Prime Minister

Chapter 225, Section 224: [A Dark and Windy Night]

March 11th, 20th year of Taihe.

Today is the day of the funeral of Xu Zhiwei, the legendary physician of Jimintang. Early in the morning, people spontaneously came to the outside of Jimintang to pay their respects and send off the young physician who was killed by the heavens.

As the de facto head of the government office, Xue Huai was not required to go in person. However, in order to express his praise for the good deeds of Jimintang, he still led his subordinates to Daming Temple, which naturally won him widespread praise from the locals.

Daming Temple is located in the northwest suburbs of Yangzhou City, on the central peak of Shugang Hill. It is backed by mountains to the north and faces the Slender West Lake to the south, with a quiet and elegant environment.

Generally speaking, temples prohibit the burial of ordinary people, and at most accept cenotaphs. However, Xu Zhiwei's reputation as a benevolent doctor had already spread throughout Huaiyang, and since Xue Huai personally intervened, the abbot of Daming Temple naturally would not refuse. Therefore, Xu Zhiwei's burial place was set in the West Garden of Daming Temple.

This place is also known as Fangpu. Ancient trees reach for the sky, strange rocks are scattered, ponds are sparkling, pavilions are elegant, there is a lake in the mountains, and the lake contains the fifth best spring in the world. It can truly be called a feng shui treasure land.

After the solemn burial ceremony, it was already evening. At the abbot's kind invitation, Xue Huai had a light and refreshing vegetarian meal, and then went to rest in the meditation room behind the Heavenly King Hall, planning to return to the prefectural city early the next morning.

The sky gradually darkened.

"Commander Ye."

Jiang Sheng's respectful voice came from outside the meditation room, and then Ye Qing pushed the door open and entered.

Xue Huai looked up and saw that the usually composed Commander of the Jing'an Division had a hint of excitement in his eyes.

After taking his seat, Ye Qing said, "Lord Xue, the surroundings have been arranged."

"Thanks for your hard work."

Xue Huai personally poured him a cup of hot tea. The rising steam, illuminated by the dim candlelight, dispelled some of the chill in the meditation room. He then asked, "Brother Ye, have you made any new discoveries at Jimin Hall?"

Ye Qing lowered his voice slightly and said attentively, "We have made some progress. I had someone review the accounts of Yangzhou Jimintang for the past two years, and I also sent someone to Hangzhou to ask Brother Dong, the magistrate of Zhejiang, for assistance. We dispatched spies to investigate the source and specific flow of Jimintang's charitable funds, and sure enough, we discovered extremely secretive and suspicious connections."

Xue Huai's gaze sharpened slightly, and he said solemnly, "Please explain in detail."

"it is good."

Ye Qing leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice to ensure only the two of them could hear: "Jimintang's main income sources are currently divided into three parts. The first is the income from their own pharmacies and the output from their medicinal fields. The second is the small amount of funds allocated by local governments. The third is the charitable donations from the gentry of Jiangnan. Through comparison of the list, I found that most of the gentry's businesses are closely related to the Grand Canal."

Xue Huai's expression grew increasingly serious.

Ye Qing continued, "Besides that, Manager Dong also told me an extremely important piece of information: they have traced several large sums of charitable donations to the Hangzhou Jimin Hall from extremely mysterious sources. These funds do not go through the local money shops' open accounts, but are instead transferred through an extremely ancient underground money transfer channel. These funds come from different names, such as Youren Trading Company, Limin Grain Store, and Puhui Cloth Shop. Manager Dong mobilized a large number of people to investigate, only to find that these names were all forged. Lord Xue, do you know where these funds truly originated?"

Looking into his bright eyes, Xue Huai recalled his earlier words and tentatively asked, "Could it be the Grand Canal Administration?"

"No."

Ye Qing solemnly said, "If the information provided by Manager Dong is correct, the mysterious donations received by Jimintang actually came from the Canal Gang!"

Xue Huai frowned.

He was naturally familiar with the Canal Gang, a folk organization, and was also very clear about the massive system of the Great Yan Canal Gang today. It was no exaggeration to say that it was "the source of livelihood for millions of canal workers".

The Grand Canal Administration was responsible for managing all aspects of the thousands of miles of canals. However, the imperial court could not allow the administration to expand indefinitely. The number of officials was already fixed, and the limited manpower was simply unable to control the entire process of canal transport. In addition, the canal workers at the grassroots level banded together and helped each other, and the canal gangs were born.

Although the leaders of the canal gangs held no official positions, they were now influential figures on the Grand Canal and important allies of the canal transport authorities. However, from another perspective, it is also an undeniable fact that the canal gangs' influence was deeply entrenched and that they were entangled in interests with the canal transport authorities and local officials.

After a moment, Xue Huai pondered and said, "So, the Canal Gang used forged business names to channel their money into the Jimintang under the guise of charitable donations?"

"Exactly!"

Ye Qing nodded and said, "Moreover, not all of these donations are used to provide medicine and alleviate poverty after they enter the Jimintang. Take the Yangzhou Jimintang for example, a considerable portion of the funds are cleverly transferred out through the price difference in purchasing medicinal materials, grains, cloth, and other supplies, as well as under the guise of paying high salaries to certain doctors!"

Xue Huai tapped his fingers lightly on the table, making a rhythmic tapping sound.

Having lived two lives, his knowledge and experience far exceeded his current age, so he was no stranger to the secret methods of Jimintang.

This is a very clever way to launder money. The huge amount of gray income accumulated by the canal gang is presented as charitable donations through the Jimintang, and then it comes out as clean money.

"Commander Ye, this lead must be thoroughly investigated."

Xue Huai slowly said, "However, there are still some questions here. Is the relationship between the Canal Gang and the Jimin Hall just a simple cooperation, or is there a direct connection between the Canal Gang and the Demonic Cult, or even that they are one and the same? Is the Canal Transport Office involved? These all need to be carefully investigated. Before we have conclusive evidence, I ask Commander Ye to keep this a secret, because I suspect that the Demonic Cult has a deep infiltration into the officialdom of Jiangnan."

"Of course, Lord Xue can rest assured."

Ye Qing nodded and said, "Now we just have to wait for the thieves to come to us. If we can capture a few of the core figures of the Demon Cult this time, perhaps we can find a breakthrough!"

His tone was somewhat excited.

At first, he thought that Xu Zhiwei's assassination of Xue Huai was just a personal grudge. Who knew that it would involve the secrets of Jimintang? Now it is very likely to become a major case. As a witness to this case, he would be doing a great job as long as he can find out the demonic cult rebels behind the scenes.

Perhaps he can use this achievement to smoothly transfer back to the capital to take up an important position, so how could he dare not do his best?

Xue Huai got up and walked to the only small window in the meditation room, pushing it open a crack.

The night outside the window was as dark as ink, enveloping the entire Daming Temple. The monks had long since retired for the night, with only a few guard lanterns emitting a faint light, swaying in the night breeze.

In the stillness of the night, it seemed as if a ferocious beast lurked. Suddenly, several sharp cries echoed from the distant, tranquil mountains.

Ye Qing suddenly stood up, strode to Xue Huai's side, and solemnly said, "You've arrived!"

"It should just be an initial test."

Xue Huai remained calm. He had already made two preparations. The Daming Temple was outwardly relaxed but inwardly tight, like the gradually tightening mouth of a bottle. Once the thief dared to break in, it would be very difficult for him to get out.

At the same time, he looked up at the night sky in the southeast, where Yangzhou City was located.

……

The city of Yangzhou was peaceful and serene under the cover of night.

In the study of the Tongzhi official's residence, a tall, slender figure sat at the table, flipping through documents with great interest. Even as the time grew later, there was no sign of fatigue on her face.

Mo Yun stood cautiously to the side, not daring to breathe.

From early morning, she felt as if she were walking on clouds, dizzy and unable to believe that the legendary Princess Yun'an would appear here. What intrigued her even more was that Her Highness the Princess spent all day in the young master's study, perusing his densely packed political notes.

Fortunately, the princess was not as arrogant as rumored. Apart from occasionally asking about household affairs, she mostly just quietly flipped through the books. However, the invisible pressure made Mo Yun never dare to look up.

Su Erniang glanced at the deep night outside the window and stepped forward to say to Jiang Li, "Your Highness, it's late."

Jiang Li lifted her gaze from a file in her hand concerning the verification of spring plowing matters in various counties of Yangzhou. The candlelight flickered on her cool face, revealing no trace of weariness.

She glanced at Mo Yun, who seemed unusually reserved, and a faint smile suddenly appeared on her lips: "Mo Yun."

"The slave is here!"

Mo Yun's heart tightened, and she quickly responded, her voice trembling slightly.

"Don't be afraid, I just want to talk to you."

Jiang Li naturally wouldn't put on airs in front of Xue Huai's personal maid, and then asked, "How long have you been serving Lord Xue?"

“Your Highness,” Mo Yun nervously pinched her fingertips, “I have been working in the Xue household for seven years, and last year I went south with you, sir.”

"That's been more than a year."

Jiang Li nodded thoughtfully, her gaze lingering on her face for a moment before she smiled and said, "Lord Xue is very busy with official duties, so I suppose you take care of his daily life?"

Mo Yun lowered her head: "This is my duty, and I dare not be negligent in the slightest."

"Hmm, you're a good person."

Jiang Li looked around the room and nodded, saying, "I see that this study is clean and orderly. Although there are many documents on the desk, there is not a speck of dust. Lord Xue, you have made this cold and austere place feel more lively."

Upon hearing this, Mo Yun quickly bowed and said, "Your Highness is too kind. This servant dares not take credit for it."

Jiang Li looked at her bowed figure, remained silent for a moment, and then softened her tone and said, "Get up. I was just asking casually. It is a blessing for Lord Xue to have such a loyal maid like you. It is late. You should go and rest. Second Madam is here."

"Yes, Your Highness. This servant will take her leave."

Mo Yun dared not say a word, and quickly bowed respectfully before retreating with her head down, gently closing the study door behind her.

Seeing this, Su Erniang stepped forward and poured Jiang Li a cup of warm ginseng tea, saying in a low voice, "Your Highness should rest now."

Jiang Li did not accept the tea, and turned her gaze back to the deep night outside the window, as if she could see through the high walls of the official residence to the Daming Temple outside the city.

"Second Aunt, tonight will definitely be very lively. Xue Huai, that stubborn and unreasonable man, insists on forcing me to stay here and won't let me go to Shen Garden. I even assigned so many people to him to protect the Shen family."

Hearing Jiang Li's seemingly reproachful tone, Su Erniang's heart skipped a beat.

After Xue Huai disembarked that day, she subtly inquired with Jiang Li but found nothing amiss. The two were simply discussing business inside, but for some reason, she felt that Jiang Li seemed to have changed compared to before, though she couldn't quite put her finger on why.

At this moment, she realized that Jiang Li did not have any real dissatisfaction with Xue Huai, so she gently advised, "Your Highness, Xue Tongzhi is always cautious. How could he agree to let Your Highness put yourself in danger? This is his good intention. Perhaps Your Highness can understand."

"Ah."

Jiang Li responded, then looked away and swept her gaze across the study filled with Xue Huai's aura, from the neat bookshelves, the piled-up documents, the sand table in the corner, to the inkstone on the desk that she had deliberately knocked slightly askew. She said meaningfully, "After dawn, I'm going to Shen Garden."

Su Erniang understood perfectly well that going to Shen Garden was not for sightseeing.

However, Jiang Li's choice to go to Shen Garden at this time, and with Xue Huai still outside the city, would likely give the Shen family quite a fright.

She couldn't help but advise, "Your Highness, the Shen family is different from ordinary merchants. Why not wait for Lord Xue to return before going together?"

"Second Madam, don't overthink it."

Jiang Li smiled and casually stretched out her arms, seemingly disregarding her appearance, and said leisurely, "I'm not going to put on airs like a princess. I just want to see what kind of charm Shen Qingluan and Xu Zhiwei possess."

(End of this chapter)