CH 128

Very early the next morning, Tang Fan went straight to the prefectural bureau and asked Magistrate Fan to invite Lin Fengyuan over. However, the one sent to pass the message on returned to Magistrate Fan, saying that Lin Fengyuan was feeling unwell, and sent someone to inform him that he was taking leave today to recuperate.

Magistrate Fan scowled immediately. “Go to the Lin home and tell him that no matter how many illnesses he’s suffering, he needs to get over here—“

Tang Fan placed a hand on him. “Do you know where Magistrate Lin lives?”

“I do!” the other quickly answered.

“Since he won’t come, I will meet him in person. Tell someone the address to have them bring us there.”

An imperial ambassador giving him an order meant that he would need to do it even if he was busy. Magistrate Fan quickly agreed, but didn’t borrow anyone else’s hands, leading Tang Fan over himself.

He, too, felt that Lin Fengyuan knew nothing of right and wrong. Your son died, and in spite of your heartbreak, when Censor Tang came to find out the truth behind it, you not only don’t work hard to cooperate with him, but fake illness in order to not get up! What’s the meaning of that?

Once at the Lin home, Magistrate Fan discovered that Lin Fengyuan wasn’t faking sick — he was actually sick.

Although he didn’t see Lin Fengyuan every single day, he was still his immediate superior required for official business, and saw him once every three days at a minimum. Following Lin Zhen’s death, Lin Fengyuan had become haggard, his face overcast the day long. Such was typical human nature. However, the one that greeted them now was not only haggard, but practically a different person.

Lin Fengyuan’s hair was mostly occupied by silver strands that had not been prominent before, his face was thin and pale, and there were dark bags under his eyes. It looked like he had aged ten years.

Tang Fan had never seen him before, so he wasn’t that shocked, but Magistrate Fan and Lu Lingxi both jumped in fright.

“When I went to meet with him, he didn’t look this old,” Lu Lingxi leaned in and whispered to Tang Fan.

Lin Fengyuan stepped forward and bowed. “This humble official is Lin Fengyuan. Greetings to you, Mister Ambassador, Mister Magistrate.”

Tang Fan helped him up. “No need for politeness, Magistrate Lin. Your complexion isn’t so good. Have you called a doctor over to look at it?”

“Thank you for your concern, Sir. This humble official merely caught windchill, it’s no big issue.”

He didn’t look to have windchill, but rather to have spent a night up while overthinking. When one’s son died, this behavior was normal — if was still able to smile, that would be off.

Tang Fan already knew that Lin Fengyuan had three sons. The eldest was the dead Lin Zhen, the second was a little younger and currently studying at Egret Isle Academy, and the youngest was around seven, still in toddler studies.

Over forty, and with three sons; even though Lin Fengyuan’s official was no roaring success, he had more than most, and there was really nothing to nitpick. Because of this, though, his family’s white cloth had not yet been taken down, vexing the mind.

Tang Fan exchanged some pleasantries, asked after his health, then said, “This official has come because of a presumptuous request.”

Lin Fengyuan just cut his speech straight off, saying bluntly, “If you’ve come to open my son’s coffin for an autopsy, please don’t ask. The dead are to rest at peace in the ground. He is already buried, so how could he be dug up again, causing him to be ill at peace in the Spring below? This humble official has lost my eldest and am grieved enough, so please have sympathy for a father’s emotions, Sir.”

Tang Fan raised a brow, somewhat unhappy with his refusing stance, but did not show so on his face, keeping his genial voice that was devoted to enticing goodwill. “Magistrate Lin, this official heard that the Lins and Shens have some grudges from the past, which is all the buzz is about outside. Is that true, or no?”

Unlike Shen Kunxiu, Lin Fengyuan did not get intensely angry at hearing this question, instead nodding. “It’s true.”

“Can you elaborate a bit on that?”

“Shen Kunxiu took first place in the county exams back in the day, but placed out in the institutional exams. Because my late father had been the head examiner, he held a grudge, and wouldn’t let it go even after becoming a Palace Honorate. He told everyone he came across that my father had dislike him and deliberately kept him off the roll, as well as that my father’s lackluster career path had been entirely caused by his lack of accumulative virtue! He did everything within his power to vilify him!”

“Was he right?”

Lin Fengyuan was indignant. “Of course not! His paper had indeed been looked upon favorably by other evaluating officials, but when it reached my father’s hands, he discovered that a word of his had violated taboo, so he scored him off the roll. He was in the right, acted according to regulations, and was not inappropriate in the slightest!”

‘Violating taboo’ might have meant that a certain word happened to have shown up in the reigning Emperor’s writings. Exam-takers generally needed to switch it out in writing, or deliberately write that word less, to show that they were avoiding the Emperor’s avoid. However, everyone taking the exams would e quite tense, many of them often forgetting to avoid the taboos; times like those depended on luck.

Evaluators or chief examiners dropping such papers off the roll would not be wrong, but if they ran into one of a little more lenient character that also saw those writings to genuinely be well-written, they might turn a blind eye to it and allow the other on the roll, if ranked down a bit.

Tang Fan made no comments towards Lin Fengyuan’s words, nor any judgements whatsoever, only saying, “So, you believe that the reason your good son died is because Shen Kunxiu harbored a personal grudge and intentionally retaliated?”

“Yes! Shen Kunxiu has the guts of a chick, and he could not possibly be more narrow-minded. Were it not for him pressuring him at every step, why would my son hang himself?! Please, you must restore my son’s innocence!”

“What you’re saying is that you firmly believe your son to be innocent, and the alleged cheating is Shen Kunxiu’s consciously wrongful accusation?”

Lin Fengyuan hadn’t expected that he would ask such a thing, startling for a bit before he answered, “Yes. My son’s knowledge is admittedly not too vast, but he would never need to cheat to earn a scholarly title!”

“And yet, as far as I’m aware, amongst your son’s classmates and other exam-takers suspected of cheating in this case, several admitted that the reason they knew the score at all was from hearing Lin Zhen say it.”

“That’s impossible! They’re slandering him! Please have clarity on that, Sir!” Lin Fengyuan said angrily.

Tang Fan lightly nodded. “I will be clear on what need to be clear. This official never judges cases with selective hearing; I have heard their confessions, so I will naturally hear your side, too. Who is right and wrong in the feud between your families is something I, an outsider, cannot judge on, but if it’s related to the case, that’s another matter. You are ultimately not the implicated party, and only Lin Zhen knew the truth. I won’t keep it from you; I am no coroner, but I do have some knowledge in autopsy. Lin Zhen may be dead, but he can still speak on whether he had been forced into suicide by Shen Kunxiu in order to portray his innocence, or whether there was another cause of death. A look at the body will tell such. As a father, you surely hope that your son can be at peace in death?”

Lin Fengyuan still shook his head. “Sir, this humble official really doesn’t see the necessity in opening up the coffin again. The day before my son was sent here, the government’s coroner already made an autopsy, and confirmed without a doubt that he had hung himself. Why do you not investigate Shen Kunxiu, but insist upon making things difficult for my son?”

His words were particularly discourteous. “Impudent!” Magistrate Fan reprimanded.

Tang Fan stopped him, then said to Lin Fengyuan, “In the past, there have been cases where the coroner determined a suicide that ended up being reversed. Coroners’ abilities typically vary. Many are under the impression that they can autopsy correctly from reading Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified, scarcely imagining that this is the very reason for those repeated injustly-judged cases. Ever since I became an official, such examples have been abundant. If, as you’ve said, Shen Kunxiu really wanted to make things hard for your family, he would definitely not have let such an opportunity go. There are over ten test-takers Shen Kunxiu wants to strip of their honors, and they’re still doing perfectly fine to this day, while Lin Zhen alone has died. Within that, perhaps Shen Kunxiu did something else to your son in secret that was the actual cause of his death. Don’t you want to find out the truth?”

He had shown quite enough tolerance in that speech, yet Lin Fengyuan still refused him. “Please forgive me, Sir.”

“What if I insist upon opening the coffin?”

Lin Fengyuan hesitated for a short moment. “If you intend to, I have no way to stop you, but I heard that the Court has sent another imperial ambassador to investigate this case. I will certainly make a complaint to him!”

With Lin Fengyuan’s position, him threatening Tang Fan like this appeared to be laughable, but this was how things were nowadays, with great importance given to the dead. Tang Fan’s act of wanting to open the coffin for an autopsy truly would not get the support of the public, and everyone would certainly sympathize with Lin Fengyuan, thinking Tang Fan to be without scruples and bullying others by force. Even if he was now a Great Scholar of the Cabinet, he still needed to consider how actions like these would trigger discussions and influence his reputation.

From the side, Lu Lingxi’s anger overgrew hearing this. Is Brother Tang wanting an autopsy not to find out your son’s cause of death? Not only do you not appreciate that, but you cause problems all over the place! You really don’t know right from wrong!

On that same note, ever since they had come to Ji’an, they seemed to have frequently run into people that didn’t know right from wrong. First, it had been Xu Bin at the welcoming banquet, then it had been Shen Kunxiu, and now it was Lin Fengyuan. Could it be that the feng shui here was bad, incompatible with their eight characters?

Even Magistrate Fan felt that Lin Fengyuan’s attitude was too hateful, too excessive, yet Tang Fan was not as angry as everyone was imagining. It could also maybe be said that he had experienced too much before this, and some people had been even worse to deal with than Lin Fengyuan; a scenario like this couldn’t make him angry. He even picked up the gaiwan on the table, gently wiped off the tea froth atop it using the lid, and bowed his head to take a light sip.

Lin Fengyuan refused to cooperate, yet Tang Fan refused to leave. The other couldn’t open his mouth to drive him off, either, only able to treat him with silence.

In this interim, the atmosphere of the guest hall seemed to get a little stagnant.

A moment later, Tang Fan suddenly said, “This painting has a good feel to it.”

Everyone was taken aback, unable to understand why he had suddenly started talking about a painting. They followed his gaze, then discovered that he was speaking of one that was hung on the Lin home’s wall.

Mountain streams were lined out distantly. A great river flowed east, a skiff drifting down it, one person standing with their hands behind their back on that, gazing at the eastern sunlight. It had quite a ‘A morning farewell to a Baidi in rainbow clouds, a day of returning one thousand li to Jiangling’ sort of feeling.[1]

The poem joined next to it read: ‘Far trees in two rows, a reflected mountain, a light boat rowing horizontally.’

A very ordinary painting. Surpassing in concept, yet really not done by a grandmaster’s hand. It could only be described as a mediocre work. The painting was average, and so was the poem.

“That painting is a recent work of mine,” Lin Fengyuan said. “It’s just enough for me to appreciate, myself, and would never be mounted in an elegant hall, much less deserve your praise, Sir.”

Tang Fan had only casually praised it, and laughed upon hearing that. “Since Magistrate Lin is unwilling to open the coffin, that’s that. Farewell.”

He stood. Lin Fengyuan hurried cupped his hands. “Many thanks for your forgiveness, Sir. Otherwise, if you wish to know anything else, this humble official will certainly say all I know and do my utmost to cooperate!”

“No need. Stay home and rest properly,” Tang Fan said mildly, leaving.

Magistrate Fan viciously glared at Lin Fengyuan, whispering out a rebuke. “You really don’t know right from wrong!”

He was a little perplexed. Before what had happened with Lin Zhen, Lin Fengyuan had actually had a pretty good relationship with this superior of his, Magistrate Fan. Furthermore, Lin Fengyuan had been very savvy at bootlicking, never allowing his superiors to get into a tight spot, yet he had now not hesitated to offend Tang Fan, an imperial ambassador, to death. This was practically madness.

It was not only Magistrate Fan, but Tang Fan’s followers, Lu Lingxi and Xi Ming, both felt that Lin Fengyuan was just asking to be yelled at. With Tang Fan’s status, the fact that he had come to the Lin home personally over Lin Zhen was already a high compliment to Lin Fengyuan, but not only did he not cooperate, he made up all sorts of excuses! Had it not been for Tang Fan not blowing up, even Lu Lingxi would think to open his mouth and give Lin Fengyuan a scolding!

“Brother Tang, do you want me to find a chance to teach him a lesson?” Lu Lingxi asked once they came out of the Lin home.

“No use in that.”

Tang Fan waved him off. He looked ponderous, but said nothing, so no one knew what he was thinking about.

After they left the Lin home, Tang Fan told Magistrate Fan and Ji Min that they didn’t need to accompany him anymore, saying that he wanted to stroll around places. Lu Lingxi and Xi Ming were enough for that.

The two were local officials, in the end; they had work to handle every single day, making it impossible for them to go with him everywhere. When he said this, they politely pushed the boat along the water, saying farewell.

Tang Fan then led the final two in a few loops around the street, entering a restaurant not too far ahead. By coincidence, it was the place Zeng Jin and the rest had bought the exam answers from: Clearwind.

It was decorated expensively, customers flowing in like clouds. The taste of the food here was presumably not bad. People like Tang Fan and them, who had come suddenly and without prior reservation, could only be allocated to the main lobby. However, said lobby was divided into a first and second floor; each table on the second had screens separating them from each other. The privacy was inferior to that of a private room’s, but it was a little quieter than the first floor, as well as a little pricier.

A server greeted him enthusiastically. Upon hearing that they wanted a private room, he apologetically expressed that there were not. Tang Fan didn’t bicker with him, having him lead them to seats on the second floor, then ordering some dishes.

They had all left with Tang Fan early in the morning, then had drunk down a bellyful of tea and held back a bellyful of anger, now starving. Seeing the three-cup chicken, sautéed fish, steamed pork with taro chunks, and dry-fried wild mushrooms — all typical homely dishes — their fingers automatically twitched. There were only four people around, as Tang Fan hadn’t allowed Xi Ming and Han Jin to have a separate table, but it was still quite lively as they sat in a circle, alternating with grabbing food in a whirlwind. Paired with white rice, most of the dishes on the table were quickly cleaned out.

“Alright,” Tang Fan said to Xi Ming, once everyone had eaten their fill. “I have a distant maternal cousin that moved with her parents to Jiangxi when she was little, but her parents died a few years ago, and her life has been somewhat hard ever since. She heard that I had also come to Jiangxi, so she’s coming to seek shelter with me. After we return, explain this to the posthouse people so that they can put together that room that Ziming used to be in.”

Xi Ming didn’t think much of this, agreeing, but Lu Lingxi asked, “Brother Tang, how come I haven’t heard you talk about this cousin before?”

Tang Fan smiled. “We were far apart before, and had no contact. I had only heard so from my older sister right before I left the capital, too.”

But why didn’t you say so when you just came to Jiangxi, and only bring it up now without the slightest warning?

Xi Ming would not have the sort of curiosity for a question like that. No matter what, whatever Tang Fan ordered was what he would do. Meanwhile, Lu Lingxi was full of doubts, but didn’t question it too much, as he ultimately didn’t know too much of Tang Fan’s familial situation.

After thinking a bit, Lu Lingxi tactfully changed tactics. “Brother Tang, your good cousin is a woman, in the end. It wouldn’t be too great if she shared a courtyard with you and I, right?”

Tang Fan thought about that. “You’re right. In that case, you can move to stay with Xi Ming and them. My cousin and I can stay in the same courtyard. We had a betrothal in our youth, and now that she’s alone in the world with no one to rely on, there’s no need for her to take so much care in all that.”

“…”

The second Lu Lingxi heard that, needless to say, he was depressed. He had merely asked an extra question, and ended up trapping himself.

After a very long time, he couldn’t think of an excuse to refuse, forced to sullenly agree, simultaneously saying, “To be able to be betrothed to you means that she must be a well-read woman of virtue. What should I call her when we meet? Please let me prepare properly, lest I fail to be courteous when the time comes!”

When he heard ‘woman of virtue’, Tang Fan’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch. Thankfully, Lu Lingxi didn’t see that.

He fixed up his face to put on a slightly nostalgic look. “Call her Miss Qiao. I only met her a few times when I was young, not recently. She was typically shy by nature…”

Saying so, Tang Fan paused, mentally told himself to just spit it out, stalling for a good minute, then proceeded to say, “She’s shy, and probably won’t be accustomed to you all straight-up calling her ‘sister-in-law’ or ‘Madam’, because we aren’t actually married yet. A woman’s reputation must not be tarnished.”

According to what Tang Fan thought, informing Lu Lingxi and them of Sui Zhou’s real identity was not something that couldn’t be done, he was uncertain about whether White Lotus Society-goers were hiding in the government here. Lu Lingxi was too young — if any flaws showed in his words and actions, the gains wouldn’t be worth the losses, so it was better to have some caution. He could fess up after this affair was done.

Lu Lingxi couldn’t process this shocking information for a minute, a little out of it after hearing what Tang Fan said.

Meanwhile, Xi Ming asked, “Sir, is there anything this subordinate needs to do about the Lin family?”

Tang Fan smiled. “There is, but it’s a bit of a nefarious task that requires fooling people and lengthy considerations to do.”

“You only need to give the order, Sir!”

“First, go ask around about where Lin Zhen’s body is buried. In the dead of night, we’ll go dig it up.”

He spoke tranquilly, yet those hearing it didn’t know how to react. So, him having not been angered by Lin Fengyuan’s insubordination had been because he had long had this idea?”

“Brother Tang, is this necessary?” Lu Lingxi had to ask.

Despite coming from an aristocratic family, he had wandered about at a young age and ought to have a fearless personality, yet the digging up of a grave was not good for the reputation, after all. Tang Fan might be an imperial ambassador, but if they were discovered and this spread out, people would definitely hold it against him. Hence, for Tang Fan’s sake, he had to re-confirm it.”

Tang Fan did not answer his question. “What did you notice at the Lin’s today?”

Knowing that he was intentionally being thorough, Lu Lingxi gave this an earnest consideration. “Lin Fengyuan’s performance was a bit odd.”

“Odd how?”

“Someone like him, whose son is dead and who has an old grudge with Shen Kunxiu, would hope more than anyone else that Shen Kunxiu would end up unlucky. Therefore, logically, he shouldn’t have refused your request to open the coffin, yet he acted way too stubbornly. There was no reason to it at all. Also, Magistrate Fan said that before Lin Zhen’s death, Lin Fengyuan wasn’t like this.”

“What else?”

Sensing Tang Fan’s approval, Lu Lingxi had to keep racking his brains. “Maybe someone was fishy about Lin Zhen’s death? Or, his death might have had nothing to Shen Kunxiu, but Lin Fengyuan was afraid that we would discover this, which is why he firmly refused to let us do an autopsy?”

“That’s very likely.”

Greatly encouraged, Lu Lingxi continued to spread out his imagination. “The only thing that could make him this worried and scared is his own guilt. Is it that he killed his own son, and feared being found out?”

Tang Fan shook his head with a laugh; he had put on too much of a display. “Do you remember the painting on the wall?”

“Yes. It didn’t look like anything special, though.”

“When I was speaking with him, he would glance out the corner of his eye from time to time. At the start, I wasn’t clear on why, but later, I felt he must be looking at the painting, hence why I casually asked. I found something suspicious in result. He said that the painting was a new one. Think about it — would a man with a dead son, looking so haggard, be of the mind to paint?”

Lu Lingxi let out an ah. He really hadn’t thought about it from that aspect.

“Painting are based on visions. Poems, the voice of the heart. Even if he had wanted to pain what he felt, they would have expressed sorrowful and commemorative feelings. Why would he have painted something as optimistic and bold as that one?”

“You’re saying that there’s something off about Lin Fengyuan?”

“Not only is he off, but he’s greatly off!” Tang Fan answered assuredly. “And not only did he have issues, but even Shen Kunxiu had them.”

Lu Lingxi was confused. “You’re saying that Shen Kunxiu used public affairs for private revenge?”

Tang Fan shook his head, but did not continue on with that. “Come, all of you. Let’s see if we can’t find something off of Lin Zhen, first.”

Every time he heard Tang Fan analyze a case, Lu Lingxi felt a sort of powerlessness, where he was far and away from him in sufficiency. All he could do was make him work a little harder and be a little more meticulous in the hopes that he could match Tang Fan’s pace, but if the other was unwilling to explain thing, he would never be able to guess. That reality made him a bit unavoidably frustrated.

Seeming to see his thoughts, Tang Fan pat him on the shoulder. “Yiqing, I might not have done any better than you, at your age. Food always needs to be eaten in bites. There’s no need to be antsy.”

Lu Lingxi was having different thoughts, though. Hearing Tang Fan speak to him with the tone of an elder bolstering a junior, the disappointed sensation in his heart became heavier, and he had to protest. “Brother Tang, I’m not that much younger than you! I’ve helped you with a lot!”

“Yes, yes, of course you’ve been a big help. All of this has been thanks to you, Xi Ming, Han Jin, and the rest!”

“…”

Oh. He was in the same position as Xi Ming’s group.