The lights were bright in the small courtyard.
The cook from the Ministry of Justice kitchen was skilled; the freshly made roasted lamb leg for dinner was tender and fragrant.
Three adults and one child sat around the stone table for dinner, as Yan Rongshi explained the details of the murder case in River Otter Lane.
"The entire room where the incident occurred was demolished down to the ground, dug up three feet deep. When a five-drawer wooden cabinet in the corner of the room was moved, a hidden compartment in the wall was surprisingly discovered. The back panel of the cabinet could be opened up and down, connecting to the hidden compartment."
"The secret passage in the compartment led directly outside, with a stone cover at the other end. After the officials expended considerable effort to lift the stone cover, guess where it led?"
Ying Xiaoman guessed: "Outside the house? Somewhere that allows easy access in and out."
"Correct," Yan Rongshi praised, saying: "As it turns out, it was a clever place that ordinary people wouldn't think of. It was right at the end of the narrow alley between the two residences."
"Usually covered with many fallen leaves and dust, no one entered or paid attention to it. Who would have thought there was a secret mechanism underground."
The Adoptive Mother held Zhi while eating and listening, her chopsticks pausing mid-air as she became engrossed in the story.
Ying Xiaoman's eyes were wide open. She remembered that narrow alley, which was very narrow and dirty. To think it was used as an entrance to a secret passage!
"So, the thief could lift the stone cover in the alley to enter the tunnel, allowing free access to the house on the right."
Yan Rongshi dipped his finger in tea and drew a diagram on the table.
A tunnel, running underground from the end of the alley, passing under the right courtyard wall, leading to the side room.
"It's an old tunnel. Judging from the rammed earth marks, it's been there for years. Yuqing Tower only occupied that small courtyard in the past six months, so it's hard to say if there's a connection. Shopkeeper Fang also confessed that he knew nothing about the tunnel."
"Could it be an escape tunnel dug by the former owner?" Ying Xiaoman had an idea: "In our countryside, many families have underground cellars they dug themselves, all for hiding during wars."
"That's possible. Therefore, we interrogated the Old Servant yesterday."
Ying Xiaoman opened her mouth, then closed it. A faint look of concern appeared on her face, which Yan Rongshi noticed.
"Don't worry. The old man is elderly, it was just a routine inquiry, no torture was involved."
"What was the result?"
"What do you think?" Yan Rongshi picked up some roasted meat with his chopsticks and placed it in Ying Xiaoman's bowl. "Being old, and both deaf and blind. He knew nothing when questioned."
Ying Xiaoman thought for a moment, then chuckled.
"I thought so too. It must have been difficult to interrogate him. I hope the interrogator's ears didn't go deaf?"
But Yan Rongshi was pondering something else.
He picked up a piece of tender roasted lamb with his chopsticks and asked unhurriedly: "I heard you have some acquaintance with this Old Servant, delivering medicine morning and evening. Xiaoman, do you think... he's really deaf and blind, unable to hear or see clearly?"
Ying Xiaoman was taken aback.
She lowered her head and thought carefully for a moment. Although the Old Servant had a loud voice, she didn't believe he was completely deaf and blind.
"It seems he could occasionally hear a few words and sometimes responded to me. But his eyesight does seem quite poor. I noticed the years of grime in his room hadn't been cleaned for a long time."
Yan Rongshi nodded. The topic quickly passed.
After dinner, as everyone sat around drinking tea, the Adoptive Mother asked about the Old Servant's whereabouts.
"Since he's also at the Ministry of Justice, is he staying in a nearby courtyard? I make a good cough medicine morning and evening, it would be a waste to throw away the leftovers. Why not send a bowl over to him?"
"He's not being held in the guest courtyard here for questioning," Yan Rongshi said. "He's temporarily detained in the Ministry of Justice Prison."
Ying Xiaoman and her Adoptive Mother both exclaimed "Ah?" in unison.
Yan Rongshi: "He's not just a witness."
"The old residence in River Otter Lane holds many secrets. The Old Servant who has lived there for many years is very likely to know the secret of the tunnel."
"He is suspected of being involved in the crime."
The next evening, the Assistant Minister of Ministry of Justice came to seek testimonies from Ying Xiaoman and her mother.
As usual, he brought two clerks to record the testimonies. While moving tables and chairs in the small courtyard, the Assistant Minister of Ministry of Justice covered his ears, looking pained, and mumbled:
"Lower your voices, lower your voices. My ears hurt."
Sitting on the wooden witness chair, Ying Xiaoman whispered to her mother: "The Old Servant was probably interrogated by the Assistant Minister of Ministry of Justice."
Her Adoptive Mother also whispered back: "I heard that the interrogation rooms in the prison are all square rooms, and voices echo inside."
Ying Xiaoman said sympathetically: "Such a loud voice, and with an echo too. It's not easy being an interrogator..."
The Assistant Minister of Ministry of Justice sat down, covering his ears, and sighed: "You two, speak up a bit. I can't hear."
The Ying family's testimony was straightforward. They told the truth.
Every conversation with the Old Servant they could remember was recorded, one by one.
The two clerks' mouths twitched as their brushes flew across the paper, faithfully recording:
"Drink your medicine."
"What did you say?"
"Drink your medicine!"
...
"Who's your lover?"
"What lover? That sounds awful. Don't say such things to an old man."
"Who says I'm blind!"
...
"Who's your lover? Point him out to me!"
"Old man, stop teasing."
"Can't the old man see things up close? Don't just sweep the master's two courtyards, take some time to look at your own room. The table and corners are filthy! Oh my, a dead rat!"
...
It took a full hour to fill three large sheets with testimonies, many of which were nonsensical back-and-forth exchanges. The Assistant Minister of Ministry of Justice rubbed his aching ears, looking worried at the pages full of useless chatter.
"Is there really nothing else? What we've recorded here, well, doesn't seem very useful."
Ying Xiaoman helped her mother stand up and said sympathetically: "That's all we can remember, the Old Servant didn't talk much to begin with. Assistant Minister, you must be tired from the interrogation, go home and rest early."
These days, who among the officials of the Ministry of Justice didn't know about the relationship between Young Miss Ying and Young Master Yan? The Assistant Minister of Ministry of Justice also hurriedly stood up, his attitude quite polite.
"Not being able to find any clues makes me uneasy. I can't sleep soundly. Miss Ying, could you think a bit more?"
Ying Xiaoman really couldn't remember any more of her daily conversations with the Old Servant.
After thinking hard, she only added: "On the morning of the murder, I remember the Old Servant took a big broom and swept the alley clean. I saw it with my own eyes at the time."
The Assistant Minister of Ministry of Justice immediately sensed something unusual: "Doesn't he sweep the alley every day?"
"No."
After thinking for half a day, Ying Xiaoman and her Adoptive Mother vaguely recalled: "He sweeps about once every half month. We moved to River Otter Lane for a whole month, and only saw him sweep twice."
The Assistant Minister of Ministry of Justice rubbed his ears and pondered. The clerks continued to write without stopping.
Ying Xiaoman was still puzzled and asked: "Is this useful too? Do you need to record how often he sweeps the ground?"
It was too trivial, and no one knew which were useful clues and which were nonsense. The Assistant Minister of Ministry of Justice only replied: "Record it first, we'll see later."
That night before bed, the Adoptive Mother whispered to her daughter.
"The Ministry of Justice is no place for people to stay. Look at these officials, they all have dark circles under their eyes, none of them look energetic, they must be investigating cases day and night. Seventh Young Master has gotten so thin. When you have a chance, ask Seventh Young Master if he can move to a different position, change to another government office?"
Ying Xiaoman remembered Seventh Young Master's promise.
"He's rushing to close the case by mid-August, so he can return to our hometown with us at the end of August to sweep Father's grave. The round trip will take about two months, and we'll stay at home for a while, during which time Seventh Young Master can eat well and rest to recover his health."
The Adoptive Mother agreed: "He's young, a month or two of rest should be enough to recover. But can he really close the case by mid-August and return to our hometown with us at the end of August?"
Ying Xiaoman wasn't sure either.
She got up to blow out the oil lamp in her Adoptive Mother's room, only saying: "Let's wait for him a bit longer."
The interrogation room was brightly lit day and night.
The Assistant Minister of Ministry of Justice sat solemnly behind the desk and slapped the sounding block with a bang.
"Old Servant standing below, answer truthfully. Your master's old residence has several secret underground passages crisscrossing beneath, did you know about this?"
The gray-haired old servant in plain clothes knelt below, shouting in a loud voice: "What did you say?"
The Assistant Minister of Ministry of Justice bellowed: "Lower your voice when speaking! Your master's old residence has underground passages crisscrossing beneath, did you know about this?"
"What did you say?!"
"Secret passages! Underground secret passages!!"
"What did you say?!"
"..."
On the other side of the wall, Yan Rongshi plugged the copper tube with a wooden stopper and sat back down behind the black lacquered wooden desk.
With a paperweight holding down the three large sheets of testimonies in front of him, he carefully examined them word by word.
In May, when the vacant old residence in River Otter Lane was used by Eighth Young Master Yan to pass on information, the Old Servant had been interrogated once at the time of the incident.
The Old Servant knew nothing when questioned and was eventually released without charge.
The interrogation records from that time also contained a string of "What did you say?"
The case conclusion stated: "Being of advanced age and both deaf and blind. Nothing to investigate, released without charge."
His knuckles lightly tapped on the words "deaf and blind". He turned to the latest testimonies from the Ying family and carefully read them word by word.
Among Ying Xiaoman's many confessions, a few lines of dialogue were circled:
"The dress is all dirty."
"L will continue sweeping later. Come out and take your medicine first, I'm about to go out."
"Where are you going?"
On that morning when the Old Servant was sweeping the corridor, Ying Xiaoman waited at the entrance with a bowl of medicine. The brief exchange between them clearly showed a back-and-forth. Even if the Old Servant was deaf and blind, he wasn't completely so. He could hear and see.
Pulling out the wooden stopper again, the sound of interrogation coming through the copper tube echoed throughout the stone room with a buzzing resonance.
In the adjacent interrogation room, the Assistant Minister of Ministry of Justice shouted in frustration: "Can you read, old servant? This official will write the questions for you to see!"
The Old Servant yelled back with full vigor: "What did you say?!"
"Can you read?! Can you read?! Someone bring him a pen!"
The Old Servant cried out in terror: "What are you trying to do?! Have you no conscience, forcibly giving something to me? I didn't steal anything!"
A clerk who couldn't bear to watch anymore interjected: "Minister, have you forgotten? The Old Servant isn't just deaf, he's also blind. How could he read?"
...
The wooden stopper was plugged back in.
Yan Rongshi spread out a white paper on the long table and, deep in thought, drew several triangles in succession:
Mastermind — Zhu Chennian — Eighth Young Master Yan.
Mastermind — Zhu Chennian — Ying Xiaoman.
With a turn of his brush, he added a few more names.
Ying Xiaoman — Adoptive father Zhuang Jiu — Shopkeeper Fang.
Eighth Young Master Yan (passing message) — Shopkeeper Fang (relaying message somewhere) — Yan Rongshi (ambushed).
Zhuang Jiu (old acquaintance returning fifty taels of silver) — Shopkeeper Fang.
Judicial Officer Bian (and many other low-ranking officials) — Shopkeeper Fang (buying and selling refined iron, collecting weapons, supplying to the northern country).
The clues on the white paper were as tangled as a mess of threads, spreading out in all directions like a spider's web, implicating numerous individuals.
Zhu Chennian, who was silenced at a crucial moment, stood out as particularly important.
He pondered, circled Zhu Chennian's name, and wrote a small note:
"Is the mastermind Prime Minister Zheng? Or someone else?"
The intention of the mastermind behind the scenes was clear. Using Zhu Chennian's loose tongue, they persuaded Eighth Young Master Yan to pass on information, attempting to assassinate himself, the chief investigator, in early spring to prevent further investigation into the major case of weapons embezzlement from the national treasury.
But after lying low for several months, when the mastermind deployed Zhu Chennian for the second time, they surprisingly approached Ying Xiaoman, who had no connection to the weapons case.
What was the mastermind's purpose?
Facing the spider web-like network of relationships, Yan Rongshi pondered, heavily circling the name of Ying Xiaoman's adoptive father: "Zhuang Jiu". He wrote down a sentence:
[An old acquaintance came to return fifty taels of silver]
During the previous interrogation of Shopkeeper Fang, the focus was on the grudges between "old acquaintances". But when Zhu Chennian stopped Ying Xiaoman on the street and uttered the same sentence again, it couldn't be easily overlooked.
After writing down the key sentence, he flipped open the thick stack of Shopkeeper Fang's confessions.
Regarding "Zhuang Jiu", Shopkeeper Fang's confession stated:
More than twenty years ago, he met Zhuang Jiu in the capital.
At that time, Zhuang Jiu was one of the guards employed by his master's household. Due to his exceptional martial skills, he was highly trusted by his master's family and often escorted them on outings. Shopkeeper Fang met Zhuang Jiu while doing business with his master's family.
Shopkeeper Fang confessed: Zhuang Jiu's master's surname was Sheng, also a merchant. But the Sheng family's business was much larger than Yuqing Tower, renowned in the capital thirty years ago. They associated with high-ranking officials and noble families in the capital.
This wealthy merchant surnamed Sheng was in the rosewater business from the Arab world at that time in the capital.
A small bottle of crystal-clear rosewater in a transparent octagonal glass bottle was an extremely rare treasure in the capital. A two-ounce small bottle was priced at two taels of gold.
The nobles and aristocrats of the capital pursued it eagerly.
"Later, for some reason, they got involved in a major weapons trading case more than twenty years ago. The Sheng family's property was confiscated, some died, some scattered. Their vast family fortune was completely dispersed."
Shopkeeper Fang was present during his confession. He looked up at Yan Rongshi, who was presiding in the main seat, with a strange look in his eyes:
"It was an old matter from when Minister Yan was in power. Who still remembers exactly why the Sheng family was implicated after so many years? Heh, I wonder how old Young Lord Yan was then, if he was old enough to remember?"
The words were disrespectful, and Shopkeeper Fang was immediately kicked to the ground by the jailer and slapped twice.
Of course, Yan Rongshi didn't care about Shopkeeper Fang's attitude.
Though disrespectful, as long as he confessed the truth, it was fine.
How Ying Xiaoman's adoptive father Zhuang Jiu had developed a grudge with the Yan family in the capital back then...
The clues emerged from this confession of Shopkeeper Fang.
Yan Rongshi pondered, dipped his brush in ink, and added three more relationships to the spider web-like network of people.
Sheng family (masters) — Zhuang Jiu (guard)
Sheng family master — Yuqing Tower Shopkeeper Fang (business relationship)
Yan family — Sheng family (developed enmity over the refined iron weapons smuggling case more than twenty years ago)
[An old acquaintance came to return fifty taels of silver]
Logically, there were actually two possibilities:
Either Zhuang Jiu himself went to Yuqing Tower to return the fifty taels of silver.
More likely, Zhuang Jiu was commissioned by his master's family (the Sheng family) to go to Yuqing Tower and return the fifty taels of silver.
Yan Rongshi heavily circled the second possibility, folded the paper filled with densely written names and relationships, weighted it down with a paperweight, and left the stone room.
He recalled a small matter that had been overlooked before.
All this talk about [fifty taels of silver].
Why did the silver ingot in Xiaoman's possession only weigh thirty-two taels? Where did the other eighteen taels go? Were they spent?
It was dusk again. A rich fragrance wafted from the small courtyard where the Ying family was temporarily staying.
Without a stove to cook on, the Adoptive Mother had laid out a small pot and cooking utensils in a row, spending the entire afternoon concocting a lotus leaf chicken.
"It's getting cool in autumn, and lotus leaves are hard to buy now. These are the last two lotus leaves we had stored, used to stew the last chicken. After we finish this meal today, we'll have to wait until next year."
The Adoptive Mother placed the steaming hot lotus leaf chicken on the table, smiling as she greeted the guest who had just arrived.
"Seventh Young Master, you've come just in time. Sit down and eat with us."
The Adoptive Mother took charge, giving one chicken leg each to Ying Xiaoman and Yan Rongshi.
The lotus leaf chicken stewed in the medicinal pot had an extra medicinal fragrance.
Yan Rongshi also brought out the mutton provided to him by the Ministry of Justice's dining hall for tonight's dinner.
Live sheep couldn't enter the main gate of the Ministry of Justice. Following Ying Xiaoman's suggestion to make a slight adjustment, they had fenced off an area in the neighboring dog-keeping courtyard. During the time when the hunting dogs were taken out for exercise, Ying Xiaoman would go over to slaughter the sheep.
The Ministry of Justice's public kitchen unfailingly added ten jin of mutton ingredients every day.
Apart from the six dogs in the kennel becoming a bit crazier, all the officials and subordinates of the Ministry of Justice expressed their satisfaction.
The cook had showcased his skills, making roasted mutton tonight. The fresh mutton roasted in the stove had a unique flavor.
With the two meat dishes set out, the rich aroma filled the air. The three adults and one child sat around the table, eating with relish.
Ying Xiaoman answered the questions about the "fifty taels of silver" while eating. "I did spend eight taels earlier, paying four months' rent to the broker."
As for where the other ten taels went.
"Don't even mention it. Those ten taels never existed in the first place. My father was cheated by his so-called 'old friends' back when he was in the capital."
She started from the beginning, explaining how an iron lump was melted into the large silver ingot, how it was discovered by the landlord of Seven Scholars Lane, and how the broker complained about it for half a day.
After finishing, she washed her hands, went into the room, rummaged through boxes and drawers for a while, and came out holding a half-melted iron lump.
"Here, this is it. The broker gave it back to me last time, and I was planning to take it back to my hometown to show my father. A heavy ten-tael piece of iron, forcibly stuffed into the silver ingot to make up the weight."
Yan Rongshi unexpectedly picked up the iron lump, cradled it in his palm, and carefully examined the remnant shape of the melted edges in the lamplight.
"...An iron key?!"