The rich are feasting and drinking
The woman's face flushed red, and when she opened her eyes, Xu Ning woke up with a start. She jumped up suddenly, her eyes full of disbelief. Xu Ning recalled the unspeakable dream just now, and her face burned like a ball of fire.
After calming down again, Xu Ning went back to sleep.
"Eat faster, something happened at the government office again." Qu Yi hurried to the lobby and poured a cup of tea while several people were having breakfast.
"A young man came to the prefect's door this morning to protest his innocence, saying that someone from Ruyan Tower had killed his brother. He also brought a suicide note."
They looked at each other, put down their bowls and chopsticks and walked towards the yamen.
"Sir, you must make the decision for us, sir." The man, dressed in cloth, was pale and clean, a little frail, his face covered in snot and tears. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly.
Lu Shiren stroked his beard and read the letter with a frown.
When Xu Ning and his group arrived, Yuwen Xin had already arrived.
It was still early and not many people around, and the situation had been quite uneasy these past few days, so the street patrol had started their shift half an hour earlier than usual.
"Everyone is here. Tell me what grievance you wish to redress." Yuwen Xin took a sip of tea from a side seat. "The case is being heard by the Lu prefect. I am merely observing."
The man was very emotional, his eyes moist and his nose red. "My brother's name is Yan Sheng. A while ago, he took a job dressing dolls. The pay was better than his previous labor, so he took it without a second thought. Last night when I got home, I saw the letter on the table. I went to Ruyan Tower and found out he was dead. He was skinned alive."
Xu Ning glanced at the letter. It wasn't a suicide note, more like a message. The letter only mentioned that Yan Sheng had gone to work at Ruyan Tower and would be back late for dinner, but didn't say anything else.
After several people passed the letter around, they all had some ideas in their minds.
"Then why do you insist that it was someone from Ruyan Tower who killed your brother? Do you have any evidence?" Xu Ning asked.
The man lying on the ground paused for a moment. "Does this require any more evidence? My brother has only been to Ruyan Tower. They are so numerous and powerful, who else could it be but them?"
After asking several times, he still couldn't get the answer. He insisted that it was Ruyanlou that killed his elder brother.
There were more and more people on the street, and many shops opened. Those who were pulling out sewage, moving heavy goods, and selling pork were all operating.
Yuwen Xin gave Lu Shiren a look, and Lu Shiren understood. Before the truth was found out, no one wanted to make a big deal out of it, so as not to let the villain do evil. "There is insufficient evidence, so I can't make a judgment. I will investigate this case myself."
Yan Dong was still somewhat unwilling to leave, and in the end it was Yayi who dragged him away.
Now that they had some time to chat alone, Yuwen Xin shared what he knew: "During the trial, I looked at the files on the Yan brothers. Yan Sheng passed the imperial examination last year. His parents died young, and with no background, the two brothers depended on each other for survival."
Zhao Mingchang nodded. "That's right. After passing the imperial examination, he should have gone to the capital. I guess he doesn't have the money for the journey, so he has to earn some money first. Miss Ning, you two should go to their house and take a look."
Qu Yi and Xu Lian went to Ruyan Tower, while Zhao Mingshang and Yuwen Xin prepared to go to Yangye Mansion to take a look.
Ruyan Tower was still deserted, and Fangniang was nowhere to be seen. Inside, many people were busy cleaning, polishing candles, sweeping the floor, tending to the flowers and plants. Everyone was busy and seemed unaffected by the case.
This time Xu Ning did not look for her, but found a cleaner. She gave the person some silver and asked, "Sister, have you seen this person?" Xu Ning showed her the portrait of Yan Sheng.
"I have some impression of him. I think his name is Ah Sheng." The woman thought for a moment, "Yes, it was Ah Sheng who came here two months ago. His younger brother came to our place to gamble and owed too much money to pay. Fang Niang saw that he was really poor, so she asked his brother to come and work to pay off his debts. His brother was quite honest and was willing to do everything and help. Some people even teased him, saying that they would find him a wife after he paid off his debts. But he disappeared three or four days ago."
Xu Ning gradually frowned: "I didn't expect Yan Dong to be so hidden and still gambling."
Tang Xixu narrowed his eyes. He hadn't been to Ruyan Tower for an inspection for only a few months, and yet something like this had happened. It seemed Fang Niang was indeed old. "Such a big person has left. Didn't you, the manager, notice?"
"There are so many people working under her, and Fangniang didn't take the debt repayment seriously, so she didn't care."
Xu Ning thought of something else: "Did anything happen to Ah Sheng before he disappeared?" The maid thought for a moment and said, "Yes. Five days ago, his brother came to visit him and accidentally bumped into an adult who was having a drink." The maid looked around to see if anyone was around. Then she whispered in Xu Ning's ear, "Strangely enough, that adult was one of the 'puppets' that fell in this case."
"Wu Tongpan?" Xu Ning guessed. The girl nodded and continued, "I was tending to the flowers in the backyard at the time, and I heard about it later from the people working in the lobby. Ah Sheng was very strange that day. He came home without saying a word, and he ignored people calling him."
After understanding the situation, the two of them seemed to be thinking about it. Xu Ning frowned and said, "Looks like we need to re-examine Yan Dong."
On the other side, Qu Yi and Xu Lian came to the home of the Yan brothers.
The house is located in Heimaokou, a slum in Linyao.
The people here are like two different kinds of people from those in Linyao City. Qu Yi couldn't believe that this was actually the same city.
There were no singing and dancing beauties, no gold, silver, jade, fine wine, or even a good house. There were only coolie laborers, doing the hardest, most tiring, and least dignified work in the city, barely able to support their families with the lowest wages.
Children would fight to the death for a spoonful of porridge, and adults would beat up their co-workers for carrying one more piece of goods than them.
There was only one room in the house, with a small garden outside. Inside, there were piles of poetry and books, all works by famous authors, stacked layer upon layer, everywhere. The house was bare, and the most valuable thing was this ordinary ink stick, which could be sold for five or six coins at most.
"Old man, do you know the Yan brothers?" Qu Yi stopped an old man pushing a smelly water cart and gave him some silver.
Seeing that both of them were dressed in fancy clothes, which looked out of place here, the old man said in a friendly tone: "No. Go away." The old man lowered his head and pushed the cart away.
"Oh, why are you like this?"
Xu Lian took out the token and whispered to the old man, "Don't worry, old man. We are from the government. Yan Sheng is dead, and we are here to investigate this case."
The old man stopped pushing the stinking water and said, "Then I will trust you again. Ah Sheng and Ah Dong grew up under my watch. Ah Sheng is smart and passed the imperial examination at the age of 20. However, he had no money. First, he didn't have the money to go to Beijing to take the exam, and second, he needed to make a living by marrying into a family. His younger brother also had to make a living, so he had no choice but to work. Ah Dong is also a hardworking man and is good at studying. A few days ago, a group of officials came and arrested Ah Sheng, saying that he despised the imperial power and ignored the law, and he has not returned until now."
Xu Lian listened patiently and said softly, "You said 'again', what does that mean?"
"Not long ago, a group of people arrived. The leader was about thirty years old and wore a vermilion dragon robe. He also asked about this matter, and after that, his men destroyed everything here."
Xu Lian became serious when he heard this, and his brows furrowed.
Qu Yi saw Xu Lian suddenly become nervous "What's wrong?"
"That's fine. Let's go. They've probably been waiting for us for a long time."
When Zhao Mingchang came back, he took another closer look at Wu Tongpan's body.
Written in large characters on the corpse's abdomen were the words: "The rich have wine and meat, while the poor have frozen to death on the streets."
The candlelight was dim, and many shops on the street were closed. The bustling places were still bustling as usual, but this bustle had nothing to do with the common people at the bottom of society, let alone the souls in the underworld.
Several people put together the information they had gathered.
After listening to this, Xu Ning said, "The key point, then, lies with Yan Sheng. Who wrote the words on Judge Wu's body?"
"I've seen a lot of poetry and prose in their home. Most of it deals with the hardships of life. The one that left the deepest impression on me was 'The Silkworm Woman,'" Qu Yi added. "Yesterday I went to the city, and when I returned I was in tears. Those dressed in silk and satin are not silkworm farmers. What a silkworm woman, what a silkworm farmer. This is just a fancy way of saying something about those in power."
"I think the government arrested Yan Sheng because of this poem."
Tang Xixu had been silent for a long time. Of course, he wanted to find out what happened on his territory: "Let's hear what Yan Dong has to say first."
Yan Dong was closely related to this matter and was temporarily imprisoned in Ruyan Tower by Yuwen Xin.
Xu Ning stuck a knife into the stool where Yan Dong was tied up. "Tell me, who did you have a conflict with at Ruyan Tower on the eighth or ninth day of this month?"
Yan Dong said nothing, just kept his head down in silence.
"In fact, we have already investigated your case thoroughly. The crime you have committed now is enough to ruin your career." Zhao Mingshang sat in a chair and drank tea slowly.
The man still didn't move.
"You still don't want to say it. Well, then I will chop your brother's body into pieces and feed them to wild dogs." Tang Xixu smiled sinisterly, his tone very flat.
The man suddenly raised his head and roared, his face flushed: "No! No! I'm telling you, I beg you to leave my brother's body to me, please." His eyes were red and he begged Tang Xixu humbly.
"That day was my brother's birthday, and I wanted to get him home for dinner early, so I went to Ruyan Tower to look for him. I just knocked over a cup of tea while passing by, and the water spilled on the shoe of that bastard official, Wu Tongpan. He wouldn't let me go and insisted on locking me up and giving me forty lashes of the cane. But I clearly apologized to him and even wiped his shoes clean with my clothes."
Yan Dong recalled the memory with self-mockery.
Yan Sheng, who was serving tea in the lobby, heard the argument. He put down what he was holding and hurried over to apologize: "Sir, I'm really sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please apologize to him." Yan Sheng kowtowed while pulling Yan Dong and pressing his head hard to the ground.
Yan Dong was very unconvinced, but his brother's grip was too strong, so he had to kowtow. The man looked at the person kneeling on the ground with a joking look.
The two brothers kowtowed more than ten times before the man's expression softened. "It's not impossible for me to spare your brother. Lick my shoes clean and I'll let you go."
Yan Sheng was kneeling with anger on his face but he didn't dare to look up and refute. After hesitating for a moment, he still did what the man said.
Everyone in the building was busy with their own things, drinking or listening to music. Wu Han was sitting in a prominent place, but no one "saw" him, indifferent and ignoring him. Even the servant who was doing odd jobs saw him and wanted to help, but he didn't dare to.
In public, Yan Sheng knelt on the ground, crawled on the ground, opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue to wipe the official's boots bit by bit.
Wu Han had a bad intention and pointed at a few spots on the shoe: "Lick it carefully, this, this, this is still dirty."
Yan Dong couldn't bear it any longer. His heart was filled with humiliation and anger, but he was powerless to do anything. He just cried quietly, not daring to shout out loud, for he was afraid that the man would make some hateful demands again.
It was unknown how long it took before Fangniang saw this and ended the farce: "Master Wu, please don't be upset by such a small matter. Miss Hanxiang has been waiting for you in the room for a long time."
The man then withdrew his foot.
Yan Dong's tears had dried up. He was having trouble breathing, his eyes were dry and sore, and he slumped in the chair as if all his strength had been drained away.
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