Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 79: Make the Most of Yan Shifan’s Intelligence (Part )

"Brother Hai, do you believe Gui Deyu's words that there was an invisible murderer who committed the crime?"

"Investigating a case doesn't involve believing it or not. The key is to look at the clues. Brother Donglou, I have a question, and I hope you can tell me the truth."

"please say."

"This case will soon be handed over to Shuntian Prefecture for investigation. Who is the Shuntian Prefecture Governor? What are his governing abilities?"

"The prefect of Shuntian Prefecture is Mr. Huo, the Wuya Master! He is highly educated and talented. Under his administration, Shuntian Prefecture has cleaned up its long-standing malpractices and achieved remarkable results!"

After leaving the scene, compared to Yan Shifan's anxiety, Hai Yue calmly asked the most concerning question and got a good answer.

After experiencing the Hidden Mist Village case, he became increasingly aware of the difficulty of finding out the truth in ancient times. This time, when he encountered such a case of the murder of the children of powerful people, the first thing he was concerned about was the ability of the investigator.

If the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture is someone like Gu Shanjie, the magistrate of Qiongshan, there is no need to find out the truth. Just walk away and save yourself from trouble.

Only those who are dedicated and responsible, such as Shao Jing, the magistrate of Qiongshan, and Zhou Xuan, the former iron-faced judge, will have the opportunity to continue the investigation.

The current situation is still okay.

The highest official in Shuntian Prefecture in the Ming Dynasty was the Shuntian Prefecture Governor, a third-rank official. Currently, Huo Tao serves concurrently as the Chancellor of the Chancellery.

He was also a new noble in the Great Ceremony Forum, a fellow townsman of Fang Xianfu, a native of Guangzhou Prefecture, and one of the Three Elders of Nanhai. When the reforms were being implemented this year, Huo Tao made many suggestions, believing that land annexation was extremely serious throughout the country, and the burden on the people was becoming increasingly heavy, to the point where land surveying was necessary.

During his tenure as the head of Shuntian Prefecture, he rectified the public security in the capital and cleaned up the accumulated tax and labor malpractices in Wanping and Daxing counties, and his achievements were outstanding. Now he was about to be promoted to the Minister of Rites. Although he repeatedly declined the offer, Jiajing insisted on promoting this minister who spoke out for justice at the Great Ceremony Debate.

However, it was not long before Huo Tao was imprisoned because he impeached Xia Yan and attacked Jiajing's new favorite. He was imprisoned in anger. Fortunately, as long as he had made contributions in the Grand Ceremony, Jiajing would show mercy and release him to his original position soon after.

Since such a new noble was the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, Hai Yue no longer hesitated and said directly: "If we want to find the invisible murderer, we must collect more clues. What servants are there around Master Gui and Zhao Qilang?"

"There are two people beside Deyu, one is the servant Yanqing, and the other is the maid Lanyin. Qilang is accompanied by his servant Jinyan."

Yan Shifan also calmed down: "The three people who followed us in were these three people. When the crime happened before, they were waiting outside the yard."

Previously, at the gate of the Imperial College, the three young masters were followed by a large group of people, with about a dozen servants. However, they came to the Imperial College to take the exam after all, so they did not bring all of them with them, but only three personal servants.

Normally, three young masters would have three servants, one for each. But Yan Shifan was the only one without one. He took the initiative to explain, "I only have a few old servants at home. They've been with my parents for over 30 years. I usually go out alone..."

His tone seemed calm, but in fact, he revealed a hint of unwillingness.

The salaries of Ming Dynasty officials were notoriously low. During the Hongwu Dynasty, they were still able to meet the basic income of officials. Later, the proportion of physical goods converted into goods became higher and higher, and those things were not worth the corresponding rice and grain, resulting in a significant reduction in actual income. If there was no corruption or bribery, even if Yan Song was a third-rank official, his life would be very difficult based on the court salary alone. However, the Ouyang family was born into a merchant family, and if they wanted to maintain a wealthy life, they could do it.

The current situation is either because Yan Song is used to a hard life and is not used to it, or he is catering to the scholar-official group's advocacy of being content with poverty and flaunting his poverty.

Yan Song and his wife were nearly fifty years old and had long been accustomed to it, but Yan Shifan could not.

After being suppressed for a long time, once they gain power, they can no longer control themselves. From the distant past, there is Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty, and from the recent past, there is the future Prince Yu, and the historical Emperor Longqing...

Not to mention that the child couldn't be held back too much, Hai Yue pondered for a moment and began to assign tasks: "Time is running out, the government officials will be here soon, we don't have time to question everyone one by one, we have to question them separately! Brother Donglou, please take care of Master Gui's two servants!"

Yan Shifan was slightly startled when he heard this. "I ask two people? Brother Hai is a detective, so why don't you ask them?"

"Brother Donglou, there's no need to underestimate yourself. I believe you'd be more suitable to ask those two than I am!"

Haiyue said this very sincerely.

He was not at ease with Yan Shifan's character, even though he was only eighteen years old and had not done anything evil, but he always felt that this grandson had a lot of bad intentions in his heart.

But I have great trust in his brain.

The fact that Yan Song later held power for nearly twenty years was definitely not like what was portrayed in TV dramas, where he was protecting his son from the wind and rain. On the contrary, it was Yan Shifan who gave his father advice. Otherwise, Yan Song, who was getting older, would not be able to cope with the endless attacks from his opponents in the court and behind the scenes.

A key factor in the subsequent downfall of the Yan Party was the death of Ouyang. Yan Shifan had to mourn for his mother and was not with Yan Song. Xu Jie seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and launched an attack in one fell swoop, thus defeating the Yan Party.

Since this is the case, now is the time to show the wisdom and talents of the young chief priest.

Yan Shifan was stunned for a moment, then bowed and walked towards Gui E's two servants.

Haiyue also seized the opportunity and walked towards Zhao Chen's servant Jinyan.

What came into view was a pale face filled with fear.

The master humiliated the servant and he died. Now that the master is dead, it is normal for the personal servant to be the target of anger. At this time, if he is beaten to death by the master, even the government will not say much.

No one would remain calm in such a desperate situation. The servant Jinyan could hardly stand. When Haiyue came in front of him and called out to him several times, his soul seemed to have returned to his body and he looked at the person in front of him stupidly.

"You are just waiting to die if you remain in a daze. Only if you can find the real murderer who killed Master Ling, will you have a chance to escape the punishment of Marquis Wu Ding!"

The servant boy said in a trembling voice, "My Lord... Can you really forgive me?"

Haiyue didn't talk about any big principles, and kept talking about survival: "If you want to survive, you must seize every opportunity! Now answer my question, how long have you been following your master?"

The servant Jinyan finally began to reply: "Three years... less than three years..."

"How does your young master treat you on a daily basis?"

"good very good!"

"What's so good about it?"

"My monthly reward alone is five taels. Even the stewards in the Marquis's mansion can't compare to me!"

"Oh? So generous? Who does your young master get his money from?" "Of course it's the Madam! Madam will give you whatever the young master wants!"

"Your wife loves this brother the most?"

"Of course! Madam must love the young master the most!"

"How big is the difference between the two siblings?"

"Fourteen……"

"Fourteen years old? Siblings and brother from the same mother? Do they have any other close relatives?"

"This...is not...a compatriot..."

Having said this, the book boy Jinyan suddenly showed a strange look.

Haiyue's heart moved slightly. He originally asked these trivial questions in order to lower the other party's vigilance and to start with topics that were easy to answer so that he could ask for key clues later. He didn't expect that when he asked about the relationship between the marquis' wife and the younger brother, there seemed to be some things that were difficult to talk about?

However, noticing the other party's resistance, Hai Yue did not force the question and changed the subject: "What is the relationship between your young master and Young Master Gui?"

"pretty good!"

The servant, Jinyan, seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and immediately replied, "Young Master and Master Gui have been playmates for over three years and are as close as brothers!"

Haiyue asked, "Has there been any dispute before?"

"Uh……"

The book boy Jinyan hesitated again.

Hai Yue did not let him go this time. Her voice was solemn and serious: "Your master has already met with misfortune. No matter what you say now, he will not blame you. On the contrary, if you deliberately conceal the truth, you will endanger your own life!"

The servant boy's expression changed, and he finally said, "Young Master and Master Gui have indeed had some disagreements recently. Because of Miss Yun Shao from the Jade Jade Hall, the Zheguixuan they previously co-founded also lost money, and they had two arguments..."

Hai Yue asked directly: "Will these contradictions lead to fatal disasters?"

"That shouldn't be the case! After all, the young master didn't complain at all afterwards!"

The servant boy Jinyan hesitated for a moment, "As for whether Master Gui hates the young master, I don't know..."

Haiyue's eyes moved: "Did you think of something just now?"

The servant boy Jinyan whispered, "The young master got angry once and scolded Master Gui for being born to a concubine. Master Gui might have hated him then..."

"Is Gui Zai actually the son of Gui E's concubine?"

Haiyue really didn't know that the seemingly dashing young man was actually born to a concubine. But when you think about it carefully, the marriage between the first wife and the second wife is often based on political and economic considerations, and appearance is secondary. Concubines are mostly known for their beauty. Gui Zai was born handsome, and the genes he inherited from his mother were indeed normal.

But you killed someone just because of a curse?
It’s hard to say.

People in later generations would sometimes kill people on impulse for trivial matters, not to mention this era where the powerful and wealthy treat human lives as worthless.

Who can guarantee that a grudge has not been accumulating for a long time just because of a quarrel?
After all, these children of the rich and powerful may appear glamorous on the surface, but who knows how many dirty deeds they are doing behind the scenes...

Hai Yue thought about this and immediately asked, "When did your master find out about coming to the Imperial College for the supplementary enrollment exam today?"

The servant said cautiously, "It was this morning, when Master Gui sent a servant to deliver the message, that the young master told us that we were going to the Imperial College."

"How did he react?"

"reaction?"

"As for the son of the cabinet's deputy minister, not relying on his father's influence, but instead taking the exam to be admitted, didn't your young master raise any doubts?"

The servant Jinyan thought for a moment and slowly shook his head: "I really have no doubts. The young master has been quite silent these days, just asking us to prepare for coming to the Imperial College..."

Hai Yue asked, "Do you know why your young master has been so quiet these days?"

The book boy Jinyan continued to shake his head: "I don't know."

"Aren't you the one closest to him?"

The book boy Jinyan whispered, "I'm really not. The young master doesn't like to study, so I don't have many opportunities to be around him. Lan Xin, Zhen Xia, and Ling Feng spend more time with the young master!"

"These are the maids, right? Have they said anything about your young master's recent behavior?"

"I did hear them talk about it, but it seems they don't know the reason. They just feel that the young master is in pain and don't want to tell anyone around them. No one dares to mention it!"

"Does the Marquis know about this?"

“No…I don’t know!”

"Oh?"

Hai Yue's eyes were filled with scrutiny. "Your wife clearly loves your son so much, so why doesn't she know about such a major event? Or is it that Zhao Qilang's mood changes are caused by her? What is the relationship between these two siblings? Answer me!!"

The book boy Jinyan trembled and turned pale with horror.

(End of this chapter)