Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 171 Was the last place on the list an extra addition? (Second update)

"Let the candidates outside go back first!"

The autumn moon was bright, and it was the time for the banquet to end, but the examination hall was still brightly lit. Li Mo looked at the government officials searching the place and gave them instructions in a low voice.

The terrified candidates who had been waiting outside were relieved upon hearing this. They bowed respectfully from afar and whispered among themselves as they went out.

The Deer Cry Banquet at this year's Shuntian Prefecture provincial examination is likely to become famous.

There have been some controversies in the past, but they were all disputes among scholars. Now, the loss of a student is truly unheard of.

Seeing that everyone had left, a figure returned to the hall: "Sir!"

“Mingwei, I know that you uncovered the Marquis of Wuding’s conspiracy while you were at the Imperial Academy, and you have done much since then…”

Li Mo wasn't surprised by his return; in fact, she was somewhat relieved: "You want to stay and help find people?"

"Yes!"

Haiyue nodded and said seriously, "I hope you can tell me when Donglou left?"

Li Mo bluntly stated: "This kid is frivolous. I stared at him, and he probably thought he was afraid of embarrassing me in public, so he excused himself to go to the restroom and left the table."

Haiyue, sitting in the second seat, couldn't turn around frequently and didn't actually see how Yan Shifan left, but after hearing what Li Mo said, she knew it was pretty much the truth.

Yan Shifan, who liked to show off, sat in the front row. This was not a big deal. According to the customs of officialdom, the son of a high-ranking official should not be ranked last at the Deer Cry Banquet. Everyone should be modest and let it go.

Unfortunately, Yan Shifan had not known Li Mo's temperament beforehand. This man had fought against Yan's faction in history, was framed twice, and later died in prison. He despised such behavior the most, so how could he tolerate his student acting like this? Giving him a glare was the least he could do.

At this moment, Li Mo sighed softly: "I left him some leeway and didn't really embarrass him. I just wanted to teach him a lesson so he would restrain his temper in the future. Who knew this would happen..."

There was a hint of regret in his tone.

Haiyue greatly admired Yan Shifan's sense of responsibility. Yan Shifan was Yan Song's only son, yet he dared to take the blame upon himself, demonstrating his integrity and disdain for lying or shirking responsibility.

In stark contrast, Shen Mo, the magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture, rushed in from outside. Although their names sounded the same, their styles of doing things were completely different: "Physician Li! Ah, Hai Yayuan is here too. Is there any news about Young Master Yan?"

In a previous case, Judge Shen Mo had met Yan Shifan. He was originally ordered by Prefect Huo Tao to arrest Hao Shi at the residence of Tang Mu, the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. However, due to the delay on the way, Yan Shifan directly led the Ministry of Justice to break in and successfully arrested Hao Shi. This gave Yan Song the opportunity to wipe out a group of officials who were trying to shirk their responsibilities and were essentially skinned alive.

While Yan Song successfully gained the emperor's favor, the Shuntian Prefecture government naturally suffered criticism. From this perspective, the magistrate Shen Mo should have been gloating over Yan Shifan's death.

But at this moment, he was sweating profusely, afraid that if he didn't put in the slightest effort, he would be labeled as someone who was looking for someone out of personal grudges or was being passive in his search.

Seeing that he was busy but had made no progress after working for a long time, Li Mo couldn't help but say in a deep voice, "Judge Shen, are you hoping that Yan Deqiu will come back on his own?"

Judge Shen Mo was somewhat embarrassed: "Ah...no! That's not it!"

Li Mo said, "Then why are you asking back and forth like this, wasting time? It's already dark, and you still haven't even determined where the person was kidnapped?"

"I've asked everyone inside and outside the examination hall, but no one saw it with their own eyes, and no one even heard the commotion of Young Master Yan being kidnapped by thieves! A perfectly healthy man just vanished without a trace..."

Judge Shen Mo was also helpless: "It's clear that everyone cares about the Deer Cry Banquet. Who would have thought that the thieves would choose this time to strike? Now, we can only wait and see if the thieves have any new demands..."

Li Mo frowned: "Why would such a secretive person continue to send messages and reveal their identity?"

Haiyue then asked, "Sir, could you please let me take a look at that letter from before?"

Earlier, the servant barged in waving a letter. Li Mo's expression changed after reading it, and he quickly sent someone to inform the Shuntian Prefecture. Hearing this, he hesitated for a moment, then handed over the letter: "You can read it here. When the Grand Magistrate arrives, I will personally hand over the thief's evidence."

Judge Shen Mo felt somewhat embarrassed upon hearing this; it was obvious that they didn't trust him...

Haiyue took the letter and found it to be very short, containing only two sentences: "Gentlemen sit in their grand halls, feasting on delicacies, yet can they hear the cries of hunger from the common people? I plead for the people's lives, requesting to borrow Yan's son for a short time. Do not worry about him!"

He paused for a moment, then slowly said, "There are two suspicious points in this letter."

Judge Shen Mo was stunned, while Li Mo raised his eyebrows: "Oh? Tell me in detail!"

Haiyue said, "First, the letter said 'sitting in a grand hall, with delicacies on jade platters,' but at this Deer Cry Banquet, there were no delicacies; instead, the banquet was quite simple. Why would the other party say that?"

Local banquets, such as the Deer Cry Banquet, would indeed feature delicacies from land and sea, emphasizing abundance. After all, it was a provincial-level feast. In poorer areas, government banquets were often less frugal.

However, this time, influenced by the personal style of the chief examiner Li Mo, everyone ate very simply. This was the teacher's admonition to the students, urging them not to become complacent after passing the imperial examination. This deviated from the content of the letter.

Judge Shen Mo suddenly realized: "So, the thieves prepared the letter well in advance, but they did not expect that Doctor Li was poor and that the Deer Cry Banquet had no sumptuous dishes, so they just treated it as normal?"

Li Mo then said, "It seems that the thief has nothing to do with the Imperial Examination Hall. I specifically asked the Imperial Examination Hall to adjust the menu for the Deer Cry Banquet. If the thief had known this beforehand, he wouldn't have written it like this."

Haiyue didn't rush to a conclusion. Instead, she handed the letter to Judge Shen Mo and pointed to the paper: "Second question! Is this letter written on gold-flecked paper?"

Judge Shen Mo examined it briefly and immediately nodded: "Indeed! It is indeed gold-flecked paper!"

In the Xuan paper making process, fine gold and silver powder or gold and silver foil are applied to the paper surface with glue powder, so that it has the luster of gold and silver powder or gold and silver foil on colored wax paper. This is called "sprinkled gold and silver five-color wax paper", and is also simply called "sprinkled gold paper".

Undoubtedly, this kind of paper is very valuable. So here's the question: "The message in the letter is to plead for the people, but it's written on gold-flecked paper that ordinary people absolutely cannot afford. Isn't that absurd?"

Li Mo stroked his beard and nodded, his eyes showing approval: "Mingwei truly lives up to his reputation!"

Everyone has their own area of ​​expertise, and he truly didn't know anything about criminal cases, but after listening to this, he could completely understand and roughly grasped the line of thought: "From this perspective, what the letter says is completely intended to disrupt the government's investigation. What they mean by pleading for the people is utterly unbelievable!"

Judge Shen Mo hesitated, wanting to speak but stopping himself. The men he had just sent out were to investigate the chivalrous figures in the capital who liked to speak up for the people. Now, this man had glanced at the letter and dismissed it all. The problem was, if they didn't look at the clues left in the letter, where would they even begin to investigate?

Haiyue readily took over the command: "Where is the servant who found the letter? Bring him here!"

Judge Shen Mo hesitated for a moment, but under Li Mo's cold gaze, he still gave in and hurriedly went out to personally bring the person over.

"I am Alu, sixteen years old, a servant in the tea room of the Shuntian Prefecture Examination Hall. Greetings, esteemed gentlemen!"

The servant who appeared before me was thin and clever, with a burn scar on his right eyebrow. He wore a coarse indigo coat with worn-out cuffs, and his expression was full of respect.

Haiyue looked at him: "How many characters do you know?"

A-Lu was slightly taken aback. He had originally thought that this person would start by asking when he found the letter, but unexpectedly, he suddenly asked this: "I listened to the teachers teaching in the examination hall, and I know... I know three or four hundred characters..."

Haiyue said, "So you recognized what was written in the letter and understood its meaning, which is why you knew that Yan Donglou had been kidnapped by thieves?"

"There's also a jade pendant!"

A-Lu explained, "When I saw the letter, there was a jade pendant attached to it. I recognized it as the jade pendant that Young Master Yan wore at his waist. After reading the letter, I learned that Young Master Yan had been kidnapped by thieves!"

Haiyue remembered that Yan Shifan was indeed dressed quite flamboyantly today. Although he wasn't dressed in fine silk and embroidered robes with red tassels and precious ornaments, he did wear a piece of white jade at his waist, which highlighted his noble air: "Where's the jade pendant?"

The judge beside him, Shen Mo, took out a cloth bag from his bosom, which revealed a beautiful jade piece: "Hai Yayuan, please take a look. Is this the jade that Young Master Yan wears at his waist?"

"I don't know much about jade, but from the appearance alone, they do look very similar. Let's wait for someone from the Yan family to come and make a confirmation!"

Haiyue nodded slightly, then turned to Alu: "He doesn't usually wear this jade pendant. You could only have seen it today. You haven't forgotten what happened today, have you? When did you see Yan Donglou wearing this jade pendant? Point to the exact location!"

Alu pointed outside: "Right in front of the hall..."

"let's go!"

Several people carrying lanterns arrived at the designated place. Alu pointed out the direction, and Haiyue recalled that she had indeed passed through this place on her way from the examination hall to the Minglun Hall, and that there were servants coming and going at the time, so it was possible that they had witnessed it.

However, he still didn't let this person off the hook: "Then why do you remember Yan Donglou's jade pendant so vividly? Today at the banquet, many scholars were dressed in extraordinary clothes and wore beautiful jade pendants at their waists. Yan Donglou wasn't particularly eye-catching at the time, was he?"

As expected, upon hearing this question, Alu's expression changed slightly, and he glanced at Li Mo: "This..."

Li Mo was somewhat bewildered, but Judge Shen Mo, seeing this, said sternly, "Why don't you confess the truth? If you dare to conceal anything, you will be subjected to severe torture!"

"Don't! Don't!"

Alu was shocked: "I'm not trying to hide anything, it's just something I heard secondhand. I wouldn't dare to speak nonsense to you, sir!"

Haiyue's eyes flickered slightly: "We will verify the truth of the rumors ourselves. I guarantee with the reputation of Shilin that we will never let innocent people be implicated!"

Li Mo coldly replied, "I will also vouch for you!"

Alu calmed down a little and said in a low voice, "I really heard it from others. Since last night, many people in the examination hall have been saying that there are only 150 successful candidates this year, and Young Master Yan's name was on the list separately, so they specifically looked for him..."

(End of this chapter)