Chapter 61. Please cooperate a little regarding the blockage.
The three groups each brought a small number of guards and maids, so Jin Yuanxiu arranged for them all to stay in the city lord's mansion, where he treated them with great hospitality.
The next morning, Yue Yining and the others boarded a carriage to leave the mansion.
The carriage curtains were half-rolled up, the jade wheels rumbled as it emerged from the Great Ming Gate, and the sounds of the market gradually grew louder. On the bluestone road, carriages jostled shoulder to shoulder, and teahouses and taverns stood side by side. Foreign merchants unloaded their goods, the camel bells still carrying dust; an old woman carried a basket and called out to sell, her locust blossoms freshly steamed like jade dew.
Yue Yining is not a good sleeper and hadn't slept well the night before, so she leaned against the soft cushions and closed her eyes to rest. Fu Yao, on the other hand, kept peeking through the curtains at the scenery outside, captivated by the fleeting sights of Suyang folk customs.
Yue Yining closed her eyes, her slightly hazy consciousness enveloped by the bustling noise of the market.
She seemed to hear a few familiar nursery rhymes again.
As the carriage turned west, a white ribbon suddenly appeared in the sky, the mighty Ganjiang River flowing eastward under the blue sky. There were many grain barges, their sails blocking out the sun, with thousands of bushels of grain barges advancing one after another, their masts topped with flags that read "Yuezhou Tribute Rice"; and salt ships of great weight cutting through the waves, their sides branded with the red seal that read "Huaiyang Transport".
Boats vie for passage, coming and going at the mercy of the wind and tide.
Upon seeing this sight, Fu Yao exclaimed in surprise and quickly turned to tug at Yue Yining's sleeve: "Miss! Miss, come and see! The river is so magnificent!"
Yue Yining was woken up by her fussing, and opened her sleepy eyes: "...Jiang He?"
She rubbed her eyes and looked out the window: "Is it Ganjiang?"
"How did you know, Miss?"
"Such a wide river can only be the Ganjiang River. Suyang is located in the middle reaches of the Ganjiang River and is one of the most important hub cities on the Ganjiang River. Every day, there are countless ships coming and going."
Yue Yining slightly raised her eyelids and saw Fu Yao gazing at the scenery of Ganjiang with her mouth slightly open, unable to close it for a moment. She chuckled and said, "I almost forgot, you haven't seen Ganjiang yet. If you like it, after we finish things in Suyang, I'll take you for a stroll along the river before we return to the capital."
Yue Yining saw Fu Yao turn back with shining eyes and assumed she was about to agree. But Fu Yao seemed to remember something and slowly suppressed the expectation in her eyes.
She scratched her head and said, "Miss, you'll have to rush back to the capital after you finish your business in Suyang, right?"
"Her Highness the Princess only gave Miss seven days, saying that no matter how the case progresses after seven days, she must set off back to the capital. I think this one look is enough; there's no need to waste time on me."
Yue Yining was taken aback. Fu Yao had already come over and tucked the blanket back into her clothes: "There's still a long way to go, Miss, please sleep a little longer."
Yue Yining didn't say anything. She watched Fu Yao's back, tracing the joy in her eyes and brows by the sunlight. It seemed like a long time ago, when Fu Yao was eleven or twelve, she had also been lying in the carriage like this, looking at the scenery outside the carriage with wonder, accompanying her through three years of spring and autumn.
At that time, Fu Yao's figure was thinner and smaller.
Unbeknownst to her, the child who once needed her protection had grown up and was now able to take care of her in return.
Yue Yining closed her eyes again and slowly fell asleep, but a faint smile appeared on her lips.
The carriage leisurely drove through the main street of the ward, then across the arched bridge at the dock, before finally stopping in front of the government office of Suyang City.
Inside the yamen, several officials had been waiting for a long time.
Jin Yuanxiu sent more than a dozen officials of varying ranks to assist them in the investigation. The leader was a magistrate surnamed Zhang, an unremarkable middle-aged man. Upon seeing them, he bowed and scraped, his attitude extremely respectful: "This humble official greets the three lords."
Xie Qingyu spoke first in a gentle voice: "Prefect Zhang, you are too kind. We would like to first look at the details and records of the three cases kept in the mansion, and then summon the witnesses and eyewitnesses for questioning."
The prefect, Zhang, never straightened his back as he led them into the inner room, where they were treated to fine tea and snacks. The other officials also answered every question. Yue Yining, who had been somewhat worried, was relieved to see this.
However, she didn't expect that she had put her mind at ease too soon.
Zhang Tong sent a minor official to retrieve the case files, and the three of them sat inside the house waiting.
A short while later, the clerk returned empty-handed. He said cautiously, "Sir, the official on duty today said that Clerk Li happened to be on leave and took the only key that can open the archives with him..."
Upon hearing this, Xie Qingyu and Yue Yining did not react, but Ye Miheng frowned first: "How come your archives only have one key?"
Upon hearing the clerk's words, Magistrate Zhang frowned. Before he could speak, the clerk stepped forward and respectfully answered Ye Miheng's question: "Your Excellency, there were originally two keys to the archives. A few days ago, one of them was chipped in the corner, and we haven't had time to send someone to replace it yet, which is why there is only one left."
Ye Miheng: "Can't we send someone to that clerk's house to fetch it now?"
The clerk looked troubled, and another official stepped forward and said, "Your Excellency, Magistrate Li requested leave for ancestral worship. It seems that by now, his whole family has already sailed south."
Ye Miheng's expression darkened: "Then what do we do now? Does this mean we can't open the door today?"
Judge Zhang bowed again and said, "Lord Ye, please be patient. I will send someone to fetch a locksmith right away. We will definitely be able to open this door today."
"However, without the key, even if the best locksmith in Suyang comes, he can only break the lock by force. The archives are an important place in the government office, and the lock cylinders are extremely complicated. It will probably take half a day to open the door."
Yue Yining was perfectly clear-headed. She had already realized that Magistrate Zhang was intentionally delaying the investigation, and pointed her long finger at the solid mahogany armrest.
She glanced at Xie Qingyu almost imperceptibly. The man lowered his eyes, sipping his tea, his long, slender, delicate fingers resting on the lid of the bowl, gently stirring the floating tea leaves. His demeanor showed no sign of haste.
Yue Yining thought to herself that Xie Qingyu had probably figured it out and was probably thinking of a solution as well.
Judge Zhang rubbed his hands together and chuckled, "The three of you may wish to rest for a while. Once the door opens, I will have someone fetch the files immediately."
Yue Yining placed the teacup beside her with her left hand and stood up gracefully. She didn't speak immediately, but everyone's eyes were instantly drawn to her.
Yue Yining smiled and said, "Since that's the case, waiting here is a waste of time. Why don't you let Magistrate Zhang take us to the entrance of the file archive? If there's any other way to open the door, that would be great."
Magistrate Zhang readily agreed and led Yue Yining and the others to the entrance of the archives. A ten-foot-high, heavy iron gate was secured with a reddish-brown lock, making it resemble an iron mountain, with a deep reddish-brown mark imprinted on it.
Judge Zhang clasped his hands together, smiling somewhat awkwardly, and said, "As you three gentlemen can see, this door cannot be opened by force; the only way to enter is by breaking the lock. However, this lock is made of red copper, which is extremely hard. Even cutting it open with brute force would be very difficult, and I'm afraid there's really no way to do it in the short term..."
"Let me give it a try," Yue Yining suddenly said, a smile playing on her lips. "Perfect timing, I also have some skill in lock picking."
Officials: "?"
Slightly familiar with, slightly familiar with what?
Fu Yao: "..." She seemed to have already guessed what her young lady was going to do.
The officials of Suyang, including Zhang Tongpan, were still trying to figure out what Yue Yining meant by that. Meanwhile, Yue Yining herself had already pulled a thin silver hairpin from her hair and deftly inserted it into the keyhole in full view of everyone.
With a few deft twists of her hands, the heavy brass lock clicked open.
Zhang Tongpan and others: "..."
All the officials stared wide-eyed, and Zhang Tongpan was even more incredulous, "Lord Yue, what... what are you doing!"
“Unlocking the door.” Yue Yining looked at him innocently. “Didn’t you say that the magistrate had the key, and the locksmith would need half a day to open the door? The case can’t be delayed because of these things, so I thought I’d try to pick the lock.”
"I didn't expect to succeed so easily." Yue Yining smiled, a glint of light flashing in her eyes. "It seems this lock wasn't so difficult to open after all."
Judge Zhang's expression changed, momentarily turning somewhat ugly. But he quickly composed himself, and when he looked at him again, he was no different from usual.
Ye Miheng was also dumbfounded. He did not know that Yue Yining had such a wonderful skill. In his surprise, he glanced at Xie Qingyu's expression. The seemingly warm-hearted but cold-hearted eldest son of the Xie family was looking at Yue Yining's back with tender and affectionate eyes.
In the short time that followed, Yue Yining had removed the large padlock from the door and pushed open the heavy iron door. With a soft creak, dust was blown into the air by the sudden gust of wind, and the light inside the room became dim and indistinct.
Yue Yining stepped into the room first, her blue robe, dusty with fine dirt, tucked three inches to the ground.
The first thing you see is rows of bookshelves. There is a window in the ceiling with horizontal latticework, which filters the sunlight onto the stone floor in stripes, like a pale yellow brocade spread on the ground.
Yue Yining stared intently.
The file archive was larger than she had anticipated. If the files were properly organized by category, it would be fine, but if someone had left them haphazardly, finding the specific files about the Green Ghost case among this vast sea of files would be quite a task.
Zhang Tongpan followed them in. He glanced around the room, coughed lightly, and then called out, "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and go find the files the three magistrates are asking for!"
"yes!"
Several minor officials began searching along the nearest shelves. Yue Yining stood aside watching their movements, and seeing that they hadn't found the files after a long time, she couldn't help but frown slightly.
"Lord Zhang, we couldn't find the files related to the Green Ghost case on the shelf where cases from the past month are piled up..." The clerk's voice trembled slightly as he reported, "Perhaps, perhaps because they were frequently called back and the returned files weren't promptly put back in their original places, that's why we couldn't find them..."
"Useless idiot!"
Zhang Tongpan flew into a rage and kicked the clerk, knocking him to the ground. "You can't even get a simple task done! Has the salary we give you been eaten by dogs?!"
Ye Miheng couldn't stand it anymore and stepped forward to stop Zhang Tongpan, who was about to kick him a couple more times. "Zhang Tongpan, this is a small matter. There's no need to resort to violence."
Facing the three men, Zhang Tongpan's anger vanished completely, replaced by a look of deep sorrow. He sighed, "I'm sorry to have made you three sirs laugh at me. I don't know what happened today, but things kept going wrong..."
Yue Yining, however, had no interest in watching their performance.
She calculated that, adding the time spent waiting in the inner room and dealing with this group of people, and looking at the light coming through the skylight, it must be almost noon outside.
So much time wasted.
Yue Yining lowered her eyes in thought, her gaze sweeping over the floor, the dust floating in the air, and the rows of indistinguishable wooden shelves. Suddenly, the finger pointing at her arm paused.
As Zhang Tongpan was still speaking, he caught a glimpse of Yue Yining walking towards the second row of shelves in the middle.
The female official, dressed in a long blue robe, was named Yue Yining. Magistrate Zhang had never heard of any prominent family in the capital with the surname Yue, so he assumed she came from a humble background.
For some reason, Zhang Tongpan had a strange feeling from the first moment he saw her.
Yue Yining's eyes were clear and gentle, and her aura was like clear water. At first glance, she seemed to be naive and ignorant of the ways of the world.
But judging from her actions just now, it was clear that she did it on purpose. These seasoned officials were all led by the nose by her. This female official is definitely not as simple as she seems.
All eyes involuntarily turned to Yue Yining.
Yue Yining calmly moved among the rows of wooden shelves, her eyes scanning the books piled on them, when she suddenly stopped.
She raised her hand, took a brand-new file from the display shelf in front of her, glanced at it a few times, and then smiled.
"This is the volume."
As soon as she finished speaking, a figure appeared beside her, like a sticky gray snake coiling around her toes.
The file in Yue Yining's hand was taken by a hand with distinct knuckles.
She paused for a moment, then looked up and saw Xie Qingyu looking down at the dossier.
In the dust, the bone from the tip of the nose to the philtrum of this person's profile became somewhat blurred, losing the sharpness that the bone structure exuded, and the original gentleness and beauty became more prominent.
Xie Qingyu flipped through a few pages to confirm that this was indeed the file related to the Green Ghost case: "It is indeed this file; Lord Yue has found it."
Zhang Tongpan's hands, hidden in his sleeves, trembled slightly. Even though he had been repeatedly thrown off balance, he concealed his emotions very well, managing to maintain his usual smile in front of Yue Yining and Xie Qingyu: "Lord Yue has sharp eyes! To find the case file so quickly, your luck is truly remarkable!"
“It wasn’t luck.” Yue Yining held the dossier and walked step by step into the dusty sunlight. She looked directly at Magistrate Zhang and suddenly smiled. “I calculated the location of the dossier.”
The smile on Zhang Tongpan's face froze.
"What does the Lord of Yue mean by this...?"
“It seems that Magistrate Zhang is unaware of this. Before entering the court as officials, Lord Ye and I were both originally Celestial Masters, from Zijin Temple and Qingyun Temple respectively.” Yue Yining smiled and took out a Bagua plate from his sleeve. The jade patterns on it flickered in the light. “I am very good at divination. Finding things is not difficult for me; the simplest divination method is sufficient.”
Judge Zhang's expression changed: "You, you said you are a Celestial Master from the Great Heavenly Temple?"
"Yes. But we don't want to rely on divination to solve everything, since that would only make things more complicated."
Yue Yining smiled, her dark pupils staring intently at people, creating an inexplicable sense of pressure. "Therefore, I urge Magistrate Zhang to fully cooperate with our investigation."
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