Food Fairy Lord

Chapter 596: The Lights Are Still On
Pei Ye actually didn't know what the communication of a canal symbolized, nor what kind of intention and purpose was hidden behind it.

But he believed that the cold blade that suddenly appeared in Mingyue Palace that night did not come out of nowhere. It must have had its preparations. Otherwise, they had so many better opportunities to take action. Why did they do it in the bedroom on that spring night?
In other words, if they were free enough, they could have caused so many people to disappear quietly over the years, the Liguan case would not have happened, the Taiping Cao Gang would not have collapsed, Yuanzhao might not have had the opportunity to become the Shangshu, and Xu Chuo might have been killed long ago.

Even for the Mirage City that seemed to have mastered some kind of rules, the spiritual realm might be too "quiet and profound" and inhumane.

Besides, that was twenty-three years ago, maybe they were still using the bloodiest and most brutal methods to select a Green Wind Envoy.

Therefore, they must have made many preparations in the palace long ago, which eventually led to the sword strike on that spring night. However, in that year, people had never heard of such a thing, so many signs seemed so ordinary, like a bird flying by at the edge of vision, and no one would specially cast any imagination on it.

It was the early morning of the next day. Pei Ye did not bring anyone with him. He carried the jade tiger and tied the goose inspection badge around his waist. He walked westward from the Zhujing Palace through the entire Ming Palace, left the residences of the emperor's princes and concubines, passed through two high walls, and entered the Yiting Palace in the west.

If Pei Ye lived in Zhu Jing's side hall, then Ye Ting was the side palace of the entire palace. A large number of palace maids and temple servants lived here, doing laundry, silkworms, horse breeding, funerals, and labor... They were in charge of all the supplies, food, and clothing for the Daming Palace. The Ye Ting Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs governed this area, and everyone was registered, just like another small county town.

In fact, this was true. People who lived here would often spend their entire lives in this area. Many people came here in their teens and never saw the outside of the palace walls again until they died of old age or illness. Only those concubines or orphans who were literate or had a talent for singing and dancing were exiled to bookstores and music halls, or they still had the possibility of leaving or entering the Daming Palace next door.

When Pei Ye walked in, he saw a busy atmosphere everywhere. In front of him, a dozen palace maids with headscarves were pouring cold water into the canal and warming their red hands under their armpits. An elderly woman beside them was urging people to dry the food. An ox cart loaded with food drove in from the south gate, driven by several eunuchs wrapped in jackets. These food would be unloaded in the Ye Ting for preliminary processing, and then sent to the back kitchen of the imperial kitchen according to the order.

Pei Ye walked north along the roadside. The courtyards on both sides were inscribed with the names of various districts. Some were open and people came in and out constantly, some were closed, some were noisy and some were quiet. The sounds that filled his ears were rather crisp. Firstly, most of the people here were women, and secondly, the remaining men were eunuchs.

But none of these courtyards was what Pei Ye was looking for. He walked all the way to the northern end, where there were no more water marks on the ground, the courtyards were sparse, and there were a few low-rise pavilions. He looked up and identified them, and stepped into a courtyard with an open gate. The three characters on the plaque were "Xiguanju".

Although it's not crowded, there are still many people coming and going.

"Eunuch He, you have to have eight or nine people with me. The cloth is so heavy that the girls' arms are sore after carrying it, how can they do delicate work?" The dignified female official stood in the courtyard, "The deadline is tight, and the patterns are complicated."

"We'll have to wait for the Xiuyifang." The eunuch surnamed He had narrow eyes and stood in the courtyard writing on a small book. He looked calm and had no energy to speak. "Everyone has been sent out. The Xiyuefang needs to set up a scaffolding. They will be back tonight and will be with you four tomorrow."

He raised his eyes and glanced at the young man who had just come in. After taking a look, he raised his eyebrows first, then slowly gestured to him towards the seat.

"If you need it urgently today, I'll write you a warrant and you can take it to the Internal Services Bureau to borrow a few." Eunuch He turned around, took out a piece of white paper and wrote on it.

"The Internal Servants Bureau is..." The female official frowned slightly and said, "Eunuch He, next time the music hall comes, don't be so generous, leave some for us too."

Eunuch He lowered his eyebrows and said, "A big event is coming. It's not easy for everyone. Please be more understanding."

He tore off the written paper and handed it to the female official, then handed the booklet to the young eunuch next to him. He turned around and looked at the young man standing quietly next to him: "What can I do for you, brave man? Did I come to the wrong place?"

Pei Ye raised his badge and clasped his fists, saying, "I am Pei Ye, the Yanjian of Xianrentai, and I have come to your place to inquire about some matters."

Eunuch He's eyes were narrow, but Pei Ye still saw him roll his eyes. His eyebrows drooped a little, and he turned around and said, "Eunuch Xi, please come in."

He gathered his clothes and climbed the stairs, muttering to himself, "Troubles come one after another - what do you want to ask?"

Pei Ye had sharp ears and smiled as he followed behind: "Eunuch He hasn't even heard what I said yet, how do you know if it's troublesome or not?"

Hexu glanced back: "No trouble, I don't see a man with a penis."

"..." Pei Ye's expression remained unchanged. "The Xiguan Bureau is the place in charge of the palace's labor service. I think all construction in this dynasty will be handled from here."

"That's true." He Xu frowned and looked at him. The two of them walked into the house. "But the palace hasn't built any palaces in many years - do you want to ask about the three sheep pens built in the palace last year?"

He pulled out a chair: "Let me check your documents first." Pei Ye put the token and other things on his desk, leaned on the table and said: "I want to ask about the Yuxian Garden built more than 20 years ago in Daming Palace."

He Xu was startled, and stopped the inspection. He frowned and asked, "Are you talking about Yurong Garden or Yuxian Garden?"

"Jade Rain Garden."

"..."

There was no need to frown as he looked at the documents in his hands.

Pei Ye said, "There was a canal in Yuxian Garden. It was led down from Jingchi, around the garden, and then flowed into Taiye Lake. You should have the maintenance records here. I want to find out who built it."

"Nonsense, when did Jingchi ever have a canal?" He Xu frowned, put down the document, and looked up at him.

Pei Ye also frowned: "Oh? Eunuch He covered up the construction of this canal? ... I'll make a note of it."

He lowered his head and opened the booklet.

"Eh?!" He Xu immediately turned around to stop him, and slapped his hand on his booklet.

Pei Ye looked at him, he looked at Pei Ye, and the two frowned and looked at each other for a while. He Xu slowly moved his hand away and rolled his narrow eyes.

"Don't talk nonsense to me. I just came to this place nine years ago. Let's check it out." The man turned around, lit a candle, and went into the dark inner room.

Pei Ye followed behind him.

The smell of years of paper and ink, this place is obviously different from the archives room of the government office. The documents are just thrown on the shelves casually. No one has come in to look for them for many years. Why bother to count forward according to the calendar? Frowning and muttering, "Yuxian Garden... Who knows when this garden was built?"

Pei Ye said: "You may not be looking for Yuxian Garden. I will give you a year and dig out all the construction works from the first year of Suolin to the fourth year of Suolin."

"Yes, sir."

Hexu counted for a while, then brought up a large pile of dusty documents, some of which were moldy. He put them on the table and flipped through them one by one. After searching for a while, he suddenly saw the candlelight and Pei Ye's hand was on the thin old paper.

"...really." He Xu stood up and muttered, "'Repairing the Jingchi Pond through the Yuxian Garden to the Taiye Liangzhang Canal. Approval document'...'The third year of Suolin in the autumn'."

Pei Ye glanced at him and asked: "Who built this canal?"

"It has been three years since the scales were locked. Sir, who knows this?" Seeing that there really was such a channel, He Xu also took it seriously. "The Xiguan Bureau is a government office that does work. The document in hand is a certificate and a promise to start the work. With this promise, we can start the work. It doesn't matter which nobleman gave the order... When the saint first ascended the throne, there were many things to be done, and everything was not so strict."

Pei Ye pointed and said, "There is a seal here. Whose seal is it?"

"It's not 'whose', it's from the Ministry of Internal Affairs." He Xu took a look, "That's not a problem, we're just following orders, and they said it very clearly - 'Water needs to be diverted to Yuxian Garden for irrigation and beautification purposes, Taiye Lake is low and far away, so we divert water from Jingchi and drain it to Taiye Lake'."

Pei Ye just lowered his head and looked through the drawings, and continued to ask: "Eunuch He is older, do you remember who was in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs during the third year of Suolin?"

"...Then," He Xu paused and said subconsciously, "It's naturally Supervisor Yu, there's no one else."

(End of this chapter)