The third murder case in the Taishi Library was suppressed by the Supreme Court. Yu Shu went to the Celestial Commissioner's office the next day and saw that everyone was talking about yesterday's Water and Land Conference in the palace. It was as if Zhan Xueyuan's death was like a stone falling into the sea, unable to cause any ripples.
Last night, Junior Supervisor Ren gave the order to find several masters proficient in forecasting rain in every corner of the capital.
When Yu Shu entered the meeting hall early in the morning, she saw several unfamiliar faces sitting there. They were not wearing official robes. Some were slightly reserved, and some were generous.
Ren Qiming was sitting in the same position as yesterday. His clothes were wrinkled, and he looked tired. It seemed that he did not go back last night.
When everyone was present, Ren Qiming briefly introduced the masters and went straight to the point. "According to the divination of these masters, it is very likely that there will be rain today. If it doesn't rain by noon, we will have to wait until the afternoon."
Everyone looked happy. After a few words of discussion, they heard him suppress the voices of the crowd and continue, "I have already asked for instructions from the Great Supervisor. Now I want to pick a candidate among you to try to pray for rain at the Water and Land Conference in the afternoon in order to expose the Onmyoji's scheme. Who is willing to recommend himself?"
This time, everyone was silent again.
No one's heart was for nothing. It was not certain whether it would rain or not. The sky outside was clear and bright, and there was no sign of rain at all. At that time, if they prayed for rain, it would be a merit. If not, they would become the scapegoat.
It was a small matter for them to lose face, but it represented the shame of the entire Great Peace Sect. They would not be able to survive in the future.
Like everyone else, Yu Shu pretended to be mute, but she was thinking about something else.
Ren Qiming's face darkened. His gaze swept over their heads and fell on one person. He asked, "Left Judge Xin, who do you think should be responsible for this?"
Xin Ya blinked and pretended to think for a moment. She asked, "This … Junior Supervisor, may I ask, did these masters calculate the exact time of rain today? Yesterday, when we saw the Onmyoji, it was raining on the spot. If we only know that it will rain but don't know the exact time, I'm afraid it will be self-defeating."
Hearing this, everyone heaved a sigh of relief.
Yu Shu looked at Xin Ya from the corner of her eyes, thinking that he really knows how to play the good guy.
Ren Qiming didn't answer him. Instead, he turned to Jing Chen on the other side and asked, "What do you think?"
Jing Chen saw that everyone was avoiding his gaze and said, "Leave this matter to me."
Ren Qiming didn't seem to be surprised by his answer. He sighed slightly and nodded, acquiescing.
Everyone heaved a sigh of relief. Thinking about it, it was indeed the most suitable thing for Jing Chen to do. If he succeeded, then he succeeded. If he failed, then he had the Emperor's protection and trust. Who could blame him?
After settling this matter, there was still another headache.
"As for the talk about resurrection …" Ren Qiming frowned and said, "Although I didn't see it with my own eyes, I'm sure it's just a trick. It's nothing to be afraid of."
After exposing the Onmyoji's trick last night, the officials were no longer suspicious and agreed with Ren Qiming's words.
Someone asked, "Does Sir know how they are going to perform the art of resurrection in front of everyone?"
Cao Zuoling, who was resting with his eyes closed, opened his eyes and said, "Yesterday, after the meeting ended, someone from Swan Temple came and conveyed the Japanese envoy's request. They are asking for a condemned prisoner and a dog, but they didn't reveal the details. However, Junior Supervisor is right. Based on what he said about resurrection and supernatural beings, it can't be real. Everyone, keep your eyes open. If you see anything fishy, it's best to point it out on the spot. Don't be afraid. "
Hearing this, the group of people nodded in agreement.
.....
After the morning meeting, everyone went to make preparations, especially Jing Chen, who led the Yi masters who predicted Qingyu out. Before Yu Shu left, she was stopped by Ren Qiming.
"Female Imperial Official."
After everyone left, only Yu Shu and Ren Qiming were left in the hall.
"Junior Supervisor, what did you call me for?"
"I heard that someone died in Taishi Library yesterday. Did you and Daozi go to take a look?" Ren Qiming asked.
Yu Shu nodded hesitantly.
"Tell me in detail."
Yu Shu wasn't sure if Ren Qiming knew about the secret of the Daan Disaster and the Life Breaker, so she pretended not to know and said, "The person who died was a female official of the Taicheng Department who was dismissed. She was the young lady of the Zhan family in Jiangxi Fengshui. It seems that she was strangled to death and then drowned in a well. I don't know who she offended before she died."
"Drowned in a well after death …" Ren Qiming said to himself and asked her, "Last night, the guard said that the constables of the Supreme Court came to ask Daozi for an inquiry. What's going on?"
Yu Shu then told him the clue of finding Jing Chen's lost academician's signature by the well.
After hearing this, Ren Qiming frowned hard and said, "There have been consecutive murders in Taishi Library, and most of them are related to Daozi. This matter isn't simple. You and Daozi are old acquaintances. As an official of the imperial court, you should be careful. In my opinion, you shouldn't go to the library before the murderer is caught. "
Yu Shu blinked her eyelids slightly, looked up at Ren Qiming, and nodded slowly.
She was sure that Ren Qiming was also an "insider". Otherwise, why would Ren Qiming suddenly care about her based on the grudge between them and the pain of losing his finger?
"You should also go and prepare."
"I'll take my leave."
Yu Shu turned around, and her gaze sank. Xue Rui's analysis last night was correct. The reason the Emperor and the others cared about her life and death now was because Jing Chen's fate had yet to be resolved, but once the Great Calamity of Calamity's fate was resolved, whether she lived or died wouldn't matter anymore.
This couldn't work. She had to take action. She couldn't just rely on Xue Rui to find a way out for her.
Walking out of the meeting hall, Yu Shu looked up at the clear sky and narrowed her eyes.
First, she wanted to let them know that she wasn't just a tool in human form.
In the blink of an eye, it was afternoon. The Celestial Commissioner led the Yi Masters into the palace.
The Yi Masters who weren't in the palace didn't know that the Celestial Commissioner had already come up with a strategy. They only knew that they were humiliated by a foreign envoy yesterday. After a night, they saw the Dong Ying envoy again in the palace. All of them looked at him coldly.
There were a few plates of brightly colored fruits on the imperial table. It was obvious that they were foreign goods.
The Emperor of Zhao Qing was playing with a yellow hard fruit in his hand. He looked down from above. Under his thick eyebrows were a pair of slightly sunken eyes. The beard on his lips covered the corners of his mouth, making it hard to tell whether he was in a good mood.
He said to the envoys, "Originally, you should have seen the unique skill of the Yi Masters in my dynasty today. But with the Dong Ying Onmyoji's resurrection skill, I don't want them to show off their slight skill in front of an expert."
Then, he looked around the hall. "I guess you are the same as me. You want to see the magic of resurrection."
The Imperial Astronomer did not make a sound, and the civil and military officials did not stupidly flatter him. Everyone knew in their hearts that although the Emperor wanted to see the trick of reviving the dead, he might not want to see the Great An Yi Master being defeated.
Yu Shu looked at the Japanese envoy opposite her, who had a braid on his head, and saw him stand up and bow: "This minister will let Mr. Abe show Your Majesty the unique method of resurrection. When Your Majesty witnesses it, I hope that you will agree as promised. Our country will exchange two precious Onmyojis for that uninhabited island."
The Emperor of Zhao Qing smiled. "My words carry enormous weight."
He put the hard fruit in his hand back on the plate and said, "I heard that you asked the Swan Temple for death row criminals and dogs to perform the resurrection skill. I asked them to prepare it."
After that, he didn't care about everyone's expression and signaled for the eunuch to pass the message. Not long after, a guard came in with a wooden box and a cage.
There was a dog in the cage. Its greyish-yellow fur was specially washed. Coming to an unfamiliar environment, it whimpered uneasily and spun around in the cage.
As for the wooden box, they couldn't see what was inside. But from the words of the Emperor of Zhao Qing, everyone could guess what was inside.
Whispers could be heard.
Fortunately, there wasn't a single imperial censor in the hall today. Otherwise, they would jump out and criticize the Emperor for his ridiculous behavior.
A few civil officials frowned and secretly shook their heads. But seeing that the two Prime Ministers, Xue and Yin, didn't move, they didn't try to persuade the Emperor.
This death row criminal was found from the Ministry of Justice. The Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Lord Li, naturally had to say something. "According to Ambassador Yamada's request, this is the criminal who was hanged yesterday. I personally arranged it. No one else knows about it."
Yu Shu looked at the middle-aged man who spoke and remembered that her new residence on Baochang Street wasn't far from this Lord Li's residence.
Yamada Jiro worriedly walked forward and opened the box to check. The guards didn't stop him since the Emperor didn't say anything.
When the box was opened, some people subconsciously turned their heads away, not looking.
Yamada Jiro was very bold. Not only did he use his eyes, but he also reached out to feel the breath and heartbeat of the condemned criminal.
"Kuiko, come here." He called out to Abe Kuiko, who was sitting on his seat, in Japanese.
Yu Shu saw the fair-skinned and delicate Dong Ying youth leave his seat and walk forward. His small face was tense as he looked down at the box. His light-colored eyes looked a bit dull and unfocused.
Yu Shu stared at the youth. She felt that his face was unnaturally pale. There were small patches of dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't rested well for a few days.
She couldn't tell what was wrong with his every move, but there was a sense of incongruity.
After Abe Kuiko confirmed the corpse of the condemned criminal, Yamada Jiro announced to everyone: "Abe-sama told me that the soul of this condemned criminal hasn't left the human world yet. She will use a spell to summon the soul and bring the dead person back to life."
Everyone was skeptical of such sensational words.
Abe Kuiko probably couldn't understand what the others were talking about. Through Yamada Jiro's translation, she asked for a tool from the guard — a pair of scissors. She cut off a strand of the hair of the dead corpse in the box. She took out a talisman that she had already drawn and wrapped it around the strand of hair. Then, she lit a white candle and placed it outside the cage of the dog.
Then, she half-knelt in front of the cage, held the paper bag in one hand, and softly chanted an incantation that was difficult for others to understand.
The strange thing was that the dog in the cage, who was initially vigilant and uneasy, slowly calmed down. In the end, it obediently lay down with its head drooping on its front paws, as if it had fallen asleep. It didn't bark at all.
Many people unconsciously became nervous when they saw this situation.
Abe Kuiko lit the paper bag with the hair of the condemned criminal on the candle flame, burned a handful of ashes, and gathered them in a plate. She bent down and gently blew at the dog in the cage.
"Whew."
The next moment, the dog that had just fallen asleep stood up with a whoosh, as if its tail had been stepped on. It turned its head in horror and looked around, then lowered its head to look at its four dog legs. Suddenly, it let out a heart-wrenching scream —
"Woof!"
That panicked look was like a person who found out that he had turned into a dog, and he was scared to death.
There was complete silence in the east and west seats.
"What's your name?" The Dong Ying young man's soft voice, and the Daan language she spoke was actually more standard than the envoys of the other countries. But because the person she asked was a dog, people didn't have time to be surprised.
"Woof, woof!"
"Don't be afraid, answer my question."
"Woof, woof, woof, woof …"
The man and the dog were surrounded by the crowd and "chatted" for a while.
Dozens of eyes of the Celestial Commissioner stared at them, and it was unknown how many people remembered to look for flaws.
"Reporting to the Daan Saint Emperor." After Abe Kuiko communicated with the dog, he didn't ask Yamada Jiro to translate. Instead, he bowed his head and respectfully told Emperor Zhao Qing, "This sinner who came back from the dead said that his surname was Sun and his name was Er. He used to be a servant in a rich family, and because he killed his master's favorite concubine, he was sentenced to death."
Emperor Zhao Qing turned his head expressionlessly and looked at the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice.
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