Chapter 189 - 188: Investigation
Jingshan County Magistrate’s Office.
Shen Yichuan, a Hundred Households Chief of the Commandery Martial Bureau, and Zhao Yuanqi, Director of the Inspection Department at the Commandery Magistrate’s Office, arrived at the Jingshan County Magistrate’s Office. They had spurred their horses on, leading dozens of elite men, and were covered in dust from the journey.
The recently appointed County Magistrate Li had received word and was waiting at the entrance. As soon as he saw them, he rushed forward with a deep bow and began to give his report.
Neither Shen Yichuan nor Zhao Yuanqi had any intention of exchanging pleasantries.
Shen Yichuan waved a hand, unceremoniously cutting County Magistrate Li off. "Spare me the idle talk. Take us to where the incident with Magistrate Zhang occurred."
Cowed by this display of authority, County Magistrate Li dared not say another word and quickly led the way.
The group went straight to the rear courtyard of the County Magistrate’s Office, to Zhang Heming’s study.
The door was open, and a faint, nauseating stench of decay still lingered in the air.
Zhang Heming’s body had been simply shrouded and laid to one side.
The forensic doctor who had come with them, Xing Ming, immediately stepped forward. Holding his breath and concentrating, he began to carefully examine the body and the scene.
The study was silent, the only sounds being Forensic Doctor Xing Ming’s occasional footsteps and the soft rustle of his examination.
A few moments later, Forensic Doctor Xing Ming straightened up, his expression grim. "Lord Shen, Lord Zhao," he reported. "Based on my examination, Magistrate Zhang first had his Inner Qi forcibly drained in an extremely short amount of time using some exceedingly bizarre technique. This caused his meridians to wither and his Dantian to shatter. Only after that was he killed by a Heavy Hand Technique—a single punch to the forehead that crushed his skull."
"His Inner Qi was drained?"
Shen Yichuan and Zhao Yuanqi exchanged a look, their pupils contracting. Their eyes flashed with a mixture of gravity and alarm.
’A malevolent martial art like this... It sounds like the techniques used by the traitors Xiao Zhong and Ye Buping.’
Forensic Doctor Xing Ming continued, "Furthermore, this is not the primary crime scene. Based on the degree of rigor mortis, the lividity, and the faint drag marks on the floor, Magistrate Zhang was killed elsewhere. Some time passed before his body was moved here. I would estimate his time of death to be at least two days ago."
"The body was moved?"
Zhao Yuanqi’s brow furrowed. "Who would be so audacious? To brazenly move a body and stage a scene right here in the County Magistrate’s Office?"
A cold glint flashed in Shen Yichuan’s eyes. He snorted. "Investigate! I want a thorough investigation!"
He immediately ordered all the maids, servants, and government constables in the rear courtyard to be brought in. They were to be separated and rigorously questioned one by one.
Terrified by the proceedings, the staff all spoke at once, but their stories were largely the same.
Magistrate Zhang Heming had left the office five days prior, claiming to be away on official business. As for his exact destination, they, as mere servants, would never dare to ask.
During his absence, all affairs at the County Magistrate’s Office were temporarily handled by County Magistrate Li.
It wasn’t until the previous afternoon, when a maid passing the study smelled a foul odor coming from under the door, that anything was amiss. She mustered the courage to go inside and, to her horror, discovered the County Magistrate’s body.
"So, you’re saying Zhang Heming’s actual time of death was during the period he was away?" Zhao Yuanqi mused.
Shen Yichuan nodded, his expression dark. He issued another order: "Search the entire rear courtyard. Check every corner, the flowerbeds, the rockeries, the well, the rooftops—don’t miss a single spot. Look for any suspicious items or traces."
His men acknowledged the order and immediately dispersed to begin the search.
Time ticked by.
A Junior Banner Officer suddenly hurried over, carefully holding a cloth-wrapped bundle. It was a carrier pigeon, stiff, cold, and its feathers ruffled. "My Lords," he reported, "we found this deep within a crevice of the rockery near the pavilion in the northeast corner of the garden. It was extremely well hidden."
The pigeon had clearly been dead for some time; its body was shriveled.
The Junior Banner Officer gently lifted its curled wing. There, at the base of the feathers, were two tiny but clearly discernible characters tattooed in cinnabar.
He Liu.
Shen Yichuan took the dead pigeon. When his eyes fell upon the two characters, his expression changed abruptly, and a flicker of incredulous horror flashed deep within his eyes.
Zhao Yuanqi immediately noticed his reaction and shot him a questioning look.
Shen Yichuan took a deep breath and lowered his voice so only Zhao Yuanqi could hear. "He Liu. According to the Jingwu Bureau’s secret archives, that’s the name of a minor deity in the Sect. This Magistrate Zhang... could he be..."
He didn’t finish his sentence, but the implication was clear.
’A respected Seventh Grade Official of the Court... involved with the Sect?’
This discovery instantly changed the nature of the case, making it all the more baffling.
Without a change in expression, Shen Yichuan handed the carrier pigeon back to the Junior Banner Officer. "Keep searching!" he commanded. "Focus on finding similar pigeons, coded messages, hidden compartments, secret rooms..."
Before long, footsteps approached again.
Another Junior Banner Officer from the Jingwu Bureau hurried over. This time, he wasn’t carrying something dead, but a small bamboo cage.
Inside the cage, a carrier pigeon paced restlessly, cooing softly.
"My Lords! We found this pigeon under Magistrate Zhang’s bed!"
A sharp glint appeared in Shen Yichuan’s eyes. "Use the finest, strongest silk thread you can find, carefully tie it to one of its legs, and let it go!"
His man did as instructed, carefully tying a nearly invisible thread to the pigeon’s leg before opening the cage door.
The pigeon, apparently having been caged for a long time, saw the open sky and immediately took flight with a flurry of wings.
However, it was held fast by the thread on its leg. It could only circle anxiously at a low altitude, crying out as it stubbornly strained its head toward a specific direction, clearly desperate to return home.
"Follow it!"
Shen Yichuan made a swift decision. Exchanging a look with Zhao Yuanqi, the entire party mounted their horses, closely following the pigeon as it struggled against the thread, pulling them forward.
The party charged out of the County Magistrate’s Office and galloped out of Jingshan County Town.
They followed it all the way until the pigeon finally came to a stop over a market by the docks.
"Where are we?" Shen Yichuan asked.
Chief He, who had accompanied them, replied, "This is the Zhuoyan Collection."
The pigeon circled and landed in a courtyard, huddling beneath a window lattice, too exhausted to fly again.
Shen Yichuan reined in his horse, his sharp eyes sweeping the surroundings. Outside the small courtyard hung a sign: Fengyu Grain Store.
It wasn’t open for business, however. A glance inside revealed it was packed to the brim with grain, looking more like a warehouse.
"Fengyu Grain Store?"
Chief He from the County Magistrate’s Office was surprised.
Seeing both Hundred Households Chief Shen and Director Zhao looking at him, he braced himself and explained, "This grain store was opened by the County Magistrate’s adopted son, Zhang Chengzong."
Shen Yichuan frowned slightly. "Go in. Search it inch by inch. Don’t miss anything unusual!"
His men complied.
Soon, a Junior Banner Officer found something suspicious in a grain storage room.
A secret door was opened, revealing a pitch-black entrance. A gust of stale, dusty air rushed out to meet them.
Lighting a torch, they entered one after another.
The walls of the passage were lined with countless carved niches, each containing one of over a hundred bizarre idols.
Some had human heads and serpent bodies. Others had the massive head of an elephant atop a cross-legged human form. There were even figures with four heads and eight arms, their faces twisted into terrifying, ferocious expressions.
"The Sect!"
Shen Yichuan and Zhao Yuanqi exchanged a look, both seeing the shock in the other’s eyes.
The stone chamber wasn’t large. In the flickering firelight, a body could be seen in the farthest corner, curled up and already stiff and cold.
Chief He from the County Magistrate’s Office was called forward to identify the body. He leaned in for a closer look and gasped in shock. "It’s... it’s Zhang Chengzong, Magistrate Zhang’s son! How did he end up dead here too?"
"Zhang Heming’s son?"
Alarmed and uncertain, Zhao Yuanqi hurried forward to examine the body. "Strange. There are no wounds, and it doesn’t look like he was poisoned."
They hadn’t brought the forensic doctor with them on this trip. They immediately ordered the body to be taken back to the County Magistrate’s Office for examination, then turned to Chief He. "Where is the grain store’s main shop? Take us there!"
Without a moment’s rest, the group rushed to the main shop.
After a thorough search, they found a hidden compartment in the accountant’s desk. Inside was a Mutton Fat Jade Pendant that Zhang Heming often wore, along with several letters filled with strange, twisted symbols that no one could decipher.
Shen Yichuan picked up the letters and studied them, his expression growing darker by the second. After a long moment, he forced out a few words through clenched teeth: "This is the Sect’s coded script."
「Night fell.」
Jingshan County Magistrate’s Office.
Shen Yichuan and Zhao Yuanqi sat facing each other, discussing the case.
Zhao Yuanqi rubbed his throbbing temples, his voice laced with disbelief. "...All the clues seem to point to one conclusion: our dear Magistrate Zhang was truly involved with the Sect. He might have even been He Liu himself."
"But this... this is unbelievable. The Court’s vetting process for appointing officials is incredibly strict—they investigate background, origins, martial arts foundation, social connections... How did Zhang Heming manage to deceive everyone?"
Shen Yichuan was silent for a long moment before he suddenly looked up. "Director Zhao, don’t you think all of this today... has been a little too easy?"
At his words, Zhao Yuanqi started. As he thought it over, a cold sweat beaded on his forehead. "Hundred Households Chief Shen, you mean to say..."
Shen Yichuan said slowly, "The clues appeared one after another, as if they were laid out for us. All we had to do was follow them... It’s all been unnervingly smooth."
"You’re saying someone is intentionally setting us up?" Zhao Yuanqi fell silent. It wasn’t impossible.
Shen Yichuan shook his head. "I’m just suspicious. We’ve found a great deal, but none of it has been useful. Who actually killed Zhang Heming? And why? We... still have no idea. All the clues point to Zhang Heming’s own secrets, yet they all neatly sidestep any trace of the actual killer."
Zhao Yuanqi sucked in a sharp breath. Thinking about it, he had to agree. "If that’s true," he said, his expression grave, "then this matter is far from simple."
Shen Yichuan nodded. "We should report this to the Lord Governor and Left Thousand Households first. We’ll wait for their instructions."
...
「Early morning.」
An official hall beside the Liyang Commandery Magistrate’s Office.
Feng Zhan stood alone under the eaves of the corridor. His official robes were slightly wrinkled, but still worn neatly enough.
He hadn’t slept all night, turning matters over and over in his mind. He knew that Zhang Heming’s death and the disappearance of the true silver had sealed his fate.
’Confessing is my only chance to lessen my crime, maybe even to save my family,’ he thought. ’Even though the confession itself is practically a death sentence.’
He straightened his robes and calmly addressed the clerk at the gate. "Please announce me. Feng Zhan, County Captain of Jingshan County, requests an urgent audience with the Lord Governor."
A moment later, Feng Zhan was led to the hall where Governor Yan Wenlu conducted his business.
Yan Wenlu, a gaunt man in his fifties, was hunched over his desk reviewing documents. He looked up as Feng Zhan entered, sizing him up before speaking in a level tone. "County Captain Feng? What is it?"
Feng Zhan gave a deep bow, his voice hoarse. "Lord Yan, I have come to report on the Jingshan tax silver escort. There has been... a catastrophic failure. The blame is mine alone."
Yan Wenlu put down his brush, his brow furrowing slightly. "A failure?"