Daming: Internship also counts as work experience

Chapter 176 Everyone Wakes Up

Shunzi frowned as he listened, and after Old Zheng finished speaking, he quickly said, "Why does it sound like this bald guy is going in circles?"

"It was a roundabout way of speaking, but it did tell some truths. However, I haven't quite figured out what those truths are yet. Apparently, some salt merchants and people involved in the canal transport wanted to stop the late emperor from moving the capital. I don't know what's going on in the court, let alone whether the ministers have discussed moving the capital or if it was just the late emperor's idea. I haven't heard the emperor mention it either, but..."

Jia Chuan got up, walked to the door, opened it to look outside, then closed the door again and said in a low voice, "His Majesty did mention to me that the late Emperor's death was too sudden..."

"That's the Emperor! This is incredibly audacious! Impossible, absolutely impossible!" Shunzi waved his hand and whispered.

Jia Chuan sat back down in his chair and said, "Don't rush to deny it. I'm just making a hypothesis. If this hypothesis is true, there's nothing they wouldn't dare to do. Killing Zhou Cheng or killing me wouldn't be a big deal. But why use poison to kill Zhou Cheng? That's something I've never been able to figure out. We analyzed it before and thought the reason for the poisoning was to lure me into investigating the Herb Gathering Bureau. But the Herb Gathering Bureau is practically part of their organization. If I investigated, wouldn't I be able to find them? Besides, what necessary connection is there between poisoning Zhou Cheng and killing me?"

Old Zheng suddenly remembered something and quickly said, "That bald man said something like, 'Now is the perfect time!'"

"Yes! Let's put aside his other remarks for now, but this one is very insightful. What does 'the right time' mean? First, it must mean that the herb-gathering bureau is no longer so important, or that they feel they have enough, or that they've discovered the herb-gathering bureau isn't as useful as they thought. That's one point. Secondly..."

Jia Chuan paused for a moment, then leaned forward and said, "When I saw Zhou Cheng that day, I didn't say anything else, I just asked him if the herb-gathering bureau had any dealings with the Prince of Han's mansion. I've thought carefully about our conversation that day, and apart from mentioning the Prince of Han's mansion and hinting that I wanted to investigate the accounts, I told him to think it over carefully..."

Shunzi sat up straight and stared wide-eyed, saying, "They want you to misunderstand that the Herb Gathering Bureau and the Prince of Han's Mansion are secretly colluding..."

"To prove this, checking the accounts tomorrow will surely yield results!" Jia Chuan slapped his thigh, which hurt a little. He quickly rubbed it and said, "That fake Shunzi didn't escape in time. They know I have a grudge against the Prince of Han. If they hint at something to me, then whatever I find in the herb-gathering bureau will lead me to the Prince of Han. And the Emperor already wants to deal with the Prince of Han; this is common knowledge throughout the land. If I really go along with their wishes and tell the Emperor this deduction, what will the Emperor think? How will the Prince of Han react when he finds out?"

"Then...a fight is bound to break out, right?" Old Zheng muttered softly.

"The fisherman profits?" Shunzi asked Jia Chuan.

Jia Chuan leaned back in his chair, smiled, and said, "These people aren't part of the court. No matter how far they reach, they can't reach the Emperor for now. Otherwise, they would know that even with this frame-up, the Prince of Han would be in trouble. There's really no need for them to go to such lengths. This isn't setting a trap; it's giving a gift! After Zhou Cheng met with me, he told Jia Shunzi about our conversation. Zhou Cheng was a little worried. He was worried that something might happen to the empire he had worked so hard to build. But Jia Shunzi saw an opportunity from a different perspective. No, this opportunity doesn't match the one Baldy mentioned in terms of timing."

Jia Chuan couldn't help but get up and start wandering around again, not caring whether Shunzi and Old Zheng could understand what he was saying, and just kept babbling to himself.

"Zhou Cheng expressed his concerns, and the fake Shunzi took the opportunity to suggest that I be killed before I took any further action. Zhou Cheng went to the government office alone, not behind the fake Shunzi's back, but because the fake Shunzi had other things to do and was going to find his real master to conspire on how to lure me into a trap."

“That’s not right!” Shunzi said, “What you said poses no threat to Zhou Cheng. What is he afraid of? If the Herb Gathering Bureau has no secret dealings with the Prince of Han’s Mansion, he can simply go with you to investigate…”

Old Zheng waved his hand and said, "You don't understand. No matter what he suspects, it's true that the herb collection bureau can't withstand scrutiny. He came up with some harsh words right away, and Zhou Cheng interpreted them differently."

Shunzi pondered for a moment and said, "When you arrived at the herb-gathering bureau, you said some threatening things to Zhou Cheng. After you left, he passed on what you said to the fake Shunzi. Then the fake Shunzi pretended to have the same concerns and proposed to kill you. But why would they need to bring people from outside to kill you? They produce a lot of poison here. They could poison you... No, I should say that if you die at the herb-gathering bureau, then no one will be able to direct the Emperor's attention to the Prince of Han as they want."

"Well, so the travel permits prepared in the first place may not have been for these people. Otherwise, the officials guarding the city wouldn't have detained the travel permits and the people and asked Prefect Cai to check them. There must have been a big difference. Or there might be some clues that I haven't found, or some unknown reason."

Shunzi was unaware of the travel permit issue. When he learned of this, he couldn't help but gasp and said, "They have someone in Kaifeng. Otherwise, even if Baldy and his men arrived after the fake Shunzi died, there would be no one to meet them."

"That's right. They want something so big, how could they not pay attention to details? Look at all these people in the herb-gathering bureau, there aren't many who Zhou Cheng can actually pull in to help. Zhou Cheng is very cautious when it comes to business, so it's hard to find out anything. But what can a fake Shunzi do? Transport people in, transport corpses out... Come on, let's go interrogate the first group of people who came tonight. Duoduo took care of them all by herself. She's quite suitable as a corpse transporter."

Old Zheng hurriedly said, "You've had a long day, how can you not rest?"

Shunzi also said, "Those people are right there, they can't run away. We can ask them again tomorrow. You were quite frightened this morning too..."

The two tried to persuade him, but Jia Chuan still opened the door and went out.

……

The next morning, Gao Yunduo was the first to wake up in the courtyard, followed by Mu Lian, and then Dong Yuanyuan.

Last night, when Dong Yuanyuan saw Gao Yunduo fall to the ground, she was very anxious, but based on her experience, she felt that Gao Yunduo was not seriously injured. She couldn't tell that the old man had used a hidden weapon, so she waited for Jia Chuan to give the order before she made her move.

But when she opened her eyes, she saw that Gao Yunduo could only move her neck. She immediately panicked and sat up, only to find that she had no strength at all and that every part of her body ached.

Mu Lian offered a few words of comfort, and Dong Yuanyuan knew that she was not in any serious trouble. She also knew that Gao Yunduo had injured her back and that it would take a hundred days to recover from a broken bone. As long as she rested enough, she would be fine. So she was relieved and thought about seeing Shunzi.

Mu Lian hurried off to find it.

Shunzi arrived in a daze. Dong Yuanyuan, supported by Mulian, waited in the hall. The two asked each other about the situation. Gao Yunduo, who was lying in the inner room, learned that Jia Chuan had just lain down and had been interrogating people all night.

Mu Lian immediately perked up and hurriedly asked Shunzi if he had found out anything.
Shunzi was still somewhat wary of Mulian, and he felt that Jia Chuan hadn't sorted things out yet, so there was no need to tell others, and he didn't answer.

Mu Lian was very anxious and kept urging him to answer. Dong Yuanyuan said unhappily, "Your sister is really impatient. They haven't slept all night, their minds must be foggy. Besides, your eldest brother knows the most about these things. Just ask him when he wakes up. Shunzi is bad at talking, and you'll get anxious if he says something wrong..."

Upon hearing this, Mu Lian turned to run out, but Shunzi quickly stopped her, saying, "Let him rest."

Gao Yunduo became anxious upon hearing this and called out from the inner room, "Come in!"

Mu Lian hesitated for a moment, then stopped and went into the inner room.

Gao Yunduo's face flushed slightly. She took a deep breath before saying, "Now you're anxious? You so easily poisoned someone and caused trouble, then placed all your hopes on Jia Chuan. Don't you know what he went through yesterday? Don't you know he didn't sleep a wink last night? Don't you know he still has a lot to do today? If he dies from exhaustion, will the Duke of Qian's mansion be innocent? Let him rest for a while."

Shunzi sighed in the hall and said:

"Before going to sleep, I overheard him talking to Old Zheng about piecing together the bodies again when he woke up—the dismembered remains they brought back from that hut yesterday. He said the four dead men must have been murdered yesterday morning or close to dawn, and then brought to the hut. He said that judging from the bloodstains in the hut, the four men were dismembered there, but there were no bloodstains at the scene. He couldn't figure it out. What he didn't know was the cause of death of the four men, which he said was very important. He also mentioned the vulture, saying it must be kept by the person behind it all. He said they could put it in the hut and wait for it to eat its fill before flying out to attract attention, actually to lure us over. He said his deduction yesterday was indeed wrong; they weren't trying to stop him, but rather to lure him down the secret passage. They were calculating the time..."

"We can trap him in the secret passage," Gao Yunduo added from inside the house.

“Yes! Those who fought you were always inside Kaifeng City. The bald man and the old man who came up from the tunnel must have been transferred from other places. They were delayed because they were stopped at the city gate.”

Gao Yunduo nodded and looked at Mu Lian, saying, "You heard everything? There's no use in being anxious; he hasn't been idle."

Mu Lian sat down on the edge of the bed, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "I know I won't survive. I just hope that I won't implicate the Duke of Qian's mansion."

Dong Yuanyuan shouted from the hall, "But we can't bring my eldest brother along!"

Shunzi said, "We all depend on him for survival. If something happens to him, how will we be any better off? Do you feel a bit stronger after your nap? What would you like to eat? I'll go find the Embroidered Uniform Guard and have them get it for you."

As soon as Shunzi finished speaking, Chen Mo and Gao Yuntian pushed open the door and came in.

Both of them looked exhausted. Gao Yuntian needed to cheer himself up just to get over the threshold, and Chen Mo wasn't much better off. They saw Shunzi busy asking about Jia Chuan's situation, and Shunzi gave them a rough answer.

The two men breathed a sigh of relief when they learned that Jia Chuan was alright.

Shunzi asked, puzzled, "How come you're all unconscious?"

Gao Yuntian leaned back in his chair and said, "I'm so tired. I don't know why, I'm just so exhausted."

Chen Mo said, "I was already exhausted in the tunnel. I thought I could rest after I came out, but when I got out, there was no way to rest. I had to grit my teeth and keep fighting. Finally, Jia Chuan gave me an easier job: to find people. If there were any alive, I could just carry them back. But then I ran into someone who was pretending to be dead. And coincidentally, the guys who came with me to carry him down the tunnel were the ones who came with me. I don't know what I was thinking. They were also exhausted. Otherwise, how could that person have lasted so long?"

The group was inside reminiscing about the events of the previous night when Commander Lu arrived.

Last night, he went to each city gate to inquire about the people entering and leaving the city yesterday, and naturally found out some information. However, considering that it was already late, and fearing that he would disturb Jia Chuan's rest, Lu Baihu did not come to report immediately.

Chen Mo and Gao Yuntian returned to the west wing with the help of Shunzi and Lu Baihu.

Shunzi recounted what they had done the previous night, along with Jia Chuan's deductions, leaving everyone stunned for a moment.

Who would have thought this case was related to salt merchants and the Grand Canal?!

Chen Mo was the first to get restless. He needed to report to his superiors immediately, but Shunzi stopped him, saying, "You should wait until Jia Chuan wakes up and ask him before making any plans. What if he changes his mind after taking a nap?"

"You mean that bald guy wasn't telling the truth?" Gao Yuntian asked.

Chen Mo said fiercely, "I'll go interrogate him!"

Gao Yuntian asked, "Where did you get all this energy from? Eat something first."

Chen Mo said with a stern face, "I don't need to do anything to deal with him."

Gao Yuntian said, "I'm just puzzled. If Yuanyuan had stabbed me like that, even a fierce tiger wouldn't have survived. How come he's still alive?"

Shunzi said, "Jia Chuan also felt something was wrong. He even gave him the life-saving water sent by the imperial physician, but then he realized that he seemed to be stalling for time, so he ordered the Imperial Guards to tie him up tightly. Wasn't he slashed in the back by Yuanyuan? The Imperial Guards were very careful when tying him up, afraid of disturbing his wound. I thought his back would at least be bruised, but when the Imperial Guards finished tying him up, they reported that his back was swollen very high and had some scrapes..."

"You were cut with the back of a knife?" Chen Mo asked, frowning.

Shunzi nodded and said, "Jia Chuan took a moment out of his busy schedule to check on Baldy's injuries. He said that Yuanyuan must have grabbed the wrong thing in her haste, but the force of the blow still seriously injured Baldy. He won't be able to move for a while, at least. He saw that everyone thought he was about to die, so he pretended to be dying too. Jia Chuan found the flaw in his words, but none of us checked his injuries beforehand..."

Gao Yuntian said, "Last night, regardless of the blade or the back of the blade, it was already remarkable that Yuanyuan could make another cut. At that time, let alone jumping up, I couldn't even lift the iron ruler."

Shunzi quickly said, "Jia Chuan wasn't blaming Yuanyuan. He didn't want me to tell Yuanyuan because he was afraid she would be upset. He felt that he hadn't handled things carefully enough. Even though he saw it with his own eyes, he still wanted to verify it..."

Lu Baihu didn't understand and asked in confusion, "Since it was the back of the cleaver, the person must have been lying on the ground. Didn't you see any injuries on the spot?"

Gao Yuntian snorted and said, "When Yuanyuan swung that knife, my vision went black. I tried to hold on a little longer, but I couldn't."

Chen Mo said, "I wasn't there."

Shunzi said, "I was only paying attention to Yuanyuan at the time, and Jia Chuan probably was too. Yuanyuan fell down after making that cut. I remember the bald man even turned his head to look at her. Maybe he fell face up."

(End of this chapter)