“Don’t you think Su Zhengyi is far too calm about all this?”
It was as if he was certain that even if they arrested him, nothing would happen. He might be a little worried about that head being involved, but when it came to the exam paper leak, he seemed unnervingly untroubled.
Su Mingyu frowned and watched Gu Ruobai and Zhang Qiao. The two of them wore looks that said, I knew it all along. Suddenly she felt like she’d been slow on the uptake.
This was a huge scandal — the exam papers leaked. Su Zhengyi wouldn’t have carried it out himself. If Zhang Qiao hadn’t found the person who actually did the deed, Su Zhengyi would feel safe. That explained his bluster.
“So… do we have a lead on that person?” she asked, curiosity sharp in her eyes as she looked at Gu Ruobai.
He smiled without smiling. “What do you think?”
Su Mingyu blinked, then let out a short, helpless sigh. Given the scale of his reach, of course he’d have been found. The only reason they hadn’t moved on that person yet was probably because they were waiting to catch them all at once.
Seeing her trail off, Gu poured her a cup of hot tea. “I asked you out to eat and rest. Don’t go spinning conspiracy theories.”
At his words, the maidens carrying baskets stepped forward to lay out the dishes.
Su Mingyu glimpsed the fish she liked and her eyes lit up. “You went out to buy this for me?”
Gu merely smiled. “Eat it while it’s hot.”
She didn’t bother with manners. She picked up her chopsticks and ate with relish.
Zhang Qiao watched, dumfounded. Was this the same Su Mingyu who had been so poised and articulate before? How did she turn into this in front of Gu Ruobai — soft and childlike, all at once? Before, she’d been reserved, even aloof. With Gu, she seemed a different person.
Gu noticed Zhang Qiao’s stare and his expression hardened. “Minister Zhang, if you have no business here, please wait outside.”
Zhang froze. When had he ever seen Gu Ruobai act so protective? He touched his jaw and stared back. “Have you been switched with someone else? Why are you being so gentle with a young lady?”
Previously he’d assumed Gu’s kindness toward Su Mingyu was just routine courtesy. But now, with only the four of them present, Gu was even more indulgent — to the point of shooing Zhang away for daring to look at her twice.
“Tsk,” Zhang clicked his tongue. “Heroes can’t resist a beauty, huh? Look at you — completely wrapped around this little miss’s finger.”
Su Mingyu pretended not to hear and kept eating. When she’d finally had her fill, she wiped her mouth and lifted her chin toward Zhang. “Minister Zhang, as a friend, don’t you think you’re saying too much?”
Zhang gaped at her. “Excuse me?”
She either disliked his prying or simply thought him noisy; her nerve surprised him.
Su Mingyu didn’t look at him again. She turned to Gu Ruobai. “It’s about time to go.”
He nodded. “Be careful.”
She acknowledged him with a soft sound and walked out with Zhang.
After escorting Su Mingyu back to the cell, Zhang Qiao took Su Yueyue without explanation. The way he looked — tight-lipped and irritated — made Su Yueyue tremble. She resisted with everything she had, but in the end Zhang hauled her off.
Wang Manwen watched Su Yueyue weep so miserably that her own eyes grew red. She couldn’t even spare a thought for the earlier tension with Su Mingyu. She grabbed Su Mingyu and demanded, “Mingyu… did Minister Zhang do anything to you?”
Su Mingyu feigned a pensive frown. “No, he didn’t do anything. He only asked a few questions about the head. Apparently the head belonged to someone with powerful connections.”
Hearing that Zhang had done nothing to her daughter, Wang Manwen relaxed a fraction. But at the mention of the head, her face stiffened into a darker worry.
Su Mingyu noticed but kept her expression neutral.
Across the yard, Su Yueyue felt her knees go weak at the sight of the blood on the implements. She stared at Zhang and her voice trembled. “I… I really don’t know anything.”
Seeing her craven fear, Zhang couldn’t help comparing her to Su Mingyu. Same father, yet such a difference.
Zhang had a stool fetched for Su Yueyue. When she saw the bloodstains on it, she balked and wouldn’t sit. Reluctantly she stood awkwardly to the side. “Minister Zhang… what do you want to know?”
“Don’t be so nervous. If I tell you to sit, you sit.” Zhang indicated the stool with a cold ease that made the blood on the wood look like an accusation.
She had no choice. She sat. The sticky sensation beneath her made her tremble, but she stayed put and said nothing.
Su Yueyue had always been arrogant, secure in her father’s protection. As long as she didn’t act outrageously, Su Zhengyi would shield her. But now even her father was in danger; to remain haughty would be genuinely foolish.
Zhang’s voice was flat. “Miss Su Yueyue, where were you when Su Mingyu found the head?”
“My room… I was sleeping,” she answered, hands clenched.
Zhang lifted an eyebrow. “Who can prove that?”
“My maid, Xiaocui, and the other servants,” she blurted.
Zhang made a small noise. “Relax. A pretty girl like you wouldn’t be subject to harsh methods from me.”
He leaned in, his gaze sharpening. “But… this has become rather public. Did you go to see the commotion afterward?”
Su Yueyue’s hands tightened. Without thinking, she shook her head. “That thing was too terrifying. How could I bear to look?”
Zhang nodded as if acknowledging something obvious. “You do strike me as a gentle, sheltered lady.”
Although he’d praised her, the words brought Su Yueyue no comfort. She asked, voice thin, “May I go back now?”
Zhang nodded. She rose, ready to leave, when he called after her. “Miss Su, do you know who the head belonged to?”
Startled, she flinched, then stammered, “I think… the name was Zhang Chunshui.”
Zhang’s smile was a slow, dangerous thing. “Miss Su—if, as you say, you stayed in your room the whole time, how did you know whose head it was?”