Chapter 88
Chu Qin had been away for more than half a year. He finally came back, but had to leave again with the emperor's edict and mission.
Upon hearing the news, Chu Ping, Wen Shi, and Chu Huan remained silent for a long time. The family looked at each other, speechless.
The last time he left was so that Chu Huan could go to court at any time using Chu Qin's identity. But Chu Huan is now staying at home studying the Four Books and Five Classics and martial arts, and the system is not affected. Why is there any need for Chu Qin to leave?
Everyone knew the reason why the emperor did this, but due to practical reasons, they were confused and couldn't express it.
Chu Huan poked the system: [Tong'er, why did the emperor do this?]
System: [There are several reasons. One is so you can use his identity to attend court at any time. However, I don't think it's going to be used much right now, so I'm just keeping it in case.]
Another reason is that the Emperor, impressed by your brother's performance as an Imperial Envoy, wants him to continue his tours of inspection, a promotion. Your brother is twenty-one years old this year. If he followed the normal process, he would have to spend several years in the Hanlin Academy before being promoted.
If you want to be an official in the capital comfortably, promotions and salary increases will be slow. If you can endure the hardships of being on business trips, you can get promoted smoothly after coming back a few times.
The Chu family knew the reason behind this, so they had no complaints about Chu Qin's experience. Even if they did have complaints, they couldn't say anything because he was the emperor.
There are so many Jinyiwei hiding in the house. If they hear something and report it back, given the emperor's petty and vengeful nature, he might make things difficult for them.
The system continued: [If your brother really encounters any problems, we can still sit back and watch. The emperor can immediately send people to solve the problem. Isn't that how they solved the illegal minting of copper coins?]
Saving water and waiting for Chu Qin to come back was just an excuse. Yiren Yitong already knew the follow-up of this matter.
The emperor sent the Embroidered Uniform Guard to convey the imperial edict at full speed. After receiving the order, Pei Mingcheng rushed to meet Chu Qin and used the imperial envoy's power to execute first and report later to purge everyone from top to bottom.
In addition, the fake copper coins hidden in the mine were confiscated, the molds for privately minted copper coins were destroyed, the young and middle-aged laborers detained in the mine were released, and they were compensated.
Those people in the mine don't eat or sleep well, and they have many illnesses. If they are not given some money to treat their illnesses, I don't know how many of them will survive.
Ultimately, the imperial court failed to judge people, allowing such a corrupt official to serve as a thousand households and county magistrate, and failed to identify the problem in time, causing the people to suffer. Even for the sake of the imperial court's good reputation, more money must be spent to properly deal with it.
Afterwards, the imperial court asked merchants from all walks of life to search for and exchange privately minted counterfeit copper coins. The advantage was that it was fast and covert, but the disadvantage was that it was expensive.
It is also because the Da Sheng treasury is still relatively full that it can choose this way to clean up the mess - spending some money to get it done quickly is better than letting the incident explode and ruin its reputation.
Chu Huan: [The Emperor has set his sights on my brother.]
The reasons given by the system were all within Chu Huan's expectations. There were no other unexpected factors, so she did not open the group chat mode to repeat them.
Although Chu Qin had a mission to complete, he was not in a hurry to leave immediately. He could stay at home for a few more days and leave after Chu Huan's birthday.
In a few days, Chu Huan's birthday arrived.
In previous years, Chu Huan would have a meal with her family to celebrate, even if it was her birthday.
Chu Huan has been in the spotlight since she connected to the melon-eating system last autumn. Not wanting to celebrate her fourteenth birthday in a too high-profile manner, she asked Shang Lu for an evening off and invited some friends to gather in the yard.
It wasn't a formal birthday party, so Chu Huan didn't write an invitation letter, but just gave a verbal invitation.
The old Grand Tutor and the old Preceptor knew that this was a gathering of young people and that their presence would make many people uncomfortable, so they said they had something to do and did not attend, and only sent a gift.
Shang Lu didn't want to join in the fun, nor did he make excuses. He told the truth and also gave a gift.
Chu Ping and Wen Shi were afraid that if they were there, the others would be unable to relax, so they only allowed Chu Qin to participate.
That night, the Second Prince's wife, Jiang, Nangong Ling, Hu Qiaoyun and others arrived early. Chu Qin and the Fifth Prince lived next door and also arrived early, so the banquet started early.
Everyone was used to attending birthday parties, and Chu Huan wanted them to experience something new, so she asked the cook to make a three-layer cream birthday cake.
There are also fried foods and desserts that young people like, but no barbecue or hot pot - this group of people are used to being served, and if they are really asked to do it themselves, the yard will definitely be a mess.
Chu Huan cut the birthday cake and distributed one portion to everyone present. She then cut a few more portions, filled them with the local delicacies, and sent them to the main courtyard to the residences of Chu Ping, Wen, the old Grand Tutor, the old Grand Preceptor, and Shang Lu.
Many people at the scene were either meeting for the first time or had a shallow acquaintance with each other. At the beginning, the conversation was a bit polite and awkward. However, after tasting the endless desserts and delicacies on the scene, they became familiar with each other after a while of communication.
"A buttercream birthday cake is really a big deal."
“The fried chicken and chicken cutlet are so delicious!”
"Chicken clavicles have no other disadvantages except that they are not easy to eat and there is not much meat."
"Milk tea is a must for this kind of occasion!"
Everyone was eating, drinking, talking and chatting happily.
Halfway through the meal, when everyone had become familiar with each other, Concubine Wu quietly approached Chu Huan and asked, "Miss Chu, have you heard?"
Chu Huan listened attentively: "What?"
Concubine Wu: "It's the serial murder case that has recently caused panic in the capital."
Chu Huan subconsciously looked at Jiang. Shouldn't this topic be raised by the daughter of the Minister of Justice?
Jiang first complained to Concubine Wu, half-seriously, "Today is Miss Chu's birthday. Isn't it a bad idea for Concubine Wu to say this?"
Then, covering her mouth again, she added softly, "But personally, I'm still very curious."
"Right?" Concubine Wu was a simple-minded person. She didn't think there was anything wrong with talking about the serial murder case at this time. She came here just to follow Chu Huan and get some good news.
"This case has been a big deal. I haven't dared to go out alone at night lately. It's only when I come to your place, with so many sisters accompanying me, that I feel a little braver."
They also wanted to use the melon-eating system to quickly catch the serial killer, so that they wouldn't have to worry every day when going out.
"It's okay." Chu Huan really didn't mind. Compared with so many lives, what did her birthday mean?
"Sisters, what serial murders happened in the capital?"
"Ah?" Everyone was shocked.
The Second Prince's wife was stunned for a moment, then suddenly understood: "That's right, you study from morning till night without a break. I'm afraid no one will say anything to you."
The Second Prince's wife was not good at telling stories, and she looked at Concubine Wu and Jiang and asked: Who of you will come?
Jiang knew she wasn't as good at speaking as Concubine Wu, and since this topic was brought up by Concubine Wu, she made a gesture of invitation and said, "Let Concubine speak."
Concubine Wu didn't bother to be polite with her. She picked up the cup and took a big sip of milk tea to moisten her throat before she began to speak.
"It all started four months ago. It was Chinese New Year, a time for families to reunite, when a body was found at the end of an alley. It was headless and without outer clothing, making it difficult to identify."
"Since then, the same headless bodies have appeared every once in a while, regardless of gender, age or status. No one knows why they were killed, and no one dares to go out at night."
Most of the victims of serial murders have common characteristics, such as liking to wear red clothes, having moles at the corners of their eyes, and being gamblers, which is why they are targeted by the murderers.
In this case, the victims had different genders, ages, and occupations, making it difficult to find common ground.
In addition, the lack of a skull, outer garments, and other accessories made it extremely difficult to identify the victim and locate his family members, making the case in Shuntian Prefecture very difficult to investigate.
Chu Huan: "Is this all the information?"
How can we infer with so little information?
If she asks the system for help, and the system just found the murderer, and the murderer was also caught in Shuntian Prefecture the next day, doesn't that clearly tell her "we can hear your conversation"?
Concubine Wu whispered, "My family has connections in Shuntian Prefecture, so we have another clue: the victims were beheaded after death. Other than that, there were no other external injuries on the victims."
Chu Hua: "Does this external injury refer to the injury sustained during life?"
"That should be the case." Concubine Wu just ate some melon, and because the Shuntian prefect knew about the fact that she received Chu Huan's invitation to attend the birthday party, he sent someone to tell her some things, but she was not very clear about the details.
Chu Hua: [Tong'er, investigate this serial murder case.]
System: [Okay, right away!]
It had been watching for a long time. Before Chu Huan said anything, it started investigating and soon found out the whole case.
[Sister Huan, the case isn't actually that complicated. It's just that the murderer has accomplices who help clean up the mess after each murder, and they have a certain level of anti-detection awareness. This is what makes the investigation difficult.]
Chu Huan pretended to be in deep thought: [Tell me more about it.]
Everyone pricked up their ears, and some silently put down the food in their hands. Their mental strength was not strong enough to eat while listening to how the murderer killed people and dealt with the bodies.
System: [This girl is called Xu Tao, she's nineteen years old and has eye problems. She was originally a very cheerful girl, but because of her congenitally impaired eyesight, she cherishes everything she can see even more.]
The Xu family was a wealthy family, and as long as the servants were careful and attentive, poor eyesight wouldn't be a big problem. Unfortunately, when Xu Tao was ten years old, she had a high fever, and since then, her eyesight has become increasingly blurred.
As soon as he started talking, the women present completely lost their desire to eat.
How important are eyes to a person?
They have never experienced this, nor do they have anyone like them around them, so they cannot imagine how terrible it would be to lose their eyes and not be able to see anything in the world.
They only know that losing something after having it is more cruel than losing it from the beginning.
Maybe this is the reason why Xu Tao killed people?
System: [Xu Tao has seen many doctors since she was a child, but no one could cure her condition. Many families knew that Xu Tao had poor eyesight, and when she reached marriageable age, few good families were willing to marry her.]
Those who were willing to marry her were all attracted by the Xu family's wealth and influence. Even then, they hinted that they would immediately take a concubine after marrying Xu Tao, and they didn't want a blind child born from a blind man.
[No matter how subtle the words were, it was still a sign of disdain for Xu Tao. How could the Xu family be willing to let their daughter marry into such a family? Wouldn't that be like throwing their daughter into a fire pit? But after so much searching, they still couldn't find a good one, and Xu Tao was still unmarried at the age of nineteen.]
There was silence in Qianhuaju.
The system interrupted with a digression: [Sister Huan, can congenitally impaired eyesight be cured?]
Chu Hua was helpless: [I'm not a medical student, so I don't know if you ask me, but... being born with poor eyesight doesn't mean being born blind. It should be treatable.]
However, there was no way to treat congenital poor eyesight in ancient times, and the best period for treatment had been missed, so Xu Tao's eyes are now incurable.
The system made two "oh" sounds and continued: "Xu Tao's eyesight is getting worse and worse. She can hardly see anything. She can't leave people by her side. This kind of life makes her feel suffocated. She loses her temper, screams, and smashes things at the slightest provocation."
Xu Tao's servants came and went, and even the maid who had served her since she was a child ran away. With the exception of a guard named Xu San, most of the servants who served her would leave within two months.
Everyone keenly grasped the key point: this Xu San is different from others, he may have a problem!
The next moment, the system gave Xu Tao a big tip: [Xu San gave Xu Tao an idea. Since your eyes are useless, why not just get a new pair?]
Chu Huan:? !!
Everyone:? ! !
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
