Chapter 301: Breaking the Deadlock (VIII)

None of those present could fathom the twists and turns of Le Wuya's schemes, hoping only that he would quickly sign and put an end to this farce.

Zhou Wenchang's original intention had been merely to use You the Second as bait and Wang Cheng as a lure, to flip Le Wuya's identity from a hidden card to a face-up card as quickly as possible. He never imagined that, through a bizarre twist of fate, the imperial relief censor sent from the capital—five people including his attendants—would all end up in the Dansui County jail without having accomplished a single official task.

Even if Le Wuya personally said he didn't want to make a fuss, once this chain of absurd mix-ups got out, it would hardly be anything to be proud of.

At the minor level, it meant that he, Zhou Wenchang, a magistrate of ten years, had failed to keep his own house in order—so focused on disaster relief out front that he was blind to the fire burning in his own backyard.

At the major level, who could say whether he'd done it on purpose?

A censor touring the realm on the emperor's behalf was the emperor's personal representative. To throw the emperor into prison—wasn't that like using the emperor's face as a shoe insole?

Zhou Wenchang had suffered the consequences of defying the imperial will before, and naturally hoped that Le Wuya, that hot potato, would pack up his whole household and get the hell out of his prison.

Le Wuya carefully reviewed the confession, dipping his fingertip in the crimson ink paste. Just as he was about to press his mark, he withdrew his hand: "My case is settled just like that. But what about my people—Xiao Zhong, Xiao Ji, and Wang Cheng?"

At the mention of "Xiao Zhong," Zhou Wenchang's brow twitched slightly: "Your Excellency, rest assured. All of them have been settled in the rear hall of the yamen, with physicians summoned to look after them carefully."

Le Wuya was razor-sharp: "What physician was summoned?"

Helplessly, Zhou Wenchang briefly recounted how Zhong Piaoping, in grief and fury, had tried to kill himself in the courtroom, and hurriedly added by way of explanation: "Rest assured, Your Excellency, his life is in no danger!"

Le Wuya: "..." Well, well.

Ever since Xiao Zhong had suffered his family tragedy, he'd carried a faint air of "what joy is there in living" — a low-key death wish.

Letting him go looking for death wasn't such a bad thing.

Whether he meant it or not, as long as he wasn't dead, it counted as stretching his limbs and clearing his head.

Better than truly withering into an unfeeling plant.

But Le Wuya was a master at turning situations to his advantage.

No matter what happened, good or bad, he had to turn it to his advantage.

Le Wuya was stunned for a moment, then let out a cold laugh: "Xiao Zhong's always been one to keep his cool. I wonder who managed to give him such a raw deal?"

Zhou Wenchang kept his eyes down, nose pointed at his chest, in a show of deference: "To report to Your Excellency, this case involves A Shun, a runner of this yamen. Your subordinate surmises that this scoundrel, seeing money and getting ideas, meant to kill and rob, and when that failed, resorted to planting evidence and framing them. I humbly ask Your Excellency to focus on the relief mission with an easy mind. This trifling little case, Your subordinate will investigate thoroughly and give Your Excellency a full and clear account."

The message was: this has nothing to do with you—I'll handle this small case, so go take care of the big relief work.

Le Wuya acted as if he hadn't heard Zhou Wenchang outright convicting A Shun, and smiled slightly: "No matter. Since I entered Dansui County, my ears have heard nothing but praise from the common folk, and my eyes have seen nothing but order and good governance. This shows Magistrate Zhou governs well and has the people's deep trust. Entrusting this relief mission to Your Honor will surely go off without a hitch."

Zhou Wenchang kept up an extremely humble posture, slowly playing tai chi with him: "Your Excellency's trust is more than Your subordinate deserves. However... if Your subordinate were truly virtuous and blameless, why would heaven send such disaster upon the people under my charge? This is all Your subordinate's fault!"

As he spoke, his eyes showed deep grief, and his voice choked up a bit.

Behind him, Deputy Magistrate Jian and Secretary Lin also wore mournful expressions, and if not for the imperial envoy being right there, they'd have spoken up to comfort him.

But Le Wuya had no feel for the moment, speaking bluntly: "Magistrate Zhou, you sell yourself short. From now on, you'd do well to say such things less. If natural disasters were all caused by official misconduct, then you'd be seriously short on virtue."

Seeing Zhou Wenchang's expression stiffen, Le Wuya smiled sweetly: "Besides, the emperor rules over the nine provinces as lord of all under heaven. Magistrate Zhou, aren't your words saying the emperor lacks virtue?"

Le Wuya hit precisely on Zhou Wenchang's biggest taboo.

He blurted out, "Your subordinate would never dare think such a thing!"

"Magistrate Zhou, don't get worked up." Le Wuya said. "In the future, such damning words—just don't say them, or say them less, all right?"

Having scared Zhou Wenchang's face white, he casually pressed his fingerprint onto the confession, proving he hadn't left the Niu Ji Inn in two days, then walked out of the prison.

"There is one matter Your Excellency should know." Zhou Wenchang followed behind, reporting, "In Xiaolian Mountain, all the miners' bodies have been dug up and cleared away..."

His face showed grief: "...checked against the registry—not a single survivor."

Even though he had been prepared, a cold glint still flashed in Le Wuya's eyes at this news.

When he turned around, his face was perfectly calm: "Not a single survivor?"

"Yes." Zhou Wenchang said respectfully, "Your Excellency may go and inspect in person."

"Was no one on duty at the mountain that day?"

Zhou Wenchang, with a pained expression, twisted the facts: "Your Excellency, hear my account. On the eve of the incident, Xiaolian Mountain was hit by a sudden earth tremor. To be safe, Your subordinate ordered all miners off the mountain to rest in the village, in case of aftershocks. But then..."

In contrast to Zhou Wenchang's mournfulness, Le Wuya was silent for a moment, then expressionlessly uttered a single word: "...Oh."

Hearing his tone, Secretary Lin and Deputy Magistrate Jian dared not show any change in expression on their faces, but inwardly they fumed:

Several hundred lives, and he's this cold?

What they didn't expect was that Le Wuya had an even more callous question: "And the officers and men guarding the mine—how many died?"

Zhou Wenchang paused: "Three."

After Niu Sanqi's violent death, the soldiers guarding the mountain were all on edge.

Zhou Wenchang had arrived at the scene immediately, calming nerves, sealing the mountain, clamping down on news, locking up the miners, and taking inventory of the explosives—commands fired off in rapid succession. These soldiers weren't brainless; they all had a pretty good idea what was coming.

However, clinging to the mindset of "when the sky falls, the tall guys catch it" and "the law can't punish the whole crowd," most played deaf and dumb, doing whatever they were told.

But these three were in the "minority" camp—not only dragging their feet but also plotting to skip town together. They were ratted out by their own unit and dragged back.

Trussed up like pigs, they were stashed in a shed near the blast point of the explosives.

When Xiaolian Mountain was first detonated, these three were the ones who died.

By now, their remains had probably washed down with the mud and gravel, nowhere to be found.

Le Wuya asked: "Do you have a roster?"

Zhou Wenchang handed over the miners' roster and the soldiers' name list he'd had ready all along.

The names of the dead were all boxed in with bright red ink.

Le Wuya flipped through it: "Have the bodies of these three been found?"

Zhou Wenchang answered honestly: "Not yet."

Le Wuya: "The mudslide came so fast that not a single miner got out, yet the soldiers—by luck—mostly made it?"

Zhou Wenchang explained: "The soldiers are, after all, trained. Hearing the roar of water in the night, they got up and blew their whistles as a warning. The others were startled awake by that and managed to escape."

Le Wuya: "Were the miners dead pigs, not one of them running, just sleeping through it all?"

"Your Excellency may not know how things are at the mine." Zhou Wenchang said, "The miners have always been scared of the soldiers, like mice around a cat. Even if they heard the whistles, they didn't dare move, afraid that running around would get them whipped. When the soldiers went out and saw the mountain acting up, there was no time to organize an evacuation, so they just ran for it, and that's when..."

At this point, he shook his head and fell silent, too grief-stricken to speak.

Seeing him like this, if Le Wuya were to ask something like "So why did only three soldiers die?" it would come off as way too cold-hearted.

So he asked instead, "What about the Mining Inspector, Niu Sanqi?"

Zhou Wenchang replied, "When he heard about the earthquake, he went out to inspect the mines and ended up staying in the village overnight. He also..."

Le Wuya said, "Oh, so he didn't dare run when he heard the alarm whistle either?"

Zhou Wenchang quickly explained, "According to the surviving soldiers, Inspector Niu turned in early because he was worn out from the trip, so he probably never heard the whistle."

That explanation was pretty airtight.

After all, the dead can't crawl out of the ground and rip apart that mouth of his that only spouts nonsense.

Le Wuya then asked, "That yamen runner who set up Xiao Zhong... the one named A Shun—was he one of the soldiers from the mine too? Since he's still in the county, bring him here right away. I've got questions for him."

Hearing this, Zhou Wenchang let out a barely noticeable sigh and replied, "You're working yourself too hard, Your Honor."

He called out, "A Fu, go to the yamen and have them bring A Shun out."

This "A Fu" was a jailer who'd been hovering uncertainly outside the prison.

Hearing the order, he froze for a second, then yelped "Aye!" and took off at a sprint.

Le Wuya arched an eyebrow.

Around Zhou Wenchang, besides the County Vice Magistrate and the secretary, there were plenty of yamen attendants too.

Why did he single out this jailer to run the errand?

Even though Le Wuya had been busy passing the time playing grass fights with Qin Xingyue, he'd also used this short stretch in prison to take in everything going on inside.

If he wasn't wrong, this "A Fu" seemed to keep a special eye on Wang Cheng, glancing back at him every so often?

Was he just kinder than everyone else?

Le Wuya dropped his gaze, pretending not to notice. "Let's go."

Zhou Wenchang said, "The sun outside is brutal, Your Honor. Hold on a moment, and I'll have a sedan chair brought around."

Le Wuya replied, "No need for all that. Just have a horse brought."

Zhou Wenchang readily agreed: "Whatever Your Honor prefers."

The group filed out of the county prison and headed straight for the county yamen.

But just as they reached the yamen gate, that kind-hearted A Fu came stumbling out in a panic. Seeing Le Wuya and his crew arrive so fast, his legs buckled, and he went sprawling, crawling up to them.

"Your Honor, A Shun..." A Fu gasped, breathless, "he's dead!"

Le Wuya stopped dead, locking his gaze on Zhou Wenchang.

The color of his pupils wasn't like a normal person's, and having him stare at you felt like being watched by some mountain spirit.

Zhou Wenchang pushed down the faint unease in his chest and demanded, "Dead!? How'd he die?"

A Fu said, his face all twisted with grief, "The one tending to him said he had many wounds on his body. Maybe out in the open wilds, the smell of blood drew in poisonous bugs. His wounds got badly infected, and once he was brought into the yamen, he spiked a fever that wouldn't break no matter what they did. Just now, when they brought water in... he was already cold and stiff."

Le Wuya flicked his sleeve and walked on in.

Once Le Wuya was out of sight, A Fu scrambled to his feet and whispered, "Your Honor, the second master's back."

Zhou Wenchang's face hardened, and he snapped, "What? Didn't I tell him to stay at the mine?"

A Fu stammered, at a loss for words.

Secretary Lin, who'd overheard, quickly chimed in under his breath to smooth things over: "Your Honor, Wen Huan's return isn't necessarily a bad thing. He's young and doesn't hold any official rank, so he runs into all sorts of obstacles getting things done. Besides, I can see that this Censor is one who trades on his looks and acts willfully—picky and difficult to please. If he learned that you'd sent Wen Huan, he'd likely find even more fault with you. Why not let me set out immediately and take Wen Huan's place at the mine?"

Up ahead, that Censor who traded on his looks and acted willfully was walking inside with his hands behind his back, led by Deputy Magistrate Jian.

Wang Cheng and Zhong Piaoping, having been notified, had hurried over from the rear hall and stood waiting with heads bowed. Both had white cloth wrapped around their heads, looking like a pair of brothers in misfortune.

Ji Zhun lurked quietly in the back, feeling somewhat guilty.

Seeing all three of them intact, Le Wuya turned around and said with a half-smile, "If the secretary is going, then take Wang Cheng and Ji Zhun along with you."

At these words, Secretary Lin broke out in a cold sweat, a tingling sensation running down his spine like an electric shock. He stammered, "Your Honor, Captain Wang... he has injuries..."

Le Wuya said, "Thank you for the medicine. He's fine—it was I, that picky and difficult person, who told him to fake it for your benefit."

Secretary Lin was drenched in sweat, hanging his head in silence, not daring to utter another word.

And Ji Zhun, who'd been inexplicably named, looked around in bewilderment and pointed at himself. "...Me?"

Seeking to befriend these people, to blend in among them and gather intelligence for Lord Wang Su—that had indeed been his original purpose.

...But the situation now seemed vastly different from what he'd envisioned.