Chapter 9

The Angry Aunt

“I…” Xu Lingyue stuttered.

The young girl’s face turned red as the family stared at her. The attention brought tears to her almond-shaped eyes.

‘I like this sister. A softie who cries easily…’ Xu Qian thought.

Xu Lingyue puffed up her cheeks and raised her head. She met Xu Qian’s eyes and said, “I want to know how did you solve the case with just the scroll?”

The question got Xu Xinnian’s attention. The young man raised his head slightly.

Xu Xinnian often boasted about his intelligence, yet he had not managed to solve the case. Instead, Xu Qian had done the impossible soon after receiving the scroll from him.

There was a blank expression on Li Ru’s face but her chopsticks slowed down a fraction and she stopped chewing.

“There is no such thing as a perfect crime. Outside of the occasional coincidence, any deed done by man leaves a trace,” Xu Qian said.

The words made Xu Xinnian’s ears perk up.

“Firstly, I went through the path taken by the cargo. The timing did not make sense which led me to suspect something was wrong with the load…”

Xu Qian regaled the investigation process.

As he spoke, Xu Xinnian listened with rapt attention as if he was attending a private class.

He had his hands clenched in fists beneath the table.

When Xu Qian was done, Xu Xinnian gave a flat response. “Not bad.”

Everyone in the family knew the young man was stingy with words.

The 16-year-old sister lowered her head to hide her admiration.

Xu Pingzhi slammed his hand on the table and spat a curse word in slang. “I can’t believe I was fooled.”

Xu Xinnian shot his father a look that meant, ‘It would be suspicious if you noticed.’

Xu Qian stared at his uncle and a line came to his mind. ‘Uncouth as it may be, f*ck is the most versatile word one can use in response to any situation.’

His uncle was a martial artist who had minimal schooling—he could write his own name albeit rather crookedly.

Meanwhile, his aunt was unimpressed. “You uncultured man! Please mind your manners at the dinner table.”

Xu Qian asked, “When they were counting the silvers, did they wear gloves?”

Xu Pingzhi recalled the events of that day. “Yes, I think so. How did you know?”

Was it really sodium? Xu Qian glanced at his uncle and asked, “Why was that detail not in the scroll?”

“It was a small matter so I didn’t think to mention. It’s all that Lu fellow’s fault, he gave me a bottle of osmanthus honey wine. You know how my alcohol tolerance is, I got greedy and had one cup too many. If you didn’t ask, I probably would have forgotten about that detail,” Xu Pingzhi grumbled.

‘If it weren’t for you and your fellow, I would have cracked the case sooner. What a waste of brain power…’ Xu Qian thought, then sighed.

In Xu Pingzhi’s eyes, the gloves were just a part of the people’s outfits which was unrelated to the case at hand.

The extra protective gear did not raise any suspicion.

“Sounds like that Lu fellow you mentioned is highly suspicious.” Xu Xinnian cut straight to the chase.

“My mistake nearly ruined our family,” Xu Pingzhi lamented. “Ningyan, when your father and I fought at the Battle of Shanhai Pass, we made a promise to come back alive. We wanted to achieve so much. Your father died in that battle because he took a fatal hit that was meant for me. At that moment, I swore I would do better, for us.”

He refused to be cannon fodder.

“It was my plan to send Little Nian for study while you learn martial arts.”

Li Ru rolled her eyes. “Your heart was always with your biological nephew.”

More than 100 silver taels a year.

“Do you mean to say Xinnian is not his?” Xu Qian swore those words did not come from him. It was a knee-jerk reaction.

The negative feelings the host had for the aunt was significant.

“You horrible child! How dare you take that tone with me!” Li Ru slammed her hand on the table.

The son and the elder daughter kept their heads down—they were used to the bickering.

Xu Pingzhi spoke up, “Enough. I was spared the executioner’s block today, don’t make me regret living.”

Everyone lowered their heads and ate their dinner.

Speaking of the Battle of Shanhai Pass, Xu Qian had vague memories of it.

This world was vast and the Dafeng Dynasty had laid claim to the Central Plains.

Dafeng was formed through military might and governed by erudites. At the height of its glory, many kingdoms came forth to pay their respects. The succession was unbroken for 600 years.

20 years ago, Dafeng had formed an alliance with the nations of the Western Region to pacify the Northern and Southern barbarians. The decisive battle was at Shanhai Pass.

All the participating nations had contributed their armies—a million souls were on that battlefield.

Countless lives were lost in that battle that carried on for half a year.

It was a bloody and ferocious battle that went down in history, known as the Battle of Shanhai Pass.

Xu Qian’s father was one of the many casualties.

‘From my rough calculation based on internet facts and literature, no dynasty has lasted more than 300 years,’ Xu Qian thought to himself.

He named the phenomenon, the 300-year curse.

As a history buff, he had gone through 5,000 years of history and noticed a pattern. Barring the absolute monarchs who controlled every aspect of their country and the weakening Zhou Dynasty, no dynasty has managed to escape the 300-year curse.

The Song Dynasty and Han Dynasty had to go through reformations to stay in power.

Xu Qian suspected the mystical powers of this world had a play in the Dafeng Dynasty’s long reign.

Lu Er reappeared with the little bean in tow. Xu Lingyin was hungry and no longer crying. She sat in Lu Er’s lap as she was too short for the table.

The young girl suddenly recalled the misery she had gone through. “Mother, why did we have to stay in the dark room? I was so hungry there.”

The dark room was the jail cell.

No one at the dinner table said a word. Li Ru gave her daughter a pitying look.

Xu Pingzhi told his daughter, “Father made a mistake.”

The young girl hummed a response then said, “I woke up hungry yesterday and caught a bug. It had this on its head.” She put her hand on her head and extended two fingers.

Cockroach… The jail cells were full of cockroaches and rats.

The atmosphere in the room was sullen. It was a failure on their part that a child had to suffer.

“You… You ate it?” Li Ru’s voice trembled as tears sprang to her eyes. She gave birth to her youngest daughter in her thirties. Despite the child’s questionable mental capacity, she loved the little girl.

Xu Lingyin’s delicate voice carried through the room. “I wanted to, then I heard Mother’s stomach growling.”

There was a tense silence.

Li Ru’s face paled as she asked, “And?”

“I put the bug in your mouth. You swallowed it real quick,” the little bean said with pride.

Li Ru’s body shuddered.

Xu Xinnian slowly placed his bowl and chopsticks on the table. “I’m done.”

Xu Lingyue followed suit. “Me too.”

Xu Qian took that as his cue to leave. “I’m full too.”

Xu Pingzhi was speechless.

A few seconds later, Li Ru bent to one side and vomited.

Then, a loud, juvenil cry cut through the night.