Chapter 814: Openly Concealing

When Pan Yun arrived in Ji'an County, County Magistrate Wu had just finished receiving the special investigation team from Jingcheng.

This special investigation team was jointly formed by the Censorate, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Northern Military Surveillance Office.

They arrived with astonishing speed, completely unlike the previous two sluggish visits.

To Wu's delight, the Censorate official among them was the same one who had come before—he had known there were deeper secrets in this case and had always wanted to help Wu dig deeper.

But he had been powerless to act.

This time, the Court of Judicial Review led the team, with the Northern Military Surveillance Office stationed on-site, granting them unlimited investigative authority, equivalent to the Emperor's personal presence.

County Magistrate Wu was so moved he nearly wept.

Indeed, Xue Shao and Pan Yun's advice to submit the memorial directly to the Court of Judicial Review had been correct.

After settling the envoys, Wu returned to the county office and saw Pan Yun and four others sitting on the hall bench drinking tea—not counting ghosts and foxes, they didn't like tea.

Pan Yun tilted her head and asked: "What did the envoys say?"

Clearly, they already knew a special investigation team composed of imperial envoys had arrived.

County Magistrate Wu couldn't help but smile: "They're reviewing the evidence; once confirmed, they'll send all witnesses and physical evidence to Jingcheng."

The next battlefield no longer belonged to him; all Wu could do was add bricks and tiles when ministers impeached Prince Lu, and write his own memorial impeaching Prince Lu.

However, the main culprits in the Sanjing Villa mass grave case were Prince Lu's Chief Secretary Sun Xin, the already-executed Yang Ji, and former Prefect of Ji'an Qian Zhixiao.

Prince Lu's collusion with Japanese pirates was the reason Xiao Hong was killed—it was a separate case from this one.

But neither Xiao Hong nor Pan Yun was willing to let Prince Lu off so easily.

Pan Yun said: "I've already spoken with the Prefect of Quanzhou; as soon as the court impeaches Prince Lu, he will immediately follow suit and demand a thorough investigation into the maritime assassination of the envoy mission."

This was a relay.

Xiao Hong said: "If the assassination of the envoy mission still fails to bring Prince Lu to justice, I'll go visit Prince Lu's mansion myself and find my own chance for revenge."

That wouldn't do.

Wu Zhihong immediately looked at Pan Yun.

Pan Yun only smiled and nodded at him, showing no intention to stop Xiao Hong.

Wu Zhihong grew utterly despondent.

These matters couldn't be resolved overnight; Pan Yun and her group could do little more than assist from the sidelines and see if they could uncover other evidence.

For instance, while the investigation team focused on interrogating suspects, Pan Yun and her companions loitered on the streets and accidentally caught three or five petty thieves; when questioned at the office, lo and behold—it turned out they were guards from Prince Lu's mansion in Yanzhou;

Another example: during the transport of prisoners and evidence back to Jingcheng, the group encountered bandits five times, and each time Pan Yun and her companions descended from the heavens to repel the bandits, capturing many along the way.

Thus, the prisoner convoy grew longer with every stretch of road; by the time they reached the outskirts of Jingcheng, the convoy had tripled in size, with eight additional prisoner carts—this even though three prisoners were crammed into each cart.

Night fell, and they couldn't enter the city that evening, so they had to stay at the roadside inn outside the city, waiting until dawn.

However, Imperial Envoy Zhao had already sent a Embroidered Uniform Guard ahead to Jingcheng to report.

Director Zhao walked to Yun Yan's side and asked: "Director Yun, do you think we'll be able to enter the city safely tomorrow?"

Yun Yan replied without expression: "Director Zhao might as well ask directly: where are Pan Yun and her group, who've been following us all along? Can they protect us through tonight?"

Director Zhao smiled awkwardly: "Director Yun, that's not what I meant—the Embroidered Uniform Guard of the Northern Military Surveillance Office have worked hard all this way, but there are too many enemies and the opposition is too powerful…"

"Director Zhao!" Yun Yan cut him off sharply, pointing toward the forest ahead: "Look."

Director Zhao looked up and saw a wisp of smoke rising from the forest—he recognized it instantly and sighed with relief: "So they're in there! I knew it—throughout this entire journey north to Jingcheng, Pan Yun and Xue Shao have accompanied us; it makes no sense they'd slack off at the final step."

Director Zhao paused mid-sentence, thinking Yun Yan might be upset, and quickly changed the subject: "Director Yun, you and Daochang Pan Yun must be acquainted, right?"

Yun Yan: "I know her, but not well."

Director Zhao was half-skeptical—he remembered that when Pan Yun first descended from the sky, she had shouted: "Yun Yan, I've come to aid you!"

After that, they all shared a meal; afterward, whenever Pan Yun "coincidentally" appeared, she'd call out: "Director Zhao," "Director Fang…"

That was why he was half-skeptical.

He was half-suspicious because, as a Court of Judicial Review official, he later learned that during the exoneration of Xue Pan, the Emperor had privately met Pan Yun, with Cao Jixiang and Yun Yan standing beside the Emperor.

That was also why, after Cao Jixiang went to Quanzhou, he became very close to Pan Yun—their friendship seemed quite strong.

If even a eunuch like Cao Jixiang could be so close to Pan Yun, Yun Yan should be even closer.

Because in Director Zhao's eyes, he and Pan Yun were the same kind of person.

Both valued martial strength and refused to hesitate before drawing their swords.

Yun Yan said nothing, watching the thick smoke rising from the forest.

Soon after, the scent of roasting meat drifted from the forest.

Director Zhao was a man of refinement; after speaking with the innkeeper, he secured several superior rooms and ordered wine and dishes, then invited Yun Yan to join him in going to the forest to invite them over.

Yun Yan raised an eyebrow: "For many days now, you never invited them to stay with you."

Director Zhao smiled: "Earlier, the journey was dangerous; they didn't reveal themselves, so I couldn't openly refuse them. I didn't expect them to follow us all the way to Jingcheng."

Now that we're at the final leg, and they've clearly taken on the role of seeing us off to the end, we can no longer pretend we know nothing."

Yun Yan: "Isn't it because Xue Shao is Xue Xuan's nephew? You dared not invite them before for fear that if Xue Shao came to harm, Xue Xuan would blame you. Now that you're inviting them into the inn, it's to openly give them credit for protecting the envoy mission and curry favor with Xue Xuan?"

Director Zhao's smile faded slightly; his eyes gleamed as he sized up Yun Yan: "They say civil officials are complex, but I think Director Yun is no less so. I merely wish to avoid entangling innocent people—I'm not as calculating as you imagine."

Yun Yan: "Pan Yun and Xue Shao weren't dragged into this by us—County Magistrate Wu spoke vaguely, but I don't believe you didn't investigate how he obtained so much evidence. Can Pan Yun and Xue Shao possibly be uninvolved?"

That's also why I dislike their protection.

This case involves Prince Lu's collusion with Japanese pirates, and that collusion might implicate other nobles.

Yun Yan became the Emperor's trusted agent in the Northern Military Surveillance Office precisely because he wasn't without cunning.

He knew a little about the Sun family's affairs—he himself led teams to handle many of the aftermaths.

The actual head of the Jiuchang Marquisate didn't know about the maritime assassination of the envoy mission. (End of chapter)