investigation
"General, a letter has arrived from the capital." Zhou Cong handed the letter attached to the carrier pigeon's leg to Wei Shu.
"Has something happened in the capital?" Jiang Jin asked nervously.
"It's nothing. The Imperial Guards have figured out the arrows used by the assassins." Wei Shu glanced at Jiang Jin. "Do you want to hear more?"
“Since I’m going to Yuezhou with you, I have the right to know who the enemy we’re facing is. I can’t just arrive in Yuezhou completely clueless, can I?” Jiang Jin stared at the letter, while Zhou Cong silently lowered his head.
"It's from the Third Prince's residence." Wei Shu handed the letter to Jiang Jin.
"But surely the Third Prince wouldn't be foolish enough to use arrows from his own residence to assassinate the Imperial Guard General?"
Jiang Jin glanced at the letter. "Perhaps someone is framing us or deliberately trying to mislead us. Are there any other clues?"
“It wasn’t really an assassination.” Wei Shu put away the letter and looked at Jiang Jin. “Those people were probably just monitoring us. I think the person behind it all wanted to keep track of our movements and prevent us from entering Yuezhou if necessary.”
"What exactly happened in Yuezhou?" Jiang Jin gripped the mast, his fingertips turning white.
"The governor of Yuezhou was found to be corrupt, and the magistrate of Yuezhou sent someone to the capital to report this. His Majesty was furious and sent me to investigate the truth."
Wei Shu glanced at Jiang Jin and said, "There are probably quite a few people involved in this. I'm telling you this just to be more vigilant and not to act rashly."
"I understand, I'll be careful." Jiang Jin pulled her sleeves tighter. "The river wind is freezing, I'm going back to my room now."
Jiang Jin stepped onto the stairs, looked at the two people on the deck, and smiled slightly. "If you two have anything you want to avoid me from saying, you can say it."
Jiang Jin returned to her room, locked the latch, and took out a fragment from her sleeve to examine it closely. "The style of this fabric is clearly that of the Crown Prince's assassins." Jiang Jin touched the jade pendant at her waist and fell into deep thought.
"The governor of Yuezhou is corrupt, but the assassins are wearing the Crown Prince's robes and using the Third Prince's arrows. Is this a deliberate attempt to shift blame, or a momentary lapse in attention?" Jiang Jin walked to the window and carefully opened a crack to peek at Wei Shu, only to be caught red-handed.
"General, what's wrong with Madam?" Zhou Cong asked, puzzled by Jiang Jin's furtive behavior.
"It's alright." Wei Shu glanced at the window that had been immediately closed and continued to inquire about the situation in the capital.
"The rest of the people have already dispersed out of the city, so there shouldn't be any major surprises." Zhou handed the letter from the general's residence to Wei Shu.
"After we left the city, did either party make any unusual moves?" Wei Shu carefully examined the letter.
"No, you two are still the same as before," Zhou Cong said in a low voice, describing the situation in the capital.
"Keep an eye on things, and report back immediately if anything happens." Wei Shu tucked the letter into his sleeve and glanced at the room on the second floor, whose windows were already closed.
"It seems my new wife is no simple character either." Wei Shu forced a smile. "Have you found anything out?"
"No, Madam's condition is the same as last time, without any flaws. It was my incompetence that caused this." Zhou Cong bowed and apologized.
"No, the biggest flaw is the absence of any flaws." Wei Shu smiled as he watched the fleeting figure passing by the window. "We don't need to keep an eye on the Jiang family anymore. Have them all withdrawn."
"yes!"
When Wei Shu reached the second floor, he heard a series of hurried footsteps. He smiled, raised his hand, and knocked on the door. "Madam, are you going to lock your husband out today?"
"General, can't you open the door yourself?" Jiang Jin got off the bed barefoot, opened the door, and saw Wei Shu standing outside with his arms crossed.
"I'm tired, General, please make yourself at home." Jiang Jin turned her back to Wei Shu and lay down on the bed. A moment later, Jiang Jin heard a rustling sound, followed by a familiar scent.
"I'm tired too." Both of them were dressed in thin clothes and covered with a light blanket on the bed, their breathing unusually clear.
"Are there no other rooms on this ship? Why does the general insist on sharing a bed with me? Aren't you afraid I'll lust after your beauty?" Jiang Jin moved further inside.
“It would be strange if we, husband and wife, were separated into two separate rooms. Besides, it will be the same when we go to Yuezhou. I am not afraid that you will covet my wife, but you must also have the ability to covet her.”
Feeling the resistance from the person beside him and recalling Jiang Jin's spying earlier, Wei Shu suddenly felt annoyed. He hugged Jiang Jin's shoulders through the blanket, his warm breath brushing against her ear.
"If you move any closer, I'm really going to hug you." Hearing this, Jiang Jin stopped moving and slowly returned to her original position.
"You scoundrel!" Jiang Jin muttered under her breath about Wei Shu, but dared not make a move.
"Is Madam scolding herself?" Wei Shu glanced at Jiang Jin, whose eyes were tightly closed, out of the corner of his eye.
"General, what do you think? Or was my insult not obvious enough, and do you need me to be more explicit?" Jiang Jin replied with her eyes closed.
"If you don't want to hear it, go to sleep. Your face looks like a demon now." Wei Shu was unusually relaxed. Although she didn't know what the person beside her was up to, it wasn't hard to tell that she didn't intend to harm her.
The ship sailed for ten days, and all ten days were calm and peaceful, which put Jiang Jin's mind at ease.
"You're up?" Jiang Jin changed her clothes and went outside, only to see Wei Shu drinking porridge.
"Has any news come from the capital?" Jiang Jin asked, sipping her rice porridge as she sat beside Wei Shu.
"Nothing much has happened. I suppose nothing serious has occurred." Wei Shu looked at the woods on both sides of the river and smiled. "We're almost at Songzhou."
"How did you know?" Jiang Jin followed Wei Shu's gaze and looked to both sides, but found nothing unusual.
"The Ministry of Works has a book that records the similarities and differences between the trees on both sides of the riverbank. These trees are tall and dense, which is consistent with the records of trees in Songzhou."
"Young master, you have an excellent memory! We're almost at Songzhou." The man steering the boat approached, carrying a bowl of fish soup.
"Thank you." Wei Shu took the fish soup and placed it in front of Jiang Jin. "You haven't been eating much these past few days, have some fish soup."
"Thank you." Jiang Jin took a small sip of the fish soup. "This fish soup is so delicious! Is it made with fish unique to this river?"
"This young man caught it this morning; it's especially sweet because it's fresh," the man said respectfully.
Jiang Jin paused, her fingers holding the soup spoon pausing, and looked at Wei Shu in disbelief. "Then I thank you, my lord. But won't it take longer if we go around from Songzhou?"
Jiang Jin realized that if they were delayed on the river for twenty days, they would probably arrive in Yuezhou several days later.
"Where do you gentlemen wish to travel from Beizhou?" The man stood aside listening, having realized over the past few days that these people were no ordinary individuals.
Jiang Jin didn't say anything more, just looked at Wei Shu, "We're going to Liangzhou, my wife is going to find her relatives."
"Liangzhou, that's a wonderful place." The man knew, of course, that Wei Shu wasn't telling the truth, but that didn't bother him.
“But going from Beizhou to Liangzhou is not a simple matter.” The man glanced at Wei Shu and then added, “The governor of Beizhou is no ordinary person.”
"He can't possibly detain us, can he?" Jiang Jin put down her soup spoon, somewhat incredulous.
"No, it won't, it will just make things more difficult." The man glanced at Wei Shu cautiously. "So you two should prepare more silver."
Jiang Jin frowned and asked, "What if they don't have enough money or are poor people, how can they go to Liangzhou?"
“This…” The man looked at Jiang Jin with difficulty, “Of course there are ways for poor people.”
"You told us about this not simply to warn us to be on our guard, were you?" Wei Shu pressed down on Jiang Jin's hand, looking coldly at the man.
"Please, my lord, save us!" The man knelt on the ground. "Beizhou was just a place to stop, but the governor wants to impose additional river taxes, and we have to pay extra whether we leave or enter the city. We really can't afford it."
"Absurd!" Jiang Jin slammed his fist on the table. "His Majesty is merciful and, out of consideration for the fishermen's hard work, has not imposed any additional taxes on crossing the river. The fishermen pay the same taxes as the farmers. The idea of charging extra silver for entering or leaving the city is utter nonsense!"
"Didn't the censors notice anything amiss?" Wei Shu tapped the table lightly. Jiang Jin noticed the look in Wei Shu's eyes and knew something was wrong.
"It's just officials protecting each other." The man knelt on the ground, looking helpless.
"I..." Jiang Jin swallowed the words she wanted to say.
"We'll see when we get to Beizhou." Wei Shu smiled as he looked at Jiang Jin's anxious expression. "What's wrong? Are you scared?"
"I'm upright and honest, I have no fear whatsoever." Jiang Jin spoke lightly, but her trembling fingers betrayed her.
"If it's unintentional, at most it'll result in demotion, not death. If it's intentional, the law states that misfortune doesn't extend to married women." Wei Shu's soft snort sounded like a whisper from hell to Jiang Jin's ears.
"No, the Censorate conducts its annual spring inspections. To prevent bribery, they send different officials each year. Others might be different, but there's one person who absolutely wouldn't be." At this point, Jiang Jin calmed down.
"Are you talking about Imperial Censor Xiao?" Wei Shu put down his teacup and chuckled. "He is indeed an upright and incorruptible person."
"Imperial Censor Xiao is a man who would rather die than speak out against wrongdoing. How could he have been won over by the Prefect of Beizhou? How long have you been levying additional taxes on the river?" Jiang Jin inquired carefully of the kneeling man.
“It’s been many years.” Jiang Jin frowned upon hearing this. “I remember that it was Imperial Censor Xiao who inspected Beizhou last year. Given his personality, he would never have concealed anything. This matter is of great importance and could have reached the ears of the Emperor.”
Wei Shu's eyelids twitched, and she stopped Jiang Jin from continuing with a look. "Let's go back first. The more you know about certain things, the faster you'll die."
Upon hearing this, the man knelt on the ground, trembling slightly and almost covering his ears. Only after the two returned to the room did Wei Shu have a chance to ask Jiang Jin, "Are you sure?"
“Of course, Imperial Censor Xiao only joined the Censorate two years ago. My father mentioned that he has the same drive he had back then. Last year, his inspection tour of Beizhou was personally appointed by His Majesty.” Jiang Jin raised her eyes and caught the same thought in Wei Shu’s eyes.
“So…” Jiang Jin kept staring at Wei Shu, who nodded. “It seems your father is alright.”
"Where will Imperial Censor Xiao be inspecting this year?" Wei Shu suddenly looked at Jiang Jin, as if he had just thought of something.
"Songzhou," Jiang Jin slowly uttered two words, "This year, the Censorate arranged for him to inspect Songzhou." Jiang Jin told Wei Shu everything he knew.
“So he didn’t attend the ceremony but sent gifts in advance,” Jiang Jin said confidently. “I think he should still be in Songzhou now.”
"There's no need to act rashly. Since His Majesty hasn't explicitly stated anything, let's pretend we don't know." Wei Shu sat on the stool, toying with the dagger in his hand.
"Are we just going to ignore the situation in Beizhou?" Jiang Jin asked anxiously, unable to bear seeing the people living in such dire straits.
“We went to Yuezhou on His Majesty’s orders to thoroughly investigate the governor of Yuezhou. Our detour to Beizhou is merely a temporary measure. How can we manage this? Are you an imperial censor, or do you have His Majesty’s secret order?” Wei Shu’s words shattered Jiang Jin’s plans.
"If there is indeed something amiss, I will send a message to the capital and leave everything to His Majesty's decision." Wei Shu sighed and finally compromised.
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