Chapter 40 He raised his head and met Achan's gaze.
All the court officials knew very well that if Bai Xiuming killed the living corpse within three days, the Ministry of Justice would be in trouble.
Many government departments are trying to relinquish power from the Mingjing Division, and the Ministry of Justice, which has always been the most vocal in this regard, is now likely to be the one to suffer the most severe setback.
Just as everyone had finished laughing at the Ministry of Justice and was planning to wait for the court session to end, Wen Zhong spoke up again.
"I also want to impeach the Marquis of Jinyang for failing to manage his household properly and for allowing his stewards to bribe local thugs to vandalize his shops."
"That's more like it!" The court officials suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that the impeachment had been a bit lacking; it turned out the main course hadn't been served yet.
The Marquis of Jinyang, suddenly impeached, was filled with questions. He strode forward and said loudly, "Your Majesty, I am not convinced. My wife has always been strict in managing the household and would never tolerate her steward causing trouble outside. I hope Censor Wen will not wrong me."
"I see. Since the Marquis of Jinyang believes that your steward would not do such a thing, then it must have been the Marquis's wife who instructed him."
Wen Zhong truly lived up to his reputation as someone no one in the Censorate dared to offend; his words were always designed to pierce people's lungs.
Marquis Jinyang was so angry he wanted to punch someone, but he was mindful of the Emperor's presence and could only suppress his anger: "Imperial Censor, please be careful what you say."
“Your Majesty,” Wen Zhong said loudly, “the shop that was vandalized is in Changping Ward. Last night, the brother-in-law of the Marquis of Jinyang died outside that shop. Those thugs admitted in public that the steward of the Marquis’s residence hired them to come and vandalize the shop because the Marquis’s wife believed that the existence of this shop was a threat to her brother’s life.”
"You're talking nonsense! You're deliberately framing me!"
Ignoring the furious Marquis of Jinyang, Wen Zhong continued, "When the shop was smashed, there were many onlookers besides me inside, and they can all testify to this."
"So what? Maybe those thugs are just framing my Jinyang Marquis's mansion."
Wen Zhong turned to look at Marquis Jinyang: "I must apologize to Marquis Jinyang for this matter. Without your permission, I secretly drew portraits of the stewards in your household and took them to the Jingzhao Prefecture prison to have the local ruffians identify them separately. They all identified the same person."
Upon hearing this, the Marquis of Jinyang's face turned ashen, and his hand trembled as he pointed at Wen Zhong: "Wen Zhong, you dare to sneak into the Marquis's residence! You are utterly lawless!"
“Your Majesty, I am guilty and beg for punishment. But I did not enter the Marquis of Jinyang’s residence. At most, I just climbed over the wall. To be precise, only my hand crossed the line.”
The ministers who had been watching the spectacle lowered their heads, suppressing the upturned corners of their mouths, thinking to themselves, "When it comes to infuriating people, Lord Wen is the best." As long as he didn't impeach them, this was going to be quite a show.
Having said all that, the Marquis of Jinyang had no need to argue anymore. He truly knew nothing about this matter, and it must have been Xue who did it behind his back.
Unfortunately, they ran into Wen Zhong.
But in court, he couldn't very well pin the blame on Lady Xue, or His Majesty would think he was using a woman as an excuse.
He could only say in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, I was unaware of this matter. It must have been the steward of the palace who acted on his own."
Wen Zhong immediately jumped out: "Your Majesty, you see, I told you that the Marquis of Jinyang was not strict in managing his household, and it is indeed so."
The veins on the Marquis of Jinyang's forehead bulged, and he clenched his fists, afraid that he might lose control and beat Wen Zhong.
After watching the spectacle to his heart's content, the Emperor finally spoke: "The Marquis of Jinyang has failed in his duty to manage his household properly, and will be fined half a year's salary. As for his wife, we can understand her grief over the loss of her loved one, but she must compensate the victim with a thousand taels of silver. If this happens again, we will not let her off lightly."
Marquis of Jinyang immediately knelt down: "Thank you for your mercy, Your Majesty."
Wen Zhong chimed in, "Your Majesty is wise."
After the court session ended, King Ming caught up with his son, who was walking faster and faster: "Why are you walking so fast? I almost couldn't catch up with you."
Bai Xiuming looked helpless; he was only moving fast because he didn't want to be caught.
"My son has to go on an errand."
"It's just a living corpse. The Director of the Imperial Observatory has a Yang Fire Bottle that uses corpse energy as nourishment. It breathes fire whenever it encounters corpse energy. It's quite fun. Why don't you go and borrow it for a couple of days?"
"Son, I'll go right away."
Unfortunately, before he could slip away, Ming Wang grabbed his sleeve: "We still have important business to discuss, why are you running away?"
"Please speak."
"Didn't you say before that the Xue family kid was suspected of being the mastermind behind the theft of the Demon Seal? You just let him die like that?"
"His superior has been identified; he's no longer useful."
When they caught the Snow Needle Serpent before, they could have caught him red-handed, but Bai Xiuming let Xue Mingtang go and set a trap for him, which he fell into.
Fearing his men would lose track of him, Bai Xiuming personally followed Xue Mingtang during that period, witnessing him set up a diversion at his own residence before secretly going to Yan Liru's residence.
Not long after he entered the Yan residence, the contract on the Snow Needle Serpent was unilaterally broken. Apart from the Demon Seal, nothing else has the ability to forcibly break a contract. This evidence is sufficient.
"So, you found the Demon Seal?" King Ming raised an eyebrow.
"Um."
"Then why weren't you retrieved?"
“I thought that you and His Majesty allowed the Demon Seal to be stolen, not because you wanted me to retrieve it.”
Items that enter the Forbidden Treasury carry a special aura, so when the Demon Seal first left the Forbidden Treasury, the Ming King could have tracked its whereabouts with his methods. However, he did not, and instead handed the case over to Bai Xiuming after some time.
King Ming glanced at his adopted son, who was already taller than him: "He's really grown up, and he's become more cunning."
Bai Xiuming twitched the corner of his lips: "You flatter me."
"Then do you know which fish His Majesty is trying to catch by letting the Demon Seal roam freely outside?"
"That depends on who ends up with what Yan Liru has."
"What do you think?" Ming Wang asked, as if testing Bai Xiuming.
"I guess it's the Marquis of Zhenbei, or someone behind him."
Marquis Zhenbei was Yan Liru's father-in-law. Yan Liru had no family support, yet he was able to rise to the rank of third grade thanks to the support of Marquis Zhenbei's mansion.
He and the Marquis of Zhenbei are a community of shared interests. If anyone could make him take risks, it would only be the Marquis of Zhenbei.
Of course, the Marquis of Zhenbei may not be the final target, but the suspects must be investigated one by one.
The Ming King smiled with his hands behind his back: "The Marquis of Zhenbei will be returning to the capital to report on his duties in seven days at most. Have you not seen him? While he was in the capital, you had already gone to Youzhou."
"I've never met him, but I've heard of him. I've heard that the Marquis of Zhenbei is arrogant and reckless. Wasn't his cultivation at the peak of the fourth realm ten years ago?"
Hearing Bai Xiuming's words hit the nail on the head, the Ming King became even more satisfied: "Yes, he's only one step away from entering the fifth realm, so can't he be a little arrogant?"
He then changed the subject: "However, His Majesty does not like such arrogant ministers. Once you enter the capital, you should abide by the rules."
Just like the hidden array above their heads, it forcibly suppresses the cultivation of all cultivators above the third realm, prohibiting them from flying or escaping. This is the rule of the Great Xia Dynasty; even a dragon entering the capital must coil up.
"Understood."
"Alright, get back to work. I'm going to find Wen Zhong for a few games of chess."
After Ming Wang took two steps, Bai Xiuming called out to him, "Father."
"Yes, is there anything else?" King Ming turned around and asked.
"Lord Wen only knows some martial arts. When you lose a game, you must control yourself and not overturn the table or hit anyone."
King Ming was instantly enraged: "You unfilial son!"
Bai Xiuming gave such advice entirely out of good intentions. Ming Wang's chess skills were poor, but he was a chess fanatic and had terrible sportsmanship.
Lord Wen Chongwen is an excellent chess player, but he has a very sharp tongue.
Bai Xiuming was fortunate enough to witness a clash between the two once. Before the game even started, Imperial Censor Wen made Ming Wang swear that whoever stole the chess piece was a grandson.
In short, every time the two played chess, the situation became extremely difficult to manage.
Bai Xiuming bowed to King Ming and said, "Your son takes his leave."
We've already given him all the advice we needed to, and that's the end of it for him.
"Oh, by the way, I don't know if Yan Liru's illness is true or not. Keep an eye on him and make sure nothing happens to him before he sees the Marquis of Zhenbei." Bai Xiuming had walked quite a distance when he heard the Ming King's voice again.
Bai Xiuming had no choice but to go to the Imperial Hospital.
His Majesty said in court that he would send the imperial physicians to the Yan residence to treat Yan Liru. When the news reached the Imperial Medical Academy, the highly skilled physician Huang was the first to be sent.
Physician Huang was still somewhat reluctant, but when he saw Bai Xiuming enter the Imperial Hospital, he couldn't help but greet him with some surprise: "Lord Bai is ill?"
"No, there's something I'd like to ask Physician Huang for help with."
"Please speak," Physician Huang said very politely.
"Please bring Physician Huang and one of my subordinates with you to the Yan residence."
"No problem," Physician Huang readily agreed without asking why. He was just taking on an apprentice; no one would care.
Although Yan Liru did not attend court, news of what happened in the court quickly reached his ears.
He naturally knew that the emperor had sent a royal physician to treat him.
The steward of the Yan family waited at the door for an hour before finally seeing the carriage of the Imperial Hospital.
The carriage stopped at the entrance of the Yan residence. First, two medical apprentices dressed in white robes from the Imperial Medical Academy got out, followed by two imperial physicians.
Physician Huang walked in front, while Physician Zhang followed behind without vying for his place.
The steward stepped forward and respectfully led the four into the mansion.
When Physician Huang saw Yan Liru lying in bed in the bedroom, he was quite surprised.
This Lord Yan doesn't look well; if he's not wearing makeup, then he must be genuinely ill.
However, he didn't say anything. Instead, he looked around the bedroom. It wasn't that he was being picky, but the room was just too dark. Not only was it dark, but the smell of incense was also very strong.
Physician Huang couldn't help but ask the steward, "Why put up curtains in front of the window in broad daylight?"
The butler said with difficulty, "My lord, my master has recently become very sensitive to light for some reason."
Physician Huang nodded thoughtfully, then stepped forward and said to Yan Liru, "Lord Yan, I have come here on His Majesty's orders to treat you. Please extend your right hand."
Yan Liru stretched his hand out from under the covers. Doctor Huang pulled up his sleeve and was surprised to find a black patch the size of a fingernail on the top of Yan's wrist.
He made a mental note of it and then took Yan Liru's pulse.
After taking his pulse, he didn't say anything, but got up and asked another physician, Zhang, to take his pulse as well.
After both of them took each other's pulses and exchanged a few words, they said to the steward, "Judging from Lord Yan's pulse, he only has poor blood circulation and stagnation of qi and blood, which is not a serious illness."
But this is only based on the pulse.
As for other aspects, it's hard to say.
Both imperial physicians noticed that something was wrong with Yan Liru, but his condition was not that he was sick.
Upon hearing the imperial physician's words, the steward grew anxious: "But my master's condition..."
"Butler," Yan Liru said, stopping the butler from continuing.
Then he said to the two imperial physicians, "Thank you both, please prescribe the medicine."
Physician Huang dictated the prescription, and the apprentice waiting nearby immediately wrote it down and handed it to the steward of the Yan family, thus concluding the consultation.
At Yan Liru's behest, Steward Yan escorted the four out of the mansion, but his attitude was noticeably less enthusiastic than when he had greeted them, presumably because they had failed to resolve Yan Liru's problems.
Once they were on the carriage, Physician Zhang spoke up: "There's something wrong with Lord Yan's bloodline."
"It's not just that something's wrong; the blood is almost completely stagnant. I've only ever seen this on people who are dying." Doctor Huang sighed, knowing that taking on this kind of job was never a good thing.
"Should this matter be reported?"
"Of course we should report it. Just tell the truth. We can't cure Lord Yan's illness."
After the two imperial physicians returned to the Imperial Hospital, they went directly to report to the head of the hospital. The two apprentices who had accompanied them left on their own. One of them took off his white robe and left the Imperial Hospital quietly.
Back at the Mingjing Division, the man reported to Bai Xiuming: "My lord, the two imperial physicians said that Yan Liru's blood vessels are almost stagnant, like that of a dead man. The Yan family steward said that Yan Liru has been very sensitive to light lately, and curtains have been added to the windows in his bedroom to block out the light. I smelled a faint stench of death on Yan Liru, but it was masked by incense. He has a black spot on his hand, which I suspect is lividity. Therefore, I suspect that he has been poisoned by corpse poison."
Bai Xiuming did not doubt the subordinate's words. The person he sent to accompany the imperial physician was naturally knowledgeable in various aspects.
“Corpse poison, this is interesting. I’ll take a trip to the Yan family first.” Bai Xiuming was playing with a black porcelain bottle about the length of a finger. On the table in front of him, there were five smaller white porcelain bottles arranged in a row.
These are all Yang Fire Bottles; the black one is the main bottle, and the white one is the sub-bottle.
"Summon all the commanders who are stationed in the yamen."
"Yes." The subordinate obeyed and went out to call for reinforcements. Soon, ten commanders entered one by one. Except for Jiang Kai, who had been sent out by Bai Xiu, all the others were present.
He selected five people from the ten, and had each of them take a Yang Fire Bottle and lead a group to investigate the whereabouts of the living corpses. The rest of them stayed behind at the Mingjing Division, just in case.
Shortly after the order was given, the commanders of the Mingjing Division left the yamen with their subordinates to investigate the whereabouts of the living corpses.
Bai Xiuming then led Feng Yang and a team of Mingjing Guards out of the yamen.
It was still early when the entire Mingjing Division came out, startling the people so much that they dared not stay outside for long, fearing that something terrible had happened and they would be affected.
Just as Bai Xiuming led his men to a place not far from the Yan residence, they saw a specially made signal arrow from the Mingjing Division rise into the sky.
Judging from the location, it was probably in Datongfang. Soon after, a signal arrow was also raised in Yong'anfang.
"I heard from the Ministry of Justice that the zombie is about to advance in rank, and it has actually created so many new zombies." Feng Yang was somewhat shocked. If he hadn't used the Yang Fire Bottle to find the zombies, these things might have remained hidden in the city.
Bai Xiuming ignored him and instead watched as a faint red flame emerged from the Yang Fire Bottle in his hand, the flame curving and pointing towards the Yan residence.
Upon seeing the flames, Feng Yang clicked his tongue and said, "Could it be that Lord Yan has also turned into a living corpse?"
"Not yet. If he were dead now, that would be possible." Bai Xiuming glanced in the direction of the Yan residence but didn't go in to arrest anyone.
"Sir, where are we going now?"
“The zombies didn’t appear in Changpingfang last night, so let’s go there.”
The Dragon Blood Horse galloped towards Changping Ward. As soon as they entered Changping Ward, a three-inch-long red flame shot out from the Yang Fire Bottle in Bai Xiuming's hand. The flame guided them forward and they arrived at an empty house located in the far corner of Changping Ward.
The house looked abandoned, with government seals still affixed to the gate.
Having found the place, Feng Yang was eager to try: "My lord, I'm going..."
Bai Xiuming did not respond, but instead dismounted.
He walked alone into the abandoned house, and soon after, the roars of the living dead came from inside the house, and then the roars disappeared.
In less than a quarter of an hour, Bai Xiuming came out and said to Feng Yang, "Go in and collect the body. Put the head back in its place. We need to show it to His Majesty tomorrow."
Feng Yang's eye twitched. He felt that His Majesty probably didn't want to see the head of a living corpse at the morning court session, but what could he do since it was his master's order?
Before long, the Mingjing Guards packed up the corpse of the living corpse, and put the head of the living corpse into a separate box.
No more signal arrows were raised elsewhere, suggesting that the zombies in the city had been dealt with.
Just as Feng Yang was thinking this, he turned his head and saw that the Yang Fire Bottle in Bai Xiuming's hand had spewed out another flame. Although this flame was only an inch long, it was clear that there was still a living corpse in Changping Ward.
They rushed to the second location where the zombies had appeared, and then Yang Huo Ping led them to a familiar gate.
Looking at the two-story building with its newly replaced doors, Feng Yang secretly glanced at his parents, but unfortunately, he couldn't tell what they were feeling at that moment.
A group of people dismounted and followed Bai Xiuming into the shop.
This shop was recently vandalized and is temporarily closed to the public. The door is open, but there is no one inside.
"Huiniang, are my egg dumplings ready?"
Bai Xiuming had just reached the stairs when he heard a woman's soft voice coming from upstairs, as if she were coaxing someone.
"They're here." Another unfamiliar voice rang out, and the curtain leading to the backyard was lifted, revealing Chen Hui standing before Bai Xiuming.
When she saw the group of strangers in official robes, her expression changed abruptly, and she turned to retreat back to the backyard.
The next moment, a flash of light appeared, and a knife was plunged diagonally into Chen Hui's feet. Her body froze instantly, and she dared not move again.
"Hui Niang?" A Chan heard the voice, walked out of the room, stood at the top of the stairs, held the handrail, leaned half her body out to look down, and a pomegranate flower that was pinned to her ear accidentally fell off.
Bai Xiuming raised his hand, and the pomegranate flower fell into his palm.
He looked up and met Achan's gaze.
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