Chapter 2

Mischief By Monsters

Xu Xinnian frowned. “What do you need it for?”

‘I intend to solve this case…’ Xu Qian thought. “I want to die knowing the reason for my punishment, else I will never have peace.”

Revealing his true intentions might gain him some odd looks from Xu Xinnian—his cousin might think he had gone off his rockers.

The original Xu Qian was a pigheaded and strong-willed man.

Xu Xinnian sighed and said, “I have seen the script. I’ll tell you what I know…”

The past few days had been a rush for Xu Xinnian as he went around the city asking for assistance. The crime was too severe for anyone to be willing to help. After a series of rejections, Xu Xinnian changed tactics and decided to find out where the tax money could have gone.

With the help of the household staff and his relationship with the academy, Xu Xinnian managed to bribe an official in Jingzhao City to make a copy of the case details.

He had studied the script and put his logical mind to use. He did not give up trying to solve the case of the missing tax money.

Xu Qian raised a hand to stop his cousin. “Write it down. The spoken words hold no meaning.”

The details of the case laid in the script—they must be digested and deliberated. A verbal recount would split his attention and reduce his thinking ability.

In his past life, Xu Qian was known for his logical reasoning—he stood out among his peers for the exact reason.

A week ago, Xu Xinnian would have ignored his cousin. The moment could be the last Xu Xinnian ever saw of Xu Qian.

Therefore, he agreed to fulfill his older cousin’s request. “A moment.”

He left in a hurried pace.

As the sound of footsteps faltered, Xu Qian leaned back against the metal bars and slid down to a sitting position. His heart was beating wildly.

He was not confident to turn things around. His wish to solve the case was just a wish after all.

It was a last-ditch effort to save himself. No one could fault him for trying.

Modern day police investigations placed emphasis on three main aspects: crime scene investigation, surveillance and autopsy.

There were no deaths in this case and no surveillance in the ancient world. Being stuck in jail, Xu Qian could perform none of the above.

His last hope was the scroll which would allow him to gain some insights about the crime scene.

Xu Qian took in the host’s memories and did his best to rid himself of the negative emotions. A calm mind was essential for clear and rational thoughts.

He mumbled, “Life or death, it all depends on this…”

Half an hour passed before Xu Xinnian returned with a few sheets of fine paper. The ink was still fresh when he passed the papers to Xu Qian.

“My time is up, I’ll have to take my leave,” Xu Xinnian said. After a moment’s hesitation, he delivered his parting words. “Take care of yourself.”

Xu Qian did not respond. His attention was fully on the fresh script.

Time was of the essence—the fact was reflected by the messy handwriting. If Xu Qian had not had a few years of private study lessons, he would have struggled to decipher the ghoulish script.

“The importance of studying… If the host could not read, I would be doomed,” Xu Qian said with a chuckle.

The case of the missing tax money went as such:

[Three days ago, at

6.30 in the morning

, Xu Pingzhi was escorting a cargo of tax money back to the city. At 7.15 in the morning, as the group was approaching Guangnan Street, the winds picked up and startled the horses. They were on a bridge as this happened and the horses ran toward the river.

[At that moment, a deafening explosion was heard and a wave that was the

height of six men

emerged from the river. Muddy water rained from the sky.

[The soldiers assigned to the guard detail went into the river to search for the fallen cargo. A total of 1,215 silver taels were recovered while the rest were declared missing…]

There were eyewitness testimonies from passersby and the soldiers on duty.

Amidst the testimonies, Xu Qian noticed a phrase highlighted in

cinnabar

red, ‘Mischief by monsters.’

“Mischief by monsters?” Xu Qian’s eyes narrowed as his heart sank.

…

After three days of hustling, the trio who were responsible for the case of the missing tax money gathered in one of the many halls within the Jingzhao Courts.

The governor of Jingzhao City—Chen Hanguang—had a porcelain tea cup in one hand. The lid was in his other hand as he gently tapped against the mouth of the cup. The man wore a stern expression.

He was cladded in a scarlet robe with goose-patterned embroidery—a sign of a fourth-ranked court official. “The Emperor has ordered for the silvers to be found before Xu Pingzhi’s execution. Two days are all we have left, let us pick up our pace.”

Governor Chen was addressing the people in the room. There was a man dressed in a black uniform with a dark cloak draped over his shoulders. The man had a sharp nose and a pair of brown, deep set eyes. He looked to be mixed-blood, Southern Barbarian.

The other person in the room was a young woman in a yellow robe. Delicate features graced her oval face. She had flawless skin and her eyes were bright with excitement.

She held a sugarcane in her hand. A small deerskin pouch and an Eight Trigrams Feng Shui compass were tied to her waist. A pair of finely-embroidered shoes with cloud patterns peeked out underneath her skirt.

A merry band of people.

They were assisting Chen Hanguang with the case. The middle-aged man was Li Yuchun, a member of the Night Squad that was feared by all Dafeng officials.

The Night Squad was involved in investigations, captures, interrogations, military intelligence, strategy planning and more.

They were a separate entity from the ministries and the military.

The Night Squad was the Emperor’s personal intelligence squad. Their existence was akin to a guillotine that hung over every official’s neck.

Every official in Dafeng knew the phrase, ‘Those who did wrong will face the Night Squad.’

The yellow-robed woman was also someone of note—she was the disciple of the Principal Imperial Astronomer.

The middle-aged man frowned at the pile of bagasse by his feet—the handiwork of the young woman who had been chewing on sugarcane. The silver medallion on his chest glimmered as he waved his hand. The air in the room moved in response, sweeping the plant fibers to the side.

Satisfied with the results, the middle-aged man nodded faintly.

He faced Governor Chen with a grim expression. “The case is shrouded in mist. There are oddities that make me believe we’re looking at it from the wrong perspective.”

“Master Li, do explain. Time is not on our side. We should be hunting down the monster responsible instead of coming up with new theories,” Governor Chen frowned. Their analysis thus far suggested the deed was done by monsters.

In the recent years, the empire’s coffers had dwindled as disasters struck at a higher frequency. The missing silver taels amounted to a year’s worth of tax collection from a standard county.

The Emperor’s anger was justified.

It was a heavy blow to the already devastated imperial coffers.

Governor Chen had taken up the case rather unwillingly. The responsibility was a burden that disturbed his sleep and appetite.

The middle-aged man shook his head but refrained from arguing. He changed the topic. “Any progress with Xu Pingzhi?”

Governor Chen shook his head. “He’s a man of brawn, all he did was cry foul. He said he had no idea how the silver taels went missing.”

The woman in yellow said, “I read his Qi, he was not lying.”

Li Yuchun and Governor Chen nodded. Silence resumed.

As the party responsible for the tax money, Xu Pingzhi had been subjected to countless investigations and interrogations. They had looked into his social network and financial circumstances. Coupled with the Imperial Astronomers’s Qi reading, they had eliminated Xu Pingzhi as the culprit.

Of course, the silver taels were still gone. The man’s failure to perform his duty meant a death sentence was inevitable.

The middle-aged man and Governor Chen were tense.

In contrast, the young woman chewed on her sugarcane with little care in the world.

At that moment, the sound of hurried footsteps was heard. A bailiff came in carrying a small bamboo tube. In his other hand was a paper wrapping containing warm meat buns.

The bailiff handed over the bamboo tube.

The young woman did not take the offered item. Instead, she stared at the bailiff’s other hand.

The bailiff reversed the order of his delivery. The young woman happily chomped down on the meat bun before taking the bamboo tube. She pulled out the message and read it aloud.

“A

20-mile

search radius and my men found no signs of monsters in the river. No signs along the riverbank.”

Bang!

The pressure in the room reached a critical point. Governor Chen slammed his fist onto the table and roared. “Where can 150,000 silvers disappear to? It’s been three days, they should have washed up on the banks.

“What despicable monster dares to steal the silvers of the Dafeng Empire? I’ll make sure they are exterminated!”

If the silver taels were not recovered, Governor Chen would be another scapegoat. He was in the hot seat and the Emperor had little qualms about doling out punishments.

Such was the way of the courts—the climb was arduous but the fall was swift.

Li Yuchun let out a huff. “I think we have been looking at it the wrong way. It’s possible monsters had nothing to do with this.”

Governor Chen kept a lid on the anger in his chest. He turned to the middle-aged man and said, “If not monsters, then how do you explain the demonic wind? How did the silver taels disappear without a trace? What caused the huge explosion that destroyed the riverbanks?”