Yin Yang Soul Searcher

Han Xueshan cleared her throat and said in front of everyone in the room, "You want to gamble with me? But you'll need to have some chips!"

"Sigh," Han Xueshan sighed helplessly and began to speak sarcastically: "Some people are shameless and still owe me ten talismans. They said they would pay me back five hundred copper coins with interest after they receive their salary."

"Tsk tsk, he even said he'd let me beat him up every three days to vent his anger if he couldn't pay back his debts. He hasn't even finished paying off his old debts, and now he still has the nerve to make a bet with me. How can a person be so shameless?"

Zhou Dahai, standing to the side, was stunned. Could such a thing really be true? Mo Yu had already started selling her body?

Yang Jiang, a seasoned official, saw things clearly; these two were obviously sworn enemies.

"Alright, alright, if you don't want to gamble, then forget it." Bai Jueming cupped his hands in surrender. Even though Bai Jueming was thick-skinned, he felt a little embarrassed after saying it in front of so many people.

Han Xueshan opened her mouth as if to say something, but just then, the sound of the door opening broke the argument between the two inside. Wang Pang and Wu Yuan pushed the door open and entered. Everyone in the room turned their attention to the two of them.

"Have you asked them all? What's the situation?" Zhou Dahai spoke first, wanting to see if Bai Jueming's guess was correct.

Both men frowned, their faces grim, clearly dissatisfied with the outcome of their questioning. Wang Pang stammered, "We did ask, but the situation isn't what we expected."

"Let me explain," the lean man Wu Yuanqing cleared his throat. "We gathered all the servants, big and small, in the side courtyard. There are about thirty servants in total who have direct or indirect contact with Lord Yang's food and drink. No one has been missed."

"This included Lord Yang's daily meals, pastries, and tea. Old Wang and I questioned each of us carefully in the dream, but we couldn't find the person who poisoned him."

That scoundrel guessed right; he really wasn't from the manor. "Thank goodness I didn't bet with him," Han Xueshan thought with lingering fear.

"Could it be that we're investigating in the wrong direction?" Wu Yuan wondered, a hint of self-doubt creeping into his voice. If the food was all alright, it couldn't possibly be that Yang Yongyuan committed suicide by poisoning himself.

"Your investigation is correct. Lord Yang's death may indeed have nothing to do with the people in your household." Zhou Dahai patted Wu Yuan on the shoulder and told them Bai Jueming's guess.

After listening to Bai Jueming's analysis, Wu Yuan excitedly clenched his fist, the worry on his face fading considerably. "Your analysis makes perfect sense! How come I didn't think of that!"

Zhou Dahai glanced at Wu Yuan sideways.

"So, what should we do next in our investigation?" Wang Pang spoke much more fluently.

Everyone in the room turned to look at Bai Jueming. Bai Jueming was somewhat surprised; his colleagues trusted him so much. "Then I won't stand on ceremony!"

Bai Jueming crossed his left arm over his chest and rested his right hand on his chin. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "It seems the only way is to investigate who Lord Yang met alone before his death."

"Oh right," Bai Jueming slapped his forehead, "I almost forgot something. To prove your innocence, it would be best if Old Li questioned you in a dream, just in case there are any omissions in these two booklets."

"Of course, of course." Old Li's back bent even lower.

"Mo Yu is right, we shouldn't be careless about this kind of thing." Zhou Dahai gestured for Old Li to sit down, as he wanted to take charge himself.

Bai Jueming opened the second booklet on the table, which recorded the guests who had visited the Yang residence in the past half month. Their names, positions, dates of visit, and who they were looking for at the residence were all recorded in detail.

Han Xueshan stood next to Bai Jianren, wanting to try and see if she could glean any clues from her.

Bai Jueming glanced at Han Xueshan, turned to the last page of the booklet, and prepared to start by investigating those closest to the time of Lord Yang's death.

When Bai Jueming looked at the first person recorded in the booklet, his pupils suddenly contracted, and he began to doubt whether he had seen it wrong!

The visitor's time, "early morning of the 9 AM," was clearly recorded in black and white on the paper.

The visitor's identity: Cheng Yanbing, the eldest disciple of the Craftsmen's Hall!

What brings you to my residence? I'd like to pay my respects to Lord Yang!

What did he want to see Yang Yongyuan for? And why are you always involved in the cases I handle?

The last pill scandal was because of Cheng Yanbing, and now that Yang Yongyuan is dead, you're involved again. I'm starting to suspect you're the mastermind! You lazy bum, you're such a troublemaker. "Good morning."

Han Xueshan, standing nearby, also asked in surprise, "Isn't this the guy who helped out at the black market the other day? What's he doing at the Yang residence?"

Bai Jueming remained silent, continuing to read the register. Indeed, quite a few people had come to visit Yang Yongyuan. However, only the names and identities of the visitors were recorded. Without entering the Yang residence, not everyone was qualified to meet a second-rank official.

According to the records in the booklet, Cheng Yanbing left the Yang residence around noon, and then Yang Yongyuan also received three ministers who served in the same court separately.

Upon reaching the end, Bai Jueming noticed two times written on the last line of the booklet: "Early Hai Hour" to "Late Hai Hour." Why record these two times for no reason?

Bai Jueming flipped through a few pages of the booklet and found that a set of time records appeared every few days. The number of days between records was irregular, but the time recorded each time was from the beginning to the end of Hai hour (9-11 PM).

Bai Jueming tapped on the booklet with great interest, waiting for Zhou Dahai to finish his question. He wondered to himself whether Lord Yang had met someone he shouldn't have.

Wang Pang and Wu Yuan took the booklet and began to read it.

Before long, Zhou Dahai finished his question, his face grim as he nodded to Bai Jueming: "Old Li hasn't left the Yang residence for almost half a month, and everyone who comes to visit every day is registered. However," Zhou Dahai said, giving Old Li a nudge, "you tell me yourself."

Old Li, his back hunched, looked shaken, large beads of sweat forming on his forehead. The questions he'd just heard in his dream had felt like his deepest secrets had been laid bare, leaving him completely defenseless and answering everything asked. It was terrifying!

"Why doesn't Lord Yang record the person he sees every few days at Hai hour?" Bai Jueming raised an eyebrow.

Why is that Bai Jianren so sure that Lord Yang saw someone at Hai Shi (9-11 PM) when they were looking at the same booklet together? Han Xueshan thought with some dissatisfaction.

Old Li was startled. He wiped the sweat from his brow and said respectfully, "Your Excellency is wise. There is indeed a small problem with that booklet. However, it's not that I deliberately concealed it, but rather it was a task that Lord Yang specifically assigned to me before his death."

At this point, Old Li glanced at the eldest son of the Yang family: "When Lord Yang was alive, he once invested in a brothel in the capital, Qingyue Tower."

"Qingyue Tower?" Bai Jueming's tone rose slightly, somewhat surprised. A second-rank official of the imperial court investing in a brothel? He had just eaten there with Jia Qingshan yesterday. Wait, could it be what he's thinking? A pear blossom tree overshadowing a crabapple?

Why are you so excited about brothels? Han Xueshan glared at Bai Jueming. This slut is definitely no good.

Zhou Dahai's lips slowly curled up, wanting to laugh, but he felt it was inappropriate and tried his best to suppress it.

Wang Pang and Wu Yuan were looking through the booklet when they heard this. They both straightened their backs and began to listen attentively to Old Li's explanation.

Only Yang Jiang wore a gloomy face, and he couldn't blame Old Li. The Yin-Yang Master's questions in his dream revealed no secrets to an ordinary person.

"Lord Yang is very infatuated with Miss Lianzhu from Qingyue Tower. Every few days, he would send someone to invite Miss Lianzhu from Qingyue Tower to his residence."

Damn it, I knew it! Yesterday, Jia Qingshan and I saw Lianzhu leave the brothel in a sedan chair; it turns out she was heading here!

It's good to be rich! No wonder this old pervert is still drinking tonic soup at his age. Bai Jueming even suspects that this old pervert may have died from poisoning. Could it be that he died from exhaustion?

"Each time Miss Lianzhu comes, she will return after an hour. Lord Yang specifically instructed that no records be made when Miss Lianzhu comes. I was just being clever and only recorded an insignificant time. I didn't expect that you would still find out."

Miss Lianzhu is one of the top courtesans of Qingyue Tower. She only comes for an hour each time. Zhou Dahai shook his head. Is this old man just using this place for health preservation?

Wang Pang and Wu Yuan stood aside, suppressing their laughter. They were quite old, yet they were playing some pretty fancy games.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Bai Jueming noticed that Han Xueshan was staring at him, her face full of disgust.

"Pah, don't think I don't know what you're thinking." Han Xueshan rolled her eyes at him and looked away.

Bai Jueming laughed in exasperation: "Tell me, what am I thinking?"

Just as Han Xueshan was about to scold him, Zhou Dahai pressed his hands down and stepped in to smooth things over: "Alright, alright, Old Li has finished speaking. Only Lianzhu wasn't recorded in that book. Now we can continue analyzing the case."

Bai Jueming didn't argue with Han Xueshan, and instead said, "Next, we need to investigate the people who came to the Yang residence to pay their respects."

Zhou Dahai picked up the booklet and examined it for a moment, finally frowning: "Apart from the disciples of the Craftsmen's Hall and that courtesan from Qingyue Pavilion, everyone else on this list is a subject of the Great Xia Dynasty. It seems we're in for some trouble!"

"Brother Hai, why don't we split into four groups? It's just a matter of asking a question in a dream anyway," Bai Jueming suggested. "I doubt any official would dare to resist something this big, otherwise they could be considered the murderer."

Court officials could not refuse to be questioned in dreams, because after the onmyoji asked the questions, the person being questioned would remember the content of the conversation to ensure that no court secrets were leaked. If it was a soul search, it would need to be reported through multiple levels to prevent the onmyoji from asking questions involving court secrets.

"Mo Yu's method is feasible. Let's split up and report the case's progress to the hall master as soon as possible," Wu Yuan agreed.

"Alright, let's do as Moyu says." Then Zhou Dahai instructed the coroner beside him, "Find out as quickly as possible what kind of poison Lord Yang was poisoned with!"

"Yes," the two coroners acknowledged and took their leave. They were no longer needed for the subsequent on-site investigations.

Before leaving, Zhou Dahai looked at Yang Jiang at the door and said, "Young Master Yang, although everyone in the manor is innocent, I hope that the people of the Yang manor will not move around freely until the murderer is caught."

"That's only right, thank you all for your trouble." Yang Jiang clasped his hands in a fist salute and saw everyone out the door.

Led by Old Li, the group left the Yang residence. After some investigation by the mansion, it was now noon.

On horseback, Bai Jueming volunteered, "Brother Hai, why don't I go to Cheng Yanbing's place? He helped me deal with that guy surnamed Chu last time, so I'll go and thank him."

Li Zhengshan had already spoken to the three of them about Chu Jiangyuan's matter and praised Bai Jueming's abilities in front of them. Being able to ask for help is a skill in itself!

"Alright, you helped him with the pill case last time, so you two are on good terms now. It's good for you to keep in touch." Zhou Dahai said it was no problem, and that was what he thought too.

Onmyoji generally don't want to go to that place. As for why? It's probably because Qiao Shou can't stand the Grand Master.

Bai Jueming and his beautiful bodyguard turned their horses around and parted ways with them.

"Old Wang, Old Wu, you two go investigate the various court officials. I'm going to that most dangerous Qingyue Tower; all sorts of monsters and demons roam there." These words faintly echoed behind the two men.