Chapter 348: Rice Grain Tattoo
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The palace maid was terrified. She said in fear, “Princess, you have to get His Majesty’s permission to leave the palace. Otherwise, you will be punished by the palace rules!”
Princess Changle thought nothing of it. “Brother dotes on me so much. He won’t punish me. Let’s go.”
The palace maid didn’t listen. The emperor would not punish the princess, but he would definitely punish her. If she allowed the princess to leave the palace, she might be beaten to death.
She was so frightened that she knelt down and said with a sobbing tone, “Princess, please don’t leave the palace. It’s dangerous outside.”
Princess Changle’s patience ran out. She shouted, “Are you leaving or not?”
The palace maid begged, “Princess, let’s ask His Majesty first and wait for his approval before leaving the palace, okay?”
Princess Changle was immediately displeased. “Are you serving the emperor or me?”
The palace maid quickly said, “I’m your servant.”
However, because of the princess’s unrestrained behavior, seven or eight palace maids had already died.
Princess Changle fiercely lifted the palace maid’s chin and threatened, “Since you are my people, then listen to my words. Otherwise, 1 won’t let you have an easy time!”
The palace maid was so afraid that her body trembled. She quickly replied, “I’ll help you get changed immediately.”
The princess changed out of her princess outfit and into the palace maid outfit. Then, she led the palace maid in the direction of the Cold Palace.
The Cold Palace was next to the palace wall, so they could get out from there.
Princess Changle knew martial arts. She held a whip in her hand. With a swing, the whip wrapped around a protruding brick on the palace wall. She pulled it, and after confirming that it was stable, she grabbed the palace maid and flew out of the wall.
The palace maid was scared to death. After landing, her legs went weak and she fell to the ground.
Seeing this, Princess Changle cursed, “Useless thing!”
The palace maid felt extremely aggrieved. She did not know martial arts, and the palace wall was so high. It was normal for her to be afraid, but the princess would never think for others. She could only endure it silently.
Princess Changle did not care about the palace maid at all. She whipped the palace maid and said, “Let’s go.”
The palace maid’s body trembled in pain. Tears immediately flowed out, but she did not dare to cry. Otherwise, she would be whipped again. She quickly got up and followed the princess.
Ministry of Justice.
A secret guard handed some letters to Tang Jinghong. “General, this is evidence that Liu Jingxian violated the law.”
Liu Jingxian was Si Yingzong’s previous superior. He took Si Yingzong’s credit, but when something happened, he let Si Yingzong take the blame.r
Tang Jinghong looked at the letter and thought to himself that he had finally gathered enough evidence after many days of investigation. “Get someone to expose him. Make sure his head falls to the ground within three days.”
The secret guard cupped his hands. “Yes, General.”
Tang Jinghong stood in front of the window and stared at a white daisy outside. After thinking for a while, he left the house and went to the room where the assistant minister of Justice was handling the case.
The assistant minister of Justice… Ren Buqing looked up at Tang Jinghong and said, “General.”
Tang Jinghong was not familiar with Ren Buqing, but after working with him for the past few days, they had become familiar with each other. “Have you found ‘Yun’?”
Ren Buqing immediately frowned, looking very worried. “No, it’s too mysterious. It’s hidden too deeply.”
Tang Jinghong asked again, “Have you investigated the anonymous sender?”
Originally, no one knew that the Minister of War was selling official positions. Someone sent a letter to the imperial censor at night before it was exposed.
The imperial censor was very pedantic and stubborn, but he was absolutely loyal to the Daling Dynasty. As soon as he saw the letter, he immediately submitted it to the emperor in court the next day.
Hence, the Minister of War was imprisoned.
Ren Buqing said, “General, the handwriting is very unfamiliar. It doesn’t match anyone in the capital. Moreover, the Minister of War refused to say anything. There’s basically no progress in the case.”
Tang Jinghong frowned and thought for a moment. “I’ll go to the prison to talk to the Minister.”
Ren Buqing quickly stood up. “General, 1’11 go with you.”
Tang Jinghong nodded and the two of them walked towards the prison.
In the prison.
The prison was dark and gloomy, filled with the smell of dampness and decay.
In a cell deep in the prison, a middle-aged man in prison clothes sat cross-legged on the hay with his eyes closed.
Suddenly, there was the sound of a key chain and the door to the prison opened.
Tang Jinghong and Ren Buqing walked in one after another.
Tang Jinghong lowered his gaze and stared at the middle-aged man for a while. He said calmly, “Minister, are you still refusing to speak?”
Shi Rongping opened his eyes, which were dazzled by the light. He quickly covered them with his palm. “General Tang, the evidence is conclusive. 1 also admit my guilt. What else do you want me to say?”
Tang Jinghong said, “As far as I know, your wife is an expert at doing business. All these years, her business has been good. 1 don’t think you will take the risk of a capital crime for just tens of thousands of taels of silver.”
Shi Rongping closed his eyes and stopped talking.
Tang Jinghong pondered for a while. “Minister, refusing to speak is not going to help either of us…”
Shi Rongping made up his mind to ignore Tang Jinghong. No matter what Tang Jinghong said, he remained silent.
Tang Jinghong frowned. What was Shi Rongping hiding?
“Minister, what does ‘Yun’ mean?”
Shi Rongping remained silent, but his eyeballs rolled. He clearly knew something.
Seeing he wasn’t going to get a word out of Shi Rongping, Tang Jinghong brought Ren Buqing out of the prison. They made a turn and arrived at another cell.
Fu Qingsheng, the buyer of the official position, was locked up here. He kept his mouth shut and did not say anything either.
However, Tang Jinghong was not here to ask questions. When he told Chu Qingzhi about the case yesterday, he received a hint. Now, he was here to verify it.
Tang Jinghong instructed the jailer, “Go and take off his clothes to see if there are any rice grain tattoos.”
The jailer obeyed. “Yes, General.”
When Fu Qingsheng heard Tang Jinghong’s words, he looked at him in surprise. How did he know that there were rice grain tattoos?
The surprise in his eyes did not escape Tang Jinghong’s scrutinizing gaze. Tang Jinghong was even more certain that this matter was not as simple as it seemed.
The jailer took off Fu Qingsheng’s clothes and saw a rice grain tattoo on his arm.
Tang Jinghong stared at the rice grain tattoo. It was also on the few merchants who died in Shuiyun County. It could be seen that these people were all from the same faction.
“Take him out and interrogate him about the rice grain tattoo.”
“Yes, General.”
A trace of panic flashed across Fu Qingsheng’s heart. Tang Jinghong clearly had some clues. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have known about the tattoo.. How did he know?
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