Her guards

Chapter 144 The Absurd Stories That Spread
At the end of the fourth year of the Great Xia Shengyuan era, as the New Year approached, a major event occurred in the already bustling capital city.

Imperial Censor Li Bu carried the blood-stained clothes into the imperial study, after which the emperor summoned several high-ranking officials.

Immediately afterwards, several teams of soldiers escorted different officials out of the capital, while at the same time, the Dali Temple constables surrounded Ji Ying's residence.

Within just one day, news of the death of Inspector Ji Ying spread throughout the capital.

Some say Ji Ying encountered bandits, while others say he was murdered by local officials during their investigation.

The restaurants and teahouses were filled with all sorts of discussions.

"Is the world about to descend into chaos again?"

"The murder of the inspector carrying the imperial seal is undoubtedly an attempt to assassinate the emperor!"

"Good heavens, the officials outside are about to rebel again!"

"Gentlemen, gentlemen, no one is allowed to discuss state affairs! No one is allowed to speak nonsense! Everything must wait for the government's conclusion."

The shop assistants had to stop the rampant rumors.

Compared to the general public in the lobby who were unaware of the details and making various speculations, the people sitting in the private rooms knew more.

"There are only blood-stained clothes, no corpses," one person said in a low voice.

"So, is he dead or alive?" another person asked, frowning. "What did the censor say?"

“Li Bu said he didn’t know,” another person said.

These words caused the people sitting inside to turn to look at him.

do not know?
Wasn't it Li Bu who came to see the emperor carrying the blood-stained clothes?
How did it become that Li Bu didn't know whether Ji Ying was alive or dead?

"Zhang Erlang, your uncle works for the Censorate." The others urged him hurriedly, "You must know this already, tell us quickly."

Zhang Erlang took a sip of tea and looked at everyone meaningfully: "Actually, you've all focused on the wrong thing. What Li Bu really meant wasn't the tragedy that happened in Jiying."

What does that mean? Didn't Li Bu show the blood-stained clothes to the emperor that Ji Ying was dead?

No one knew that Ji Ying had died, not even his family; otherwise, they would have reported it to the authorities long ago.

Zhang Erlang put down his teacup: "Have you forgotten who Li Bu is?"

I haven't forgotten, Imperial Censor.

“So, the censors aren’t in charge of investigating life and death; they’re in charge of impeaching officials and handling legal disputes,” Zhang Erlang said. “Li Bu was actually in charge of investigating and reporting cases to Ji and Ying.”

The inspectors reported this to Ji and Ying? The men were shocked; was this really the case?

What are you telling Ji and Ying? Aren't they all dead?
Zhang Erlang said softly, "The case of the bandits in Baima Town was closed by replacing the bandits with death row inmates."

The case of bandits robbing and looting in Baima Town?

What kind of case is this? And where is Baima Town?

"This Baima Town is located in Lu County, Yuzhou."

"In late June this year, the town was robbed by bandits, and almost everyone in the town was killed overnight."

A whole town? That's at least a hundred people, all of them killed. That's a major case!
I don't recall hearing about it. I've never heard of it before.

The people inside were greatly surprised.

"Because this case was handled by Ji Ying, he used death row inmates to impersonate mountain bandits and behead them as a warning, and closed the case within a few days, deceiving the public, so it did not spread and become a big deal."

At Zhang Erlang's voice, everyone in the room instantly became furious.

"absurd!"

"How could an inspector do such an absurd thing!"

"Damn it!"

"Damn it, damn it!"

The private room instantly became noisy, and the waiters had to come and try to stop them, but compared to the ordinary people in the main hall, these people, who were either educated or from privileged backgrounds, were beyond their control.

"Such evil deeds must be exposed to the public!"

"Let the world know about the evil deeds of Ji and Ying!"

"A worthy death!"

"So, it was Imperial Censor Li who learned of Ji Ying's crimes and killed him?"

Upon hearing this question, Zhang Erlang, who was standing in the hall, shook his head: "No."

"What happened?" someone asked anxiously in the hallway outside. "Which hero has rid the people of this scourge?"

Because of the noise, the waiter opened the door to stop it, which attracted people from other private rooms and even the main hall. They all stood in the corridor listening and discussing.

The shop assistants were completely powerless to stop it.

As the question was asked, all eyes were focused on Zhang Erlang.

Zhang Erlang hesitated for a moment: "It seems that Ji Ying committed suicide."

Suicide?

The crowd was stunned for a moment, then burst into a clamor of discussion, interspersed with angry shouts.

"Suicide? That's too good for him!"

…… ……

The reason why the legend of Ji Ying possibly committing suicide is that Li Bu also presented Ji Ying's blood-written letter.

Chai Yuan stood indoors, his expression somber, and picked up a piece of paper to examine it.

"A letter written in blood by Ji Ying?" He let out a sneer.

There was no blood on this paper, so it was not the blood-written letter submitted by the censor; it was a copy.

The handwriting is indeed from Ji and Ying.

But that doesn't mean it's real; imitating handwriting is very easy.

Chai Yuan glanced at the text, which contained a confession that Baima Town had used death row inmates to impersonate bandits, deceiving the people and arbitrarily closing cases in order to gain merit, and that he felt guilty day and night.

"The horrific scenes of those victims are before my eyes day and night. To do such a thing, I will surely suffer a terrible death..."

The words on the letter stop abruptly here, as if the writer couldn't bear to continue, or perhaps as if they had been interrupted.

If I'm not mistaken, the real blood-written letter is stained with blood right here.

Chai Yuan crumpled up the letter and threw it into the brazier.

"What the hell is this? It looks like Ji Ying plundered Baima Town!"

The Marquis of Yichun, sitting in his chair, smiled and said, "Fortunately, what was presented was only a blood letter written in Ji Ying's handwriting, not the letter I wrote to Ji Ying. Otherwise, I'm afraid I would still be in the palace today."

Then I thought about it again.

"They might also be imprisoned in Dali Temple."

Yes, the Marquis of Yichun wrote a letter asking Ji Ying to return, and then Ji Ying disappeared on his way back.

If a letter bearing the handwriting of the Marquis of Yichun were delivered, and Ji Ying were dead and vanished without a trace, the Marquis of Yichun, who had written to Ji Ying, would certainly be questioned.

The disappearance of Ji and Ying has been a source of confusion for them for a long time.

Now it suddenly appears...

Bloodstained clothes and blood-written letters, yet Ji Ying remained nowhere to be found, neither alive nor dead.

"Li Bu said that when he went back to his hometown to pay respects to his ancestors, the blood-stained clothes and blood-written letter were stuffed under the tombstone. He didn't know when or who put them there."

“Li Bu and Ji Ying both served as officials in the court but had no contact with each other. However, they studied together when they were young, so Li Bu recognized Ji Ying’s handwriting.”

"Although the matter was somewhat absurd and strange, after reading the contents, I knew that it was of great importance, so Li Bu took the opportunity of visiting relatives to go to Baima Town in Lu County to investigate in person."

"Upon investigation, it was found that death row inmates were indeed being used to replace bandits. Then, an investigation was conducted into Ji Ying, and it was discovered that Ji Ying had been missing for a long time. Without further hesitation, the matter was immediately reported to His Majesty."

Marquis Yichun recounted what Li Bu had told him in the Imperial Study at that time.

He laughed again as he said this.

"It was a flawless and perfectly logical process."

Chai Yuan didn't find it funny, he just frowned: "How did Li Bu suddenly appear? Who ordered him to do this?"

Just then, an old servant came in from outside the door.

“My lord,” he said in a low voice, “His Majesty has summoned the Duke of Ding’an to the palace.”

Chai Yuan's face darkened: "His Majesty actually wants to see him."

Except for holidays and festivals, the emperor almost never summoned the Duke of Ding'an.

Marquis Yichun said calmly, “The matter in Jiying has become so big that the fact that the Duke of Ding’an’s sister was a victim of the Baima Town disaster can no longer be kept secret. The emperor must personally intervene.”

Chai Yuan's expression shifted, then he suddenly realized something: "The Emperor wants to use this incident to reveal the identity of that Yang woman!"

He gave a cold laugh at this point.

"I knew it!"

I knew something was wrong from the moment the emperor didn't expel this man surnamed Yang from the Imperial Academy.

They even made this Yang woman their disciple, which was indeed a publicity stunt.

Now, thanks to the events in Baima Town, we can finally restore Yang's true identity!

"I'm going to the palace right now!" he shouted.

"Alright," Marquis Yichun interrupted him. "Things are in a mess right now, don't make things worse."

Chai Yuan was furious: "So we're just going to stand by and watch?"

Marquis Yichun said calmly, "When did we stand by and watch? We didn't let Deng Shan bring that woman into the palace back then, and now that woman's daughter won't get her wish either."

After saying this, he gestured to Chai Yuan.

"Quiet down, observe carefully. The matter is not yet settled, don't panic."

Chai Yuan took a deep breath: "This is ridiculous!" He then sat down.

"Absurd," thought Marquis Yichun. "Indeed absurd."

Was this the emperor's doing?
Otherwise, it couldn't possibly be the work of Yang Luo, the woman from the Yang family.

The thought flashed through his mind, and Marquis Yichun couldn't help but laugh at himself.