System Only Gives Me Useless Gifts

“Hm…” Song Taiji uttered, almost as though he was thinking hard to recall. “Is this about Chi Ling’s student Zhang Shuyi? Meilin has asked me about him before.”

“Zhang Shuyi was hired by a mercenary group to forge different paintings and calligraphy,” Li Yun revealed. The connection between Zhang Shuyi and the dead monk was already known to the local police. Wing Bo had erased any connection the monk had to Abbot Haoyang and Luba.

“I have shown them my collection, but I wouldn’t hire a mercenary as a third party when I could ask them directly.”

“Is it possible for your rival to copy it?” Li Yun didn’t want to rule out Song Taiji completely, but he had no motive and it was odd that he would hire a mercenary in the first place. However, a man like Song Taiji had many political rivals who wanted to damage his reputation. Song Taiji may have other more expensive work, but the Zhao Mengfu was the most prized calligraphy in his possession. But who would want to go up against Song Taiji?

“I have political rivals, but no one who would use this particular method,” said Song Taiji.

“Not even those from rival families?” There were the Long, Chen, Xia and Tang families.

“It’s possible, the five families like to keep each other in check if they feel that one is overpowering the other, but our Song has remained stagnant the past few years. If anything, the Chen, Xia and Tang families are expanding. They wouldn’t interfere with me if I am simply trying to catch up.”

It made some sense to Li Yun, but there were many hidden layers to power. It wasn’t simply economic strength, political pulls or public influences. There were underground forces underneath all the powerful families. No matter how many layers were peeled, there were more hidden forces underneath. If Song Taiji had hidden forces that the other families uncovered and felt threatened by, it would give them a motive to target Song Taiji. Nevertheless, Li Yun agreed with Song Taiji that it was unlikely since it was too much meandering. Sometimes, the simplest explanation was the answer.

“Did you ever think about Zhang Shuyi being the murderer?” Song Taiji asked. “The young Zhang appeared to be interested in calligraphy to a level that is bordering mania.”

“I have considered that for a time,” Li Yun replied. “However, judging by the puncture wounds, the monk was killed by a trained killer. It appeared that Zhang Shuyi was the original target, but someone else died in his place.” It was unlikely that Zhang Shuyi had the strength to overtake someone with military training. According to Abbot Haoyang and Monk Luba, Zhang Shuyi was instructed to copy five so-called lost works of art in exchange for the real calligraphy pieces from their storage. The monk who was killed was in charge of watching Zhang Shuyi during the assignment and collecting the forged items. However, before completing the mission, he was killed in the process. Most likely, he had been protecting Zhang Shuyi. “What’s your impression of him?”

“The young man has a very high potential, but he has Asperger’s symptoms and doesn’t respond well to orders. That is the case with many geniuses, they are only good at one thing. Quite different from you, which makes me wonder if there’s anything else about you that is abnormal.”

“Being abnormal is normal,” Li Yun responded vaguely before steering the conversation back to Zhang Shuyi. “And what about his master?”

“Chi Ling? He isn’t the best calligrapher, but he knows how to make connections. It’s likely that he had met Zhang Shuyi by chance and saw an opportunity to use the young man to get him into the elite calligraphy circle in Imperial City.”

“So how is their reputation in Imperial City?” asked Li Yun.

“Decent, but Zhang Shuyi’s name is rising quickly for his ability to imbue special characters in his work. Very similar to yours.” Song Taiji gauged Li Yun’s reaction. “But I have to say your reputation is higher in the art world.”

Li Yun didn’t pay much attention to the art world, so he was unaware of what the professional calligraphers thought about his work. His only indicator was the rate at which the items were sold in the TeeBee shop. Wu Ling regularly contacted him to restock the inventory. Ignoring Song Taiji’s praises, he circled the conversation back to Master Chi Ling. “Do you know Master Chi Ling’s calligraphy circle?”

“He himself isn’t capable of joining the circle, but Master Meng Shi was the one that introduced me to them,” said Song Taiji.

“Master Meng Shi?” Li Yun also wanted to greet the Song’s family feng shui master. With his recently acquired knowledge, he wanted to see if he could gather more information from the old master. Shang Cang wasn’t considered a master and the Queen Mother had a cryptic way of explaining everything. Maybe it made sense to her, but to him, it was beyond his comprehension. “Is there a way to meet with the master?”

“Considering my future connection to this city, I have invited him to perform a reading here. He can stop by to see you after he’s done surveying the area.”

The coincidence was rather jarring, almost as though he had predicted Li Yun’s interest in meeting Master Meng Shi. Within half an hour, an elderly man walked into the room. The man looked wizened and his long beard made him look older than his actual age. He dressed traditionally and held an antique wooden fan in his hands.

Song Taiji introduced him to Li Yun, and all three sat back down around the table. Secretary Liang was the only person who remained standing while Meng Shi’s assistant stood in the hallway.

“Dr. Li, is it alright if I call you Little Li?” Meng Shi asked. He was very courteous and wasn’t someone who Li Yun thought would be Song Taiji’s feng shui master. He didn’t have much air about him. But knowing who he is, Li Yun assumed that the master was very good at hiding his aura. If Li Yun hadn’t shaken his hand and saw a strong Shen energy inside his dantian, the elderly master would appear like a simple and bland old man stuck in the past.

“Master Meng Shi, this little one does not mind,” Li Yun replied.

Meng Shi’s eyes twitched slightly at Li Yun’s ability to imitate his formal speaking style. “You are truly an exceptional person.”

“Oh? Does Master Meng Shi also have the ability to spot talent?” asked Li Yun.

“Spotting talent is merely a type of intuition,” said Meng Shi. “I would say my intuition is sharper than most people, but not to the level of Master Song Taiji.”

“Then is your intuition a Meng family’s ability or something you have cultivated on your own?” asked Li Yun.

“A bit of both,” replied Meng Shi.

“That’s a bit of a contradiction.”

“Life is already a contradiction.”

“Like how fate and free will are interlinked?”

“Exactly,” Meng Shi said with a smile. “What we decide on our own is both our decision and its inevitable fate.”

Song Taiji was confused. He could typically read between the lines, but the conversation between Li Yun and Meng Shi was cryptic. Considering they had never met or spoken before, it was difficult to understand the topic of their discussion.

Meng Shi turned to Song Taiji and explained, “It’s related to the practice of feng shui. I am merely telling Little Li that feng shui is nothing more than knowing about everything and nothing.”

There were mysteries in life that were best kept a secret. Otherwise, what mystery was left to explore?

“Then can I ask you about your intuition on Zhang Shuyi and Master Chi Ling?” Li Yun asked.

“Master Song Taiji has mentioned to me your interest in them,” said Meng Shi. “There have been a lot of rumors circulating within the elite circle. Someone has connected his disappearance with a potential forgery scheme. However, if the exchange was for an authentic piece of calligraphy, then I could see Zhang Shuyi being interested. Chi Ling is only interested in his own reputation and he doesn’t really care about calligraphy.”

Abbot Haoyang had mentioned that they offered Zhang Shuyi an authentic copy of Zhu Yunming’s calligraphy in exchange for his service to copy a dozen different calligraphy for a client. The temple would then exchange the forgeries to retrieve an ancient singing bowl from a client. The transactions appeared to be equal for all the parties involved until one of Abbot Haoyang’s men was killed. As everything was anonymous, Abbot Haoyang didn’t think the client was involved.

From Meng Shi’s account, it appeared that Master Chi Ling was the strongest link to find Zhang Shuyi. With the information from Meng Shi, Li Yun had Wing Bo look into Chi Ling’s account and files to find a possible motive. If Chi Long had anything to do with his student’s disappearance, they must find a motive.