Da Li Temple - Chapter 13.1

Chapter 13.1
Witness

The next day was a rest day, and when Su Mo Yi woke up, it was close to noon. The consequence of a hangover was a dry mouth and a broken memory.
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Su Moyi got up and gave himself a cup of tea. The last image he vaguely remembered was Lin Wanqing pinching his nose and pouring wine.
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“Ye Qing,” He opened his mouth to call out with a hoarse voice, “Where is Lin Recorder?”
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Ye Qing choked. His speechless face became even more helpless by a few points. You two just spent last night together, but now, as soon as you wake up, you ask for a certain someone —

He sighed and replied, “Lin Recorder said that Lord didn’t have an arrangement for her today, so she went out early in the morning.”
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Su Moyi smiled coldly at his words. Huh, she still knew she had to hide when she ran into trouble.
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“She didn’t say where she’d go?”
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Ye Qing tried his best to maintain his expression, which worsened, and whispered, “No.”
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Su Moyi’s black pupils shrunk, a face of dissatisfaction.
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Seeing Su Moyi’s dissatisfaction, Ye Qing didn’t want to touch his temper, so he went out and silently ordered a fragrant herb bath for him.
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The hot air filled the clean room with a fresh scent, soothing the headache after a hangover.
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Su Moyi closed his eyes and leaned on the bathtub. His perfectly lined arm rested casually against the rim, letting out a long sigh of relief. The dense vapor steamed his remaining drunkenness, loosening his consciousness.
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Within the one-dimensional Da Li Temple and the court, he had never encountered a character like Lin Wanqing. Stubborn like a donkey and crazy like a cat. He couldn’t help but laugh, thinking that it would be fun to play the game with her.
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Of course, Su Moyi could see Lin Wanqing wanted to go to the file room to satisfy her curiosity and gain some experience. She wanted to show her skills in the future. Since this was the case, he felt he could hold this bargaining chip for a little longer.

Su Moyi was so absorbed in his thoughts that his arm dropped and accidentally slapped the floating bath towel. Stunned, this soft touch was like he felt last night.
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However, last night —
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He didn’t seem to have touched anyone, and the only one who could have physical contact with him was Lin Wanqing, who carried him back.
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“My lord,” Ye Qing’s voice came from outside the door, interrupting his thoughts.
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Su Moyi put the bath towel over his shoulder and let Ye Qing come in to talk.
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“Order Song is still absent on the grounds of illness, refusing to be interrogated by the Da Li Temple.” Ye Qing said.
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“Oh,” Su Moyi was mocking, “this old fox.” He slowly leaned back to the tub, his expression cold and contemplative.
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Song Zhengxing’s case had to involve a Yellow River Disaster Relief two years ago. Problems with disaster relief payments had been common incidents throughout the dynasties. After all, it was just a matter of killing and demoting those who deserved it. If those people below are wise enough to do their job effectively, the Emperor may overlook them and let them go. But that time, the disaster relief incident was unusual. The disaster relief funds collected by the imperial court from various government offices turned out to be ‘fake silver.’ Among the 500,000 taels of official silver collected, more than 200,000 taels of ‘fake silver’ mixed with other metals.

Two hundred thousand taels was worth one year’s tax revenue. If it flows into the market, it will lead to soaring prices, and the people’s livelihood will wither. Even more surprising was that those silvers came from the capital’s official coffers. That was undoubtedly stepping on the Emperor’s bottom line.
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The Emperor immediately wanted to investigate this matter severely. However, the disaster has developed to an unmanageable point. If they investigate the matter, they are bound to use the people’s livelihood as the weight of infighting.

In the end, the Ministry of Criminal Affairs sentenced more than 50 people from the Mining Department, and the main culprit committed suicide out of fear, leaving this matter unexplored.
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Ultimately, those people took advantage of the flood and escaped successfully. But humans couldn’t control these natural and man-made disasters.
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Su Moyi didn’t believe in coincidence. The disaster was uncontrollable, but the time to report to the court was. The Emperor would not have been inactive if the disaster news arrived half a month earlier.
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For this matter to be successful, three conditions were needed. First, the timing of the Emperor’s knowledge of the disaster. Second, the clearance of all the explorable clues, and third, relationships with the Mining Department.
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After combing through the clues, Su Moyi realized that only Song Zhengxing had such ability. He had been an official for decades and served two generations of emperors. During the previous dynasty, he had held the post of governor in Hongzhou, where the mining industry was well-developed. Then, the late Emperor transferred him to be the official of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs. Shortly after, he became the Minister of Criminal Affairs. Then, the current Emperor assigned him to the position of Order. But suspicion was only suspicion. There was no evidence, not even a motive. Such a high-rank minister in the court, of course, Da Li Temple couldn’t arbitrarily interrogate. In the end, Su Moyi could only insert an informant into his residence. Wait and see what happens.
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In Wang Hu’s case, Song Zhengxing was the victim. The crime scene was not in his house. Hence, he couldn’t scour it. Song Zhengxing only responded to the previous investigations once, pretending to be grief-stricken, and only told some useless things repeatedly. Now, as long as he was using the pain of losing a loved one as a reason to avoid the investigations, Su Moyi couldn’t force him. Therefore, these days, Song Zhengxing’s side has seen no breakthrough.
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But Su Moyi couldn’t just sit and wait for something to happen. He gathered his emotions, looked up at Ye Qing, and said, “Tonight after dark, go with me to explore the Song Mansion.”
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Ye Qing’s eyes widened, realizing that this proposal was too risky, “Lord wants to go personally?”
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Su Moyi looked at him and almost rolled his eyes, “In Da Li Temple, you are the only one I trust.”
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Ye Qing was touched. With red eyes, he was about to thank Lord Su for his love, but then he heard Su Moyi’s clear and cold voice ring out. He said, “But your brain is not working well, so I can only do it myself.”
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Ye Qing: “……”

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The night fell low with a crescent moon in the sky. Lin Wanqing spent the whole day in Ping Kang Hall today and asked those courtesan about the things she didn’t have time to ask yesterday. It was already past mealtime, and she hadn’t had time to eat, so she ordered a bowl of wontons from a stall on the street. As she ate, she flipped through the booklet in her hand, circling the men victims knew in common one by one.
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The sound of a horse’s hooves rang out in her ears. Lin Wanqing looked up and saw a carriage slowly stopping at the entrance of a mansion not far away, surrounded by several people.
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Song Mansion?
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Her heart fluttered as she put down her chopsticks and asked, “The one in front, is it the residence of the court official, Lord Song?”
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The peddler answered yes without lifting his head.
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Lin Wanqing couldn’t help but look a few times more. After the carriage stopped, people next to it were moving things around. It looked like a small troupe that was doing Feng Shui. It should be for Concubine Zhao’s matter. Clear the bad luck on Song Residence.
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Lin Wanqing smiled, feeling too absorbed in her role, and was about to avert her eyes when she suddenly saw a maid dressed in a turquoise skirt coming from the mansion.