Chapter 59 - 2#

“Are you all right?”

The voices of the two rang out almost simultaneously, and Jingzhe almost couldn’t distinguish who asked first.

“I went to the Imperial Guards Office, just to get medicine,” Jingzhe replied to the first question first, “I’m fine, I happened to run into Commander Wei, and the matter has been resolved.”

Upon hearing that the people from the Office of Punishment had also gone to find Jiang Jinming, Jingzhe took a deep breath, handed the medicine packet to Gusheng, and went to the outside of the Manager’s door.

…Then he got a good scolding from Jiang Jinming.

Jiang Jinming was usually very gentle with Jingzhe, but this was the first time he had scolded someone so severely that they couldn’t even lift their head.

After Jiang Jinming vented the anger in his heart, he then drank a cup of tea in one gulp and said coldly, “What exactly happened?”

Jingzhe pursed his lips: “I wonder if I can ask the Manager to send someone to look for Xinsheng’s whereabouts first?”

Jiang Jinming was slightly stunned, and then anger appeared on his face.

Clearly, he had understood Jingzhe’s hint.

He called a young eunuch and asked him to go and call Xinsheng.

After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, the young eunuch came back and said timidly: “Manager, this servant couldn’t find Xinsheng anywhere. The people in the same room as him said that since he got up in the morning, they haven’t seen him again.”

Jiang Jinming was so angry that he smashed the tea cup.

“Damn it, it was actually this bastard!”

When the Office of Punishment came to arrest people, the words they said to Jiang Jinming also had the meaning of threatening him, otherwise why would they mention “bribing superiors”?

It was just to manipulate Jiang Jinming so that he wouldn’t interfere in this matter.

That fellow Xinsheng, when he reported Jingzhe, he even held a grudge against Jiang Jinming as well.

Jiang Jinming was so angry that his face looked ugly. He walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, only feeling that Xinsheng was truly ungrateful.

Had he not given Xinsheng a chance?

Jingzhe had been away at Shangyu Garden for so long, and Jiang Jinming had transferred Xinsheng over. If he had been sensible and really had skills, why would Jiang Jinming have replaced him immediately after Jingzhe came back?

Wasn’t it because he was incompetent?

Although he could indeed read and write, his reading was only half-baked, and his writing was crooked and weak.

Compared to the previous Yunkui, he was indeed better, but Xinsheng wasn’t Yunkui, so Jiang Jinming naturally wouldn’t tolerate him.

If it was just that, it would have been fine.

Every time Jiang Jinming took Xinsheng out, he mostly couldn’t even lift his head and couldn’t hold the scene.

Jingzhe didn’t like to talk, but all the attendants around the Managers had a good relationship with him. That Liao Jiang even considered him a friend, and even Manager Jiang had a good attitude towards Jingzhe.

Jiang Jinming had long been used to Jingzhe, who did things quickly and well.

Why give up the near for the far, and the good for the bad?

Xinsheng only saw that others treated Jingzhe well, but never thought about the fact that it was what Jingzhe deserved, and how he himself performed.

Jiang Jinming was so angry that his chest hurt, and he held onto the table to sit down.

Jingzhe was afraid that he would get sick from anger, so he quickly stepped forward to support him.

Jiang Jinming waved his hand and sighed, “This matter can’t be blamed on you either. It was me who shouldn’t have given him false hope in the first place, which instead caused trouble.”

If Jiang Jinming hadn’t given him this opportunity in the first place, no matter how gloomy and repressed Xinsheng was, perhaps he wouldn’t have been so jealous of Jingzhe, and even done such a thing as framing him.

Jiang Jinming controlled the entire Department of Palatial Affairs, and he naturally knew very well who frequented the place.

People from the Miscellaneous Affairs Department were close to Jingzhe, and people from the Imperial Kitchen came often. Jingzhe indeed had quite a few friends.

Plus… that Imperial Guard named Rong Jiu…

Jiang Jinming had investigated and found that there was indeed such a person in front of the Emperor, and he was quite valued by Wei Haidong.

This was probably the reason why Wei Haidong casually helped Jingzhe today.

Jiang Jinming was in a particularly bad mood and waved for Jingzhe to leave with the young eunuch, not even letting anyone clean up the shards.

The young eunuch had just been frightened, and when he went out, he was still a little terrified.

Jingzhe comforted: “Manager Jiang wasn’t losing his temper at you, don’t take it to heart.”

The young eunuch had heard a bit in the room just now and said blankly: “Jingzhe, was it that Xinsheng who falsely accused you?”

Jingzhe paused slightly: “There is no evidence yet, so we can’t say that.”

But people living in this palace more or less had to have the ability to understand the implications. The young eunuch’s face turned pale after hearing Jingzhe’s words.

Jingzhe just told him to be cautious in his words and deeds, and let him go back.

However, even if the young eunuch didn’t say anything, the visit from the Office of Punishment, Jingzhe’s return, and Xinsheng’s disappearance all happened on the same day.

Plus, when the Office of Punishment came, Jiang Jinming was afraid something would happen, so the door was open, and people heard what happened.

There is no shortage of smart people in the palace; stupid people die early.

Jingzhe was fine and came back smoothly, but there was no news of Xinsheng anymore. Coupled with Xinsheng’s usual jealous attitude towards Jingzhe, once guessed, it would inevitably be linked to him.

Jingzhe didn’t say much to outsiders, no matter how they asked.

In private, when Shi’en and the others came to ask, Jingzhe told them roughly what happened today.

Shi’en was extremely angry: “Does this person have nothing better to do? Thinking about these petty gains all day long, doesn’t he see if he’s worthy?”

Huiping said in a deep voice: “The most important thing now is, why was the Office of Punishment persuaded to investigate?”

The Office of Punishment couldn’t have rashly believed and come to investigate Jingzhe just because of a sentence from Xinsheng, unless he had evidence in his hand that could convince the Office of Punishment.

Gusheng suddenly looked at Jingzhe: “Did you lose anything?”

Jingzhe: “Important things were definitely not lost. But I haven’t checked carefully during the days I wasn’t in the room.”

Huiping frowned: “Could it be a secret break-in?”

When he was in the room, he didn’t feel anything at all.

Jingzhe shook his head: “There’s no reason to guard against thieves every day. If he really stole something, there’s nothing we can do.”

Jingzhe had a lot of things. Besides what Rong Jiu gave him, there were also things from Qianming Palace. The Department of Palatial Affairs certainly couldn’t open a storeroom specifically for him, so everything had to be stuffed into his own room, packed to the brim.

With so many things, if one or two were lost, unless specifically checked, there was simply no way to start.

…

Sun Shaotao returned to the Office of Punishment with a smile.

This Manager often smiled, and his smile was very amiable, making people relax unknowingly.

“Go bring Xinsheng, and the few people who went out today, all here.”

Sun Shaotao wiped the corner of his mouth with his thumb and said calmly.

As soon as this action was made, the voices of the people following behind Sun Shaotao became even lower, “This servant will go right away.”

This terrifying Office of Punishment looked exactly the same as any other place from the outside. The rare warm winter sunlight rolled in from the outside, clustering on the ground like bright flowers.

Sun Shaotao took a sip of hot tea and raised his eyebrows to look at the person brought in.

He waved his hand, and the others stood to the side, leaving only a strange young eunuch standing in the middle.

There was a mole on his face, somewhat obvious.

Sun Shaotao smiled at him: “You are called, Xinsheng?”

“Exactly, this servant pays respects to Manager Sun.”

Sun Shaotao nodded with satisfaction, “This person, looks not bad.”

Just as Xinsheng was about to show an apologetic smile on his face, he heard Sun Shaotao say with a smile: “You came to the Office of Punishment to report your fellow second-rank eunuch in the same department, Jingzhe, right?”

“Exactly.”

“Where is the evidence?”

“Here.” Xinsheng carefully took out a jade bottle from his bosom and placed it in his hand, “Please take a look, Manager Sun. This is a miraculous medicine only available before the Emperor.”

Sun Shaotao ordered someone to bring it over. The feeling of this thing in his hand was neither cold nor cool, very comfortable. The texture of the jade itself was rare, not to mention its price, which was indeed extraordinary.

Most importantly, Xinsheng did get one point right.

Such a jade bottle style was only available before the Emperor.

Only the imperial medicine exclusively used by the Emperor would look like this.

Sun Shaotao was calculating in his heart, but the smile on his face remained, “However, our house remembers that the Emperor once rewarded Jingzhe. Maybe these things were rewarded at that time?”

Xinsheng’s face twisted, and he said with slight jealousy: “If it were other things, it might be possible, but this thing appeared in his hands long before Jingzhe was rewarded.”

After his voice fell, he thought of something and spoke urgently.

“It is impossible for Jingzhe to obtain things from before the Emperor, but he has a large number of jade bottles in his hand. This must be someone with a close relationship with the Emperor who has been secretly giving them to him.”

Even long before Jiang Jinming used him, he had been watching Jingzhe openly and secretly.

This actually made some sense.

“Men, take Xinsheng down and interrogate him properly. Check if he has any other matters on him, and squeeze out the person behind the scenes for me.”

Sun Shaotao ordered casually.

As for doing it himself?

He would like to, but there were more important things right now.

The joy on Xinsheng’s face froze, and he looked at Sun Shaotao in panic: “Manager, this, what is going on? I have said everything, you shouldn’t arrest Jingzhe, why…”

“Jingzhe’s involvement in this matter is an accident.” When Sun Shaotao mentioned Jingzhe, it was like mentioning a familiar person, “As for you, how you found a loophole to get in, naturally needs to be interrogated properly.”

Xinsheng was held down by the shoulders, but still struggled desperately.

“No, impossible, you are all shielding him, why, I obviously said everything, these are all Jingzhe’s problems, why don’t you believe it!”

Xinsheng was dragged out, but his words left behind still echoed in the room.

Sun Shaotao placed the jade bottle on the table and calmly scanned the others.

Then, his smile deepened.

“Next, it’s your turn to tell our house, how come our house went out for a while, and when came back, it was as if the sky had almost changed.” His voice was gentle, without a trace of anger, “Our house was almost ruined by you brats.”

With every sentence from Sun Shaotao, the people below trembled uncontrollably.

For Sun Shaotao to reach his current position, his methods were only much more cruel than his seemingly genial appearance.

One person braced himself and said: “It was not that this servant acted rashly. Among the documents left on the Manager’s table, there was indeed one, an order to arrest Jingzhe.”

They recognized the Manager’s handwriting and also knew the Manager’s seal.

Such a thing, placed in the documents that needed to be processed, would naturally be executed by them.

Only at this moment did Sun Shaotao’s expression change slightly.

“Where is the document?”

Someone dug it out from their bosom, stepped forward two steps, and bowed to hand it to Sun Shaotao.

Sun Shaotao opened it and looked, finding that the writing on it was indeed his own handwriting, and the seal stamped on it was indeed his private seal.

If this thing were taken out, even Sun Shaotao couldn’t prove that it wasn’t written by himself.

But he knew very well that he had never given such an order.

Who could be touched and who couldn’t, there was naturally a scale in the Office of Punishment.

There was no so-called fairness here.

Although the Office of Punishment bore the responsibility of judging punishments, in the end, if everything could really be done fairly and justly, the Office of Punishment would have long changed hands.

For someone like Jingzhe, who had inextricably linked relationships with the Imperial Guards Office, unless he committed a major crime, the Office of Punishment wouldn’t risk confronting the Imperial Guards Office for just a small fault.

That Rong Jiu…

Sun Shaotao’s expression fell slightly silent. Walking before the Emperor, in this palace, one would more or less hear of this person.

It’s just that this person was very mysterious. Although he worked by Wei Haidong’s side, very few people had seen him or looked at him.

But that didn’t mean Sun Shaotao dared to offend rashly.

And looking at Wei Haidong’s protection, it was definitely not out of liking for Jingzhe, but that Rong Jiu.

Sun Shaotao would be crazy to go against Wei Haidong.

He clenched the document in his hand. Which person framed him? Did they want to use his hand to strike at Rong Jiu? Or were there other problems in this that he hadn’t detected?

The thought of this made Sun Shaotao’s head hurt.

…

Inside Qianming Palace, Emperor Jingyuan was changing clothes, and Ning Hongru carefully brought him a new outer robe.

A person was kneeling on the ground, relaying exactly what happened today without missing a word.

Including what was going on in the Office of Punishment.

Emperor Jingyuan changed out of his court attire and put on a well-fitting everyday robe. His cold white fingers smoothed the cuffs, finally landing on the sachet at his waist.

After that person finished speaking, the palace room fell into a strange silence.

Ning Hongru said softly: “Sun Shaotao is astute, I’m afraid he will see through a little.”

However, even if he saw through it, it didn’t matter.

Sun Shaotao was used to doing things. As long as he sensed danger, he would also be the fastest to retreat.

Today was just a farce.

But it was already a scripted play, and everyone on the chessboard moved with the flow.

Emperor Jingyuan said coolly: “Has Mao Zishi arrived?”

“He is just outside the hall.”

“Then let him come in.”

…

If it weren’t for the evening, when Jingzhe suddenly saw Rong Jiu’s figure under the dusk, he would have almost forgotten what happened today.

He had almost finished dealing with the matters at hand. Originally, he came out just to run errands for Jiang Jinming.

He had just finished delivering the things and was on his way back.

It was just rare that on this dim and uninhabited palace path, besides Rong Jiu’s tall figure, there was another slouching figure following unhurriedly behind Rong Jiu.

His walking posture couldn’t compare to Rong Jiu’s steadiness, carrying a natural casualness.

He followed half a step behind Rong Jiu, which was an instinctive habit.

These two were very familiar.

This thought flashed through Jingzhe’s mind unexpectedly.

Rong Jiu stood still in front of Jingzhe and looked him over a few times: “Finished your business?”

Jingzhe: “Asking when you already know.”

He frowned slightly and asked back.

“Was Wei Haidong invited by you to save the situation?”

“It was just a coincidence. I happened to be going back and asked him to lend a hand.”