The doctor suffers from amnesia, but not complete amnesia.

So he killed everyone in Wang's household because if he left one survivor, Vice Minister Wang would immediately expose even bigger problems—and if the Court of Judicial Review followed the clues brought by this survivor to investigate Vice Minister Wang, and then to the Ministry of Revenue, then the case would progress faster than the murderer needed!

Because once the Dali Temple discovers a problem, it will inevitably be announced to the world. In other words, for a corruption case of this size, none of the people in the Ministry of Revenue can escape, even if they push Vice Minister Wang out as a scapegoat!

Now, the Court of Judicial Review has only investigated half of the case, but it has already been handed over. So, whether or not to continue investigating the Ministry of Revenue's problems, and how to continue the investigation, naturally falls back into His Majesty's hands.

The Dali Temple is a double-edged sword, but once the sword is used up, it must be put away.

Yu Cheng felt a little dizzy, but he tried hard to keep his thoughts in order—he knew he was getting closer to the truth.

"So now... the key now is to go to... Wang's Trading Company!"

The young master suddenly looked up.

Yes!

If one of the murderer's goals was to prevent the Ministry of Revenue from being implicated too much, then it would mean that he also knew just how serious the problems were with Wangji Trading Company—something the murderer had to deal with personally!

He jumped up from the chair, took a deep drag on his nearly burnt-out cigarette, stubbed it out in the overflowing ashtray, grabbed his official robe from the Dali Temple from the back of the chair, and rushed out.

-------------------------------------------------- ------

"What do you mean by 'already returned'?"

Yu Cheng almost roared as he questioned the minor official before him.

"They've already been sent back. It's an order from above. They're not prisoners, and they're the breadwinners of their families, so they're being told to find other jobs to make a living."

The minor official from the Ministry of Justice answered timidly.

"Where's the list?"

"It's sealed in the case file and has already been handed over to the palace's secret service."

Not everyone is like Yu Cheng, holding onto a hot potato and unwilling to hand it over.

Upon hearing that everything related to the four bloody incidents had been sealed and handed over, all the involved departments, except for the Dali Temple, including the Jingzhao Yin Prefecture and the Ministry of Justice, sent the items to the palace as quickly as possible.

Yu Cheng tugged at his hair, then, as if remembering something, asked the clerk again.

Do you know which merchant house those people went to?

"It should be the Shaofu. Wasn't the Shaofu always recruiting people before? I heard they didn't accept anyone and didn't care what you did before, and they paid high salaries—most of the people who still wanted to work in this industry probably went to the Shaofu."

Shaofu?

Yu Cheng thought of the man in the wheelchair with a gentle smile that always made people feel like they were bathed in a spring breeze—Qiao Yelan was such an easy person to talk to, if she asked him for help, she should be able to find out some of the people from the original Wangji Trading Company.

Thinking of this, he immediately abandoned the bewildered clerk and ran towards the outside of the Executive Yuan.

Then he stopped in his tracks.

The Executive Yuan is located just outside the Imperial Palace. After the court session ends, ministers can go directly to their offices after leaving the palace, which is very convenient.

So he also saw Qiao Yelan being pushed out of the palace gate by Wang Zhi.

"Greetings, Lord Qiao."

"Young Master Yu, is this—any other official business?"

Qiao Yelan's face once again showed his usual smile.

"Today is New Year's Eve. Yu Shaoqing should spend some time with his family."

"Lord Qiao, I have a request. I wonder if you would be willing to grant it?"

Yu Cheng showed no interest in pleasantries and went straight to the point.

"I'm sorry, Yu Shaoqing, I'm on my way to Longmen on His Majesty's orders—you see, His Majesty even had the imperial kitchen prepare the dishes for me in advance so I can take them with me on the road."

A hint of apology appeared on the man's face.

"If it's anything, Lord Shaoqing, we can discuss it after I return from Longmen. It just so happens that it's the Spring Festival holiday, so Lord Yu can take a break."

As if a rusty sledgehammer had smashed open the thoughts that had been stuck in her mind, Yu Cheng's pupils suddenly contracted as she stared intently at Qiao Yelan in front of her.

Are you leaving now?

"Yes."

When will you be able to come back?

"It's the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. His Majesty said he would cook me an extra bowl of glutinous rice balls in the palace. As his subject, I naturally wouldn't dare to miss it."

Qiao Yelan gave the answer he had already guessed before asking the question.

Yu Cheng swayed.

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Qiao Yelan will be in the palace.

On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, the court convened again—this case had already completely fallen out of the jurisdiction of the Dali Temple.

As an official in the capital, one is not allowed to leave the capital without prior application to visit relatives or without the Emperor's decree.

They all "just happened" to miss out.

After a moment of silence, Yu Cheng walked over.

"Sir, I would like to speak with the Minister of the Imperial Household Department alone. Would you be so kind as to grant me this request?"

Wang Zhi glared at him, about to reprimand him.

A hand interrupted him.

"Let me chat with Yu Shaoqing for a while, Eunuch Wang. It won't be a problem."

Wang Zhi immediately retracted his words. He stared intently at Yu Cheng for a moment, memorizing her face, before retreating with the eunuchs who were serving the food.

Yu Cheng pushed Qiao Yelan's wheelchair slowly forward.

“I have no evidence, and the clues I have are all exhausted. After that, this case will no longer be handled by me—and judging from that eunuch's eyes, I think I will be sent out after the New Year.”

“Everyone has their place. Perhaps if Yu Shaoqing put aside the cases in the capital and entered the Censorate to inspect the country for His Majesty, he might achieve even greater things.”

Qiao Yelan's voice was as gentle as ever.

“I never wanted to join the Censorate because I felt that once a case involved politics, it became so dirty that I didn’t even want to look at it—why did we have to do something so drastic for such things to be brought to the light?”

Yu Cheng's voice was very low.

"Let's imagine a scenario, Yu Shaoqing—suppose one day you investigate a case, you know who the main culprit is, you know how heinous he is, and you even know what evil he has done, but you just can't get the evidence because too many people are involved, and too many people are covering for this person."

"Even if you know that this evidence definitely exists, if you don't use this evidence to apply for an investigation, you won't be able to find it—so will you just admit defeat and watch this person go unpunished, or will you fabricate such evidence, apply for an investigation, and uncover the truth of the matter?"

Qiao Yelan's words sounded like daggers to Yu Cheng's heart.

"I......"

Yu Cheng's face turned pale.

He had no way of answering the question.

As the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review and a practitioner of the laws of the Great Yan Dynasty, he could not stand idly by and watch evildoers go unpunished. However, this sense of responsibility also bound him, preventing him from taking shortcuts as Qiao Yelan had suggested.

The situation described by Qiao Yelan was remarkably similar to that of Wang's Trading Company.

He looked at Qiao Yelan, both of them busy on New Year's Eve—he was all alone, with a stubborn obsession.

What about Qiao Yelan?

“You said you didn’t like going to the Censorate, but actually, I don’t like going to the Court of Judicial Review either—there, I can pick up the law and smash it against evil people, and the weight of the law will also weigh on my head.”

Qiao Yelan's voice was calm and composed.

"So I'd rather be a pawn, even if it's just a match used to light a fuse and then thrown away, I'd gladly accept it—because I know that only in this way can I completely tear off that fig leaf and expose all those filthy things to the sunlight."

“To expose their deeds and punish their evil deeds—these are the six words I seek.”

A sigh.

"I will not despise you for your hesitation, nor will I admire you for your integrity—Yu Shaoqing, there is nothing left for us to talk about."

Qiao Yelan reached out, signaling Yu Cheng to stop.

"When you face this situation, you'd better be able to firmly state your choice—until then, we have nothing more to say."

Wang Zhi, who was following behind, immediately jogged over. Yu Cheng let go of his hand, took two steps back, and watched as Wang Zhi turned Qiao Yelan around to face him.

He cupped his hands in greeting and once again revealed that perfect smile that was flawless.

"Lord Yu, Happy New Year."

"...Happy New Year, Mr. Joe."

Chapter Ninety-Six: Monotonous

When Qiao Yelan arrived at Longmen, it was already past midnight, but the celebrations were clearly not over yet. Many people who had spontaneously taken to the streets to celebrate the Spring Festival were still expressing their joy at the hard-won peace.

"Keep these eight dishes and this gifted dish. Send this gifted dish to Kazdel immediately and let Kal'tsit handle it. She will give it to the rightful recipient."

Normally, there would only be one dish bestowed by the emperor for the New Year, but the emperor bestowed two dishes upon Qiao Yelan, and then made an exception by having the imperial kitchen prepare eight dishes with the courtesy due to a prince, so that he could take them with him on his journey.

The emperor not only verbally addressed Qiao Yelan as a national hero, but also treated him with unparalleled courtesy.

"Yes, doctor."

A third of the convoy did not stop, but followed the car and turned toward Kazdel.