The Liu manor held a funeral for Liu Ling, but the body was not interred.
Liu Yujing sat beside the coffin, watching the paper money burn in the brazier, curling and turning to ash under the flames. The rising smoke was like a mist, blurring the scenery outside the window and also the eyes of Liu Yujing.
"Lord Liu, please accept my condolences!"
Court officials, accompanied by their families, came to offer their sympathies. Everyone knew that Liu Ling's death was unusual. Regardless of what thoughts or calculations they harbored, their faces all bore expressions of grief.
The younger generation of the Liu family knelt beside the coffin, heads bowed, their eyes red-rimmed, and some even swollen. However, given the Liu family's circumstances, it was likely that these individuals were already overjoyed, making it difficult for them to feign grief so convincingly. Even the renowned actor of the Eight Absolutes of the Huai River would not be as skilled a performer as these youngsters.
Liu Ling's coffin was placed in a side hall of the Liu manor, adjacent to the main hall. Until this matter was resolved, Liu Yujing would not bury him.
...
The Imperial Palace, Ji Hong's sleeping chambers.
Candlelight, encased in gilded candelabras, illuminated the surroundings. Eunuchs stood guard outside the door. Within the entire sleeping chamber, only Ji Hong sat alone at a table, perusing memorials.
From the four provinces and eight counties bordering the frontier, far from the center of power, various court officials would submit reports to the Zhongshu department for trivial matters, which would then reach his desk.
A figure materialized, walked to his side, and sat down opposite him. The figure picked up a memorial and glanced at it.
"These imbeciles!"
Upon seeing the officials from Linjiang report to the Zhongshu department simply because of frost in the harsh winter, the freezing of the river, and the resulting decrease in fish catches and food for the populace, he was filled with extreme dissatisfaction.
In fact, given the current situation, the textbooks and teaching materials used for assessing scholars and selecting officials could no longer be limited to the Four Books, Five Classics, and eight-legged essays. For the Ministry of Rites, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Revenue, Ministry of War, Ministry of Personnel, and Ministry of Works, the selection and assessment of officials should be divided into at least four directions.
However, with Lin Yuan facing both internal and external troubles, reform was not easy. Currently, these were mere fantasies, which made him even more annoyed.
Ji Hong rubbed his aching temples, looking at the man whose brows were clouded with a murderous aura, and sighed helplessly, "Compared to the events in Yuzhou Prefecture, what are these?"
"Don't worry, I'll handle it personally!"
"No, anyone else can go, but not you!"
The man frowned. Ji Hong put down the memorial and looked at him calmly. Even his eyebrows conveyed a sense of seriousness and earnestness. "This matter is not up for negotiation. You know your own condition."
"Then who do you want to send?"
Ji Hong dipped his finger in tea and wrote two names on the table.
...
In fact, after Ji Hong moved to apprehend the remnants of the Miao Jiang from Jian'an Temple and raided the Zhao residence, Liu Yuchi's value had diminished to its lowest.
Pigeons, having fallen in various corners of the capital, were delivered to major restaurants.
When preparing the pigeons, the legs were always chopped off first.
"How strange, why are the wings of these pigeons all pierced?" the chef of a restaurant muttered, tossing the pigeons into a wine vat. After getting them drunk, they were plucked and steamed.
Ji Hong and Ji Jinmo tacitly severed all channels for transmitting information from the capital outwards. For at least a month, Yuzhou Prefecture would not be aware of the changes in the capital.
Ji Hong planned to find an excuse after the year-end sacrifice to demote Zhao Wuyan back to Yuzhou Prefecture.
...
Zou Cheng'yi received some information about Sun Bing.
He stood before a dilapidated mud-tiled house in a town on the outskirts. He glanced at Feng Luan, dressed in fine brocade and with a face as beautiful as jade, and felt that she created a stark contrast and sense of displacement when placed against the surrounding scenery.
The escort agency where Sun Bing and Wang Er once worked gradually declined after the death of its owner several years ago. About a year ago, for unknown reasons, a family of over thirty people died one after another. Investigations by the Jingzhao Yin Prefecture concluded that these individuals had all died of sudden illnesses or accidents, with no foul play suspected.
The only survivor was the child born to the mistress the owner of the escort agency had kept outside.
Nan Shiying felt that the timing and manner in which Zou Cheng'yi obtained this news were somewhat suspicious. However, it didn't matter; she wanted to see what the other party intended to do anyway.
Pushing the door open, the old wooden door creaked, sounding particularly abrupt in the silent night.
The lights in the room suddenly illuminated.
"Who!"
A person, wearing an outer garment and holding an axe, cautiously pushed the door open. In the moonlight, they could clearly see the visitors.
Seeing two impeccably dressed gentlemen, the person holding the axe loosened their grip slightly. They had just thought a thief had broken in.
"Why do you two esteemed guests come here so late at night?"
Zou Cheng'yi did not step into the courtyard but asked, "Are you Cheng Yuandao, the son of Cheng Qiang from the Juyuan Escort Agency?"
The words "Juyuan Escort Agency" and "Cheng Qiang" seemed to trigger a switch of fear. A deep look of terror and despair flashed in Cheng Yuandao's eyes. A ferocious glint flashed in his eyes as he forcefully threw the axe towards Zou Cheng'yi and turned to run towards the right wall.
"Be careful!"
Nan Shiying grabbed Zou Cheng'yi's collar and pulled him back. The axe grazed Zou Cheng'yi's ear and plunged fiercely into the ground behind him. Seeing Cheng Yuandao scale the wall and escape, Nan Shiying, ignoring the fallen Zou Cheng'yi, chased after Cheng Yuandao.
Zou Cheng'yi watched as Cheng Yuandao and Feng Luan disappeared from sight. He opened his mouth, swallowing the instructions he had not had time to utter. He stood up, walked into the courtyard, and pushed open the door of the house.
The room was simply furnished and easy to survey. Zou Cheng'yi thought for a moment and did not search it without permission, but waited quietly.
Suddenly, an arrow shot through the dilapidated window and into the room.
Zou Cheng'yi spun around abruptly. In the moonlight, several figures dressed in black appeared.
Nan Shiying chased Cheng Yuandao, her figure quickly weaving through the crowded alleys until Cheng Yuandao ran into a dead-end alley.
"Why are you running? We are..."
Before her words were finished, Cheng Yuandao, who had stopped running, suddenly collapsed to the ground, dust billowing around him, as if in silent mockery. Damn it!
Nan Shiying quickly stepped forward and placed her fingers on Cheng Yuandao's pulse.
Cheng Yuandao had no pulse and was not breathing; he was as dead as one could be!
Poison? Or...?
Thinking of this, Nan Shiying suddenly stood up and ran back. She had fallen for such an obvious diversionary tactic!
Seeing Cheng Yuandao's residence from afar, the smell of blood lingering in the air caused Nan Shiying's expression to change dramatically. She ran forward and saw Zou Cheng'yi lying in a pool of blood.
Nan Shiying stepped forward to check. Zou Cheng'yi had died from a stab wound, almost instantaneously.
Judging by the marks on the blade, the person who killed him and the person who killed Yuan Yi might be the same person or the same group.
Nan Shiying scratched her head and simply sat down on the ground.
About half an incense stick later, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed from the silent surroundings. It was the constables from the Jingzhao Yin Prefecture and the Qingli Division of the Ministry of Justice – Feng Quan!