Chapter 131: Guilty Minister

Liu Yueli turned around slowly. Her movements were gentle, and she was exhausted, as if all her strength had been drained away.

The sweat oozing from his forehead wet a few strands of hair sticking to his cheeks, making his face look even paler, almost blue.

Only those eyes, which seemed to be soaked in tears just now, when they looked up at Pei Ji, the watery light in them seemed to have dimmed a little, and was covered with a layer of fatigue.

She met his scrutinizing gaze as if she were meeting the last biting cold wind of winter.

She bent her knees slightly, folded her hands at her sides, and performed a standard female greeting.

The ceremony was over. She stood up again, the tears in her eyes seeming to have returned to the depths of her eyes, leaving only a frank expression:

"Master Pei."

Two words. No warmth, no welcome.

Pei Ji's gaze swept across her slightly thin shoulders, then fell back to her pale face.

There was no unnecessary greeting, and he didn't even take a step forward. He just raised his chin slightly, and his eyes passed Liu Yueli's slender figure and went deeper into the darker courtyard.

"Madam Liu," Pei Ji began, his voice, like his own, lacking any unnecessary ups and downs. "Your husband, Zhao Siming, the former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, has been on leave since last winter to recuperate in his hometown. He reportedly contracted a serious illness and is bedridden, unable to manage affairs. According to Daliang law, any official in the capital who leaves his post for more than half a year without cause, fails to renew his leave, and then delays his return will be held accountable by the Dali Temple in conjunction with the Ministry of Personnel for investigation."

His words were concise and each word carried the coldness unique to Dali Temple documents, echoing in the quiet courtyard.

Liu Yueli's originally calm face tensed slightly, and her lips were pressed into a pale line.

She was silent, her long eyelashes drooping, casting two small silent shadows under her eyelids.

Pei Ji's gaze was calm and sharp, taking in every subtle reaction of hers.

He was in no hurry to ask, but just paused slightly, as if giving her a moment to digest the fact.

His gaze flickered between her drooping eyelashes and her fingers that were slightly clenching the edge of her skirt.

The unconscious movement made Pei Ji's hard facial lines seem to soften a little, but only a little.

"Before Lord Zhao took his leave, he supervised the reconstruction of the Yongding River embankment in the capital. This was the last huge amount of silver approved by the Ministry of Works for stone materials." Pei Ji continued, his voice still steady, but he emphasized the word "huge" a little more. "The whereabouts of this money are questionable."

Stone silver!

Liu Yueli's body swayed, and the knuckles of her fingers that were holding onto the door frame turned bluish-white due to the force.

She suddenly raised her head, and two clusters of cold light suddenly burst out from the depths of her eyes, piercing straight towards Pei Ji.

"The Yongding River...stone...is in doubt?" She repeated these words, her voice suddenly rising a few notches, with a hint of uncontrollable sharpness.

"Master Pei, just investigate the case! Why put the blame of doubt on the whereabouts of the silver on a useless man who has been too ill to get up for a long time?!"

Her chest heaved, and the calmness she had forced upon herself was like a paper lantern punctured by a needle, shattered into pieces.

He quickly turned his head to look at the clumps of dead bamboo in the corner of the yard that were blown all over the place by the wind, and bit the inside of his lower lip tightly to prevent any sobbing from escaping.

Pei Ji frowned slightly at this sudden and violent reaction.

"The Dali Temple is acting according to the rules," he said in a deep voice, "only investigating suspicious points. This official has been ordered to assist in the investigation of Zhao Siming's absence and the suspicious funds involved. I've come here today to examine his testimony and confession in accordance with the law and to verify it with the records filed by the Ministry of Works."

He didn't retreat a single step, his eyes fixed on Liu Yueli's face as she suppressed her tears. "Please, Madam, lead the way."

"Lead the way?" Liu Yueli turned her head abruptly as if she had heard some huge joke, tears still welling up in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall.

His gaze was filled with deep sarcasm and sadness. "Master Pei, are you going to ask him about the whereabouts of the silver? Or are you going to ask him why a sickly man who can't even get out of bed doesn't return to the capital and bother others?"

He took a breath, his voice trembling with uncontrollable fear, "Sir, just ask, check! See what else you can get out of a dying useless person!"

She no longer looked at Pei Ji, as if she had exhausted all her strength. She hunched her back slightly and slowly walked towards the main hall, step by step.

The back figure was as thin as the fallen leaves in autumn, swaying as if it would be blown away by the wind at any time.

Pei Ji stood where he was and did not follow immediately.

He looked at the back that seemed to be overwhelmed but still stood straight, and the last trace of fluctuation in his eyes was completely suppressed.

The official boots stepped onto the icy stone steps, the soles of the boots crushing the light moss growing in the cracks, and followed silently a few steps behind her.

Passing through the short eaves outside the main hall, the light became dimmer.

A strong smell of medicine mixed with a damp and musty smell hit me in the face, making my chest feel stuffy.

Liu Yueli pushed open a door with badly peeling paint, and it creaked.

The room became even darker. Only a small, half-open window on the north wall let in a little gray light.

The light shone in front of the bed, barely outlining the outline of an old pear wood step-out bed.

The curtains were mostly drawn, leaving only a small gap at the foot of the bed. Light fell on the tattered, worn quilt that hung down at the foot of the bed. The patterns that should have been rich and elegant had long since been washed to a pale hue, making it impossible to discern the color.

"Madam...Madam..." A weak voice floated out from deep within the curtain, "...Is there a guest outside?"

Liu Yueli's body suddenly stiffened and stopped a few steps away from the bed, as if someone had pressed her acupoints.

She took a deep breath, and the turbid air made her face even paler.

He raised his hand and rubbed the corner of his eye with the sleeve extremely quickly, as fast as an afterimage, without even turning his head.

"Yeah." She responded, trying to make her voice sound calmer. "It's a gentleman from the capital, his last name is Pei...he came to see you."

Pei Ji's gaze was like the moon reflected in a cold pond, sweeping across the simple yet spotless house without a sound.

Next to the window was a desk with one leg broken and propped up with bricks. On it were a few old books neatly arranged, a stack of unfinished ink-stained papers, an inkstone, and a thin brush with a worn tip.

There was a low cabinet with peeling paint against the wall, half open, with a few folded old clothes that had been washed so much that they were bleached.

There were several half-new medicine pots piled up in the corner.

All this told him a cold truth.

The life of this former Minister of Works has fallen from the clouds to the quagmire. He has completely lost his former dignity and is left with only the difficulty of struggling to survive.

However, deeper inside, there is a strange feeling - too clean, too tidy, like an empty shell with all traces deliberately erased.

He slowly walked to a place a few steps away from the bed and stood still. From here, the gap in the curtain was too narrow and the light was too poor. He could only vaguely see the outline of a slightly raised blanket, and even the basic shape of the body was difficult to discern.

A scent mixed with medicinal juice, years of severe illness, and some strange fishy, ​​sweet and greasy smell rushed out from the gap more fiercely, so strong that it made people's throats tighten.

Pei Ji frowned for a moment, then relaxed.

He did not move forward, but just cast his gaze at Liu Yueli's tense profile.

The woman stood in the shadow at the end of the bed with her back to him, like a taut bow, her shoulder blades slightly protruding, as if she was bearing a heavy burden.

"Zhao Siming?" Pei Ji spoke.

Deep within the tent, there was a dead silence for a few moments, with only the sound of heavy, labored breathing echoing.

"...guilty...guilty officer...Zhao...Siming..." The broken voice finally sounded again, squeezing out a few words with difficulty, "In...cough cough cough...in..."

Then a heart-wrenching cough broke out.

The sound was dull and turbid, like a broken skin bag that had accumulated phlegm for thousands of years being hammered madly, and it was accompanied by a strange "ho ho" sound like a bellows deep in the throat.

"Husband!"

Liu Yueli couldn't hold it in any longer and threw herself to the bed with a low cry.

She stretched out her hand to lift the curtain, her movements extremely anxious, but when her fingers touched the washed-white curtain, they suddenly stopped and retracted as if burned by fire.

With only a layer of cloth between them, she anxiously but helplessly called out to the inside: "Husband! Husband, don't get angry! Slow down! Breathe slower!"

Her voice was trembling and filled with tears, and the calmness she had just forced herself to maintain was long gone.

The terrible cough lasted for a long time before gradually turning into labored gasping for breath.

Pei Ji stood in the same place from beginning to end, his figure like a green pine on a cold cliff, not moving at all.

However, his deep eyes were not without emotion.

He turned his gaze from the bed to the rickety desk beside it. On it lay a piece of paper, half-dried with ink. The handwriting was crooked, intermittent, and weak. It was no longer the sharp, strong handwriting of Minister Zhao, as seen on the Ministry of Works files. One line of words, still wet with ink, looked freshly written:

"...the heavy dew makes my clothes cold, the frost bites...my bones are seriously ill. The empty bed...the empty bed..." After writing this, only large pieces of ink stains that were forcibly dragged away were left at the end, looking messy and obviously not strong enough to continue.

Pei Ji's gaze lingered for a moment on the two words "empty couch" in the broken sentence.

This poem... these words... the helplessness and bone-chilling coldness that permeate the lines...

He slowly raised his eyes, and his gaze fell back on the outline of the tent that was breathing heavily and heaving.

Liu Yueli loosened her hands that were tightly gripping the curtain in shock. The curtain swayed slightly, releasing a little thick and foul air. At that moment, Pei Ji's eyes suddenly became stern.

That is definitely not the normal appearance of a human body lying in bed!

Pei Ji's heart was suddenly filled with turbulent waves.

Almost silently and covertly, he took a breath of the cold air mixed with the stench of disease, medicine and a certain smell of blood.

Liu Yueli was keenly aware of a subtle tense atmosphere. She turned around abruptly, with fear and worry in her eyes and tears still fresh in her eyes. She was caught off guard by Pei Ji's gaze, which was so sharp that it could almost penetrate people's hearts.

Her breath hitched, and a piercing chill instantly ran down her spine.

Through the filthy air, two gazes met fiercely, one sharp as a sword, the other panic-stricken.

Beneath the panic and despair lies an unfathomable cowardice.

The room was dead silent.

The small Sinan pendant hanging on Pei Ji's waist suddenly became hot, like stubborn iron thrown into a furnace.

Pei Ji's eyes were heavy and fixed on Liu Yueli's face, not moving at all.

"Room?" Pei Ji parted his thin lips, uttering two words so cold they could condense into water vapor. "The Dali Temple inspects all officials based on the laws of the court and the regulations of the country! Have they ever set a rule that no one can breathe?"

His eyes were as sharp as a hawk. "Madam Liu, isn't this the rule of breathing that you are desperately trying to block right now?"

His gaze no longer lingered on Liu Yueli's face distorted by tears and despair, but suddenly turned to the desk covered with medicine stains.

The stack of papers was in disarray, the ink still wet. He stepped forward, his official boots rolling silently across the cold ground, and stopped in front of the desk.

His long fingers reached out and precisely picked up the ink-stained paper on the top of the desk. On it, the second half of the poem "The dew is heavy and wet, and the clothes are cold; the frost is deep in the bones" had been filled with a few more crooked words without knowing when!

Waiting for death on an empty bed, the underworld is cold.

The fault is mine, and the disaster will also affect you!

The word "罪" (crime), the last drop of ink of which had not yet dried, looked like a ferocious beast with its bloody mouth wide open.

The ink spots splashed around were like spurting blood.

At this moment, the curtain suddenly shook violently!

"Husband...husband!" Liu Yueli screamed and didn't bother to stop him. She rushed forward like an arrow!

She almost fell to the cold bed in tears, her hands shaking uncontrollably, and she covered her mouth tightly to prevent the wails from tearing the whole room apart.

Pei Ji's eyes were so sharp that he saw it in the increasingly dim light outside the window!

The scene behind the bed was not that of a skinny patient at all.

The eyes hidden deep in the shadows suddenly opened.

Just a moment!

Liu Yueli threw herself on the edge of the bed with all her might, blocking the gap with her thin back, using her body to isolate the terrifying scene from the darkness again.

"Get out! Ah——!" A roar that cannot be described in words erupted from the tent!

Like a beast with its throat torn out struggling in its death throes, the entire shabby bunk bed creaked and shook!

"Husband! Husband, don't move!" Liu Yueli cried heartbreakingly, holding the body inside the curtain tightly with both hands.

Tears mixed with sweat poured down like a flood.

She raised her head, her eyes blurred with tears, and met Pei Ji's eyes, which were still cold, but now seemed to see through everything!

Liu Yueli's crying stopped abruptly.

The look in that gaze was too sharp, too cold, like a poisoned dagger piercing her heart.

Pei Ji's silence was more terrifying than any questioning! He didn't need to say another word! He had seen everything!

The frantic struggle and roaring in the tent continued, each sound like a sledgehammer hitting her already broken heart.

She looked at Pei Ji, tears streaming silently, her lips trembling, but she couldn't make a sound.

He suddenly let go of his hand, stumbled, and slowly took one step back, two steps...

"...Yes...Yes..." Liu Yueli's voice was hoarse as if she had swallowed gravel, and her sentences were broken. "...The night before the Yongding River levee was destroyed...the batch of stones that were supposed to be transported to reinforce the most dangerous part of the levee...were never delivered...their people intercepted them on the way..."