Young master, why not become a corpse immortal?

Chapter 214 Infiltration
The capital city is very large, divided into four major districts on the left and right by the central palace. These four major districts are further divided into seventeen smaller districts.

These seventeen districts each have a government office, and each government office has a chief clerk who is responsible for managing all affairs of the entire government office.

Including the yamen (government offices) and registrars in the surrounding towns, there were nearly thirty "yamen" in the capital area.

These ubiquitous "government offices" did indeed form a stable protective network, allowing the entire capital to appear prosperous on the surface, to the point that doors could be left unlocked at night.

Most criminals are driven by self-interest, seeking easier and faster ways to make money. With such a tight security network in the capital, petty thieves find no profit in it and naturally won't bother causing trouble in the city.

As a result, most of the criminals in the city will fall into the following two categories.

It was either an impulsive act of violence, or the perpetrator was simply a fool.

The former, due to momentary emotional impulses, may commit crimes that are enough to land them in prison, while the latter are simply "a moment of stupidity can turn them into a lifetime of badness." Some idiots may occasionally commit some legendary crimes, but they don't even think they are wrong.

These criminals are usually detained in the branch county offices, and they are convicted and dealt with after a short time, and they cannot enter the Six Doors (a government agency).

Jiang Jinyue wanted to find some clues among these criminals.

Of course, she couldn't just go to various government offices and take out all their records without a reason. If she did that, it probably wouldn't be long before the Dali Temple noticed her.

She had to find a way.

Sitting at the stone table in Dali Temple, after pondering for the time it takes to drink a pot of tea, Jiang Jinyue simply headed straight for the Six Doors Department.

When she arrived at the Six Doors, she found several office workers who were working there:
"Has this month's calendar been completed?"

The staff member on duty, seeing Jiang Jinyue arrive, dared not be negligent and immediately bowed respectfully.

"It's only the middle of the month, we haven't started calculating yet."

"Okay, I'll go out and make a trip this month."

Wen Gong looked at Jiang Jinyue with some confusion.

The investigation involved visiting all the government offices in the capital, checking their records to see if there were any problems. It was a tedious task, usually handled by newcomers from the Six Doors, and it would take several days.

Why is she acting so temperamental today?

But Wen Gong didn't dare to say anything and could only fill out the form as Jiang Jinyue instructed.

Without delay, they headed straight for the various government offices in the city.

Her journey went much more smoothly than she had anticipated.

Although the clerks and above in the capital's government offices are considered minor officials, they are still under the emperor's nose, and their positions are far more prestigious than those of county magistrates in the more complex regions outside the capital. In the past, when the Six Doors sent new recruits, these clerks were naturally too lazy to entertain them.

But Jiang Jinyue is different!

Although her official position was merely that of a "head constable" in the Six Doors, even lower than that of a registrar, her background...

Which clerk would dare to ignore her?

They served her the best tea and water, and whenever Jiang Jinyue wanted to see something, they would immediately bring it out for her to see.

In this way, Jiang Jinyue found many cases that had recently occurred in the capital.

at last,

She searched for three days.

Jiang Jinyue discovered a case that occurred in the north of the city some time ago.

……

It's Mr. Guo's teahouse again, and that middle-aged manager again.

Lin Jiang picked up his teacup, took a sip, and a look of surprise appeared on his face:

"This tea tastes really good today, it's quite different from the last time."

The shopkeeper smiled and said:
“Our master said that since you come here often, you are a very important guest of his, so we should serve you some better tea.”

"Can you repair the clothes I gave you?"

"Unfortunately, that garment is too badly damaged. If you want it, I can only buy new fabric and have it made on the spot."

"How much will it cost?"

"The price of the cloth is six hundred taels, and the craftsmanship fee is eight hundred taels."

Lin Jiang shut his mouth.

Damn it, that one slash during the separation cost 1,400 taels of silver!
The next time I see him, I'll make him throw money at me!
"I didn't come here for tea this time." Jiang Jinyue sighed helplessly, then picked up the teacup beside her and took a sip:
"Hmm? That's actually pretty good."

"Thank you for the compliment."

The shopkeeper left with a smile.

After he left, Jiang Jinyue straightened her expression and looked at Lin Jiang:
"I've been researching for several days, and my legs are so tired they're about to give way."

"Is this really that difficult to investigate?"

"It's difficult to investigate. Most of the details have been handled internally by the Dali Temple. It's probably more complicated than it appears on the surface."

Jiang Jinyue still had a headache when she got to this point.

But she still reached into her bosom and pulled out a portrait.

Lin Jiang glanced at it and saw that it depicted a man with a slightly gloomy face.

"Three months ago, a madman caused trouble in the south of the capital. He was captured by the head constable on patrol and sent directly to the prison. This man was highly skilled and seemed to be a sorcerer. The yamen in the south of the city could not manage him, so they simply handed him over to the Six Doors."

"After investigation, the Six Doors found that this person was a retainer of the Grand Secretary, but they could not find out which Grand Secretary he was, so they dared not judge him for any crime. They could only temporarily detain him in the Dali Temple prison and send people to the pavilion to inquire whether anyone would come to redeem him."

"However, three months passed, and the Six Doors found nothing about it, so they sealed the person's file. After that, the person disappeared in the dungeon of the Dali Temple, and his whereabouts are now unknown."

"Before this, the place where he was imprisoned... was the same prison where Liu Shuwen was." Lin Jiang, after hearing Jiang Jinyue's words, also fell into deep thought.
"You mean this person is the prisoner who gave Liu Shuwen the pills?"

"Not necessarily." Jiang Jinyue shook her head: "It's just that the person, the place, and the time all match."

Lin Jiang nodded and started calculating the time.

three months ago.

At that time, Sun Zhong should have already left the capital and was in the north dealing with the Red Dot issue.

Could it be a pawn that was casually placed in advance? Or is the person behind this person certain that Sun Zhong will make a mistake when dealing with the red dot?

Secondly...

Lin Jiang clearly remembered that he had asked Gao Xuan a question: were there any other prisoners in the dungeon?

At that time, Gao Xuan also answered very decisively that he did not.

Gao Xuan was the leader of the Dali Temple, so it was impossible for him not to know what was happening in the prison.

But now that I've listened to it, it's clear that Gao Xuan lied as well.

Was Gao Xuan involved in this matter?

It's hard to discern Gao Xuan's true intentions now, but Lin Jiang still hopes to think positively.

After all, he relied on Minister Gao for many things when he came to the capital.

"So do you know where this person went after that?"

"I can't find out about that. I don't dare to investigate things within the Dali Temple too hard. If I'm discovered, it will be even harder for us to find them."

The investigation has stalled because the location of the perpetrator could not be found.

Lin Jiang also rubbed his head.

Where should we proceed with the investigation?

After a moment of thought, a sudden flash of inspiration seemed to appear in Lin Jiang's mind:
"Miss Jiang, which prison in the capital has bad food? And is it damp?"

"what?"

Jiang Jinyue didn't immediately understand why Lin Jiang asked that, but she thought about it carefully and hesitated a bit:
"Logically speaking, the prisons in the capital shouldn't have bad food. Unless someone is deliberately making things difficult, the meals should be sufficient. If it's damp... it should either be near a river or to the south."

"That's the prison outside the capital, in the south, but it can't be too far away."

"As for that, there's a town to the south called Hebianlao. It's located along the river and supplies fish specifically to the capital. I haven't gone there to inspect them yet, so I can go there on the way."

"I'll follow you then."

"It can't be too obvious. If that person is really being held in that place, there will definitely be people in the town keeping a close watch on him."

"Don't worry, I have a plan."

……

The following day, Jiang Jinyue went directly to the town known as Hebianlao.

This town isn't too far from the capital; a normal fast horse could reach it in the time it takes to burn an incense stick.

Not long after she mounted her horse, Jiang Jinyue saw the town in the distance. After entering the town, she did not go directly to the government office, but instead found a quiet place and lowered her sleeves.

She moved her sleeve, and soon a little squirrel popped out.

"Can you still hold on?" Jiang Jinyue asked in a low voice.
The squirrel moved on the ground, opened its mouth, and made the sound of Lin Jiang:
"almost."

Jiang Jinyue stared at the squirrel for a couple more moments, and couldn't help but be secretly surprised.

When Lin Jiang transformed into a small animal in front of her, Jiang Jinyue was also startled.

Although this technique isn't exactly rare, seeing it used by Lin Jiang...

Still a little weird.

Such a martial artist suddenly used a very profound technique; anyone would probably be stunned for a while.

But in reality, Lin Jiang had only forcibly used the Transformation of All Things method. Although he could temporarily transform himself into Qi and reassemble into a small squirrel, he couldn't actually maintain it for very long.

Seeing Lin Jiang jumping around and looking genuinely uncomfortable, Jiang Jinyue didn't hesitate and went to the local government office.

After explaining her purpose to the people in the government office, Jiang Jinyue was warmly received.

Taking advantage of the others' inattention, Jiang Jinyue simply flicked her sleeve, and Lin Jiang fell out of the sleeve, quickly searching for his location in the yamen.

It didn't take long for Lin Jiang to smell a watery odor.

He sniffed and spotted a house built by the river.

It looks like...

This should be it.

He wasn't quite used to the squirrel's body yet, and it took him two tries to jump onto the window. Looking down, he saw a slightly damp dungeon.

Lin Jiang also saw a man huddled deep inside the cell, his eyes lifeless.

Lin Jiang glanced at it in response.

It is the person in Jiang Jinyue's portrait!

P.S.: I've been helping out at an old classmate's wedding these past couple of days, so I probably won't have much time for major revisions to the manuscript...

(End of this chapter)