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墨書 Inktalez
“Fox Demon, what old Method do you have?”
Chang Tai could only hear Xing Ruyi mumbling to herself, vaguely mentioning the word “Underworld,” but he had no idea what she was thinking.
“Oh, I mean, are we really going to use some folk ancestral Method to summon Zhu's soul from the Underworld and then ask her who the murderer is? How did those shoes end up missing?”
“I know you have some skills, but can a soul really be summoned from the Underworld?”
After experiencing so much, Chang Tai's perspective had changed. Hearing Xing Ruyi talk about these mystical matters didn’t seem strange to him anymore. However, if a soul could truly come out of the Underworld to identify the murderer, what would be the point of their work as Constables?
“There is indeed a folk practice called asking rice.”
“Ask rice! Are we talking about regular rice or Glutinous Rice?”
“Regular rice! It should be regular rice!” Xing Ruyi looked at Chang Tai, somewhat amused, and replied, “Actually, I’ve only heard of this Method, I’ve never used it myself. The asking rice method involves the spirits of deceased relatives cooperating with their family members in a Spell. Through a medium, the spirit from the Underworld is brought to the living world and possesses the medium to communicate with the living. During this ritual, a bowl of white rice is placed nearby, which is why it’s called asking rice.”
“That sounds quite interesting, but there’s a problem here. Fox Demon, you just arrived. This asking rice method requires the spirits of deceased relatives to cooperate with their family members in a Spell. So there are several issues here.
First, who exactly does ‘family’ refer to? From what we know so far, the beggar has been imprisoned as the murderer, while Zhu's husband Wang Jiang hasn’t shown his face at all and hasn’t questioned the identity of the beggar as the murderer. What does this mean? It means that if Wang Jiang isn’t someone who knows about this case, he simply doesn’t care to investigate his wife’s murder. For him, his wife’s life or death might not be as important as his business. If you were to ask him to cooperate with you in this asking rice ritual now, he would definitely refuse. Besides Wang Jiang, does Zhu have any other family?”
“There’s an old Mother, but Zhu's mother isn’t in good health and has just lost another Daughter. If she were to worry about Zhu’s situation now, her health might not hold up.”
Xing Ruyi sighed.
If it were just about summoning Zhu's soul, it wouldn’t be difficult. She had a Ghost Card granted by the King of Hell and a good friend in Cui Fujun. She just needed to find a Ghost Messenger to secretly bring up Zhu for a few questions. However, at this moment, Xing Ruyi didn’t want to do that. Firstly, it would make her seem like she had no real skills; secondly, the fox had advised her before leaving to be cautious in using the Ghost Card given by the King of Hell. Although there were people in the Underworld who could help her out, each favor she called in meant she owed a debt to the Underworld. Given the childish temperament of that child-like Underworld Lord, he might come up with some bizarre repayment conditions in the future.
Chang Tai heard Xing Ruyi sigh and thought she was worried about the rice issue. He stood up and gently patted her, saying, "Don't worry, I'll take care of finding Embroidered Shoes."
After dinner, Chang Tai went out alone, and when he returned, it was already late at night. Seeing him looking tired, Xing Ruyi didn't ask anything. The next day, when they opened for business, they noticed many people in Government Office uniforms on the street, each holding a thick stack of papers. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Notices posted by the Yamen, stating: "The Wangmen Zhu Clan has been schemed against and lost their shoes. The Criminal has been captured and imprisoned; if anyone finds this important piece of evidence, please submit it to the Government Office for a generous reward."
"Brother Chang, you didn't come up with the idea to post this Notice, did you?"
Chang Tai nodded.
"This case has already been judged; why would the Official still agree to post a Notice? From what I see, this Official doesn't seem like someone who would discern right from wrong or be willing to help prisoners in jail at the cost of his own reputation as a Clean Official."
"Fox Demon, you are not from the officialdom, so you naturally don't understand the ways of being an official. Those in power always have something to seek and something to avoid; they have fears and things they are unafraid of."
"Something to seek and something to avoid." Xing Ruyi looked into Chang Tai's eyes and continued, "Fears and things they are unafraid of. Brother Chang went out yesterday evening but didn't return until midnight. When he came back, he looked exhausted, which suggests that his conversation with this Official must have been quite taxing. Given your recent comments, can Fox Demon conclude that Brother Chang promised this Official something or that this Official has some leverage over you that forced you to comply?"
"It's not as complicated as you think. The saying goes that a higher official can intimidate people; moreover, those in power often engage in less than clean dealings behind the scenes. I just need to bring up Lord Xie and play along with him for a bit, and it will all pass."
"Is it really that simple?"
"It really is that simple!"
"Then why did you look so tired last night?"
"It's not that I was physically tired from work; it's just that conversing with these officials is exhausting. When talking with each other, one must leave some things unsaid; you can't say everything too clearly or too vaguely. You also have to gauge the other person's thoughts from time to time. I'm not good at this kind of thing, so it's inevitably more tiring than usual."
"Thank you for your hard work, Brother Chang!"
Chang Tai is a Constable who usually approaches his work in a very methodical manner. Although he has become somewhat more flexible over the past year, dealing with the intrigues and flattery of the officialdom still proves to be quite challenging for him.
"Actually, I haven't done much."
Chang Tai's face showed a hint of embarrassment.
"I just told that official that convicting a beggar to death based solely on a piece of clothing might lead to complications if someone later tries to exonerate him. Right now, as the year-end approaches, the court is evaluating local officials. If this case were to linger under normal circumstances, it would be one thing, but at this time of year, if word gets to those responsible for the evaluations, it could jeopardize their promotions, and they might even lose their positions."
These officials are all clever Ming Ren. Since I come from the Divine Capital Luoyang, and this year Lord Xie is one of the officials responsible for the evaluations, he will certainly have some reservations. Moreover, I haven't asked him to do anything significant; I merely suggested that he issue a Notice to search for the deceased's belongings. For him, it's just a matter of speaking up. If it leads somewhere, it would provide solid evidence for this case; if not, there’s no loss.
However, even if that evidence is found and confirms that another person is the Killer, convincing these officials to acknowledge their mistake and reopen the case will likely take some effort.
"Brother Chang's meaning is understood by Fox Demon. If we can truly clarify the case and find the real Killer, I have my ways to ensure that this official reexamines it so that the innocent beggar can save his life."
"Oh, there's something I forgot to mention to you. Last night, besides visiting the Yamen, I also went to the homes of Wang Jiang and Wang Chong."
"Did you discover anything, Brother Chang?"
"There are some findings, but it's still uncertain whether they are related to the case." Chang Tai paused briefly before continuing. "Wang Jiang's home was the initial site of the incident and may have been where the murderer first attacked Zhu. So I took advantage of the night to investigate. Since Zhu's murder, Wang Jiang has mostly been living in his Shop, so there haven’t been any changes in his home furnishings. However, I found some things on the grass in front of his door."
As Chang Tai spoke, he pulled out a Paper Wrap from his pocket and handed it to Xing Ruyi.
"These white powders were found on the dried grass leaves, densely distributed, with some blood spots scattered around. Based on what you described to me about the events of that night, I suspect that this is the place where Wang Chong discovered the injured Chef, and these white powders likely fell from one of them. This Paper Wrap was also picked up at the scene. You know I'm not good with these things, so I brought it back for you, Fox Demon, to see what exactly is wrapped inside this Paper Wrap."
Xing Ruyi took the Paper Wrap and examined it closely. "This is arsenic powder, the same arsenic we often talk about."
"Arsenic? Poison!"
"Yes, it's poison. It seems someone indeed wanted to harm Zhu, but according to the information from Yamen, Zhu did not die from arsenic poisoning. Could it be that the person who poisoned him is different from the one who harmed Zhu that night?" Xing Ruyi continued to scrutinize the arsenic powder and noticed a faint green tint in some of it. Upon flipping over the Paper Wrap, she also found traces that had been stained green.
"Brother Chang, did you find anything else at the scene?"
"Anything else?" Chang Tai thought carefully for a moment. "It seems there was a piece of a porcelain bowl under the steps in front of the door. Since it was just a small fragment and there were no other pieces around, I only took a glance and didn’t bring it back."
"It seems Li Mao's earlier speculation was correct."
"What?" Chang Tai asked, confused.
"We had made some guesses about the case, one of which questioned whether the Chef was harmed before or after Zhu was harmed. Also, since the Chef usually resides in an adjacent courtyard and Zhu was harmed after mealtime, what reason would the Chef have to go to Zhu's courtyard? Now that we have this piece of porcelain bowl, we might be able to deduce some scenarios from that night, which aligns with one of Li Mao's analyses."
"If it's the Chef going to his master's courtyard after mealtime, it could mean that the master was hungry and called for the Chef to prepare a late-night snack. Since there was no intention to go out, while waiting for the late-night snack, Zhu had already taken off his shoes and sat on the bed. This explains why Zhu, who is not of low status and has decent economic conditions, was barefoot when the incident occurred."
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