Chapter 173: Chaotic Burial Hill

In the eighth year of Hongwu, the ninth day of the third month, night.

In the temporary palace beside the Fengyang New Capital construction site, Empress Ma tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Outside, the moonlight was cold; the lights at the distant site had not yet gone out, and faintly one could hear the laborers' work sounds, the foreman urging night labor.

Guanyin Nu also could not sleep, and whispered to the Zhu Yong beside her, "Husband, listen, they're still working this late."

Zhu Yong sat up, tilted his ear to listen, furrowed his brows and said, "Something's off; that sound doesn't feel right."

"What is it?"

"During the day the work sounds are shouts; now there are only whip cracks and cries," Zhu Yong said, turned over, got out of bed and began dressing.

Guanyin Nu hurried, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to take a look," Zhu Yong fastened his belt and took the pair of golden drum hammers from the wall.

Guanyin Nu urgently said, "The Imperial Mother ordered Chen Heng and his men to investigate; you must not go…"

"Chen Heng is Chen Heng, I'm me… I'm uneasy, so I'll go take a look, without alarming anyone," Zhu Yong said naively.

He walked to the window, pushed it open, and in a flash of night he leapt out.

Guanyin Nu chased to the window, only to see a black silhouette melt into the night and vanish.

At the same time, a Chaotic Burial Hill lay three li west of the site.

Chen Heng, with three Brocade Guards dressed in black night‑cloaks, slipped silently to the spot.

During the day they masqueraded as wandering refugees near the site, and learned from an old woodcutter that this Chaotic Burial Hill had recently gained many new graves.

"Hundred Household Officer, it's right here," a Brocade Guard whispered.

Under Moonlight, the Chaotic Burial Hill was densely dotted with hundreds of burial mounds, some bearing wooden plaques, others mere earth piles.

Chen Heng crouched and examined the newest grave closely.

The soil was still fresh, no grass, and a wooden plaque stuck in front read, crookedly, "Grave of Zhang Er Gou."

"Dig it open and see," Chen Heng said in a low voice.

Two Brocade Guards immediately got to work, digging with the short shovels they carried.

After digging about three feet deep, the shovel struck something soft.

They brushed aside the soil and uncovered a corpse wrapped in a straw mat.

Chen Heng lifted a corner of the mat; Moonlight fell on the face, revealing a middle‑aged man, his complexion bluish‑purple, lips blackened, with obvious ligature marks on his neck.

"He was strangled," a Brocade Guard whispered.

Chen Heng's expression grew grim as he continued to inspect.

The body bore many bruises, three ribs were broken, and all the fingers on the right hand were fractured.

"He suffered torture before death; bury him and let's check the other new graves," Chen Heng said.

The four reburied the corpse and then dug up three adjacent new graves.

The conditions were largely the same.

All four bodies were of young men, their deaths tragic: some strangled, some bludgeoned to death, some bearing knife wounds.

"Hundred Household Officer, this… this is already the fourth," a Brocade Guard said, voice trembling.

Chen Heng stood and surveyed the Chaotic Burial Hill.

Under Moonlight, the new graves were densely packed, at least a hundred.

"Go over there and look," Chen Heng pointed to a hollow at the edge of the Chaotic Burial Hill.

The four slipped over, and in the hollow were piles of something; on approaching they saw a dozen or so unburied corpses, haphazardly stacked, already rotting and exuding a foul stench.

Chen Heng covered his mouth and nose, forcing himself to keep looking.

These bodies were even worse—some were missing limbs, others had been gnawed by beasts.

"Officer, look at this," a Brocade Guard picked up a wooden plaque from the pile.

The plaque bore a number.

"Jia Camp, Seventh Unit, Number Thirteen."

"It's a laborer's identification tag; these people are all laborers," Chen Heng took the plaque, his face ashen, and said.

Just then, footsteps sounded in the distance.

"Quick, dispose of these; tomorrow Prince Wu may inspect the site, we can't leave any trace," a hoarse voice ordered.

Chen Heng waved his hand, and the four ducked quickly behind the shrubs beside the hollow.

Seven or eight men appeared, torches in hand, carrying iron spades and burlap sacks.

At the front was a scar‑faced man, none other than the foreman Liu San who had beaten the old laborer during the day.

"Move quickly, pack these all into the sacks and throw them into the Huai River," Liu San instructed.

The men began loading the corpses into the sacks one by by.

Under Moonlight, their motions were practiced and numb, clearly not their first time doing this.

Behind the shrubs, Chen Heng clenched his fists.

A young Brocade Guard, angry to the point of trembling, tried to rush out, but Chen Heng held him firmly.

"Don't move; go out now and stir up the grass to scare the snakes," Chen Heng whispered.

Only after Liu San and his men had packed all the bodies and carried them toward the Huai River did Chen Heng release his grip.

"Officer, why aren't we arresting them?" the young Brocade Guard asked urgently.

"Arrest them? What good would that do? Liu San is just a foreman; above him is a foreman‑chief, above that a supervisor, and above that are Zhou Dexing and Wu Liang."

"If we catch him now, it will only alert the higher‑ups and they'll destroy the evidence,"

Chen Heng said in a low voice.

"Then what shall we do?"

"Continue the investigation, find out exactly how many people died, how they died, who gave the orders, and once the evidence is solid, wipe them out in one fell swoop."

Chen Heng said.

He was speaking when, from the direction of the distant construction site, a clamor suddenly arose.

"The water's gone! The water's gone!"

A thatched shed in the camp area of the construction site burst into flames, the fire shooting up into the sky.

Chen Heng's face changed, and he said, "This is bad…"

The four of them hurriedly sprang up and ran, dashing back to the site.

By the time they arrived, the fire had already spread, engulfing three or four thatched sheds.

The laborers were in a chaotic mess, some fighting the fire, others looting, while the foremen brandished whips to keep order; the scene was utter chaos.

Chen Heng searched through the crowd and found the thatched shed where the sick old man from earlier had been, now reduced to ash.

"Where are the people?" he grabbed a fire‑fighting laborer and asked.

The laborer trembled, "I… I don't know. The fire started over there; nobody got out from inside…"

Chen Heng rushed to the ashes, pried them apart with a wooden stick, and uncovered several charred corpses.

From their size, they were exactly the sick laborers from earlier that day.

"What a ruthless method," Chen Heng gritted his teeth.

At that moment, Wu Liang arrived with the yamen guards, loudly directing the firefighting.

Zhou Dexing also came, standing at a distance, his face expressionless.

After half an hour, the fire was extinguished, having destroyed eight thatched sheds and killed fourteen people.

Wu Liang publicly declared that the fire was caused by a laborer's careless use of fire, and each victim would receive a two‑tael silver compensation.

The laborers bowed their heads; no one dared speak.

Chen Heng, blending into the crowd, saw several foremen warning the laborers one by one: "Watch your mouths; don't say what you shouldn't, or next time the fire will burn the barracks you sleep in."

At midnight, Chen Heng returned to the palace.

Empress Ma had not yet slept, waiting in the hall.

"What did the investigation find?" Empress Ma asked.

Chen Heng fell to his knees and reported in detail everything he had witnessed that night.

Hearing of the new graves at Luanzanggang, hearing that Liu San and others were handling the bodies, hearing that a thatched shed suddenly burst into flame and killed the patients, Empress Ma's complexion grew ever colder.

"Well, well, Zhou Dexing, well done, Wu Liang, you're treating this palace like a fool," Empress Ma slowly rose, her voice cold.