Chapter 43: I Mean, Suppose

Peach Immortal Lane.

As night fell, the streets gradually grew lively.

Amidst the street's clamor, a squad of government office runners and Wu Zu escorted a young man and woman toward the Yuelai Tower, chattering all the way:

"Eat up quickly; the government office is busy. If we're gone too long, my father will scold me for slacking off and not doing proper work..."

"Sharpening the axe doesn't delay woodcutting. If we can't even eat our fill, how can we have the strength to work..."

"The Yuelai Tower's mushroom stew with flying dragons is truly unmatched..."

"Gurgle—?! Gurgle gurgle gurgle..."

"Eh? What's wrong with Meiqiu?"

"Urging us to hurry. She just loves this dish; it's been so long since she had any..."

At the same time, inside an inn nearby.

Hundred-Household Commander Zhou He stood by the window, peering through the gap at the group on the street.

Behind him, two Red Scale Guards, who had seen a room full of courtesans today but eaten nothing, were heartbroken; yet now they dared not think of such things, merely asking an old man:

"This case involves not only the mummy case in Jingcheng but may also be linked to a great demon on Mount Zihui. You saw the Wang Fu's display of force, Mr. Li. If the truth is not revealed, even the Red Scale Guards cannot clear your son of charges."

The old man, named Li Gongming, younger brother of Li Gongpu, sat by the tea table in scholar's robes, a trace of anger on his brow:

"My elder brother serves the Son of Heaven in the capital; how could the Li family not know the bounds of conduct?

"Deng Xian San was indeed sold by my son's indulgence of Li Shizhong, who also buried gamblers owing gambling debts alive, and even smuggled salt from Yaozhou to outlying counties, but these are trivial matters.

"Secretly colluding with demon bandits, causing unrest in Luoyang and Danyang, even alarming the Son of Heaven—if this is proven, it could lead to our Li family's house being confiscated and our clan exterminated. Could my son be so foolish as to go this far? What would our Li family gain by colluding with a great demon?"

Zhou He closed the window and sat by the tea table:

"Neither Li Gong nor your son had any motive to collude with a great demon. In my view, Mr. Li may have been secretly plotted against."

Li Gongming had come to discuss exactly this; he raised his hand to pour tea for Zhou He:

"My lord holds a key post in the Red Scale Guards and is surely well aware of the situation in Jingcheng. If someone covets my elder brother and strikes from the shadows, I hope my lord will give a hint."

Zhou He pondered slightly: "We have not yet found out who, but I do have some suspicions."

"Oh?" Li Gongming leaned closer: "My lord, please speak."

Zhou He lifted his teacup, recalling slightly:

"Three years ago, the haunted palace incident occurred. Hundred-Household Commander Han was implicated; unable to deliver results, he shifted the blame for dereliction of duty to Xie Wen, the Wan'an County Magistrate, and Xie Wen was subsequently demoted to Lingnan."

"Is this matter related to the current case?"

"On his way to take up his post, Xie Wen encountered an unknown demon creature; his entire force was wiped out with no survivors. But Xie Jinhuan, who has recently achieved remarkable feats, is Xie Wen's son. He went somewhere unknown for three years and has now returned."

Li Gongming frowned and asked in a low voice:

"Xie Wen's transfer and the convoy ambush were both orchestrated by my elder brother?"

Zhou He shook his head: "A mere county magistrate could not possibly rouse Li Gong. Making Xie Wen the scapegoat was Hundred-Household Commander Han's idea; the convoy ambush was likely just bad luck.

"However, if Xie Wen had not been demoted to Lingnan as a scapegoat, he would not have met that calamity. Counting it strictly, this is also a blood feud for patricide!"

Li Gongming thought carefully for a moment, somewhat bewildered:

"Xie Jinhuan has a blood feud with Hundred-Household Commander Han; what does that have to do with our Li family?"

Zhou He gently reminded: "If Hundred-Household Commander Han had not cultivated connections, could he, with his rank and authority, have cleared himself completely and pinned all responsibility on the government office's county magistrate?

"I heard Hundred-Household Commander Han sent three thousand taels of snow-white silver to settle this matter; I am not sure exactly which my lord received it."

"..."

Li Gongming knew well how his elder brother Li Gongpu had amassed such vast wealth and did not dwell on this:

"My lord's meaning is that Xie Jinhuan mistakenly believes my elder brother harmed his father and is secretly framing our Li family?"

"I am only suspecting, but regardless of whether it is true, this person must be dealt with."

Zhou He spoke earnestly:

"Xie Jinhuan possesses extraordinary martial arts, has recently achieved remarkable feats, and today even won the appreciation of the Dan King. If we do not prevent trouble before it arises, once he returns to Jingcheng, he will have merit in hand, rely on a prince, and enjoy the Son of Heaven's favor; no one in the court would dare move against him. When his wings are fully grown and he investigates the case from three years ago..."

Li Gongming understood the implication and asked:

"How does my lord plan to deal with this young man?"

Zhou He gently rubbed the rim of his cup:

"Dealing with Xie Jinhuan is not difficult; the difficulty lies in dealing with those behind him.

"The Red Scale Guards confirmed Xie Wen died in the line of duty; Xie Jinhuan should already be dead, yet now he lives and has inexplicably gained a set of extraordinary martial arts. There must be a master behind him assisting.

"Before we clarify his specific background, if we act rashly, we may kick against an iron plate."

Li Gongming stroked his beard and asked:

"How does my lord plan to investigate?"

Zhou He stood up and paced back and forth twice:

"Dongcang Street, Sanhe Tower, the corpse pit, and the fields where bodies were buried—all were places Xie Jinhuan arrived at immediately, and most were solved by his own strength; today he was even the first to discover the anomaly in the bones.

"Even if he solves cases like a god, this is too godlike, and things like the location of the Gu flowers and the corpse pit cannot be explained by where he deduced them from. We suspect he has a master behind him assisting, but no one knows who this master is.

At this point, Zhou He turned to look at Li Gongming:

"Let us make an analogy: suppose, Xie Jinhuan gained the aid of a great demon, thus advancing like a landslide, deliberately muddying the waters..."

?

Hearing this, Li Gongming straightened up slightly:

"This theory is likely too far-fetched. Accusing the Li family of colluding with demon bandits at least has the blemishes of Deng Xian San and burying gamblers alive, which are hard to disprove.

"Xie Jinhuan lives openly right in front of the Princess's residence; in recent cases he has rushed to the front, fearing neither hardship nor fatigue..."

"Sigh~"

Zhou He raised his hand and said with grave earnestness:

"I am speaking hypothetically. Xie Jinhuan is certainly unrelated to the great demon, but if someone suspects it, must he not prove his innocence?

"Now, in Danyang, everyone is on edge. If Xie Jinhuan is linked to the demon bandits, he must explain the full story of the past three years, his master's background, and how he discovered the various clues.

"If he cannot explain clearly, and the Li family insists Xie Jinhuan framed them, must the government office not investigate his background and resume strictly?

"If he explains clearly, and the Red Scale Guard has also uncovered the details of his background, will they not then have no further reservations in handling the matter?"

"..."

Li Gong stroked his beard, pondering seriously, and nodded slightly:

"Indeed so. Zhou Company Commander's mind is still sharp. This matter still requires Lord Zhou to handle it personally..."

"That is natural, but I must also ask Mr. Li to help find some things..."

——

Inside the Yuelai Tower, the atmosphere was lively. A waiter carried wine and dishes through the crowd, and at a table sat a middle-aged musician holding a pipa, singing a graceful little tune from the water towns:

"Dang, dang, dang~"

"On the islet, the white feather dances lightly; in the water and clouds, the pale shadow wanders~ Pure and standing alone, the thought cannot cease..."

In the middle of the main hall, two square tables were pushed together. Nearly ten constables and Wu Zu sat around them, wolfing down rare mountain delicacies and sea treasures.

Among them, the one with the most exaggerated eating manner was none other than Meiqiu. Had Xie Jinhuan not held her back, she might have eaten the entire basin!

Linghu Qingmo, as the host, naturally sat in the seat of honor. Because she had given the meat to Meiqiu, only mushrooms remained in her bowl. At that moment, she chewed slowly in small bites, noticed Xie Jinhuan was somewhat distracted, and asked:

"What's wrong? Is the food not to your taste?"

Xie Jinhuan looked at the constables at the table and sighed slightly:

"No, I just remembered the first time I met Brother Yang. It was a similar occasion."

Yang Dabiao, having drunk three rounds of wine, was already slightly flushed. Hearing this, he recalled carefully:

"It really was. I remember it was six years ago. I had just arrived in Jingcheng not long before. The government office solved a small case, and Lord Xie hosted a banquet to reward us, bringing Jinhuan along too. At that time, Jinhuan wasn't even as tall as my shoulder, and Meiqiu was only the size of a fist. She was especially well-behaved and sensible. Who would have thought that in just a few short years, the changes would be so great..."

Xie Jinhuan smiled and added: "Yes. I remember after the meal, several lords suggested visiting the pleasure quarters..."

"Ah?" Linghu Qingmo frowned: "You went there too back then?"

Xie Jinhuan shrugged slightly: "I was only thirteen back then. How could I possibly have gone to the pleasure quarters to mingle? You should ask Brother Yang about that."

Yang Dabiao instantly sobered up and argued sternly:

"You must have remembered wrong. I didn't go. It was Monk Fei Ji Bei who started it. I had just met my wife; how could I go to such a ghost place? I turned around and left immediately."

"Tch~"

Liu Qingzhi sneered, his expression clearly showing he didn't believe this nonsense.

Yang Dabiao instantly got angry and was about to expose his secrets publicly, but Liu Qingzhi quickly pressed him down:

"Drink, drink. Don't talk nonsense while eating..."

"What? Guilty conscience?"

"What do I have to feel guilty about? I haven't done anything wrong!"

"You helped Widow Wang find a chick the day before yesterday..."

"That was just helping out on the side. Widow Wang is over forty."

"Isn't over forty exactly the age to clear the fire? If your wife knew..."

The table erupted in noisy laughter.

Linghu Qingmo, from the Daoist sect, rarely participated in such official social occasions. Seeing many constables and Wu Zu holding back their laughter, wanting to make dirty jokes but daring not, she only felt that all men were big pigs.

Look how upright Xie Jinhuan is...

Thinking of this, Linghu Qingmo picked up another piece of chicken leg meat for Xie Jinhuan...

——

The word count far exceeds that of books released four or five days early. Begging for monthly tickets or two~

Just finished writing, still need to polish it carefully...

(End of this chapter)