The Splendor of the Red Chamber

They sent Jia Zhen away.

Jia Lian rushed to the Nan'an Prince's Mausoleum again.

Just as they arrived at the entrance to the mausoleum's outer wall, Chen Xingzhi's subordinate, Fengzhiwei, came out to greet them, pulling on the reins and reporting, "Sir, the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture has arrived. He says he wants to summon officials from all departments to discuss the case. Now we are just waiting for your arrival, Sir."

This case was handled by the Imperial City Guard, with the Shuntian Prefecture and the Five City Garrison as co-organizers. However, the Shuntian Prefect was, after all, a third-rank official, and was qualified to personally convene a meeting.

Jia Lian quickly handed the horse to his attendant and hurried to the main hall of the sacrificial ceremony.

Then one could see that Qiu Jing, the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, was sitting in the center, with Liu Bangchang sitting diagonally to his left, and a dozen or so other officials of the fifth or sixth rank lined up on both sides.

Jia Lian hurried a few steps forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Greetings, Lord Qiu and Lord Liu. I am late, please punish me."

Prefect Qiu, who had been looking very serious, quickly put on a smile when he saw Jia Lian enter and said, "Not at all, I was just too eager to solve the case to arrive early—Captain Jia, please have a seat."

As he spoke, he pointed to the empty seat in the front row on the left.

Qiu Jing had only recently been promoted from Assistant Magistrate to Prefect, thanks to the favorable policies of the capital inspection. To encounter such a perplexing case so soon after taking office was certainly enough to cause him considerable anxiety.

After Jia Lian took his seat, Qiu Jing exchanged a few polite words with Liu Bangchang and then asked each government office to report on the latest developments.

The first to step forward was Chen Sheng, the garrison commander of the Five Cities Garrison. Although he was the highest-ranking officer of the Five Cities Garrison, he could only sit at the bottom of the table here.

Chen Shenglin reported: "Starting from the afternoon of the day the incident occurred, the Five Cities Military Command cooperated with the Shuntian Prefecture to thoroughly investigate all gold shops and pawnshops in the city, as well as places where gold and silver items could be melted down, but so far no trace of the stolen goods has been found."

"I am urging the troops in each city to check for any omissions and try to investigate the channels for selling stolen goods on the black market as well, but if that batch of stolen goods has not been transported into the city..."

"It's not about fighting for it."

Qiu Jing interrupted Chen Sheng, saying seriously, "We must make sure there are no fish that slip through the net!"

As he spoke, he cupped his hands in a gesture of respect towards the city and said, "The imperial court attaches great importance to this case and has ordered us to provide an explanation before the end of the year."

Chen Sheng quickly bowed and agreed, but inwardly he couldn't help but curse, "You Shuntian Prefecture are local tyrants, why don't you step forward and give a guarantee to ensure that no one escapes the net?"

The second person to step forward was the magistrate of Daxing County. He stated that based on the results of the investigation conducted by the Daxing County government in cooperation with the Imperial City Guard outside the city, it could be roughly confirmed that in mid-August, someone had encountered a convoy near the royal tombs in the middle of the night.

However, due to the approaching Mid-Autumn Festival, there were many merchants and out-of-towners traveling at night near the capital, so no follow-up information could be found for this route. All that was known was that the caravan was heading towards the capital, but it was unclear whether it had actually entered the city.

Then the prefectural magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture stepped forward to report on the reward situation. In short, there were many reports, but none of them were truly useful.

Next, it was Chen Xingzhi's turn to speak from the Imperial City Guard.

He first talked about the latest progress in the investigation of the underground palace and the tomb robber's tunnel—the progress was basically zero; then he talked about the recent rumors circulating in the public—purely unfounded.

Finally, he added, "Since the items have most likely entered the city and haven't been sold or melted down, the rest is fine, but those few eye-catching large-sized ritual objects are not easy to hide."

This humble servant suggests that the Shuntian Prefecture take the lead in applying for a city-wide search, focusing on areas where unfamiliar men had gathered before the Mid-Autumn Festival, especially those places where there were conditions for hiding stolen goods!

Then the people from the Imperial City Guard and the Shuntian Prefecture started arguing about who should take the lead in applying for the large-scale search.

At the end of the year, it is a time when officials from other places and powerful figures in the capital have close ties. Moreover, this year is particularly special, with the fate of the nation hanging in the balance and undercurrents surging beneath the surface.

If a city-wide search were conducted at this time, who knows how many secrets would be exposed? Neither Shuntian Prefecture nor the Imperial City Guard wanted to be the first to do so.

Although Jia Lian had already guessed that this impromptu case discussion meeting would not yield any significant progress.

But hearing this, I couldn't help but sigh inwardly. They were all masters of shirking responsibility, always trying to shift the main blame onto the other party.

Of course, this case is indeed bizarre.

Take those large ceremonial objects for example. They are mostly cast in bronze and were custom-made for the Prince of Nan'an's residence. They can't be sold without being melted down, but they won't be worth much money even if they are melted down.

The costs and risks of moving them from the underground palace are completely disproportionate to the potential benefits.

Normally, it would be more worthwhile to go to other tombs and plunder these large ritual objects than to go through the trouble of moving them.

Just as Jia Lian was pondering the case, the debate about the city-wide manhunt had already been suppressed by Qiu Jing and Liu Bangchang.

Meanwhile, the "observers" sent by the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Rites also stepped forward and made some frivolous remarks—they were not there to investigate the case, but to be responsible for the subsequent restoration of the underground palace and to preside over the funeral again.

Finally, Qiu Jing looked around and asked loudly, "Besides this, do any of you gentlemen have any other clues or suggestions?"

Seeing that everyone remained silent, Jia Lian stood up and said, "I have some immature ideas that I hope will inspire others to share them."

Although he didn't find any major clues, since others found even fewer, it was still necessary for him to step forward and show them.

Upon seeing that it was Second Master Lian who had come forward, Qiu Jing's expression immediately brightened, and he smiled, saying, "I was just about to hear Captain Jia's insightful opinion."

"I wouldn't presume to call it a brilliant insight."

Jia Lian cupped his hands and said, "This humble official just feels that there is a rather strange detail in the autopsy report. It mentions that the prince's head was sawed off, but it seems that the instrument used was not sharp."

These tomb raiders were clearly well-prepared. The equipment they used, if not sophisticated, was certainly not of inferior quality. So why did they deliberately use a blunter tool when it came to the decapitation part?

Is there anything special about this device, or is beheading important to the thief, so a special method is needed?

Upon hearing this, Qiu Jing and Liu Bangchang quickly flipped through the autopsy report provided by the coroner and indeed found the relevant records in it.

Qiu Jing feigned excitement and said, "Excellent, excellent! As expected of Captain Jia, who was personally selected by His Majesty to join the Imperial City Guard, he was able to unravel such a suspicious point."

Then, he said to Liu Bangchang, "I suggest another autopsy to confirm the general condition of the murder weapon, and to thoroughly investigate along the lead provided by Commandant Jia!"

Liu Bangchang looked at Jia Lian and nodded, saying, "That's how it should be."

Hehe~

This is simply a case of people carrying each other on a sedan chair.

This clue, while novel, is not particularly helpful in solving the case. After all, even the best coroner can only roughly determine the style of the murder weapon.

If even the custom-made bronze ritual vessels cannot be found, what great use is another vague murder weapon?

…………

After the meeting.

Qiu Jing and Liu Bangchang then kept Jia Lian behind to ask him for his opinion on the "citywide search".

Jia Lian was unwilling to get involved in this matter and immediately declined, saying, "With the New Year approaching, we do need to consider the impact, but it would also be inappropriate to delay the capture of the wanted criminal. As a newcomer to officialdom, I find it difficult to make a decision. You two gentlemen are experienced and surely have something to teach me."

"This is indeed a difficult matter."

Qiu Jing nodded, then hesitated and said, "I wonder if the Prince of Nan'an's mansion is willing to step in? If it's the aggrieved party who made the request, the complaints will probably be less."

Jia Lian then realized that they didn't want to shift the blame to him, but rather hoped that he would negotiate with the Prince of Nan'an's mansion.

If we use Consort Li's matter as a bargaining chip, then this matter is not impossible to discuss.

But why would Jia Lian risk his life for someone else?

He immediately shook his head and said, "I'm afraid we'll make things worse and the Dowager Princess and the Marquis of Nan'an will think we're shirking responsibility and pass the buck, and then they'll report us directly..."

"Of course we can't be so straightforward."

Qiu Jing interrupted, saying, "Lord Liu and I have heard that the Prince's Mansion is currently troubled by the matter of burying Consort Li. If the Prince's Mansion is willing to cooperate, we can naturally help to take care of Consort Li's funeral arrangements."

Tsk~

As expected, everyone wasn't stupid; they all sensed something was amiss with Consort Li's sudden death, but they had kept it hidden and hadn't revealed it.

Second Master even suspected that Eunuch Dai had initially asked him to assist in the case so that he could act as a firewall to prevent the truth from being accidentally revealed.

It's estimated that Qiu Jing was under too much pressure as a new official, which is why he had to bite the bullet and bring up Consort Li.

Jia Lian glanced at Liu Bangchang again, and seeing that he nodded slightly to him, he replied, "In that case, Jia Lian will reluctantly make another trip. If it is not possible, please do not blame me, gentlemen."

Now, Qiu Jing and Liu Bangchang want to use Consort Li's death as a bargaining chip in their exchange of interests. He is just acting as a middleman to relay the message, and the matter can be handled naturally.