Probably because he saw Jiang Lingyao looking at the Jinyiwei, and waited until the Jinyiwei disappeared in the shadows of the trees, Li Da curled his lips and said, "Look at their pomp and circumstance. That Feiyu suit is really beautiful."
Jiang Lingyao helped Shen Suning up and smiled without saying much.
Li Da, however, seemed to have no scruples and still said angrily: "The Imperial Guards have always been overbearing in the capital. With them around, the officials in the capital are more cautious. Other government offices are fine. The Imperial Guards can't easily get involved except for arresting people. But we in Shuntian Prefecture, I don't know how much credit has been robbed."
After he said this, Jiang Lingyao had no choice but to respond, but she changed the subject.
"I didn't know about this because I hadn't been to Shuntian Prefecture. But since Lord Yao took office, the Beizhen Fusi has changed its leader. It seems that things have improved a lot?"
"Lord Yao is really a good official. He is kind and never argues with others. Instead, he has a good reputation in the capital. Those Jinyiwei dogs will not touch him casually. It turns out that Lord Cen was sent to the Ministry of Justice. Although this new Zhenfushi is in charge of the East Department's affairs, I heard that he has also temporarily replaced the North Zhenfushi."
Jiang Lingyao was a little surprised: "So amazing, where does he come from?"
While the two were talking, the bailiff finally called in the young eunuch who was beside Wei Gou.
The young eunuch looked down on everyone and ignored them no matter if they were the sixth-rank prosecutor or the local tyrant of Shuntian Prefecture.
He stood coldly at the door of the warehouse and said in a low voice, "Open the door, everyone check as soon as possible, do not move any objects in the room, and do not take out any objects. I will guard the door."
He is so cold and arrogant that he seems more like a eunuch than Eunuch Wei Gou.
Jiang Lingyao looked at his young face and couldn't help but smile.
No matter how much Li Dazui talks, he will never say anything about the eunuchs of the Twenty-Four Departments to their faces.
The few of them entered the warehouse in silence. Li Dacai continued to answer Jiang Lingyao's questions: "We don't know where the counselor came from, and the adults haven't found out either. But he has some tricks. He is mysterious all day long and never shows himself to others. We don't know what he looks like in the two months since he took office."
Li Da said this, and glanced outside before scolding, "Playing tricks is really boring."
Shuntian Prefecture and Jinyiwei were born in conflict, so it was understandable that Li Da belittled him.
Jiang Lingyao thought of the tall scarlet figure and couldn't help but sigh, "What a formidable figure."
That's about it, the moment people enter the warehouse, they are attracted by the mountains of goods piled up inside.
Jiang Lingyao quickly scanned the shelves and cabinets and said, "Brother Li, you and the other brothers go to the furniture area and check if there are any fresh marks as wide as a foot on the ground or if there are any left behind. I will check for gold and jade with Shen Yacha."
Li Da nodded and led everyone away. Jiang Lingyao then walked to the other side with Shen Suning.
The furniture in the prison made up the bulk of the items. The dazzling array of carved screens, wardrobes, boxes, and bunk beds took up three to four fifths of the entire warehouse. The remaining small items were mostly valuables, but they could be checked by Jiang Lingyao and Shen Suning by just placing them in a few boxes and cabinets.
However, even though the items were few, they were too valuable to be moved around casually, and after being so cautious for half an hour, they still got nothing.
On the other side, Li Da's voice came: "Master Qiao, please take a look and see if this is it."
After hearing this, Jiang Lingyao immediately walked to the other side.
After all, Li Dabi is an old yamen runner. His ancestors all did this job and he has a lot of experience in searching for evidence.
Yesterday I was in a hurry and didn't have much idea, but now that I have clues, it is much easier to investigate.
What he found was indeed beyond Jiang Lingyao's imagination.
It was a candle holder.
The lamp base was about half a person's height, with a slender support at the bottom and a lamp box on top for placing the lantern. At a glance, Jiang Lingyao could tell that the base was exactly one foot square.
The workmanship of this lamp holder is not delicate, and there are many traces of rain and wind on it, which shows that it is not a practical item. Moreover, in this warehouse, it is carefully covered under a bamboo basket, and if you don't look carefully, it is easy to be overlooked.
"Sir, this is the lamp post that should be used by the prisoner himself, but this one is stored here alone."
Jiang Lingyao nodded. She asked the yamen runner to put the lamp holder down, and bent down to check the bottom of the lamp holder. As expected, she saw clear scratches on the bottom.
After the lamp holder was put in place, Jiang Lingyao reached out and felt around in the lamp holder.
This lamppost is quite old, and is covered with traces of time, with various scratches and scratches stacked up one on top of the other, and it is hard to tell when they were made.
Jiang Lingyao fumbled around and suddenly took out a piece of torn hemp rope from the light box.
This hemp rope is exactly the same as the one found at the scene yesterday. They are all things used by the guards. Jiang Lingyao's eyes lit up and she looked at Shen Suning.
Even Li Da seemed to realize something: "Sir, could it be that this lamppost is the thing that disappeared at the scene?"
Jiang Lingyao nodded and said, "It's almost right."
"Brother Li, take someone to hold up this lamppost," Jiang Lingyao said, "I'll go talk to the eunuch."
Although the eunuch looked arrogant just now, he has been guarding the door of the warehouse, staring at the warehouse without blinking.
Seeing Jiang Lingyao and the others carrying something out, he immediately frowned: "Didn't we say that we can't take things out of it? These are all things for the protection of the gods. No one can afford if they are bumped and damaged."
Jiang Lingyao took two or three steps forward, with a gentle smile on her face: "Young eunuch, look, this is not a military item, it should be a military item used by the prison, I don't know why it was mistakenly stored here. After investigation, it should be evidence in a murder case, so take it out and have someone guard it."
After Jiang Lingyao said this, the young eunuch did not just ignore it. He took two steps forward and actually checked it out seriously.
Despite his young age, he seemed to be an experienced supervisor: "This is indeed the lamp post in the front yard, but the pagoda has taken down the crossbars in the past few days. They were afraid that the candles would catch fire, so they removed it and only left one in the front yard."
One left? But there were none left in the front yard.
This lamppost is probably the one that is left.
Jiang Lingyao took note of this and said with a smile, "Young eunuch is really amazing. I have another question, but I don't know if I should ask it or not."
The young eunuch puffed out his chest and said, "You can ask me. There is nothing I don't know about Yu Yongjian."
Jiang Lingyao asked, "Young Master, to open the warehouse, we need to go to the supervisory office to get the key. Is this key only kept by the supervisory office, or does anyone else have it?"
The young eunuch's face suddenly darkened, and he frowned and said, "Usually it can only be kept in the supervision office, and we need to open it ourselves. However, recently due to the pagoda, another one was given to Rong Dajia..."
At this point, his voice suddenly stopped.
Jiang Lingyao exchanged a glance with him, and the eunuch said, "We can be sure that the other one is in Rong Jingui's hands."
When these words came out, everyone in Shuntian Prefecture was shocked.
Li Dadao: "Sir, we checked yesterday and found no unused keys in Rong Jin's residence."
Jiang Lingyao frowned slightly. It seemed that Rong Jingui's residence needed to be checked again.
After checking here, Jiang Lingyao and Li Da were about to search the Rongjin VIP room again, when suddenly a red figure appeared from the back of the corridor.
The visitor was a rather young captain of the Jinyiwei.
He bowed to everyone and said, "Your Excellency, our Master invites you to the west chamber."
Everyone in Shuntian Prefecture was stunned. They looked at each other, and Jiang Lingyao said gently, "Thank you for the invitation, sir. We will go immediately."
Yao Yuan did not come with them to investigate the case. At the moment, Jiang Lingyao was the highest-ranking official in Shuntian Prefecture. She first asked her runners to hold up the lamppost, and then said to the eunuch, "Young eunuch, we have finished checking the warehouse. There is no need to open it for the time being. You can lock the door and leave."
Although the young eunuch looked very arrogant, he couldn't help but seem familiar with Jiang Lingyao after exchanging a few words with her. Perhaps it was because Jiang Lingyao treated him like an ordinary person, so he gradually let down his guard and spoke politely.
"It's okay. Since the Yu Yongjian can't go on duty now, I'm not busy. If you need to investigate further, just send someone to call me."
As he spoke, he walked into the warehouse, looked around carefully, and then came out and locked the door.
Jiang Lingyao and the others followed the Jinyiwei, passing through the tree-shaded path, through the slightly dilapidated moon gate, and finally arrived at the west wing which was so old and seemed a bit desolate.
This should be the old residence of the craftsmen. As no one has lived there or taken care of it for many years, the yard is overgrown with weeds. Five or six Jinyiwei captains are guarding the yard, and they remain calm when they see strangers.
The Jinyiwei who led the way led everyone to the front of the west chamber, and then cleared the door: "Master Pei, Master Shuntian has arrived."
Following his announcement, someone came to the main door of the west wing, and inside stood a fair-faced, beardless, and handsome young Jinyiwei. When he saw Jiang Lingyao and the others, his eyes moved and finally fell on Jiang Lingyao's face.
Jiang Lingyao only felt that the pair of delicate eyebrows stayed on her face for a moment, as if a little hesitant.
She didn't disguise herself any further because her temperament when she was a magistrate was completely different from her true self, so ordinary people didn't suspect anything. But her face was still too similar, so anyone who was slightly familiar with Miss Jiang Liu would usually ask her a few more questions.
But at this moment, Jiang Lingyao was sure that she had never seen this Jinyiwei named Pei before, so why would he be suspicious of her?
However, Jiang Lingyao was always calm in the face of danger. She put on the airs of a Shuntian Prefecture magistrate and stepped into the main room of the west chamber. She asked the young Jinyiwei in front of her in confusion, "This... Lord Pei, is there something wrong?"
The young Jinyiwei with a feminine appearance raised his eyebrows and smiled politely: "Are you the Magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture? I am Pei Yu, the captain of the East Division of the Jinyiwei Beizhen Fusi."
There are two kinds of Qianhu in Jinyiwei. Fourteen of them are of the fifth rank, and the rest are of the fifth rank. Zheng Feng whom I met before and this Qianhu Pei Yu should be of the same rank, both are Qianhu of the fifth rank, and they seem to be deputies of the new town's envoy.
I have never met these two gentlemen before. They were probably just promoted. They should be the confidants of the new town's governor.
Pei Yu's official position was higher than Jiang Lingyao's, so Jiang Lingyao bowed and greeted him: "Master Pei, how are you? I am the magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture. My surname is Qiao. I wonder if I can meet the town's envoy?"
Pei Yu had a lingering warm smile on his face, and his voice was soft and gentle, as if he had no temper at all.
"Master Qiao, the governor is already waiting inside. Please follow me."
Jiang Lingyao only brought Shen Suning and Li Da, and the three of them followed Pei Yu into the inner room. As soon as they entered the inner room, they saw a figure hanging on the rack, screaming in pain.
On one side of the rack, there was a folding screen with a picture of lotus and fluttering butterflies. Behind the screen, a red figure was sitting lazily.
There was only one tall window in the interrogation room, and the daylight seemed to be blocked by the shadows of the trees outside the window, so it could not shine in no matter what.
In the flickering light, the figure spoke coldly: "You're finally here."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
