Chương 16: The Teahouse

Butcher Zhang was chopping meat in the kitchen behind his shop, the door firmly shut. He'd woken up late that morning. He'd heard about the death in the street, the temple keeper Yuan Min. He hadn't seen the body, but all the shops in the eastern market had closed. He knew there'd be no business anyway, so he'd shut his doors too. If he'd stayed open, people would have suspected him.

"Sigh. Another bad year. Life's getting harder." Butcher Zhang sighed. He kept chopping the meat filling, putting his full strength into it. The harder you chopped, the more fragrant it became. Thump, thump, thump. The sound of the cleaver hitting the cutting board drowned out the knocking at the front door. No one answered the door. Fang Cheng kicked it in and walked inside. The smell of meat hit him, and his stomach growled. He'd gotten up early and hadn't eaten.

He'd only had one meal yesterday at the noodle shop. Li Sanshui's stomach growled too. He swallowed instinctively at the aroma, but then he remembered. That meat might be mixed with something strange. His stomach churned, and he quickly abandoned the thought of eating. The two followed the sound to the kitchen. Butcher Zhang was facing away from them, two large cleavers in his hands, swinging his arms as he chopped with gusto. Next to him was a basin of water. He'd soak the chopped meat for a bit.

"Hmm. Smells like four-legged mutton." Fang Cheng said, a hint of disappointment in his voice. If only that sheep had two legs.

"Sir, you have a good nose." Butcher Zhang stopped, turned around, and squinted with a smile, about to give this customer a thumbs-up. But then he saw who it was, the new City God. His legs started trembling. He remembered yesterday morning, standing outside the City God Temple, cleaver in hand, ready to teach this new City God a lesson. He'd been about to charge when a strange feeling washed over him. He was a pig, about to be slaughtered.

"Spare me, City God! Yes, I've sinned. I'm guilty! I shouldn't have added water to the meat filling. It makes it smoother, sure, but it adds weight that shouldn't be there. It's all my fault. But... but my meat isn't good. It's tough and stinky. Go eat Widow Wang from the next shop. Her big butt is soft and white and tender. She'd definitely suit your taste..." Butcher Zhang knelt on the ground, kowtowing frantically, his head thumping against the floor. Li Sanshui thought Butcher Zhang was confessing at first.

He was surprised. Lord Fang had been right about the killer. But as the butcher kept talking, it got stranger. What was all this nonsense? Though he did agree about Widow Wang. Fang Cheng listened patiently for a while, waiting to hear the butcher confess to killing Yuan Min. But he didn't mention it at all.

"Shut up, you damned butcher! Confess! Why did you kill Yuan Min? Was it an impulsive act as I deduced, or was there someone behind it?" Fang Cheng's roar made Butcher Zhang flinch. But he was confused.

"Confession? What deduction? City God, even if you eat me, don't pin Yuan Min's murder on me. Everyone knows, you killed Yuan Min."

"Nonsense! What are you saying!" Li Sanshui shouted. He didn't think Butcher Zhang was the killer now, but this idiot, whether scared or out of his mind, had just accused the City God. This was suicide!

"Butcher Zhang, your accusation is baseless. Everyone knows I'm a good person. And I was in the City God Temple all night, with Magistrate Li as my witness." This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Fang Cheng patiently explained. He had to prove to everyone he was a good person, even to a criminal who had blood on his hands.

"Yes, I can testify," Li Sanshui echoed, adding, "Our City God is a truly good person." Fang Cheng gave Li Sanshui an approving look, then repeated his deduction to Butcher Zhang, step by step, of how he'd killed Yuan Min. After hearing Fang Cheng's vivid account, an absurd thought crossed Butcher Zhang's mind. Had he actually killed Yuan Min? No! He quickly explained, "City God, I'm innocent! There's no way I killed Yuan Min. I stayed home all night. I never left. My family and neighbors can testify.

And I really can last longer than a few minutes, over half an hour, I swear! I'm not lying!" He was lying about the last part. But even if he died, even if he was eaten, he'd say it. His dignity as a man depended on it. Fang Cheng frowned. As a good person, he couldn't falsely accuse an innocent man. He told Li Sanshui to bring in Butcher Zhang's family and neighbors to verify his story. Butcher Zhang's wife, parents, and neighbors all came to testify. He was a decent, honest man. He couldn't have killed Yuan Min.

More importantly, Butcher Zhang's five-year-old son said his father had held him while he slept. Fang Cheng was certain. A child wouldn't lie. He smelled no evil on the boy.

"Looks like you really aren't the killer." Fang Cheng frowned. He dismissed everyone, sending them home, leaving only Butcher Zhang and the stubborn Li Sanshui.

"Look at this butcher's knife. Which butcher does it belong to?" Fang Cheng handed the knife that killed Yuan Min to Butcher Zhang. Butcher Zhang took it and recognized it immediately. It was his own knife.

"My lord... this knife is mine. But I really didn't kill Yuan Min. I gave him the knife yesterday. I don't know what happened after that." Li Sanshui jumped in, "Why would you give your knife to Yuan Min?" That didn't make sense. Li Sanshui was now officially suspicious of Butcher Zhang. The family and neighbor testimonials could easily be faked. Butcher Zhang quickly explained, "Yesterday, Yuan Min came to my shop to buy pig intestines. Strange. He never ate pig intestines.

I asked why, and he said it was for the City God, I mean, for the previous City God, Lord Zhang. I knew Lord Zhang loved pig intestines. He once said they were filled with filth, but once cleaned, they were purer than any person, because people can never be truly clean. Usually, Lord Zhang's wife would come to buy them. But yesterday she couldn't leave the house, so she sent Yuan Min instead. She wanted Lord Zhang to have a good meal on his final journey. Sigh. What a pity. Why did he have to kill himself?"

"I asked about the knife. Why did you give it to Yuan Min!" Li Sanshui interrupted. He had a feeling that Fang Cheng had rubbed off on Butcher Zhang, because the man just wouldn't stop talking all that pointless drivel.

"Easy, Magistrate Li. Let Butcher Zhang speak slowly. Don't scare him." Fang Cheng waved his hand, signaling Butcher Zhang to relax. People got nervous and forgot the important details.

"Tell me everything that happened when Yuan Min came to your shop yesterday, in full detail." Butcher Zhang didn't dare delay.

"Yuan Min asked for two liang of pig intestines. I gave him three and wouldn't take payment. I said it was my gift to the City God. He tried to pay, but I refused. My youngest son was named by the City God. That was my way of showing gratitude. Lord Zhang never accepted gifts when he was alive. After his death, I didn't go to burn incense or paper money. Sending some pig intestines was the least I could do. Yuan Min couldn't refuse, so he agreed.

Then he saw a rack of lamb on my counter and said he'd buy the whole thing for himself. I knew what he was doing. He wanted to pay me back through the meat. Yuan Min seemed carefree on the surface, but he was thoughtful inside. That lamb wasn't for sale. It was from a relative, a steppe-running goat. It's different from regular mutton. Almost no gamey smell. I was going to make a lamb soup to nourish my son. But since Yuan Min asked, I couldn't say no. I cut half and sold it to him.

I was about to chop it into small pieces so he could carry it easily, but he said no. Lamb should be roasted in big chunks. I just handed him the whole half-rack and told him to do what he wanted. Then he noticed my knife was handy and asked to borrow it. The next morning, he was dead." Butcher Zhang stopped. He felt he'd said enough. But Fang Cheng remained silent, so he could only stand there nervously, not daring to look up, afraid of being eaten.

"That's it?" Fang Cheng asked.

"That's it." Butcher Zhang nodded. Li Sanshui interjected, "City God, this sounds made up. And not even as good as your version."

"My lord, I swear every word is true! If I'm lying, may I be struck by lightning and die a terrible death!" Butcher Zhang knelt and raised his hand in oath. Fang Cheng stared at him for a long time. Finally, he sighed.

"Fine. I believe you. But we still need to find the killer, old Zhang. Yuan Min didn't just stab himself. Well, if worst comes to worst, you could always take the fall..."

"No! Please! I have a lead!" Butcher Zhang immediately raised his hand like a student eager to show off his meager knowledge. Fang Cheng smiled. Sometimes you had to push people to remember things.

"What lead?"

"You can ask at Heavenly Blessing Teahouse. When Yuan Min left yesterday, he told me he was going there. As far as I know, he had a grudge with the teahouse owner's wife. Maybe she did it."