Yan Shiyue answered irrelevantly: "It's so hot, sir, let's eat ice cream!"
Ever since she learned how to make ice with saltpeter, after arriving at the palace, she often cooked various fruits and asked someone to bring out ice cream. She would eat a small bowl of it when it was hot, which was really delicious.
Three bowls were brought up and the three of them sat down to eat.
Qu Sinian looked up several times, not knowing how to start.
While eating, Yan Shiyue said to Xu Wentong with a beaming face: "Sir, let me tell you, I have an epiphany in writing now. Do you understand that... that mysterious feeling of writing as if inspired by a god!"
"Well," Xu Wenqu said calmly, "Let's see."
She asked someone to go to the study to get the paper she usually used for practicing calligraphy. Xu Wenqu put down the cup, looked at a few pieces of paper carefully, and said in surprise: "You have really improved a lot."
“Hehehe~” Yan Shiyue said: “Pick out the two best ones for me, and I’ll give one to Aye to shock him!”
Xu Wenqu smiled and carefully picked out two for her, saying, "In the future, if you need to write a memorial or something, I'll write it and you can copy it."
She immediately said, "I don't..." Then she thought that if she didn't copy it, he wouldn't know it anyway, so she nodded, "Oh! Okay."
...
...
Xu Wenqu smiled at her and said nothing.
The two of them were chatting and laughing freely, while Qu Sinian was extremely anxious but there was nothing he could do.
It was not until she lowered her head to eat her ice that Qu Sinian said softly, "Prime Minister, I wonder if the witnesses in the case have been found?"
Yan Shiyue glanced at him and said, "If they had figured it out, they should all know about this big event, right?"
Qu Sinian coughed and said, "Prime Minister, I don't know about this matter. Can you take me with you for the trial?"
She said, "No."
Qu Sinian asked: "Is it not okay to just watch?"
Yan Shiyue put down the small silver spoon: "Give me a reason to bring a royal tutor with you to the trial?"
Before he could answer, she said, "If I use the Imperial Reader to record, am I being too generous? Am I afraid that the Imperial Censor will report me? Everyone says that I do things recklessly and without following the rules, but have I ever done such a thing?"
She looked at him with a smile and said, "Master Qu, you are not even going to hide it now? Don't cause trouble for your master..."
Qu Sinian felt ashamed for a moment.
Yan Shiyue smiled and said, "Master Qu, if you are not feeling well, please leave first. It just so happens that I can chat with the gentleman for a while."
Qu Sinian stood up without saying a word, bowed deeply, and walked out.
Xu asked Guan Dao: "Why? Why do you want to keep him?"
Yan Shiyue thought for a moment and said, "Just feel it."
Xu Wenqu did not ask any more questions and just said to her, "The Crown Prince summoned me yesterday and said that I would leave for Zou County at the end of the month for a literary gathering and to pay homage to Confucius at the Confucius Temple."
“Ah?” Yan Shiyue put down the bowl, wanting to say something but not saying it. After all, Xu Liuyuan was a court official, the only one in Dayan who had passed the imperial examination and the newly crowned number one scholar. The prince was going to worship Confucius, so it was inevitable that he would be taken with him.
After the North-South division system came out, it was time to appease the literati, so that's why the prince went there in person this time, right?
Yan Shiyue was unhappy but had no reason to lose her temper, so she said angrily: "Who made the ice cream today! It's not sweet at all!"
A day later, the witness in Lin Fujian's case of poisoning his tribesmen was finally found.
This case was taken over by the Dali Temple, and the people from the Dali Temple are still in charge of the specific matters.
Although Yan Shiyue was ordered to investigate, she did not have to do everything herself. If it were someone else, they would just need to grasp the general direction, but she was still present throughout the process.
In every era, there are corrupt officials and honest officials, those who play tricks on others and those who are dedicated to the public. Anyway, she felt that the judge in charge of the case, Qiao Yue, respected her very much.
The man who filed the complaint was named Zhao En, and was said to be a rickshaw driver hired by Lin Dalang.
He confessed that they had already fallen asleep that night when they suddenly heard a noise. He thought a thief had entered and did not dare to go out, so he looked out of the window.
Then he saw a group of big men walking into the house with torches. The strange thing was that no one in the house got up. He felt something was wrong, but he didn't dare to run, so he hid in a water tank. There was still water in the tank, so he squatted in and the water just reached the edge of the tank.
He listened to the voices outside, someone said, "Master Lin said that whatever we find will be our reward!"
Another person said: "These country bumpkins are still dreaming of currying favor with the Lord!"
"That's right, now he's dead."
In short, these people mentioned Lord Lin several times while searching and chatting.
Then he kicked open the door of the tea room and took a look. Fortunately, he did not enter the water tank immediately. The man shone a torch roughly and left.
Then he hid until dawn, and when he came out, he saw that all these people were dead on the couch, but they had no injuries on their bodies.
He was so scared that he ran away immediately. He was found a few days ago and asked to be a witness.
Qiao Yue asked: "How many people did you see?"
Zhao En said: "I only saw three... should be four! But when I realized something was wrong, I wanted to hide somewhere, so I hid in the water tank. I don't know how many people there were."
"What accent do they speak with?"
"Capital accent."
"About what time?"
"It should be around midnight. After they left, I waited for a long time before they came out!"
Qiao Yue suddenly became stern and said, "In the middle of the night, a group of people broke into a private house, lit torches, and talked recklessly. How could no one know? They robbed and killed people, how dare they be so reckless!"
"I don't know!" Zhao En kowtowed repeatedly: "But they did light torches and talk! I dare not lie!"
Yan Shiyue listened and looked at the files.
The files recorded that the courtyard they rented was at the end of a bridge, close to the crowded Tongqian Lane, with a bridge on one side and a stone carving shop on the other. There was no one there at night, so no one would hear them even if they lit torches and talked. Qiao Yue was just trying to trick him.
Moreover, these people died from poisonous smoke, which was consistent with what he said, and no one in the room got up.
Qiao Yue asked again: "How does Lin Dalang treat you?"
"Lin Dalang is generous and kind to the common people."
Qiao Yue asked: "Then why didn't you save him then?"
Zhao En said, "Please forgive me, sir. I... there are so many of them! I dare not! I often help others drive carts. Even if I encounter bandits on the road, according to the rules of the underworld, the driver will just squat on the ground with his head in his hands and dare not meddle in other people's business."
Qiao Yue asked: "Where did you escape to afterwards? What did you do for a living?"
Zhao En said: "Actually, I didn't go far. I just wandered around the capital. My family used to have a big car, but now it's gone. So I just did odd jobs and got a living here and there."
Qiao Yue asked, "Do you know what Zhao Dalang usually does? Who does he interact with?"
Zhao En said, "He usually walks back and forth in Tongqian Alley, and I don't need to drive him. I drive mainly when the women in the family go out...so I don't know. I only heard that Zhao Dalang often goes to gamble and visit those brothels, so there are often quarrels at home."
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