Ch. 221Bring the Living Back First
Yuan Yu, Qian Renxue, and Hu Liena investigated forged seals, falsified orders, and counterfeit crossbow mechanisms while escorting witnesses and tracing the stolen grain shipment. At Jialing Pass, they found the grain stores dwindling and received a blood-marked plea from Feng Ce: “Save my family.”
- Qian Renxue confirmed that someone had copied an Old Rubbing to forge a seal, and she ordered the verification officer to document who had accessed it.
- Hu Liena traced the missing officials’ names to forged collection slips bearing Feng Ce’s name, while Bibi Dong assigned the three investigators separate leads and arranged protection for Lu Ping and Zheng Jiu.
- Yuan Yu and Qian Renxue showed the Crossbow Mechanism to a Tang Sect craftsman, who found that its copied design would cause the weapon to jam.
- Tang San’s reply confirmed that the shipment numbers were genuine but the grain wagons remained in the Heaven Dou warehouse, and he urged them to compare original records at the pass.
- At Jialing Pass, Yuan Yu and Qian Renxue found damp grain, dwindling supplies, and soldiers receiving tallies instead of rice; Qian Renxue recorded the shortage for Bibi Dong.
- Qian Renxue received a blood-smeared note signed by Feng Ce asking them to save his family.