The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty.
《成化十四年》Chengnian Shisi Nian
The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, Chapter 9: The Eastern Depot catches Fire
Tang Fan had a deep sigh in his heart, the other party was only a Regular Seventh rank Zongqi, but his tone was so big that he must have something behind him, he also stopped joking and said directly, “Thank you General Sui Zongqi for your kindness, it's just that Master Pan has been kind to me, I can't be ungrateful."
Sui Zhou said: "As you wish."
In the face of his indifferent attitude, Tang Fan did not take it personally either, arching his hand: "I'll invite General Sui Zongqi to wine at another time when I have the time, so I'll leave now."
Sui Zhou rose: "Master Tang take your time, I'm sorry to see you off."
Just then, one of the Jinyiwei hurriedly walked in. "Big brother!"
Tang Fan recognized him as one of the men who had followed Sui Zhou around when he went to the medicine shop that day, named Xue Ling, with a dark complexion and a fierce face.
Sui Zhou: "What is it?"
Xue Ling glanced at Tang Fan.
Tang Fan was about to dodge, but Sui Zhou said: "If it is related to the murder of the Marquis of Wu’an’s house, let it be said."
Xue Ling said, "Eastern Depot came, take Zheng Cheng's body away!"
Tang Fan’s face showed an unexpected look.
Sui Zhou's expression sank: "What's going on?"
Xue Ling laughed bitterly, "Just now, someone from the Eastern Depot side came and said that he was ordered by the Governor to lend Zheng Cheng's body for investigation in order to solve the case early."
The Governor of the Eastern Depot is the head of the Eastern Depot, and the current Governor is Shang Ming, who has always been at odds with Wang Zhi of the Western Depot.
Once the eunuch is in power, even if there is no wind, he must rise three feet of waves and create something for the people to talk about, not to mention that now there is the Marquis of Wu’an Mansion murder case can be used as an excuse, Wang Zhi has intervened, Shang Ming of course is not willing to show weakness, in order to compete for favor in front of the emperor, everyone is very desperate.
Sui Zhou laughed coldly, “Waving a chicken feather as a sign of authority!" [1] To wave a chicken feather as a token of authority (idiom); to assume unwarranted authority on the basis of some pretext
I don't know if he was scolding the Eastern Depot people or the Eastern Depot governor Shang Ming.
Tang Fan sighed softly, since Zheng Cheng's body was no longer there, there was no need for him to go to Sui Zhou tomorrow, and the case would only have to be broken through from the person who bought the Chaihu.
"General Sui Zongqi, I'll take a step ahead, the one who bought the Chaihu, I'll also have Shuntian Prefecture send someone to investigate when I turn back, if your side finds someone first, please let me know."
Sui Zhou nodded slightly: "Master Tang go slowly."
The first time he returned home, he found that he had been running around for half a day, except for the half bowl of white congee he had eaten in the morning, which was almost dripping There was nothing to eat for a long time. In desperation, he had to wash the basket of pears sent by A-Xia in the morning and pick those up.
After eating the pears, Tang Fan took out the bottle of ointment that Sui Zhou had given him and applied it to the wound on his neck.
Just after it was applied, there was a knock on the door outside.
As he walked over to open the door, he first smelled a tantalizing aroma, and then saw the young girl carrying the food box.
Tang Fan: "A-Xia?"
A-Xia: "I've come to bother Master Tang again, we have some noodles for dinner today. The lady of the house heard you had just returned and thought you might be too busy to eat, so she sent me a bowl of wonton, Master Tang will eat while it's hot! "
The two families are just one wall apart, and any movement that is slightly bigger can be heard, the Li Family although their ancestors were city officials, but in this generation they are just an ordinary businessman, living in the capital city where officials everywhere is even more inconspicuous, usually the Li Family Master goes out, a family of old and weak women and children encounter people in the government service, they are inevitably weak and maybe bullied, because Tang Fan has helped them several times to navigate the processes, the Li Family people are grateful, and knowing Tang Fan is not yet married, he certainly neglected to cook, so from time to time they sent the maid A-Xia over to send some food, after a while, the relationship between the two families is also good.
Tang Fan took over the food box: "Lao Wang's cooking is always nothing to talk about, but it's not good to bother you after all, and I'd like you to tell the Li Family First Lady so that you won't have to bother so much in the future."
A-Xia pursed her lips and smiled, "Master Tang said nothing, you have helped us the Li Family so much, we are just sending some food over, why bother, you don't have to be polite, just eat while it's hot, let this low house maid come over later to get the food box!"
The two of them exchanged pleasantries again, and A-Xia left with his farewell, and Tang Fan carried the food box into the house, opened the lid, and brought out a bowl of fragrant pork wontons with small onions, and took out another Bodhisattva Savage from the bookcase.
This "Bodhisattva Man" is not a song of the Song Dynasty, but a novel written by an unknown person of the present Dynasty. He wrote a Jiu Cai as a guest in the county magistrate, was vilified by his servant, was killed by the county magistrate, and Jiu Cai became a ghost after his death. He tried to clean up his grievances, and even went to Yuqian to expose the conspiracy of the county magistrate. In the end, the county magistrate had a bad report, he was beheaded by the Imperial court, and Jiu Cai also took the post of a ghost to the Prefecture.
The story is about a man like Master Tang who was the first to enter the Hanlin Academy and was praised by the emperor himself, but who would never have thought that he would like to read this kind of dog-blooded novel that combines romance, suspense, ghosts and monsters, and immortality.
Long, white fingers flipped to where they had last seen, and Master Tang bowed his head and took a small sip of the hot soup, sighing happily.
What more could a man ask for in a life like this?
Early the next morning, Pan Bin called Tang Fan over and asked about the progress of the case.
Tang Fan skimmed over the discovery and progress, and also mentioned that the Eastern Depot had taken Zheng Cheng's body away.
Pan Bin actually looked happy: "Once the Eastern Depot stepped in, the case became more complicated!"
Tang Fan: "......."
Pan Bin also seemed to realize that he was too happy to be inappropriate, so he hurriedly coughed lightly as a cover: “This matter the Shuntian Prefecture need not be involved too deeply, the Eastern Depot will not rest until the Western Depot intervenes."
But from another perspective, this is also because he treats Tang Fan as one of his own, otherwise, with his years of experience in the officialdom, he would not have lost his temper so easily.
Tang Fan nodded and sighed, "I think so too, the Eastern Depot and the Western Depot have always not dealt with each other with ease, and this time the Eastern Depot robbed a body from the Jinyiwei, the Jinyiwei must not be happy, the imperial court is full of talent, but if we all do not give in to each other, we cannot do anything, even to investigate a case, the issues has become so difficult!"
Pan Bin: “There's nothing wrong with that, thanks to that idea you came up with, now Shuntian Prefecture just needs to watch the fire from the other side, if there's no result in the end, the law won't be blamed on everyone, and His Majesty can't hold Shuntian Prefecture responsible alone, it's the best."
Tang Fan guessed that this senior brother of his might have secretly made some agreement with the Marquis of Wu’an, and couldn't help but euphemistically remind him, "My master, that servant girl A-Lin, although she seduced Zheng Cheng with bad intentions, she is not guilty to death."
A-Lin is still imprisoned in Shuntian Prefecture's prison, but the Marquis of Wu’an has a grudge against his son's death and does not want to face the possible murderer, but stubbornly believes that it is the maiden who did it, and Tang Fan fears that if the matter is not settled in the end, A-Lin will be directly handed over by Pan Bin to the Marquis of Wu’an to deal with his anger.
Although many people are now intervening in the investigation, but in the end it is just a competition for power and profit, who would care about the fate of an insignificant maiden?
Pan Bin curled his face, displeased, "Runqing, why are you so dead-headed, don't forget what status you are, what status is that A-Lin, is it worth it to hitch your career for a maiden?"
Tang Fan said sincerely, "Brother, I don't mean to make it difficult for you, it's really a matter of human life. If I can't find out the truth, my conscience will be uneasy!"
Pan Bin sighed, "Runqing ah Runqing, do you take me for an iron and stone heart? When I first joined the government, I was just like you. I wanted to report to the court and protect the people, but the world is not fair! The Eastern Depot, the Western Depot, the Jinyiwei, and the people above us. Which one of us can we afford to mess with? The maidservant will die in the end, it depends on His Majesty, it's not like we're carrying a knife to kill, you shouldn't care so much, it's good enough to protect yourself these days."
He paused and lowered his voice: "I might as well say something to your heart, don't look at the present situation, where the court is in chaos, where there is no action by the cabinet, where the Western Depot is running amok. You are still young and do not know what is at stake, being an official, being an official of the Son of Heaven, to act in all things by understanding the mind of the Son of Heaven. This case, Eastern Depot or Western Depot, or even the Jinyiwei, that is better than our words, let them go and find all the headache, you can participate, but do not rush to do everything, when the credit is taken by others, but the fault is yours, who will you go to seek redress? I'm afraid I can't help you even though I'm a small man!”
Tang Fan didn't have any expression on his face, he just nodded his head and calmly said, "Senior brother's words from the bottom of his heart, Runqing has memorized them all down."
Pan Bin said a lot of words, felt dry mouth and tongue, picked up the table tea cup and drank a large sip, before laughing: "In fact, this time is not no gain, since the Jinyiwei that Sui Zhou Zongqi has a good impression of you, you should take good control, get more close to him, may be of great use in the future, do you know where this Sui Zhou is coming from?"
Seeing that Tang Fan shook his head and said he didn't know, Pan Bin said, "He is the nephew and grandson of Empress Dowager Zhou, his mother is the niece outside of Empress Dowager Zhou's maternal family, and there was also an uncle in the family, who was the Minister of War, and also joined the cabinet during the orthodox years, but unfortunately he later died in the mutiny of Tumu Fort."
Tang Fan suddenly: "Sui Alan?"
Pan Bin nodded his head, "Because of this layer of connection, this man can speak well inside and outside the imperial court, and unlike the general Jinyiwei, I heard that even Wan Tong has to be three points more amiable when he is facing him."
Wan Tong is the current Commanding Officer of the Jinyiwei, which is the boss of a group of Jinyiwei.
He is the younger brother of the Imperial Consort Wan, and now the Imperial Consort Wan dominates the harem. Although she is 17 years older than the emperor, the emperor loved her so much that she is almost obeyed him, even the Crown Prince Zhu Youzhi‘s position was shaky. Hardly guaranteed.
With this legendary love as a backbone, Wan Tong, the Jinyiwei commanding officer, is as natural as a fish in the water and nourished.
But the wife is not the same as the old one, and since Sui Zhou has the connections of Empress Dowager Zhou, it is only a matter of time before he is able to make his mark.
Tang Fan sees Sui Zhou though indifferent attitude, things he done shows he is quite able, not wishing to actually still have such strong backing, he can see that the man is a genious in everywhere, doing things more cautious, if previously Tang Fan relied on his own than Sui Zhou was in the middle of the ranks and threw him an insult, he now he may be deflated...
But for this senior brother, Tang Fan is really a bit speechless, he very much wanted to say: my master, you know that people despise us the Shuntian Prefecture, so the rush to take the relationship this road is not feasible.
However, Tang Fan didn't say anything in the end, he just stood with his sleeves folded, smiled and listened, nodding his head from time to time to express his agreement, this attitude of learning and seeking knowledge satisfied Pan Bin.
When Pan Bin was about to leave, he saw Tang Fan, an official of the Shuntian Prefecture Lao Wang, hurrying in from outside.
"My master, it's bad, something's wrong!"
Pan Bin hated hearing such words the most and screwed up his brows: "What's wrong, something's wrong, won't you say something nice!"
Lao Wang showed a little hidden excitement, but didn't dare to show it too obviously, and as a result it looked like his whole face was twisted, very odd: "No, my master, it's not us Shuntian Prefecture that's in trouble, it's Eastern Depot, the Eastern Depot is on fire!"
Pan Bin: "What! What's going on, come quickly!"
Lao Wang: "Just today, when it was almost dawn, it was said that there was a fire in the Eastern Depot, and the fire was quite big, and one fire burned most of the western part of the Eastern Depot, and no one know how it happened, but it's still put out!"
Tang Fan was moved in his heart and asked, "Do you know where the place where the Eastern Depot placed the bodies is located?"
Lao Wang shook his head dumbfounded, not knowing why Tang Fan would suddenly ask such a question.
Pan Bin asked a few more questions, and seeing that Lao Wang did not know anything about it, he waved his hand and let him go down.
"Runqing, what do you think about this matter?"
Tang Fan: "Zheng Cheng's body was just taken away by the Eastern Depot yesterday, and it's too coincidental that it's on fire today, there's definitely something wrong with it, the details have to be searched out before making a conclusion."
Pan Bin knocked on the tabletop and nodded, “The water here is very deep, it seems that the Eastern Depot is not a piece of cake, and if you walk at night a lot, won't you meet a ghost?"
His tone of gloating and watching the hilarity is not too big a deal, making Tang Fan a bit speechless.
Brother, I know you don't want the case to be solved, but you don't have to make it so obvious, right?
The author has something to say.
With a family background, no wonder they're so tense.
And then, to tell you a secret, Master Tang loves dog blood novels as much as you do, haha haha!
In the Ming Dynasty, there was a novel called Bodhisattva Savage, but it was called a book of words, and the development of the story was not the same as that in the text, so the ancients also liked to read suspenseful detective novels.
Then, Wan Tong is Imperial Consort Wei's brother, who relies on connections to go to the back door to become the head of the Jinyiwei, a historical figure.
Wan An is the head of the cabinet and a historical figure, but Wan An has nothing to do with the Imperial Consort siblings, he just happens to be both surnamed Wan.
- The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty -
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