Chapter 12 The Secret of the Master of Wine

"Why don't you see a doctor if you're not feeling well? Are you afraid of taking medicine at your age?"

Shen Yuan was often sick when he was young, perhaps because he was afraid of taking medicine. When he grew older, he kept any discomfort to himself. When he felt really uncomfortable, he would cry and look for his father.

"Dad, I'm not sick. I have something to tell you. I can only tell you."

Hearing this, Shen Yun suddenly became serious, "What's the matter? Is it the Imperial College?"

The father and daughter both knew what the matter was that could only be told to him. According to the maid, Shen Yuan had been acting strange since he came back from the Imperial College, so the matter must be related to the Imperial College.

Although the Imperial College is just a place for studying, the tricks inside are not much simpler than those in the officialdom, and it is not a place where everyone studies hard. There are countless children of powerful and wealthy people who enter the Imperial College just to rely on connections to get an official position in the future. The annual Ministry of Personnel examination is the time for these people to move around. The Ministry of Personnel examination is different from the imperial examination, and there are many more essays to write. Even the emperor turns a blind eye.

Every year, the official positions that became vacant in the Ministry of Personnel examination had to be selected by the sons of the powerful and wealthy before it could be the turn of others. This was why Shen Su made up his mind to take the imperial examination early on.

Deep down, Shen Yun didn't want her daughter to hear about these matters involving the powerful.

"Dad, do you know Mr. Zhao, the Imperial College's chief academician?"

Shen Yun's eyebrows jumped. Of course he knew this Lord Zhao. He was a good person with good character and knowledge, and had a good reputation.

"Lord Zhao is the first scholar in this dynasty to pass the imperial examinations. He could have been prime minister, but he told Your Majesty that being an official was not as good as teaching, and that he wanted to be a teacher in a college. Your Majesty could not let such a talent go, so he appointed him as the chief academic officer of the Imperial Academy."

After Shen Yun finished speaking, he saw his daughter's face wrinkled, "Why? Are you going to tell Dad about Master Zhao?"

Shen Yuan found it hard to speak, but she felt uncomfortable if she didn't say it out loud. How could she be the only one who knew the true face of such a hypocritical person?

Shen Yuan pursed her lips, leaned close to her father's ear, and whispered what she heard when she met Lord Zhao today.

[This girl from the He family is really pretty, but you couldn't tell when she was little.]

[I didn't expect Shen Zigeng to have such a beautiful daughter. She looks a bit like the new girl in Chunfang Hostel.] This is what Shen Yuan heard exactly. Before she finished speaking, Shen Yun stood up suddenly.

"Old bastard!"

"Dad! What are you going to do?!" Shen Yuan desperately grabbed her father, "What can you do now? You don't have any evidence."

"Dad, calm down first. Even if you beat him to death, in everyone's heart, and in the heart of His Majesty, he is still the great scholar with high moral character who passed the imperial examination and won the top three honors." Shen Yuan had already gotten over her hatred, and this time she was much calmer than her father.

Shen Yun was not an impulsive person, he just got angry. After Shen Yuan advised him, he walked around the house twice with his hands behind his back and made a plan in his mind.

"Manman, leave this matter to your father. I will definitely seek justice for you and your sister-in-law." Doesn't that old man Zhao Ruming value his reputation the most? Then he will make him completely lose his reputation.

After coming to this idea, Shen Yun calmed down and sat down again.

"Manman, Dad just now realizes that you might as well be the same as before. Everyone may have evil thoughts in their hearts. Now you are going to hear these evil thoughts. Dad is afraid that you will feel bad."

At first, Shen Yun thought it was a good thing for his daughter to hear the darkness in people's hearts, at least she wouldn't be deceived in the future, but what happened today changed his mind. His daughter is growing up, and he can't just lock her up at home and not let anyone see her. As long as she sees people, she will hear the same sound more than once.

"Dad, it's okay. I feel much better now after telling you. I'll eat later."

At first Shen Yuan felt disgusted. Although she had never heard of "Chun Fang Su", she knew what the place was by imagining it. But after telling her father about it, she felt much better.

Shen Yuan was afraid that her father was still worried, so she simply asked Qingdai to prepare the meal and let her father have dinner with her in the yard.

Shen Yuan finished a whole pot of fish in front of Shen Yun and burped after finishing it.

"Dad, look, everything is fine now. Who is your daughter?"

Shen Yun was worried that this incident would scare his daughter, but when he saw that she was able to eat and drink again, he felt relieved.

——The next day

Today everyone in the Dali Temple could see that Lord Shen Shaoqing was in a bad mood, his face was so gloomy that it seemed like ink could drip from it. Fortunately, there was nothing going on in the Dali Temple these days, so no one went to get close to him. Even the Lord Temple Minister had said that people should not go to Lord Shen Shaoqing for trivial matters in the next two days, as he would handle them personally.

After finishing his duty a few days ago, Shen Yun went home to change out of his official uniform and took Shen Lin, the housekeeper of the Shen Mansion, to the Yuexi Restaurant in the city.

"Shen Lin, go get Huang Laoliu."

"Yes, sir."

Not long after, Shen Lin came in with a man in a cloth shirt. The man was of medium build and had an ordinary look. It could be said that he was an inconspicuous person in the crowd.

"Master Shen, please give me instructions."

"I need you to help me keep an eye on someone." Shen Yun dipped his finger in tea and wrote three words on the table, "Where does he go on weekdays, especially to that brothel, always inform Shen Lin."

"yes."

Huang Laoliu was originally a local thug in the capital. He was involved in a murder case a few years ago and was almost made a scapegoat. In the end, Shen Yun found out the truth and cleared his name. In his own words, after this incident, he retired from the world of crime. Since then, he has been running a theater in public, and occasionally brings his former gangster subordinates to help Shen Yun in private. In this capital, there are always some shady corners that need people like Huang Laoliu to investigate.

——Dali Temple

"Mr. Temple Minister, among the cases submitted to the Dali Temple for review recently, there are several cases of child trafficking. The principal offender was sentenced to death, and the accomplice was sentenced to 100 strokes of the cane and exiled to 3,000 li. The verdicts of the various prefectures are reasonable, but after reading the files, I have an idea."

The Dali Temple was in charge of all the prisons in the country. All cases punishable by exile or above throughout the country had to be submitted to the Dali Temple for review to avoid false and wrongful convictions.

"Shen Shaoqing, please tell me what you think."

"This case was caused by the fact that the prefect of Xuzhou found abducted children while inspecting the brothels in the prefecture. The investigation led to the case behind it. After that, the prefectures near Xuzhou followed suit and rescued many abducted children. There are countless brothels in the prosperous areas of the capital. Although they are legally operated, they are places where filth and corruption are easily hidden. I think it is better to take this opportunity to inspect them thoroughly."

Wang Siqing stroked his gray beard and said, "There is nothing important in the Dali Temple these days, so Shen Shaoqing just needs to do it." Wang Siqing is now waiting to retire, and he would love for his subordinates to do the work, so he couldn't say anything against it.

"I think this matter must be carried out in secret. If the news leaks out first, I'm afraid nothing can be found out." At this time, Shen Yun was the one who weaved the net. After the net was woven, he waited for Zhao Ruming to drill into it.

"Shen Shaoqing is right. I'll leave this matter to you and Xie Shaoqing."