A thousand enlightenments in one night, starting from being a menial apprentice.

Chapter 399: Convinced with one word
The next morning, after having breakfast on the street, Duan Rong walked to the Dali Temple to report.

As soon as he reached the entrance of the Dali Temple government office, he saw a table set up on one side of the stone steps at the entrance. A man with pockmarked face and tied hair was sitting there, and there were four or five people queuing in front of the table.

Duan Rong had no idea what the queue was for. He only saw two burly guards standing at the gate of the government office, scanning the surroundings with cold eyes. He was ready to show the Taiyi Order and the sect's cloud certificate and go in directly.

But just as he reached the stone steps, he saw a young man in front of a table holding up a black token in front of the pockmarked man.

"It's Taiyi Ling!"

Duan Rong suddenly stopped and looked back intently. It turned out that the four or five people in the queue were all outer disciples!

After all, it is the Dali Temple of Shenyun Mansion!
In the four southeastern prefectures, he could almost walk around with his head held high with just a Taiyi Order. He was a distinguished guest wherever he went, and when the prefecture lord saw him, he would call him the imperial envoy.

But when they arrived at the gate of the Dali Temple, they just lined up to listen to the announcement. They had to be respectful in front of a minor official who might not even have a rank.

The pockmarked man glanced at the sect certificate handed over by the young man, then flipped through the yellow booklet in his hand, wrote something on a note, and said, "Come over at 3 pm three days later. Master Huang will be free then."

The young man took the visiting card for the appointment and turned away.

Duan Rong also walked to the end of the team and waited at the back.

It turns out that the queue is only for appointments. This Dali Temple really puts on a big show!
The pockmarked face was quick and soon it was Duan Rong's turn.

Duan Rong handed over his sect's cloud certificate and Taiyi Order.

When the pockmarked man saw Duan Rong's sect certificate, he immediately looked up at him and asked him without any context. "When did you arrive?"

Duan Rong was stunned by the question and replied, "I arrived at the post station yesterday and reported in early this morning."

The pockmarked man said "oh" and pressed the yellow booklet and some documents with a paperweight, then stood up and said to the three people behind Duan Rong, "Wait a moment, I'll go inside and be back soon."

Then he turned his head, looked at Duan Rong, and said, "Master Duan, please follow me."

Duan Rong followed the pockmarked man into the Dali Temple. The two guards guarding the door just glanced at him.

The Dali Temple was as big as a maze, with palaces like a forest, and many people in official uniforms and not walking around.

The pockmarked man led Duan Rong through a corridor and into a remote room in the corner. Duan Rong noticed that the room seemed to have neither a house number nor a number.

The pockmarked face said, "Master Duan, please wait here. The Dali Temple is a large place with many rules, so please do not walk around casually!"

After the pockmarked man finished speaking, he walked out of the room and closed the door.

Duan Rong looked around the room in front of him. It was simply decorated, with common items such as tables and chairs, and almost no ornaments.

He walked to an armchair, reached out and touched it, and found that the chair was spotlessly clean.

Duan Rong sat down, crossed his legs, and muttered to himself, "Such a big government office, but there's not even someone to serve tea."

As soon as he finished speaking, the door was pushed open.

A plump middle-aged man in plain clothes walked in carrying a wooden tray.

Duan Rong didn't expect that someone would come in just as he sat down, and he put down his crossed legs awkwardly.

The man placed a cup of tea and a plate of snacks on a wooden tray on the table beside Duan Rong, then bent down and walked out, closing the door behind him as he left.

When the man entered the room, he only looked at the ground. When he put things down, he only looked at the table. During the whole process, he didn't even glance at Duan Rong.

When leaving the room, he kept bending down and lowering his head.

"This Dali Temple really has a lot of rules!"

Duan Rong sighed and took a sip of the teacup beside him.

During the two or three years that he had been an outer sect disciple, he had always drunk good tea. Even at home, Xiao Yu had never treated him badly, so he had become a picky eater.

He took a sip of tea and shook his head slightly. The tea in the Dali Temple was a little too ordinary.

Duan Rong took another look at the dish of osmanthus paste next to the teacup. He picked up a piece and immediately hummed. This osmanthus cake was very authentic.

Duan Rong was eating osmanthus cake and drinking tea. About half an incense stick later, two people suddenly walked in.

These two men looked relatively young, probably in their early thirties, but they were both wearing official uniforms.

Duan Rong took a look and saw that the patches on the front of the two men's official uniforms were a peacock on one and a leopard on the other.

The peacock is the patch for a third-rank civil official, and the leopard is the patch for a third-rank martial arts school.

The quality of both books is not low, and they are one literary and one military.

The two men walked in and stood side by side, looking Duan Rong up and down.

The civil officer was dark and strong, while the military officer was pale and looked a bit sinister.

The military officer suddenly walked over to Duan Rong, lifted his robe and sat down, and asked bluntly, "Are you Duan Rong?"

Duan Rong cleared his throat. "Ah."

The dark and strong civil servant smiled and said humbly, "My ancestor said that he had given a secret letter to Lord Duan. I wonder if Lord Duan knows what case this Dali Temple is about?"

Duan Rong's heart skipped a beat. The ancestor must be talking about Zhu He. It seems that the guy in front of him is also Zhu He's bloodline.

Duan Rong said: "It's about the matter of the Minister of the Chancellery, Master Zhu Shizhong."

The dark and sturdy civil servant nodded and said, "Let me introduce myself to Lord Duan. My name is Zhu Cheng, and I am the chief of the Dali Temple. He is Zhu Peng, the Privy Envoy of the Privy Council. The case of Lord Shangshu Ling Zhu Shizhong is handled by the two of us."

Both of them have the surname Zhu! They are really a father and son team!
However, this Shangshu Ling's case can be said to be the most important case of all.

Even if the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple does not investigate specific cases according to convention, this case should be presided over by the Junior Justice of the Dali Temple. No matter how you look at it, it is not the turn of a third-rank Chief Justice of the Dali Temple to be in charge?
As for the Privy Councilor of the Privy Council, he only has the power to mobilize troops and is obviously just assisting in the investigation.

Duan Rong’s mind was full of thoughts.

In fact, it was the idea of Wang Maochun, the Lord of Shenyun Mansion, to let Zhu Cheng and Zhu Peng jointly investigate the case.

The Dali Temple obviously agreed with this arrangement.

They all knew that the most important thing in this case was to give an explanation to the one in Changliu Mountain, so other candidates were not as suitable as these two.

Zhu Cheng and Zhu Peng had been handling the case for about ten days. They both believed that Shangshu Ling Zhu Shizhong had died in a natural disaster. They had already come to this conclusion.

When they received a secret letter from the ancestor saying that Duan Rong was transferred over to participate in the investigation, Zhu Cheng was fine, but Zhu Peng felt unhappy. In his opinion, the ancestor was questioning their abilities.

After all, Zhu Cheng was the chief of the Dali Temple and had been dealing with various cases for many years. He knew very well that the old ancestor did this because he obviously suspected that there was something fishy about the death of Lord Zhu Shizhong. Moreover, the old ancestor must have had deeper reasons for such suspicion. Some levels of information were inaccessible to people like them in the secular officialdom.

Moreover, Zhu Cheng then retrieved Duan Rong's resume from the files of the Dali Temple. To be honest, he was really amazed by this resume.

After reading this resume, he knew why the ancestor had transferred Duan Rong to participate in the investigation of the case. Although Duan Rong was young, he was indeed a genius in solving cases!
Therefore, Zhu Cheng has been very friendly towards Duan Rong since he entered the room.

When Zhu Peng heard that Duan Rong came from a remote place in the southeast of Yuanyang Prefecture, he was quite rude to Duan Rong and did not even stand up to greet them. He was even more dissatisfied with Duan Rong.

In fact, Duan Rong was an outer sect disciple who toured the country on behalf of the sect. He did not need to perform formalities when meeting officials from various places, not to mention that he had received a transfer order from the sect's Internal History Department.

But Duan Rong didn't know that the official atmosphere of Shenyun Mansion was different from that of other places. When outer disciples met officials here, they had to bow according to convention.

Zhu Peng sat there and glanced at the plate of osmanthus cake on the table beside Duan Rong. He saw that most of the cake had been eaten and a look of contempt was revealed on his face.

At this time, Duan Rong actually pinched another piece of osmanthus cake and stuffed it into his mouth. While chewing, he asked, "It's been more than ten days since the case was investigated. I wonder how the two of you are doing with the investigation?"

Duan Rong's words were a little unclear because he was eating while talking.

Zhu Peng glared at him and said coldly, "Country bumpkin!"

Duan Rong didn't care at all. He took a sip of tea and swallowed the osmanthus cake in his mouth.

After only a short while, Duan Rong already had a rough idea of the two people in front of him.

Although the two people in front of him are officials in the capital of Shenyun Prefecture, when it comes to Taoism, they are probably far inferior to Chen Xun, Shen Yanliu and other guys who come from humble backgrounds.

The reason they were able to reach the position of a third-rank official was probably mostly due to the blessing of their bloodline.

Zhu Cheng smiled and replied, "To be honest with you, Master Duan, Master Zhu Peng and I have done a detailed investigation, and we both agree that Master Zhu Shizhong did die from a natural disaster!"

"Is it really a natural disaster?" Duan Rong asked, "So he was killed by lightning?"

Zhu Cheng nodded awkwardly. "It was indeed caused by the thunder that hit the cool house!"

"Cool house?" Duan Rong's eyes moved and he asked, "Are there any files?"

"Yes!" Zhu Cheng said, pulling out a document from the sleeve of his official robe and handing it to Duan Rong.

Duan Rong picked up the phone and started reading it right away.

The file is quite detailed, including the autopsy report and various drawings of the scene.

Zhu Peng saw that Duan Rong was speaking to Zhu Cheng in a tone similar to that of a superior official, and that he was reading the files in front of them. He immediately became furious and said sarcastically, "Pretending!"

Duan Rong pretended not to hear anything and just focused on flipping through the files.

Zhu Peng was even more frustrated when he saw Duan Rong had no reaction.

Duan Fusion looked at the file, his eyes flashing with deep thought.

Duan Rong pondered for a moment, glanced at the two people in front of him, and asked, "My lords, do you think there is something strange about this case?"

"What's strange?" Zhu Cheng and Zhu Peng looked at each other.

Duan Rong said: "There are so many dignitaries in Changle Street, how come the thunderbolt fell on the head of Shangshu Ling? Isn't this too coincidental?"

Zhu Cheng's eyelids twitched slightly. He had the same feeling when he first took over the case, but after investigating all the way, he really didn't find any traces of human intervention. He could only conclude that it was a natural disaster.

But Duan Rong's next words made Zhu Cheng's heart tremble even more.

Duan Rong said: "If the timing is more sensitive, it would be even more coincidental."

After Duan Rong finished speaking, he raised his eyes and looked at Zhu Cheng.

In fact, Duan Rong had no idea whether the timing of the Shangshu Ling's death was coincidental or not, but he felt that Zhu He must have a reason for being suspicious about this matter. He suspected that the reason was probably that something was wrong with the timing of the Shangshu Ling's death.

Zhu Cheng avoided Duan Rong's gaze.

At this moment, Zhu Peng's voice came from afar. He looked at Duan Rong with disdain and said, "It feels a bit strange? So you rely on your feeling to solve cases?"

Duan Rong smiled faintly and said calmly: "Of course!"

"I solve cases based on my feeling! It's a feeling that has been honed over a long period of time."

Zhu Peng was a little confused about what Duan Rong said.

Zhu Cheng was stunned when he heard this, and seemed to have some understanding. He murmured, "What does it feel like to be tempered for a long time?"

Duan Rong looked at Zhu Cheng and continued, "Every time my feelings are inconsistent with the facts, I will definitely go deeper into my feelings and think clearly about why my feelings are inconsistent with the facts. I must think clearly, because this is the time to make progress. As long as I understand why my feelings are inconsistent with the facts, my feelings will be corrected in the details, and I will have a more correct feeling. If I keep practicing for a long time, my feelings will be an invincible blade!"

Zhu Cheng felt cold all over after hearing this. As the saying goes, an expert can tell the truth from the first move. He has been in the Dali Temple for many years and has been dealing with various murders all the time. Although he could not fully understand what Duan Rong said, he could hear that it was a very profound understanding and was definitely not nonsense.

These words were spoken by Duan Rong in his previous life during an interview on TV. An old detective with a weathered face and who had solved many major cases said them to the camera.

At this time, he said this not only to shut Zhu Peng up, but also to win over the two of them.

After Duan Rong finished speaking, he looked at the stunned Zhu Cheng and asked, "Master Zhu, what do you think?"

Zhu Cheng came back to his senses and said, "Your Excellency's words are profound and subtle, and it is not possible for ordinary people to understand their true meaning. I have also read the documents of the Dali Temple. Some of the senior masters in the Dali Temple have made some remarks that seem to be similar to yours. However, your words are clearer and more direct to the heart."

As Zhu Cheng spoke, he became more and more respectful to Duan Rong.

Zhu Peng was greatly surprised. He knew Zhu Cheng's character very well. This guy would never flatter others against his will. He praised Duan Rong so sincerely, which showed that what Duan Rong said just now was not nonsense.

"Could this kid really be capable?"

For the first time, Zhu Peng's opinion of Duan Rong began to waver. He then thought that the ancestor would never transfer a country boy from the southeast to Shenyun Mansion for no reason.

Zhu Peng sat up straighter and looked at Duan Rong's unprepossessing face again with awe.

(End of this chapter)