Jiang Lingyao was a little surprised. She asked, "Dad?"
All the resentment and hatred in Jiang Zhisheng disappeared in an instant. Except for the red in his eyes, he seemed to have turned back into the elegant and graceful Minister Jiang.
"All the files from that year have been destroyed. The people involved in the case are either the traitor who pointed out my mentor or the petty officials who knew nothing. Moreover, even though fifteen years have passed, because the case involves Emperor Jingde, officials have kept silent about it and almost no one has commented on it."
Since no one else said anything, Jiang Zhisheng didn't dare to ask, so he could only do his best to read through past files in order to find clues.
God helps those who work hard. Coincidentally, just after Jiang Lingyao's wedding, Jiang Zhisheng really found a clue.
He checked the old files of that year and found that a ninth-rank inspector in the Ministry of Justice had suddenly disappeared after the incident and his whereabouts remain unknown to this day.
Jiang Zhisheng was now certain of not missing a single clue. He told Jiang Lingyao, "This inspector's name is Li Hong. He disappeared in the middle of December in the sixth year of Tianyou. I had someone secretly question other officials who took office with him. Some recalled that Li Hong disappeared during the Little New Year. When he went to work the next day, he was nowhere to be found. No matter how we searched, no one knew where he was. We could only treat him as missing."
"This Li Hong was one of the reviewers of the files back then. His disappearance is somewhat strange."
"Either he knew something he shouldn't have known and was killed to silence the truth, or he was smart and escaped just to save his life."
"No matter what, Li Hong is the only clue we need to investigate now."
Jiang Lingyao listened carefully to Jiang Zhisheng's words, as if she wanted to remember every word.
Jiang Zhisheng looked at Jiang Lingyao and said, "I have been in the Ministry of Justice for three years. During these three years, I have become very familiar with the Ministry's investigations. It will not be difficult to investigate this missing person case."
He seemed to be teaching and explaining, describing the entire investigation process clearly.
"When I found something strange about Li Hong's missing case, I checked the old files under the pretext of sorting out old files. I found that the records in the old files were rather sloppy, and it didn't even say when he disappeared. It only said that he had said he was going to have a wedding banquet in early December, but he disappeared a few days later. Because he was just a minor official of the ninth rank, he had no relatives or friends, and no one was supervising the case, so the case was eventually left unresolved."
Jiang Zhisheng said to Jiang Lingyao: "Yaoyao, you have to remember that no one will disappear for no reason and not show up for many years."
"Either they fled on their own initiative, or they were killed and their bodies were buried. There is no other reason."
"The Ministry of Justice was already badly damaged by the teacher case, and the newly appointed minister was not familiar with criminal law, which is why the case was handled with so many loopholes."
"I looked at the files from that year and found that they only asked Li Hong's neighbors where he had been and who his enemies were, but they didn't ask him about his relatives or even who his wife was. Li Hong was missing, so why didn't his bride show up? Why didn't she seek justice?"
Jiang Lingyao's face became solemn when she heard this. She asked, "Could it be that... both of them have been killed?"
Jiang Zhisheng sighed: "I thought that was true, but then I thought, could it be that the bride who was married off as a substitute also has no relatives?"
"Are these two people so unrelated that no one would care if they died? Impossible," Jiang Zhisheng said, "Then there is only one possibility. They probably eloped together and fled Yanjing in December of the sixth year of Tianyou and went to another place."
"If that's the case, unless they changed their registered residence from the Black Alley, there must be a record of them entering the city from the outer city."
"So I borrowed the help of my classmates and secretly retrieved the entry records of all the counties and cities in the suburbs of Beijing fifteen years ago. After three months of searching one by one, I finally found two people named Li Hong in the entry records of Wanping and Wen'an."
The records of people entering the city were very sloppy. In order to allow the people to enter the city as quickly as possible, the soldiers guarding the city would often only record and check the passes of those who entered the city in a sneaky and crazy manner. However, since most of the soldiers were illiterate, the handwriting on the records was blurred. Therefore, Jiang Zhisheng's move was really a waste of effort and he might not necessarily find any clues.
Perhaps it was God's will that finally helped him find the clue.
Jiang Zhisheng said: "The name Li Hong is very common and not unique, so we don't know if the Li Hongs in the two places are the same person. However, after entering the city, he disappeared like a drop of water in the sea. If we really take it as a clue, we must go to Wanping and Wen'an to check it out."
"I have a classmate in Wen'an who is also a teacher and student. He has already started investigating the man named Li in the county. Even if we can find any clues, we will have to wait a long time."
"But I don't know anyone in Wanping. I originally wanted to wait until after the Dragon Boat Festival and take advantage of the Wanping Lantern Festival to send my servants to investigate secretly. But now that I have you, I don't have to beat around the bush."
As Jiang Zhisheng spoke, a smile gradually appeared on his face.
Although Jiang Lingyao was not his biological daughter, her face was somehow similar to Zhou Huiniang's. Her eyes seemed to be inherited from Jiang Zhisheng's. Both father and daughter had deep and smiling eyes.
When Jiang Zhisheng gazed with a smile, the corners of his eyes curled up, and there was a light in his eyes that was brighter than the stars.
He said, "Yao Yuanyuan is a very smart person. He is very good at judging the situation. He knows exactly why you, the judge, are here. So if you want to go to Wanping for a few days, he probably won't be dissatisfied. Instead, he will let you have fun and you can talk to him when you want to return to Beijing."
Jiang Lingyao: “…”
Jiang Lingyao: "Yao Yuanyuan?"
Jiang Zhisheng was probably so happy to have a helper that he forgot about this for a moment and instead mentioned the nickname that the officials had given to Yao Yuan.
He lowered his head and touched his nose, coughed lightly, and said, "We have a house in Lushanfang, which is near the Lantern Festival. It happens to be the month of May when the Lantern Festival begins. There are many tourists, and many children from high-ranking families in Beijing come to visit. It would be fine if you went there."
Jiang Zhisheng said this, "But I don't know what the situation is in Wanping. As for how to check people, you should think about it first, and then prepare other things when you go."
Hearing that her father had been so concerned about her and had taken care of everything, Jiang Lingyao was deeply grateful. She didn't want to look sad all the time, so she put on a smile and said, "That's good. My daughter has always wanted to see how the lantern market is so brilliant. Now that I have the opportunity, I can broaden my horizons."
She and Jiang Zhisheng arranged everything very smoothly, and there seemed to be no problem at all. Zhou Huiniang, who was sitting next to the father and daughter, shook her head helplessly and said, "Husband, Yaoyao, have you forgotten something?"
So the father and daughter, who were talking happily, stopped immediately and looked at Zhou Hui Niang together.
Zhou Huiniang raised her eyebrows and said helplessly, "Have you forgotten that Yaoyao is already married? How could she leave the Yongping Marquis's Mansion for so long?"
Jiang Lingyao: “…”
She was so focused on listening to the case that she forgot that she was already married and now her home was in the Yongping Marquis Mansion.
However, this doesn't seem to be a big deal.
Jiang Lingyao paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Don't worry, Dad and Mom, my husband listens to me the most. If I want to go, he will not stop me. Besides, the grandparents in the Anding Marquis's mansion don't care about anything and are usually not in the mansion. As long as the children and grandchildren don't destroy the Yongping Marquis's mansion, the two elders will not scold them. If I want to go to Wanping, I only need to inform my uncle, aunt and sister-in-law."
Jiang Lingyao paused, and then briefly recounted what Feng Zhenzhen had said that day about the various rooms in the Yongping Marquis's Mansion, in order to prove that she was living a good life and to put her parents at ease.
Zhou Huiniang raised her eyebrows again and asked, "How could the Yongping Marquis's Mansion be so lax?"
It's not that she is lax. For example, in the Anding Earl's Mansion, the old lady passed away early and the old marquis had no concubines. He just liked to play all day long and didn't care about anything in the mansion. The rest of the trivial matters were taken care of by the Crown Prince's wife, that is, her. Because the old marquis was very strict in discipline, there were no concubines or maids in the family, and the number of people in each room was actually not that large.
The old marquis had two sons and one daughter. The eldest son was Jiang Zhisheng, and the second son, Jiang Zhisi, was sent to work as an official in a remote area. He was a high-ranking official. The whole family was in office, and only the youngest daughter and son were sent back home to be raised.
Therefore, although Zhou Hui Niang seemed to be in charge of a large family, in reality, the number of people could be counted on one hand. If you were to say, her family was much smaller than that of the Yongping Marquis' Mansion.
Because of this, there are no messy things in her family. The family style is clean and bright, harmonious and friendly, and they are as close as a family.
But now, after hearing her daughter talk about the Yongping Marquis' Mansion, Zhou Hui Niang felt a little strange: "All these noble families in the capital are full of intrigue and calculation. We have a small family and are taught carefully by the old man, so we don't have those things. How could the Yongping Marquis' Mansion also not have those things?"
"Besides, it's rare for them to have one in each house."
It is rare to see that the whole family is at home, but only the two old ancestors go out to play by themselves. No matter what their children and grandchildren do, they don't care, as if they don't want to disturb our sightseeing.
In this case, Zhou Huiniang can finally put her mind at ease.
She taught her daughter: "It doesn't matter if your in-laws care or not, but you have to speak up. You can't just do whatever you want all day. You have to make it clear to your son-in-law. If he's not satisfied..."
Zhou Hui Niang smiled gently: "Let him come to me and I will persuade him."
Jiang Lingyao almost couldn't help laughing out loud. She nodded and said, "I know, mother. Don't worry."
Jiang Zhisheng gave his daughter a few more instructions and copied several files from that year to her. Only then did Jiang Lingyao return to the Yongping Marquis' Mansion.
Jiang Lingyao has never been an impatient person. This time, she was not in a hurry to talk to Duan Nanqi about going to Wanping. She just wanted to wait until the Dragon Boat Festival banquet was over.
Another day passed, and it was time for the Dragon Boat Festival palace banquet.
On this day, Jiang Lingyao got up early, washed, had breakfast, and then began to dress up.
By the time the morning sun rose, Jiang Lingyao had already put on her formal attire for a lady of noble birth. Except for the chariot crown, everything else was ready.
They were busy like this for half an hour, and by the time it was all over, Jiang Lingyao felt a little hungry.
She was about to eat some more snacks when she heard Duan Nanqi's voice from outside: "Madam, how are you preparing?"
Jiang Lingyao asked Xingyun to open the door and looked up to take a look.
Duan Nanqi was seen wearing a red flying fish suit with gold weave, a black gauze hat on his head, and a jade belt buckle around his waist that was as white as new. His whole body exuded an intimidating aura.
This flying fish suit of his was personally given by the emperor. It was made with great care and was designed by the Shangyi Supervisor.
Jiang Lingyao's hand holding the cake paused slightly, and her eyes only stayed on his handsome face.
Duan Nanqi saw that she was stunned, and couldn't help but chuckled: "Why? Is this what your husband does satisfy you, my wife?"
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