Chapter 479 – Chicken, Duck, and Fish

Liu Qingping was dismissed from his official post?

Embarrassed, he wore an awkward smile as he tried to change the subject. , “Yunshu, I’ve heard all about your exploits. Once you arrived at the Capital, you solved a missing persons case that the Supreme Court and Ministry of Justice had already spent months on. You even solved the murder case of the Qujiang’s General. Now that the Emperor personally assigned you the case of the Lin Capital that happened fourteen years ago. Oh Yunshu, you’re on a roll!”

“Hold on,” She interrupted him, “Don’t talk about me. I’m asking you now, how did your official post get removed?”

Liu Qingping didn’t want to talk about this matter at all and turned his plump body away from Ji Yunshu. After a short silence, he patted the back of his own hand helplessly, before heaving a sigh and furrowing his brows.

Ji Yunshu did not give up. “Tell me. What happened?”

He replied, “In fact, I have no idea either.”

“No idea? If you did not make any mistake, why did the Royal Court remove your official post suddenly? There must be a reason.”

“Yunshu, you know me the best. I would rather suffer myself rather than let the people suffer. What wrong could I have done?” He was full of sincerity, yet he continued helplessly, “Not long after you left for the Capital, the Royal Court sent down an order to remove me from my position. The only explanation given was that I did not do my job well. Since it was the official notice from the Royal Court, I could only acknowledge it. Shortly after that, the new county magistrate, Liu Qian, took up the post. He was originally a first-ranked General stationed at the Yumen Pass [1] and only joined the Royal Court a few years ago. This time, he was transferred from Liaojiang. As they say, a new brush sweeps clean. I don’t know what he was thinking, but he replaced all the positions in the yamen with his own people once he was appointed. Additionally, he seems to be very efficient as all the cases that have been reported to the yamen since then were solved within a day or two. That’s why Jinjiang has been really quiet nowadays. Nevertheless, I’m now a carefree man. All I have to do is to play with the birds all day. How serene…”

Liu Qian?

Although Ji Yunshu had never heard about this person, she had already heard enough to be skeptical about his efficiency. The yamen runners who went to the memorial hall to arrested Fu Bo had basically tried to force him into admitting to the crime. To be able to recruit such aggressive people as his subordinates was not something that a kind person could do.

She thought to herself briefly before she replied, “There are only two reasons for the Royal Court to remove your official post and replace you with a General. One, you made some sort of mistake during your tenure that had terrible consequences; Two, you offended someone who secretly reported you to the Ministry of Personnel and pressured the Ministry to send the dismissal.”

“What? Offended someone? Who would be so immoral?” Liu Qingping sounded extremely upset, “Yunshu, you know me very well. The people of Jinjiang all talk about how good I am. Why would I offend someone?”

Yes. All of them talk about how good you are! All of them! You, Liu Qingping, are the best official, who treats his people like his own children! Otherwise, why would the people send eggs, chickens, and ducks to your estate as gifts every festival and holiday?

Ji Yunshu knew that although Liu Qingping might be clumsy and disorganised, it was not sufficient to justify dismissal from his official post. If that was the case… who was the person who tried to drag him down?

“Never mind. We won’t be able to find an answer today. There’s another matter that brought me here today. How much do you know about Fu Bo’s case?”

“You’re asking about the murder and illegal burial that is linked to Fu Bo?”

“Seems like you haven’t just been staying free all day. Tell me. What happened?”

Liu Qingping answered with a serious face, “This case is weird. Due to the heavy rain, the body of a twenty-something woman was found washed up in the woods beside the memorial hall at noon yesterday. Evidence suggested that she had been raped before she was murdered. She also had Fu Bo’s belt in her hand. Later on, someone told the yamen that they had seen Fu Bo burying something in the woods a few days earlier. The yamen then concluded that he was the murderer.”

“What did the coroner say?”

“The coroner said that the deceased was choked to death by the belt.”

That’s not possible!

Ji Yunshu was very doubtful with the statement, “You know Fu Bo’s character as well as I do. How could he have committed such a crime?”

“Yes. But… But they have both material evidence and an eyewitness. It wasn’t wrong for them to arrest Fu Bo. Unless we can obtain evidence that can prove Fu Bo’s innocence, there is nothing more we can do.” He said as he leaned closer to Ji Yunshu and probed, “Yunshu, you came all the way here to ask me about this. Are you thinking of investigating the case?”

“If Fu Bo was wronged, I can’t just stand aside and do nothing. I’ll visit the yamen shortly.”

“It’s better for you to head over to the yamen tomorrow. Liu Qian has said that the listening will be held tomorrow at the hall of the yamen. If you’re really keen to help Fu Bo out, I suggest you collect some evidence tonight. I’ll be there anytime you need me.”

“Is the corpse of the lady still placed at the yamen?”

“I suppose so.”

“That’s good.”

Liu Qingping reminded, “But you don’t work for the yamen anymore. There’s no excuse for you to perform an autopsy on that body.’

She nodded, “I’ll find a way.”

“Then, do you plan to stay in Jinjiang?”

She shook her head, “I’m only passing by Jinjiang on my way to Yufu with Prince Rong. We are currently staying at the Wei Residence on our way to another unsolved case in Yufu.” She took a look outside as she spoke and realised the sun had set. “It’s late now and I should leave. I’ll visit the yamen tomorrow.”

Liu Qingping seemed to be very disappointed as he heard that Ji Yunshu was leaving. However, a few seconds later, his eyes widened as he asked, “Yunshu, since you’re here, you might as well have your dinner with us. I’ve ordered my people to cook some chicken, duck and fish. You should eat with us before you leave.”

“It’s fine. It’s also better for you to reduce your intake of such oily food. They contain high amounts of cholesterol that will be harmful to your health.” She left the hall and walked off under her umbrella.

Liu Qingping started at Ji Yunshu’s skinny body. He felt sorry for her, and at the same time, was unwilling to let her go. While he was dwelling in his sentimental emotion, someone twisted his small ear.

“It hurts…” Madam Liu was angry as she stood with her arms akimbo and said, “All you know is how to eat. You found an excuse to cook all the chicken, duck, and fish just because Yunshu came over. I reckon you have nothing better to contribute to this family. Our house is running out of food to feed you, yet you cook all the meat. Are you looking for trouble?”

“My beloved wife, I am sorry…”

Ji Yunshu, who had walked quite some distance, could not help but smile as she vaguely heard the conversation that came from behind her. What a fool, he’s still the same fool as before…

At Wei Residence, Jing Rong was standing in a corridor that was lit by the moon. His gaze penetrated through the drizzle, and he did not speak a word. No one knew what he was thinking.

The rain intensified at night, showing no signs of slowing down. The rain was blown into the long corridor by the cold wind, wetting half the floor and even the bottom of Jing Rong’s robes.

[1] A Frontier-gate on the Silk Road, connecting China and Central Asia/Western Regions. It’s named the Jade Gate (Yu Men) due to the large amount of jade that is transported through it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yumen_Pass

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