Hot flashes

Zhou Heng was awakened by a series of urgent knocks on the door.

Outside the window, the sky was still dark, and a hazy morning mist shrouded Jiangling City, with the faint sound of roosters crowing in the distance.

"Young Master." It was Chen Shen's voice, low but with a tension he had never heard before. "Something has happened."

Zhou Heng's heart sank, and his cloak slipped to the ground. He stood up and opened the door.

Chen Shen stood outside the door, his face ashen, like frozen earth in the twelfth lunar month. Behind him stood two bodyguards, soaked to the bone and covered in mud, one of them with a blood-soaked bandage wrapped around his arm.

"Speak," Zhou Heng said steadily.

Chen Shen stepped aside, and the guard with the injured arm stepped forward and knelt down on one knee.

"Last night, I was ordered to keep watch on Qingnigou. Around four in the morning, a fire broke out in the ravine." He paused, his Adam's apple bobbing. "It was the Zheng family."

Zhou Heng stopped breathing.

"Where is Zheng Liushi?"

The bodyguard lowered his head.

"What about the two children?"

The guard did not look up.

Zhou Heng stood there, motionless.

The morning breeze blew in from the other end of the corridor, cool and refreshing, and seeped into my collar.

"How did the fire start?" He heard his own voice, as if it were coming from a very far place.

"Someone poured oil," the guard's voice was dry. "They set it on fire from outside. By the time we got there, it was already completely burned. There was no way to save it."

Zhou Heng did not ask any further questions.

He turned and went back into the house, picked up the cloak that had slipped off, folded it slowly, and placed it on the chair. His movements were slow and steady, as if he were doing something that required extreme concentration.

Then he walked back to the door and looked at Chen Shen.

"Walk."

Chen Shen was taken aback: "Young Master, where are we going?"

Zhou Heng had already walked past him and entered the hazy morning mist.

"Qingnigou".

The mountain road was more difficult to travel than usual.

The fog was so thick that you couldn't see anyone more than three steps away. The horse's hooves were wrapped in cloth, but it still slipped frequently on the wet mountain path.

Chen Shen repeatedly urged Zhou Heng to wait until the fog cleared before leaving, but Zhou Heng did not answer and simply spurred his horse forward.

We've arrived at Qingnigou.

The fire is out. Or rather, there's nothing left to burn.

The Zheng family's mud house collapsed completely, leaving only a few blackened, crooked walls standing there.

Smoke was still rising from the ruins, and the air was filled with a pungent, acrid smell of burning wood, burnt thatch, and something else.

Zhou Heng stood in front of the ruins, motionless.

Several farmers stood at a distance; upon seeing him approach, some lowered their heads, while others turned and walked away. Zhao Laosi was also there, standing at the very front of the crowd, his face expressionless.

Chen Shen waved his hand, and the guards dispersed to search through the ruins.

"Young Master," Chen Shen spoke again.

Zhou Heng followed his gaze.

On the other side of the ruins, the guards cleared a space. There lay two small, charred bodies side by side...

Zhou Heng didn't look at it a second time.

He stood up, turned around, and left.

Chen Shen chased after him, asking, "Young Master, where are you going?"

Zhou Heng did not turn around.

He walked up to Zhao Laosi and stood still.

Zhao Laosi looked at him, his cloudy eyes devoid of any expression.

"Yesterday," Zhou Heng began, his voice flat, "after I left yesterday, did anyone come by?"

Zhao Laosi was silent for a while, then nodded.

"Who is it?"

"I don't know them." Zhao Laosi's voice was dry. "Two men. They came after dark, stood in front of the Zheng family's house for a while, and then left."

"And then what happened?"

Zhao Laosi looked at him, and finally a flicker of emotion appeared in his cloudy eyes.

"Then...the lights in the Zheng family's house went out. I thought they were asleep."

Zhou Heng did not ask any further questions.

He turned and walked back.

He took a few steps and then stopped.

"Chen Shen".

"exist."

"Who arranged for the people watching Qingnigou yesterday?"

Chen Shen paused for a moment: "It was arranged by my subordinates. Four people, working in shifts."

"Let them come over."

Four people quickly stood in front of Zhou Heng. Two of them were on night duty last night, and one of them was the guard with the injured arm.

Zhou Heng looked at them.

"Before the Zheng family's house caught fire last night, did you see anything unusual?"

The two guards exchanged a glance, and one of them spoke up: "Reporting to Young Master, no. Everything was normal before four in the morning. After the Zheng family's lights went out, we stopped watching that area and only guarded the entrance to the mountain."

Zhou Heng remained silent for a while.

"How many people are guarding the intersection?"

"Two. Me and him." The guard pointed to his companion beside him.

"So, no one was watching the Zheng family last night?"

The guard's expression changed, and he lowered his head: "It was...it was my oversight."

Zhou Heng remained silent.

He stood there, watching the two men.

Then he turned around and walked down the mountain.

Chen Shen followed and said in a low voice, "Young Master, it was my fault for not making proper arrangements—"

"It's not your fault," Zhou Heng interrupted him, continuing to walk forward. "They planned this all along."

Chen Shen was taken aback: "It was all planned out?"

Zhou Heng offered no explanation.

When he reached the halfway point of the mountain, he suddenly stopped.

Chen Shen stopped as well.

Zhou Heng stood there, gazing at the faintly visible Jiangling City below the mountain, at the winding official road in the distance, and at an even more distant place—the direction of the capital.

"Chen Shen," he said.

"exist."

"Any news about that peddler?"

Chen Shen shook his head: "No. They neither found him alive nor his body."

Zhou Heng nodded.

"What about the Xie family?"

"Xie Xun did not go out last night. This morning, he went to the Xie Clan Ancestral Hall in the south of the city, stayed for half an hour, and then returned to his residence and did not come out again."

Zhou Heng nodded again.

Chen Shen looked at him and couldn't help but ask, "Young Master, do you suspect the Xie family?"

Zhou Heng did not answer.

He simply gazed into the distance, remaining silent for a long time.

Then he said, "It's not the Xie family."

Chen Shen was taken aback: "No?"

Zhou Heng turned around and looked at him.

"Xie Xun wouldn't be that stupid," he said. "He told me those things yesterday, and today he burned down the Zheng family's house? Is he telling me to stop investigating, or is he telling me he did it?"

Chen Shen remained silent.

Zhou Heng continued, "Burning the Zheng family's house was to scare me. To let me know that they are capable of anything. To frighten me, to make me back down, to make me retreat back to the capital."

He paused, his voice growing even colder.

"But they forgot one thing."

Zhou Heng looked at him, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly. Chen Shen had seen that smile on Xiao Jue's face countless times.

"If I were afraid, I wouldn't have come in the first place."

When Zhou Heng returned to Jiangling City, it was already afternoon.

He didn't return to the post station, but went directly to the government office. Li Chong was looking at documents in the back hall when he saw him come in, and he quickly got up.

"Lord Zhou, I heard you went to Qingnigou—"

"General Li," Zhou Heng interrupted him, "I need to borrow a few men."

Li Chong was taken aback: "Who is it?"

"A coroner. And an artist."

Li Chong's expression changed slightly: "A coroner? Over at Qingnigou—"

"The Zheng family's house was burned down last night. Two people, two children." Zhou Heng's voice was calm. "I need a coroner to examine the bodies, and an artist to sketch the scene."

Li Chong looked at him with a complicated expression.

"Lord Zhou," he lowered his voice, "I know you are an official of the imperial court, but there are some things about Jiangling City that... some things that cannot be touched."

Zhou Heng looked at him.

"Cannot be touched?" He repeated those three words.

Li Chong sighed, "Lord Zhou, you don't know how those people operate. They've been entrenched in Jiangling for hundreds of years, deeply rooted and intricately connected. If you mess with them today, they can make sure you don't even know how you died tomorrow."

Zhou Heng remained silent.

Li Chong continued, "I've heard about the Zheng family's situation. It's tragic, truly tragic. But Lord Zhou, there are many tragic things in this world. Can you possibly manage them all? Take my advice, let's leave it at that."

Zhou Heng stood there, listening to him finish speaking.

Then he spoke: "General Li."

Li Chong stopped.

"Your son is sixteen this year and studying at the Imperial Academy in the capital, right?"

Li Chong's expression changed.

"Your son is doing well in the capital, and you're doing well here in Jiangling. If you're obedient, the court will let you live well. If you're disobedient—" He paused, "Do you think you can be disobedient?"

Li Chong's face flushed red, then turned pale.

Zhou Heng didn't look at him again.

He turned and walked out.

"I've borrowed the coroner and the painter. Have them come to the inn first thing tomorrow morning."

Li Chong stood there, unable to utter a single word.

Zhou Heng walked out of the government office, stood on the steps, and looked at the sun gradually setting in the west.

Chen Shen walked over from the side and whispered, "Young Master, what about Li Chong—"

"He won't do anything reckless," Zhou Heng said. "His son is in the capital, and his life is in His Majesty's hands. At most, he won't help; he won't cause any trouble."

Chen Shen nodded.

Zhou Heng walked down the steps and suddenly stopped.

"Chen Shen".

"exist."

"Keep investigating that peddler. We need to find him alive or dead. Also, have someone check all the pawnshops, gambling dens, and brothels in Jiangling City to see if anyone has seen him."

Chen Shen agreed.

Zhou Heng continued walking forward.

He took a few steps, then stopped.

"There's one more thing."

Zhou Heng turned around and looked at him.

"Have someone investigate who in Jiangling City has been corresponding with prominent families in the capital in the last three months. Especially—" He paused, "...those related to the Shen family."

Chen Shen's pupils contracted slightly: "The Shen family? The Shen family of Prime Minister Shen Yu—"

"Um."

Chen Shen remained silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Does the young master suspect Prime Minister Shen?"

Zhou Heng did not answer.