Chapter 75 The old friend's physical evidence is lost.
Yue Yining was naturally unaware of what was happening inside the mansion at that moment.
When they arrived at the government office, a carriage with a jeweled roof and red canopy was already parked on the opposite side of the street.
Upon seeing the carriage, Yue Yining knew what was going on. After getting off, she didn't take Fu Yao into the government office, but went straight into the teahouse located opposite it.
Yue Yining stepped into the second-floor cubicle, turned past the double-sided embroidered screen, and saw Jin Lingxi sitting behind the round table by the railing, drinking flower tea poured by a servant. Her bent neck was long and slender, as smooth and lustrous as jade.
Yue Yining happened to meet Jin Lingxi's gaze as she looked up.
This Miss Jin had a pair of bright, almond-shaped eyes that seemed to speak for their owners when they looked at them. She couldn't help but recall the conversation between the craftsmen she had overheard in the mint the night before. If she hadn't heard it with her own ears, she would have found it hard to believe that Jin Lingxi had suffered from an eye ailment in her childhood.
When Yue Yining was young, she met some wealthy young men in the Tian Guan Temple who suffered from eye diseases for many years. Most of them were taciturn and reserved. As someone who had similar experiences and a past, Jin Lingxi's outgoing and arrogant personality was indeed rare.
In recent days, Jin Lingxi has provided Yue Yining with a lot of behind-the-scenes assistance. Yesterday, upon hearing that Yue Yining and Yue Yining planned to sneak into the mint at night, Jin Lingxi originally wanted to go with them, but Yue Yining persuaded her to return, arguing that having too many people would make things more difficult. At the time, the young lady seemed somewhat unhappy.
Early this morning, Yue Yining asked Fu Yao to go to Miss Jin's courtyard to find someone and ask her to find an excuse to leave the mansion and wait for her at the teahouse opposite the government office.
Seeing Yue Yining sit down, Jin Lingxi raised an eyebrow slightly and asked bluntly, "Why did you suddenly ask me to go out today?"
"Regarding the Green Ghost case, there are some things I'd like to discuss with Miss Jin in detail. Lord Jin has too many spies in the manor, making it inconvenient for me to contact you," Yue Yining said with a smile. "The reason Miss Jin approached me back then was precisely because she didn't want your father to know you were involved, wasn't it?"
Jin Lingxi put down her teacup, her eyes turning serious. "You mean you've already found a crucial clue?"
"Not yet." Yue Yining concealed the true progress of the investigation, leisurely brushing away the white foam floating in the teacup. "However, it's not like there's no progress at all. Miss Jin has helped me a lot. If there's anything you'd like to know, I will certainly tell you without reservation."
"But before that, I also have some questions I would like to ask Ms. Jin."
Jin Lingxi: "Speak freely, I will tell you anything I know."
"That's good." Yue Yining smiled slightly. "Yesterday, I sneaked into the mint and overheard some gossip among the craftsmen. They said that the current head of the mint is Jin Lu from the Jin family, who was appointed by the Jin City Lord, and the craftsmen seem to have a lot of grievances against him."
Jin Lingxi nodded: "Yes. My father was appointed as the city lord of Suyang City three years ago. The Jin family is in the copper and iron ore business and ranks first among the wealthy merchants in Suyang City, but very few members of the family have entered officialdom. My father is the one with the highest official position. Jin, the head of the family, is his half-brother and also my uncle. He is not particularly capable, but he is quick-witted and obedient. That's why my father chose him to take charge of the mint."
"I don't like to talk about my elders... but my uncle has always been an opportunist and is quite harsh on those in lower positions, so it's understandable that the craftsmen are dissatisfied with him."
That's what they say, but in the end, it was still a topic of discussion.
Yue Yining smiled and nodded. "I understand. Miss Jin is almost of marriageable age now, and it's only right that she starts to take charge of the clan's affairs. As the next head of the Jin family, you should be quite familiar with the Jin family's business affairs, right?"
Based on the current clues, the copper was most likely hidden in the boxes used to transport the coins. She couldn't think of any other way to quietly remove the copper from the mint.
If we can get the shipping schedule from Jin Lingxi, we can screen out the ships most likely to be carrying copper, identify the suspects, search the ships, and obtain irrefutable evidence.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Jin Lingxi paused, her expression becoming somewhat subtle. She said, "Lord Yue is joking. My father is still in his prime; how could there be talk of him being the next head of the Jin family? Besides, my father has never said anything like that to me."
Yue Yining was surprised. "How could that be? I remember that Lord Jin City doesn't have any other children, right? These mines, shops, restaurants, and the mint will eventually all be under Miss Jin's control. Why not hand over a portion of them to you first?"
She noticed that Jin Lingxi's gaze was somewhat evasive. "Father... Father probably thinks I'm still too young. In the future, he will definitely gradually assign some clan affairs to me. It's still too early for everything now."
Yue Yining looked at her face thoughtfully, and remained silent for a long time.
"It seems I misunderstood. Please don't take my previous offense to heart, Miss Jin."
“However, I would like to ask Miss Jin for a favor,” Yue Yining said. “I need the schedules of all kinds of cargo ships in the Grand Canal, especially the official cargo ships that are responsible for transporting the newly minted copper coins. I have found some clues, and the answer I am looking for may be in the copper coins transported to various places. This answer will be the key to solving the Green Ghost case.”
Jin Lingxi looked troubled. "This..."
“It’s not that I don’t want to help you, but there are some difficulties. Not all the officials in Suyangli support my father. If my father finds out that I’ve contacted other officials without authorization using the name of a member of the Jin family, he might be angry.”
Yue Yining said, "It's alright. If Miss Jin is unwilling, I will think of another way."
She calmly observed Jin Lingxi's conflicted and hesitant expression.
Unlike his usual calm and gentle demeanor, his ambiguous smile contained a subtle hint of mockery, as if he had already foreseen the outcome but chose not to reveal it.
As expected, Jin Lingxi finally agreed: "However, since I said I would help Lord Yue, I will not go back on my word. I will give it a try."
Yue Yining smiled and said, "Then, I thank Miss Jin in advance."
Midway through their discussion, Fu Yao suddenly walked around the screen and approached. She leaned close to Yue Yining's ear and whispered, "Miss, the guards have already brought Miss Jiang into the city, and she's waiting on the first floor now."
Yue Yining nodded and smiled, "Please invite her up for a seat."
Jin Lingxi sipped her tea, her bright eyes peeking out from the rim of the teacup as she watched the master and servant talking.
After Fu Yao left, Jin Lingxi asked, "Does Lord Yue have other guests to meet here today? Should I take my leave?"
Yue Yining: "Miss Jiang is my witness. I do need to see her, but only after I have finished talking with Miss Jin."
Jin Lingxi's fingers didn't hold the cup properly, and a few drops of tea accidentally spilled from the cup, wetting the table.
Jin Lingxi looked at her and repeated, "Miss Jiang?"
At the same time, Fu Yao led Jiang Hairong to the second floor. A slender figure swayed behind a screen covered with a shimmering blue brocade, and the next moment, Jiang Hairong's face appeared before them.
She wasn't particularly beautiful, just a delicate and clean face, but she always seemed hesitant and uneasy, appearing petite and reserved. But perhaps because she was so thin, at times you would mistake this petite girl for someone incredibly sharp, a blade covered in dust.
Jiang Hairong looked up and froze on the spot.
Jin Lingxi also saw her clearly.
She stood up abruptly, not even noticing the tea stains on her flowing, gold-embroidered sleeves. She rushed forward, grabbed Jiang Hairong's hand, her face filled with anxiety and surprise: "Xiao Rong?! Is that you, Xiao Rong?"
Jin Lingxi spoke rapidly, her eyes filled with undisguised concern: "Why did you suddenly return to Suyang? Or did you never leave?"
Jiang Hairong stared at her blankly, unable to utter a word, seemingly frozen in place. After a long while, she hurriedly said, "I'm not her, you've mistaken me for someone else..."
Jin Lingxi looked at her, a hint of sadness in her eyes. She said softly, "Where have you been living this past year? Practicing medicine is forbidden in Suyang City, and I have no idea where you got your money for living expenses. You haven't come to see me either..."
"You...you've got it wrong, I really don't know you!"
Jiang Hairong was completely flustered. She tried to break free from Jin Lingxi's grip on her wrist, but found herself completely unable to move.
In the midst of the chaos, Jiang Hairong looked up and saw Yue Yining, who was sitting in a chair, stand up. She looked at them with some surprise: "So you knew each other before?"
Jiang Hairong was completely confused. She glanced at Jin Lingxi and lowered her head helplessly.
Jin Lingxi seemed to have calmed down as well. She turned to Yue Yining with an apologetic expression: "I'm sorry, Lord Yue, I lost my composure."
That's what she said, but Jin Lingxi still didn't let go of Jiang Hairong's hand.
Yue Yining understood perfectly, nodded, and smiled generously: "No. It's hard to contain one's emotions when old friends meet again, I can understand."
In any case, she has already achieved her goal.
Seeing that Jin Lingxi and Jiang Hairong clearly had something to say, Yue Yining considerately gave them some space, and retreated to the balcony outside, pretending to look at the scenery, but actually secretly observing the two people separated by a window.
Two girls, one as vibrant and bright as a flame, the other as gentle and serene as flowing water. From Yue Yining's angle, she could only see Jin Lingxi's back; she was still holding Jiang Hairong's hand. Jiang Hairong whispered something, and Jin Lingxi reached out and hugged her.
The two stood embracing tightly. Because they were too far apart to hear each other, Yue Yining looked away.
Thick smoke billowed from the mint, and even from miles away, its exact location could be discerned by the towering smoke. Meanwhile, the surrounding streets and alleys were teeming with spring, willow branches swaying in the breeze like snowflakes, and peach blossoms blooming for miles in the spring breeze.
As Yue Yining gazed at the beautiful spring scenery, her mind kept replaying the various clues she had uncovered over the past few days. The seemingly sharp and incompatible clues gradually came together to form a complete circle.
Just then, a loach suddenly slithered in beside her, interrupting her thoughts.
Fu Yao chuckled: "Miss, what are you looking at?"
Yue Yining smiled and said, "Hmm... I'm thinking about what to have for lunch."
"Miss, don't you like the food at the manor? Then we'll eat at a nearby restaurant later, and then go back!"
"OK."
The two chatted idly while gazing at the spring scenery. Soon after, a guard came to summon Yue Yining, and she returned to the inner room. Jin Lingxi was still sitting by the window as she had when they met that day, but her expression was quite different.
Yue Yining sat down leisurely. Jin Lingxi looked at her and said sincerely, "I want to thank Lord Yue for what happened today."
Why are you thanking me?
“If it weren’t for Lord Yue bringing Xiao Rong here, I might still be unable to find her,” Jin Lingxi said frankly. “I haven’t heard from her since she left Suyang a year ago, and I’ve always been worried about her safety.”
Yue Yining looked at her, a little curious: "Were you friends before?"
“Her master had treated me before,” Jin Lingxi said. “I was born with an eye disease and my vision was not clear. When I was seven years old, I met her after I went to a girls’ school. She later took me to see her master, who treated me for two years and cured my eyes.”
"Girls' school? I thought that a daughter of an official like Miss Jin would not attend a girls' school that provides education for ordinary people."
Jin Lingxi: "Back then, I wasn't a young lady from an official family." Ten years ago, Jin Yuanxiu was not the city lord, but the new head of the wealthy Jin family of Suyang.
When the negotiations ended, it was high noon. The sun was baking the soil that had been moistened by a night of spring rain. In mid-spring, after the Qingming Festival, the temperature was gradually rising. On a hot afternoon, the sky was always dotted with dark clouds, like holes scorched by charcoal in spring cotton.
Yue Yining didn't go anywhere else and returned directly to the city lord's mansion. Shortly after returning to her room, a guard came to report to her that the intelligence about the Jin family that she had sent people to investigate that morning had been delivered.
Fu Yao exclaimed in surprise, "You found everything in just one morning? That fast?"
"It was the Yue people who provided the right direction that made the intelligence gathering so smooth, and what we found out wasn't a secret to begin with."
Yue Yining took the thick stack of papers offered by the guard and flipped through them. The guard summarized for her: "Jin Lingxi was born to Jin Yuanxiu and his former wife, Lin. She was born with an eye disease, which was cured when she was nine years old. The person who cured her eyes was Jiang Hairong's master, Jiang Chiyin."
"She had an older brother, but due to his congenital weakness, he died at the age of three despite Jin's constant efforts to provide him with good medicine. After that, Lin's mental state deteriorated, and she hanged herself a year and a half later. Jin Yuanxiu quickly remarried, but they never had any children. He later took several concubines, but none of them bore him any children. It seems that it wasn't because she didn't want to have children, but because she couldn't."
Yue Yining pondered, "After so many people trying to conceive, he still can't have a child. The problem must lie with Jin Yuanxiu himself. But Lin Shi became pregnant not long after the marriage." If it weren't for Jin Yuanxiu's severely depleted health over the past few years, then something strange must have happened.
The guard said, "Jin Lingxi and Jiang Hairong were close. The teachers at the girls' school had a deep impression of the two of them. They said that when Jin Lingxi was a child, she had a white cloth covering her eyes, which made it difficult for her to see and move around. Whenever Jiang Hairong was by Jin Lingxi's side, Jiang Hairong would hold her hand and walk with her. The two of them were always inseparable."
Fu Yao was puzzled: "They used to be so close, so why didn't Miss Jiang say goodbye to Miss Jin when she left Suyang, and why is she unwilling to acknowledge her now that they've met?"
Yue Yining bent her knuckles and tapped the paper: "It must be because of her master."
“Just a year ago, Jin Yuanxiu issued a new regulation concerning the medical profession, which led to a large number of doctors leaving Suyang. Jiang Hairong’s master, Jiang Chiyin, publicly opposed this new regulation and was arrested for it. He was tortured to death in prison,” Yue Yining slowly recounted. “Although this had nothing to do with Jin Lingxi, Jin Yuanxiu was, after all, her father and the city lord of Suyang. If he had been willing to show leniency, Jiang Chiyin would not have died in prison. In the end, this was an act tacitly approved by Jin Yuanxiu himself.”
"Jiang Hairong was born an orphan and was taken in and raised by Jiang Chiyin, who also taught her medicine. Jiang Chiyin was incredibly kind to her. After her master died, Jiang Hairong probably felt that she could no longer face Jin Lingxi, so she chose to leave without saying goodbye."
Fu Yao was somewhat moved by what she heard, and she sighed repeatedly, "This... sigh, what a mess this is! It's so unfortunate, I don't even know who to blame..."
“Of course you can blame him,” Yue Yining said. “Isn’t this all Jin Yuanxiu’s doing?”
If it weren't for the enormous profits from adulterating copper coins with lead, those innocent children wouldn't have died from licking copper coins containing large amounts of lead. Jin Yuanxiu wouldn't have gone to great lengths to establish new rules to expel all the doctors in Suyang Village out of fear of being exposed, leaving only his own people who dared not resist. Jiang Chiyin's resistance and death would not have occurred.
Both Jin Lingxi and Jiang Hairong were victims of power, money, and greed.
After sorting through the newly acquired intelligence, Yue Yining had some clues. She wanted to take another look at the physical evidence she had found the previous night, so she asked Fu Yao to fetch it for her.
Unexpectedly, after a while, Fu Yao returned, her face full of panic: "It's terrible! Miss, all the evidence is gone!"
Yue Yining was stunned: "What?"
She quickly stood up. Seeing that Fu Yao was emotionally unstable, she did not show any impatience, but instead comforted her first: "How could it suddenly disappear? I'll help you look for it carefully again. Maybe you accidentally left it somewhere."
Fu Yao was so anxious she was almost crying. "I've already... I've already searched that whole area, but I haven't found anything... But I remember very clearly that I really put everything away last night! It was in the drawer of the table under the windowsill, how could it be missing?"
Yue Yining went with her to check the desk drawer she mentioned and immediately noticed something was wrong. Her brows furrowed and her expression darkened. "The drawer has been tampered with."
Yue Yining immediately summoned the guards who were on duty at the gate today, "Who has come in today?"
“Reporting to Your Excellency, only one old servant responsible for sweeping came in this morning. It was the same person who came a few days ago; we recognized her, so we just let her in without keeping a close eye on her. She finished sweeping and left…”
"Absurd!" Yue Yining shouted sharply, and the two guards immediately lowered their heads and shrank their shoulders, not daring to speak again.
The loss of crucial evidence made Yue Yining lose her composure. For the first time, she lost her temper in front of the servants: "We are investigating a case! There are evidence and letters in the room. Even our own people have to be watched constantly when they come and go. How could you just let the Jin family people swagger in like that? Just because they didn't do anything wrong a few days ago, does that mean they can rest easy from now on?!"
Inside the room, dark clouds loomed, and the reprimanded guards practically buried their heads in the ground.
Yue Yining looked at them, took a deep breath, and forced herself to calm down. It wasn't the theft of valuables, but the theft of evidence, which meant someone was behind it. Was it Jin Yuanxiu's order, or someone else?
In any case, the most urgent task is to find the person and retrieve the physical evidence as soon as possible.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
A maid's clear voice came from outside: "Lord Yue, the newly arrived Lord Zhao has sent someone to tell you that he has important matters to discuss with everyone. Lord Jin and Lord Ye are already on their way to the council hall."
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