The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, Chapter 26: Chen-shi and the White Lotus Society

The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty. 《成化十四年》Chengnian Shisi Nian
The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, Chapter 26: Chen-shi and the White Lotus Society

Lao Li, the butler, became anxious when he heard this and said, "Young master, Tang Da-ren has done great favors on our Li Family..."


Li Lin interrupted him, “Lao Li, who is in charge of this family now? Is it you or me?"

Lao Li, who was so loyal, was terrified to hear such words, and said, "Of course it's you, Master!"

Li Lin was impatient: "Since it's me, you should leave this matter alone! Although he is an official, we are citizens, but can an official be lawless? This is the capital city, but not some backwater county. If it weren't for him, how could my father be said to be a murderer?"

Tang Fan sighed, the Li Family young master is a fool: "Li Lin, Zhang-shi is not your real mother, but she has raised you since you were a child, and she has never pretended to anything other than, with this kind mother's heart, anyone should be touched. Although Li Man is your father, he is also the murderer of your mother. I can understand your conflicting feelings, but if you can't tell the difference between right and wrong, then what's the use of studying so hard for so many years?"

Li Lin said while stretching neck: "Who doesn't know that it's only because she doesn't have a son of her own, that she was being nice to me!"

Tang Fan's eyes turned cold and shook his head: "It seems that you have read all those books and they went to the dogs ears, you are really worthless of your mother’s love in the Nine Springs.”.

Li Lin said angrily, "In that case, then I will ask Tang Da-ren to leave, I know that you are the Shuntian Prefecture's official, but there are officials all over the capital, you are really not serious while being the official of the Lower Sixth Rank, A-Dong is the Li Family's slave servant, what to do with it is of course up to me, I say no then it is no!"

This Li Lin is a strange man too. Said he was too stupid for reading. It's not a commonplace thing. Talking is sometimes a bit on the looking down on someone. And he's really got it right. Tang Fan, an officer of this rank. The Lower Six Rank really doesn't count for much in the capital either. And he's a pushover. It is not his business if the Li Family wants to sell their slaves.

If he took A-Dong away forcibly today, Li Lin would be impeached by the Imperial Censor for "competing with the people for a maid", which would affect his reputation.

However, Li Lin was smart, and from his earlier comment that "his mother was good to him because she had ulterior motives", Tang Fan's perception of him was instantly diminished.

No matter what kind of feud there is between Li Man and Zhang-shi, it's a matter for the elders. It's normal for Li Lin to have conflicting feelings as a junior, but he would rather ignore Zhang-shi's contribution to his growing and defend his biological father.

Of course, this can also be said to be a kind of filial piety, but even if it is filial piety, it is also foolish filial piety.

It is not necessary to be upright and selfless to be human, but at least one must be able to distinguish between good and bad, and if one is not able to distinguish between good and bad, one will not have much future.

Tang Fan nodded: “A-Dong is a member of your family, you should do as you please."

He didn't bother to look at Li Lin again, and turned to leave.

When Tang Fan left the Li Family gate, Lao Li hastily caught up with him, panting: “Tang Da-ren, our young master is still young, you Da-ren has a lot of knowledge, don't be like him, I'll apologize to you for him!”

Tang Fan laughed: "He's not young anymore. He thinks I had already capture the title of the family when I was fifteen, and sent my eldest sister to be married, so I can support a family."

He saw Lao Li in a state of anxiety and said, "But don't worry, I won't do anything to him even for your mistress's sake, but your young master will only harm himself if he continues like this."

Tang Fan left the Li Family and went straight back to the Shuntian Prefecture, and when he saw Du Jiang sitting in his duty room, he laughed and said, "Is Xiaohu free today?"

Du Jiang courtesy name was Xiaohu, and as the inspector the Shuntian Prefecture, he was responsible for helping Tang Fan with some documents and files. It is very difficult to be an official in the Chenghua Emperor, as the requirements for academic qualifications are very high, and even the third ranking of the same rank is a head lower. Courtesy name is a name given to a male above 20 in dynastic china like how Tang Fan is named Runqing and Sui Zhou is named Guangchuan




Du Jiang was in his thirties and in twenties when he tried for the imperial examinations. After that, he failed the examinations twice and he had to find a way to enter the Shuntian Prefecture. He was dedicated to helping Tang Fan with some paperwork dossiers. And he was like a sort of his second-in-command, too. The post of an inspector has no rank. Even if it is not court-appointed official. But this post still has a lot of people vying for it. Because of the present day of the Chenghua Emperor, the requirements for academic qualifications were already very high. It's hard to be an officer of the government. Even a third-ranked fellow student is a head down. He can only be as an inspector to be eligible for post.

There were many others like Du Jiang in the Ming Dynasty. Before Tang Fan entered the Shuntian Prefecture, Du Jiang was already working in the Shuntian Prefecture, and he was meticulous and serious. Originally he did not work in the Shuntian Prefecture. He was in kind of people who fall into the category of being ostracized. But Tang Fan admired him for his work. So he went and asked him to come over. Giving himself an underhand shot. Du Jiang did live up to his expectations. Helped him out a lot. And sometimes give Tang Fan an idea. No different from a staff member.

Du Jiang listened to his teasing, but did not laugh with him, but looked serious: “Da-ren, Chen-shi is gone."

Tang Fan took the hand of the teapot in one fell swoop: "What happened?"

Du Jiang said: "After Li Man was imprisoned, she was kicked out by the Li Family, and then she found an inn to stay. I have followed your instructions. Let's have someone watch outside the inn. No one knows why but Chen-shi had not been seen out all day yesterday. The people from the county's office then went to ask the innkeeper. The owner said Chen-shi checked out yesterday. Doesn't say where she was going."

Although Li Man killed his wife, it seems that it had nothing to do with Chen-shi from the beginning to the end, but Tang Fan always felt that this beautiful woman must have played a part in it, and she was very low-profile from the beginning to the end. If he looked at her again from head to toe in a low profile. She was neither was scared by Li Man going to jail. Nor was there any fear of being kicked out of the Li Family. She was acting too subdued. That's unusual. But he didn't expect to let her slip away.

Tang Fan said, "Have you sent someone to search the room where she was staying?"

Du Jiang nodded, he was meticulous and cautious, he didn't need Tang Fan to tell him what to do because he can anticipate Tang Fan methods.

"I searched it, but there was nothing unusual. Chen-shi had very little luggage with her, so I went there myself and found a small mark in the corner of the wall, which seemed to be freshly carved, about two knuckles high, and I don't know if it was related to Chen-shi."

Tang Fan's curiosity was piqued: "What does it look like?"



Du Jiang brought a piece of paper and drew the approximate shape of the markings on it from memory.

Tang Fan saw it and said, “The White Lotus Society?

Du Jiang was also shocked: "What, is the woman still involved with the cultists, isn't this just a common case of wife murder?”

Tang Fan's face gradually became more and more serious: "Originally, I only thought that this woman was suspicious, so I asked you to keep an eye on her, who knew that there was such a thing involved."

Du Jiang said, “That's a bit difficult. She is connected with the White Lotus Society, but she stayed by Li Man's side, being a concubine, and she must have encouraged him to kill his wife, without him knowing the purpose."

Tang Fan smiled bitterly, that's good, one wave has not yet subsided, another wave has started again, the white jade carving horse of Wang Zhi is still missing, the Li Family's business here is related to the White Lotus Society, all the troubles are coming to the door in tandem.

He thought about it, "Let's continue to have people look for Chen-shi's whereabouts, someone has already entered the inn, and now, even if it's related to the White Lotus Society, they won't show up again, but you should send someone to keep an eye on it, in case something is missing. Go and report back to Pan Da-ren. I'm going to go to the Northern Administrative Court people. Let them know about his. The Jinyiwei had previously pursued the White Lotus Society. Maybe they'll have a clue."

Speaking of which. Tang Fan thought again about the time he was choked in the middle of the night earlier. The other side deliberately played tricks on him. Afterwards, it was proved that the White Lotus Society was indeed involved in that chocking incidence. It seems that since the incident of Li Zilong, the remaining sins of the White Lotus Society have never left the capital.

Two or three years ago, the demon Taoist Li Zilong secretly befriended the palace eunuchs, and his machinations almost turned the palace upside down, even the emperor was almost overthrown, that is, in that incident, the emperor felt the Jinyiwei and the Eastern Depot was very useless, Wang Zhi then used the emperor with this mentality to take advantage of the momentum, in a short time he got to climb to a high position. After that, the Jinyiwei woke up and turned the capital city upside down. During that time, they had many conflicts with the White Lotus Society and lost a lot of manpower, and that was how the White Lotus Society became more and more popular.

However, the White Lotus Society has survived from the Song Dynasty, and has experienced the chaos of the end of the Song Dynasty, the darkness of the Yuan Dynasty, and the chaos of the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and nowadays, with such a long history, the cults that have existed for hundreds of years must have their own way of survival. The Jinyiwei want to wipe them out in just two years. That's almost impossible.

After Tang Fan gave Du Jiang his word, he went to the Northern Administrative Court first.

Unfortunately, Xue Ling was not here, and the person on duty at the Northern Administrative Court was not a familiar face to Tang Fan, Tang Fan asked them a few questions, and when they refused to disclose, he turned around and left.

But a familiar, cold voice came from behind him: "What do you want with Lao Xue?"

Tang Fan looked back, pleased: “Guangchuan brother, you're back?"




Sui Zhou still had the same ice cube face, but when he saw Tang Fan's unmistakable joy, a little smile appeared in his eyes and he nodded: "Well, you're looking for Lao Xue?"

Tang Fan laughed, "I was looking for you, I came here a few days ago, and then Lao Xue said you were on a business trip, so I didn't expect you to come back so soon, if it's convenient for you, I have something to tell you."

Sui Zhou said, "I also heard about the matter of you asking Lao Xue."

He paused, face slightly to one side, gesturing to the man behind him: "In the future, if Old Xue and I are not around, you can look for Pang Qi."

Pang Qi is also dressed as the Jinyiwei, but he looks a little lower in rank than Lao Xue, and younger than Lao Xue. He has a baby face and smiles at everyone. He looks gentle and harmless.

But Tang Fan didn't dare to underestimate him because if he was able to serve in the Northern Administrative Court, and he hadn't changed his face since he'd seen all the prisons, and he has never looked back. That experience must not be measured by the standards of the common man. One can know the face of a person, but not the heart. The more harmless they tend to look. Most likely the more awesome the character.

Tang Fan nodded his head in greeting and introduced himself: “Tang Fan Tang Runqing, the Shuntian Prefecture presiding Prefect, we already met the day you followed Guangchuan to investigate the case."

After listening to Sui Zhou's words, "You can call Pang Qi if you need anything in the future", Pang Qi, even if he was a fool, knew that this man was close to his boss and should not be offended, so he hurriedly bowed his hand and saluted: “Tang Da-ren, you are too kind, just give me a call if you need anything in the future!”

Sui Zhou, however, had little patience to listen to the two men's un-nourishing words, and interrupted them directly: "See this, you have to go and do something beforehand."

Pang Qi left at the sound of his voice, Tang Fan and Sui Zhou left the Northern Administrative Court and strolled away.

Sui Zhou said, “The last time you asked Lao Xue to find out the whereabouts of the white jade's horse, we have already found it."

Tang Fan asked busily, "Where is it?"

Sui Zhou said: "It's at the Eastern Depot offices, Shang Ming's house."

Tang Fan looked strange: "..."

Sui Zhou said, “That white jade carving horse was originally bought by Shang Ming at a high price from a British official, and Wang Zhi also wanted it at that time, but couldn't get it from Shang Ming, so it had nothing to do with him."

Tang Fan laughed bitterly: “Pan Da-ren will be in trouble now, but why Wang Zhi is so nice, to make fun of him like this."

It's useless to know the whereabouts of white jade's horse, but can the Shuntian Prefecture still ask for it from Shang Ming? Don't say it was Shang Ming's, even if it wasn't, in the name of Pan Bin, would Shang Ming have given it to him if he asked for it?

In other words, did Wang Zhi not know that it was in Shang Ming's possession? But he still asked the Shuntian Prefecture to look for it. Isn't this an obvious attempt to make things difficult for Pan Bin?

Could Wang Zhi really be as bossy and capricious as the rumors say? So whatever do he want?

Sui Zhou thought for a moment and said, “Wang Zhi and Shang Ming have always been at odds, and maybe he just wanted to annoy Shang Ming."

Tang Fan stammered: "But the irrelevant Pan Da-ren got dragged down for it."

Sui Zhou: "So how are you going to respond?"

Tang Fan shook his head: "I'll go back and tell Pan Da-ren about this. By the way, there's something to tell you."

He briefly mentioned the murder of Li Man's wife and Chen-shi's disappearance, and also mentioned the seal of the White Lotus Society.

Sui Zhou nodded his head: “The rest of the White Lotus Society will be rekindled, and will only be a shadowy ghost, and I'll let my people know to keep an out."

He didn't know why, with the words from Sui Zhou, Tang Fan knew that he would do it with all his heart, and he had a sense of peace of mind that he was being entrusted with a heavy responsibility.

Perhaps there are some people who are trustworthy in their work and are born to be reassuring, and Sui Zhou is one such person.

Tang Fan laughed, "I'll leave it to you, originally you came back from out of town, I should sit down and chat with you, but Pan Da-ren has been very interested in the white jade's horse, I have to go back and tell him first, why don't we meet again some other time?"

Sui Zhou let out a hint of relief, then suddenly asked: "What time are you going home today?"

Tang Fan: "If there's nothing wrong, I'll go home as usual, what's wrong?"

Sui Zhou: “Then I will come to your place tonight."

Tang Fan subconsciously responded, looking back and thinking that something was wrong.

What's wrong?

The brilliant Tang Da-ren thought hard on the way back, but couldn't figure out why.

Not to mention how tangled Pan Bin was when he found out the news of White jade's horse, he had no A-Dong to deliver the dessert, Tang Fan had settled the dinner problem outside before going home.

When he returned home, he found a man standing in front of his house, and it was General Sui Baihu.

"If I had known you were coming so early, I would have gone home before you stood in front of me!" Tang Fan hastened his footsteps towards him in a row, an apologetic smile on his face.

"No harm." Sui Zhou said.

Tang Fan found that he was also carrying some food in his hand.

Sui Zhou: "My house is far away from you, so I'll stay here tonight, do you mind?"

Tang Fan: "Huh? I don't mind, I don't mind, we can talk by candlelight till tomorrow!"




Tang Da-ren lived the legendary life of a bachelor.

When he was an official, he had at least one or two men to accompany him, but Tang Fan lived alone, eating snacks and reading books at night with the moon in his eyes.

But being alone would make him more popular, and prevent him from going into the night in the cold, though he was always expressionless and quiet, but having someone around was always better than nothing.

The two of them put down their things, Tang Fan went to get a glass of wine and Sui Zhou unpacked the paper bag that was wrapped around the food.

Tang Fan bought the brined pig's ears and tongue, which were delicious and fresh.

Sui Zhou bought the pepperoni, fried tofu, salted peanuts, and cucumber.

"You've come all the way here, why bring anything, you and I are so familiar, don't spend money next time!"

Tang Da-ren said in a pretentious manner, and took a bite of the fried tofu, the tofu was crispy on the outside, but the inside was white as tofu, soft as if it was about to come out.

"Where did you buy this fried tofu, why is it so good?" Tang Fan said curiously.

“There are some ingredients at home." Sui Zhou was brief and concise.

"You can cook?" Tang Da-ren was shocked.

The corners of Sui Zhou's mouth were upwards in a rare moment. There were no words.

A few breaths later, Tang Fan was still in a state of shock: “Guangchuan brother, you can cook rice? Really, really, really..."

He hadn't really come up with anything for half a while, and there was a sharp knock at the door.

“That's great!" Tang Da-ren took a long breath, finished her exclamation, and then got up to open the door.

Outside stood A-Dong, and without waiting for Tang Fan to speak, she hurriedly said: “Tang Da-ren, help me!"

The little girl was about to kneel down, and Tang Fan stopped her: "What happened?"

A-Dong cried: "A-Chun told me that the master had sent for a man to come tomorrow, to sell me!"

Tang Fan ate in surprise: "Only selling you?"

A-Dong nodded, "A few days ago, a batch of servants were sold. The old steward knew that I wanted to come to your place, so he didn't have a problem with it, but today they suddenly changed their mind and said they would sell me!

To make things clear, she gritted her teeth to hold back her tears, but when it came to the back, she couldn't help choking up: “Tang Da-ren, what should I do, can you go talk to the butler grandpa, I don't want to be sold!"

Tang Fan knew that this was definitely not the idea from Lao Li, the steward, and it was probably the idea from Li Lin, the young master of the Li Family.

It was probably the incident in the morning that made Li Lin resentful in his heart. He is not able to confront Tang Fan directly, so he is not going to sell A-Dong to Tang Fan and let his plan fall through. Anyway, she was the Li Family's slave servant. It's nobody's business.

Come to think of it. Tang Fan was also a bit speechless for a moment.

When he thought about it, Tang Fan was at a loss for words.

When Zhang-shi was there, he had met Li Lin a few times, and he was shy at that time, but he was also a student, and he admired Tang Fan, who had been admitted to the exam at a young age, and Tang Fan gave him some advice.

He had a lot of admiration for Tang Fan, who gave him some advice.

Tang Fan didn't know how Zhang-shi would feel under the Nine Springs of Hell if she knew of this son.

In the end, it was only natural for Li Lin to sell A-Dong, but Tang Fan really didn't care. He wanted to think about it in a few days, but who knew that Li Lin was about to sell her out. If sold to a bad home. Then A-Dong will have to suffer.

Looking at this cute little girl, Tang Fan couldn't bear to say, "Well, don't worry, you go back first, I'll think of a way."

A-Dong had a natural sense of trust in him, nodded obediently and went back with tears in her eyes.




She sneaked out of the front door, naturally, she couldn't go out through the main door, and had to go back through the back door.

Tang Fan watched her figure disappear from sight, thinking of a way out.

But then she heard someone say, "You want her?"

Tang Fan nodded, and felt that this sentence seemed a bit ambiguous, so he said something about A-Dong: "It just so happens that there is a shortage of cooks on my side, and A-Dong is also hardworking and capable.

Sui Zhou nodded: "Actually, it's not that hard, you don't have to worry about it, I'll help you out."

Tang Da-ren, who was touched by such a righteous friend, said: “Thank you, Guangchuan!"

Sui Zhou also said, "You have such a conflict with the Li Family, what are you going to do about the matter of your housing?"

Tang Fan didn't tell him that he was looking around for a house, but Sui Zhou noticed it, which showed his delicate fast thinking mind.

“The capital is big, and there are many houses, so I'm sure I can find one." Tang Fan said.

Sui Zhou mused for a moment: "If you want, you can move in with me."

Tang Fan froze: “This, is it wrong? Won't your wife be unhappy?"

Sui Zhou said coldly, "I'm not married yet."

Tang Fan: “Then the concubine will always stop..."

Sui Zhou was displeased: “There are no concubines, and no messy maids."

Without waiting for Tang Fan to ask anything more, he said, "My parents live with my eldest brother, I moved out alone, no need to worry."

When it was all said and done, how can Tang Fan refuse the invitation in good faith, and he clasped his hands together to the end, and said, "I'll trouble Brother Guangchuan!"

In fact, Sui Zhou is not difficult to get along with, they have common topics, and most importantly, he is not only good at cooking, he is also a hundred times better than himself.

When he was thinking about food, Tang Da-ren was still a little excited.

The corner of Sui Zhou's indifferent mouth was finally lightly touched.

"You and I know each other well, don't be polite."

The author has something to say: Note: It was written before, A-Dong is now 8 to 9 years old.

It's progressing by leaps and bounds, don't you dare say the author takes her salt?

Whoever said last time that they were not living together, but just neighbors, stand up, Sui Da-ren promises not to kill you!









- The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty -



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