Chapter Fifty
Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore.
Si Yanmo had neither the time nor the inclination to think about the inexplicable flutter in her heart last night.
There have been too many things going on lately. The Qi Muchen case has been delayed for so long, and there's still no news from the Ministry of Revenue. It seems she'll have to go there in person again.
If she argues again this time, then...
Si Yanmo looked at Zhao Wan, raised an eyebrow and smiled: "With your injuries... can you still fight?"
Zhao Wan paused for a moment, then nodded, "It's alright, a sword will do."
Having received Zhao Wan's affirmative reply, Si Yanmo led her, and the two girls headed aggressively towards the Ministry of Revenue.
The sun was rising higher and higher, and the Qin region seemed exceptionally hot today.
The Ministry of Revenue was still packed with people. The sweltering heat forced everyone to sit on the ground and fan themselves with their hands or sleeves.
Unfortunately, the official in front was sitting in the shade, and everyone who came to do business with him was eager to fan him.
Si Yanmo stood directly in the middle and shouted at the second floor, "Lin Buqing, get down here for me!"
Everyone in the courtyard turned to look at this seemingly reckless little girl.
What did she just say?
"Is she a witch?"
"Are the shamans of Qin this young?"
"Why does it look so familiar?"
...
Merchants who were visiting Qin for the first time were talking amongst themselves. Several merchants from Jinwu in Nandu looked at Si Yanmo and felt that she looked familiar. After a long while, they realized that this girl was Si Shantang's "foolish daughter".
Didn't she marry the King of Qin? How did she become a sorcerer?
Si Yanmo ignored the gossip around her and, seeing that Lin Buqing wouldn't come down, continued to call out, "Lin Buqing, if you don't come down, the next time we meet will be in front of the King of Qin."
Sometimes, Zhou Yanqing's tyranny is quite effective.
As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Buqing quickly came down from the second floor, still with a humble demeanor, his steps quick but not disorderly.
"Mo Wubu." He bowed, as if he knew nothing. "What's wrong?"
"How's the household registration information I told you to find coming along?"
Lin Buqing understood and continued to evade the question: "It hasn't been fourteen days yet, has it? Besides, how easy is it to find household registration records from ten years ago? Mo Wubu should be lenient, shouldn't he?"
"Make an exception?" Si Yanmo sneered, turning back to Zhao Wan and gesturing for her to take action. "Make an exception my ass!"
As soon as she gave the order, Zhao Wan raised the scabbard in her hand and slashed at Lin Buqing's face. Her movements were so fast that the surrounding officials didn't even have time to react before they remembered to save Lin Buqing's life.
However, there weren't many people from the Ministry of Revenue in the front courtyard. Let alone fighting Zhao Wan, who had practiced martial arts since childhood, they would only be able to take a beating if they faced Si Yanmo.
"You keep making exceptions! Making exceptions!! Making exceptions!!! It's so complicated to let you change your household registration! Did the King of Qin employ you to serve the people, or to cause them trouble?"
Si Yanmo got more and more excited as she talked. Sometimes she really understood Zhou Yanqing; simple and brutal methods were more effective than anything else.
Sure enough, after only a few blows, Lin Buqing went from a "refined gentleman" to a bruised and battered rat, crying out, "Let him go!"
Si Yanmo then told Zhao Wan to stop. Zhou Yanqing was right, a beating would have been enough!
She immediately felt pleased. "Can you find my household registration information now?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" Lin Buqing dared not say a word of dissent now.
He really didn't expect Si Yanmo to pull this stunt. With so many merchants watching in the front yard, he was about to lose all face.
And it turns out that was indeed the case.
The merchants on the side had also been suffering from the Ministry of Revenue's long delays, but because the Ministry was a local strongman and an official of the imperial court, they could only tolerate it again and again.
Si Yanmo's beating today really vented their anger, and they were all suppressing their laughter.
Amidst the suppressed laughter of the crowd, Lin Buqing led Si Yanmo to the Ministry of Revenue's warehouse, where almost all the household registration records of the Qin region were stored in a categorized manner.
Generally, a person's household registration is completely cancelled five years after their death, and the Ministry of Revenue's records are also destroyed.
"So, Tan Yin's household registration should no longer exist?"
Lin Buqing shook his head, accidentally aggravating the wound on the corner of his mouth, and hissed.
"The household registration of ordinary officials and convicted criminals will be retained until twenty years after the next King of Qin ascends the throne. If there is an overturning of the case, exoneration, or promotion, it will be convenient to change the household registration of their relatives."
It's quite rigorous.
Si Yanmo nodded, waiting for them to find Tan Yin and Qi Muchen's household registrations before letting them leave, and then she and Zhao Wan looked at them together.
"Wang... Mo Li, why are you looking at these?" Zhao Wan asked, puzzled, but still followed her through the pages.
Si Yanmo explained the side she had calculated earlier to her while referring to the household registration book.
Tragically, just as Zhou Yanqing said, there were no survivors in Tan Yin's case; his wife, children, and even the water carrier who had brought him water were all killed.
The Ministry of Revenue kept detailed records, including where everyone died and who disposed of their bodies—everything was recorded exactly as described.
“That’s strange…” Si Yanmo muttered.
She doesn't think there's anything wrong with her destiny, nor does she think there's anything wrong with her understanding.
Given this, the fact that there was no problem with her household registration was puzzling.
At this moment, Zhao Wan's words reminded her: "After all, this household registration is just a few blank pieces of paper, it's too easy to forge."
Back then, in order to ensure that the identities of these orphans were legitimate, Wei Jingzhong bribed Ning He several times in private, so there were no problems with their household registration.
Then it's possible that Tan Yin's work wasn't tampered with.
"Then it seems we can only try to find some people who experienced it firsthand back then."
When it comes to eyewitnesses, the first person Si Yanmo thinks of is Mo Wenzhong.
Back when the Tan Yin case occurred, Mo Wenzhong was Qin Zixiu's sorcerer, which should be clear to everyone.
However, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Revenue are too far apart, one in the west of the city and the other in the east. It would probably be evening by the time we get to the Ministry of Finance.
Si Yanmo decided to go to the nearby Siyuan first. It was said that the Siyuan was an old man who had participated in the cases from back then. In addition, Qi Muchen's body was still in the Siyuan, and she had wanted to go and ask about the situation earlier.
With that in mind, she brought Zhao Wan to the Siyuan.
Unlike the luxurious Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Justice was practically a thatched hut, with even the facade dilapidated.
When Si Yanmo pushed the door, she felt as if the wooden door could fall down and shatter into pieces with just a little force.
She had to proceed with extreme caution, but the moment she opened the door, a large rooster flapped its wings and flew towards her. Fortunately, Zhao Wan reacted quickly and caught the rooster, but the door still slammed shut with a loud bang.
A middle-aged man dressed in coarse linen clothes, covered in chicken feathers, quickly came forward and took the chicken from Zhao Wan's hand.
"Oh, thank you so much, heroine!" He turned around and handed the chicken to Sikou, who was running up behind him. "Quickly, take this chicken to Aunt Li!"
Finally, he dusted off the chicken feathers on his body, and only then did he see the person in front of him clearly. He then bowed and paid his respects.
"Oh dear, it's Mo Wubu. I was caught off guard. Please forgive me."
Si Yanmo waved her hand, she had only just realized that this person was Du Ruoshan, the head of the Si Academy.
This was different from the Du Ruoshan she had seen at Wanku Cliff. Although Si Yanmo hadn't paid much attention to his clothes then, he certainly wasn't dressed like an ordinary villager like he was now.
She asked, "Does the office of the magistrate raise chickens?"
"Oh, no." Speaking of this, Du Ruoshan, who was nearly fifty years old, couldn't help but blush. "When we don't have anything to do, we usually help the people around us catch a chicken or find a dog or something."
No transactions?
Si Yanmo frowned. "Hasn't Qi Shibao's case still not been solved?"
Furthermore, Qin'an City isn't exactly peaceful; surely there aren't even any petty thieves here?
Du Ruoshan scratched his head and led her inside while explaining, "The Judicial Office has to report to you first when handling cases, and then you will assign them to the diviners in the Divination Office. Only if the diviners have a divination to determine the crime can we arrest the person. Otherwise, we cannot handle it on our own."
Si Yanmo has only just taken over the matters of divination and witchcraft, and many of these matters are still with Zhou Yanqing or sent directly to Mo Wenzhong.
The only case that was sent to her was probably Qi Muchen's case, but she hadn't spoken up, and the Department of Justice hadn't taken any action.
"How can this be?"
She followed Du Ruoshan into his study at the back. There were piles of cases, big and small, but no one was dealing with them. Some of them were obviously old cases, covered with a thick layer of dust.
If this is the case, then the divination was wrong, wouldn't all of them be wrongful convictions?
"That's true," Si Yanmo smiled bitterly. She herself had been sent to the altar based on just one word from the fortune teller.
Even though Du Ruoshan felt it was unreasonable, he could only force a smile.
After all, in the entire Great Southern Kingdom, the divination office was the most powerful, while the others were less powerful, and those like the judicial office, who had no real power, were the least powerful of the least powerful.
It's nothing more than running errands and searching houses. It's a cushy job, so some people who are at the bottom of the divination academy or who are too old to become officials come here to collect a salary so they can make a living.
Si Yanmo wiped the dust off the case file and shook her head: This is not appropriate!
What's the difference between this kind of practice, where life and death are decided based on a single statement without any evidence, and utter nonsense?
The Ministry of Justice has never had any real power, while the Ministry of Justice is all-powerful. In the future, it will be the same as Ning Qingzi's case. If he wants any result, he just needs to bribe the Ministry of Justice officials.
One of her greatest wishes as a shaman was to prevent what had happened to her from happening to anyone else.
Si Yanmo's eyes darted around, as if she had an idea. "I just don't know if he'll agree."
She muttered to herself.
As the sun gradually dimmed, Si Yanmo didn't get any useful information from Du Ruoshan. It was basically the same as what Zhou Yanqing had said: there were no survivors in the Tan Yin case.
Du Ruoshan even showed her the case files from that year, as well as his own records, clearly detailing when each person died.
"The King of Qin was meticulous in his work. He had expressed his reluctance at the time, but it was the imperial edict of the Southern Emperor, and no one dared to disobey it."
Du Ruoshan vividly recalled those days when he was just a junior official in the Ministry of Justice, arresting people alongside the officials in charge.
What he remembers most clearly is that he was the one who captured Tan Yin's son.
Knowing he had been exposed, Tan Yin planned to send his wife and children away, but they were all arrested because the city was under lockdown.
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