“Head Jailer, you are sharp indeed. Zhan admires your insight.”
Zhan Zhao had stood at the doorway for a long time, naturally overhearing everything Wang Chen had said. He did not specify how to deal with the master and servant, only instructing attentively:
“I will have someone look into their identities carefully. Head Jailer, just make sure to keep a close eye on them for now. Provide them with standard meals and rations according to your usual rules. If anything happens, feel free to come find me. Once I have clarified their identities, we will decide on our next move.”
“Hehehe, we are not going to go looking for trouble for ourselves. Besides, who knows how many high-ranking officials have been locked up in this jail? I have seen five or six Ministers of Revenue and Ministers of Personnel with my own eyes. What does a relative of an official from out of town count for?”
The head jailer merely chuckled, making no mention of their drinking earlier. “When the people from the Demon Suppression Monastery delivered them earlier, it was almost as if they anticipated your arrival, Guard Zhan. They said that if you wish to know what crime these two committed, you might as well question them yourself first, then meet at Lady Li's Tea House on the front street for a chat.”
What was the Demon Suppression Division up to?
Delivering a scholar under the cover of darkness, and then inviting him to a tea house in the dead of night?
Could it really be just for tea?
Zhan Zhao found it somewhat baffling, but having received orders from Lord Bao, he naturally had to investigate everything thoroughly before reporting back.
Thus, he immediately instructed his men to check the cases reported from the Northwest Circuit in recent days. He also told the head jailer not to reveal his identity to the two prisoners before going to meet Wang Chen and his servant.
The moment Wang Chen saw Zhan Zhao wearing a bright red official uniform, he guessed that the man's identity was extraordinary. He hurriedly repeated his earlier speech:
“Your Honor, please see clearly! My old servant and I were captured by a wicked woman, forced and dragged all the way from Dingyuan to this place. I beg you, sir, inform the magistrate of your prefecture quickly and release us!”
Zhan Zhao feigned deep astonishment and hurriedly said:
“So that is how it is? It seems the Demon Suppression Division made a blunder. Who could be so bold as to kidnap victims, slander innocent people, and throw you both into a dungeon as criminals?”
Wang Chen and Manager Wang exchanged a glance, both secretly delighted.
They had assumed Nan Zhi had already disclosed the whole truth, which was why they were planning to send a letter home for help, hoping to pull some strings to wriggle out of the case.
Who knew she had not said a word!
“Your Honor, please see clearly! That wicked woman is an evil agent of the Demon Suppression Division named Nan Zhi! She comes from the same town of Dingyuan as I do. Later, through who knows what dark means, she joined the Demon Suppression Division, transforming from a butcher’s daughter into an arrest officer! Relying on her meager skills and dark sorcery, she played the tyrant in Dingyuan, bullying men, violating women, looting, and burning. She is truly capable of any evil!”
A look of profound grief washed over Wang Chen’s face as he exaggeratedly slandered Nan Zhi’s deeds:
“My poor father gave that wicked woman a vast sum of silver just to protect our family. Yet who could have thought that greedy woman would grow even more avaricious? She actually made the outrageous demand to steal my family’s secret recipe for 'Immortal Brew'!”
At these words, gasps echoed through the dungeon.
—"Immortal Brew" was prized beyond a hundred gold pieces. Half a month ago, for unknown reasons, the supply on the market had become scarcer than ever, with a jar of top-grade Immortal Brew fetching as much as ten strings of cash.
It was hardly surprising that such a lucrative business would attract greedy eyes.
Inwardly, Wang Chen was overjoyed, but the grief on his face grew ever more convincing:
“That wicked monster first foolishly trusted the words of an evil ghost and harmed my father to death, then set her sights on my family’s modest estate. Fearing that the two of us would leak word, she abducted us by force to silence us forever! Had I not been clever enough to claim I had a large sum of money stored in a Bianjing bank, she would have ended my life on the spot! Otherwise, I would not have survived to see this day! My poor father lived a pure and charitable life, only to meet such an end. It fills me with hatred that I have not even been able to observe filial mourning or weep at his altar, forced instead to deal with this monster for so long! Alas! How hateful! Your Honor, you must report the truth to Lord Bao and restore justice to my Wang family!”
“Is that truly so?”
Zhan Zhao knitted his brows, feigning a comforting manner. “Brother Wang, do not worry. If this is true, Lord Bao will certainly try the case with absolute strictness and let no villain escape. Wait here while I go find that wicked woman and bring her back to confront you—”
“Why must we confront her face to face?!”
Wang Chen was startled first, then hurriedly clutched the cell door and blurted out:
“As a demon suppressor, Nan Zhi associates with evil ghosts and demons! Do not assume she is a good person just because she killed that trafficker! I saw it with my own eyes on the boat—after killing the trafficker, she secretly picked up a demon from the ground and hid it in her sleeve! Clearly, she intends to command monsters to harm people! A practitioner of such dark paths who colludes with demonic spirits should be executed by anyone and everyone!”
Zhan Zhao’s eyes darkened slightly. He offered a few offhand responses, but shook his head as he turned away.
How on earth had a person like this passed the civil examinations to become a scholar?
Leaving aside the countless plot holes in his story, just two points stood out: First, if Nan Zhi were truly so ruthless, why did she not kill them to eliminate future trouble, choosing instead to send them to Kaifeng Prefecture? Was she trying to walk into a trap herself?
Second, if she had only spared them out of greed for money, why bring along a meddlesome old servant? Sparing only Wang Chen would have been far less conspicuous.
Zhan Zhao exchanged a glance with the head jailer, then strode out of Kaifeng Prefecture.
...
By now, the moon hung above the willow treetops, and as darkness deepened, dots of lantern light bloomed across the streets of Bianjing.
Some tea houses and taverns even placed large bronze mirrors behind lanterns at their entrances, illuminating the market street as brightly as day.
Nan Zhi sat on the second floor of the tea house looking down, with only an unopened jar of "Immortal Brew" and a complimentary plate of candied fruit beside her hand.
—Heaven knew prices in Bianjing were absurdly steep; even the cheapest cup of perilla water cost fifteen copper coins.
Shamefully light in the purse, she had no choice but to stay shameless and wait by the window.
The street below was brightly lit and bustling with life:
Fair-complexioned men set up stalls selling sugar figures, women with headscarves called out selling fried dough along the street, vendors shouldering shoulder poles peddling perilla water greeted customers with warm smiles, and storytellers in wine shops held forth with boundless eloquence. Fortune-telling, haircutting, flower-selling, facial threading, pedicure services, and Guanpu games of chance lined the roadside—it was countless times more prosperous than Dingyuan.
—Word had it that two streets further east, people were competing in wrestling matches, attracting huge crowds of spectators so dense that latecomers could not even squeeze in.
Below the tea house, street performers earning a living demonstrated their arts with earnest devotion—balancing massive pots on their heads, swallowing swords, spitting fire, climbing a "mountain of knives," and walking through a "sea of fire"—drawing waves of cheers, each louder than the last.
Zhan Zhao’s bright red official robe stood out strikingly amidst the crowd.
Nan Zhi rested her chin on her hand and waved to him from afar.
Before long, a tea house waiter carried up two fresh cups of tea, along with two plates of sweet snacks and pastries.
One plate held seasonal fruits, while the other held soft, delicately shaped tea sweets with what appeared to be glutinous rice skins and red bean fillings, looking pleasantly sweet.
Rate on N.U.
