Clear Garden Temple was actually a vast establishment, with extensive connections in every quarter, including at least a few princes and imperial consorts. Yet now its people could be arrested and seized at a word. Su Ziji felt rather conflicted, then saw Jian Qu look at him and add, "Also, it seems Luo Pei is about to be released."
"Oh?" Su Ziji stopped and glanced over the garden. After a long while, he gave a thoughtful chuckle. "That's a little unexpected, but on reflection, it really is time to let him out."
"He's a third-rank official. They have to give him some sort of explanation. They can't keep him locked up indefinitely without settling anything."
Luo Pei was really just an unlucky bastard. He had committed no other offense; he had merely happened to offer sacrifices to the Dragon Maiden, after which an unusual celestial configuration had appeared. In a case like this, if they actually killed him, that would simply be his bad luck. But if they did not, they had to provide an explanation.
Once released, he would probably even be restored to his former post.
"Only, I'm afraid he'll never enter the Grand Secretariat now."
By ordinary reasoning, if someone had been wrongly imprisoned, they ought to receive compensation upon release. Politics did not work that way. A routine investigation was one thing, but in a case like this, or something more serious, even someone proven innocent would still be considered an "unreliable element."
Su Ziji remembered a case involving the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty. Having himself been draped in the yellow robe, the emperor was exceptionally sensitive about his generals. Someone accused a favored general of the Imperial Guards of plotting rebellion. Furious, the emperor ordered the authorities to torture him severely. Later, they