After the two of them walked out of the official inn, Ye Zelin went to the Cheng family.
The house of Cheng Wenbo, the prefect of Yuezhou, was in Pingning Lane in the south of the city. Since they arrived in Yuezhou, Yu Xuanji sent him to meet the Cheng family. He asked about the 100,000 yuan in labor payment, but the Cheng family was rude and drove him out without any explanation.
In fact, at that time he didn't understand why Yu Xuanji asked him to ask about the 100,000 yuan labor payment from the Cheng family. He knew that this question would definitely anger the Cheng family.
Later it was discovered that Yu Xuanji did this on purpose, just to make everyone think that they came to Yuezhou for the 100,000 yuan in wages, not for Cheng Wenbo's death, so that people would believe that the court had already convicted Cheng Wenbo of the crime.
Later, Yu Xuanji met the coroner who performed the autopsy on Cheng Wenbo and found clues in him, so she asked Yu Chisu to follow the coroner. Now that the coroner is dead, it is even more certain that Cheng Wenbo did not commit suicide, but was most likely murdered.
The coroner Lao Qiao brought by Yu Xuanji is an extremely powerful coroner. He was recruited into the Ministry of Justice by Yu Xuanji in his early years. It is said that he can determine the cause of death of the deceased no matter whether it is a corpse or bones.
When he arrived at the Cheng family, Ye Zelin stated his purpose. Unexpectedly, the Cheng family was very angry. The second master of the Cheng family, Cheng Wenzhong, and several servants kicked him out.
Mrs. Cheng Wenbo, dressed in plain white, spat in his face and angrily cursed, "You damn bastards! My husband served the court so loyally, and you've framed him for a crime he didn't even know existed, forced him to death, and now you're disturbing his peace! Damn it! If you ever set foot in my Cheng family again, I'll make sure you die!"
Ye Zelin had anticipated the Cheng family's attitude and would certainly not allow them to open the coffin and perform an autopsy easily. Yu Xuanji also said that if the Cheng family disagreed, there was no need to force it. He wiped the spit from his face and was about to leave, but suddenly stopped and said lightly, "The coroner is dead."
After saying this, he left.
Mr. Cheng was slightly stunned, thinking that Ye Zelin was talking nonsense. He asked the maid to help his eldest sister-in-law back to the backyard, and ordered the servants to close the door tightly, and told the servants not to open the door if the court officials came again.
In the inn, Yu Xuanji, wearing a dark green robe, was thinking about Ye Zelin's other intentions.
At this time, the coroner Lao Qiao brought in a bowl of litchi paste. Lao Qiao was about thirty-five years old, with a round face that showed his simplicity, and a pair of eyes that were neither big nor small that showed a bit of shrewdness.
He placed the lychee paste in front of Yu Xuanji and said, "My lord, this is lychee paste made with black plums, cinnamon, musk, ginger juice, sugar, and honey. This lychee paste has the effect of quenching thirst and relieving restlessness. You are feeling a bit hot right now, so chilling it with ice would be the best choice."
Yu Xuanji smiled and said, "You are very considerate."
His eyes inadvertently swept over Lao Qiao's hands. Lao Qiao was slightly embarrassed and raised his palm and said, "Sir, I have washed my hands with bath beans seven or eight times. I brought the lychee paste to you after washing them clean."
But Yu Xuanji didn't mean that. He asked, "Is there any more lychee paste? Leave some for Susu and the Major General."
Old Qiao scratched the back of his head and said with a silly smile, "Don't worry, sir. I asked the kitchen to keep some of it on ice. When Miss Susu and the Major General come back, they can enjoy some cool lychee paste."
The litchi paste was cooled with ice cubes to make it cool when drunk, which was the perfect drink at this time of year. Yu Xuanji quickly finished the full bowl of litchi paste.
He was a little addicted and wanted to eat another portion, but he thought that if he finished it, his niece and Ye Zelin would have nothing to eat, so he had to give up.
Old Qiao seemed to understand Yu Xuanji's thoughts and said, "Eating too much chilled lychee paste is bad for your stomach. I asked the kitchen to make some hawthorn paste. It's sour and sweet. You might as well try it, my lord."
Yu Xuanji followed his wishes, and soon Lao Qiao brought over a bowl of hawthorn paste.
Although the hawthorn paste had never been chilled, it was sour and sweet, and Yu Xuanji enjoyed it.
Old Qiao sat down on the wooden bench next to him and said, "The other day I heard you talking to the Young General of the Ye Mansion from afar. Did you make it clear to the Young General?"
Yu Xuanji took a bite of hawthorn paste and said, "Instead of being watched by others and facing the possibility of death at any time, it is better to take the initiative into my own hands."
Old Qiao knew Yu Xuanji had his own considerations. If he didn't know how to handle the situation properly, he would undoubtedly put himself in danger. He was a little worried. "Sir, we don't understand Young General Ye. He may be a danger. You should be careful."
Yu Xuanji sighed softly, "Since I don't understand him, then I'll find a way to understand him. He's so skilled at chess at such a young age. He's been scheming from the beginning, luring me in. He's still soft-hearted, leaving me room to fight back."
"So, my lord, you are deliberately using the chess game to test the young general of the Ye Mansion." Old Qiao said.
Yu Xuanji said, "Your Majesty has assigned a young general from the Ye Mansion, a military family with no criminal investigation experience, to assist me. Anyone but an idiot would understand what this means. I was transferred from the Dali Temple to the Ministry of Justice, and then from there to the Ministry of Justice. In the past ten years, the court has never once asked me to handle a major case. The situation in the capital is becoming increasingly clear. Your Majesty must have some ulterior motive in assigning me to investigate this case."
Old Qiao asked, "Do you understand what His Majesty is thinking?"
Yu Xuanji glared at Lao Qiao and said, "I'm not a worm in His Majesty's stomach, how would I know?"
After leaving Cheng's house, Ye Zelin felt bored and returned to the post station to report the result to Yu Xuanji. He thought Yu Xuanji had other instructions, but she was discussing what to eat in the evening with Lao Qiao and ignored him. Helplessly, Ye Zelin had to return to his bedroom.
Sitting at his desk, he suddenly remembered that nearly a month had passed since he left Beijing, and he had not yet written a letter home to report his safety. He took out his inkstone, ground the paper, and picked up his pen. He quickly wrote four or five sheets of letter paper and put them aside to wait for the ink to dry.
At this time, Old Qiao came in with a bowl of lychee paste. Seeing the letter hanging on the table, he said, "Young General, this is a letter from home."
Ye Zelin nodded. "I wrote this to my parents. I've been away from home for a month and they might be worried about me, so I wanted to let them know I'm safe."
Old Qiao placed the lychee paste next to Ye Zelin's hand and glanced at a few pieces of letter paper. The letter paper was filled with greetings and casual conversations. His heart moved, and he said as if he had met a kindred spirit: "I heard that the young general has married a wife. The young general's letter asks about his parents, brothers and sisters, but not the new wife. He must have thought of sending his regards to the wife separately."
He gave Ye Zelin a knowing look, "I understand this."
He just wrote a letter home yesterday to say hello to his wife and children.
Ye Zelin almost spit out the lychee paste in his mouth. Looking at the obscene expression on Lao Qiao's honest face, he forced a smile that was not a smile.
I couldn't help but wonder why such an honest-looking man was so frivolous. Who did Yu Xuanji find to be the coroner?
He thought of a word: duplicity.
He also thought of Hua Fushu, his wife who looked kind but was heartless and unruly.
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