Cat 239: The Pursuit

Chapter 239: The Pursuit

Whether this scenario was an ethical love story or not remained uncertain, but Yan Jiyun only knew that Liu Jingxi drove faster than he did.

“Cousin, slow down, for god’s sake! I feel like I’m about to die!” Even the seatbelt failed to reassure him. “Why are you driving so fast?!”

“Aren’t we supposed to be saving someone?” Liu Jingxi replied calmly. “This is only a hundred miles per hour.”

Yan Jiyun, terrified, said, “But you’re on the main boulevard; there are people everywhere, we have to watch out—otherwise, it’s dangerous.”

Liu Jingxi slowed the car. “Coward. You dare follow Master Jiu but can’t handle riding in my car?”

Yan Jiyun feigned ignorance. “What’s wrong with Master Jiu? I—I think his business is doing just fine. Looks impressive. I’ve never seen such clean, bright rooms in my life.”

Liu Jingxi said, “And what’s wrong with my family’s house?”

Yan Jiyun put on the air of a yokel full of envy. “That’s different. Your house is traditional. Master Jiu’s place has those tiled floors, the ground so shiny you can see your own reflection.”

Liu Jingxi tutted twice. “No wonder you want to work here—a lot more eye-opening than that countryside place of yours, isn’t it?”

Yan Jiyun nodded vigorously, like pounding garlic. “Yeah, yeah, even the shops on the street make my head spin.”

Suddenly Liu Jingxi asked, “So how did you learn to drive?”

It was odd for someone who seemed so unsophisticated to actually know how to drive.

Yan Jiyun scratched his head. “Our village was doing roadwork before, and the roads were so rough that few people went through. Once, the driver for the construction crew got sick, so they asked me to fill in for two days and taught me how to drive. That’s how I picked it up.”

Liu Jingxi pressed, “What kind of vehicle?”

Yan Jiyun feigned innocent confusion. “The kind where there’s seating up front and you load sand in the back… in the city, you call it a truck?”

Liu Jingxi replied, “So you don’t even have a license.”

Yan Jiyun: …What would a player need with a license!

Their conversation ended with Liu Jingxi’s insistent questions. But they hadn’t lost the car ahead; Liu Jingxi’s speed remained swift, keeping a safe distance behind.

Up ahead, the car carrying Cheng Xueying turned right at a junction, just as Yan Jiyun had suspected.

He remarked, “I remember the central hospital isn’t to the right—that’s east, but the hospital’s to the west.”

Liu Jingxi: “That’s interesting. If the Cheng family came to fetch our third cousin-in-law, they ought to be taking her to the hospital to see her injured father. So why turn right?”

Yan Jiyun led Liu Jingxi’s thoughts further. “Could they be taking her back home?”

Liu Jingxi replied, “Are you stupid? If you’ve just suffered burns, you’ll be hospitalized. Anyone going home now must have either minor injuries—or else, he’s already dead.”

Yan Jiyun pressed, “And what about third cousin-in-law? I just heard them tell her that her father’s badly hurt, waiting in the hospital to see her one last time.”

Liu Jingxi said, “Seems like there’s more to this story. The Cheng family is in utter chaos.”

Yan Jiyun asked, “Cousin, if there’s a fire at a wealthy family’s estate, with injuries, wouldn’t they call the fire brigade?”

Liu Jingxi: “One would think so.”

Yan Jiyun added, “But there’s not a single fire engine along this road. Did the Cheng family’s house even catch fire?”

Liu Jingxi: “Whatever’s happening at the Chengs, let’s follow and see.”

Yan Jiyun agreed, “Mm.” With another person taking the risk, he felt a bit safer—at least he wouldn’t fear entering those empty, ancient mansions alone!

They tailed the Cheng family’s car all the way back to the house, trailing at a distance, stopping as their quarry did, switching off the headlights so as not to be discovered.

Just as expected, they’d fabricated pretense to lure Cheng Xueying back to Cheng residence.

Cheng Xueying and her maid got out of the car, but there were two Cheng family thugs at their side, practically dragging the women through the main gates.

Not until the Cheng family doors closed with a thud in the silent night did Yan Jiyun and Liu Jingxi get out of their car.

Yan Jiyun said, “These people are definitely up to something. Clearly, a single phone call would have sufficed, but they came in person just to trick third cousin-in-law into coming home.”

Liu Jingxi, hearing this analysis, praised him, “You really do have a knack for detective work.”

Yan Jiyun: “Shame I can’t get into the police department.”

Liu Jingxi: “Don’t get ahead of yourself. Figure out a way to sneak into the Cheng house and see what’s really going on.”

Yan Jiyun thought of the letter in his pocket. “Cousin, you’ve never been to the Chengs?”

Liu Jingxi confirmed, “Never.”

Yan Jiyun: “You didn’t go along for third cousin’s wedding procession?”

Liu Jingxi: “Oh, that. I only got as far as the door, didn’t actually go inside.”

Yan Jiyun was momentarily puzzled. The handwriting on that letter was unmistakably his, so did he not know his pen pal was Cheng Xueying? Did Cheng Xueying know her pen pal was Liu Jingxi?

Eyeing the five-meter-high wall, Yan Jiyun asked Liu Jingxi, “How do we scale that?”

Liu Jingxi was clear-headed. “Find a ladder, or use the back entrance.”

Yan Jiyun immediately thought the latter suggestion sounded more practiced—finding a ladder was hardly the point; using the back door was real experience.

The two circled around the Cheng estate. In the air, Yan Jiyun could smell the traces of fire, but no one had come to investigate how it started or ended.

They had no map of the Cheng manor, but by the layout of the Liu residence, they reckoned the Chengs would be similar—and in fact, they found the back gate.

They had no idea how the fire began or raged that night at the Chengs.

The ground by the back door bore traces of water from firefighting, dirt still uncleaned. Even the door was left ajar; the two slipped in sideways.

Hearing no sound of activity nearby, Yan Jiyun swaggered into the Chengs’ back garden.

The courtyard was spacious, the back gate leading to the kitchen and related quarters. By this hour, all the cooks had finished work, and no one manned the stove room.

Yan Jiyun took the lead, following the noise from other yards. Liu Jingxi tailed silently, raising no doubts about his chosen direction, for once inside it was clear which rooms had burned.

“Are we looking for third cousin-in-law, or investigating the ruined rooms?” Yan Jiyun stopped beside a rockery when someone walked by, forcing them to halt.

“Of course, we find her first,” Liu Jingxi said. “If they went to such lengths to lure her here, they’re definitely plotting something unspeakable.”

Yan Jiyun: “But cousin-in-law is married into the Liu family. If she doesn’t return before morning, aren’t they afraid we’ll discover—?”

Liu Jingxi: “Depends what they’re plotting. They wouldn’t dare commit murder, but schemes to force someone to relinquish their inheritance—such things are common in grand families.”

Yan Jiyun: “So her father left her an inheritance, and now the Chengs think she shouldn’t get it since she’s married out?”

Liu Jingxi: “Naturally. Once Cheng Xueying marries out, she’s considered part of the Liu family. They won’t want her bringing the estate’s wealth with her.”

Yan Jiyun: “Is there bad blood between the Lius and Chengs?”

Liu Jingxi: “Nothing major, but plenty of minor friction. Marriage between large families doesn’t mean true harmony; it’s often just a show of face.”

Yan Jiyun: “But I heard it was the Chengs’ eldest aunt who arranged the marriage.”

Liu Jingxi: “It’s complicated. Everyone in Jiangnan Town knows that the eldest aunt and her brother Cheng Liang are at odds—the brother would hardly have agreed.”

Yan Jiyun: “Is it possible that third cousin-in-law had her own reasons for marrying in?” —for example, to find her pen-pal lover?

Cheng Xueying was, after all, a man in disguise. He came seeking someone with little to lose, and thinking of Liu Jingxi’s handwriting—elegant and refined, midway between masculine and feminine—he couldn’t help but imagine the misunderstandings this must have caused. He was almost eager to witness the moment Liu Jingxi discovered the truth; surely, it would be entertaining.

The two waited behind the rockery until the way was clear, then headed toward the voices—where there was weeping, that was the place!

Night favored their movement through the old house. There was little light, shadows indistinct, one could hardly see a figure clearly. Without Liu Jingxi beside him, Yan Jiyun might have felt he owned the place. Still, his presence here was thanks to Liu Jingxi; at this point, they needed each other.

Yan Jiyun pondered for a moment, and suddenly formed a new hypothesis.

He had initially assumed Liu Jingxi was the protagonist of this scenario, but now, thinking it over, couldn’t Cheng Xueying be the main character? Compared to Liu Jingxi, Cheng Xueying’s story was undoubtedly more dramatic—put simply, he suffered more.

Liu Jingxi’s parents were alive, he was favored, even his fiancée was a learned, attractive woman from a great family. But Cheng Xueying’s father had spent his life working for the clan—ostensibly with management authority, but in reality shackled by family politics, unable even to decide his daughter’s marriage; and now, on top of that, the treasure map had led to arson.

If Cheng Liang survived, that would be a simple story—he might recover.

If Cheng Liang died, the accident would grow complicated; the narrative would shift to Cheng Xueying as protagonist, for he had suffered most.

While Yan Jiyun was running these thoughts through his mind, Liu Jingxi pulled him to a window. In these mansions, windows for ventilation were abundant.

Inside, Cheng Xueying was crying, “Father, father, how are you? Does it hurt?”

The man on the bed could only let out rasping breaths.

Cheng Xueying, her voice thick with sobs, evidently forgot to disguise it in her fear. “Father? Don’t scare me. What are you saying? Speak slowly, I can hear you.”

Cheng Liang: “…h…h…”

Yan Jiyun couldn’t make out his words, ear pressed to the wall. Cheng Liang really was dying. The Chengs hadn’t lied to her—only that he died at home rather than the hospital. Which meant, after being burned, Cheng Liang wasn’t actually taken for medical care?

What kind of heartless people would let someone suffer to death? Clearly, someone had deliberately prevented him from being taken to a hospital.

The Chengs were an even more scheming lot than the Lius, dirtier in their dealings too.

Soon, Cheng Liang’s voice faded completely, the rasping ceased, leaving only Cheng Xueying’s weeping within the room.

There were others in the house. Someone offered her condolences, someone else sighed. But no more tears were shed.

The butler who’d brought Cheng Xueying back came out, ordering preparations for the funeral.

A crowd exited the main residence.

From Yan Jiyun and Liu Jingxi’s vantage, they could see that none of these men or women wore so much as a trace of grief; one middle-aged man even covered his mouth and whispered to the woman next to him, “Well, that’s that—Cheng Liang’s dead, the Cheng family’s ours now.”

The woman glared at him. “Quiet—eldest sister’s still here. If she hears, she’ll kick up a fuss.”

The man said, “With Cheng Liang gone, and as long as father’s not biased, the Cheng estate is for his daughters—what’s he need grandsons for?”

The woman replied, “But he dotes on eldest sister’s son, Song Kai. He’s his precious grandson, watched him grow up.”

From here the Chengs would surely descend into vicious infighting.

After everyone left, the weeping inside fell silent. In the dim light, the tear-stained person seemed rather lovely. Yan Jiyun nudged Liu Jingxi: “Cousin, shall we go in to check on third cousin-in-law?”

Liu Jingxi: “Is that appropriate?”

Yan Jiyun: “We’re here anyway, and she’s been bullied enough.”

Seeing the person crying so bitterly inside, Liu Jingxi finally followed Yan Jiyun’s suggestion and slipped in through the window.

But just as he was about to pull Yan Jiyun in, he found the kid had vanished without a word—no idea where he’d gone!

Liu Jingxi turned and met Cheng Xueying’s red-rimmed eyes. He managed, stiffly, to say, “Um—sister-in-law, are you all right?”

Cheng Xueying: “…”

Meanwhile, Yan Jiyun was timing it perfectly, transforming back into a cat to crouch in the bushes outside. Comforting people could be Liu Jingxi’s job—he had a scenario to explore!