Catching Monsters

Chapter 490 He was greedy, but not this much.

"This house is really quite big."

The Li family mansion is a standard seven-courtyard complex, quite large in scale, but it has been abandoned for several years without maintenance, with weeds growing all over the ground, making it impossible to stand on some sections.

Some bricks and tiles also fell down. The whole house was very large, more than enough to be used as a residence for Jiang Yun.

"Brother, His Majesty the Emperor really bestowed such a big house upon you?" Jiang Qiaoqiao followed behind, her eyes shining slightly. She was busy pulling up the weeds on the side as well.

"Cuckoo."

Little Black also popped out from under Jiang Qiaoqiao's hat and hopped around in the yard.

Jiang Yun replied with a smile, "How could His Majesty the Emperor's words be false? It's just..."

At this point, Jiang Yun glanced around the courtyard and slowly said, "The rumors of this house being haunted are probably just baseless."

The magical power flowing in Jiang Yun's eyes had opened the path to the underworld, allowing him to see ghosts and gods.

Yet, there was not a trace of malevolent energy within this house.

After Jiang Yun told Xu Suwen about the situation of the house, Xu Suwen frowned slightly and asked, "If there is nothing wrong with this house, why has His Majesty left it vacant for so long?"

"And I heard from Eunuch Feng that people had moved in before, but they were scared away by the ghosts."

Jiang Yun's heart stirred slightly, and he wondered if there was some unknown secret about this house.

Jiang Yun and his two companions walked around the house several times, but they did not find any ghosts.

"Alright, there's nothing seriously wrong with the house. I'll have Zidane arrange for some people to come and renovate it. We can move in properly after we get married."

Xu Suwen nodded. Such mansions near the palace are extremely rare. Some of the better houses have long been occupied by high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital.

It's a matter of one person, one job.

This house is basically the best one you can choose.

Just as the three were about to leave the house, Jiang Yun suddenly stopped. After all, this was where they would live in the future, and they needed to investigate it thoroughly before they could feel at ease.

Then, Jiang Yun unleashed his divine sense, searching the entire mansion meticulously, leaving no corner unchecked.

Jiang Yun soon noticed something unusual in one of the courtyards.

"What's wrong?" Xu Suwen asked Jiang Yun curiously.

After regaining her senses, Jiang Yun's eyes flickered, and she said, "You and Qiaoqiao go home first. I have something to take care of."

"Okay, then come back early. Qiaoqiao and I will go for a stroll in the streets again." Xu Suwen wasn't worried about Jiang Yun. After all, with Jiang Yun's current strength, there weren't many people in the capital who could hurt him.

After Xu Suwen left with Jiang Qiaoqiao, Jiang Yun quickly went to a courtyard in the back.

The weeds in the yard were already up to a person's knees. Jiang Yun went to a corner of the yard, cleared away the weeds, and then tore off a layer of soil from the ground.

There was a wooden plank underneath, and beneath this courtyard lay a hidden chamber.

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Yun forcefully lifted the wooden board, revealing a narrow basement entrance.

After considering for a moment, Jiang Yun went into the basement.

……

In the imperial palace's back garden, Xiao Yuzheng was strolling with his hands behind his back. Winter had arrived, and many of the flowers in the garden had withered.

The gardeners in the palace had already moved out the spring flowers and were now planting winter-hardy snow lotus flowers.

The petals of this snow-white flower are snow-white. It is native to the north and is not considered a rare or precious flower.

They are often found all over a hilltop in the north.

Such flowers were not originally qualified to enter the Imperial Garden, but Consort Shu liked them.

They are planted in advance every winter.

Xiao Yuzheng, wearing a white mink coat, was taking a stroll while holding Consort Shu's hand. Soon, Feng Yu walked up from behind, holding two memorials in his hand: "Your Majesty, would you like to take a look?"

Seeing this, Xiao Yuzheng tightened his fur coat: "It's rare to rest today. I've already spoken with Consort Shu and we won't be dealing with official business."

Consort Shu, standing to the side, smiled and said, "Your Majesty, Eunuch Feng has brought the memorials over. Please take a look."

"Then, shall I take a look?" Xiao Yuzheng said, taking the memorial and glancing at it.

These two memorials were submitted by Minister Yan of the Ministry of Personnel and Minister Zheng of the Ministry of Revenue, respectively.

But upon reading the contents, Xiao Yuzheng was somewhat surprised. He glanced at Feng Yu in astonishment: "Their last memorial was just to get me to issue an edict to allow Jiang Yun and Xu Suwen to get married?"

It's not that it's unexpected to submit a memorial about such a matter; in fact, memorials concerning national affairs and the people's livelihood only account for a small portion.

A large part of them are these kinds of trivial matters.

To Xiao Yuzheng's surprise, these two people suddenly came into contact with Jiang Yun.

The civil service and the Embroidered Uniform Guard have never gotten along well.

The civil service viewed the Embroidered Uniform Guard as the emperor's henchmen, and they were ruthless in their methods. People within the Embroidered Uniform Guard system were also unwilling to get too close to these civil officials.

Feng Yu was intelligent; he knew very well that if these two ministers got too close to Jiang Yun, it wouldn't be a good thing for Jiang Yun.

After a moment's thought, he replied, "Your Majesty, as far as I know, there isn't much interaction between Minister Jiang and Minister Zheng and Minister Yan. There must be another reason for this..."

Hearing Feng Yu's answer, Xiao Yuzheng pondered for a moment and asked, "That house, was it given to Jiang Yun?"

"Yes." Feng Yu nodded slightly.

Xiao Yuzheng closed his eyes and said calmly, "There must be someone behind Li Minglou's case who hasn't been found yet. I hope Jiang Yun can take this opportunity to find them."

Upon hearing this, Feng Yu nodded with a slight frown. The Li Minglou case had caused quite a stir throughout the entire Zhou Kingdom.

The corruption in Zhou State was too deep, and Xiao Yuzheng was determined to rectify it. Not only Li Minglou, but also countless people from the Six Ministries and various government offices were implicated in the Li Minglou case.

Back then, the number of people killed in this case alone was nearly 800, and the total number of people whose homes were confiscated and who were exiled was almost 5,000.

This is arguably the biggest case in recent years.

However, Li Minglou died mysteriously in the imperial prison. Ultimately, the investigation could not proceed further, and the case had to be closed.

Xiao Yuzheng gave Li Minglou's house to Jiang Yun in the hope that Jiang Yun would use her abilities to investigate whether there were any other people behind Li Minglou's case.

……

"Cough cough."

Jiang Yun covered her nose and slowly walked into the secret room.

Following the narrow passage, we walked down about seven or eight meters before reaching the end of the secret chamber.

The secret room wasn't very big, only about four or five square meters. It was pitch black inside, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

With the flow of magical power, Jiang Yun's eyes could see clearly even in the darkness.

The secret room was empty except for a black wooden box in the very center.

The wooden box was damp and moldy, and the lock on it was rusty. Jiang Yun pulled the lock off with a little force.

Then he looked inside the wooden box and found several thick books inside.

Book?
Jiang Yun picked up one of the books at random and flipped through it; it turned out to be an account book and a bribery diary.

"In May of the twenty-first year of Zhengde, Pang Yunguang, the Provincial Governor of Jiangnan Province, gave me five hundred taels of gold and asked me to arrange a sinecure for his distant nephew."

“In May of the twenty-first year of Zhengde’s reign, Li Wangxin, the commander of the Imperial Guards, presented me with a thousand taels of gold, hoping that I would speak to the court on his behalf and have him transferred to the Embroidered Uniform Guard.”

"In June of the twenty-first year of Zhengde's reign, Li Wangxin brought another thousand taels of gold to express his gratitude for Li's successful transfer to the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

"In June of the twenty-first year of Zhengde, a distant relative of Feng Yu wanted to be transferred to the Ministry of Rites, and Feng Yu specially sent a young eunuch from the palace to make the arrangements."

Jiang Yun flipped through several pages, and the vast majority of the records were about the interactions between top-level dignitaries and Li Minglou.

"Strange." Jiang Yun frowned. Li Minglou was greedy, but he had done things for the people in the ledger.

Given the rampant corruption in Zhou's country, Li Minglou's crimes don't warrant the death penalty.

If he were willing, all the civil and military officials he knew could certainly save his life.

You have to understand, even Li Wangxin and Feng Yu have asked him to do things. With their influence over Xiao Yuzheng, how could they not protect a corrupt official?
Unless it's true that Li Minglou ended up in this predicament not solely because of embezzlement.

Are there any other reasons?
Just as Jiang Yun was deep in thought, a sound suddenly came from above the secret room.

"Suwen?" Jiang Yun asked tentatively.

Suddenly, the faint light above was blocked, and a lot of soil was being poured down from above.

Someone up there.

And this person wants to bury himself alive in here?
Thinking of this, Jiang Yun quickly put away the account books and rushed up the stone steps.

At the same time, a middle-aged man dressed in black, with his face covered by a black cloth, was using a shovel to shovel dirt and continuously fill the small, secret room.

They wanted to bury Jiang Yun alive.

There was a loud bang.

The middle-aged man was busy when a figure rushed out from inside and knocked him to the ground.

Upon seeing this, the masked middle-aged man's expression changed slightly, and he grabbed a shovel and smashed it hard on Jiang Yun's head.

Jiang Yun raised his hand and grabbed the shovel with great force. No matter how the masked middle-aged man struggled, the shovel did not budge.

"Let go of me!" the middle-aged man shouted.

Jiang Yun narrowed his eyes slightly, forcefully pushed the other person down, and slowly said, "I am Jiang Yun, the commander of the Eastern Garrison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Who are you?"

Upon hearing the words "Imperial Guards," the middle-aged man seemed startled and turned to flee.

The middle-aged man, limping, turned and fled, but how could he escape Jiang Yun's grasp?

Jiang Yun quickly captured the man and pinned him to the ground: "Fine, you won't talk, huh? If you won't talk, I'll take you back to the Imperial Prison and question you slowly."

"I will not go to the imperial prison, I will not go to the imperial prison."

Upon hearing the words "Imperial Prison," the middle-aged man seemed to have suffered a nerve shock, and he began to howl in pain and struggle incessantly.

Jiang Yun let the middle-aged man struggle on his own. After struggling on the ground for a while, the middle-aged man was exhausted and gradually calmed down.

"What are you doing here?" Jiang Yun squatted down in front of the other person, a smile on his face: "As long as you answer properly, I will let you leave."

"You, you're a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Even the Embroidered Uniform Guard's word doesn't count." The middle-aged man instinctively took a step back, then stammered, "This, this is my home..."

"Your family?" Jiang Yun narrowed his eyes slightly. "Your surname is Li?"

That's not right. According to Feng Yu, Li Minglou's family should have already had their property confiscated, and the women were assigned to the Jiaofangsi (a government-run entertainment institution).

The male members were exiled.

The places of exile were either the bitterly cold lands of the far north or primeval forests even further west than the three southwestern provinces.

These two places share a common characteristic: the probability of an ordinary person being exiled there returning to the capital alive is extremely low.

"I... my name is Li Xiunan," Li Xiunan replied, his body trembling slightly.

Jiang Yun asked, "Were you the one who was playing tricks on us in this house before?"

"Yes." Li Xiunan did not want to return to the imperial prison, so he could only answer truthfully.

"What do you want to do?" Jiang Yun asked.

“My father is innocent! My father was wronged!” Li Xiunan said urgently. “Back then, the Embroidered Uniform Guard tortured him into confessing, forcing him to admit his crimes.”

Jiang Yun stared at the other person expressionlessly: "Everyone who has entered the imperial prison claims to be innocent. You say your father is innocent, but did he embezzle money?"

“He did embezzle, but not this much.” Li Xiunan said anxiously, “When my father’s case came out, all the civil and military officials in the court attributed the years of corruption and embezzlement in various government departments to my father.”

"In the end, the total amount was calculated, and my father embezzled over a million taels of silver."

(End of this chapter)