Chapter 69

The terror in the man's eyes disappeared, but he grinned with a foolish smile.

His originally stiff limbs suddenly became active, and he walked barefoot off the bed and stepped out of the room.

The moonlight stretched his shadow extremely long, and a child's silhouette was vaguely superimposed on his shoulders. That shadow dangled its legs, its thin arms wrapped around his neck, just as it had been in the past.

The man's eyes gradually became blurred, and he kept repeating in his mouth: "Pick fruit, Daddy carry Nianxue to pick fruit!"

The night wind rolled the nursery rhyme past his ears: "Pick fruit, pick a fruit sweet and tasty, for Daddy, for Mother—" The laughter suddenly jammed, and the tone became cold, "The last one... for the baby hanging on the white silk ribbon."

The next day, Xuanjing Division.

"Deputy Envoy Lin, do you know that Gu Huai is dead?"

"Oh? Is that so?"

"He was discovered by servants early this morning, hanging from a fruit tree and committing suicide."

"There's one less scumbag in the world, that's quite good."

"But his body was stained with the Qi of evil spirits; he must have been harmed by a ghost. Does Deputy Envoy Lin know who harmed him?"

"If Lord Xie doesn't know, how would this official know?"

"You don't know? Did you really send Gu Nianxue's ghost away?"

"Of course."

"When."

"Last night."

"Shouldn't it have been the night before last?"

"She left the night before last but came back; her obsession wasn't eliminated, so she couldn't go to the Underworld."

"What was her obsession?"

"She wanted to go back to the time when father was kind and child was filial, to re-experience the warmth between father and daughter."

"You agreed? So the murderer who killed Gu Huai last night was really Gu Nianxue! Deputy Envoy Lin, the duty of the Xuanjing Division is to suppress demons and drive away evil, and to protect the peace of one side! How can you condone a ghost killing people?"

"This official just didn't think of how to resolve the ghost's obsession for a moment. Who knew that Gu Nianxue would be so impatient to find Gu Huai, and before I could react, she took Gu Huai away."

"Deputy Envoy Lin!"

"Lord Xie, believe this official, this official really didn't do it on purpose."

"Do you think this official will believe your ghost stories?"

"Believe it or not, it's up to you." Lin Qingyue smiled, "To protect the peace of one side, one must always pay a small sacrifice when necessary. Isn't that what you always say?"

This person who was sacrificed was Gu Huai.

If it weren't to resolve Gu Nianxue's obsession, with Lin Qingyue's habits, how could she have kept Gu Huai for another day?

And Xie Shouzheng was blocked by Lin Qingyue's words and had nothing to say. But the Xuanjing Division is not an ordinary government office after all; occasionally dereliction of duty... what can be done about it?

"What if the Gu family refuses to let it go and comes to make trouble?" Xie Shouzheng was very worried.

What if the Gu family joins forces with the censors to sue Lin Qingyue and the entire Xuanjing Division?

Lin Qingyue doesn't have to worry; she is an aristocrat and a Princess Jin, and the privileged class can always find reasons to be exempted from punishment.

But Xie Shouzheng is different; he is a poor person with no background. The Crown Prince is not here and no one is protecting him; if things go wrong, he might even lose his official hat.

But he heard Lin Qingyue say: "Rest assured, the Gu family won't pursue it."

Xie Shouzheng asked suspiciously: "How can you be so sure?"

As soon as the words fell, Dami came in with a thick envelope: "Lord Xie, Deputy Envoy Lin, the new head of the Gu family sent someone to send something to our Xuanjing Division, saying it's to thank us for helping his sister transcend."

"What's inside, a thank-you letter?" Xie Shouzheng took the envelope and felt it was quite thick in his hand, and he muttered, "Does a thank-you letter need to be that long?"

Opening it, he saw a thick stack of things, which were actually silver notes.

Xie Shouzheng counted them, and his eyes widened in shock: "A full ten thousand taels of silver notes!"

His monthly salary and subsidies added together were only 20 taels of silver, and a year was 240 taels; how many years of his salary was ten thousand taels?

Xie Shouzheng counted on his fingers, and he was so confused he couldn't calculate it.

"It's equal to 42 years of Lord Xie's salary." Lin Qingyue held her forehead and sighed, "With such poor arithmetic, how on earth did Lord Xie get into the officialdom? You're actually still counting on your fingers?"

Xie Shouzheng said: "This official is a military officer, I don't rely on arithmetic! That's not the point; the point is why did the Gu family send so much silver? Shouldn't they be pursuing the cause of Gu Huai's death and then accusing the Xuanjing Division of dereliction of duty?"

Lin Qingyue said: "As long as Lord Xie doesn't keep nagging, no one should pursue it."

Xie Shouzheng wasn't that stupid; naturally, he wouldn't continue the topic.

He looked at the thick stack of silver notes and swallowed his saliva: "This... shouldn't be accepted, should it be returned?"

Damn it, I really don't want to return it!

After struggling for a long time, he finally wrote a memorial and presented it to the palace along with the silver notes.

Sigh, although I really want to keep it. But with such a large sum of money, if I embezzled it, I definitely wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully at night. Besides, he is an official promoted by the Crown Prince, so he has to consider the Crown Prince's face even if he doesn't consider his own!

"Sigh, sigh..."

After Xie Shouzheng sighed for a whole morning over the missed fortune, the palace returned the money. Emperor Qi Zhaodi gave an oral decree for Lin Qingyue to handle it.

Lin Qingyue wasn't as wishy-washy as Xie Shouzheng; she threw the silver notes on the desk: "Everyone in the Xuanjing Division, regardless of rank, split it equally!"

There was a moment of silence below, and then deafening cheers erupted, along with endless flattery:

"Deputy Envoy Lin, you are the person I admire most in my life!"

"Deputy Envoy Lin, this subordinate is willing to sell my life for you!"

"Deputy Envoy Lin, this subordinate supports you in usurping power and becoming the chief official!"

"Dami, you bastard, you've completely forgotten all the good I've done for you in the past!"

"..."

Xie Shouzheng snorted: "Our Xuanjing Division doesn't just have one yamen in the capital; the people in the various prefectures and counties, large and small, add up to 8,562 people. Ten thousand taels of silver, split equally is..."

He said halfway, and couldn't help but start counting on his fingers again.

Lin Qingyue said: "About 1160 wen, with a remainder of 8146 wen."

Xie Shouzheng said: "Then distribute 1160 wen to everyone! Use the remaining money as public funds."

Everyone: "..."

Although there was a gap compared to the initial amount, it was actually not a small amount.

The basic monthly income for ordinary Xuanjing Division guards was 500 wen.

Everyone could get more than 1000 wen, which was equivalent to receiving two more months of salary, and it was distributed immediately.

Therefore, everyone was very happy that day, and they were extra active in their work.

After dealing with these miscellaneous matters, Xie Shouzheng finally had some free time and asked Lin Qingyue: "By the way, Deputy Envoy Lin, this official remembers that the day you returned from seeing the Emperor, didn't you say you had something to tell me? I almost forgot because of the Gu family's business; what was it?"

Lin Qingyue raised her hand and waved, closing the door before saying: "This official was just about to say this. In the next two days, please arrange the affairs in the Xuanjing Division as soon as possible, Lord Xie; let's go to the border together."

"Ah?" Xie Shouzheng was a bit confused, "What for?"

Lin Qingyue took a secret edict out of her sleeve: "The Emperor's secret edict is here; Xie Shouzheng, receive the edict!"

Xie Shouzheng jumped up from his chair and knelt down: "Official Xie Shouzheng, receives the edict!"