Qin Musheng was aware of his slip of tongue, his complexion changing slightly. He stammered and stalled, refusing to answer.
Seeing this look of his, Ran Yan did not plan to ask any more, "Don't come and ask me about the matter of breaking the engagement. I do not know and also do not care."
"Ah Yan…" Qin Musheng turned a little pale. Looking at Ran Yan's elegant and cold appearance, his heart ached dully, "I really like you. In the past, I did many disgraceful things. In the future, I definitely would not be like that anymore. Ah Yan, don't break the engagement…"
Ran Yan believed that the words he said at this very moment were sincere. There is a certain type of person who are extremely sincere when they were being sincere, but they might immediately change their mind the next second. Maybe he would eventually meet a person who would be able to keep hold of his heart permanently, but it was like "the boy who cried wolf", unable to differentiate between truth and lie. Ran Yan naturally would not gamble her future on this type of sentiment. She also did not have the desire[1] to save troubled youths.
Qin Musheng saw that Ran Yan ignoring him and assumed that it was because of Yin Miaomiao's matter. He anxiously said, "Yin Miaomiao thought that her younger sister was **[2] by me, but I really never touched Yin Wanwan, I swear!"
Ran Yan's pupils shrunk suddenly. She said coldly, "Do you know how Ah Wan died?"
How would Qin Musheng have the mood to discuss these things. He spoke without thinking, "Isn't it because she contracted a severe disease? Ah Yan…"
Ran Yunsheng saw that Ran Yan revealed a trace of impatience, thus interrupted him, saying, "Fourth Master Qin, I do not wish to use violence. Since the marriage has already been dropped, it indicates that you two are not tied by fate. If you continue pestering, don't blame me for not sparing your feelings."
"You!" Qin Musheng's complexion turned ashen. He was patient towards beautiful women, but this did not mean that he was patient towards everyone. Immediately he grabbed hold of Ran Yan and wanted to pull her outside, "Go and plead with Uncle Ran together with me. He will definitely change his mind!"
Ran Yunsheng's expression changed. He shouted coldly, "Stop him!"
The four large men by the doorway moved to block the way out. Qin Musheng fiercely threw a punch towards the abdomen of the nearest man. These people had not thought that this rich playboy that looked like an embroidered pillow[3] to have real skills and had momentarily let down their guard. One of them was attacked in his abdomen and was forced back by two steps. His strong back hit the door frame with a loud "bang".
The three remaining people immediately threw themselves forward. However, as Ran Yan was next to Qin Musheng, they did not dare to take action, afraid of hitting Ran Yan's exquisite[4] little face. For the moment, they unexpectedly could not deal with him.
Ran Yan ate little for breakfast and had expanded a lot of energy when she treated Old Madam Cui with Guasha. Being dragged and flung here and there on an empty stomach was a really unpleasant feeling. At that moment, she exerted enough strength to grab him and twist his arm behind his back[5], the other hand holding onto his shoulder. With a sound, "kcha", Qin Musheng's left arm suddenly seemed as if it was broken, and hung by his side swaying. Intense pain caused Qin Musheng to reflexively loosen his hold. The large men seized this opportunity and firmly held him down.
Ran Yan backed away a few steps, her cold eyes looking at the chaotic scene that was gradually calming down. After everything had settled down, only did she walk forwards with a frosty face and grabbed Qin Musheng's arm. She lightly tugged at it a few times, before abruptly pushing it upwards.
The few people in the room looked in surprise at Ran Yan who had an unchanging expression. That horrifying "kcha" "kcha" sounds of friction between the bones caused the crowd to each feel their own shoulders hurt. They thought to themselves, really cannot tell that this delicate and weak little Miss actually knew martial arts. Her heart was also sufficiently ruthless - dislocating and reattaching a person's arm as she pleases without even blinking.
In truth, Ran Yan's meagre martial arts was simply not a match for Qin Musheng. It was just that Qin Musheng thought that he was grabbing a little lamb and had completely let down his guard. Only because of this was Ran Yan able to easily dislocate his shoulder.
The severe pain radiating from his right arm was faintly transmitted into his heart. A trace of defeat and despair appeared in Qin Musheng's eyes. The Ran Yan he saw was still the same as before, her deep and dark eyes carrying a trace of coldness, without the mocking and disdainful expression that the other noble ladies had. It was precisely because of this that caused him to suddenly feel like he was inferior and lowly.
"No matter if you believe me or not, the person who set me up was definitely Yin Miao-miao. The person that wanted to kill your servant is probably her as well." Qin Musheng held onto the door frame and slowly stood up.
Qin Musheng was Official Qin's legitimate son. As long as he did not actively cause trouble, the few bodyguards did not dare to do anything to him and could only surround him as a precaution.
"I will not give up." Qin Musheng threw down this sentence, turned and exited the private room.
Ran Yunsheng good-looking brows knitted slightly. He withdrew him gaze and looked towards Ran Yan, "When was this engagement set?"
Ran Yan reached out to pour a cup of water for herself and lifted it to drink a sip. She then said, "It should be about half a month ago. A'ye probably thought that I was terminally ill and at death's door, thus set this engagement."
Pausing for a while, Ran Yan saw that Ran Yunsheng's expression was unhappy, and switched to comforting him instead, "If I really was terminally ill, there is no harm in marrying over, I won't have many good days ahead anyway. But since I've recovered already, if I am not willing, no one can force me, not even Madam Gao. Tenth Older Brother, I already know how to protect myself, you need not worry."
Ran Yunsheng looked down, concealing his eyes that were like limpid autumn waters. He made a light sound of agreement, his expression indecipherable. He seemed to relax his state of mind before turning his head to ask the little manservant to tell the restaurant to replace the dishes.
Due to Fourth Master Qin's disturbance, Ran Yunsheng appeared a little absent-minded while eating and also ate very little. However these superficial[6] matters were of little significance to Ran Yan and simply did not have a large effect on her.
After the meal, both of them rested a little in the private room before strolling the streets of the East Market.
Ran Yunsheng saw that even the things Ran Yan wore were all exceedingly common goods, she did not even have a single decent jewellery. Therefore he brought her to the East Market to wantonly purchase things for her. As long as Ran Yan looked twice at something or touched anything, no matter the price, he had them wrapped and bought.
Spending money like water, adding to that were Ran Yunsheng's beautiful looks, his appearance when he smiled overshadowed the sunlight. Thus they became the focus of attention wherever they went.
After one round, there were two additional carriages following behind her. Luckily Ran Yan was not someone who was curious about everything she saw, otherwise Ran Yunsheng would really have emptied out the entire East Market.
Ran Yunsheng was an extremely attentive person. When he saw that Ran Yan seemed to be a little tired and saw the numerous clouds gathering in the sky, he estimated that it would rain shortly, thus called a carriage to send her home.
Most of Suzhou's alleys were not able to allow carriages to pass through. After coming out from the East Market[7], they could only travel straight along the main road and exit through the East Gate.
After getting on the carriage, Ran Yan leant on the window sill, admiring the view outside through the curtains.
The red clouds of the sunset covered the horizon, orange light rays enveloping the entire Suzhou City, the black roof-tiles and white walls reflecting the warm colours. The air was a little too moist, combined with the remnant roasting heat of the sun, it made one feel like they fell into a steamer basket[8], the clothes on their bodies stuck to their skin, rather uncomfortable.
The evaporated water vapour in the air gradually turned into mist. The bluestone bricks looked as if they were able to discharge water[9]. Swallows in twos or threes flew low across the alleyways.
Following the dark clouds shrouding the light from the sunset, the mist also became thicker. Within the dense mist, the faintly discernible double-storied residences/mansions composed of bricks and wood could be seen. Their eaves made from interlocking wooden brackets[10], window frames carved with flowers, firewalls in the shape of horse heads[11], with their little butterfly-like roof tiles. Everywhere brimmed with the rich charm of Jiangnan.
Not long after the carriage left the East Market, indeed the pitter-patter of a drizzle started up. The rain was extremely thin and weak, resembling continuous and unbroken threads. It fluttered and sprinkled, quietly weaving itself into a fine and dense net. In between the black tiles and white walls, it saturated into a thin layer of light muslin, just like an ink wash painting[12], shaded out in Jiangnan's ink.
Ran Yan drew open the curtains to look out and dispelled the notion of calling on Provincial Governor Liu.
She originally wanted to request to personally examine the corpse of the Yin residence's maidservant. However, due to the rain, the colour of the sky turned dark earlier than usual. If the rain turned heavy, it would be even more difficult to walk the through the little alleyways. Moreover, she did not wish for too many people to know of her going to examine the body. Ran Yunsheng was with her, so it was not convenient for her to go either. She thus decided to return to the estate to see how Wan Lu was recovering. When she comes back to town to treat patients tomorrow, she would pay a visit to Provincial Governor Liu then.
"Tenth Older Brother, it is getting late, also it is raining. You should return to the residence first. It's fine just sending a few bodyguards to send me back." Ran Yan said.
Ran Yunsheng pondered for a while. The journey from the east to the south of the city was not far, moreover safety was not bad, there were no bandits. Currently, the sky still had not turned completely dark, but when he returned the journey wouldn't be this easy. Thus he said, "Very well. Coincidentally I still have some matters to attend to at night. After you've reached the estate, send these (bodyguards) back to me to report."
"Alright." Ran Yan agreed.
Ran Yunsheng knocked on the carriage wall and ordered the driver to stop at the side of the road. After he jumped down from the carriage, he drew open the curtains from outside, and said to Ran Yan, "I've just returned and have many things to do. I might be very busy for the next few days. When I am free I will look for you."
"En." Ran Yan nodded.
The curtains were just placed down before suddenly being pulled open again, revealing Ran Yunsheng's bright smile, "The liveliness of Pingjiang river during the Double Seven festival[13]is out of the ordinary. At that time, Tenth Older Brother will bring you there to search for your ideal husband!"
After saying that, he even mischievously winked at her. In the fine curtain of rain, his devastating smile resembled a bright and colourful hibiscus[14], yet it seemed to have been permeated with gentleness from the Jiangnan rain. Passion and gentleness fused together perfectly, making one unable to look away.
The bamboo curtains dropped down and the carriage gradually started moving.
Ran Yan withdrew her gaze, and leant on the carriage wall, quietly thinking of matters. She connected together the events that happened these few days.
First was Jinling County's Assistant Magistrate's son Han Shan's dying from poison at the brothel. Then it was Yin Miao-miao's servant's corpse lying in Magnolia House without cause or reason. Looking at the circumstances of the corpse, it was obvious that she did not die on that day. Shortly following that was someone wanting to murder Wan Lu to silence her. In between there was also Official Yang's death…
Regarding Official Yang's death, based on Provincial Governor Liu's overly concerned attitude, Ran Yan guessed that he possibly knew who the murderer was. Moreover, the murderer may pose a certain degree of threat to him, otherwise a grand Provincial Governor would never conduct an autopsy so secretively, and did not even dare to use veteran coroners, inviting a little Miss of unknown background like her instead in order to pull wool over people's eyes.
On the other hand, Han Shan and the maidservant's death was obviously someone deliberately targeting Qin Musheng. Provincial Governor Liu's conduct also in keeping with the actions of a Provincial Governor of a state should have. Therefore, they should be two different cases.
In that case, Han Shan's death, the maidservant's death and Wan Lu's injury, was there any connection between these three events?
Qin Musheng suspected that this matter was Yin Miao-miao's doing. Was this possible…
Ran Yan could not openly investigate matters of the Yin residence, therefore everything could only be analysed according to the current known clues. If the murderer was Yin Miao-miao, putting aside the method of the crime and the timing, one had to first determine whether she had sufficient motive for murder. In order to know this, Ran Yan feared that she had to find out what happened to Yin Wan-wan and how she died.
Ran Yan deep in thought when the moving carriage came to an abrupt stop at the side of the road.
Ran Yan stabilised her body and knocked on the carriage door. The voice of the driver travelled in from outside, "Miss, there was a carriage coming from the opposite direction. It seems like we're stuck."
The road turning from the east of the city to the south was narrow. Normally if the carriages were careful they would be able to narrowly squeeze past each other. However, the carriage Ran Yan was sitting in was large, the other carriage was probably also the same, so they got stuck.
[1]觉悟: to come to understand/become aware of something/to realise/Buddhist enlightenment. Full text says: 也没有拯救不良青年的觉悟. Basically saying that she did not feel a calling/sudden enlightenment to save troubled youths.
[2]Censored in the original text.
[3]绣花枕头: metaphor for a person who has a good outward appearance but had no knowledge or talent.
[4]如花似玉: as delicate as a flower, as refined as a precious jade (idiom) / (of a woman) exquisite
[5]当下卯足力气反手一抓: couldn't really make sense of this sentence. From the context, I'm assuming that RY twisted his arm behind his back.
[6]不疼不痒的事情: lit. doesn't hurt, doesn't tickle. Basically saying that these matters were insignificant
[7]东市: OK so 市can mean city or market. So when I've been translating East City previously, it appears that it's actually supposed to be the east market instead -.- sigh WHY
[8]蒸笼: steamer basket eg for dimsum. See picture below
[9]青石砖上亦仿佛能殷出水似的: It's saying that the bricks looked so moist and wet that it looked as if they were capable of emitting water.
[10]斗拱: interlocking wooden brackets between the top of a column and crossbeams used in traditional Chinese architecture. See Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dougong
[11]马头火墙: Horse-head-shaped Fire Wall - an ancient China measure to protect against fire - they surrounded the house - the front and back walls shaped like screens, the side walls shaped like horse heads. They were 20-30cm thick and were fire resistant. They also did not bear weight and were independent of the house. They formed fire compartmentalisation in the houses. (Source: ) See picture below.
[12]水墨画: ink wash painting. Wikipedia link. it has a sort of dreamy, blurry feel
[13]七夕: double seven festival, evening of seventh of lunar seventh month / girls' festival / Chinese Valentine's day, when Cowherd and Weaving maid (they are star-crossed lovers) are allowed their annual meeting. Wikipedia link
[14]扶桑花: Hibiscus rossinensis/Chinese hibiscus/China rose/rose mallow/shoeblackplant/Hawaiian hibiscus. See picture below