Please enter the porcelain.
After taking Madam Shuangqiao's advice to heart, Xiao Diting exchanged a few pleasantries with her to ease the atmosphere, but then, unable to stay any longer, he turned and left.
As Master Chenyi watched her leave Qingshan Temple, she finally breathed a sigh of relief, rubbed her stiff face, and let out a long sigh.
She hadn't forgotten that her current identity was merely a female official under Shangguan Lin, young and inexperienced, and she couldn't hide anything from Ji Shuangqiao.
As the accompanying guards gathered around, Xiao Diting sorted out his chaotic thoughts and decided to follow Madam Shuangqiao's suggestion to see her "sincerity."
However, the power in Jiangzhou was beyond her control, so reuniting with Shangguan Lin was her top priority.
When Xiao Diting rode back to the palace, the sun was already past its zenith.
When the servants in the manor saw her return in a smart outfit, accompanied by a group of attendants, although they were unfamiliar with her, they knew from her attire that she was Lord Shangguan and his entourage. They dared not neglect her and led her to the guest room courtyard.
Just as she turned the corner of the covered walkway, she saw Chunyan carrying a bowl of medicine walking by. Upon seeing her, her eyes lit up, and she quickly curtsied, almost stammering, "Your Highness... Miss is finally back! Lord Shangguan is resting in his room, waiting for you!"
Xiao Diting nodded, glanced at the medicine bowl in Chunyan's hand, and casually asked, "What kind of medicine is this?"
"This prescription was made according to the one given by Lord Song. Lord Shangguan just had breakfast and his stomach is upset..."
Xiao Diting nodded: "I'll take it in."
Chunyan tried to dodge: "How could I let you do this to me..."
Xiao Diting took it steadily, and Chunyan, not wanting to disobey her, could only hand it to her.
Xiao Diting told her to do something else, and casually made up an excuse to stop her, so Chunyan left without any guilt.
When Xiao Diting pushed open Shangguan Lin's door, she was reclining on the couch, flipping through files. Seeing Xiao Diting enter, she quickly sat up straight, the weariness between her brows fading slightly: "How was it? Did you see Madam Yang?"
“I saw her,” Xiao Diting said, placing the medicine bowl on the table and pulling up a chair to sit down. “However, she prefers to be called Lady Shuangqiao—Lianjun. Were you acquainted with this Miss Ji before?”
Shangguan Lin paused, his brows furrowing slightly. "We weren't very familiar. I only remember seeing her a few times when I was little... My mother and her mother were on good terms and often took us to the Ji residence as guests. But I was young then, and she was quiet and always liked to hide in the study to read. We weren't close."
She tapped the rim of the bowl absently with her fingertips, her tone hesitant: "After the Ji family had their accident, I never saw them again."
"Could it be—" Shangguan Lin recalled Ji Shuangqiao's gloomy face when he was a child, and felt a pang of sadness. He picked up the medicine bowl and drank it all in one gulp.
The medicine was bitter, but she showed no expression, as if she was used to it: "Did she do all of this?"
“She admitted to everything.” Xiao Diting recounted his conversation with Ji Shuangqiao. “She told me about the shady dealings in the Jiangzhou salt and iron business, which were related to the person who took away the Ji family’s property back then. She also said that the Huaizhou grain draft was involved… She told us to go southwest to Qingshan Temple, saying that her sincerity was there.”
Shangguan Lin put down his bowl, his expression solemn: "Southwest of Qingshan Temple is a mountain road leading to Huaizhou. That road has been in disrepair for many years, and it is narrow and steep. Ordinary caravans would never take it."
“That’s precisely why we need to go and see,” Xiao Diting stood up. “Since she dared to say that, she must have some confidence. Can you handle it? Let’s go now.”
Shangguan Lin nodded and took his sword from beside the couch: "It's alright, it's good to stretch my legs."
The two, accompanied by four guards, rode out of the palace.
Following Ji Shuangqiao's directions, they hurried southwest, the terrain becoming increasingly remote. The official road gradually turned into a winding dirt road, with the trees on both sides growing denser and sunlight dappling the ground.
After walking for about an hour, a fork in the road appeared ahead.
The main road leads to Huaizhou, while the side road is a mountain path half-covered by weeds, with an entrance only wide enough for one horse to pass through.
"This is it." Xiao Diting reined in his horse and dismounted.
Shangguan Lin followed closely behind, squatted down and parted the weeds by the roadside. Several wheel tracks were clearly imprinted on the soil. Although they had been worn lightly by the wind and rain, it was still clear that they were left by a heavy carriage.
There were also many messy footprints along the edge of the ruts, indicating that quite a few people had passed through.
“This road looks difficult to travel, yet there are actually carriages and horses that have traveled on it.” Shangguan Lin ran his fingertips along the ruts. “Jiangzhou is rainy, so it’s not easy to preserve these faint traces. It seems she didn’t lie to us.”
Xiao Diting walked a few steps along the mountain path, his gaze sweeping over the tree trunks on both sides.
Several tree trunks, about the size of a bowl, bore marks from ropes, their bark peeling off to reveal the new wood beneath: "Not only horse-drawn carriages, but also people leading livestock past... Look at these marks, it looks like they were used for hauling goods."
The group walked half a mile into the depths of the mountain path, when suddenly the view opened up ahead.
On a flattened clearing, there were scattered wheat bran and hay, and several extinguished fires nearby, with ashes mixed with some gnawed bones.
The contents mixed in were hard to identify, but Xiao Diting knew that they were grain scraps transported from Jiangzhou to Huaizhou.
The case files related to the Huaizhou case state that the four prefectures themselves were also severely affected by the floods, but their suffering was far less than that of Huaizhou. While providing food relief to their own people, they did not forget to send aid to Huaizhou.
But what if this grain was distributed before reaching Shangguan Road? What if the grain, far less than the amount needed for relief, was distributed again in Huaizhou?
This all makes sense.
However, we cannot draw any conclusions. After all, this abandoned mountain road is very close to Huaizhou. If we are in a hurry, taking a shortcut is not out of the question.
She was a former police officer and knew that making a deduction was one thing, but having real evidence was another.
Xiao Diting stared blankly at the marks on the ground. There was still one question she didn't understand: how could Pei Wenjin, the main investigator of the Huaizhou case, not find the clue that she had obtained so easily?
What was Ji Shuangqiao's true intention?
“This is a place to rest.” Xiao Diting picked up a bone. “These things have been preserved longer than the ruts on the ground.”
Shangguan Lin stood at the edge of the open space, gazing at the distant, rolling mountains, and suddenly said, "Crossing over these mountains leads to Huaizhou... If it really is a grain transport route, this road is indeed discreet, and the government won't be able to check it."
"Ji Shuangqiao didn't lie to us, but how did she know all this?"
No sooner had she finished speaking than a guard suddenly shouted, "Your Highness, Lord Shangguan, we've made a discovery over here!"
The two followed the sound and saw the guard pointing to a patch of trampled bushes. Behind the bushes was a narrower path, with fallen leaves crushed on it. They could vaguely see that someone had gone in another direction, with messy footprints that were even denser than those in the open space.
"As expected, they split up." Shangguan Lin's eyes sharpened. "Part of the grain went to Huaizhou, and the other part was transported elsewhere from here."
Xiao Diting gazed at the direction the path led, where the woods were deep and secluded, its destination unknown: "The fact that grain was being transported from Jiangzhou to Huaizhou without using proper pipelines is already suspicious, but to secretly divert a portion of it... it's hard not to suspect who's behind this..."
Shangguan Lin nodded: "The Huaizhou grain bill caused quite a stir last year, with claims of a grain shortage. But if Jiangzhou has been transporting grain there all along, how can there be a grain shortage? There must be something fishy going on here."
“Ji Shuangqiao wants to use us to investigate this matter,” Xiao Diting turned around, his gaze falling on Shangguan Lin’s face. “Do you think we should cooperate with her?”
Shangguan Lin pondered for a moment: "Although she is the last surviving member of the Ji family, no one knows what she has become in the Yang family all these years... However, we are currently lacking clues. Cooperating with her will at least allow us to find out the truth faster."
“That’s what I was thinking too.” Xiao Diting smiled. “When we get back, we’ll send someone to tell her that we’ve agreed.”
As the group was preparing to return, a guard who had been waiting at the entrance of the mountain path suddenly rode up in panic: "Your Highness, Lord Shangguan, something has happened!"
"What's the matter that you're in such a panic?" Shangguan Lin asked in a deep voice.
The guard dismounted and knelt on one knee: "You left men to keep an eye on that lady's movements. We just received news that Madam Ji... she was on her way back to Huaizhou from Qingshan Temple when she was found dead in her carriage!"
Xiao Diting's heart skipped a beat: "Dead? How did he die?"
"It is said that the carriage overturned off the cliff, and all the maids who accompanied it died. The government has gone to the scene and said it was an accident," the guard said urgently. "Also, Prefect Wang just sent someone to look for you two, saying that he wants to invite you two to come over, saying that he has important matters to discuss."
Shangguan Lin and Xiao Diting exchanged a glance, both seeing seriousness in each other's eyes.
“An accident? What a coincidence.” Xiao Diting sneered. “We just found a clue and she died. This is clearly murder to cover it up.”
"Wang Shude is looking for us at this time, I'm afraid he has ulterior motives." Shangguan Lin gripped his sword tightly. "It's very likely that this is his doing."
Xiao Diting nodded: "Whether it's him or not, wouldn't it be a shame to refuse? Let's go back and see what tricks this Lord Wang is up to."
The group rode back, the wind whistling past their ears, carrying the coolness of the mountains and forests. Xiao Diting looked at the undulating road ahead, but felt as if a stone was pressing on his heart.
Ji Shuangqiao's death was too sudden, as if someone was watching their every move from the shadows, and just as they were about to uncover the truth, it was ruthlessly suppressed.
And the seemingly simple-minded Prefect Wang has undoubtedly become the prime suspect at this moment.
By the time they returned to the Prince's residence, it was almost completely dark.
Wang Shude was sitting in the main hall when he saw the two return. He quickly stood up, his face beaming with smiles, but his eyes flickered slightly. "Lord Shangguan, you're finally back. I just received news that Madam Yang... Alas, life is truly unpredictable."
"Lord Wang's information network is indeed impressive." Xiao Diting sat down in a chair, his tone calm. "I wonder if you've summoned us for anything other than this matter?"
Wang Shude rubbed his hands together and chuckled dryly, "That's how it is. After all, Madam Yang is the daughter-in-law of the Prefect of Huaizhou. Since something happened to her in Jiangzhou, I have to take care of her..."
Despite the magnitude of the incident, Lord Wang still maintained his familiar pathetic demeanor. Shangguan Lin, seated in the main seat, remained unmoved. As an envoy from the imperial court, it was no exaggeration to say that Wang Shude would have to grovel before her.
"It's just that I don't have enough manpower. I would like to ask Lord Shangguan to send some people to help investigate this accident, so that we can give Huaizhou an explanation."
Shangguan Lin looked up at him, his gaze sharp: "Lord Wang is the magistrate of Jiangzhou, investigating cases is his duty, why trouble us?"
Wang Shude's smile froze for a moment, then he said, "Lord Shangguan is joking. You were sent by the imperial court and are very experienced. With your help, we can naturally find out the truth more quickly... Besides, I heard that Madam Yang saw this young lady before her accident?"
His gaze fell on Xiao Diting, filled with inquiry.
Xiao Diting felt a chill run down his spine, but remained outwardly calm: "She only said a few words, which were related to the case... I never expected her to suffer such a misfortune."
"I see." Wang Shude nodded and didn't ask any more questions, but repeatedly urged Shangguan Lin to send people to assist in the investigation.
Shangguan Lin exchanged a glance with Xiao Diting and said calmly, "Since Lord Wang has spoken, there is naturally no reason not to help... I will send someone to go and take a look with your men."
Wang Shude was overjoyed. After exchanging a few more polite words, he got up to take his leave.
As soon as he left, Xiao Diting said, "He was testing us, but he was telling the truth and didn't hide anything."
Xiao Diting had just asked Wang Shude a few questions, and he answered them fluently without triggering her talent "Diting," which meant that he was telling the truth.
"Not necessarily. He seems quite dazed. If he's not pretending, then it really has nothing to do with him." Shangguan Lin walked to the window, looking in the direction Wang Shude had left. "We need to find out the true whereabouts of that grain as soon as possible; that's the key."
Xiao Diting nodded: "Tomorrow morning, let's go back to that mountain path and take another look. Maybe we can find more clues. As for Wang Shude, keep an eye on him and see what he does next."
As night deepened, the Prince's Mansion fell silent.
Xiao Diting lay on the bed in the guest room, but couldn't fall asleep. Ji Shuangqiao's death was like a stone thrown into a lake, stirring up ripples, and the truth hidden beneath the surface seemed to be getting closer.
But this road was clearly more dangerous than she had imagined.
She suddenly realized that she probably wouldn't need to go to that mountain path tomorrow; Ji Shuangqiao's death might have been bait to attract their attention!
Xiao Diting hurriedly got up, put on her clothes, and went to send people to investigate late at night. She paced back and forth in the room, feeling uneasy, while Chunyan anxiously kept her company by the light.
After a long while, the subordinate returned and reported that the tire tracks they had checked not long ago had all been cleaned up.
The trail went cold.
Xiao Diting clenched his fists. He had only just glimpsed the center of the vortex when it was gently brushed aside by a single hand.
Ji Shuangqiao's pale and delicate face seemed to still be in front of me. She still had that indifferent look, pointing her finger behind her, striking a pose of "inviting the enemy into the trap".
It was as if they were asking her, "Do you still dare to come?"
Xiao Diting gritted his teeth: "A trivial skill."
Ji Shuangqiao's smile deepened.
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