139 The Truth Hidden in Catkin (2/2)
”If I know how to do it, what's the point to have you here?” Xu Chongshan glared back and angrily said, ”As a deputy commander, I am busy dealing with official business, how can I have time to deal with such a little matter?”
”It is not a supernatural soldier or a magical talisman, it's just a section. How could it be so influential? That Prince Long Qing is also a trouble. I actually need to send soldiers to maintain order at Peach Alley. He is just a little more handsome than other men, why all the girls and wives in Chang'an are so crazy about him?”
After these words, the deputy commander left with a flick of his sleeves. A faint compliance of him could be heard, ”What a messy world!”
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The peach flowers in Chang'an city haven't in a full bloom, while the flowers in Jingyuan graveyard at suburb have just got numerous pinky flower buds. The graveyard located among forests and mountains. People who had the right to bury here mostly were officers or rich businessmen of Tang Empire. Now it was a good time to have an out in spring and visit graves. Dense puffs of gray smokes were following graves and in front of a flame prevention screen was a warm heap of piling up ashes from the burning of paper money.
A slender middle-aged man in a gray robe stood at the highest place of the graveyard, silently watching the movement below. He didn't walk down from it until people in front of the stone grave left there.
Looking at the introduction of censor Zhang Yiqi, the middle-aged man in a gray robe kept silent for a moment, and then he came to the tomb. His right hand slowly touched the newly cut grass and his palm was very close to the root of the grass but not completely touched it.
This man was called Lin Ling. He was a martial arts expert and a psyche master in a seethrough state. He acted under the order of General Xia Hou to investigate the truth of the death of Zhang Yiqi and arrived at Chang'an in early winter. During the half a year, he read many files about the three homicide cases with the help of his friends in Military Ministry and went to the smithy at the east of the city and also went to the pavilion at south several times. As for this graveyard, it was his fourth time to come here.
There were few questionable points in the last two homicide cases, but a case without a murder was the biggest questionable one. Yet this martial arts master couldn't find out any connections between these two cases. What's more, he was under the command of General Xia Hou to investigate secretly. So before he found any conclusive evidence, it was inconvenient to get in touch with relevant departments in court, and naturally, there was no way to get help from governments, such as the Chang'an local government.
As for the file about Censor Zhang Yiqi, Lin Ling has read it over and over again, yet he still couldn't find any questionable point. This case was more like a traffic accident which happened when an aged censor escaped from the brothel in a hurry because of his fear of his wife than a murder. However, what he didn't know was that because of the censor's wife was hard to get rid of, this file was so convincing that even experts from the court couldn't find out any questionable points.
If Lin Ling were others, he would leave Chang'an as no evidence could be found after months and submit his results to northeast Military Ministry. Yet Lin Ling was different from others. He was a man in a seethrough state and a soldier in Tang. Before being completely confirmed, he had enough perseverance and patience to preserve, not to mention that he knew better than anyone else that General Xia Hou and Military Counselor Gu Xi would never accept any vague conclusion.
Before departure, the Military Counselor Gu Xi had urged him that among the three homicide cases, the case of Zhang Yiqi was the most crucial one. In fact, the general didn't let him investigate whether the three cases had a connection but rather to make sure that the death of Zhang Yiqi was really a traffic accident and no questionable points were left.
”Suburb of Chang'an, graveyard for the rich...” Staring at the tomb, Lin Ling slightly raised his eyebrows, and sighed in an imperceptible voice, ”now that I can neither ask Chang'an local government to open the coffin of Zhang Yiqi and check his body nor open his coffin by myself, then how could I find out if there are any problems with the death of the censor?”
Although he got nothing and seemed to be caught in a dilemma, he never thought of leaving, instead he became more determined. He stept back a few steps and raised his blue robe to sit down on the ground.
What he did next would consume his practice a lot since it's more like searching a tiny stone hiding in the grass. Worst still, he himself didn't know whether there was a tiny stone. However, he still made up his mind to do it, because only in this way could he persuade himself to leave Chang'an.
Thus this strong man from northeast board army sat down among tombs, letting the catkin gently fall on his lapel and letting the young peach buds look at himself mockingly. He sat from morning to the afternoon. His shadow became short by the ramp length, and his face was getting paler.
A long time passed. Lin Ling slowly opened his eyes and glanced at the tomb not far away from him with a great shock. His eyes looked puzzled but relieved, because he had confirmed something or confirmed something he suspected.
Gently rising sleeves to wipe the sweat that was about to drip from his eyebrows, he struggled to stand up. Holding his wrist because of tiredness, he deeply breathed the air mixed with the smell of smoke above the tombs and slowly walked toward the Chang'an city.
On the second day, the tranquility of the tomb of Zhang Yiqi was disturbed once again. The people who came here were neither his ferocious wife who was in flood of tears nor his plump concubine who had no tears at all, but Lin Ling and several runners of Chang'an local government.
Today Lin Ling didn't wear his blue casual clothes but his military uniform, in which he seemed very doughty. Lin Ling turned back and bowed to a local government runner, gently said, ”Your honor, since I am already willing to sworn this with my life, may I ask when could we open his coffin?”
The runners scattered to make a room, then Shangguan Yangyu, the prefectural magistrate of Chang'an city, came over with his eyebrows frowned.