Doctor Amnesiac, but not completely amnesiac

"Qiao Aiqing, you have been working so hard before the New Year that you haven't had a good rest. Today is New Year's Eve, go back and have a good rest. You can take the food I gave you out of the palace directly, and you don't have to wait until midnight. Go to bed early."

"Your Majesty is so kind and generous that I shouldn't refuse. However, I still have to go to Longmen to investigate the future expansion of the Shaofu for Your Majesty and understand the scale of the smuggling business there. In this way, when the court opens on the 16th day of the first lunar month, I will be able to submit a memorial to open up a new trade route for Your Majesty."

Qiao Yelan bowed and saluted.

"It is just a gift from Your Majesty. Please allow me to take it first. I have heard of the cooking skills of the royal chefs in the palace. I only have this little appetite. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

"In that case, bring a few more dishes. In addition to the dishes, I never get tired of the Yuanxiao in the palace. My dear, please come back soon. I will give you a bowl on the 15th Lantern Festival."

"My lord, thank you for your kindness."

Chapter 95: Thousands of People, Thousands of Faces

Yu Cheng, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, was sitting in front of a table piled with various documents, all of which contained clues and information about the Wangji Commercial Firm massacre and subsequent cases.

He has been sitting here all day.

Not far away in the sky, even though it was not dark yet, fireworks were already rising into the sky. Those were the people of Dayan celebrating New Year's Eve.

The lights in the room where Yu Cheng was sitting were not even on; it was dim and cold.

As a Heavenly Master, he could still see the things in the room and the words on the scrolls clearly. It didn't matter to him whether the lights were on or not.

Just like the clues in front of us, they are meaningless for solving the case.

The decree from the Ministry of Justice has come down. From now on, everything related to these four cases must be transferred to the palace and handed over to the Secret Service and the Imperial Guard for investigation. The Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice are no longer allowed to interfere.

Yu Cheng took a deep breath, and the cold, dry air entered his warm lungs, bringing a biting chill and a violent cough.

It was the first time that, as the Junior Official of the Dali Temple, he felt neither anger nor doubt about the case before him.

But powerless.

The murderer did it very cleanly, but at the same time, they did not destroy the murder scene too much. Except for the huge fire that broke out at the place where Zhu Ronghui's family was killed, which eventually burned the bodies and most of the things beyond recognition, that was also the originium skill of Zhu Ronghui's family, not the deliberate cover-up of the killer.

In the other three cases, only people died, and nothing was lost.

So in this case, it’s not that there are too few clues, but that there are too many clues.

The Wangji Company itself is not clean. The Dali Temple has confiscated a large number of unknown assets, but new things can still be found every day. The same is true for Minister Wang's family. In other words, as the helmsman of Wangji Company, he will only hide more things.

Robbery? Vendetta? Unequal distribution of spoils?

There are so many reasons to kill, but each one comes to an abrupt end.

Why don't you rob money when you rob? Why don't you insult the body when you kill someone for revenge? Why would you leave so many things for the Dali Temple to find out if the money is not evenly divided?

In the end, it was the words of an old detective that reminded Yu Cheng.

"These clues only look like clues - they are left to you by others, only half of them, and you can only find out so far. After you have found out, you will find that you can no longer make any progress. When you turn around, you will find that you are still standing still."

The old detective said that he had only seen such a case once in his life, and that was five years ago when an envoy from the Eastern Kingdom died suddenly and mysteriously in the capital of Dayan. It caused a lot of uproar, and there were a lot of clues left at the scene, but in the end, nothing was found.

Five years ago, Yu Cheng was not in the capital, but he had indeed heard of this case.

"How did the case end?"

"How did it end? I don't know. The Jingzhao Yinfu later transferred the case to the higher authorities, and it was finally found out that Ursus sent assassins to the capital to prevent Da Yan from being persuaded by the Eastern Kingdom's envoys and sending troops to help. As a result, the late emperor was furious, and the Minister of War personally led the troops to the Far East - hey, that expedition scene, I have only seen it once in my life..."

At that time, Yu Cheng simply left the old man who was still boasting. After returning to the Dali Temple, he also tried to find the files about the case. In the end, he only said that it had been transferred to the palace, and there was nothing more.

It was not until today, when a government order for the transfer of the same case file was issued to him, that Yu Cheng realized belatedly that—

It seems like something familiar.

Was the case of the sudden death of the envoy really discovered by the palace, or...

He tried his best to retract the thoughts that had already been scattered, and even began to encourage himself to give up, so as to refocus his attention on his own thinking.

The decree to transfer the case came down today. Although the officials of the Dali Temple are known for their cold-faced ruthlessness, simplicity and efficiency, they are not unfamiliar with this little trick.

This is his last chance. For fifteen days, from New Year's Eve to the Lantern Festival, the case will be in a state of flux between transfer and acceptance. As long as no one opens that layer of window paper, no one will know whether the case has been transferred or not.

Apparently, only a few people were willing to work overtime - so Yu Cheng bought himself 15 days to conduct an independent investigation.

He sighed, turned on the light, looked at the vast amount of information in front of him, lit a cigarette but did not put it in his mouth.

Four murders, three children.

The children of Minister Wang's family turned their attention to the Yulin Guards, the children of Zhurong Hui's family turned their attention back to the court, and the children of the gatekeeper's family directed their spearhead at Prime Minister Cai.

Three kids, three clues.

According to the remaining memory of the old detective, all the clues in the entire case were false, or in other words, there might be only one truly useful clue, which was hidden among the numerous other options. When you are exhausted by the false clues, even when you find the real clue, you may think it is false.

What if we put all this aside?

He suddenly turned around, pushed aside the pile of papers, and took out the one that was at the bottom.

That was the case file on the murder of Manager Wang and his entire family.

This was the first case - and now it is the least talked about case.

If we want to put aside all other factors, it would be better to just look at this case alone.

He seemed to be the least important one to die, but he was the most unique one——

Because there is no one alive in this family.

why?

The death of Shopkeeper Wang exposed the problems of Wang's business, which also caused Minister Wang to be nervous, so he was almost reckless in getting the things he seized back from the Jingzhao Yin Mansion. Such a "rough" method made the Dali Temple set its sights on him.

The other three cases all rely on living people to guide the investigation, so why is it that only Shopkeeper Wang's case has no living people?

If one person could be left alive, that person would certainly try desperately to climb up and bite his way up to save his life, and he would be able to hold on to Minister Wang. It might even be more effective and draw people's attention directly to the Ministry of Revenue.

The murderer's actions must have a purpose, and the reason he left no one alive must be because if anyone in Shopkeeper Wang's family was alive, it would be disadvantageous to his next move.

Ministry of Finance...

What happened in the Ministry of Household Affairs?

A vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue died, and then it seemed as if the Ministry was only hit with a lot of thunder and little rain. On the contrary, the Ministry of Personnel, which seemed to have no involvement from beginning to end, saw the fall of former Minister Gao Cheng.

——The murderer’s target was not the Ministry of Households!

So he killed everyone in Manager Wang's family, because if he left one alive, Minister Wang would immediately expose a bigger problem - and if the Dali Temple followed the clues brought by this living person to investigate Minister Wang, and then to the Ministry of Revenue, then the case would progress faster than the murderer needed!

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

Now, the Dali Temple has only investigated half of the case, but the case has been handed over. So the choice of whether or not to investigate the Ministry of Revenue further and how to investigate further naturally falls back into the hands of Your Majesty.

The Dali Temple is a double-edged sword, but when the sword is used up, it still has to be put away.

Yu Cheng felt a little dizzy, and he tried hard to maintain his thoughts - he knew he was getting closer to the truth.

"So now...the key now is to go to...Wangji Trading Company!"

Lord Shaoqing looked up suddenly.

Yes!

If one of the murderer's goals was to prevent the Ministry of Revenue from being implicated too heavily, then it also meant that he also knew just how big the problems at Wang's Company were - and this was something the murderer had to deal with personally!

He jumped up from his chair, took a deep puff of the cigarette that was already burning to the end, pressed the cigarette butt into the already full ashtray, grabbed the Dali Temple official robe on the back of the chair, and rushed out.

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

"What do you mean it has been returned?"

Yu Cheng almost roared at the clerk in front of him.

"They have been sent back. The order from above said that they are not prisoners and are the breadwinners of their families, so they were told to find other jobs to make a living."

The clerk from the Ministry of Justice answered timidly.

"Where's the list?"

"It's sealed in the case file and has been handed over to the Secret Service Department in the palace."

Not everyone would be like Yu Cheng, holding the hot potato in his hand and being reluctant to give it up.

After hearing that all the things related to the four bloody cases had been sealed and handed over, except for the Dali Temple, all other participating departments, including the Jingzhao Yinfu and the Ministry of Justice, sent the things to the palace as quickly as possible.

Yu Cheng grabbed his hair with his hands, then as if he remembered something, he asked the clerk again.

"Do you know which firm those people went to?"

"It should be the Shaofu. Didn't the Shaofu always recruit people? I heard that they accept everyone and don't care what the previous job was. The salary is also high. Most people who still want to work in this industry should have gone to the Shaofu."

Shaofu?

Yu Cheng thought of the man sitting in a wheelchair, with a gentle smile on his face that always made people feel like a spring breeze. With Qiao Yelan being such an easy-going person, if he went to him for help, he should be able to find some people from the former Wangji Trading Company.

Thinking of this, he immediately left the confused clerk behind and ran out of the Executive Yuan.

Then he paused.

The Executive Yuan is just outside the Imperial Palace. After the court meeting is over, the ministers can go directly to work after leaving the palace, which is very convenient.

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

"Meet Mr. Qiao."

"Yu Shaoqing, this is -- is there any other business?"

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

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

"Master Qiao, I have a request. I wonder if Master Qiao can agree to it?"

Yu Cheng had no intention of exchanging pleasantries and went straight to the point.

"I'm sorry, Yu Shaoqing. I'm about to go to Longmen on the orders of His Majesty. You see, His Majesty even asked the imperial kitchen to prepare the gift dishes for me in advance so that I can take them with me on the road."

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

"Master Shaoqing, if you have anything to say, why not wait until I return from Longmen and discuss it later? It just so happens that this is also the Spring Festival holiday, so Master Yu should take a break as well."

The rusty thoughts in his mind seemed to be smashed open by a sledgehammer. Yu Cheng's pupils suddenly shrank and he stared at Qiao Yelan in front of him.

"Are you leaving now?"

"Yes."

"When can you come back?"

"It's the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival. His Majesty said that he would cook an extra bowl of Lantern Festival dumplings for me in the palace. As a subject, I naturally dare not miss it."

Qiao Yelan said the answer he had already guessed before he asked.

Yu Cheng's body shook.

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

On the 16th day of the first lunar month, a copy of the court session was held - this case no longer belonged to the Dali Temple.

As an official in the capital, you are not allowed to leave the capital without prior application to visit your relatives and without the permission of Your Majesty.

All of them were "just" missed.

After a moment of silence, Yu Cheng walked over.

"Eunuch, I would like to have a private chat with the Minister of the Imperial Household. Can you make it convenient for me?"

Wang Zhi glared at him and was about to scold 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 took back his words. He just stared at Yu Cheng for a while, memorized his face, and then retreated with the eunuch who was serving food.

Yu Cheng pushed Qiao Yelan's wheelchair slowly forward.

"I have no evidence, and the clues I have are actually useless. After this, this case will no longer be handed over to me to handle - and judging from the look in that father-in-law's eyes, I think I will be sent out after the New Year."

"Everyone has their place. Perhaps if Yu Shaoqing put aside the case in the capital and joined the Suzhengyuan to inspect the country for His Majesty, he might be able to do something greater."

Qiao Yelan's voice was as gentle as ever.

"I have never wanted to enter the Suzhengyuan, because I feel that once a case involves politics, it becomes so dirty that people don't even want to look at it - why do we have to do something so decisive for such things to be brought to light?"

Yu Cheng's voice was very low.