Chapter 142 Separate Actions
"Have you found the evidence?"
In the hall, Zhao Duan, who was dozing in the armchair, suddenly sat up and his sleepiness disappeared.
Zhang Han shook his head and said, "To be precise, it's the location of the evidence."
Beside her, Haitang turned around and walked back to the table.
In the middle of the mountain of old booklets, the lamp oil was almost exhausted, with only a tiny flame jumping.
"Zhang Han and I spent the entire night searching and finally found the two pieces of evidence that would most likely lead to Zhou Cheng's death."
Haitang handed him two yellowed pieces of paper:
"His name is Zhang Zhu. He was an official who served under Xue Lin. He was the one who proposed the late emperor's divine judgment. He was also implicated and later demoted and sent back home."
"The second one is a descendant of Censor Pan, who was falsely accused of deceiving the emperor in the Censorate.
Of these two people, the former should still be alive and was an eyewitness to the incident. The latter attempted to overturn the verdict and, using Censor Pan's connections, copied and took away many of the files from that time."
Haitang said excitedly:
"According to our argument, as long as we can obtain one of these two key pieces of evidence, combined with the other scattered evidence, it will be possible to reopen the investigation of this old case. If we can obtain both pieces of evidence, it will be enough to prove that Zhou Cheng has some dirty hands."
Zhao Duan didn't understand the twists and turns of investigating cases and the law, but he trusted the professionalism of his two colleagues and a smile appeared on his face.
"well done!"
One night.
It only took one night to achieve a breakthrough, which is a terrifying speed.
Of course, if Yuan Li hadn’t taken action, it would have taken them an untold amount of time.
"However, the only drawback is that these two key witnesses are not in the capital."
Zhang Han frowned and said:
"Fortunately, they're not too far. One is in Luan County, west of the capital. The other is further north, at the border of Tieguan Road. If we set out now, and everything goes well, it will take half a month to go back and forth."
Haitang suddenly shook her head. The female head of the Narcissus Hall walked over to the table with her long legs, took out the map, spread it out, made an estimate, and spoke quickly:
"You're talking about a regular journey. If a martial artist were to ride a fast horse from the army, traveling day and night, the journey could be shortened to at least seven days."
A journey of a thousand miles takes seven days?
Zhao Duan thought for a moment and said:
"With so many files and all the relevant information gathered, it's impossible to conceal it no matter how careful we are. Half a month is too long. Even if Lord Yuan is covering it up, with Zhou Cheng's spies, it's enough time for him to react. Once he's prepared, it will be very difficult to deal with."
Haitang nodded, agreeing with this view:
“So, we don’t have much time left.
So, I, Shuixiantang, have a case on my hands heading towards Luan County, which was originally assigned to a lieutenant. Since that's the case... I'll go there, using the excuse of a business trip as a cover, and leave the team alone to shorten the time as much as possible."
So active? Zhao Duan looked at her in surprise.
He vaguely guessed that at this point, Haitang was no longer just assisting him in completing the mission of the empress.
Perhaps, her real purpose is to redress the grievances of the Xue family and the innocent souls who died during the Zhengtong period.
Sitting in the position of a police inspector, and still so full of justice? Oh, right, she doesn't seem to have climbed up from the bottom... The second generation has not experienced the cruelty of the workplace, so it is always easier to maintain kindness...
So, who's the family behind Haitang? I've never heard anyone mention it, so it seems quite mysterious...
Zhao Duan looked admiring:
"That's great, but we're still short of a trustworthy person for the Tieguan Road route."
After saying that, the two of them stared at Zhang Han tacitly, without saying a word, just staring straight at him.
"..." Zhang Han's expressionless face twitched slightly, and he sighed helplessly:
"Okay, another piece of evidence. I'll go get it."
Perfect!
Zhao Du applauded and smiled:
"Today, Zhao has the help of Crouching Dragon and Phoenix, and great things can be accomplished."
What's the story behind this? Zhang Han was puzzled.
Who do you call a chick? Haitang's eyebrows are raised.
The three of them discussed the details again. In order to save time, "Wolong" and "Fengchu" left and returned to their own halls.
He was planning to leave the city on the pretext of a business trip to handle a case.
Zhao Duan was alone, wearing a coat, holding the extinguished candlestick, pushing the door and walking into the courtyard.
At this moment, the sky was dark blue, with a faint paleness on the horizon. On the big pear tree in the yard, the pears were gradually ripening.
Perhaps, in a few days, it will be available for everyone in the hall to enjoy.
…
"Wake up, little lazy pig, don't sleep anymore."
Zhao Duan walked to the duty room next door and saw the new girl Jinyi sleeping on the table. He called out to her softly.
"ah!"
Qian Kerou woke up with a start and stood up in a panic. Half of her round face, which was full of collagen, was bruised with red marks, and there was a crystal droplet at the corner of her mouth.
"Sir...sir!"
Zhao Duan put on his clothes and hugged the black iron candlestick: "Go to my room and sleep."
Qian Kerou acted as a gatekeeper last night, constantly opening the door for the Yuan family servants. Now her head was pounding:
"oh!"
"Wait," Zhao Duan thought of something:
"I asked you to send someone to look for Qin Qu. Have you brought him here yet?"
Qian Kerou shook her head blankly, indicating no.
Zhao Duan frowned, feeling a little uneasy. Could it be that Qin Qu was out fooling around last night and didn't come home? That's why he couldn't be found?
At this time, footsteps were heard outside the cold and quiet Pear Blossom Hall. An attendant of Qian Kerou came in with a tired look on his face and said in surprise:
"Sir? You're here so early?"
I didn’t leave at all... Zhao Duan had a blank expression on his face.
Qian Kerou's eyes lit up: "Where is the person I ordered you to find? Lord Jisi wants to see him."
The follower said with a bitter face:
"Sir, I followed that address to the Qin family and learned that Qin Qu was not there. His family said they didn't know where he was hanging out, and he hadn't returned home the night before. They only told me a few possible places he might be.
Thinking about what you have instructed me to do, I did not dare to delay and simply went to several entertainment places that the Qin family told me about.
Finally, they found out that Qin Qu had stayed at the Jiaofangsi the night before, but left yesterday morning. As for where he went, the women at the Jiaofangsi didn't know...
I thought that in such a huge city like Beijing, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, so I simply went back to Qin's house to wait. However, I waited until late at night and still didn't see anyone, so I had to return to report.
The person is missing?
Zhao Duan's heart sank, and his feeling of unease grew. He took out a silver ingot from his waist pouch and threw it over:
"You've worked hard, go and have a rest."
The attendant was overjoyed, thanked him and left.
"Sir, are you looking for him in a hurry?" Qian Kerou asked softly when she saw that he was frowning.
Zhao Duan waved his hand without explanation, threw the candlestick to the secretary, and returned to the hall full of documents alone.
Given Qin Qu's personality, he hangs out with many playboys all day long, so it's not unusual for him to be missing for two days.
But at this critical juncture, Zhao Duan will not let go of anything wrong.
He reached into his arms and took out the storage magic weapon "Taixu Painting Scroll". With a light shake, a small antique jade mirror fell out, which was the "Mirror of Wind and Moon".
Zhao Duan held the mirror tightly and silently recalled Qin Qu's appearance in his mind.
The mirror surface trembled, and gradually, a scene emerged in the mirror.
It turned out to be a dim prison. In the light of the fire, Qin Qu was beaten with a bruised face and blood all over his silk clothes. He was clinging to the railings and tapping them gently.
"He's in jail?"
Zhao Duan was stunned and tried to zoom out. Gradually, through the landmarks, he recognized that this was the prison of Dali Temple!
Dali Temple...Qin Qu...
As soon as these two keywords appeared, Zhao Duan's face suddenly darkened, realizing that something was wrong:
"Qin Qu has always been smooth and tactful, and has associated himself with many powerful people. How could he have been sent to the Dali Temple without making any noise? Especially at this critical juncture, could it be..."
Many clues were running around in Zhao Duan's mind, and he had a bad premonition.
He lowered his eyes to observe the engraving on the copper lens of the magic weapon, estimating that the magic power inside could still support one more peek.
He pondered for a moment, gave up spying on Zhou Cheng, and instead tried his best to recall the face of "Wang Shan" that had appeared in his memory.
The scene in the mirror shattered, then slowly rippled, forming a new scene.
The purpose of his spying this time was not to determine Wang Shan's condition, but to stimulate his brain and activate the dusty memories related to him by "seeing" him.
After about ten breaths, a new picture appeared in the mirror:
In a bedroom, on a silk-covered bed, a man and a woman were sleeping soundly.
The man was about forty or fifty years old, and looked like he had albinism. He had only a few light hairs on his chin, was fat, and had ordinary facial features.
At this moment, he was lying on his back like a fat pig, holding a piece of white and beautiful flesh in his arms.
It turned out to be a pretty concubine, who was sleeping soundly with her arms around the middle-aged man. She seemed extremely tired, with spots of wax and whip marks on her body.
And the messy bed tells of the madness of last night.
Zhao Duan was fine. He looked at the small whip and other tools discarded by the window, staring at the middle-aged man's face. His mind began to ache, and a little bit of memory emerged.
Wang's Residence...
Qin Qu and myself...
Wang Shan...
Beautiful woman...bedroom...
boom!
It was as if glass had shattered in his mind, and memories rushed out in a stream, vivid and clear. Zhao Duan closed his eyes and "observed", his expression changing from gloomy to bright.
In the small mirror in his hand, the picture slowly shattered.
After a long while, Zhao Duan opened his eyes, exhaled deeply, looked at the documents piled on the table, suddenly chuckled, and whispered to himself:
"That's how we play it, right?"
After a little thought, Zhao Duan eliminated several possible solutions that came to his mind.
Finally, he took out the silver scroll again, put the bronze mirror back, and took out a stick of yellow incense from it.
Surprisingly, it was the communication tool left for him by Jin Jian to summon himself.
"It's still dark, so you probably haven't slept yet..."
Zhao Duan stood up, lit the yellow incense with a fire stick, and fixed it on the table.
The incense tip was bright red, as if burning a hole in the night sky. Curls of green smoke curled up and rose straight up, passing through the beams and roof ridges...
After a while, the wind suddenly blew up and the green smoke shook violently.
The air twisted, and a young priestess wearing a black priest robe, with a delicate face, slightly curled hair and divergent eyes slowly emerged.
She stared at him with her eyes downcast, expressionless and grumpy, as if wanting an explanation.
Zhao Duan looked up at the girl floating above the pile of documents and smiled slightly.
…
The sky gradually brightened, and as one Jinyi official after another "went to work", the imperial court became lively.
"Didn't you sleep last night?"
When Hou Renmeng, Chen Juan and Old Man Zheng stepped into Lihua Hall, they were shocked when they saw Qian Kerou holding the "punch-in book".
"I'm sleeping... yawn..."
Qian Kerou's eyelids drooped, and she was about to answer when she suddenly heard the closed door of the hall behind her being pushed open from the inside.
Zhao Duan, dressed in an official robe and looking energetic, walked out with his hands behind his back.
"Sir!" The four of them bowed hurriedly.
Zhao Duan glanced at his men, and a dangerous smile appeared on the corner of his mouth:
"Go have breakfast first, and when the brothers arrive, follow me."
Qian Kerou was bewildered: "What?"
Zhao Duan showed his white teeth and uttered two words:
"Catch him!"
(End of this chapter)
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