good season

Chapter 135 A Night Visit to the Ministry of Justice (Two Chapters Combined)

After a moment's thought, Xiao Zhen said, "Don't be impatient. If it's Master Zhu who went, then it's most likely just a formality. Besides, the people who went to the estate last night should have returned long ago."

Hearing Xiao Zhen say this, Zhao Shiqing was indeed no longer in a hurry. She blinked her bright eyes, revealed an innocent smile, and asked, "Young Master Zhen, you have a wide network of connections. You must know someone in the Ministry of Justice. I wonder if you could..."

Actually, Zhao Shiqing wanted to call him "Uncle Zhen," but she had already noticed that Xiao Zhen didn't seem to like being called "uncle," probably because he thought the title made him sound old.

Whether it was because Zhao Shiqing's attitude was sincere or because the title "Young Master Zhen" sounded pleasant, Xiao Zhen's face showed a rare smile. However, this smile appeared not only stiff but also strange on his fake face. Zhao Shiqing quickly looked away, as she couldn't bear to look at him!
"Have Xiuxiu help you disguise yourself as a man, and I'll take care of the rest."

Zhao Shiqing thought to herself, "I can also disguise myself," but then she realized that her disguise skills were no match for Xiuxiu's; they were simply not in the same league.

After leaving the Zhuangyuan Tower, Zhao Shiqing returned to her residence. Half an hour later, the person who came out of the courtyard was a young man with rough, dark skin, a thin build, and an ordinary appearance that made people not want to look at him much.

A mule cart was parked outside the alley, driven by a fair-skinned, chubby boy. Upon seeing Zhao Shiqing, the chubby boy took the initiative to greet her: "Excuse me, is this young master Zhen?"

Zhao Shiqing was taken aback, and immediately guessed that this was the person Xiao Zhen had sent to pick her up.

"Yes, my name is Zhen Bao. May I ask your name, sir?"

The chubby boy smiled and said, "My surname is Si, and my given name is Yunfei. You can just call me Little Fatty. That's what everyone calls me."

Zhao Shiqing: "What a coincidence, I have a big fat guy in my family."

Si Xiaopang: "Really? Then I won't stand on ceremony. You'll have to follow my instructions later."

Zhao Shiqing nodded: "Okay, I'll listen to you."

Si Xiaopang pointed to the carriage: "There's a set of clothes inside, you can change into them."

Zhao Shiqing: "Okay."

As the mule cart started moving, Zhao Shiqing took off her outer garment inside the cart and changed into the clothes prepared by Si Xiaopang. Zhao Shiqing had seen this style of clothing just yesterday; it was the uniform of the yamen runners of the Ministry of Justice.

The clothes were neither new nor old; Zhao Shiqing could barely wear them, and they didn't fit her very well.

Through the carriage curtain, she asked Si Xiaopang, "What's my name now, and what's my identity?"

While driving the carriage, Si Xiaopang said, "Your name is Liu Qi, you are fifteen years old this year, and your hometown is Liujiazhuang in Qing County. Your father's name is Liu Dashun. He used to be a horse groom in the Ministry of Justice. Last year, you took over his job and also became a yamen runner in the Ministry of Justice."

The yamen runners of the Ministry of Justice are divided into three ranks, and you are in the lowest rank. The Ministry of Justice has a women's prison at the Great Stone Threshold, and you were assigned to that place.

The prisoners at the Great Stone Threshold were all guarded by women, but there were also a few men, like you. The others were also teenagers around your age. At the Great Stone Threshold, you were bossed around by those aunties and older women. You did all the dirty and tiring work that others wouldn't do. If the aunties and older women were unhappy, they would take it out on you. You would not only be scolded, but sometimes you would also be beaten.

Not long ago, your father gave Zhang Siyu of the Ministry of Justice twenty taels of silver, and finally transferred you away from Dashikan. Today is your first day at the Ministry of Justice. You should have reported in the morning, but Zhang Siyu is on the night shift today, so he asked you to go in the afternoon to take his shift.

Nobody here knows you. Unless it's to escort prisoners, nobody goes to the Great Stone Threshold. So nobody here knows you, but they do know your father.

Zhang, the prison warden, is also from Qing County. He's from your hometown and has already received twenty taels of silver, so he'll definitely take care of you. Therefore, once you're inside, just follow Zhang's instructions.

As soon as Si Xiaopang finished speaking, the carriage stopped outside the Ministry of Justice.

Si Xiaopang pointed to a small door next to him: "Your transfer order and your badge from the Ministry of Justice are under the cushion. Go through that small door; it leads directly to the Ministry of Justice prison. I'll pick you up for your shift tomorrow morning."

Zhao Shiqing took an envelope from under the cushion, thanked Si Xiaopang, jumped off the mule cart, and walked towards the small door.

There was only one gatekeeper outside the small gate. Zhao Shiqing took out the transfer order and Liu Qi's name tag from the envelope. The gatekeeper looked at them and said with a smile, "Transferred from Dashikan? Oh, Dashikan is so good. Why don't you work there anymore?"

Zhao Shiqing said in a muffled voice, "What's so good about it? I've had enough."

The doorman grinned lewdly: "That's because you're still too young, you haven't even grown all your hair yet. You'll regret transferring here when you grow up."

Zhao Shiqing: "You're old enough, why don't you transfer there?"

The doorman slapped him on the head: "You brat, I didn't realize you were such a troublemaker. No wonder you couldn't make it in Dashikan. Serves you right. Go in. You'll regret coming here to carry corpses every day."

Zhao Shiqing rolled her eyes at him, stuck her neck out, and walked inside. No matter how you looked at her, she was just a greenhorn.

Because of the arrival of a new employee, Zhang Siyu arrived an hour earlier than usual. He was handing a paper package to Li Siyu, who was still on duty, saying, "This is for you. It's spring tea that my relatives brought from Xinzhou."

Li Siyu was a tea connoisseur and was overjoyed upon hearing this: "Spring tea from Xinzhou? Excellent, excellent, this is truly a fine product. Speaking of which, over the years, you, Old Zhang, have been the one who understands me best."

Zhang Siyu laughed and said, "You're the same way; you always think of me when something good happens."

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Prison Chief Li asked, "Who is it?"

"Is Zhang Siyu here? This is Liu Qi, transferred from Dashikan. I'm here today to report for duty."

Prison Chief Li looked at Prison Chief Zhang: "You came here looking for me right away. Did you get this done?"

Zhang Siyu nodded: "Liu Dashun's son. This kid is honest. He was always bullied in Dashikan. His father came to me, and I told Chen Tou'er, and he was transferred here."

Li Siyu sighed: "I think you meant well but did the wrong thing. These are turbulent times, and I'm looking for a quiet place to escape this trouble. But you, you've brought someone else's child here. What if you get into trouble? How will you explain it to Liu Dashun?"

Zhang Siyu said, "Why didn't you remind me sooner? Now that they're here, we can't just send them back. Alright, I'll handle this. You don't need to worry about it."

He said to the doorway, "Come in."

Zhao Shiqing walked in and saw a small table in the room with one person sitting on each side. He already knew that Li Siyu was also there when he was outside, so he bowed respectfully and said, "Your subordinate Liu Qi is here to report for duty. This is my transfer order and my name tag."

He presented the large envelope, which Zhang Siyu glanced at briefly before saying, "Alright, from now on you'll be working with me in the evenings. It's not time to start your shift yet, so wait here until everyone in our shift arrives, and then I'll take you to meet them."

Prison Chief Zhang pointed at Prison Chief Li: "This is Prison Chief Li. Greet him."

Zhao Shiqing obediently called out, "Prisoner Li."

Li Siyu said with a smile, "I worked with your father for more than 20 years. I even held you when you were little."

Zhang Siyu seemed a little anxious and said to Li Siyu, "Alright, alright, I didn't think much of it at first, but after you said that, my heart is in my throat. Tell me quickly what happened during the day." Li Siyu smiled and said, "Don't worry, this has nothing to do with us. It's just that Master Zhu Er came over just now, and guess what? He brought the murderer with him. The murderer was the body that was brought back last night."

Zhang Siyu was taken aback, then scoffed, "What do you mean? A scapegoat found by the Marquis of Baoqing's mansion? What about Prince Zhu? Has he already been released?"

Li Siyu shook his head: "No, that's not true. Who would dare to release the people that Master Yan brought back without his personal order? Even the Minister wouldn't dare!"
In the past, we might have actually released them, but have you heard? Today, those gentlemen from the Yan family, along with more than a dozen young masters, went to the Marquis of Baoqing's mansion to demolish houses. It's said they demolished several. When Xiao Yang went to buy steamed buns today, everyone on the street was talking about it. I know about it even here in the prison, let alone the Minister, who has known about it for a long time.

Believe it or not, the moment the Minister released Prince Zhu, the Yan family and their entire gang went to his house and demolished it. They dared to demolish the Baoqing Marquis's residence, let alone his.

"I've figured it out. Aside from the imperial palace, there's no house the Yan family wouldn't dare demolish."

Zhang, the prison warden, hurriedly asked, "So, Master Zhu has left now? And what about the murderer he brought with him?"

Li Siyu pointed in one direction: "He's still here. He didn't leave. He said he wouldn't be able to explain himself to the old lady, so Master Zhu doesn't want to leave. He even said he'd ask the Minister to lock him up too."

Zhang Siyu laughed heartily. At this moment, a yamen runner came in and said to Zhang Siyu, "Chief Zhang, Lord Xu wants you to come over."

Lord Xu is none other than Grand Secretary Xu, the Minister of Justice.

If the cabinet were ranked, Lord Xu would be at the very bottom, with the lowest profile.

If the Minister is like this, then the two Vice Ministers are even more so. Most of the people in the capital do not know the names of the Minister and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice.

Even combined, these three are not as famous as Yan Xia.

In the eyes of the common people, Yan Daxia is the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Justice is Yan Daxia.

In reality, Yan Xia was working for free in the Ministry of Justice. Not only did he not receive a salary, but he also often had to pay out of his own pocket.

Since Yan Xia arrived at the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry's case-solving rate has been steadily increasing.

With such a capable, worry-free, and cost-effective subordinate, Lord Xu was happy to step down to the sidelines, taking all the credit while leaving the blame to Yan Xia.

Unfortunately, Madam Wei didn't understand the intricacies of the matter. She thought that since Lord Xu was the head of the Ministry of Justice, she could just come to him and the matter would be settled. However, she overestimated Lord Xu. Although Lord Xu dared not offend the Marquis of Baoqing's mansion, he also did not want to offend Yan Xia.

If he offends the Marquis of Baoqing's mansion, he will be given a hard time and reprimanded by the emperor. If he offends Yanxia, ​​even if Yanxia quits, he will still be reprimanded by the emperor. Moreover, there will never be another time when he can lie down and receive credit.

Comparing the two, Lord Xu decided to use delaying tactics, dragging it out until Yan Xia came to the yamen.

Prison Chief Zhang specially brought Liu Qi (Zhao Shiqing) along: "Let's go, I'll take you to see the world, so you don't end up not knowing anyone and accidentally offending your superiors without them knowing."

Zhao Shiqing followed behind Zhang Siyu to see Lord Xu.

If this weren't the Ministry of Justice, Zhao Shiqing would never have imagined that the refined, fair-skinned, and gentle handsome man in front of her would actually be the head of the prison administration.

This was different from what she had imagined. In her mind, the Minister of Justice would be like Zhong Kui (a legendary figure in Chinese mythology).

She followed Zhang Siyu to pay her respects to Lord Xu, but Lord Xu didn't even glance at her. Zhang Siyu didn't introduce her either; a mere yamen runner wasn't worthy of having a name in front of Lord Xu.

Lord Xu said, “You’ve come at the right time. Prince Yan is recuperating at home. I will temporarily take charge of the cases he is handling. You will be on duty tonight, and you will personally guard Room B. There are six corpses in there. If anything goes wrong, I will hold you responsible.”

Zhang Siyu hurriedly replied, "Your subordinate obeys. Don't worry, it's just six corpses. Your subordinate guarantees to keep a close watch on them and not a single bone will be missing."

Lord Xu nodded in satisfaction: "Once Prince Yan solves this case, I will add your name to my report for credit."

Zhang Siyu was overjoyed; for them, being a prison warden, getting any credit was harder than climbing to heaven.

He thanked him profusely, but Lord Xu waved him away impatiently.

Before Zhang Siyu and Zhao Shiqing had even left the house, Lord Xu called out to him again: "By the way, the second master of the Baoqing Marquis's mansion brought two murderers. They will also be staying in the prison tonight. Have someone make arrangements for them."

Zhang Siyu was taken aback: "Second Master Zhu wants to go to jail?"

Lord Xu was also helpless. Having been in charge of the Ministry of Justice for many years, this was the first time he had encountered someone who came and didn't want to leave.

Soon, Zhao Shiqing met this eccentric Master Zhu.

Master Zhu the Second was plain-looking, neither handsome nor ugly. Like Liu Qi, he had a face that was easily forgotten.

Prison Master Zhang personally arranged for Master Zhu Er to be next to Zhu Yu. The uncle and nephew were separated by an iron fence, so Zhao Shiqing finally met Zhu Yu!

This was the first time she had ever seen a living Zhu Yu.

Zhu Yu had good features, with red lips and white teeth, and could be considered a handsome man. Unfortunately, his narrow eyes revealed a sinister air.

Both her godfather and her master told Zhao Shiqing that you should look at a person's eyes to judge them; a person with clear and honest eyes can't be too bad.

On the contrary, someone like Zhu Yu, whose eyes gleam with malice, is definitely not a good person.

Zhao Shiqing recalled the beautiful older sister in Xiao Zhen's dream who had married this beast. Just thinking about it made Zhao Shiqing want to kill Zhu Yu.

Even if it was just a dream.

But the next moment, Zhao Shiqing suddenly felt a gaze fall on her.

"Old Zhang, is this little dog next to you new? I've never seen it before?"

Zhang Siyu said with a smile, "Young Master has a good eye. This lad only arrived today. Liu Qi, quickly pay your respects to the Young Master."

Through the iron bars, Liu Qi, a junior yamen runner, respectfully greeted Zhu Yu, who was a prisoner: "This humble servant greets Your Highness, may Your Highness be well."

Zhu Yu snorted coldly, ignoring her, and looked at Zhang Siyu instead: "Are you on duty tonight? Go and find a girl to warm my feet."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the Second Master Zhu next door coughed lightly. Zhu Yu glared at him and said, "Second Uncle, don't give me that. I'm already locked up in jail, can't I even find a girl to warm my feet? Old Zhang, call a girl for my Second Uncle too, hurry up, preferably from the Hundred Flowers Pavilion."