28. Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Xiao Shu
Ihate banquets. Although that should be no surprise. I hate anything having to do with making nice with people I have no desire to exchange pleasantries with.
I don’t see how any of this has to do with my duty to hunt spirits.
Over the years I have built up quite the reputation for myself as someone who flaunts his station by refusing to attend such banquets and not bothering with pleasantries, but Wen has expressly forbidden me to cause trouble on this trip and I’m already pushing it by insisting on setting up connections in the Ghost Market.
Add into the fact that I have Fanqing now to worry about.
I’m not actually sure if continuing to tarnish the reputation of the Xiao name with my antisocial tendencies would actually count toward breaking our part of the contractual agreement where I said that I would not disgrace her. Seeing as she is a Xiao now.
And besides, there is one final wild card that forces me to behave myself. That being Gao Liying and my somewhat sordid past with her. I cannot risk doing anything else that might draw her attention. For either good or ill.
I risk a glance her way, just to see that she is staring at me resolutely from her seat across from mine in the banquet hall. I quickly lower my gaze, praying that she didn’t notice me looking. She is dogged enough without me giving her hope that I will change my mind, which I won’t.
I cannot say for certain why she decided at a young age that someday we would marry.
She misconstrues her emotions as love, but I can’t see how that would even make sense.
How can you love someone that you have not even seen for years?
It’s obsession, straight stubborn obsession and a desire to not be shown up.
It’s her pride. She hates that Fanqing got me when she couldn’t.
I turn to Fanqing, placing some shrimp in her bowl to make it clear to Liying that she won’t be getting what she wants from me.
No matter what she thinks of Fanqing’s birth, it isn’t happening.
As much as I was against this marriage, Fanqing is my shield now.
With her there she protects me from other women who for whatever reason might want to wed me.
I’m not sure what reason I have given anyone to want to marry me. My reputation is horrible; my attitude is worse. I’m not polite, I don’t even try to be understanding with people outside of my circle. Why won’t Liying just let me go?
We are all seated at low tables with an aisle between us. The governor and his second wife sit to our right in the center of the room. Their tables are up on a platform a few steps higher than ours.
Fanqing is next to me, seated at the same low table I am.
Quanyu is seated at a smaller table just behind mine, afforded more rank despite having no name because he is my traveling companion.
He seems to be enjoying the fact that I am actually eating at a banquet, scarfing down the food quickly.
I press my eyes shut at his complete lack of social etiquette, not waiting till anyone else eats the food at the tables before he sets into it.
I may have a horrible reputation, but that is simply from not even giving lords and officials the time of day.
I have to be rude for a purpose to make certain that I don’t get embroiled in any larger schemes.
This basic etiquette, however, was drilled into me at a young age by my mother.
Quanyu’s lack of a proper upbringing is quite obvious in moments like this.
Governor Ji lets out a hearty laugh as he raises his glass to toast us. “General, Lord Xiao, today I thank you both for your presence here ensuring the safety of my city.”
I lift the cup to my lips, but as I do so, I keep my eyes on the Second Lady Ji as she sits next to the governor.
True to what happened in the past, the first lady is not present, which is in itself quite shocking given the importance of the guests of this banquet.
I wonder what she told the governor to get out of it.
She likely said the same story the servants heard, and he probably brushed it under the rug assuming it was a jealousy thing.
That she was using the panic filling the city streets of a mysterious killer of beauties as a way to get the second wife out of the picture.
If not, even the governor would listen to his wife’s hysterical accusations, it makes it seem unlikely that they are true.
I wonder if this first wife has a history of being overdramatic and hysterical.
They say that she is a rare beauty, but I think it would just be a headache to not be able to trust my wife if she were to claim a danger to her life.
I’m really quite fortunate to have been wed to Fanqing who is levelheaded and cool. She even took learning that I was a smuggler in a stride, truly showing her grace and poise.
“You should not thank me until I have brought this creature to justice,” I respond simply as I take a sip of my wine.
I lay my cup down and glance toward Fanqing’s empty glass.
A serving girl steps forward to refill it but as she finished refilling the glass, her arm sweeps over and knocks it over.
It happens so quickly and naturally. If I hadn’t known Fanqing’s plans, then I would have no idea that this was an accident.
Fanqing leaps to her feet with a startled cry, swiping at the dress and the servant drops to the ground, kowtowing to her. “Forgive me, my lady!”
“Such incompetence!” the governor shouts, pointing at the servant. “Now you have offended the Lady Xiao.”
Fanqing holds out her hand, waving her fingers to pacify him. “I am fine, Your Excellency. It was only an accident.” She shakes out her skirts before turning to the governor and folding her hands in a quick bow. “If you will excuse me, I shall go and get changed.”
“Yes, yes, you do that,” the governor says hurriedly.
Qu Ting appears at Fanqing’s elbow, leaving her post where she had been standing a short distance behind us alongside Yan Yi and escorts her mistress away.
Just before she slips off, Fanqing throws me one final glance out of the corner of her eye before she leaves.
I know that she will be fine, we spent all day planning it, she knows exactly where the second lady’s wing of the manor is and with the second lady here it really poses no threat for her to be there.
It’s also easier to explain away her entering the second lady’s rooms than if I were to go.
Since we are dealing with someone powerful like the governor’s wife I can’t just proceed however I would like.
There are some things not even I can get away with and being caught in the rooms of a governor’s wife is one of those things.
I glance toward the second lady, studying her silently.
She is sitting at a table next to the governor’s on the pedestal, there is another table on the other side of him, likely empty for the first lady.
She must feel my gaze because she glances up just then.
I quickly avert my gaze, trying to pretend that I wasn’t staring.
She gestures her maid forward and whispers something to her.
I stiffen but the maid simply steps to the center of the room with a tray in hand. “My lady wished to share these rare treats gotten from our southern regions with you all today,” she says demurely.
She goes past the tables, offering the treats to us.
I take it but I’m too distracted to even notice what is offered.
I travel so much that there really isn’t such a thing as a rare delicacy to me anymore.
I press it between my fingers till the fine edges flake leaving a white powder on my fingertips when suddenly the door slides open.
Qu Ting rushes in alone, her face is ghastly white and her expression is distraught. I’m on my feet in a second, racing around the table.
“Where is your mistress?” I demand as I reach her side within seconds. I didn’t even realize I was running till I cleared the whole room in the blink of an eye.
“My lord—” she gasps out. Her eyes are filled with horror.
I don’t even wait for her to finish finding the words to finish her sentence.
I race out of the hall and outside into the courtyard.
My feet beat against the wooden walkway until that gives way to a small stone path when I reach the back hall that is the second lady’s rooms. The door is wide open, and I burst in without a second thought to the propriety of entering another man’s wife’s rooms.
I leap over the step in the entryway and skid to a halt when I see Fanqing standing near the middle of the room with her back to me.
I take three decisive steps forward, grasping Fanqing’s shoulders and turning her toward me.
She looks quite surprised as she whirls but I don’t give her a chance to respond before I am pulling her into my arms in a tight hug. I encircle her shoulders and lean forward, resting my chin against the side of her head. Pressed against her, I can feel my heart hammering erratically in my chest.
I squeeze my eyes shut as I try to let the fear wash off of me, roll off of me in waves.
I know that this isn’t that day all those years ago when the Xiao clan was all-but wiped out, and yet I cannot shake the same dread and sickness in my stomach that I felt.
The whole way racing here, I could only imagine finding Fanqing’s bloody and mangled corpse.
Just like I once looked upon my mother’s corpse.
It’s difficult to fathom the amount of relief I felt just by seeing her and realizing that I didn’t fail my family again.
I still have a family, I assure myself. This isn’t like that day; I still have a family. I didn’t lose anyone this time; it was only a false alarm.
I draw in a shaky breath as I pull away to study her face. “Are you all right?” I demand, holding her at arm’s length, trying to look her over. I don’t see any scratches or blood. She doesn’t seem to be visibly injured.
Fanqing blinks at me, looking confused. “I’m fine,” she says as she twists slightly, pointing to something near our feet. “But she isn’t.”
I blink as my vision begins to clear, and I am able to take in the rest of the room now that my narrow-minded panic has begun abating. And I realize, much to my chagrin, that we are standing over a body.
I have been a spirit investigator for a long time, I don’t usually miss details, let alone a whole body lying on the floor. There was something about my panic over Fanqing that rid my mind of all sense.
I step back, releasing my hold on her and blink a few times, trying to clear my mind.
I’ve seen my fair share of bodies in my lifetime, starting with my entire family and then working my way through all manner of spirit’s victims. I’ve even seen countless dead spirits, although I don’t know if they count in the same category as the elves they kill.
Still, the fact is, I am no stranger to death.
However, she might be.
I glance at Fanqing out of the corner of my eye, checking on her. “If this bothers you, you may leave.”
Fanqing shakes her head softly. “I’m fine. Qu Ting was a little distraught though, so I sent her to bring you here.” She pulls her lip between her teeth before she kneels near the body. “It looks like our suspicions were correct.”
I fold my arms, studying the body from a distance. From her apparel and the way her hair is done, the dead girl appears to have been a maid in the governor’s mansion. Likely not someone who would have been missed immediately, due to her lower position. There are many maids always coming and going.
However, it doesn’t seem to match the fox spirit’s usual type of victim. This girl would be too poor and inconsequential to draw her attention. She should have been safe.
And leaving a whole body in her room seems a careless and reckless move for the fox shifter to make. I know her kind, they are cunning and crafty. Why would she kill someone let alone leave their body behind as evidence when a spirit hunter is staying in the very same manor?
Still, with all my questions there is only one way to get an answer. And that is to finally confront the Second Lady Ji.
I hear the door slide open the rest of the way behind me as the other banquet guests finally catch up to me. The governor is the first to speak. “My lord, what are you doing in my—oh my!”
I turn slowly, my eyes landing on the governor who has stopped in the doorway before moving to the second lady standing behind him. She claps her hand over her mouth and screams.
I release a heavy breath before I open my mouth. “Your Excellency, I’m afraid that I’m going to have to take the Second Lady Ji with me for some questioning.”