Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“My other two hired appraisers are like me, they came in here!” Li Mengqi said, disheartened. “No matter what kind of criminal organization or grave robbers, they can’t come to the detention center and ask them to evaluate, right?”
Regarding appraising relics, Zhao Yu did not have much hope because it was most likely that the grave robbers still had the other two old experts from the Cultural Relic Bureau on hand, and the two of them could totally help them with that. Plus, grave robbers that were more advanced were usually appraisers themselves, and some were even better than experts. So, in regards to appraising relics, Zhao Yu did not have much hope.
Then, Zhao Yu redirected his focus to dealing with stolen goods. “Sis, if the grave robbers were to sell the relics locally, where would they go?” Once he brought up such sensitive topic, Li Mengqi went silent again. If she were to answer that question, it meant that she had to betray her friends.
“Sis, I guarantee, on my honor, that I will not betray you! Plus, if I were to look for them, I won’t use my identity as a policeman, will that do?” Zhao Yu comforted her as he touched the photo on his phone.
“Sigh! Alright!” Li Mengqi sighed. “Flower Market Street, number fifty-three, Flowers of All Nations. Go there and look for Mr. Lee! This person specializes in taking in unearthed relics. Nobody is more professional than he is!”
“Wait…Flower Market Street?” Zhao Yu thought. Hearing the name, he immediately recalled last night’s fight. “So quickly…another one on Flower Market Street? Number 53? Flowers of All Nations. Oh, the name is not right. The name of this flower shop is not the same as Fat Sausage’s.”
“Just say that you are my friend. But, you…you better use a buyer’s identity.” Li Mengqi thought and said, “If Mr. Lee does not know anything, it means that the grave robbers did not and would not sell them in Qinshan!”
“Alright!” Zhao Yu nodded as he pondered. “It seems that Flower Market Street is not that simple. Counterfeit relics and buying genuine relics. Is it really a family business?” he thought.
As the interrogation with Li Menqi had ended, Zhao Yu wanted to keep his phone and leave, but Li Mengqi suddenly pleaded, “Officer, excuse me. Can I take another look at your cellphone? I haven’t seen my daughter in a very long time!”
Seeing that Li Mengqi missed her daughter dearly, Zhao Yu couldn’t refuse. He passed his phone to her. Li Mengqi quickly took the phone and looked at her daughter’s photo carefully. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at the photo.
Zhao Yu looked at Li Mengqi and thought quickly in his mind, “What else would this woman know? Relic, relic… She’s an expert that buys relics. Besides Mr. Lee, what else could she tell me?”
Li Mengqi was already fifty-years-old. She could be given a life sentence for the black market case alone. She would most likely spend the rest of her life in prison!
“But, this woman had been running a black market organization for so many years. She had her glory days. Maybe… Wait! Qinshan! Black merchant! For so many years?! Then…” Suddenly, a peculiar idea popped into Zhao Yu’s head. He quickly took back his phone and found another photo from the internal server. The photo was none other than the photo of the female corpse in the mandarin jacket.
“Sis, take a look at this photo. This is a case from eighteen years ago.” Zhao Yu passed Li Mengqi the photo and said, “Look at the costume that she’s wearing; it’s an authentic ancient costume. Look carefully, what can you think of?”
Li Mengqi did not expect Zhao Yu to show her a corpse, and her expression changed completely. She looked at the photo unwillingly.
“From the design, it should be from the Qing Dynasty! And,” Li Mengqi creased her eyebrows and said with uncertainty, “the clothing looks so bright. It should be new?”
“It really is from the Qing Dynasty, and it was really an ancient costume, but it’s not new,” Zhao Yu explained.
“No, that’s not what I meant… Mm…” Li Mengqi said in embarrassment, “Can you get me a pair of glasses? I can’t really see clearly!”
“Okay!” Zhao Yu quickly asked for help from the guards.
“Officer, what I meant by new is that no one has worn this piece of clothing before. From what I see, this costume looks like a burial object. The owner of the tomb should be a rich man’s wife or something like that!” Li Mengqi said.
“Oh… You’re pretty good at this!” Zhao Yu suddenly realized, “Sis, you seem pretty familiar with ancient tombs. What you told me earlier about it being sad, and you wouldn’t take any unearthed relics was a joke, right?”
“Cough! In our line, you get to know a bit about everything!” The guard came with a pair of glasses and Li Mengqi looked carefully at the photo again after putting them on. “Officer, I vaguely remember this. This was what happened back then when they upgraded Qin River Bridge many years ago, right?” Li Mengqi asked curiously, “I don’t understand, why are you showing this to me?”
“Mm…” Zhao Yu was searching for an excuse when Li Mengqi suddenly said, “That’s really weird. I have never told anyone before. How did you find out?”
Huh?! Hearing what Li Mengqi said, Zhao Yu was shocked. “What…what do you mean? Is Li Mengqi related to the Female Corpse in Ancient Costume Case?” he thought to himself.
“Hehe…” Li Mengqi suddenly smiled and said solemnly, “Alright. As I did not say anything back then, I might as well tell you now! Actually, the dead woman in the photo, I’ve seen her before!”
“Huh?! Motherf*cker. What…what’s going on?” Zhao Yu thought in disbelief. He was shocked. He had not gotten a “Gen” hexagram that day! How could he suddenly find out something important about the case?
“Do you know who this woman is?” Zhao Yu asked in shock.
“I don’t know,” Li Mengqi answered seriously. “I’ve only seen her once!”
“Huh? Seen her?” Zhao Yu quickly asked, “How did you see her?”
“Sigh! Since it’s been so many years, I’ll just tell you!” Li Mengqi was holding Zhao Yu’s cellphone as she said, “I inherited the business from my grandfather. About twenty years ago, I was my grandfather’s assistant, helping him take care of financial stuff.
“Once, in my grandfather’s study room, I saw this woman, and not once only!” Li Mengqi recalled, “She was a woman from the south. She looked so beautiful that I couldn’t forget her even after one look.”
“Oh? Then…who is she? What does she do?” Zhao Yu asked.
“I think she should be in the same business as us. I’m only guessing. My grandfather was a very strict person, and his temperament was pretty bad too, so I dared not ask!” Li Mengqi pondered. “Then, after two-three years, I saw the news in the paper and the government’s notice. Although her body had decayed, I could recognize that she was that woman!”
Tsk tsk… Zhao Yu listened carefully. As he could see, the Female Corpse in Ancient Costume Case was extremely complicated.
“Don’t complain that I didn’t report this earlier!” Li Mengqi said straightforwardly, “What we do cannot be revealed. The worst thing I could have done was get involved with the police. Plus, the relationship between my grandfather and the woman seemed to be intimate. I was worried that her death was related to my grandfather! So, all the more reason not to say anything!”
“Mm… Why hasn’t the case not been solved after so many years?” Li Mengqi asked. “I remember that the case was quite influential. The village invited many monks to do various kinds of ceremonies as well!
“Officer, I think that the woman’s death was definitely related to romance. Because…the woman was too beautiful! I’ve lived for so long, but I’ve never seen such a beautiful person!”
“Is it related to romance? Is it a crime of passion?” Zhao Yu wondered.
“And I remember another detail. I’m not sure whether or not it will help.” Li Mengqi continued, “Back then when my grandfather was talking to the woman, he always brought up the word ‘Gege’. I realized later on that ‘Gege’ was the woman’s name. It should be a term of endearment, a nickname or something.”
Gege? Zhao Yu creased his eyebrows tighter.
“So, for the occasion,” Li Mengqi sighed, “they killed her and made her wear a mandarin jacket from the Qing Dynasty. If it’s not because of romance, then I don’t know what it was for.”