Chapter 15

TRANSLATED BY MYPEN_22

The following morning, after breakfast, Yan Shi and Jiang Qingyue went to attend to their business. Although Yan Shi originally lived in Nuan Yang Court, he did not like to be waited on, so he did not have a personal maid or servant, and there were only a few men doing menial work in Nuan Yang Court, which was convenient for Hua Ling and the mute mother.

    It had rained all night and this morning the sky was as blue as a wash and the air smelt nice and fresh. Mute Sister carried their quilts out into the courtyard with the intention of drying them in the sun: "That's all you can do, you can only keep people in this room."

    Hua Ling took out a clean hand towel and was delicately wiping the white jade flute in his hand, "I just want to be able to look at him like this forever."

    "What an infatuation, but he ... did all this for him," said the mute sister, suddenly stopping here and shaking her head with a long sigh, then remembering something and continuing, "Another person died last night, the cause of death was the same as that of the two men before, both vanished suddenly."

    Hua Ling's hand was rubbing the flute, "The previous case has not yet been solved, and now there is a new one. I'm afraid the Ministry of Justice will be looking for him. Tell them to keep a close eye on the Ministry of Justice and come to me if there is any movement. Also, send more men to find out what this case is all about."

    Yan Shi did not come back very late today, and even had a meal with Hua Ling.

    After dinner, it was still early in the morning, so the two of them went to the gazebo in the courtyard to cool off.

(T/N: A gazebo is a small building, especially one in the garden of a house, that gives a wide view of the surrounding area.)

    "Brother, what have you been up to these past few days? We just got married, didn't Father grant you some leave? Why are you so busy?" Hua Ling asked.

    Yan Shì replied, "There have been a few cases in the imperial city and they are being investigated."

    "But that disappearance case?" This disappearance case was all over the city and it wasn't much for Hua Ling to say that he knew about it, "I heard that that person suddenly disappeared right in front of others."

    Hua Ling looked around and then moved his head towards Yan Shi and said quietly, "Brother, do you think it was really the work of a ghost?"

    Yan Shi poured his little princess a cup of tea to calm him down: "There are no ghosts and monsters in this world, it's just someone pretending to be a ghost."

    Hua Ling took a sip of the tea Yan Shi poured for him, "I am relieved since it is not a ghost, but if it is man-made, how did the man manage to disappear in full view of everyone?"

    Yan Shi shook his head, "This is still under investigation."

    "Brother," Hua Ling put his voice softly and deliberately, "can you take me with you when you go out tomorrow? My mother wouldn't let me go out of the house, so I've hardly ever been out of the house when I was growing up."

    Yan Shi remembered what Jiang Qingyue had said to him earlier, that Hua Ling rarely left the palace when he was young, and that he was even more secluded than those ladies of the house. Thinking that this case was not a confidential matter, he nodded his head and agreed.

    He was so happy that he couldn't wait until tomorrow. Seeing his joyful look, Yan Shi smiled and poured himself a cup of tea.

    Hua Ling seemed to remember something, gradually put away the smile on his face and asked, "Brother, is that beautiful gentleman also going with us?"

    Yan Maki knew he was talking about Jiang Qingyue: "Naturally."

    "Oh," Hua Ling's little face didn't smile as brightly as it had earlier, "Brother, who is he? And why is he also living in this royal residence?"

    Jiang Qingyue also had a separate small courtyard in the Prince mansion, and he was the only one in it, there were no servants.

    Only then did Yan Shi remember that he had never introduced Jiang Qingyue to the young Wangfei and felt that he had neglected to do so: "His name is Jiang Qingyue and he is my retainer. He doesn't often leave the palace, but only when there is a particularly difficult case at the Da Lisi will I ask for his help." The disappearance case, on the other hand, was a particularly tricky case.

    "Then he must be very good," Hua Ling put his hands on his cheeks, his big eyes blinking, "but why doesn't he go for the imperial examinations? Instead, he's here as his brother's protégé?"

    When Hua Ling finished speaking, he suddenly straightened his back like an enemy: "Does he like brother? He is good-looking, smart and has known brother for longer than me. So, is there no hope for me then?" At this point, there was already a choking sound.

    "He doesn't like me, and I don't like him either." Seeing that the young Wangfei was in such a hurry, Yan Shi subconsciously explained. Suddenly, he sighed lightly again, and his tone was also a bit low, "It's not that he doesn't want to go to the imperial examination, but he can't."

    The next morning, after breakfast, Yan Shi took Hua Ling to meet Jiang Qingyue at the entrance of the residence. Jiang Qingyue was slightly stunned to see Hua Ling, not expecting him to come with him, but he did salute. Yan Shi reintroduced them to each other and they were formally introduced.

    The man who had disappeared the night before was a young man, in his twenties, surnamed Li, but he didn't have a proper name, so everyone who knew him called him Big Li. He worked as a blowing man in the imperial city, playing music for any family's red and white celebrations. (T/N: All kinds of celebration)

    The night before last, it rained heavily and Dali was late coming back from something. (T/N: Dali means Big Li)

    "I was sitting in my house the night before last when I heard a noise outside," said Dali's neighbour, repeating what he had said yesterday, "so I came out to look and saw that the roof of my barn had been lifted by the wind and had fallen to the ground. I saw that it was not a big deal and was about to go inside when I saw that Dali was opening the door to his house, so I went up to talk to him. Before I could even finish my sentence, Dali suddenly disappeared in front of me, leaving only a set of keys on the floor."

    Dali's parents were both dead and he had a younger brother, but he was out of town for the past few days and was not at home. Yesterday, Yan Shi and Jiang Qingyue had come to investigate the disappearance of Dali, who had died when it was raining heavily and all traces were washed away.

    Hua Ling shrank and tugged on Yan Shi's sleeve and whispered, "Brother, I'm a bit scared."

    "Find someone to take you back to the house?"

    I just want to pretend to be weak for a bit.

    "I still want to be here, I'm not afraid if I'm with my brother."

    As he was saying that, a teenager suddenly came running towards here in the distance crying out, "Brother! Brother!"

    Yan Shi and Jiang Qingyue looked at each other, this must be Dali's younger brother Jin Ge'er.

    Yan Shi gave a wink to the magistrates and someone immediately stopped Jin from barging in.

    "Let go of me! Let go of me!" Jin was only twelve or thirteen years old, not too old, but quite strong, and the two officers almost didn't catch him.

    "Do you want to find your brother?" Yan Shi's voice was not loud, but it was very useful, and Jin immediately stopped struggling at his words.

    He was crying with snot and tears all over his face, and now he looked up at Yan Shi: "What do you mean? My brother can still come back?"

    Yan Shi didn't hide: "I don't know. But I want to ask you a few questions that might help the case."