Chapter 487 - 245: Ninety-nine

Chapter 487: Chapter 245: Ninety-nine

Xi’er asked, puzzled.

Situ Yong laughed long and leisurely. "He who touches pitch shall be defiled. You pick things up by watching and listening—you learn without a teacher. I was always puzzled as to why the Red King, when he could have just bullied people with his power, chose instead to win them over with his wealth, constantly upping the price. Now that I’ve tried it myself..."

The Elder Divine Doctor mused with a sigh, "It truly is exhilarating."

’Elder Divine Doctor, you’ve changed.’

Xi’er silently roasted him in her mind as she looked around. The room was simply furnished, with incense burning. A memorial altar had been set up inside, and the spirit tablet for the young widow’s deceased husband was in place, receiving offerings of incense. Of the five incense sticks, three were long and two were short. The smoke was thin and faint, adding to the desolate air.

In a corner of the room were several bundles of silk cocoons, not yet woven into raw fabric, piled up haphazardly. It seemed this aging Weaver Girl, after her husband’s death, had no choice but to return to her old trade to make a living.

After a brief observation, Xi’er nodded to herself. No wonder the young widow had been so decisive in opening the door. Life was hard for a woman after her husband’s death, especially with a child on the way. Situ Yong’s consolation payment was undoubtedly a lifeline for her.

As Xi’er was lost in thought, Situ Yong casually sat down nearby. The young widow steeped a pot of coarse tea and poured it for the two of them. In the few moments Xi’er wasn’t paying attention, a flirtatious air had developed between Situ Yong and the young widow as they chatted quietly about something.

Xi’er coughed loudly twice. "We’re from the Disaster Prevention Bureau."

Situ Yong: "Right, the Disaster Prevention Bureau."

The widow from the Zhong Clan asked doubtfully, "But... aren’t you with that King Fu’s..."

Xi’er corrected her, "The Red King."

The widow’s face lit up with understanding. "Ah, yes, yes, yes! That’s right, the Red King!" As she spoke, a look of longing and envy filled her eyes. ’What a blessing it must be to work for a Prince as generous as him.’

Xi’er asked a few brief questions about Mrs. Li’s situation, and the answers were no different from what she already knew. Just then, Situ Yong stared at the widow’s slightly bulging belly, his brow furrowing. He spoke up, "I know a little about medicine. Would you allow me to take your pulse?"

The widow was taken aback for a moment, then readily agreed. When Situ Yong suggested taking her pulse through a layer of cloth, the widow gave a bitter smile. "A ruined woman like me can’t afford to be so particular. Doctor, if you want to take my pulse, then please, just take it!"

With that, she unabashedly extended her wrist to Situ Yong. Situ Yong clicked his tongue, didn’t stand on ceremony, and took her pulse.

Situ Yong’s brow twitched several times. Noticing his expression change, Xi’er whispered from the side, "Is something wrong?"

The Elder Divine Doctor gave Xi’er a meaningful look and slowly shook his head. Xi’er understood and didn’t press further. She changed the subject, asking about the events surrounding the Zhong clansman’s sudden death. Upon hearing this, the widow’s face changed drastically. She shot to her feet, extremely agitated. "Don’t tell me you suspect that damned ghost’s death had something to do with me?"

Xi’er quickly placated her. "It’s just for the investigation."

The widow calmed down a little. Perhaps it was for the sake of the silver. Besides, Situ Yong and Xi’er’s demeanor wasn’t like those people from the Government Office who would indiscriminately arrest someone and torture them for a confession. After some internal struggle, she finally recounted the full story of what happened before her husband’s death.

The young widow began to sob quietly as she told her story. After she married into the Zhong Clan, the couple had been respectful to each other, like guests. Her husband from the Zhong Clan worked hard to support the family. They were comfortably well-off and lived in harmony. But later, for some unknown reason, her husband became obsessed with whoring and carousing. He grew distant from her, Mrs. Li of the Zhong Clan, and neglected to plow the fields. Although Mrs. Li was unhappy, she didn’t dare say anything, as it would surely lead to neighborhood gossip. It was precisely because the "fertile field" had long been "fallow" that the young widow believed the neighborhood superstition and went up the mountain to pray to the Wutong God. She hoped that getting pregnant might make her husband change his ways and come back to her.

The more the young widow spoke, the more emotional she became, weeping and sniffling. Situ Yong handed her a silk handkerchief. The young widow glanced at the Elder Divine Doctor gratefully. ’Mmm, it’s been a long time since someone cared.’

The Elder Divine Doctor smiled and told her it was nothing, his tone carrying the unique thoughtfulness and grace of a middle-aged or older man.

’You really know your stuff.’

Xi’er lowered her head, grumbling to herself.

The young widow wiped her tears, gave the Elder Divine Doctor another grateful look, and said in a low voice, "For this past year, that damned ghost and I were husband and wife in name only, not in practice. But who knew... who knew... *sob sob sob*! Who knew that on that one night, he... he!"

The young widow started crying again.

Xi’er was puzzled. "You said you weren’t husband and wife in practice, but that night..."

Wiping her tears, looking utterly pitiable and forlorn, the young widow said, "It’s a long story, and I’m too ashamed to speak of it." But she quickly began to speak anyway, recounting an incident from a few months ago. "I never understood what was so good about those floozies, every one of them a seductive fox spirit. Until one night, that damned ghost pounced on me and insisted that I..."

Situ Yong thought for a moment, understood, and nodded for the woman to continue.

"I refused, even on pain of death, so he threatened to divorce me! I told him to go ahead and divorce me then, and I was so angry I kicked him out of bed! After that, the damned ghost was out carousing every single night and never came home again! Then... then... *sob*, just as you two Lord Officials know, he died! He died! You two must believe me, that damned ghost’s death really had nothing to do with me!"

Xi’er frowned and asked, "He wanted to sleep with you, and you just gave in?" As she asked, Xi’er cursed the young widow in her heart for being so spineless.

The young widow nodded, crying. "He insisted!"

"He insisted, so you gave in?"

"He didn’t say a word, he just had to have it!"

They had more or less gotten the full story from Widow Zhong. On the surface, it really did seem like a common case of "death by horseback." Xi’er and Situ Yong left, half-believing and half-doubting. They felt things weren’t that simple, yet somehow, they seemed to be. Before they left, Widow Zhong suddenly called out to the Elder Divine Doctor and, fidgeting, whispered a few words to him.

Xi’er froze, but she pricked up her ears to listen. As she heard what was said, her pretty face turned red.

The moment they were outside, Xi’er gave the Elder Divine Doctor a strange look. "How could she tell you something like *that*?"

Situ Yong shook his head with a self-satisfied air, his expression as serious and saintly as a sage’s. He chuckled, "She must have sensed my Medical Compassion."

"Pah! No amount of ’Medical Compassion’ would make a woman tell you about the ’little iron pestle’ incident with Cotton from back then! Is that something a normal woman would say out loud? Besides, why didn’t she tell me?" Xi’er was contemptuous. She felt something was off about the Elder Divine Doctor, but she quickly changed the subject. "Elder Divine Doctor, your expression seemed off when you were taking her pulse. Did you find something?"

The Elder Divine Doctor nodded. "Indeed. But I’m not entirely sure. I’ll need to take a pulse at the next house to confirm my theory."

Situ Yong was deliberately being mysterious, and there was nothing Xi’er could do about it. The two of them went straight to the next widow’s house without stopping. Situ Yong once again used silver to open the door. After a round of questioning, they found this young widow’s story was strikingly similar to the last one.

First, a harmonious family, with the husband and wife being respectful to one another. Then, the husband started frequenting brothels. The wife then listened to what "others" said and went to pray to the Wutong God for a child, hoping to win back her husband’s heart.

The third house, the fourth, the fifth...

The more she investigated, the more alarmed Xi’er became. Such astonishing similarity could no longer be described with the single word "coincidence." Someone was deliberately manufacturing these cases!

"Quick! We have to tell... *cough cough*, the Young Master at once!"

Beside her, Situ Yong was flipping through the list of widows, page by page. Suddenly, the Elder Divine Doctor’s eyes widened, and he began to count, starting from the first page. By the time he had counted through it twice, Xi’er had already used the Eternal World Painting to report their case leads and curiously asked if the Young Master was pregnant yet. The other side, perhaps out of shame-fueled anger or perhaps because they hadn’t heard clearly, cut off the communication.

"The Young Master wants us to return to the inn and regroup!"

They had been investigating all day. The sun was now setting, painting the sky in red clouds, yet the moon was also visible. Unknowingly, dusk had fallen.

"Not so fast." Situ Yong had a strange expression as he tossed the list of widows to Xi’er. "I’m not certain, but you count it. This list of widows... is it, by any chance, exactly ninety-nine names long, no more, no less?"

Xi’er counted, and it was true. But she quickly found it strange. "Why is ninety-nine ’exactly the right number’? It’s not like it’s..." She was about to say it wasn’t a round number, but then she suddenly remembered the "one-hundredth" victim. Her breath caught, and she swallowed the rest of her words.

"Young Brother Xie... he’s the one-hundredth little pregnant woman!"