Return to the Tang Dynasty to be a villain

Chapter 24 An evil plan gradually takes shape
In the lobby of the Jishiyuan, Lai Junchen sat upright, with the four large characters "Observing the Autumn Details" shining brightly on the plaque behind him.

Shi Weichengqing, the head of the imperial court, sat on a Hu stool to the left of Lai Junchen.

Qin Yi and the other two stood on the right side of Lai Junchen.

Thirty-six clerks with swords hanging from their waists and wearing black clerk robes stood on both sides of the hall with their hands on their hips.

Four clerks knelt in front of the desk, holding brushes ready to take notes.

In the middle of the hall, Wannian County Magistrate Fu Wenjing stood on the left side facing Lai Junchen. Behind him were the Judicial County Lieutenant Li Yuanhong and the Bad Commander Wei Chang.

Standing next to Fu Wenjing was Zhang Xuanyu's eldest son Zhang Sheng, who was supporting a woman of about thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old.

This woman was his mother, Zhang Xuanyu's legal wife, and the daughter of King Wei Wu Chengsi, Wu Yanhui.

At this moment, both of them were dressed in white, with miserable expressions on their faces, and Wu Yanhui was sobbing non-stop.

"Young Master," Wei Xian leaned over to Qin Yi's ear and whispered, "Do you know why General Zhang's family resolutely refuses to accept the Wannian County ruling?"

Qin Yi smiled slightly, turned his head and put his mouth close to Wei Xian's ear.

"General Zhang is currently unemployed at home. If he was murdered, he can still enjoy a pension from the court after his death."

"But if he committed suicide, people would inevitably suspect he was afraid of committing a crime. I'm afraid the court would not only refuse to provide relief to his family, but would also cause them trouble."

When Wei Xian heard what Qin Yi said, he found that the other party had the same idea as his own, so he nodded calmly.

Just as the two of them were discussing in low voices, suddenly, there was a "bang" sound, and Lai Junchen slammed the gavel in front of him, and everyone in the hall suddenly fell silent.

Lai Junchen sat upright, his face gloomy as he quickly looked around at everyone in the hall.

"You've been arguing and quarreling outside the court since this morning. What's the matter?"

"Come here, sir."

"Come on, my lord"

Fu Wenjing and Zhang Sheng rushed to speak.

"Bang", the gavel made another sound, and Lai Junchen shouted in a low voice.

"Don't make any noise, the sufferer should speak first."

What Zhang Sheng and Fu Wenjing said next was similar to what Qin Yi learned in the morning.

Zhang Xuanyu died of poisoning in Hua'e Tower last night.

Because there were no signs of a fight, and the porcelain bottle containing the poison was in his own hands.

Therefore, the people of Wannian County concluded that Zhang Xuanyu's cause of death was suicide by taking poison.

However, Zhang Xuanyu's family members disagreed with Wannian County's judgment. They believed that although Zhang Xuanyu was unemployed at home, he was not discouraged.

Just a few days ago he was still muttering about it at home.

Now that the Turkic army has invaded Hebei Province, he wants to ask for permission from His Majesty the Holy Emperor, hoping to be reinstated and lead the army to eliminate the Turkic threat for the court.

The Zhang family believed that Zhang Xuanyu would not commit suicide at this time, and would not die in a brothel.

After listening to Zhang Sheng and Fu Wenjing's respective stories, Lai Junchen pondered for a moment and turned to look at Wei Xian.

"Master Wei, you are the head of the Redress Office. What do you think of this matter?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Xiang turned around and bowed to Lai Junchen, then expressed his opinion.

Unlike earlier, after listening to Qin Yi's ideas, Wei Xian no longer firmly believed in Wannian County's judgment.

He believed that although Zhang Xuanyu's death seemed to be suicide by taking poison, there were still some strange things about it, so he did not rule out the possibility of homicide.

After hearing Wei Xian's ambiguous conclusion, Lai Junchen pondered for a long time before telling everyone in the hall his decision.

He sent Wei Xian to Wannian County to review the case again together with the judicial county lieutenant Li Yuanhong and the bad commander Wei Chang, and submitted a written conclusion to the Yishiyuan within ten days.

Zhang Sheng knew that if Wei Xian and others issued the document this time, it would be impossible to overturn the verdict, so he asked Lai Junchen to participate in the investigation of the case.

After all, Zhang Xuanyu was a third-rank military general, and his wife was the daughter of King Wei, the Princess of Zecheng County.

After the case of Zhang Xuanyu's death is closed, if His Majesty the Holy Emperor sympathizes with him, there is a high probability that Zhang Sheng will be given an official position.

Therefore, Lai Junchen did not make things difficult for Zhang Sheng and agreed to his request on the spot.

After leaving the court, Lai Junchen stopped Qin Yi who was about to leave.

"Brother Yi, what do you think about what happened today?"

Qin Yi naturally didn't want to get involved in this matter.

Not only is this case of no benefit to him, but it could also be life-threatening if not handled properly.

As for Lai Junchen, his glorious days are numbered.

Qin Yi knew in his heart that if he could use him one last time, he could just pretend to be nice to him and get the matter over with.

Now, the most important thing for Qin Yi is to make those things as soon as possible.

As for other things, Qin Yi didn't have the time to worry about them.

Qin Yi shook his head with a wry smile and looked at Lai Junchen in embarrassment.

"Master, you are well versed in criminal law, and you have not yet reached a conclusion on this matter. I am a student with limited knowledge and naturally have no idea what to do."

"However, from my student's perspective, no matter what the outcome of this matter is, it is of no concern to you, my dear teacher. You don't need to waste your energy on it."

When Lai Junchen heard Qin Yi's words, he was very impressed with him.

He and Qin Yi had not known each other for long, but why did he like this boy from the bottom of his heart?
A big part of the reason for this is that Qin Yi is very aware of the current situation.

Always know how to grasp the key and take advantage of the situation to find solutions to problems.

If Lai Junchen had not run into Zhang Xuanyu's family in Wannian County this morning by the eunuch Gao Yanfu who came to deliver the imperial edict, he would not have had the slightest interest in this case.

Lai Junchen straightened his robe and nodded to Qin Yi.

"But after all, our Jishiyuan has already inquired about this matter. I still have to go to the palace to report to His Majesty. You go by yourself." "Yes!" Qin Yi saluted Lai Junchen and left the lobby of the Jishiyuan.

As soon as he reached the gate of the Yishiyuan, he saw Wei Xian, Fu Wenjing, Li Yuanhong, Wei Chang and Zhang Sheng standing outside the gate waiting for him.

"This is the young master of the Qin Mansion."

When Wei Xian saw Qin Yi coming out, he brought Fu Wenjing and others forward and introduced Qin Yi to them.

"Everyone," Wei Xian then said to the crowd, "It was the young master who saw the strangeness of this case, so I suggested we wait here for him and see if he has any insights."

Trouble! Qin Yi muttered impatiently in his heart.

At this moment, he was thinking about going back to check on the production progress of Hongwei and Luqi.

If you encounter any technical problems, he can help solve them.

But Wei Xian obviously wanted to drag him into this mess, which made Qin Yi feel very repulsive.

"My Lords," Qin Yi smiled and bowed to everyone.

"You are all veteran officials with many years of experience, and you are the parents who keep the area safe."

"Especially Lord Li and Commander Wei, they have extensive experience in solving cases."

"And everyone in Chang'an doesn't know that you two have solved countless strange and mysterious cases."

"I am but a commoner, how dare I show off my skills in front of you gentlemen?"

"Master Wei, please don't make me look bad in front of you all!"

After Qin Yi finished speaking, he bowed to Wei Xian and the others, turned around, and walked towards Dunhuafang where he lived without looking back.

Looking at Qin Yi's departing back, Wei Xian smiled bitterly and could do nothing but...

Qin Yi was Lai Junchen's student and the eldest son of the Licheng County public official. Given their status, they really didn't dare to force the other party.

When Qin Yi returned to his own courtyard, he learned a piece of news that made him overjoyed.

Qin Zhong had returned at this moment, holding a lease for a shop on Zhuque Street.

After taking the lease and looking at it, Qin Yi was very satisfied.

This shop is located in Xingdaofang, just across the road from the south gate of the imperial city, Zhuque Gate.

It was the only way for civil and military officials to go to and from court, and for royal relatives to enter the palace for an audience.

"Okay, great!"

Qin Yi excitedly returned the lease to Qin Zhong and patted him on the shoulder happily.

"Uncle Zhong, this is a good job. Whether we can become rich and make a fortune depends entirely on this shop."

Qin Zhong looked at Qin Yi, who was dancing with excitement, and felt a little sorry in his heart.

The shop he found charged a monthly rent of four hundred strings of cash, which was nearly 30% higher than the surrounding shops.

This was the price he had agreed to pay for the monthly rent.

Qin Zhong paid one month's rent and one month's deposit to the owner of the house, spending eight hundred strings of cash in one go.

Now, Qin Yi only had a little over a hundred coins and two hundred pieces of silk cloth left in his hands.

The reason why Qin Zhong indulged Qin Yi so much was that he wanted to make him penniless as soon as possible, and then return home to inherit Qin Huaidao's property and title in peace.

We must never let the illegitimate son born to that brothel girl take away everything that belongs to Qin Yi.

But Qin Yi didn't care at all about the extra 100 strings of cash in rent for the shop every month. What he cared more about was the location of the shop.

This is equivalent to buying a shop right across from Tiananmen Square. Even if it sells baba, you probably won’t lose money, right?
In addition, Qin Yi was extremely confident in his products, and he also mastered business methods that people of this era could not understand at all.

In Qin Yi's opinion, he doesn't care even if the monthly rent of the shop that Qin Zhong rented doubles.

Returning to his study, Qin Yi took out paper and pen and started writing and drawing.

Two hours later, Qin Yi handed his work to Qin Zhong, and asked him to take fifty coins and go out to find some furniture makers to decorate the shop.

Only after Qin Zhong left with the money and drawings did Qin Yi walk to the backyard.

Although it is spring and flowers are blooming in Chang'an at this moment, it is still a bit chilly.

But Hongwei and Luqi were so busy that their faces turned red and they were sweating profusely.

Qin Yi was pleasantly surprised to find that the two of them had actually made some soap, nourishing facial mud and perfume using the recipes he gave them.

Because there is no bleach, the soap is a bit yellow in color.

But Hongwei and Luqi have learned to use distillation to extract plant essential oils from petals.

This soap, molded into the shape of a peony flower, exudes a faint floral fragrance.

Perfume is made by mixing alcohol with plant essential oils.

Although not as complex as the scent of later perfumes.

But in this era, Qin Yi was confident that he would also drive the families of those nobles crazy.

The last one is the dough.

It is actually a mixture of grass and cucumber juice, with some ground salt and lead powder added.

Although the process is simple, it can moisturize, whiten and make the skin smooth.

Looking at these results with satisfaction, an evil plan gradually took shape in Qin Yi's mind.

For him, since he has made up his mind to be a villain, he must do something earth-shattering.

Hello everyone, this book will enter the first round of trial recommendations next week. If you like this book, please try not to hold on to it. Thank you!



(End of this chapter)