After sending Su Mei back to Baiyuan, it was still early in the day, so Lin Xie went with Zhao Qinmin to the gate of the Procuratorate. After meeting with Gu Wu Chen, he left Zhao Qinmin to be entertained by Yang Pu and went to see his superior, Xiao Xuanchen.

  Xiao Xuanchuo used to be polite to Lin Xie because of Gu Wu Chen's face. He was an old official who knew how to put on airs and use his official tone with the right people, and be polite to others. Not only did Lin Xie have a good reputation, but even the coachmen and sedan chair bearers who served Gu Wu Chen were treated with great politeness by Xiao Xuanchuo. This time, when he saw Lin Xie return to the Procuratorate's yamen, he was also very polite, but there was a big difference from before - he now knew that this young man should not be underestimated, and even the famous Li Zhuo looked at him with great favor, perhaps he would become another Dong Yuan. Although Dong Yuan was only a fourth-rank prefect, his power and influence far exceeded those of a fifth-rank procuratorate secretary, and he didn't yield to even Gu Wu Chen, the deputy procurator.

  Lin Tie sat in the signing room and reported some situations on Prison Island. Xiao Xuanzhi listened with interest, and afterwards chatted with him about some trivial matters to show closeness.

  Listening to Xiao Xuan's repeated attempts to shift the topic to Li Zhuo, Lin Fu couldn't help but think that Li Zhuo's appearance at the river mouth last night was mainly intended to curry favor with Gu Wu Chen. Gu Wu Chen's temperament was still bound by factional struggles, and Li Zhuo's actions had given others a false impression of him. This indeed helped raise Lin Fu's value and status in Jiangning, but he couldn't show even a hint of complacency, lest Gu Wu Chen become even more wary. Who knows if Zhao Qin Min still wanted to completely replace him in front of Gu Wu Chen?

  "Oh, right," Lin Xie lightly changed the subject and asked Xiao Xuanchen, "Lord Xiao, I was wondering if it's appropriate to ask something idle, is it?"

  "Even if it's a trivial matter, is there anything we can't discuss between us?" Xiao Xuanchuo smiled.

  "The case of the Marquis of Jingbei, I heard that Jiangning was also implicated. At that time, the Three Courts also sent people to Jiangning to investigate the case. The Governor's Office should have sent someone to cooperate, but I don't know if there are any records left in the office?" Lin Xian asked.

  "...You're asking about this matter," Xiao Xuanchuo sighed, "Our dynasty has been established for over 200 years, and there have only been a few cases of treason among the three ethnic groups. If it were discussed privately in the early years, it would be considered a crime of reckless talk. To be honest, everyone is curious, and I also asked about this matter when I came to Jiangdong. The case files are all gone from our side, which is another strange thing; there's another strange thing - the officials who were sent to investigate the case by the imperial court either died of illness or died in exile or died unexpectedly or were beheaded for questioning, and within ten years, not a single person was left. At that time, the Duke of Jingbei had a villa in Jiangning, and when the case broke out, Yanjing dispatched a large number of people to Jiangning, which should have been a joint operation with three places. After the operation, they only notified the local authorities. In this case, not only were the father's clan, mother's clan, and wife's clan punished, but even the Duke of Jingbei's attendants were beheaded, and among the children of the attendants, all boys were beheaded, girls over ten years old were beheaded, and only girls under ten years old were made into prostitutes..."

  One case beheaded over 2,000 people, even the officials who begged for mercy were also killed more than 20 people. Also, at that time, the 100,000 elite troops stationed in Bohai in the north suddenly collapsed and surrendered to the Donghu people, causing the entire Bohai prefecture to fall into the hands of the Donghu people. Lin Xuan felt a chill when he heard Xiao Xuanyu mention this case lightly, which was also why he didn't want to ask Zhou Pu, Wu Qi and others about this case. The main reason was that he suspected that Qin Chengzu, Zhou Pu, Wu Qi and others were also unaware of the details of the Jingbei Hou case at that time.

  Lin's back was tense, and he forced himself to calm down and smile at Xiao Xuan: "I've been training new recruits on Prison Island, and I've also been studying military books. To be honest, even you wouldn't believe it, but I actually found a half-volume of the annotated 'Seven Classics of Martial Arts' in a bookstore... It seems to be a treasured book from the Northern Pacification Duke's estate..."

  "In the first three years, all these were forbidden. It wasn't until the second year after the current emperor ascended to the throne that the speech ban was lifted, and other things also relaxed a bit. And it's precisely because the laws are slightly relaxed that some people saw an opportunity to profit from the banned goods of the Jingbei Hou Mansion," Xiao Xuanchuan said with a smile, "I've been deceived before too."

  "Haha," Lin Xie laughed loudly, thinking that he had also been deceived by the black-hearted merchant like Xiao Xuanyu. He then asked, "The list of female entertainers from the Jingbei Hou Mansion should be kept on record for inspection, right?"

  "This list is kept, but the file is highly confidential and only the Inspector General has the right to open it," said Xiao Xuanchuo. "People are good at forbidding things, I heard that the girl who was finally sent to the Hou's house in Jiangning was also a favorite of the officials in Jiangning. There is another thing that you may not know, even the famous Su Mei was once a prostitute in the Hou's house when she was young, it is said that it was because of the Marquis of Mu who changed her to a musician. At that time, Su Mei was not yet famous, if the Marquis of Mu really loved her, he would have bought her back to the mansion, but instead, he went out of his way to change her status... isn't that strange?"

  Xiao Xuanyu, as a vice censor-in-chief, naturally had the opportunity to know more confidential matters. He said this, hinting that he suspected Su Mei was also one of the girls who were forced into prostitution in the Jingbei Hou case. At this time, Lin Xie wanted to control himself and not lose his composure, but he couldn't help gripping the armrest of his chair until it cracked.

  The current hereditary Marquis of the State of Mu, Zeng Mingxin, was also a handsome and elegant young man in his youth. After the case of the Jingbei Hou, he became low-key and afterwards, among the three hereditary noble families in Jiangning, the Yongchang Hou Mansion surpassed the Mu Guo Gong Mansion by a head. It is rumored that the hereditary Marquis of the State of Mu was on good terms with the Jingbei Hou in his early years, but after the case of the Jingbei Hou occurred, although the Marquis did not plead for leniency on behalf of the Jingbei Hou, he still received severe reprimand, which made him disheartened. In Xiao Xuanchuo's view, the change of registration was a bit superfluous, perhaps it meant that both the Marquis and the Yongchang Hou knew some secrets back then and used this as leverage.

  Lin Xuan stepped out of Xiao Xuan's house, feeling a bit disheartened. He hadn't expected that the aftermath of the Jingbei Hou case had not passed, and some hidden dangers still lingered, threatening to claim many lives. Su Mei was indeed unable to shirk her responsibility and escape; apart from this, there were probably still some girls who had been implicated in the Jingbei Hou case and were trapped in the mansion, unable to escape.

  **********

  In the late afternoon, the sunset shone on the stone street of Jiangning City. Lin Xie and Zhao Qinmin followed Gu Wudian's carriage back to the Gu Mansion. Zhao Qinmin noticed that Lin Xie seemed a bit dispirited today and asked with a smile: "Lord Lin, what are you thinking about? Are you thinking about your beloved?"

  "Ah!" Lin Xuan lazily responded to Zhao Qinmin, only answering with a single sound. Seeing that Gu Wu Chen in the carriage was also drawn over by Zhao Qinmin's words, he furrowed his brow slightly and said, "I'm thinking about yesterday's Tangchao..."

  "Oh, Lord Lin is thinking about Chen Mingyu being the top scorer?" Zhao Qinmin smiled and said, "Indeed, it's not a pleasant thing. I was just at the Yamen gate earlier, and many people were talking about this. They said Chen Mingyu topped the list with his name, and that he truly deserves it." He said this to subtly mock Lin Xuan for being overly greedy and wanting to compete with Chen Mingyu for Su Mei, not knowing when to stop, just like Gu Wu dust in Jiangning setting up enemies.

  Lin Xian suddenly felt a strong dislike for this person, but at the same time, he had to maintain a harmonious relationship with him. Seeing Gu Wu Chen also furrowing his brow, he continued in a worried tone: "What you said is true, but doesn't Mr. Zhao think that there's something fishy about this matter? Chen Mingru will be ranked third in the preliminary examination, but during the imperial examination, he was unexpectedly awarded the title of Zhuangyuan by the Emperor himself..."

  "What's the trick?" Zhao Qinmin asked casually, and as soon as he spoke, he was shocked in his heart. He had just learned that Chen Mingyu had won the first place in the imperial examination and had always regarded it as a good show of Lin Xuan. After all, the rumor that Lin Xuan was involved in the Baisha County robbery case at the beginning was not a secret, and they also treated it as a joke behind his back without thinking deeply. Lin Xuan's words just now had already pointed out the trick, but he still asked casually, and the trick was: why didn't the emperor follow the ranking of the imperial examination to determine the first place in the first class, but instead personally awarded Chen Mingyu the first place?

  Zhao Qinmin glanced at Gu Wudeng, seeing that he was frowning and his heart regretted even more. The previous sentence had probably given Gu Wudeng the impression that he was far inferior to Lin Fu, and hadn't even been vigilant about such a thing. Glancing at Lin Fu, he only then realized that this person's mind was truly deep and not to be underestimated, and a simple, casual remark had led him into his trap.

  "Are you suspecting Chen Xiyin?" Gu Wudu didn't pay attention to Zhao Qinnian, instead he rode his horse closer and asked in a low voice. Zhao Qinnian was not far away and could also hear their conversation.

  "It's better to be safe than sorry..." Lin Xie said, "The Emperor's mind is not something that ordinary people can fathom, we can only do some preparatory work."

  "Zhang Xiang's secret letter, which was delivered by fast horse a few days ago, mentioned this matter. I didn't expect you to see through the subtlety," said Gu Wu Chen with a light sigh. "Chen Xi Yan is not a person who will remain calm and content, he also has the ability to contend for the position, but it's hard to fathom the Emperor's mind..."

  "I wonder if Li Du had any contact with Chen Xi before he appeared at the river mouth yesterday?" Lin Xuan said.

  "Last night after I came back, I thought about this problem, they should have met before." Gu Wu Chen said in a low voice.

  Zhao Qinmin listened in and regretted it, but couldn't get a word in edgewise. These things were really not that hard to guess.

  Chen Xiyin was once excluded by the Xi Qin Party and resigned as Minister of Household to live in seclusion at Xixi, Shushan. However, his reputation in the court remained, and his connections were not scattered, with his disciples and former officials spread throughout the court. The Xi Qin Party had lost power, and Chen Xinbo was on shaky ground as Prime Minister, making the seizure of the premiership the top priority for all factions in the court. Although the Chu Party's influence in the court was growing, the Emperor might not necessarily want to let another faction dominate the court again, so it is unlikely that Zhang Xie, the leader of the Chu Party, would be appointed as Prime Minister. The Xi Qin Party had already lost power, and even if Chen Xinbo remained in office, he would be unable to stand alone. If Chen Xinbo were to leave office, Chen Xiyin would be another good candidate for the position of Prime Minister besides Zhang Xie.

  Chen Mingyi was a student of Chen Xiyuan, and when the imperial examination results were announced, he was ranked third in the provincial exams, but then unexpectedly awarded the title of Zhuangyuan by the Emperor himself, which was an extremely obvious signal that even indicated that Chen Xiyuan had been secretly plotting to seize power for a long time.

  Li Zhuo appeared at the river mouth yesterday, and he should have stayed in the east of the city for three to five days before that. Chen Xiyin was also hiding in Xixi, She Mountain, within the borders of Miling County in the east of the city. Did Li Zhuo and Chen Xiyin have a secret meeting?

  Zhao Qinmin suddenly felt that he was really too dull, so many extremely important and not-so-hidden omens had gone unnoticed, how could he make Gu Wudu take himself seriously? Moreover, the words he said about Lin Lian in front of Gu Wudu last night seemed to have a different meaning now, Zhao Qinmin truly felt that he had been foolish.

  **************************

  P.S: Looking for red envelopes.

  Su Meng's mystery wasn't supposed to be revealed so early, but seeing the controversy in the book review section is so big, I'll reveal a bit of it first.

  I welcome everyone's discussion and I will adjust the plot arrangement based on the feedback from the book review section.