The Turquoise Family were not people to be trifled with.

They weren’t as cruel as mafias or as sinister as a criminal syndicate.

The family was, above all else, Imperial Tutors. The Turquoise have dedicated their lives – nay, generations – to teaching, education, and academics, in order to groom the next generations of civil servants and royal descendants to make the jade Empire flourish for centuries, maybe even for millenniums to come.

The Turquoise Family are the cream of the crop, worthy enough to teach the cream of the crop within the inner Imperial Circle. They have guided the descendants of county magistrates, great generals, to even Duke and Duchess. If any of the family were fortunate, they could have a once in a life time opportunity to serve as a Royal Tutor to the next Crowned Prince.

Given the expectations and responsibilities, there was no room for any error. Not even a tiny stain on their social status.

So it was obvious they would not bother giving the time of day to: an inspector of a lowly station, an owner of a tavern full of vigilantes, and a short martial arts girl with a weak constitution. That was why the investigators had to use an alternate approach.

A stakeout.

For the last few days, Inspector Lee led a small operation with some of his most trusted men and women in the Imperial Constabulary from the Capital. They booked a room in one of their tall inn towers to set up surveillance and intelligence gathering duties, to get as much information as possible.

Fortunately for them, the Turquoise weren’t as seclusive or as niche as Starlight Fortune Jewelry. Their address, if not heir entire manor, is noticeable in public eyes.

The crew spent days and nights following the movements of major key members in the family. One by one they scratched off names and suspicious servants once they compare alibis, potential motives, and other factors.

In the end, they even had to wipe off the name of Young Mistress Turquoise.

“God’s damn it all!”

“...Did we come at a bad time, Inspector Lee?”

Martial Kim and Martial Yellow Sister had been conducting their own investigation to help cut down time and resources. North Cloud City was a big place after all.

So by the time they regrouped, the first progress they saw was Inspector Lee rage quitting with a kick of his chair across the room. They watched as Inspector Lee punch and beat at the walls to vent his anger.

“I don’t get it!” The Inspector barked, “Not one damn bit! All the evidence point to her, but she has a solid alibi!? Damn it all!”

Martial Kim let the man vent, it was the only way the Inspector could get it out of his system before he could speak coherently. Meanwhile, Moon Tavern helped to pass around some food they made for the Constables.

A batch of hearty Onigiri rice balls and some handmade barbecue pork buns to fill the stomach.

After many hours, perhaps days of investigation and chasing targets, the Constables felt a moment of reprieve was in order and started to fill their bellies. Moon Tavern waited for Inspector Lee to simmer down, before giving him some food – a double serving to calm him down.

“Thanks.” Inspector Lee groaned as he took a huge bite from a pork bun, muttering with exhaustion “The Young Mistress Turquoise happened to be out of town, practically the same time when Fae Fae was reported missing for three days!”

Martial Yellow Sister raised an eyebrow as she examined the Constables investigation board, “Wouldn’t that give us reason to believe she was involved?”

“Bah!” Inspector Lee laughed as he nearly crushed the pork bun in his grip. “She was out of town for a gathering! With over 1000 witnesses!”

Martial Kim would approach the investigation board himself and read the notes. He then nodded with an, “Ah yes, this event. I’ve placed posters about it in my tavern. A gathering of scholars from all corners of the Jade Empire, as well as academic ambassadors from other nations. A conference of some sort. Given it’s importance, it would make sense the Turquoise would be invited, or be involved.”

Inspector Lee shook his head in frustration, “It has to be her! SHE was the one who ordered the hairpin – one of a kind I might add! This rich girl, she must have pulled strings to set up her alibi!”

“...I don’t think hosting an inter-kingdom conference of that magnitude as a smokescreen would be possible, especially on short notice.” Martial Kim uttered, trying to calm the situation. “I confess, I too am disappointed we can’t point a finger at this woman, but I make it a code to never frame anyone no matter how vile or disliked they are. Let their actions and truth speak for itself.”

“I know, I know but look at us!” Inspector Lee muttered, “We’ve been running in circles for nothing! Fae Fae is still unconscious and we have yet to find the one who killed her!”

Martial Kim didn’t have any good response to Inspector Lee’s outburst. The latter had every right to vent, or to complain. At least to get it out of his system. Investigations were never easy, and they were just as difficult to swallow when they all felt the truth was only one step away, but they make they pick the wrong direction.

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The worse type of guessing game.

Martial Yellow Sister tried to help, prompting some questions, “What if Young Mistress Turquoise really did use this conference as an alibi. I mean, horses are fast. Faster if you pay triple. Could have taken a short day to travel to the Capital and murder Fae Fae no? The rush back to the conference.”

Inspector Lee hated to say this but, “Can’t. The conference was held in East River City. Even with all the gold in the world, there is no way a horse could teleport from one far city to another. It would just froth from the mouth and die from over exertion halfway. Hah! It’s not like our kingdom has invented some form of magical public transportation through the air!”

“That would be the day,” Martial Kim nodded.

As much as magical cultivators can summon mounts or ride upon flying swords to travel, it still takes energy and stamina and can only go so far. So something like a self-powered magical carpet that can fly across lands and clouds would be a godsend. Could probably travel between cities in less than an hour, or even half the time.

Alas, the world has yet to advanced that far.

“Is there anyone else we can look into, Inspector?” Martial Kim asked.

“That’s just it!” snapped Inspector Lee, “There is NO ONE else! Not even the father, the mother, the staff! Nobody!” He wolfed down the rest of his pork bun, demanded another, and wolfed that down too in a few seconds.

In a near dejected voice the Inspector went, “The Judge made a point. What vile human would do such a thing to Fae Fae? Stabbing her six times and leaving her in the mud for dead! It was a miracle you brought her back from life, Martial Kim!”

Martial Kim kept his words to himself. There really was no better way to stand up for the darkest nature of humanity. No matter where he went, no matter what he fought, whenever there is a shining light there will always bee a long shadow.

It was very much like the concept of Yin and Yang.

So he let the silence in the room heal the wounds in their heart, so they could focus on trying to deduce any more possibilities.

“Let’s pretend Young Mistress Turquoise didn’t have an alibi,” Martial Kim suggested as he sat. “What would be her motive, to kill Fae Fae? Based on your notes, it seems the Young Mistress spends most of her life in North Cloud City, while Fae Fae has been in the Capital.”

“See, that’s where my problem lies!” the Inspector tapped a fist to his brain to get his thoughts straightened out, “My Constables and I checked her tracks. These two women have NEVER met at all! Yet, it was the Young Mistress’ hairpin lodged in Fae Fae’s chest! I highly doubt the hairpin had a mind of its own and decided to go on a killing spree! Think about it, six stabs! That needs a human driven power to make it happen! We have yet to figure out what is her connection to all this other than her custom hairpin! It’s her, but not her – that’s what’s driving me up the damn wall!”

Before the young master of Moon Tavern could answer, Martial Yellow Sister spoke up, “What if this is all about a dog?”

Inspector Lee and Martial Kim raised an eyebrow. They could not help but get off their seats and walk over to where Martial Yellow Sister had been standing the entire time, looking out the window of their stakeout inn.

The inn on a raised hill not only had a decent view of the cityscape. It also had a good line of sight of the Turquoise Mansion itself, about a good 10 blocks distance. Although the inn window had a series of telescopes sitting on makeshift tripods against the window sill, the mansion could still be viewed with the naked eye. Martial Yellow Sister had her eye peeping through one telescope to get a better look of what was happening in front of the gates.

Inspector Lee snorted, “Little disciple, don’t make it sound like the story of a warrior going on a rampage to avenge his dead puppy. Besides, Young Mistress Turquoise hates dogs. The family don’t own them, not even for security.”

“Then,” Martial Yellow Sister points a dainty finger out the window, “What do you call that?”

Everyone got a better look.

A large and lofty horse wagon drawn by beautiful white horses came up to the front gates of the Turquoise Manor, along with a small entourage of servants and private guards.

A youthful and beautiful maiden in a sunflower gold hanfu robe would delicately climb out. No doubt, this was the Young Mistress of the Turquoise family. Elegant, poise, intelligence brimming in her eyes.

She was helped out of the wagon with the hand of a servant man who...

Wait, correction. This ‘servant’ wore an equally rich and matching colour robe and was adorned with a scholar’s hat. The Scholarly Servant would graciously help the Young Mistress out of the wagon, only for her to reward him in a series of glare, tongue lashes, and even drilling a finger into the side of his temple.

Why? Because the tip of his shoe accidentally stepped on the edges of her flowing hanfu robes, leaving a sooty smudge. The lecture went on for a good 15 minutes, in public with people all staring or hiding their giggles, the Scholarly Servant shrinking his head with every jab to his head.

It looked like a mother lecturing her child.

Note, she had very long and well manicured nails.

Inspector Lee just snorted, “Oh that wimp? He’s the husband of the Young Mistress.” He shook his head at this sorry sight, “The guy’s nothing more than a walking carpet. Probably married into the family for rich and glory, hence why he keeps bowing his head no matter how silly mad his wife can be. Rich bastards all of them.”

Martial Yellow Sister sighed at the pathetic scene, “What’s his name?”

“Ah. Noonien Turquoise. Silly name, for a silly scholar with no backbone. We followed him, nothing special. Besides, the guy’s a total coward.” Inspector Lee then grumbled as he moved away from the window. “Damn it, the foods gone cold!”

Once the Inspector left to get some food, Martial Kim kept his disciple company. His thoughts were elsewhere as he tried to get comfortable and study the Turquoise family in their natural habitat, as if observing animals in a zoo.

“Martial Yellow Sister,” Martial Kim spoke up with a curious tone. “Earlier, you said ‘what if this is about a dog’...Er... Mr. Noonien the Scholar, right?”

Martial Yellow Sister nodded, “I originally believed the murderer could have been someone in the brothel community. Jealousy for Fae Fae’s fame, popularity, even good looks and...features... But now I am thinking, what if...it’s jealousy for a different reason.”

“Like, over a man?”

Martial Yellow Sister dipped her head in a nod, “Want to ask straight from the dog’s mouth?”

“Spineless or not, give the scholar some dignity. And seeing how important he is, it’s not like he’ll stop and tell us directions... Actually, I have a lovely idea.”