Miss Truth-Chapter 696: Side Story Three: Xiao Jiu - 2

In the officialdom, when a father and son come face to face on the narrow path, my relationship with him was still as incompatible as fire and water.

One day, I watched him tangle with Wei Zheng in the great hall; to my surprise, what surged in my heart was not mockery or disdain, but emotion and heartache.

My father was demoted and had to leave Chang’an, and I personally went to see him off. But I knew he was a man who cared a great deal about face, so I didn’t want him to feel dignified in front of his son, thus I only watched him from the city gate tower.

After that, my career inexplicably went smoother. Undeniably, my rapid rise to Assistant Minister of Ministry of Criminal Justice was greatly related to my father’s demotion. The Emperor felt guilty toward my father and still held him in respect.

The Emperor once remarked about him, "Strong winds reveal the strength of grass, and troubled times show the faithfulness of a minister."

In such a career, my father is undoubtedly successful, and for the first time in my life, I agreed with him.

Therefore, even when we still came to blows easily over differing political views later on, I mostly would not block them anymore; a few punches and kicks, I was willing to take them.

To soothe the Du Family’s pain over the loss of their beloved daughter, my family hadn’t brought up my marriage for two years, which suited me just fine.

Since the Ministry of Justice couldn’t find any clues, and there was talk that Miss Du had been frail since childhood, they simply assumed her life was meant to end. But I didn’t believe it, so I persisted in investigating the case while at the Ministry of Criminal Justice. Two years later, when my family broached the subject of marriage again, I still refused.

The people of Chang’an thought I was lovesick, and the Du Family had an excellent impression of me because of this.

Only Liu Qingsong, that fellow, had once asked me resentfully if I had fallen in love with him, so I didn’t want to marry.

I laughed and said, "I haven’t given up on myself to that extent."

Thanks to my good reputation, four years after Miss Du’s death, my family easily arranged what seemed to be an agreeable marriage for me. The bride was the legitimate daughter of the Lu Family from Fanyang, only sixteen years old.

As a normal man who perhaps matured late in matters of men and women, I truly wanted to marry now. So I happily agreed.

I had certain hopes for this marriage.

With caution and success, I welcomed the bride, and right after the wedding ceremony, as I was about to head for the banquet hall, I learned that a major robbery had occurred in the suburbs of Chang’an City, and the hostages were relatives of a Third Rank official. The Ministry of Criminal Justice dared not make any mistakes. With no choice, for another Assistant Minister had gone to mourn his father, I had to temporarily take over. However, Miss Lu understood the gravity of the situation and urged me to prioritize my duty.

It only took three days to crack the case, and the Emperor even teased me, inquiring if I was in a rush to consummate the marriage.

Unfortunately, when I returned home with joy in my heart and after cleansing myself, a maid came running to me in panic to tell me that Miss Lu had passed away!

There was still the joy of the bridal chamber, yet the woman on the bed had already turned pale, her chest motionless.

Still without any leads, Miss Lu died just as mysteriously as Miss Du.

Over the following years, I investigated this matter in secret, yet the faint clue I found pointed to my great-aunt. However, I never managed to find the concrete evidence to prove that she indeed was the murderer.

Perhaps because of this, my anger had nowhere to vent, making my methods of handling cases increasingly cold, violent, and relentless.

The interest I had begun to develop in women seemed to extinguish the moment I saw Miss Lu’s state of death. I believed that since I couldn’t protect them, I didn’t deserve to possess their bodies and minds.

And during this time, I also saw clearly the true nature of the women in Chang’an. They seemed to be enamored with me, but none were willing to risk their lives for it, all fearing they might be struck dead by my bad luck. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

I disdained to touch such women.

There were those who, unafraid of death, sent matchmakers to propose marriage to me, but sadly, they were either widows or shrews. After my mother burst out furiously just once, no one dared to randomly send those proposals anymore, and I was utterly disregarded.

For four years, some said there were probably not even a female mosquito within a five zhang radius of me, and I lacked interest in the matter as well.

It wasn’t until I went to Suzhou to capture Su Ziqi that I met the first woman who could pique my interest.

I was certain that Su Ziqi was on that carriage and even considered capturing him regardless of the safety of those inside, but the held woman’s voice was surprisingly calm, without a trace of emotion.

As most of my men had been injured by Su Ziqi’s sword, and without being sure of capturing him, after a moment’s consideration, I decided to let go of this opportunity.

Guessing her identity, I made a special visit to inquire whether she was held hostage or was in collusion with Su Ziqi.