The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, Chapter 29: The Sleuth who wrote Romance Novels

The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty. 《成化十四年》Chengnian Shisi Nian
The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, Chapter 29: The Sleuth who wrote Romance Novels

A-Dong is a glutton, just like Tang Fan. When she was in the Li Family, she used to go to the Li Family's kitchen to get food from the chef.


But her time in the kitchen was not wasted. At least A-Dong had learned a few things from the Li Family's chef, and she was able to satisfy the various needs of her elder brother, who had a craving after hearing Tang Fan's descriptions, such as this one, where the two siblings climbed a tree and pounded the juice and noodles, and they actually pounded them in food.

Tang Fan and A-Dong both closed their eyes and said that they were half-witted siblings, but no one believed them.

"Come on, let's eat!" Tang Fan handed Sui Zhou a bowl, smiled and pushed the seasoning and spoon towards him.

Sui Zhou was also speechless. Bowed his head and took a taste. It does taste good. The freshly picked acacia leaves also had a fresh aroma of grass and wood, and after pounding the juice, it seeped into the noodles, and the noodles also had an aroma of acacia, which was fresh and delicious best for summer. No wonder Tang Fan will never forget it.

When he nodded, Tang Fan's eyes lit up: "Let's try the golden chicken again next time!

Before Sui Zhou could speak, A-Dong already called out: "Brother, don't forget your hand was scratched when you climbed the tree in the morning, next time you go to catch a chicken, you'll be pecked by a chicken.

Tang Fan glared at her, "I too have not climbed the tree for a long time, my memory is just rusty, a few more times and I will be skilled."

A-Dong wailed: "Come on, I was looking after you down there in the morning, and I was afraid that you would fall down.

Tang Fan reached out and grabbed her by the ears: "It's nice to have a little girl to eat, but she's always nagging, be careful if you do not to get married in the future!"

Don't look at A-Dong's white and round face, but she is surprisingly agile, jumping up and ducking behind Sui Zhou, smiling at Tang Fan and making a ghostly face.

Sui Zhou asked: "Are you hurt?"

Tang Fan shook his head: "Don't listen to A-Dong's nonsense, it's just a cut by a branch."

Sui Zhou nodded and didn't speak again.

The dishes were all very refreshing and appetizing, which made Sui Zhou's body feel hot and happy.

Sui Zhou used to live alone, and even when he cooked, he was always busy, and he was always trying to cope, or he was just going through his papers in the courthouse, and he could not even taste the taste of the food. Few can do so as they do today. Three or two people sat around. Talking over dinner. The same can be said for the well-prepared flavor in the meal.

At first, he felt that it was unnecessary to come back late for dinner, just because Tang Fan insisted, but now, after getting used to it, he had to come back no matter how late he was.

But now I'm used to it, but he was always coming back no matter how late he was.

After the meal, A-Dong went to pack the chopsticks, and Sui Zhou said to Tang Fan, "Come with me."

He brought Tang Fan to the study.

"Sleeves." Sui Zhou said.




He was always short and concise in his speech, and kept his words short when they were necessary.

Tang Da-ren thought to himself, because he was clever, otherwise it would have been difficult to understand his meaning from these words.

When he rolled up his sleeve, he saw a long slit on the outside of his right arm, which was not deep, but he guessed that a lot of blood had been shed before, and now that it had stopped, there was a scar on the top of it, which looked a bit horrible.

Sui Zhou took a look at it, took out one of the bottles of ointment from the jars on the table, dabbed it with his fingers and applied it evenly on Tang Fan's wound.

The wound was hot and painful, but the pain was still manageable, and Tang Da-ren didn't show a grimace, but after the poultice was applied, the wound immediately felt a pleasant cool sensation, which seemed to relieve even the pain a lot.

“This medicine is really good, I won't have to worry about falling again."

Tang Fan joked, but Sui Zhou gave him a cold glance, and immediately shut up.

Sui Zhou: "Do you want to do it again?"

Tang Fan: "..."

Tang Da-ren endured and endured, but still couldn't: "But that acacia leaf is really good, don't you think?"

With an accusatory tone, General Sui Baihu couldn't help but turn away just in time for Tang Da-ren to not see the flutter of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

"Let me know if you want more in the future." Half a while later, only Sui Zhou said the same thing.

Tang Fan smiled, "You're really a good brother!

General Sui Baihu, who was given the title of "good brother" for his willingness to climb trees and pick leaves, was helpless: "Didn't you say there was something about the Li Family?"

Tang Da-ren got down to business. Then the mode of eating was adjusted to a seriousness.

He told all his speculations from beginning to end. “I once heard Lao Li speak. He said Li Man gave up the imperial examination that year. The beginning of the change in business. Once suffered a lot from inexperience. The old money was also lost, the Li Family was in debt and was on the verge of extinction. Later, I don't know what kind of business it became. The Li Family got better overnight. Lao Li was just the butler. So he doesn’t know. But think about it now. Maybe that's why Li Man was able to get away with it. I'm afraid the White Lotus Society is also helping. There was collusion between the two sides. Otherwise, how could one like Li Man be compelled to the point of killing one's wife and sons?"

Sui Zhou nodded: "I will report this to the police and continue to trace the whereabouts of Li Man and Chen-shi, the White Lotus Society has become more and more rampant in recent years, and during the mutiny at Tumu Fort a dozen years ago, there was no doubt that they had collaborated with the Oirats.

Tang Fan sighed when he mentioned the great change that happened decades ago.

He was not yet born when this shocking event happened, but it didn't stop him from understanding it, not only him, but all the people in the world would have to sigh like Tang Fan.

Because of the emperor's capriciousness and ignorance, hundreds of thousands of people died, including civil and military officials, courtiers and courtiers assistants, as well as the three battalions of the capital, almost all of them were wiped out, and people in the later years of Emperor Yingzong's benevolent rule were told about it over and over.

But Tang Fan felt that if a man's growth required the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, it would be too tragic, and no amount of modification could cover up the mistakes he had made. The emperor was a captive. A national disgrace. At that time, the Oirats drove straight in and the Imperial city was defenseless. If Yu Qian hadn't stepped forward they will have attacked and capture the capital. A new son of heaven was also installed. Be the first to defend the war. What will happen to the Imperial city now? How will Great Ming be now? That's not saying much.

Tang Fan reminded: "We can see from the matter of the Tumu Fort that the White Lotus Society has great intentions, and I'm afraid the matter of Li Man is only the tip of the iceberg."

Once the White Lotus Society was involved, it was not something that Tang Fan could solve alone, the Northern Administrative Court had more experience in this area, and it was more appropriate to leave it to them.




Sui Zhou nodded his head and said coldly, "With Li Man's nature, he would have done something like that without Chen-shi, without the White Lotus Society's encouragement and compulsion.”

He clearly doesn't like this kind of man who kills his wife and son.

Tang Fan said, “There are not many people like Li Man in the world, and that's why the White Lotus Society has a chance to take advantage of them.”

When he saw Sui Zhou's tired face again, he asked, "But what was the problem?"

Sui Zhou shook her head: "As I told you last time, the White Lotus Society's demons have been seizing romance books to charm the world with rumors and lately it's been nothing but a book hunt."



Tang Da-ren let out a little, smiling a little flatteringly: "Guangchuan, can we make a deal, if you see a book called the Pearly Blossoms, and if there's nothing wrong with it, can you not seal it, and there's a book called The Flying Sword..."

His voice became smaller and smaller as he watched the other side with no expression, and finally he showed a look of defensiveness.

Sui Zhou said, “There is an order from above that all the books of the romance will be seized. Those who go to check it are just looking through it, and it's hard to find out if there's anything wrong with it, so they'd rather take everything rather than chance it."

"And..." he paused, looking at Tang Fan, a hint of helplessness finally appearing on his cold expression, "You, a court official, running off to write that kind of book anonymously, in case you are found out, your reputation will be ruined."

Tang Fan laughed: "What's the point, in fact, not only I, but many people in the imperial court are doing this kind of work, no one can recognize anyone with a pseudonym, otherwise, how can I support my family with my salary alone if one does not want to be corrupt? The Assistant Minister of Justice... He also wrote one or two books for a living, because the writing was more liberal than mine, the content was beautiful and popular with the booksellers, and the fees were more than mine. There's one like me the same year. He was originally also an editor at Hanlin. But now he has retired. He has also written a book or two of words for a living. Because the lines are more relaxed than I am. The content is fragrant it became very popular with booksellers. The man’s pay is also more than mine. And the Ministry of Rites when each exam is finished. They will sell the answer sheets of those with the highest ranking to the bookstore to earn a fee from it. Since there are students who want to go to the academy, they have gone to buy it for reference. That's a lot better money than what we're writing in our talking romance books!"

Sui Zhou listened to the other party as if he knew all his family's treasures, and his face was blank.

He naturally remembered what Tang Fan said about the Minister of Justice, Assistant Minister He. That's an old man who's known for being just and serious. It was hard for Sui Zhou to imagine that he would write such a book in private, and with the Jinyiwei's detective techniques, he can't believe he still don't know about this kind of thing. It seems a bit of introspection is needed as well.

He listened to Tang Fan's long sigh there again filled sympathy: "So yeah. We, the civil servants, have been studying hard for dozens of years. Once we become officials, we have no money, so we can't go anywhere without gifts. After all, there are few who are as clever and clever as I am, who can write a book and get the money to write it..."

Sui Zhou: "I have a salary."

Tang Fan continued: "Don't you think so, Guangchuan... What did you just say? What did you just say?"

Sui Zhou: "I have a salary, don't worry about the money issue."

The Jinyiwei is not like the civil servants, they have monthly salary and travel allowance.

The Jinyiwei's initial duty was to perform the imperial court ceremonies and to keep the Jinyiwei in good looks at all times, plus the Jinyiwei's men were fierce and vicious, and were feared by everyone. People are scared. So even though the court is sometimes in a tight spot. The Ministry of War was unable to provide money or food for a while, but do they dare to withhold money and food from the Jinyiwei. Everyone knows that. You have to pick the soft ones to squeeze from.

Tang Fan lives alone and doesn't have to support his whole family, plus an A-Dong can't afford to eat much, but he's good at food himself, so sometimes he's always eating on the go, but he can't save much in the end.

Sui Zhou, on the other hand, was a good example of thrift and frugality, because he lived alone but did not have any bad hobbies, even unlike Tang Da-ren, who had an uncommon love for food. Every day, except at the office, he goes go home. Life is as simple as it is ascetic. According to the rules, the family and the officers were given New Year's gifts on New Year's Day. There are still a lot of savings after a year. Totally threw Tang Da-ren eight blocks out.

Tang Fan listened to his words, was stunned for a long time, then laughed wildly and finally had to hold Sui Zhou's shoulders to steady his body while rubbing his stomach: "Well, this brother and sister will depend on General Sui Baihu from now on, when I really outspend my salary, you have to help me out!

Sui Zhou: "Hmm."

Tang Fan couldn't help but laugh, but he was touched. He knew that not everyone was qualified to let the other person say something like that.

“Guangchuan, to be honest, my impression of the Jinyiwei was mediocre, but after I met you, I realized that there was a man like you in the Jinyiwei who was worthy of friendship and confidant!”

Sui Zhou's cold eyes had a hint of warmth in them, though he still gave a short and concise hint.

"In two days, it will be my grandmother's birthday, would you like to come along?" He asked.

Sui Zhou's grandmother's surname was Zhou, and she was the sister of the Empress Dowager Zhou.

Zhou-shi was originally from an ordinary family, but in the Ming Dynasty, there were rules, and all the women of the harem were chosen from good families. Don't be high and mighty. This is to prevent the unity of outside cousins in the harem from rebellion. Zhou-shi was a woman from the harem who was appointed as a noble consort. And she finally became Empress Dowager as the mother of the Emperor. The Zhou Family naturally followed suit into heights riding in coattails. Except that the Empress Dowager Zhou's father received a posthumous title. The brothers also each got the Marquis peerage and the Count peerage, because of Zhou-shi, Sui Zhou's grandfather also appointed the Jinyiwei commander.

The Jinyiwei Commander was the highest official position of the Jinyiwei, but there was not only one person who could be the Commander, like Wan Tong, the brother of the Noble Consort Wan, who was also the Commander of the Jinyiwei now, but he was a real powerhouse, and there was another Commander named Yuan Bin, who had saved the life of the late emperor and was also very influential in the Jinyiwei, also a real powerhouse. The same is true of the Establishment.

Besides these two people, there were many other commanders in the Jinyiwei, most of them were paid by the emperor for their fictitious positions, and they were notorious for taking money without doing anything.

This kind of bequeathed title was a kind for a rich family, not comparable to the Marquis of Wu'an, which was a hereditary title with no real power at all.

The Sui Family was blessed by the Empress Dowager Zhou, and Sui Zhou's father and brother also held a vacant position in the Jinyiwei, a vacant position where they just took money and did nothing and it was very eye-catching. It's not like they are direct relatives of the Empress Dowager Zhou. Neither is Zhou-shi. It's even more separated from each other. So Sui Zhou went into the Jinyiwei later. He can only start with a Zongqi and rise slowly.

He had no real power and was also a relative of the current Empress Dowager. Civil officials were generally reluctant to associate with the Sui Family, either to avoid suspicion or to avoid lowering their status.

However, Tang Fan listened to his words, but instead of refusing he said: "Let's be brothers, your grandmother will be my grandmother too, so you can call me up in a couple of days and go with you.”

Sui Zhou's heart warmed a little, and he let out a hush.

The Northern Administrative Court took the matter of the Li Family very seriously because it was related to the White Lotus Society and it was reported by Sui Zhou, but just as Tang Fan expected, Li Man and Chen-shi had already planned and were definitely prepared for everything. When the men of the Northern Administrative Court caught up with the carriage of the suspected people of the Li Family in Baoding Province. Only A-Qiu and a few other servants of the Li Family were left inside.




According to Qiu and the others, "Li Lin", who was the master, did not move his family to Nanjing as originally agreed, but immediately gave some silver money to each of the servants and dispersed them in a different direction, while he took the carriage and headed north without knowing where they were going.

But Qiu and the rest of them, as yet, did not know that the "Master Li" they had seen was probably someone else inside. It is now. The search for "Li Lin" and Chen-shi has not been a day in the making. It's also no longer within the purview of the Shuntian Prefecture.

After Sui Zhou handed over the matter to his colleagues, Tang Fan was able to leave the matter behind, but every time he saw A-Dong, he still occasionally thought of Zhang-shi and A-Xia, and he could not help but feel sorry for her fate.

With Sui Zhou's testimony and all the suspicions, the case was closed and the impeachment of Tang Fan was over. Pan Bin sent Lao Wang and his team to find Tang Fan to return to his post. Although this senior brother, the prefecture governor often caused all kinds of trouble for Tang Fan. But the heartland is not bad. There is also fellowship. If not that they came from the same teacher in the beginning, Tang Fan would not give up his noble position as the scholar at the Hanlin Academy to come under his senior brother's command.

Two days later, on the birthday of Mrs. Zhou, Tang Fan took A-Dong with him to the Sui Family to celebrate the birthday of his grandmother.

Old Mrs. Zhou had only one son and one daughter, and the daughter was Sui Zhou's mother.

The Sui mother married the Sui father and had three children, with Sui Zhou in second place, an eldest brother, Sui An, and a younger sister, Sui Bi, at the bottom.

Although he was related to the Empress Dowager Zhou, the Sui Family was an ordinary family, not three wives and four concubines fanfare like the Marquis of Wu'an Mansion and the Li Family, the Sui Zhou's father had only one wife, and the Sui Zhou's grandparents are dead.

The Sui Zhou's eldest son and his family were working as officials in a foreign country, and only their daughter remained in the capital, so they decided to let the Sui Zhou live in the capital in order to prevent the old mother from traveling to spend her twilight years abroad looking for her son. The Sui Family bought the house next door to the old lady. Move over and live next door to the old lady. This will take care of the old lady at the same time. It's not so much to gossip about.

[1] So the Current Empress Dowager Zhou is the Sister of the Sui Zhou grandma they both came from the Zhou Family and the eldest sister married the passed Emperor while the younger sister married into the Sui Family making her Sui Zhou-shi, holy hell both the grandma and the grandchild have the same name. So General Sui Zhou Baihu is the grand child of the current Empress Dowager Zhou once-removed...

After hearing about the Sui Family's relatives, Tang Fan wondered: "In that case, your family has a simple population, why do you have to move out and live alone?”

Sui Zhou said lightly, "My elder brother, is a Baihu, but he is only in a vacant position. He is not used to working as an official in the Jinyiwei, and he wants to make a name for himself by studying, but he has not yet been promoted. And I started lower than him though. Nowadays, he has a half-dozen posts. So my sister-in-law looks at me a little bit awkwardly. Instead of being at home all the time with disagreements and awkward looks of a higher ranked younger brother and a lower rank eldest brother. Might as well move out and be quiet."

Tang Fan now understood, it's true that every family has its own awkwardness that are hard to understand.

Sui An, the eldest son, was going to inherit the family business in the future, so his parents would certainly be biased. In the character of Sui Zhou. He was bound to get impatient with these household chores. So he moved out to avoid contradictions. Lest the brothers fight against each other.

Old Mrs. Zhou's big birthday. The son's family was out of town and couldn't make it back. Naturally, the daughter does it for her. Originally, the Empress Dowager Zhou's relationship with The Sui Family was not shallow either. But the old lady herself didn't want to make a big deal out of it. She said she came from an unusual calm family. The Empress Dowager is the one who got rich today. All the more reason to cherish the blessings. So instead of making a big deal out of it and waste of money. Ask a bunch of people you don't know to come and celebrate your birthday. It is better to call her own children and grandchildren together. It's just a hot meal.

The birthday banquet was held at the Zhou Family's old house, and Sui Zhou's family only had to go next door to congratulate the old lady, which was convenient.

When Tang Fan arrived at the Zhou Family, he realized that except for him and A-Dong, all the others were the Sui Family's own people.

When the old woman saw Sui Zhou, she smiled and pulled him: "My good grandson is coming to see me, come here, come here!"

Sui Zhou, who was used to having a cold and solemn face for many years, could not help but soften up at the sight of old Lady Zhou, first giving her birthday salute, then presenting her gifts, and calling out to her grandmother respectfully.

"Good, good, good!" Old Lady Zhou said three good words in a row, and seeing Tang Fan and A-Dong standing next to Sui Zhou, she laughed again: “A-Zhou, is this your friend?"

Before Sui Zhou could answer, someone said, "Second brother, today is a family feast, the old lady said not to bring outsiders, there are still women here. Nor is it good for the common man so why do you bring outsiders we don't know?”

Sui Zhou’s eldest brother Sui An's wife Jiao-shi.

The brothers who one was married and one not have been at odds with each other because of the sister-in-law's conflicts, and Sui Zhou is not married yet, but since Jiao-shi sees him as a disgruntled man and scolds him in front of her husband all the time, the relationship between the brothers is bound to be affected in the long run.

What's more, Sui Zhou grew up raised by old Lady Zhou. Parents favor the eldest son. The Jinyiwei is the second son, and he is not surnamed Zhou, and he was not originally a member of the Empress Dowager Zhou's family, but when she spoke in front of the Empress Dowager Zhou who was her sister, Sui Zhou immediately had a real job, which was even more desirable than the vacant one.

But she had forgotten that Sui Zhou was not a person she could just pinch.

As soon as she finished, Sui Zhou said: "From now on, they are as good as family."

The author has something to say:




Notes:

1. True history, the Empress Dowager Zhou did not have a sister. 2. The average woman was not allowed to see a foreign man, but the empress had no scruples about the good of the family.

2. Generally, women did not see or interact with foreign men, but they had no scruples about the good of the family. 3. In ancient times, there was no royalties, not to mention no intellectual property rights, just like piracy, only a meager pen fee to publish a book.

In the last chapter, some of my friends asked why Li Man and Li Lin can still change their identities when they are so old.

Let's not be cute tonight, I'll straighten out this clue for you.

Note: this book involves drama, if you don't like the drama, please skip it and don't read it!

1. As mentioned above, when the Shuntian Prefecture searched the inn where Chen-shi stayed, they found the White Lotus Society seal, which means that Chen-shi is related to the White Lotus Society, and Li Man and Chen-shi hooked up together, which must also be related to the White Lotus Society.

2. Why Li Man, who is a student, changed to business, so smoothly can make money, has anyone ever thought about this question? Is he a business genius? But if he has a huge organization to help him, then it's not difficult. The relationship between the two, as you can imagine, is a hidden line that has yet to be explained.

The rest of the Li Family, even if they have doubts, why should they question it, they don't have the right and they won't be stupid enough to do anything.

It is a historical fact that Li Zilong, who was mentioned twice before, had already reached out to the palace, so the Chenghua Emperor was afraid of him and this directly contributed to the establishment of the Western Depot. It is also recorded in the history of the wild, that this Li Zilong is related to the White Lotus Society.

So the question arises, why is a Taoist priest called a demon Taoist? Why did he develop so much power in the past?

As a Taoist, he must have some kind of means to confuse people, such as disguise or illusion, so is it possible that Li Man has also learned a little something? All these can be introduced in a logical way, but many people overlooked Li Zilong and the Demon Fox incident, so they only focus on Li Man's own maintenance.

This plot was supposed to be explained later, before I thought you could guess some of it, so I left it hanging.

The fourth point explains why Li Man burned the corpse, because disguise or illusion can only have a short-lived deceptive effect, and if someone gets suspicious and goes to dig up Li Lin's body, they will find out the problem quickly, and that's why Li Man destroyed the body. Even if Tang Fan is now linking things up, it is at best his own speculation without any substantial evidence.

6. Why Li Man still speaks and acts in such a high profile after pretending to be Li Lin? I don't know if you've ever heard of a similar saying: Sometimes a person who wants to do something that is not known, if he does it secretly, he is more likely to be discovered than to do it in a high profile. The fact that Li Lin is an ungrateful child, and therefore people will not think that there is a problem with his identity, is in fact a psychological cover-up.

In conclusion, Li Man's solution is feasible, and it also explains why Tang Fan thinks Li Man is a terrible person in the previous chapter, because the opponent has a reason for every step, and the high IQ psychopath is a terrible.

Tang Da-ren is already strong enough to be able to associate with the truth, but he is a human being, not a god, and can't be expected to reveal it right then and there.

Then, there are two more questions:

1. Why did Li Lin willingly die in his father's place?

I thought I didn't need to explain this, because the ancient thinking concept was different from ours. In the Great Ming law, there is also the crime of filial piety, but the father can get away with killing his son, and Li Lin is a person who has read the sages' books, so it is too normal to look at the ancient times from the modern point of view.

Why did Li Man not wear shackles when he went to prison, and why could he change his identity with Li Lin?

First of all, if Li Lin was able to go to prison, he must have been paid for it, this is a society under the rule of man, not the law. In ancient prisons, there were many different ways to get you killed by the guards. If you really want to get serious, in ancient times, Li Man did not necessarily have to die from killing his wife, but if he did it properly, he could escape the law.

In the Ming dynasty, it was explicitly stipulated that a wife and concubine should be executed at a later date, but a husband was not guilty of killing his concubine, as for a husband killing his wife, he was only sentenced to 7 years.

So in this article, there is no need for Li Man to kill his son, as long as Tang Fan doesn't exist, didn't hold him responsible, Li Lin will bribe people for him and then wait for his father's old friends to help him find a reason, such as his wife cheating on him, and so on.

But that wouldn't be a good plot, would it? That's why I said in the text that there's a lot of fiction in the story, and it's just half-empty, and it's even more fictional than that.








- The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty -



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