Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 220 The treacherous minister has already jumped out himself! How dare he do it but not admit it!
"They even arrived earlier than me!"

Zhao Wenhua rushed to the Sheng residence and indeed saw Yan Shifan talking to a servant. His expression changed immediately.

Yan Shifan also subconsciously turned his head, his eyes meeting Zhao's, and he smirked: "Oh, isn't this Steward Zhao?"

After much effort, Zhao Wenhua had returned to his position as a principal officer in the Ministry of Justice. Upon hearing this, he gritted his teeth inwardly, stepped forward, and bowed, saying, "Brother Donglou, why are you being so formal? Just call me Yuanzhi!"

After returning to the Ministry of Justice, he learned that Yan Song, who had been demoted and sent to a remote post, was actually trying to become his godfather. But Yan Song was a newly appointed Grand Secretary and Minister of Personnel who could rival the Grand Secretary Zhang Cong. What could he do?

He could only swallow his anger silently, and even when dealing with this young scholar who was always provoking him, he had to put on a smiling face and take the initiative to be friendly.

Yan Shifan snorted, his expression softening slightly, but his tone remained impolite: "What are you doing here?"

"This case has alarmed the Ministry of Justice, so I've come to take a look..."

Zhao Wenhua's eyes flickered slightly, and he smiled, saying, "If I had known Brother Donglou was here, I wouldn't have needed to worry. With Brother Donglou here, even the most complicated cases can be easily solved!"

Yan Shifan, however, was not fooled: "Madam Sheng's death was so sudden, how could it be solved so easily? This case has nothing to do with me, it should be handled by the Shuntian Prefecture!"

Zhao Wenhua then said, "I have only heard that the head of the association is getting married. The Sheng family is one of the top matchmakers in the capital. I am worried that the wedding will be affected. Even the slightest setback would be a loss that my entire association cannot afford!"

"Ok?"

Yan Shifan hated this the most. Why was this guy so good at flattering people, and yet he couldn't refute him? He could only grit his teeth inwardly and chuckle, "Yuanzhi is right. I came here precisely because I am concerned about Mingwei's important life event!"

"That's great!"

Zhao Wenhua said, "I am an official of the Ministry of Justice and can intervene in local cases. However, the Shuntian Prefecture is not the same as other places. If the other party is outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant, with Brother Donglou here, I believe they will not dare to act recklessly!"

Yan Shifan's expression softened again. What he said was indeed true. With his status and position, who in the government office would dare to stop him? And with Zhao Wenhua involved, he had a legitimate reason to act.

"Alright then! Let's go inside!"

The two walked towards the Sheng residence. Just as they reached the gate, several clerks came out and immediately stopped them, saying, "Halt!"

Zhao Wenhua was dressed in casual clothes, not in his official robes, and Yan Shifan was even more so without his official robes. However, the former immediately took out the seal of the Ministry of Justice and said calmly, "I am Zhao Wenhua, the principal officer of the Ministry of Justice. Where is your prefectural magistrate? Tell him to come see me!"

The Ministry of Justice officials certainly had that kind of imposing presence, but unfortunately, the Shuntian Prefecture government, as the local government office managing the capital, had clerks who were all well-informed and experienced. The men were not intimidated; one of the clerks even replied, "Is this Chief Clerk Zhao from the Shandong Provincial Judicial Office? May I ask what business Chief Clerk Zhao has with Magistrate Shen? It seems that cases in Shandong are not under our jurisdiction..."

Zhao Wenhua's face darkened.

The Ministry of Justice established the Qingli Division based on the thirteen provincial administrations of the Ming Dynasty. Each division had two chief officers in charge of criminal cases in the corresponding province, totaling twenty-six people. Zhao Wenhua was originally the chief officer of the Yunnan Qingli Division, and was ranked last.

There was nothing he could do about it. He was a second-class Jinshi in the eighth year of the Jiajing reign, but he failed to enter the Hanlin Academy. After observing the administration of the Six Ministries, he relied on flattery and sycophancy to curry favor with the then-Minister of Justice and obtained the position of Principal Clerk. It was already very difficult for him to stay in the capital.

After being demoted, Zhao Wenhua made several moves and, by leveraging the name of the Yixin Society, became the head of the Shandong Qingli Division, thus improving his rank considerably.

However, as the clerk pointed out, the case in Shandong was not under the jurisdiction of the Shuntian Prefecture government, and the head of the Shandong Provincial Administration Office naturally had no jurisdiction over the Shuntian Prefecture government.

Fortunately, Zhao Wenhua was prepared, and his voice was deep: "I have been reviewing the case files in Shandong and found an old case that bears some resemblance to the case at the Sheng residence, so I have come to inquire about it!"

The clerk remained calm and said, "I see. However, the case is not yet clear. Once the real culprit is brought to justice and all the documents are ready, Chief Clerk Zhao can come to the prefecture to review them. But at the moment, Magistrate Shen is overwhelmed with paperwork and may not be able to spare the time to meet with him. I hope you can understand!"

Zhao Wenhua's face turned cold, and before he could speak, an impatient rebuke came from the side: "How dare you! Do you, a lowly person who cannot take the imperial examinations, have the right to speak here? How did the Shuntian Prefecture end up with such an unruly clerk?"

Yan Shifan stepped forward, pointed at the other man's nose, and yelled, "Bring Shen Mo here! Now! Immediately!"

This unreasonable and direct personal attack left the other party speechless. He bowed and slunk away with the other clerks.

'No wonder he has a Grand Secretary father, so arrogant! Hmph, he talks about being of lowly birth and unable to take the imperial examinations, while I'm just a mere Juren!'

Zhao Wenhua secretly curled his lip. Although the clerks were of lowly status, they wielded considerable social influence and could provide significant assistance. Otherwise, he wouldn't have sold Baihua Wine to these people before. Similarly, he didn't want to offend them rashly.

Of course, now that Yan Shifan is portraying himself as the villain, he's getting credit for investigating the case, which is incredibly satisfying.

But then Yan Shifan's voice drifted into my ears: "What are you standing there for? Go inside! Are you really going to wait for Shen Mo to come?"

Zhao Wenhua was taken aback, then turned his head and said, "We're going into the mansion? It's a murder scene inside!" "Look at you, so cowardly. The body's already been taken away, what's there to be afraid of?"

Yan Shifan scoffed and proudly patted his chest: "Back then, Zhao Qilang committed suicide at the Imperial Academy. The ground was covered in blood, and his body was lying right next to him. Mingwei and I examined the scene and provided a meticulous analysis that left even the coroner, who was known as the Iron Mirror, in awe. That's how the truth came out and Gui Zai was cleared of suspicion of murder!"

Zhao Wenhua was not present at the time and was stunned for a moment. He asked, "What is Brother Donglou's meaning?"

"While the yamen officials are calling for help, go inside and take a look around. See if there are any clues that have been overlooked. Also, investigate what these yamen runners are looking for, making such a fuss!"

Yan Shifan gave some instructions, then said to Alu, the servant who had been silent behind him, "Go in with Master Zhao and be prepared to adapt to the situation."

"Yes!"

Aru immediately agreed.

Seeing this, Zhao Wenhua couldn't refuse any longer and led Alu inside.

Yan Shifan watched them walk away, a smug smile spreading across his face.

He wouldn't go in. In the case of the Imperial Academy, the suspect Gui Zai had already surrendered. At that time, there were no other thieves in broad daylight, so Yan Shifan dared to follow behind and work together to solve the case.

Who knows what's going on inside this Sheng residence? What if the murderer didn't leave and just killed the investigators with the murder weapon? Wouldn't that be a miscarriage of justice?
Let Zhao Wenhua explore the area. If he finds anything, I'm sure the clever Alu will keep an eye on it too. It's perfect!
And so, Yan Shifan stood in front of the house, waiting leisurely.

However, half an hour later, Zhao Wenhua and Alu still hadn't come out, when a group of people hurriedly arrived from not far away.

The one leading the group was none other than the seemingly amiable Judge Shen Mo.

"Judge Shen, it's been a long time! How have you been?"

Hatred flashed in Yan Shifan's eyes as he went straight to meet him.

If he disliked Zhao Wenhua, then he hated this magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture.

After learning about Lu Mingyan's kidnapping, Yan Shifan discovered that the judge, Shen Mo, actually wanted to arrest people indiscriminately in the examination hall. If he really did that, rumors of cheating would definitely spread, and then he would be in deep trouble and wouldn't be able to explain himself clearly.

In other words, Shen Mo originally wanted to destroy him, but fortunately Hai Yue stopped him. Yan Shifan was petty to begin with, and naturally hated this kind of person to the bone.

Meeting the gaze of the Grand Secretary's son, Shen Mo paused for a moment, then stepped forward and bowed, saying, "So it's Young Master Yan! I apologize for not greeting you sooner! May I ask what brings you to the deceased's residence? Do you perhaps have any clues about the murderer?"

Yan Shifan said coldly, "You know perfectly well why I'm here. So many cases have come to your hands as Magistrate Shen and have been left unresolved. I've seen at least two such cases! Now, with the murders of the Sheng and Feng families, are you going to just find an innocent person to fill the gap?"

These words were far too impolite. Shen Mo's expression changed drastically, and he said in a dark tone, "Please be careful with your words, Young Master Yan. I am the Prefectural Magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture, and my performance evaluations by the Ministry of Personnel have been outstanding year after year. Are you implying that what you just said was a criticism of the Ministry of Personnel's performance evaluations?"

This reply was clever. The son of the Minister of Personnel criticized the Ministry of Personnel's performance evaluation system. If the son undermines his father, it will cause quite a stir in the officialdom.

However, Yan Shifan waved his hand dismissively: "Stop beating around the bush! The treacherous minister has already jumped out himself, and it's you, Shen Mo! What! You dare to do it but not admit it!"

Shen Mo's chest heaved, momentarily stunned: "Me! How did I become a traitor!"

"As an official appointed by the imperial court, you are well aware of the strictness of the law, yet you deliberately neglect your duties, abuse your power, and treat human life as worthless. How can you have the face to stand in the imperial court?"

Yan Shifan retorted sharply, "Aren't you a treacherous minister?!"

"When have I ever neglected my duties, abused my power, or treated human life like dirt? You...you..."

Shen Mo stretched out his finger, trembling with anger, but didn't say anything more.

If it were an ordinary citizen criticizing him, he would have been taken to the Shuntian Prefecture government office long ago and given dozens of lashes in the main hall.

But the person before him was the son of a newly appointed Grand Secretary of the Imperial Court. Even though Yan Song had an excellent reputation and was a peaceful and low-key person, he, a mere judge, had no right to argue with him, and the so-called slander was simply a pipe dream.

After holding it in for a long time, he finally managed to utter only a weak sentence: "Young Master Yan... what exactly are you doing here?"

Yan Shifan snorted smugly and cupped his hands in the direction of the Forbidden City: "I am unworthy to be listed among the candidates of Shuntian Township in the tenth year of Jiajing's reign. Today, I have come to observe the government and see if you, this corrupt official who harms the country and the people, dare to distort the truth and confuse right and wrong again! Speaking out for the people is precisely the teaching of the sages!"

(End of this chapter)