Chapter 161 Confession
The next day, Li Jie went to Yin Bogeng's home and investigated the matter in the name of visiting.
After Yin Bogeng was dismissed from office, he took his family back to his old home in Suzhou. His ancestors were wealthy and had a very large garden in Suzhou. Although he had lost his official position, the emperor did not confiscate his property, so his family still lived a very comfortable life.
Li Jie's sudden visit caught Yin Bogeng off guard. He thought the emperor had specially sent Li Qingtai to pick him up and bring him back to Beijing, and he was so excited that he went out to greet him without even putting on his shoes.
"Master Li!"
Li Jie got off the carriage and bowed to him: "I heard that your daughter was seriously injured a few days ago, so I came to visit you."
When Yin Bogeng heard that he was not coming to pick him up, he was shocked and his face instantly turned cold.
"Thank you, Lord Li. My daughter is fine now."
Li Jie's men were carrying gift boxes, and Yin Bogeng couldn't ask them to leave, so he had to hold his nose and let him into the yard.
The courtyard was quiet, with only a few servants trimming the flowers and plants. The Suzhou gardens in autumn are extremely beautiful. Along the path there is a rockery that serves as a screen. In front of the rockery is a winding corridor with pavilions on the left and right. The surrounding area is planted with lush evergreens. Listening to the sound of gurgling water, it feels like being in a painting.
Li Jie did not enter the house, but went to the pavilion next to it and looked around: "I heard that the academy went on strike a few days ago. Was it to defend you?"
"Yin didn't know and has been taking care of her daughter at home these days."
Li Jie didn't care about his attitude. After all, anyone would feel uncomfortable being demoted from a fourth-rank official to a commoner overnight.
The two chatted for a while, and then Li Jie stood up to say goodbye. As he and his servants walked to the front yard, they saw a pale girl hiding in the corner.
Yin Bogeng's expression changed instantly when he saw this: "Why is the Second Miss here? Send her back to the backyard quickly."
Several maids hurried over and helped her walk to the backyard.
"I'm not leaving! I want to go to study! Ah!!!" Yin Qing let out an ear-piercing scream.
Li Jie stopped.
Yin Bogeng shouted with disgust, "Bring him in quickly!"
"Haha, why should a girl read books? The emperor has done evil things, and he will get his retribution sooner or later!" Yin Qing shouted loudly, imitating his father's tone.
Yin Bogeng was so frightened that his face turned black. After the others were taken away, he said hurriedly: "She had a head injury. She became crazy and talked nonsense when she woke up. Lord Li, please don't be surprised."
"It's okay, but you'd better be careful with what you say and do. If someone with ulterior motives hears it, they might blame you."
Yin Bogeng gritted his teeth and nodded: "Master Li is right!"
After sending Li Jie away, Yin Boyeng angrily drove out all the maids and servants in Yin Qing's yard, and replaced them with new people to continue looking after her.
Yin Qing lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling with lifeless eyes, mumbling nonsense. The once smart and clever girl had become like this.
The two newly arrived maids outside the door whispered, "I don't know if the young lady can get better."
"I'm afraid it's difficult. I heard from my father that there was a child in our town who fell from a tree and broke his head. He became as stupid and foolish as the young lady and didn't recognize anyone. His father took him to see many doctors but it was useless. Later, he ran around and fell into a pond and drowned."
They both looked at Yin Qing lying on the bed at the same time and couldn't help but shook their heads and sighed.
The pink-dressed maid sighed and said, "What a pity, otherwise the young lady would have married the young master of the Lin family next month."
The maid in green clothes said, "Yes, Mr. Lin is a handsome man, and now Miss is in this state, she will definitely not be able to get married."
If Yin Bogeng had not been dismissed from office, he would have married Yin Qing even if she was stupid. But now that Master Yin has lost his official status, the marriage may not be possible.
"Looking at how disappointed you are, you don't want to marry in and become a concubine, do you?" the pink-clothed maid joked.
"You, don't ask nonsense." The green-clothed maid chased her and played with her with a red face, and the two ran out of the house.
After everyone left, Yin Qing, who had been lying on the bed with lifeless eyes, suddenly regained her clarity. She raised her head and looked outside. Seeing that there was no one outside the door, she quickly got up from the bed.
It turns out that she was not crazy, and she pretended like this just to avoid the marriage arranged by her father.
Since she woke up, she heard a lot of shocking news from her subordinates, including the tragic deaths of twelve female students in Bailu Academy and her father bribing scholars to create chaos.
Yin Qing knew that once these things were discovered, the whole family would be implicated. But if she didn't tell anyone, the twelve women who died tragically would never have their injustice cleared.
Yin Qing bit her lower lip and, faced with the choice between justice and family affection, resolutely chose the former.
While the two maids were not in the yard, she changed into the maid's clothes that she had hidden in advance, put on a veil, carried the package on her back, and quietly walked to the back door.
The gatekeeper did not know Yin Qing. After all, her family had just returned from the capital and she had never walked through the back door, so he thought she was just a maid in the mansion.
Yin Qing pinched her voice and said, "I'm Xiuzhu, the maidservant of the Second Young Lady. I'm going out to buy rouge for the young lady. Please open the door." As she spoke, she took out a ten-cent note from her waist and handed it over.
The servant did not doubt it, took the money and opened the door with a smile on his face, saying: "When will Sister Xiuzhu come back? I will leave the door open for you in advance."
"Noon."
"Okay, Sister Xiuzhu, take care."
Yin Qing walked out with firm steps.
*
Li Jie had just returned to the inn where he was temporarily staying when he heard news from outside the door that a famous woman was looking for him.
Li Jie was curious. It was his first time in Suzhou and he didn't know anyone there. Who was looking for him?
"Bring her in."
Not long after, Yin Qing walked in. When the two met, Li Jie was surprised and asked, "It's you?"
Yin Qing knelt down and said, "I greet Lord Li."
"Get up quickly, what's wrong with you..." Li Jie looked at her in confusion. She looked crazy in Yin's house in the morning, how come she was fine in the blink of an eye?
"To be honest, I am just pretending to be crazy." Yin Qing raised her head, tears still welling up in her eyes.
"I came here today to tell you something very important!"
"Miss, please stand up." Li Jie helped her up and asked his men to close the door. There were many people talking in the inn, so they didn't want to be heard by others.
Yin Qing sat down and told everything that had happened in Suzhou in those days.
Upon hearing that thirteen people had died in Bailu Academy, Li Jie frowned. He didn't expect Fang Mingzhang to dare to conceal such a big thing.
"Do you really mean what Miss Yin said?"
"I am willing to guarantee with my life that I won't tell a single lie!"
Li Jie thought for a moment and said, "Okay, you go back first, and don't tell anyone about this for the time being."
Yin Qing looked at him with burning eyes. Li Jie understood what she meant and stretched out his hand, saying, "I will also guarantee with my life that I will give those women justice!"
Yin Qing knelt down and kowtowed: "Thank you, sir." Then he stood up and left in a hurry.
When she returned, no one noticed her because the gatekeeper had already left the door open for her.
Yin Qing changed her clothes in the side room, ruffled her hair, grabbed two handfuls of mud and smeared them on her face, then stumbled back to her own yard.
The two maids were very anxious because they couldn't find her. When they saw her come back, they quickly pulled her to wash her face and change clothes. No one knew what she did.
*
After receiving the news, Li Jie did not act rashly. He first sent his men to secretly visit the relatives of the twelve deceased women.
Because they arrived so suddenly, the government failed to settle their families in time and only threatened them not to go out and talk nonsense, otherwise they would be arrested and severely punished in the government office.
But truth cannot be hidden. Just ask a few people and you will find out what happened that day.
After confirming the truth of the matter, Li Jie decided to go to Bailu Academy to check it out himself. Unexpectedly, he ran into Fang Mingzhang as soon as he went out. He seemed to have known the news in advance and insisted on going with him.
Li Jie had no choice but to go with him.
There are many famous academies in Suzhou. On the surface, every academy seems normal, and the scholars have none of their previous wild appearance, pretending to be elegant.
Li Jie said: "Suzhou has a profound cultural heritage and many students. Unlike our hometown, there are very few people who can read, and even fewer who can serve as officials in the court."
Fang Mingzhang said modestly: "No, no, I just learned a few more words."
As they continued walking, Li Jie suddenly suggested going to the nearby Bailu Academy.
Fang Mingzhang's expression changed instantly. "Bailu Academy is located in a remote area, and there are not many students there. Let's not go there today."
"Now that we are here, it's still early, so let's go for a walk." Li Jie got on the carriage without saying a word, and Prefect Fang had no choice but to get on as well.
Both of them were silent on the way. Fang Mingzhang suspected that he had heard some rumors, otherwise why would he suddenly think of going to Bailu Academy?
Although they had already sent their men to deal with that place, they were afraid that any clues would be left behind and he would find out.
Li Jie sat upright in the carriage, tapping his knees lightly with his fingers, thinking in his mind how to bring those scholars who forced the female students to death to justice.
Before coming here, he had not thought that this matter would be so serious. Now that his official position is half a level lower than Fang Mingzhang, he is restrained by him everywhere, which is somewhat disadvantageous for future matters.
When we arrived at the gate of Bailu Academy, we found it was closed and there was no student inside.
Fang Mingzhang said, "Look at my memory. The dean of Bailu Academy died of a sudden heart attack a few days ago. The academy has been temporarily closed for the past few days."
Li Jie ignored his words and got off the carriage and walked towards the front.
The subordinate pushed open the door of the academy. The place had been cleaned up and the blood on the ground had been washed away. Only a trace of dried, dark red blood remained in the cracks between the bricks. It was impossible to tell if you didn't look carefully.
Fang Mingzhang walked over with his hands behind his back and asked, "What's so good to see here?"
"Does Lord Fang believe in retribution?"
Fang Mingzhang was stunned. "What retribution?"
"It's the law of nature." Li Jie looked at him straight.
Fang Mingzhang was not afraid but smiled, lowered his head to look at the bloodstains in the cracks of the bricks and said, "Qingtai, I want to kindly remind you that if you want to be an official for a long time, you must learn the doctrine of the mean. Your sharp temper will suffer sooner or later."
Li Jie heard the threat in his words and was about to attack when he suddenly heard a loud sound of footsteps outside the door.
"I don't need to bother you to teach him how to be an official!" Xu Bing hurried over with the Suzhou garrison and thousands of soldiers.
"Prime Minister Xu!" Li Jie came over in surprise. Just as he was about to kneel down to salute, Xu Bing grabbed his arm and patted it.
Fang Mingzhang, who was standing opposite him, looked pale and sweaty. He knelt down and said, "Your humble servant greets the Left Prime Minister."
"Fang Mingzhang, listen to the emperor's order. You allowed the students to do whatever they wanted, which was ignorance. You caused the death of the dean of Bailu Academy and twelve students, which was incompetence. You did not comfort the students' families in time and investigate the rioters afterwards, which was useless. I am hereby ordered by the emperor to dismiss you from your post as the governor of Suzhou. Do you plead guilty?"
Fang Mingzhang fell to the ground, and after a long while he murmured, "I plead guilty."
(End of this chapter)
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