At this time, a soft movement sounded outside the doorway. “Your Highness.”
Lin Bozhou let You Jin assist him and went to sit outside the door. You Jin’s voice was soft.
“Your Highness, this servant has asked someone to invite Zhenren Li of the Da Gao Xuan Temple. When can he exorcise the evil spirits for Master?”
Lin Bozhou lowered his eyelashes, having some headaches.
The word “zhizi” that Meng Huan said came to his mind again.
The Great Zong had been in power for more than two hundred years. The Zhizi’s residence had faded away for decades, with weeds flourishing inside the mansion, and it had been sold to officials for use as a government office. Even the folk story books didn’t write about the zhizi anymore, so how could Meng Huan suddenly mention the word ‘zhizi’?
You Jin was full of worry. “Master is kind-hearted and can’t see these beatings and killings. At that time, he was really frightened, and that little face was white. Even this old servant was so frightened that his legs lost strength, but didn’t know what happened to Master that he suddenly ran towards the alley.”
Lin Bozhou gestured for him to go on.
“Hey, who would expect that he really picked up a human head?! Master yelled that he saw the face of the murderer, and he has to go to the magistrate’s office as a witness tomorrow!”
You Jin cautiously looked at Lin Bozhou. “Your Highness, this servant heard a story earlier.”
Lin Bozhou: “Speak.”
“Some people have nowhere to redress their grievances after dying tragically and will attach themselves to the living, finding the murderer and identifying the cause of death through the living.” You Jin looked sad. “This servant thinks our master is most probably possessed by the ghost of the wrongful death!”
“……”
Although Lin Bozhou could not see, he could feel his line of sight turn to You Jin’s head.
Destiny and supernatural beings were two topics that couldn’t be circumvented.
Lin Bozhou paused and suddenly remembered, “Who is An Chui?”
You Jin hurriedly said, “We went to the Lu residence to look for someone this afternoon. In the middle of the heat, we went to the temple to drink tea. But unexpectedly, we met the young master of Elder Cui’s residence and a playmate beside him.”
“Cui Han?”
You Jin shook his head. “No. It was the eldest young master, Cui Lang. He also said he wanted to play chess with Your Highness again and asked Master to introduce him.”
There was a moment of silence.
Lin Bozhou said softly, “Oh, so it’s him.”
The Go genius that Emperor Xuan He called into the palace. The second person to win against Master Kong Jie in ten years. That day, Lin Bozhou didn’t hear the gossip and only thought that this gentleman played chess well. Unexpectedly, it was the eldest young master of the Cui residence.
You Jin continued, “An Chui is the name of his playmate. His character is too wild, and he does not regard our master. At that time, he almost fought with us. This old servant thinks that maybe Master was scared by him, and later scared by the corpse again, which let the wrongfully dead ghost attach to him.”
Lin Bozhou looked sideways, his gaze in his direction.
He closed the lid of the teacup. “Go find out who this An Chui is.”
You Jin let out a “Hey!” After that, he said, “That Zhenren Li of the Da Gao Xuan Temple–”
Lin Bozhou raised his hand. “Don’t look for it.”
“…… Yes.”
After the voice beside him retreated, Lin Bozhou returned to the bed in the dark. Then he sat on the bed with his senses, lifted the quilt, and laid down.
Meng Huan fumbled for a while, seeming to be subconsciously looking for him in his sleep. He held Meng Huan’s hand tightly, and the young man was still and obediently rested his head in his arms.
–
The yamen* of the capital administrative.
*Yamen: the administrative office or residence of a local bureaucrat in ancient China.
The capital administrative’s local magistrate was a slightly fat white-faced man sitting sleepily in the yamen. He received a report yesterday that an innkeeper had his head cut off by a drunken customer, a bloody scene. However, it was too late yesterday, so the Yamen runner* told them to return tomorrow to redress their grievances, and the case was delayed until this morning.
*Yamen runner: an occupation that served for yamen, the law enforcement department in ancient China. They worked as the lowest class in the government department, making them a bridge between the common people and the government.
The local magistrate yawned and was not in high spirits.
There were always so many cases of drunken customers killing the restaurant owner every year because drunkness caused people to become impulsive, and impulsive people were prone to commit crimes, which was not uncommon.
The local magistrate asked his subordinate, “Since the murder last night, has anyone come to give prior notice?”
The words “give prior notice” meant that the influential officials of the capital came to hint something at them. This was the capital’s administrative office, the capital city! There were officials everywhere! They were most afraid to handle the case with someone behind it. If they did not handle the case properly and offended someone, that person would trip them up in their future career, so they handled the case smoothly and evasively. Generally, they had to see if there was any authorization from the influential officials.
The subordinate said, “I don’t see any identity background, and no one came to give prior notice. It’s only an innkeeper.”
The local magistrate was much more relaxed. “Mm, then send out the people. Summon the plaintiff, relatives of the deceased, and witnesses.”
