Great Zhou Martial Immortal

Chapter 10 Wang Yizhi
Never speak ill of your target behind their back. There's no doubt they'll find out sooner or later, and speaking out will cut off their source of income.

Say nice things, especially when you're trying to build rapport; you won't have to worry about it not reaching their ears.

Moreover, this is someone of Li Lingyue's level.

She's playing the intelligence game; she'll definitely find out about this through various channels and gain emotional value from it.

This is an opportunity to win their favor.

Lu Chenyuan was already adept at seizing such opportunities—praising someone to their face would be seen as flattery, while praising them behind their back would be done without any ulterior motives, which would demonstrate true skill.

Lu Chenyuan wasn't just venting his anger.

Even without this incident, he wouldn't have started with that dancer; he would have gone it alone.

The Lijing Prison, the Jinwu Guard, and the Dali Temple cannot all be fools. They must have thoroughly investigated the assassins' backgrounds long ago. Ten days have passed without any results, which already shows how troublesome they are. If we want to make a breakthrough, we must take an unconventional approach.

He was quite interested in the female pharmacist, Yu Suyi.

According to intelligence, Yu Suying was originally a poor woman from Luonan. Because of her outstanding appearance, she was selected to enter the palace during the reign of Emperor Gaozong. For the past thirteen years, she has worked diligently and conscientiously. The palace has not treated her badly and has made an exception by selecting her to be a female official in charge of medicine. Logically speaking, there is no reason for her to do such a thing as confiscating her family property and exterminating her clan, but she did it. She did it and remained silent in the face of torture.

The tortures at Lijing Prison are extremely cruel, so there must be a reason why she could be so resolute!

Unfortunately, Zhou Xing, Lai Junchen, and their gang relapsed into their old habits.

If you don't confess, that's easy. I'll make it up for you, and once you've made it up, you can sign it and that'll be solid evidence.

The people who enter my Lijing Prison, whether they are guilty or not, whether they have committed minor or major crimes, or even what kind of crimes they have, are all decided by me!
The reason given was full of flaws, but no one cared. Both the Dali Temple and the Wu Zhou court were used to it.

……

Lu Chenyuan walked out of the kite platform and, following the address in the intelligence, arrived at Yu Suyi's hometown in Luonan.

Luoyang is divided into Luobei and Luonan, with the Luo River as the boundary.

Luobei was home to the palace, the imperial city, and the neighborhoods where nobles lived, while Luonan was mainly inhabited by commoners and foreign merchants. The neighborhoods were densely populated and lacked planning, with most buildings being low-rise houses and living conditions being harsh.

According to Tang law, palace maids were not allowed to exchange letters or items with outsiders. Violators would be punished for "leaking forbidden words" or "colluding with the outer court," and the punishment ranged from caning and confiscation of property to death.

However, there are exceptions, such as high-ranking female officials.

Yu Suying was a sixth-rank imperial physician, already among those entitled to send her salary home, and on major holidays, she could also send out "peace and safety notices." It's likely because of this that the Turks tracked her down and came knocking.

There might be clues in her home...

Lu Chenyuan's mind raced as he stepped into Luonan Fish Tail Alley, his feet stained with foul-smelling sewage seeping from the cracks in the bluestone slabs.

The pungent smell of mutton wafting from the south market mingled with the sour stench of rotting vegetable leaves, making one's throat tighten. At the alley entrance, a tattooed Hu merchant squatted, using a curved knife to carve mutton bones. As the blade scraped across the white leg bones, a few drops of blood splattered.

Lu Chenyuan walked to the front of Yu Suyi's house, which had been sealed off, and saw two guards standing at the door.

"Someone got here first?"

Lu Chenyuan was taken aback. He quickly walked closer, showed his waist token, and the two servants immediately bowed respectfully and made way for him.

Lu Chenyuan walked in. The Yu family was not dilapidated, after all, there was a female official in the palace. But they were not very wealthy either. They had everything they needed: a main house, two side rooms on the left and right, a well on the left, and a stable on the right. The horses were gone, and the courtyard was a mess, still bearing traces of the capture.

An imperial guard dressed in a feathered official's uniform was squatting in the center of the courtyard, looking at the marks on the ground, deep in thought.

He carried a violin case on his back.

When he was on duty, he carried the zither out, not for his own amusement, but as a weapon.

In today's martial arts world, very few sects use the zither, so Lu Chenyuan couldn't help but take another look. The man already knew someone had entered, stood up, turned around, and was somewhat surprised to see Lu Chenyuan. When he saw the waist tag, he was even more surprised. He paused for a moment, then clasped his hands in a salute: "Wang Yizhi, the commander of the Kite Guard, greets Lord Lu."

He was about twenty years old, with a handsome face and his cultivation had reached the third realm. He was outstanding in both appearance and martial arts. He did not look like a commoner, nor should he be only a seventh-rank.

Lu Chenyuan looked him up and down: "You know me?"

Wang Yizhi laughed and said, "Your Excellency displayed great power in front of the Princess's residence this morning. I was fortunate enough to witness it and I admire you very much."

Seeing that there was nothing unusual on his face, Lu Chenyuan smiled and said, "I'll take it as you weren't being sarcastic."

He strode towards the main room.

Wang Yizhi's expression turned serious: "Of course, I'm not being sarcastic. In just a few days, you, sir, have mastered the 'Golden Palace Scripture' and even reached a high level of proficiency. Such comprehension is beyond my reach! What I admire even more is the speed of your promotion..."

"Oh?"

Lu Chenyuan turned around unexpectedly and looked him over carefully: "The Wang family of Taiyuan?"

A glint flashed in Wang Yizhi's eyes, and his expression became more serious: "How did you know, sir?"

"Most people in the world are still ignorant and uninformed. You can tell from my movements that I have mastered the Golden Palace Scripture, which means I have surpassed many people. I am probably from a prestigious family. Plus, there is that zither on my back. Isn't that obvious?"

Lu Chenyuan said with great interest, "Now I'm even more puzzled. How did the descendants of the Wang family of Taiyuan end up like this?"

Those were five prominent families and seven prestigious clans.

The Wang family of Taiyuan has a long and distinguished lineage. Their deeds before the Qin Dynasty are unknown, but even starting from the Han Dynasty, there were prominent figures such as Wang Ba in the early Eastern Han Dynasty, Wang Yun in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Wang Chang of Cao Wei, and Wang Shu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Through military, political, and intermarriage activities, they have become one of the top aristocratic families in the Tang Dynasty.

Such family members, let alone the seventh rank, even if they were to enter officialdom at the fifth rank, would be considered utterly useless.

But Wang Yizhi doesn't seem like a good-for-nothing...

Wang Yizhi didn't take it to heart, his smile unchanged: "This humble servant is just a collateral branch, a very distant one. Going back five generations, I can barely be related to the main Wang family of Taiyuan."

Lu Chenyuan could tell he was hiding something, but he wasn't interested in digging deeper: "That is indeed quite far. How did you end up here? Which Bai Ling are you with?"

Wang Yizhi said, "Lord Xie has given me permission to act independently. I noticed something strange in the case file, so I came to take a look."

Lu Chenyuan pushed open the door and entered, looking around: "Can you see anything wrong?"

Wang Yizhi replied neither humbly nor arrogantly: "This humble servant is dull-witted and has not yet made any discoveries..."

"hehe."

Lu Chenyuan smiled, neither confirming nor denying. He walked into the main room and saw that the furniture was simple and the furnishings were sparse, but there were no signs of a raid. He reached out and wiped his fingertips on the table, and found a layer of dust on his fingertips. He couldn't help but chuckle: "It seems that Lijing Prison is hiding something. This place has been uninhabited for at least a month or two."

The stabbing incident occurred ten days ago.

Afterwards, Yu Suying and her entire family were executed.

The problem is, this house has been uninhabited for at least a month or two. Where did Lai Junchen and his gang find Yu Suyi and her entire family?
No wonder Yu Suying is so insistent on denying it; her family has already fallen into the hands of the Turks!

Do you really think you can solve a case with such fabricated facts?
Lu Chenyuan just wanted to laugh. He figured if they pushed him too far, Zhou Xing and Lai Junchen's gang would probably arrest a few more people to impersonate Ashina Yan's group. They might already be looking for people in secret—if I can't catch the real culprit, I can at least catch a scapegoat.
Historical records state that Lai Junchen successively served as Imperial Censor and Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Left Censorate. He organized hundreds of subordinates to specialize in informing on others, established the Judicial Office, and vigorously promoted criminal justice. He wrote "The Book of Framing," manufactured various instruments of torture, and used methods such as forced confessions to fabricate charges and cause people to die. Thousands of ministers and members of the imperial family were unjustly killed and their families exterminated by him.

The magistrate's office was located at the Lijing Gate, which is also the origin of the Lijing Prison. People at the time called it "Lijing Gate," meaning that anyone who entered this gate would die, without exception.

Lu Chenyuan looked around and nodded: "I've learned something new."

(End of this chapter)