pleasant. Each dose should be boiled in one cup of water until reduced to eight-tenths of a cup. In a couple of days, I’ll find an excuse to come back and adjust the prescription for you. After about half a month of recuperation, you should be about right.”

Zhang Baoyue stared at her, not speaking, the room filled only with the faint sound of the brush scratching across the paper.

Soon, the prescription was ready. Ma Bing picked it up and blew on it slightly, worried that the madam might not allow them to prepare the medicine, so she asked again, “Will that be okay?”

Zhang Baoyue snapped back to reality and nodded upon hearing this, “Mama knows the value of a steady income. It’s rare for a doctor to be willing to treat me, so naturally there won’t be any objections.”

“That’s good.” Ma Bing handed her the prescription and then took half a bowl of lychee paste. “Then I’ll be off.”

Saying so, she really stood up to leave.

Zhang Baoyue, holding the prescription, watched her with one hand on the doorframe, seeing that she was indeed leaving, suddenly stamped her foot, as if making a firm decision, “Wait!”

She hastily tucked the prescription into her sleeve, no longer caring about her graceful demeanor, rushing over to Ma Bing’s side, her face showing a pleading expression. “Madam, I dare to ask you to save someone. She’s only fourteen. Please save her. I, I didn’t tell you everything before…”

At this moment, Zhang Baoyue was no longer a famous courtesan, but just a helpless girl grasping at a straw.

After all, she was not yet twenty years old.

Meanwhile, Xie Yu went to the palace gate in the morning and heard from the palace guards that Tu Yao had been summoned into the palace by the emperor the previous night. Later, several ministers gathered there, likely discussing matters inside, and still no news had come out.

The scholars were still sitting outside, vowing not to leave without a resolution.

Later, some ministers came over, ostensibly to mediate but actually to drive them away. The leaders, including Li Qinghe, failed to negotiate with them, and both sides gradually became more emotional, nearly coming to blows.

After that, Xie Xian also hurriedly arrived. Father and son didn’t have time to speak but exchanged glances, confirmed each other’s well-being, and then passed each other by.

Ordinary people who were far from the political arena might think that the country’s pillars were always graceful and could destroy their enemies with a smile, but that wasn’t the case.

Especially when scholars argued, since they weren’t good at physical fights, all their skills were in their mouths.

Quoting classics was just the basic skill; after all, everyone had passed the exams and could recite the classics, histories, philosophers, and anthologies backward. That wasn’t impressive. When slightly excited, they would start exposing each other’s pasts and even elegantly insult each other’s ancestors.

When Xie Yu was about to leave, Xie Xian had already rolled up his sleeves and was engaged in a verbal battle with those ministers. From a distance, one could hear his warm and friendly voice:

“…Minister Fu, you keep talking about the national treasury being unable to bear the burden, but I see you’re doing quite well. The nineteenth concubine you took at the beginning of the month is treating you well, isn’t she? No wonder you’ve gained so much weight in a few days…

Minister Zhao, why are you laughing? How much did the pearl shirt you sent to your mistress in Liuye Alley cost? Enough to cover the tuition fees of how many students…

What are you looking at? I dare to spend all my family’s wealth. Do you dare to do the same?!”

Xie Yu felt a headache and, with a squeeze of his thighs against his horse, left first.

It looked like it would take a few more days. Let’s take it slowly.

On the way, he met several constables going to the brothels to ask questions, all of whom looked dejected.

“Madam, those women are really hard to deal with,” one constable said helplessly. “And we can’t use force…”

Another also looked shaken. “Yeah, I had it a bit better, but after asking for a long time, all I got were some irrelevant answers, which weren’t useful at all!”

As soon as he entered, he was surrounded by a group of courtesans, which frightened him terribly. He immediately tried to assert his authority as an officer, saying he was there on official business, attempting to scare them off.

But those women were first startled, then burst into laughter. Some bold ones even started touching him.

“Oh my, what a mighty presence. I’m so scared!”

“Tsk tsk, come to think of it, I haven’t tasted the flavor of an officer before. Since you’re here, let me serve you…”

If not for his duty, he would have fled through the door in panic!

Looking at the lip rouge stains on his face that hadn’t been wiped clean, Xie Yu raised his eyebrows and said, “Continue tomorrow.”

All the constables groaned in unison, drawing many curious glances from passersby.

Just as they were groaning, they saw Ma Bing approaching from afar. “Hey, you’re all here. Perfect, I have a clue.”

After treating Zhang Baoyue’s close friend, Ma Bing learned that Zhou Xun actually had a cousin in Kaifeng!

“I also learned this accidentally when Zhou Xun, after drinking too much, let slip a few words,” Zhang Baoyue recalled. “His cousin seems to have married a grain merchant and lives in the southern part of the city. The merchant is surnamed Dong. The couple treats Zhou Xun very well. They often invite him to stay at their home and help him buy clothes and such.”

This was indeed a new clue, so Ma Bing quickly jotted it down. “Is that all?”

If they were just relatives, and not living together every day… it didn’t seem like a particularly valuable clue.

But Zhang Baoyue gave a knowing smile, fanning herself. “Though he calls her sister and himself brother, I suspect it might be a romantic relationship between a younger brother and an older sister.”

This was a woman’s intuition, especially from someone in the entertainment industry.

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Ma Bing with newfound respect. “You’re really something, Erliang.”

“Yeah, looks like the office really needs a woman. Sometimes women are more effective than men.”

Ma Bing looked up at Xie Yu with a hint of smugness. “What do you think, sir? Should we investigate?”

I may go to the brothel, but I’m a capable and good girl!

Xie Yu shook his head with a smile and pointed to two people. “Let’s go, out of the city!”

Ma Bing’s heart leaped with joy. She quickly mounted her horse and chased after them. “Wait for me!”

Leaving the hero behind to investigate on his own, how proper was that?!