“Miss Zhong doesn’t know if Zhao Jiaxu had any enemies, nor does she know anything about his connection to He Wencai. She only mentioned that Zhao Jiaxu had been quite happy these past two months, often kept behind by his employer to write articles. She knows nothing else. Zhao Jiaxu usually visited her in the afternoons, and due to Zhao Yushi, he never dared stay overnight. Even on the rare occasions, he did stay, he had to think of good excuses to placate Zhao Yushi.”
“The girl also said Zhao Jiaxu greatly feared Zhao Yushi. Though Zhao Jiaxu lost his parents early, Zhao Yushi’s family still had her father and brothers. If he wronged Zhao Yushi, her family wouldn’t let him off easily. Because of this, he could only wait until she bore a child before bringing her home.”
Qin Wan arrived at the magistrate’s office early in the morning, and Zheng Baishi elaborated on what Wei Qizhi had discovered.
Qin Wan frowned and said, “But Zhao Jiaxu’s teaching income was limited. Though the Wei family paid well, Zhao Yushi knew about all of that, right? I heard that the girl lived in a separate private residence. Even if it wasn’t large, having its entrance and courtyard must cost at least ten taels of silver monthly in rent. They were seen at Jinxiu House buying brocade that day, and their goods weren’t cheap. As a young woman with no income source, these expenses must have all come from Zhao Jiaxu. Where did he get this money?”
At Qin Wan’s question, Zheng Baishi smiled and said, “We also considered this point that the Princess raised. Miss Zhong said that besides earning tuition from the Wei family’s clan school, Zhao Jiaxu often sold his calligraphy and paintings. He was skilled in both arts. Each month he would create four or five paintings or calligraphy pieces, each selling for one to five taels of silver. This money was used for Miss Zhong’s expenses. Zhao Jiaxu doted on Miss Zhong greatly. Believing Zhao Yushi could no longer bear sons, he placed his hopes on Miss Zhong and had been working to improve her health these past six months.”
“We’ve inquired at several art shops where Zhao Jiaxu was acquainted. He still has a few unsold paintings there. They all said Zhao Jiaxu came personally. His skill level was average, and his works were often bought by people of modest means who purchased such scholarly paintings. Besides him, every art shop in the capital had consignment pieces or specifically commissioned works. The shops would buy paintings for four or five taels and sell them for ten, profiting from the difference.”
“We’ve asked at every shop, and none had anyone who went west, not even believers. Moreover, during the days of the incident, they all had alibis confirming each other’s whereabouts. Thus, these people have been cleared of suspicion.”
Qin Wan frowned slightly, “Haven’t they found the case files at the Court of Judicial Review?”
Zheng Baishi shook his head, “Not yet. That one small volume is mysteriously missing. We don’t know if it was filed with other documents. The Court is currently reviewing urgent cases from lower courts, so they can’t have everyone searching for this one file. Besides, the Court of Judicial Review isn’t our department, so we can’t push too hard.”
The Court of Judicial Review oversaw case reviews for all of Da Zhou and was naturally extremely busy. Qin Wan understood this well and asked, “Will His Highness come today?”
Hearing this, Zheng Baishi replied, “His Highness likely won’t be able to come today.”
Noting Zheng Baishi’s slightly heavy tone, Qin Wan sensed something amiss, “What’s wrong? Has something happened at the Ministry of Justice?”
Zheng Baishi smiled and shook his head, “Not exactly. The news came from Shuoxi that there’s an issue with this year’s military pay sent there. The Ministry of War is investigating now. Since His Highness returned from the Shuoxi army, the Emperor has asked him to investigate this matter alongside the Ministry of War.”
“Problems with the military pay?!” Qin Wan was shocked. Issues with military pay were no small matter. The Great Gold Robbery ten years ago led to a tragic loss of many soldiers’ lives when the military pay transport was robbed.
Zheng Baishi sighed, his smile fading, “This military pay was sent out at the end of last year. It took two months to travel and arrived in Shuoxi two months ago. Besides pay, they also sent military provisions. The grain sent to the Northwest was supposed to be newly harvested japonica and millet from last year’s Northwest military farms. But when opened in Shuoxi, they found moldy grain that had been stored far too long. The Prince of Rui has been in Shuoxi for years, and the Shuoxi army is the Northwest’s elite force. No transport commissioner would dare neglect the Shuoxi army’s provisions. Yet now, such an incident has occurred.”
“That grain isn’t just unsuitable for eating—soldiers who consumed it all suffered from diarrhea, with severe cases experiencing dizziness and nausea for days. If enemies were to attack now, our soldiers couldn’t even lift their weapons. Isn’t this betraying our country?! Military provisions were already scarce, and now the Shuoxi army has no food. The Prince of Rui decisively drew from the Liangzhou Guard’s storage, but that only lasted the Shuoxi army three to four months. The memorial arrived half a month ago, and the Emperor immediately ordered more provisions sent west. We don’t know if they’ll arrive in time. Only after arranging for military provisions did the Emperor order an investigation into this matter.”
Zheng Baishi’s expression was pained, “These people dared to target the Shuoxi army. It’s truly outrageous!”
Qin Wan felt a chill down her spine. The corruption case of several Southeast salt transport commissioners had just concluded last year, and now there were problems with military provisions. If this was happening to the Shuoxi army, one could imagine what might be happening elsewhere! Frequent corruption cases weren’t good for Da Zhou, and widespread official corruption was like a house beginning to rot from its ridgepole—wouldn’t this lead to collapse?
“These people are really…” Qin Wan stopped herself. As a woman, speaking before Zheng Baishi, it wasn’t appropriate to discuss court politics too much. Instead, she asked, “Is this matter difficult to investigate?”
While local criminal cases were usually investigated by provincial authorities, corruption in salt transport was beyond their jurisdiction. For such major official cases, the Emperor typically sent his close ministers as imperial commissioners to investigate. She just wasn’t sure how this Ministry of War matter would be investigated.
Zheng Baishi had become quite familiar with Qin Wan and admired her capability to match any man’s, so he was willing to share some details, “The superiors can’t escape punishment for their negligence in this matter, but we don’t know where the crucial point of failure lies. The Northwest’s transport commissioners will certainly be held accountable, but we don’t know where the money went when good rice was switched for moldy grain. There’s no clear direction yet. Once we trace these aspects, we’ll find the source of the crime. If the subordinates confess openly, it will be easier to investigate. If they refuse to talk, it will take more effort. We don’t know how the Emperor will arrange this.”
After hearing all this, Qin Wan could sense that the court would undergo another shake-up over the military provisions matter. Having grown up in the Shuoxi army, how could Yan Chi not be angry that someone had targeted them?
Qin Wan nodded, “Right now we only know the killer is deeply hidden, but other matters related to them are hard to uncover. Has Your Excellence considered visiting Guanyin Town?”
Zheng Baishi hurriedly asked, “Does the Princess think this was done by the killer from six years ago?”
Qin Wan nodded, “I think so.”
Zheng Baishi pondered briefly, “Very well. If that’s the case, I’ll arrange for people to make a trip there. Hopefully, we’ll find something.”
Qin Wan nodded, knowing Zheng Baishi had other official duties besides investigating the case. She immediately stood to take her leave. After leaving the office and boarding her carriage, a thought occurred to her.
Qin Wan ordered, “To the Court of Judicial Review—”
White Ying, who accompanied Qin Wan, quickly asked, “Young Miss, why are we going to the Court of Judicial Review?”
After thinking, Qin Wan said, “Since Master Li is too busy to search for the case files, I want to try if I can help look.”
White Ying said nothing more as the carriage headed toward the Court of Judicial Review along the main street in front of the magistrate’s office.
When they arrived at the Court of Judicial Review, it was still early. Previously, Qin Wan had come with Zheng Baishi and others, but this time she came alone. Though ordinary women couldn’t enter the Court of Judicial Review, her status meant the minor officials still welcomed her in. “Is your Master Li here?”
The minor official smiled apologetically, “The Master has gone to the palace and hasn’t returned yet.”
As the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review, Li Muyun frequently went to the palace for imperial audiences. Hearing this, Qin Wan said, “So he hasn’t returned yet. It seems I’ve come at an inconvenient time. By the way, have you found that case file you were asked to look for?”
These past few days, everyone in the Court of Judicial Review knew about an important case file missing from the archives. The minor official naturally knew about this and smiled bitterly, “Please forgive us, Princess, but we haven’t found it yet.”
Qin Wan showed displeasure, “Have you truly been searching these past few days?”
Though Qin Wan wasn’t born into the imperial family, everyone knew she currently enjoyed the Emperor’s favor and was especially dear to the Empress Dowager. The minor official dared not be careless and quickly explained, “We are searching, we are! We’ve already done two rough searches but haven’t found it. Now, Master Li has ordered us to open all the sealed boxes and search through them one by one, but it’s very difficult. The office has been very busy lately, and we’ve only opened over ten boxes so far, with many still untouched.”
Qin Wan sighed, “That is indeed very difficult, but the office urgently needs that case file…”
The minor official hurriedly said, “Please rest assured, Princess. We dare not be careless. It’s just that we truly have many matters lately. You haven’t seen our archives—the case files are piled like mountains, making it extremely difficult to search…”
Qin Wan looked at the minor official. “In that case, take me to see it.”
The minor official was stunned. The Court’s archives had designated caretakers, and not just anyone could enter. However, he considered that this was the Princess who held an honorary position in the Ministry of Justice—not an ordinary person.
Seeing Qin Wan staring at him, the minor official became nervous and, gritting his teeth, said, “Then… please follow me this way, Princess.”
Qin Wan followed behind the minor official, walking toward the Court’s archives.
She had been here before.
The Court’s archives were an extremely important place. Only the Chief Justice and another administrator had keys, and there were always guards on duty. When Qin Wan reached the archives, she indeed saw two people guarding the entrance. Seeing Qin Wan approach, their eyes widened, having never expected a woman to come to the back courtyard.
“Who are you?!”
Seeing their unfriendly tone, the minor official hurriedly stepped forward, “This is Princess Yongci. She’s come from the magistrate’s office about the case file matter. I told her we haven’t found it yet, and the Princess said she wanted to come look.”
Hearing this, the two guards hurriedly bowed. Qin Wan said, “You say you haven’t found it, but I wonder, how much could there be in the Court’s archives? If you can’t find it, why don’t I look myself?”
The two were somewhat helpless hearing this. “You want to search yourself?”
Qin Wan nodded, “You can’t find it, right? I’ll look, and if I find it, I’ll have to ask Master Li about this…”
Though Qin Wan’s tone was gentle, her words carried an edge. The two were internally resistant but dared not show it. Though outsiders shouldn’t enter the archives, given Qin Wan’s status and manner of speaking, they let her in—let her see just how much was stored in these archives!
Thinking this, the two exchanged glances and didn’t stop her.
Upon entering the archives, Qin Wan noticed the light dimming. As far as she could see were tall, massive bookshelves reaching almost to the ceiling. One would need a ladder to reach items on the highest shelves. Every shelf was packed with case files, some bound in volumes and stacked, others rolled individually. Just looking at it all made Qin Wan’s scalp tingle.
The three people following behind Qin Wan remained silent, occasionally glancing at her as if to say, “See? This isn’t as simple as you thought.”
The minor official added, “These shelves hold the past two years’ files. Earlier ones are sealed in boxes. Princess, if you want to see those, we can go forward…”
Qin Wan walked along the passage, seeing the archives seemed endless. After walking several dozen zhang, she finally saw a moon gate forming a partition. Beyond it were bookshelves alongside large boxes, naturally containing earlier case files.
Qin Wan stood at the moon gate’s entrance. “Are you certain that case file was misplaced here? Could it have been… lost when it was originally stored?”
One of the guards immediately became indignant, “That’s impossible! Nothing that enters the Court’s archives gets lost! All our masters have been meticulous! Especially our former Master Shen—”
The word “Shen” had barely left his mouth when all three men’s expressions changed. The speaker seemed to realize his mistake and immediately stopped, then added, “Anyway, things don’t get lost. It’s just that these documents and files are extremely complex, and they might get mixed up—that can’t be completely avoided.”
Qin Wan’s expression remained neutral, seemingly unconvinced. She just said, “Fine, you all go about your business. I’ll look myself. I can’t believe something that wasn’t lost can’t be found.”
Though the minor official and two guards felt somewhat defiant, they couldn’t say much. They all thought that searching was tedious work—if Princess Yongci insisted on being stubborn, let her experience how difficult searching was.
The three acknowledged her words, and after the minor official earnestly asked if she needed tea, they withdrew.
Once they left, Qin Wan entered through the moon gate, but after glancing at the boxes and shelves inside, she didn’t immediately start searching. She waited until all three had left through the main door, then turned back to the main archives area.
These shelves held the most recent case files.
White Ying was surprised to see Qin Wan do this. “Young Miss…”
“Shh.” Qin Wan made a silencing gesture. “Go outside and watch where they went.”
White Ying nodded and walked out very quietly. Reaching the outermost shelf, she looked out and saw only one guard sitting on a stool outside the door. White Ying returned and quietly reported to Qin Wan, who nodded and immediately began checking shelf by shelf. Yan Chi had said the Ministry of Justice had no files on the Prince of Jin’s case. If the Ministry didn’t have them, only the Court would. And for a case file to simply disappear—that indicated a major problem!
The mastermind might destroy much evidence but wouldn’t prevent files from being kept—that would make everyone in the Ministry and Court suspicious, causing additional complications.
Searching shelf by shelf, Qin Wan spent considerable effort before finding files from last year’s seventh and eighth months. Looking at the volumes at the bottom, they were unrelated to the Prince of Jin’s case. However, other files were stacked high up, requiring a ladder to reach. Seeing a ladder nearby, Qin Wan decisively dragged it over.
White Ying didn’t know what Qin Wan was searching for. “Young Miss, tell me what you’re looking for, let me help you search.”
Qin Wan shook her head—she certainly couldn’t tell White Ying about this!
Seeing this, White Ying could only help move and hold the ladder, watching anxiously as Qin Wan climbed up unsteadily. Once up the ladder, Qin Wan indeed found more files from last year’s seventh and eighth months. The Prince of Jin’s case occurred in early June last year. That June, both the Ministry and Court were investigating the matter, but by July, her father’s attitude toward the case had changed dramatically. It was then that her father began speaking for the Prince of Jin. A prince’s case could take half a year to investigate, and if no results were found, it could become a cold case. But by late July, her own family’s incident occurred. From the case to their incident was only about a month—there had to be something suspicious about this!
As Qin Wan’s frown deepened with these thoughts, while she quickly flipped through volumes one after another, suddenly a voice came from outside the archives.
“I hear the Princess has come to the archives?”
Qin Wan’s hand froze mid-page turn, her brows tightly knitted.
Li Muyun had returned!