Under the moonlight, she suddenly noticed a small area next to the flagpole base where the ground was a slightly darker color than the surrounding area, as if it had been dug up and then filled back in at some point.
She walked over and squatted down, brushing away the surface sand with her hands. Sure enough, the edge of a blue brick was exposed underneath. But the blue brick was broken, and there was a shallow pit next to it, the bottom of which was empty.
Snow Empress's hand froze in mid-air. Yin Wujou saw her shoulders stiffen slightly, and her white robe trembled gently in the moonlight. He walked over, squatted down beside her, and reached into the pit. His fingertips touched a rough corner of paper, almost blended into the pit bottom by the mud. He carefully picked it up; it was a small piece of paper, charred at the edges, with only half a character remaining, but he recognized the strokes of the character—it was exactly the same handwriting as the old files of the Spirit Vein Bureau that Snow Empress had shown him before.
"It was dug up." Yin Wujou handed the scrap of paper to Snow Empress. "But the person who dug it up didn't fill the hole properly; you can still see the marks. This scrap of paper was accidentally left behind when they took the testimony."
Snow Empress took the scrap of paper and held it between her fingers. Her face was pale in the moonlight, but her eyes remained focused. She remained silent for a long time before speaking, "The only person who would have taken the testimony is Meng Qi. After he poisoned Lu Qingya, he must have sent people to search the prison. Perhaps the search wasn't thorough, and he only remembered the floor later. But this scrap of paper proves that the testimony was once here, and that someone took it."
"And then what?" Yin Wujou asked, "Will Meng Qi destroy the testimony, or keep it as leverage?"
Snow Empress tucked the tattered paper into her sleeve and stood up. " Meng Qi is a man who always leaves himself a backup plan. He kept a copy of the evidence he used to frame the Spirit Vein Bureau, and Cao Jing'an also has a draft of his handwritten instructions. He's used to keeping things that could be fatal to himself, and he won't destroy them unless absolutely necessary. That draft of the testimony is very likely still in the Meng residence."
Yin Wujou's eyes lit up. "The Meng residence is currently surrounded by the Imperial Guard, and Pei Jichuan's approval is required for entry and exit. If the testimony is still at the Meng residence, we can find it by searching the entire place."
Snow Empress shook her head. "Searching the mansion requires a search warrant from the Court of Judicial Review. Although Pei Jichuan is on our side, Meng Qi is an official appointed by the imperial court, and searching his residence requires solid evidence. This tattered piece of paper we have can only prove that the testimony once existed, not that it is still in the Meng residence."
The two walked out of the training ground in silence, climbed over the wall, and led their horses back. The night wind blew from the north, carrying the chill of early autumn, rustling the Yezi of the poplar trees by the roadside. Yin Wujou, riding his horse, suddenly pulled on the reins.
" Snow Empress," he called to the person in front, " Meng Qi has submitted his self-statement, admitting to 'oversight.' If we tell him that Cao Jing'an has already confessed, or that we forged a 'confession' of Cao Jing'an, saying that he revealed that the draft of his testimony was hidden in the Meng residence, wouldn't Meng Qi panic?"
Snow Empress reined in her horse and looked back at him. In the moonlight, half of Yin Wujou's face was obscured by the shadows of the trees, but his eyes were bright, with a sharpness that Snow Empress rarely saw in him.
"You mean you're bluffing him?"
"Yes." Yin Wujou spurred his horse closer. "What Meng Qi fears most right now is Cao Jing'an speaking. If Cao Jing'an confesses, all his trump cards will be useless. We don't need to actually fabricate a confession; we just need to make Meng Qi think Cao Jing'an has confessed. For example, we can have Pei Jichuan go to the Meng residence and announce that ' Cao Jing'an has revealed that the Meng residence possesses key evidence from the Spirit Vein Bureau's old case, and a search will be conducted tomorrow.' In a panic, Meng Qi will transfer or destroy the testimony. And as soon as he does so, we can intercept him."
Snow Empress pondered for a moment on horseback, then suddenly chuckled softly. This time, Yin Wujou saw it clearly; she did indeed smile. Although the curve of her lips was not large, something bright shone in her eyes.
"That's a good idea." She turned her horse around and headed towards the city gate. "Go find Pei Jichuan first thing tomorrow morning. Go back to sleep tonight. You were busy at the armory all day yesterday, and your hand injury hasn't healed yet. Don't push yourself."
Yin Wujou looked down at his fingers, which were wrapped in a white cloth. The blisters had subsided, but they still hurt a little when pressed. He urged his horse to catch up with Snow Empress, and the two horses rode side by side on the official road under the moonlight. In the distance, the outline of the capital city lay quietly in the night, and a few lanterns on the city towers swayed in the wind, like a few faint stars suspended between heaven and earth.
Yin Wujou suddenly remembered something. " The Snow Empress."
"Um?"
"Once this is all over, you said you wanted to find a secluded place to get a good night's sleep. That place... have you decided where you want to go?"
Snow Empress did not answer immediately. She remained seated on her horse, her white robes fluttering in the night wind, the moonlight outlining her slender profile. A long time passed, so long that Yin Wujou thought she had no intention of answering, before she softly said, " Southern Frontier. Mu Canglan said there are hot springs in the mountains there, and it's not cold in winter."
Yin Wujou paused for a moment, then laughed. "Then I'll go too. I'll watch the door for you."
Snow Empress glanced at him sideways, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. But as she spurred her horse forward, Yin Wujou clearly saw the corners of her mouth curve slightly again. The two returned in silence to the safe house in the east of the city, tied their horses to the shed in the backyard, and went to their respective rooms to sleep. The night was already deep, and the capital city breathed quietly in the cool autumn air. Tomorrow, there would be one last tough battle to fight.
The next morning, after listening to Yin Wujou's plan, Pei Jichuan pondered for a moment and nodded. "Trying to trick him is fine. But if we're going to do it, we should do it properly. I'll have a constable disguise himself as one of Cao Jing'an's close attendants and deliver a 'secret letter sent by Cao Jing'an through someone' to the Meng residence, saying that Cao Jing'an has confessed and that Meng Qi should make plans as soon as possible. If Meng Qi believes it, he will definitely check if the testimony is still there."
"And then?" Yin Wujou asked.
"Then our men will be keeping watch around the Meng residence." Pei Jichuan unfolded a map of the Meng residence and pointed to the artificial hill in the backyard. "There's an artificial hill in the back garden of the Meng residence, and beneath it is a secret passage leading outside the residence. Meng Qi specially dug it when he built the mansion, just in case. If he wants to change his testimony, he's most likely to use this secret passage. I'll place people at the exit of the secret passage; as soon as he sends someone out, we'll catch him red-handed."
After listening from the side, Snow Empress added, "We still need to continue interrogating Cao Jing'an. A false confession can only fool Meng Qi for a while; only a true confession can convict him. Vice Minister Pei, Cao Jing'an is a former member of the Spirit Vein Bureau; let me interrogate him."
Pei Jichuan hesitated for a moment. It was against protocol to have a suspect with a "deferred arrest warrant" interrogate another. But looking into Snow Empress's almost transparently calm eyes, and recalling the horrific scenes of over three hundred deaths at the Spirit Vein Bureau in the case files, he finally nodded. "I'll send two officers with you. They won't record the conversation or take statements; they'll only act as witnesses."