Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 343 What to do? Daddy is coming!

"My Lord, this way please."

Yue Ling strode out of the hall, and several people in front of him bowed and saluted, waiting to lead the way for him.

The salt merchants' homes were lavish, and their courtyards were turned into gardens. There were pavilions and terraces everywhere. Even the strange rocks in the lake were made of Suzhou's most precious Taihu stones. Any single stone was worth a fortune.

During his tenure in Suzhou, Yue Ling also learned some of the local customs. This kind of stone mined from Taihu Lake is not precious gemstone like ruby ​​and obsidian. It is just an ordinary stone with some ripples on the surface due to erosion by water, and there are cracks in the stone body that allow some light to pass through. Apart from this, it has no other special features.

Even so, ordinary stones can be sold at high prices, and pretentious literati even deliberately describe some "strange and rugged" wonders.

Yue Ling really thinks this kind of hobby is a waste of money.

But if you think about it, there are also people who cook all kinds of things nowadays, so you can understand it a little bit.

There are quite a lot of stones in Baojia Lake, which are piled up into a small hill.

Yue Ling naturally couldn't find his way around such a large garden, so he nodded slightly and said, "Let's go."

Everyone saw Yue Ling off to the sedan chair, and after walking across a series of stone bridges, they arrived at a place with completely different scenery.

As soon as I got off the sedan chair, I saw a treasury built with high rammed earth on wheels.

Only one door of the warehouse was open, and muffled sounds could be heard from it from time to time. It seemed that someone was still working inside before nightfall.

"My Lord, this is the salt warehouse. There are quite a few people inside. Should I drive them out first?"

Yue Ling looked up and shook his head slightly, saying, "No need."

Yue Ling lifted the heavy felt curtain and walked straight into the salt storehouse. What caught his eye was the refined salt tied up with reed mats, with bundles stacked in the shape of a field to form a salt tower.

Yue Ling estimated that there were dozens of such salt towers, which was enough to show how big the Bao family's business was.

Near the gate were only filled salt bags, waiting to be transported away by horse-drawn carriages before leaving the ship. Behind the salt tower were some loose salt, which some laborers were filling into bags with shovelfuls.

Yue Ling went deeper slowly. The salt warehouse was filled with a salty smell. In order to prevent moisture from returning to the salt warehouse, the walls were thickened and only small windows were installed at low places for ventilation, making the warehouse even more stuffy.

After walking a few more steps, Yue Ling felt that he was sweating. He loosened a few buttons and continued to look around carefully.

From ancient times to the present, salt merchants have never been a stable role.

Many heroes in troubled times started out by reselling contraband salt. Salt and iron are the foundation of a country, and as more people have evil intentions, the means of committing crimes are endless.

Many of the secrets lie in this salt warehouse.

Fortunately, Yue Ling had experience in salt making in Cangzhou and knew the ins and outs of it, so he came here on his own initiative.

We walked around the salt tower and took a few bags of salt for testing, but found nothing unusual.

Yue Ling came to the scattered salt area and observed the workers' work.

In fact, salt is divided into different grades. The salt released by the government and the refined salt that can be finely screened by salt merchants can be supplied to dignitaries and sold at a better price.

The coarse salt was mixed with old salt and sold to ordinary people, while some of the filtered salt residue was piled up in the corner of the salt warehouse.

Yue Ling walked and stopped, his brows furrowed.

Two servants from the Bao family followed behind him, looking even more nervous.

The famous Marquis Anjing came to the mansion to investigate the salt. If anything was found out, they would be implicated as well, and no one would be safe.

"Hold the lamp."

Hearing the order, the two of them hurried forward, picked up the lanterns to light up, and accompanied Yue Ling.

Yue Ling took a round of inspection and found that the salt was working as usual, without any abnormalities, which made him frown.

It stands to reason that for the Bao family's accounts to have such a big discrepancy, there must be something wrong in the salt warehouse. However, after today's inspection, Yue Ling found that everything was thorough, which made him pay more attention to it.

In the end, Yue Ling did not even ignore the salt slag pile and walked towards the deepest corner of the salt depot.

"My Lord, these are just some residues. We shovel them away every three days. We won't put them into salt bags and sell them."

The servants of the Bao family were worried that Marquis Anjing didn't know about the salt policy, so they kindly stepped forward and explained it to him.

Yue Ling ignored him and leaned over to observe. The lantern also illuminated along Yue Ling's line of sight.

It was not until he scanned the ground that Yue Ling suddenly realized that the ground was bright and dark, and there were several gullies.

The salt slag pile needs to be cleaned up frequently, and the marks left by the shovel are not suspicious, which is also the explanation given by the servants of the Bao family.

However, Yue Ling's attention was not only on the ravine, but also on the groups of ants crawling in the ravine.

"Live ants?"

Yue Ling frowned slightly. It was rare to see ants gathering in such a sealed place like the salt warehouse.

And after careful observation for a while, I found that the marching route of these ants was very particular. They did not crawl along the gullies to a distance, but instead climbed over a gully after walking for a while, as if they were deliberately avoiding something.

Yue Ling's heart sank, and he asked the two people accompanying him, "Do you have any food?"

The two were stunned for a moment, not knowing why Yue Ling asked this. After they came to their senses, they immediately took out a large pancake from their pockets and presented it to him, their hands still trembling a little, "This is the vegetable pancake that I made before I left. If you don't mind, my Lord..."

Yue Ling raised his eyebrows, pinched a piece of crumbs from it, and pushed the vegetable cake back.

Under the two people's puzzled gazes, Yue Ling spread the debris on the ground, deliberately placing it on the path that the ants had never passed.

After waiting for a while, some ants were attracted by the food. They came close to smell it, and then quickly retreated.

But the scene that Yue Ling had imagined of groups of ants carrying the food did not happen. Instead, all the ants avoided contact with the food.

A slight smile appeared on Yue Ling's face.

"Interesting, and there are unexpected gains. Have you two figured out anything?"

Back to work, Yue Ling thought that it was Jia Yun and Su Moyun who were following him, and wanted to test them.

But these two were just servants of the Bao family. One of them responded in a trembling voice: "Is it that the ants don't like to eat vegetable cakes?"

Yue Ling's thoughts were interrupted, and he came back to his senses. He stood up, shook his robe, and shook his head slightly. His tone became colder, "Call some people over, dig up this salt pile, dig through the ground and take a look."

The two of them were startled and thought something bad had happened.

However, they came to the salt depot every day and never found anything unusual. Could it be that Marquis Anjing was really as magical as the rumors said, and could find clues within less than an hour after entering the door?
Feeling uneasy and confused, the two men called over a group of strong young men as Yue Ling requested and uncovered the pile of salt slag.

When they dug down to the ground, there was nothing unusual. But when they used a hoe to dig up the ground, they found that the soil underneath was very loose, which scared everyone.

Yue Ling frowned and said, "Dig gently, don't touch the things inside!"

"Yes Yes."

Everyone carefully changed to a small shovel and after digging up the soil, the situation became increasingly wrong.

The loess gradually changed color, and some red soil was actually cleared out.

Everyone was stunned. They had been busy in the salt warehouse all day and had no idea that they were hanging around with the dead.

The two servants of the Bao family had their eyes wide open like bells, and their mouths were wide open enough to fit goose eggs.

Yue Ling remained calm and whispered to the two men, "Don't just stand there, call Lord Lin and Patriarch Bao to come and take a look."

……

A cloud of dust flew by, and Lin Ruhai quickly got out of the car and came to the gate of the salt warehouse.

At this moment, Lin Ruhai, who was greeting people in the lobby, had an extremely cold expression on his face. He did not say anything to the host and guest of the Bao family beside him, but walked straight to Yue Ling. Now, the bodies buried inside have been completely dug out.

But because of the long time that has passed, the face of the deceased has become blurred and his features can no longer be discerned.

Lin Ruhai frowned and asked, "Can you identify the deceased?"

Yue Ling shook his head slightly and said, "No, but fortunately the body was buried under the salt warehouse. The body was pickled and preserved relatively well. If we ask the coroner to perform an autopsy, he will surely be able to determine the identity of the deceased."

"The murderer must have chosen such a dark place in order to cover up the smell of the corpse. Master Bao, do you think my guess is correct?"

When Bao Zhidao heard that there was a dead body in the salt warehouse, he couldn't believe it. He thought there was something wrong with his ears. But when he actually saw it, he was so shocked that he couldn't recover for a long time.

"My Lord, please be clear, I have never ordered anyone to kill anyone, let alone hide a body. This must be someone who wants to harm me."

Bao Zhidao fell to his knees with a thud and kowtowed to Yue Ling and Lin Ruhai repeatedly.

"Master Lin, we have been friends for more than ten years. You know my character. How could I be so cruel as to kill someone?"

Lin Ruhai frowned, "The body is in the salt warehouse. Without your order, who would dare to do such a thing? Even if it's not you who did it, as you said, can you escape responsibility?"

The news in the mansion had already spread out, and the salt soldiers who came with Lin Ruhai quickly entered and arrested Bao Zhidao.

Yue Ling shook his head and said, "Businessmen are always looking for profits and will do anything to get what they want. It's hard to convince people with Mr. Bao's empty words. Let's wait for the coroner to perform the autopsy and then find ways to prove his innocence."

Soon, another group of people appeared in the salt warehouse.

Yangzhou prefect Cui Ying, along with a group of detectives from the yamen, followed the salt soldiers into the salt warehouse.

Cui Ying walked quickly towards Yue Ling and Lin Ruhai, and bowed, "Your humble servant greets Marquis An Jing and Imperial Censor Lin."

Lin Ruhai also politely returned the greeting. As they lived in the same mansion, they spent a lot of time together.

The man was wearing an official uniform, a peacock robe that had been washed so much that it looked bleached, and black-soled, white-soled court boots. He was a little thin, his face looked a bit bony, and his eyes were dark. He looked tired, perhaps because he was busy with official duties or for other reasons, I don't know.

The Yangzhou prefect wanted to greet Yue Ling on the first day he arrived in Yangzhou, but because there were too many people on the street and he had to maintain order, he avoided Yue Ling.

Today, face to face, he was quite warm and even spoke in an official tone.

Cui Ying stood up and continued to explain his purpose. "Forgive me for my recklessness. After learning that there was a murder case in the Bao family, I immediately ordered the officers to come here to arrest the criminal."

"It is my duty to solve the unsolved case. How dare I trouble you two adults to do it in person?"

Pointing at the body, Cui Ying said, "The government has already prepared a coroner, and they can perform an autopsy tonight. What do you think?"

Lin Ruhai turned to Yue Ling and said, "It is not the responsibility of the Salt Court to solve the case. It is in accordance with the rules to let Lord Cui do it."

Yue Ling withdrew his gaze from the person measuring the body and nodded slightly, "There is no coroner in the Salt Court, and I am not proficient in autopsies, so I can only let professionals do professional things."

Seeing that Yue Ling had no objection, Lin Ruhai politely said to Cui Ying: "Then I'll trouble you, Master Cui. This case is closely related to the salt tax of our Salt Court. It would be best if there is a result tonight."

Cui Ying also responded enthusiastically, "It is my duty, it is my duty. Lord Lin has helped me a lot, how can I not remember this kindness."

"Come here, put Bao Zhidao, the head of the Bao family, in jail. All the business leaders of the Bao family should be arrested as well."

"Yes."

Seeing that the evidence and the criminal were about to be taken away, Yue Ling asked again, "Master Cui."

Cui Ying turned around and bowed, "My Lord, please speak."

"This case involves the salt case. When the trial is held in court, Lord Lin must be present to listen in."

"The official understands, the official understands."

After accepting the request, Cui Ying said, "If you two are anxious to know the result, why don't you come to the government office to have a cup of tea and wait for the coroner to perform the autopsy?"

Yue Ling nodded, "Okay."

Everyone left the salt warehouse together, and the constables and yamen runners sealed the salt warehouse. For such a big family, all its business was void after the seal was put on it.

The carriage slowly drove out of the Bao family garden. Along the way, a group of Bao family women cried and kept seeking justice, but no one paid any attention to them and they were separated by the salt soldiers.

Bao Zhidao, who was put into the prison van, had a lifeless look in his eyes, as if his soul had been stripped away.

At the right time, Cui Ying, who was leading the group, rode up on his own and reported in a low voice, "According to investigation, Bao Zhidao's eldest son, Bao Lin, had made a mistake before and was punished by Bao Zhidao to reflect on his mistakes at the ancestral tomb. Sir, how should this be dealt with?"

"Ancestral graves?"

Cui Ying frowned, "Who knows if he escaped? Send someone to catch him!"

……

It was late at night.
It takes a long time for a coroner to perform an autopsy. Under Lin Ruhai's repeated urging, Yue Ling had to return to the salt yard first.

It was Yue Ling who discovered the clues and the dead body. Lin Ruhai, the Salt Court Censor who was always known for his cleverness, was of no use at all, which was really a loss of face for him.

This was just an autopsy and there wouldn't be any other mistakes, so Lin Ruhai sent Yue Ling back first.

It was also because Yue Ling came to celebrate the festival, not to do business, and out of personal relationships, he did something for Lin Ruhai, and Lin Ruhai remembered this friendship.

But in the case of Lin Ruhai, who was already at a disadvantage in public opinion, this was not the case in the eyes of others.

Others would only think that the son-in-law was being used to do things before the marriage was finalized, and Lin Ruhai would often be gossiped about behind his back.

Lin Ruhai cared most about his reputation, so the next investigation would have to be done by himself, at least in front of outsiders.

Yue Ling understood the self-esteem that a father-in-law would have, so he obediently returned to the salt yard.

Yue Ling, who had just entered the room and was still thinking about the details of the case, looked up and was suddenly startled and wanted to back out.

Lin Daiyu stepped forward and grabbed Yue Ling's wrist, frowning and saying, "Am I a monster? Are you still hiding?"

Yue Ling smiled awkwardly, "Sister Lin, our relationship has been made clear, so there is no need for you to come to my place every day. It's not that I don't want to be close to you, but it's really not appropriate for us to be together openly in the Lin residence."

"Once Lord Lin finds out, won't our chances of winning only be 50 percent? Will he stop us again?"

"Besides, I just went to check the salt warehouse and found a dead body in it. I'd better go out and wash first to prevent the filth from contaminating Sister Lin."

Lin Daiyu quickly withdrew her hand and wiped it with her handkerchief, "Then go quickly, I'll wait for you to come back."

Yue Ling was embarrassed. Lin Daiyu ignored all the previous words and only listened to the last sentence.

After a while, Yue Ling came back again, wearing a clean white outfit. He lifted the curtains and saw Lin Daiyu still lying on the bed, curled up into a ball.

Yue Ling stretched out his finger and touched her exposed neck. Lin Daiyu immediately straightened her body, turned around, and glared at him like a kitten.

Lin Daiyu clenched her fists and said fiercely, "It's all Brother Yue's fault for bringing up the dead body. I'm so scared when I close my eyes now. Can't you be more reserved?"

"Anyway, I'm not going back today. I'll just be too scared to sleep if I go back!"

Yue Ling sighed helplessly and was persuaded by her again, "Okay then, three times is the limit, this is the last time."

Lin Daiyu smiled again and moved inside. "What did you and Dad do outside? Tell me about it."

Yue Ling sighed and was about to say something when he heard a hurried knock on the door.

"Yue Ling! Are you asleep? The coroner's autopsy result is in, it's homicide. If you're not asleep, we can discuss the case later."

Lin Ruhai's deep voice immediately startled Lin Daiyu.

Pulling Yue Ling's arm, Lin Daiyu said anxiously: "What should I do? What should I do? Daddy is here!"

(End of this chapter)