BVAHEDLA[W Chapter 57

Chapter 57: Ancient Times 31: Promotion and Wealth? Death to the Husband! / “Heh heh…

The three people inside the house, hearing the commotion outside, all subconsciously raised their heads to look.

The two sides outside were locked in a stalemate, and during her struggle, Xiao Chun accidentally reopened the previously tightly closed door. Only then did Chu Li-fei clearly see the attire of the other group of people. They were clearly from the yamen (government office).

Qian Ming is here?

Just as Chu Li-fei was thinking this, a familiar figure entered his view.

It was Qian Ming.

He waved his hand, signaling his subordinates to take Xiao Chun away.

Xiao Chun didn’t understand. She was about to argue, but one of Qian Ming’s subordinates was quick-witted and found a strip of cloth from somewhere and stuffed it into her mouth, preventing her from saying a word, only allowing her to emit meaningless “wu wu” sounds.

As she was being taken away, her eyes widened, filled with fear and resentment. Her gaze pierced through Chu Li-fei and the others, fixating on Lu Ying, causing the latter to shrink back subconsciously.

The courtyard regained its tranquility.

Only then did Qian Ming hurriedly kneel down to apologize to Chu Li-fei and Lu Mo-chen.

His late arrival was indeed due to unforeseen circumstances.

Last night, he had just returned to the capital and hadn’t even had time to rest when he heard a report from his subordinate that Qi Fu had committed suicide in prison.

Qian Ming was shocked, thinking how could this be possible. Then, without regard for anything else, he rushed to the prison cell and saw, just as the subordinate had said, a corpse lying on the ground.

Qian Ming ordered someone to open the iron gate of the prison cell, walked forward and took a look himself. There was no mistake, the deceased was indeed Qi Fu.

His face was pale, his lips were noticeably purple, and his entire body had become stiff, indicating that he had been dead for some time.

“When was he discovered?” He ran his hand over Qi Fu’s body inch by inch, carefully examining and scrutinizing the cause of death.

The prison guard who had reported Qi Fu’s death, after a moment of thought, replied, “Reporting to you, sir, this humble one discovered him during a routine patrol, around Hai hour (9-11 pm).”

In order to ensure the condition of the prisoners, fixed patrols are arranged, once each in the morning and evening.

In other words, the time of Qi Fu’s death was exactly the time when he left the capital to investigate the accidental death of Lu Ying’s parents.

But not many people know about this matter…

Prince Qin, the Fourth Prince, his several confidants, and… the Minister of the Ministry of Justice – Zhang Qingji.

Is it a coincidence or deliberate?

Qian Ming narrowed his eyes tightly: “Did anyone else come here today?”

“Anyone else?” The prison guard was stunned by the question and shook his head after careful consideration, “No, no outsiders came in today.”

No outsiders…

Qian Ming quickly captured these four keywords from the prison guard’s words, repeatedly chewing on them.

Qi Fu’s condition was clearly death by poisoning, exactly like many of the corpses he had seen who had died from poison.

But here’s the problem – where did the poison come from?

You must know that before each prisoner enters the prison, there will be a special person to carefully search their body, to ensure that they will not hide any dangerous things, not even the gaps between their teeth, in order to ensure that they will not harm others and themselves.

But now, Qi Fu just died in prison.

Qian Ming had just checked Qi Fu’s body himself, and there were no traces of external injuries, and he didn’t seem to have trembled or argued with anyone before his death. It really looked like suicide.

He exhaled a breath of stale air, stood up, moved his numb legs, and then ordered the prison guard standing behind him to call the coroner.

This was also to ensure that no details were missed, after all, he was not a professional coroner.

Qian Ming then moved his stiff neck and yawned.

Just then, a cool breeze brushed across Qian Ming’s face, seemingly blowing away his drowsiness.

Qian Ming turned his head and looked over.

A beam of light slanting moonlight shot in through the small window, and was then cut off by the iron bars, dividing it into three small strands. Between the interlaced light and shadows, tiny dust particles continued to float in the air.

And at the end of the light and shadow, was the intersection of the dirty floor and the wall, and nearby was covered with a thin layer of straw mats filled with a cold and humid atmosphere.

Suddenly, Qian Ming rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

What was that just now? He didn’t see it wrong, did he?

Qian Ming stubbornly widened his eyes and looked over again. He saw a touch of white quietly blooming in the gap between the wall and the floor, which was out of tune with the surrounding environment.

Qian Ming took a closer look, and it was an unknown wild flower.

But this was already rare.

The environment in prison is dark and cold all year round, which is most unfavorable for the growth of flowers. But even so, this little white flower stubbornly broke through the soil and bloomed in the moonlight, even though it was not a precious variety, and maybe no one would even see it.

Qian Ming didn’t realize until this moment that spring seemed to have arrived.

In this chilly spring, Qian Ming’s heart was still covered with a dark cloud –

Can those who have been wronged wait for their spring? Can they wait for the day when things will turn around?

Time is running out…

Zi hour (11pm-1am) has passed, and less than a day is left…

Qian Ming lowered his head and couldn’t help but sigh.

Following his line of sight, he found that Qi Fu’s right hand was pointing at him.

No, it’s the wild flower behind him…?

The moment this thought appeared, Qian Ming was taken aback.

This was an idea that even he thought was absurd. But at this moment, a surge of heat and inexplicable faith welled up in his heart, and his subconscious was screaming madly, prompting him to believe his idea.

Is Qi Fu passing on some message?

Qian Ming crossed his arms and began to think again.

And his intuition had already told him the answer –

Spring.

Xiao Chun.

The moment this word appeared in his mind, Qian Ming felt as if he had caught a flash of inspiration, but if he was not careful, this flash of inspiration would disappear in an instant, disappearing without a trace.

He rushed out of the prison cell and ordered his men to get Xiao Chun’s household registration file and the case files of several cases back for him.

But it was late at night, and there was no one in the Ministry of Revenue except for a few people on duty who could be in charge.

Qian Ming didn’t sit idle. He reorganized the clues he already knew and didn’t close his eyes all night until dawn, when he finally waited for Xiao Chun’s household registration file.

It was written on it that she was originally from Jinling, born in an ordinary farmer’s family. The farmer’s family couldn’t make a living, so they sold her to a human trafficker. After several twists and turns, she finally came to Qi’s residence.

It didn’t seem to be anything wrong.

But it was precisely because it was too perfect that it aroused Qian Ming’s suspicion even more.

Did an ordinary family born in a farmer’s family need to write in such detail? The date of birth and death, when she was sold to the human trafficker, and all the experiences before entering Qi’s residence, were written on a thin piece of paper, all complete.

It was as if it was deliberately written, as if to show someone.

Moreover, if he remembered correctly…

Qian Ming touched his chin, frowned, and his eyes gradually solidified.

The Empress’s mother’s family seemed to be from Jinling.

If this was a coincidence, it would be too coincidental.

At this time, the servant came to deliver a message, it was the coroner’s test results.

Qi Fu’s death was indeed due to poisoning, and there were no other traces on his body, so it could basically be determined as suicide.

It was the same as Qian Ming’s speculation.

He waved his hand to signal the servant to step back.

The exhaustion of staying up all night and the increasing pressure suddenly flooded in like a tide, pressing Qian Ming so hard that he could barely breathe.

Qi Fu committed suicide, whether there were any hidden secrets behind it, his death was an indisputable fact. Qian Ming would be guilty of improper supervision. And how would he explain Qi Fu’s death to Chu Li-fei and Lu Mo-chen?

“Sigh.”

This was already the unknown number of sighs Qian Ming had sighed today. In his impression, he seemed to have been sighing all day today.

He shook his head and forced himself to concentrate, turning his attention back to the case.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned, and the sound of footsteps outside disrupted his thoughts again.

It was Zhang Qingji.

Seeing Qian Ming’s unkempt appearance and the large area of ​​darkness under his eyes, he cast a provocative look at Qian Ming.

As soon as Qian Ming raised his head, he accurately received this unfriendly smile through the open window and inexplicably felt angry.

He made a move that he would never have done in his ordinary days.

He strode forward, walked all the way to Zhang Qingji, raised his eyebrows, and grabbed Zhang Qingji’s collar.

Perhaps it was the pressure of staying up all night that he had nowhere to release that was ignited at the moment when he saw Zhang Qingji’s provocation. The feeling of his soul floating in the sky made Qian Ming temporarily forget the etiquette and directly roared at Zhang Qingji: “Qi Fu’s death – did you do it!”

Zhang Qingji obviously didn’t expect Qian Ming to make such an outrageous move. He was obviously taken aback. Even after the prison guard pulled Qian Ming away, he still looked shocked.

Zhang Qingji patted the non-existent dust on his clothes and straightened his clothes. Only then did he look at Qian Ming again and snorted coldly: “If I were you, I wouldn’t waste time on this kind of place.”

“What? Now that Master Qian is handling cases, he doesn’t pay attention to evidence? He wants to convict people with empty words? It’s really ridiculous! Do you want me to report you to His Majesty and let you relearn how to handle cases! So as not to ruin the reputation of our Ministry of Justice, people will laugh their heads off if this spreads out.”

Qian Ming regained consciousness like a person waking up from a hangover, and his face turned red with anger.

“But…” Zhang Qingji’s tone changed, his eyes were sinister, like a poisonous snake tightly EntangledQian Ming: “Maybe Master Qian won’t be able to wait for this day.”

“Such a simple case requires so many days of investigation, has Master Qian found anything? I’m afraid His Majesty will be tired of you first, and it won’t be my turn to take action.”

“Heh heh heh heh heh!”

Seeing Qian Ming stunned, Zhang Qingji enjoyed it before leaving contentedly. Before leaving, he did not forget to leave a “tsk” sound, as if he had encountered something dirty.

And Qian Ming was stunned, not for anything else. It was Zhang Qingji’s words that gave him a lot of inspiration.

Conviction…

Isn’t there already a crime now?

This time he might really have to thank Zhang Qingji. If it weren’t for him, he really wouldn’t have been able to do anything about Xiao Chun for a while.

Returning to the house, Qian Ming picked up his pen and wrote quickly on the paper.

After a little washing and tidying up, this delayed the time.

And standing behind them, Lu Ying, who had been silent, suddenly lit up her eyes after hearing what they said, and her tone seemed a little more cheerful: “Are you saying that Qi Fu is dead?”