"As you all know, General Han... the Han Rebel did rise in revolt, but the Han family has three Pillars of the State in a single household. Supreme Pillar of the State Lord Han, who captured the Han Rebel himself, kept calling it a disgrace to his family, but he also instructed us to treat his nephew well. When we reached Tong Pass, General Han Yingong said the same, and countless former subordinates and disciples of the Han family told us so along the way. How could we dare defy them? So we treated him with courtesy throughout the journey.
"In fact, back in Chang'an, the Han Rebel told us that he was certain to die on this journey. Without living in drunkenness, how could he die in a dream? I thought that made a fair bit of sense...
"At first, the Han Rebel drank alone. Once we left Chang'an, we began drinking with him. There were never any problems...
"Later, after we passed Tong Pass, with the Eastern Capital in sight, the rain blocked the road, and we grew a little more casual. We simply drank for three days straight. The first two days were fine: he drank himself unconscious, while we went back perfectly well. But on the last day, when we heard the road was open, suddenly we were the ones who drank ourselves unconscious. When we woke up, he was gone..."
There were roughly three people with authority in the escort sent from the Western Capital: a commandant of the Jinwu Guard, an assistant director sent by the Ministry of Justice, and, naturally, a eunuch from the Northern Office.
And all three of them had actually joined in the drinking.
"That was what happened."
At dusk, in the courtyard of Taolin Post Station, once the three men who had stepped forward to receive them had more or less finished speaking, Qian Tang immediately turned to Bai Yousi. "What do you think, Inspector?"
"What do you think, Brother Hu?" Bai Yousi turned to Hu Yan instead.
"There must have been planning and outside assistance." Hu Yan frowned slightly. "Repeated drinking to lull the guards, then suddenly drugging them, unlocking the restraints afterward and escaping without alerting anyone-with the summer rain falling continuously and the roads muddy, he would also have needed someone to help him hide once he got out... but if that's the case, there's another question: just how detailed was this plan?"
"Exactly." Qian Tang frowned as well. "The drugs were most likely administered by whoever was helping him, but how did they decide when to do it? By the date, the location, or a decision made as an opportunity arose? If it was the last, who made the decision, and what opportunity were they waiting for? The most interesting part is that they encountered a road washed out by flash floods ahead of Taolin Post Station and were forced to wait three days. Then, just when the road was repaired and they were about to leave, when everyone was most relaxed, they suddenly acted... were the flash floods part of their plan too?"
Bai Yousi looked at Zhang Xing next.
Helpless, Zhang Xing could only nod perfunctorily. "Inspector, White Ribbon Qian probably means we should consider the possibility of an accomplice among the escort officers and soldiers."
Bai Yousi was utterly speechless. Of course she understood that. She wanted to hear whether Zhang Xing, who had performed so well lately, had any other insights. If he wanted a promotion, he had to do some work.
Yet Zhang Xing felt just as helpless. This simply was not his forte, and Qian Tang was clearly putting in so much effort because he felt his position was threatened. Was Zhang Xing supposed to add fuel to the fire?
In fact, after the operation in the Southern City that day, more than one person had been stirred into action by the catfish that was Zhang Xing.
"In short," Qian Tang nodded, his concluding words coming ever more rapidly, "I believe we should start by investigating the inside accomplice... and if there really is one, it ought to be one of these three. We should subject them to severe torture now and question them thoroughly."
The newly arrived Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry, the Jinwu Guard officers and soldiers and Ministry of Justice clerks from the escort, and the officials of Taolin Post Station itself-everyone in the courtyard turned to look at the three escort leaders.
Only after a moment did the assistant director from the Ministry of Justice catch on. "You mean to torture us? You suspect us of being accomplices?"
Bai Yousi nodded.
"No." The Jinwu Guard commandant paled and hastily protested his innocence. "If that were true, why wouldn't we have left with General Han?"
"Inspector." The eunuch, the last of the three, swallowed as well. "I'm from the palace. I answer to the Northern Office..."
"Gentlemen, gentlemen." Li Qingchen stepped forward with a hand on his saber, gripping its hilt as he reminded them impatiently, "Stop playing dumb... who is Han Shixiong? With a case this monstrous, now that he's escaped, can the three of you still be officials? Do you really still think you're officials? Answer to the Northern Office, indeed... to put it bluntly, even if you really were wronged today, so what? You'd deserve it even if you were beaten to death, and no one would seek justice for you!"
"Strip these three criminals of their official robes, take them to the woodshed door, and string them up. Give them twenty lashes to break their spirit before we discuss anything else!" Taking his meaning, Bai Yousi issued her order coldly.
Whatever else might be said, this inspector never fell short of anyone when it came to acting with the force of thunder and the speed of the wind.
The three stood dumbfounded, their hands and feet icy, but the Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry had already swarmed forward and begun stripping off their official robes. They instinctively struggled and protested their innocence, only for the patrolmen to set upon them from every side, swinging their scabbards and first raining seven or eight blows over their heads and faces, sending blood spurting from their noses.
The sight had already left the other escort officers and soldiers in the station courtyard trembling in both legs, almost ready to flee.
"Inspector!"
Amid the confusion, the Ministry of Justice assistant director, his clothes half stripped off and half a snow-white shoulder exposed, suddenly clung to a patrolman's thigh. With his head lowered, he took the opportunity to make an accusation toward Bai Yousi, who stood holding her sword. "I have something to confess... that Eunuch Han accepted fifty taels of gold from General Han... the Han Rebel, on the way. At Tong Pass, he even claimed kinship with General Han Yingong. If there's an accomplice, he must be the likeliest one!"
"That's right."
The Jinwu Guard commandant hastily raised his voice too. "Old dog Han is a eunuch. He thought he could escape with his life under the Northern Office's protection, whereas he'd have nowhere to go if he fled... he's different from the two of us... it has to be him!"
"You two bastards!" With his upper garments torn completely open and even his trousers half pulled down, Eunuch Han was both shocked and furious. As he gave up resisting, tears began to fall as well. "Didn't you get your shares when we took the money? When General Han Yingong asked us to look after the Han Rebel, who dropped straight to his knees and called him Commander? On the last day of drinking, I said we should get moving now that the road was repaired. Who was it who spouted that affected literary nonsense about 'spending another half a lifetime drunk'? How can you dump it all on me?"
Yet no matter how the three defended themselves and implicated one another, Bai Yousi remained coldly silent. Naturally, the patrolmen paid them no heed either. They stripped off all three men's official robes, leaving each in only his underdrawers, and really did hang them beneath the woodshed eaves and give them twenty vicious, spirit-breaking lashes in front of everyone.
Then, without letting them down or allowing them a change of clothes, she simply sent Qian Tang over with four or five heavy-handed men to question them in detail.
Every couple of questions brought a couple of howls from someone. With the station's yellow dog, disturbed by the commotion, coming over to bark from time to time, it truly was like musical accompaniment.
Meanwhile, Hu Yan had already taken Qin Bao and several other earnest, conscientious men to inquire into the source of the wine, inspect the station's layout, and analyze the escape route. Li Qingchen clasped his hands behind his back and strode proudly over to introduce Inspector Bai's family background to the clerks and soldiers of the escort, displaying the document stamped with the great seal of Lord Cao, Intendant of the Jing'an Directorate...
For a time, it all looked quite professional.
Naturally so. Bai Yousi's Patrol Group was ranked second in the Jing'an Directorate. It had someone like Bai Yousi, with her formidable martial strength and top-tier aristocratic standing, as its core and the support for its upper limits; an experienced veteran like Hu Yan to assist and shore up its foundation; and men like Qian Tang, Li Qingchen, and Qin Bao as its framework-men of different backgrounds and temperaments who could generally all be called talented young men.
Together, they were a match for any of their peers in the Jing'an Directorate.
By comparison, the fact that Zhang Xing could so quickly become one of them and win their recognition, even faintly stand out among them, to the point that Bai Yousi privately placed high hopes in him, suggested that, for better or worse, he did amount to something.
Yet just as everyone was bringing out their best skills, ready to ease their inspector's burdens, Zhang Xing seemed somewhat less attentive. At dusk, beneath Bai Yousi's gaze, he rested a hand on his saber and walked toward the sunset glow into the peach grove south of Taolin Post Station, where he began picking peaches.
It was high summer, and the peaches tasted quite good. The station officials were badly frightened just then, scarcely having time even to cry, much less daring to set the dog on him.
After he had eaten about three peaches and gotten fuzz all over his mouth, Her Ladyship the Incorruptible Judge finally lost patience. She walked straight over with her longsword in her arms, her expression frighteningly dark:
"Zhang Xing, do you have nothing to do?"
Zhang Xing did not hurry to answer. Instead, he offered her a large peach.
Bai Yousi paused, then remained immovable.
"Here's the thing. I have a family heirloom. You should have seen it once before, Inspector." Helplessly, Zhang Xing shifted the peach to his other hand, then took the Compass from inside his robe and showed it to her. "It works wonders when it comes to finding people... in other words, as long as you want me to, Inspector, I can find Han Shixiong's location for you right now. Alive, we'll find the man; dead, we'll find his corpse... then you'll have settled a matter for your family, I'll get promoted, our brothers will make a fortune, and everything will be taken care of."
Bai Yousi stared for quite a while before recovering, but she remained doubtful and asked earnestly, "Is there a price?"
"Yes." Holding the Compass, Zhang Xing answered sincerely. "Every time I use it myself, I have to undergo a life-or-death trial, so I've always been unwilling to use it unless I feel I have no other choice... as for other people who've used it, every single one has died so far."
Bai Yousi considered for a moment, then suddenly laughed. "Now I do believe you a little. But if that's really true, wouldn't I be all the more afraid to use it? Why bring it out?"
"I'm not asking you to use it, Inspector." Zhang Xing smiled too. "I'll give it a try... besides, without the Compass, this tangled skein of a case would be far too difficult. And if we really did trace him to somewhere like the military camp at Tong Pass, wouldn't that still mean staking our lives on a fight?"
"Don't cheapen your own life for a mere White Ribbon, and don't abuse such external aids," Bai Yousi replied seriously. "I say we investigate properly and steadily, and follow the trail to whoever it leads to. If we really can't find anything and have no choice left, there's no harm in trying it then. But I, Bai Yousi, will be the one to use it... how could I presume to trade a subordinate's life for my own peace?"
Zhang Xing's expression grew a little more solemn. He wanted to cup his hands in salute, but he was holding a peach, so he simply took a bite and tossed it onto the ground before saluting. "A wise judgment, Inspector."
"Li Ding is still in the station, but he hasn't shown his face at all..." Bai Yousi glanced at him and simply gave an order. "Since you've eaten so many peaches, go question him."
Zhang Xing had no objection.
P.S. Thanks to our new alliance leader zjsf, the fiftieth alliance leader for this book. Special thanks as well to reader The Trees Are Like This 12 for the second and third alliance-leader contributions... I'm endlessly grateful.
Starting the day before the New Year's holiday, the back of my head suddenly began to hurt. It's been troubling me for two days, leaving me struggling with updates. My apologies to everyone. I hope I can get back into form as soon as possible before the book goes premium.
Finally, keep having a happy New Year, everyone.
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