Daming: Internship also counts as work experience

Chapter 173 Prefect Cai

When Lu Baihu received the task of receiving Jia Chuan and his party, he still had some complaints. This was a thankless job. If these people had any merit on this trip, it would naturally go to the Imperial Guards from the capital. How could it be his turn?
But when he was given the task of searching Zhou Cheng's study, he immediately became overjoyed, thinking it was Jia Chuan's way of making it up to him.

Who Jia Chuan is is not important; what matters is that even the commanders of a thousand men have to listen to him, so he is naturally a person who has the final say.

Just when Lu Baihu felt that the reception work was seriously over the limit, an opportunity to make money suddenly came up, so he naturally felt that the job was not hard anymore. However, he did not expect that Jia Chuan would want to see the jewelry he brought back, and it seemed that the jewelry was related to the case. Lu Baihu began to feel uneasy, and he realized that he had misunderstood.

After feeling guilty, all his previous complaints vanished instantly. Lu Baihu only hoped that Jia Chuan would not thoroughly investigate Zhou Cheng's study, so after returning home last night, he thought he should avoid hanging around Jia Chuan for the next two days.

Jia Chuan hadn't considered this possibility. His first thought was, "Can Commander Lu still be trusted?"
Whether credible or not, he has no one he can use right now. Chen Mo and Gao Yuntian might not be able to speak until dawn. And if this prefect isn't dealt with quickly, with such an inside man around, if the person behind the scenes has another trick up their sleeve tonight... he can only have a late-night talk with the prince by candlelight.

Lu Baihu went to carry out his mission, and Zhu Youdun's fair face turned slightly red, probably due to anger.

Jia Chuan spoke tactfully, but Prefect Cai was very direct. Even if Zhu Youdun was too lazy to use his brain, he knew what the prefect had done.

"Prefect Cai has two choices right now: one is to take the initiative to talk to me and see if he can make amends, and the other is to wait for me to get the confessions of those who are still alive and then put you to death."

Jia Chuan rubbed his face wearily and found a nearby chair to sit down.

Jia Chuan spoke these words without much emotion, but Prefect Cai sensed something different. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, and looked at Zhu Youdun pleadingly.

"What do you think I mean? Do you mean I ordered you to let these desperados into the city?" Zhu Youdun's voice carried a hint of resentment when he was angry.

Prefect Cai quickly waved his hand, then sighed inwardly, saying sadly, "This is like swallowing bitter melon!"

Cai Jing was a Jinshi in the thirteenth year of the Yongle reign. He was forty-seven years old that year. Among his fellow graduates, he was considered to have been promoted quickly. But it was precisely because of this speed that he felt insecure. How could he achieve stability? Naturally, he needed to smooth things over with his superiors and subordinates.

However, money was needed to smooth things over. Cai Jing had worked diligently for ten years and dared not be greedy. After all, he had studied the classics for half his life and had learned countless lessons from the past. The warnings of the sages were still ringing in his ears yesterday, but after being promoted to prefect, he could not find where they had gone and could not remember them.
Coincidentally, although the emperor's term lasted only ten months, his previous ten-plus years as regent were not in vain. He had his own considerations regarding the appointment and dismissal of officials by the Ministry of Personnel. He had not been able to fully exert himself due to various reasons before, but after ascending the throne, he naturally did not sit idle. Cai Jing was one of the beneficiaries.

This unexpected stroke of good fortune moved Cai Jing to tears. He had thought he would spend his life in a poor, remote place until he entered the Kaifeng government office. He still thought he was dreaming.

You can really have anything in your dreams.

But Zhou Cheng shattered his dream.

When Cai Jing took office, the old prince was still alive. Zhou Cheng had contact with him privately a few times. Three months later, the old prince suddenly passed away. When Zhou Cheng saw Cai Jing again, he spoke much more directly.

Some ideas aren't absent, but they just don't have the chance to emerge, or even if they do, they're useless.

Cai Jing still hesitated. Zhou Cheng spoke very casually, saying that things should proceed as usual, but the yamen runners should avoid people and matters from the herb-gathering bureau. The herb-gathering bureau was not under the jurisdiction of the prefectural government, so this was not to make things difficult for Cai Jing. However, Zhou Cheng said that he would not give less than what was due, and that he had brought some 'top-grade medicinal herbs' as a token of his appreciation.

After Zhou Cheng left, Cai Jingping dismissed everyone and sat alone in the room, unpacking the boxes and bags that Zhou Cheng had brought. Finally, he saw what he wanted to see inside, and he actually breathed a sigh of relief.

In the following months, he did not have to do anything, but every month some medicinal herbs would be delivered to the back residence of the government office, more or less, and some silver would be mixed in. Cai Jing calculated that although it was not much each month, it would add up to a lot over a year. Moreover, as Zhou Chengguo said, he did not make things difficult for Cai Jing, and did not even do anything except ask him to order someone to issue a few travel permits.

Cai Jing started dreaming again, dreaming that he went to the capital and entered the Six Ministries...

Zhou Cheng's death shattered Cai Jing's dreams. He was thrown into a panic. Instead of rushing to the herb-gathering bureau, he went to his bedroom, dismissed everyone, and retrieved several wooden boxes hidden under his bed. He opened each one and examined them. Zhou Cheng was dead, but the silver was still there. He gently stroked the treasures, wondering who knew when they had been delivered. Those who did only assumed they were medicinal herbs…

Cai Jing breathed a sigh of relief and dressed himself properly. The official uniform immediately gave him confidence. He knew who the people from the capital were. The Embroidered Uniform Guard... but he didn't think about that for now. What could that deputy director of the Imperial Medical Academy possibly know? He took a deep breath and hurried to the herb collection bureau.

Cai Jing didn't want to think about what happened next. After calming down, he could see many things clearly.

The question that keeps popping into his head is: what would he be like now if he hadn't been promoted?
He remained in that dilapidated county government office, occasionally rolling up his trousers to work in the fields with the villagers. In years of famine, he would eat and live with the victims, working together to rebuild their homes. When the county government couldn't provide enough grain for disaster relief, he would go to wealthy households to beg for help. In order to reduce the taxes in his jurisdiction, he kept writing memorials, each one more sharp and sarcastic than the last...

Those were tough times. Even he couldn't get enough to eat at first, so how could the people live in peace and prosperity? But after five years, by the time he left office, at least the people were living in peace. Cai Jing felt a chill run down his spine, and he raised his hand to wipe it…

"It seems that Prefect Cai is very aggrieved, and tears are even streaming down his face. I'm curious, what has made Prefect Cai so aggrieved? Tell me, I'd like to hear it."

How could Cai Jing not hear the sarcasm in Jia Chuan's words?

He looked at Jia Chuan with a wry smile and said, "You don't need to mock me. If we were in different positions, you might not be as good as me."

Jia Chuan raised an eyebrow and said, "You can't do my job, but there are plenty of people who can do yours, none of them as well as you? You can't control the soldiers guarding the city, or rather, you can't directly bribe them, so you've helped them make a lot of travel permits. Do you know where these people originally came from? Zhou Chengdu is already dead, so why are you still helping them? Who is the person who came to you?"

Cai Jing straightened his back, as if he had figured something out, and said sternly, "You are not worthy to ask me a question!"

"Then may I ask?" Zhu Youdun asked with a stern face.

Cai Jing pursed his lips tightly, with an expression of being prepared to die for his cause, showing a resolute determination to never speak, even if it meant death.

"Those remains in the Grass and Tree Garden... I didn't let them continue digging. There's nowhere left to put the existing remains. Prefect Cai, why do you think these people were buried in the Grass and Tree Garden?"

Those who tend to herbs every day inevitably...

"Screw you! Old Zheng, call two Imperial Guards and take the prefect to sneak into the morgue at night! Let him see why there are men, women, and children among the dead."

Old Zheng entered the house with a face full of anger. Jia Chuan was also furious, and he glared at Cai Jing: "You eat every day, how come you haven't choked to death?"

Cai Jing's thin face trembled as Jia Chuan spoke.

Old Zheng gestured for them to proceed.

Old Zheng is no longer the naive coroner he was a few months ago. He wouldn't be intimidated by a prefect, or even by the Prince of Zhou, since he's the only one left standing here at this moment.

Shunzi stayed by Dong Yuanyuan's side, refusing to leave her side for even a moment.

Cai Jing's face was gloomy. He snorted coldly and said, "Let alone the fact that I am still the prefect, even if one day... it is not up to you, a deputy director of the Imperial Medical Academy, to point fingers at me."

"Let's go, Prefect Cai, come with me to take a look."

Zhu Youdun stood up, and Cai Jing's face instantly turned pale.

Jia Chuan hurriedly said, "He knows everything in his heart, he understands everything, but he is still thinking about how to exonerate himself. Your Highness, please sit down. You cannot go to such a place. I will tell you what's going on, Your Highness, just listen."

Jia Chuan recounted the scene Mu Lian witnessed that night and the results of his order to dig up the grass and trees garden. Zhu Youdun knew that skeletons had been found in the grass and trees garden, but he also knew that Jia Chuan was still requesting more people from him. Therefore, he did not suspect that the Prince's Mansion was involved in such a heinous act. Although he was still uneasy, he knew that doing nothing was the best option for the Prince's Mansion. If he intervened, he would be in deep trouble.

Zhu Youdun's enlightenment may be related to his frequent reading of Taoist scriptures. In his view, things that have already happened should be left to their own devices, and that obstructing them would only make the situation worse.

But after hearing Jia Chuan's explanation, Zhu Youdun's heart sank. Those corpses did not die in the Herb Garden. Regardless of why the Herb Collection Bureau had harmed these people, and regardless of whether he, as a prince, knew about it... if the emperor wanted to remove him from his position as a prince, this was the perfect opportunity!

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youdun turned pale, and Cai Jing was no better off.

Zhu Youdun didn't have time to inquire about the details of the herb-gathering bureau and the herb garden. He felt that Jia Chuan's trust in him was enough. What kind of trouble could those people cause? Just a few lives. Every year, there were people in the Prince's mansion who died suddenly for various reasons. Those with families were given some money to be taken away and buried. Those without families were simply dragged out and buried by others. It wasn't a big deal.

Cai Jing had been actively inquiring about the situation here. Even though the yamen runners weren't involved, he could still find out how many skeletons had been dug up in the garden. But he had no way of finding out about the scene Mu Lian had witnessed. Now, hearing Jia Chuan's words, he felt his legs trembling uncontrollably.

The prince could not explain that he had only lost his throne, but if he could not explain it, he would lose his life!

He had heard that a lot of bones had been unearthed, but he just assumed it was because Zhou Cheng and his group had a dispute over the spoils. What could possibly happen?

"They're testing medicines at the herb-gathering bureau, perhaps poisons, perhaps antidotes. Whatever it is, such disregard for human life is heinous! So, what do they intend to do with this medicine? They can't just eat it themselves, can they? Who will they sell it to? This isn't tiger bone or ginseng; who would use this stuff? Who would buy it? Prefect Cai, if you continue to... resist stubbornly now, don't blame me for relying on my own deductions when I write to the Emperor again..."

"This matter has nothing to do with me. How would I know about them? Zhou Cheng only said he was doing me a favor. If it was related to the herb-gathering bureau... no matter what it was, the constables should just pretend they didn't see anything. What could it be? He's just selling some herbs privately. He has his own people. To avoid the Prince's surveillance and curfew, he naturally chooses to come and go at dawn. They can't reveal their identities. If there's any trouble, the constables will step in to help them. That's all. How would I know... and he wouldn't let me know..."

"What kinds of disputes have you encountered?" Jia Chuan asked, frowning.

Cai Jing paused for a moment and said, "Uh, I haven't encountered it yet."

Jia Chuan scratched his neck, wrinkled his nose, and asked, "You do nothing but take the money? Wait a minute, didn't you issue the travel permits for those people who were arrested today?"

"I don't know if it was me or not, but Zhou Cheng asked me to do this favor..."

"You mean the travel permit was issued earlier, not in the last two days?" Jia Chuan leaned forward and asked.

"Naturally, it was when Zhou Cheng was alive, the day you went to the herb-gathering bureau. He came to see me alone that afternoon..."

"Alone? Without a single attendant?"

"I'm also wondering why he didn't bring it. With his status, why would he come alone?"

"Since the permits weren't issued in the last two days, what are you afraid of? Perhaps the ones you issued were already used a few days ago."

"This afternoon, the city's garrison commander, Yu, came to the government office with a travel permit. He said he had detained the people at the city gate, and their accents didn't match the travel permit, so he came to ask if the permit was correct."

"Look, these are the very ones you had someone get issued."

Cai Jing let out a long breath, as if he had forgotten that he still needed to inhale, and stared blankly with his mouth open and a sorrowful expression on his face.

Jia Chuan also frowned and fell into deep thought.

He figured that the people who came today must have been transferred after Zhou Cheng's death, and that it would take some time for them to arrive on the road, which was why they arrived today.

That makes sense, but if Zhou Cheng personally went to see Prefect Cai, and only after meeting him...

After issuing the travel permit, Zhou Cheng transported the corpses to the Grass and Tree Garden late at night. Judging from this, Zhou Cheng was already planning to kill Jia Chuan at that time. But why did he go to the government office alone? There was no need to hide this from Jia Shunzi, was there?

Jia Chuan got up and went straight out of the room. Old Zheng, who was standing at the door, could only apologize on his behalf: "That's just how he is. When he's thinking about the case, he doesn't care about anything else. Don't be offended, don't be offended."

Jia Chuan stood in the courtyard, looking up at the dark sky, as if asking: Why does everyone want to kill me? What did I say to Zhou Cheng that day that made him want to kill me? And what did Zhou Cheng do that made the fake Shunzi want to kill him?
“What can Heaven say if you ask it? You might as well ask those who are still alive,” Old Zheng said as he walked up to him.

(End of this chapter)