SGEIRS -Chapter 393 Finding an Excuse

Sun Chen’s death was connected to Wei.

“Sun Chen” referred to the former former magistrate, Lord Sun, and the previous magistrate, Lord Chen.

And “Wei” most likely referred to Lord Wei, the prefect of Huzhou Prefecture. Lord Wei was their superior, and it seemed they must have had some leverage over him—otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent someone to silence him.

The couple looked over the contents of the letters but weren’t particularly shocked, because even before finding any concrete evidence, they had already suspected Lord Wei.

Meng Jinyao spoke softly, “Husband, it really does seem that Lord Wei is behind this.”

Gu Jingxi nodded slightly and opened another package wrapped in oiled paper, finding two letters inside. Opening one of them, he noticed the handwriting was not Lord Liu’s. This letter was hastily written, with rough strokes, and the ink hadn’t fully dried before the paper was folded. The ink had smudged the paper black in places, but the text was still legible.

The letter contained only a dozen or so words:

“Shen Qinghe, Shen Qingshan, Li family, Lord Prefect Wei, Lord Sun silenced.”

Meng Jinyao frowned. “Husband, this must be written by Lord Chen. He wrote it in such a hurry, surely knowing he wouldn’t survive. This letter was probably discovered by Lord Liu, who had been sent to investigate. Following the clues, Lord Liu would have uncovered Lord Wei’s involvement—and so he was silenced too.”

Gu Jingxi nodded. After reading the two letters, the case became clear: it all started with Shen Qinghe’s death. Lord Sun had sentenced the young master of the Li family to execution by beheading. Lord Wei, bribed, overturned Lord Sun’s judgment, forcing Shen Qingshan to confess. Later, Lord Sun continued to pursue the case, pressing Lord Wei, probably because he had discovered something. That’s why Lord Wei silenced him. Later, Lord Chen had dealings with the Li family’s father, presumably also secretly investigating the matter.

After a moment, Gu Jingxi opened the second letter. The handwriting was Lord Liu’s. It recorded the causes of death of the two previous magistrates—both due to Lord Wei. Lord Wei had accepted bribes, resulting in wrongful convictions that caused innocent people to suffer and die. The bribery was not an isolated incident, but much of the evidence had been destroyed.

Gu Jingxi set the letter down. This was expected. Before coming to Deqing County, he had already known that Lord Wei had taken bribes, but he had found no private accounts or correspondence to prove it—there was no way to definitively establish the crime.

Meng Jinyao wondered aloud, “Lord Liu placed the letters in two different locations, probably thinking not to put all eggs in one basket. But why would he hide a letter on a beam? Ordinary people wouldn’t think to look there—wasn’t he afraid no one would find it?”

Gu Jingxi replied, “Usually, such things are marked. A careful searcher who notices similar marks in both rooms would figure it out. Even someone like Mobei coming today would likely find it. When I investigated cases with Lord Liu before, we used similar marks to locate evidence.”

Curious, Meng Jinyao asked, “Where did you find the evidence that time?”

Gu Jingxi said, “In the outhouse. Such a filthy place—most people wouldn’t search there. Without the strange marks left as guidance, we wouldn’t have found the hidden evidence. It was a measure of last resort: anywhere you hide it risks being found by criminals, while easily overlooked spots may remain undiscovered forever. But leaving something behind gives at least a glimmer of hope.”

Meng Jinyao asked again, “Husband, since we know Shen Qingshan was wronged, the real culprit must be the young master of the Li family. Tonight, should we still have Chan’er disguise herself as Shen Qinghe to go to the Li residence and interrogate him?”

Gu Jingxi shook his head slowly. “Not yet. We don’t want to alert the enemy. Let’s first return to Huzhou city to locate Lord Wei’s private accounts. Once we find his accounts, everything he’s done will be exposed, and overturning the case will be simple.”

“Otherwise, even if we capture the young master of the Li family and the mute couple for questioning, if they insist Shen Qingshan did it, there’s nothing we can do. After all, Shen Qingshan is dead, leaving no one to testify. And the letters alone aren’t enough; without strong evidence proving Lord Wei took bribes and caused wrongful convictions, we cannot confirm the letters’ claims.”

Gu Jingxi then ordered Chan’er to cancel tonight’s operation. As for the Shen couple, he instructed Fang Ce to send them to the neighboring county. Their new residence would be their temporary place; they should not return to Deqing County yet, but wait for news there.

At dinner, Gu Jingxi and Meng Jinyao informed Lord Du that they planned to leave the next day, explaining they would return to Huzhou city.

Lord Du was surprised. “Yaoling, you’re leaving already? Won’t you stay a few more days?”

Gu Jingxi spoke warmly, “Uncle, we’ll return to Huzhou tomorrow and head back to the capital the day after. We originally took leave to return home and pay respects to our ancestors, so we cannot linger.”

“Then…”

Lord Du thought of the case, but with the maid present, he hesitated.

Gu Jingxi smiled and nodded, leaving everything unspoken.

Seeing this, Lord Du understood. They had likely found a lead but couldn’t stay too long, so as not to alert anyone.

After dinner, Lord Du again questioned Gu Jingxi, worried that, since the two previous magistrates had died suddenly, he himself might also be at risk.

Gu Jingxi reassured him, “Uncle, you needn’t worry. Just stay uninvolved, pretend you know nothing. If you remain ignorant of their affairs, nothing will happen to you.”

Lord Du was smart; he immediately understood that the previous magistrates had died because they knew too much.

The next day, Gu Jingxi and Meng Jinyao returned to Huzhou city.

After arriving home, Gu Jingxi told the steward they would return to the capital the next day. He instructed the servants to pack, and to purchase long-lasting pastries, dried fruits, and snacks for the journey.

Meng Jinyao was confused, tugging him toward the bedroom. “Husband, weren’t you going to look for the private accounts? Why are we returning to the capital so soon?”

Gu Jingxi smiled faintly. “We’re certainly not leaving that quickly. We just don’t have an excuse yet to stay longer. This is merely for show. Tomorrow, we’ll have a reason to remain.”

Meng Jinyao was curious, “And what excuse will you use tomorrow to stay?”

Gu Jingxi didn’t answer directly. “You’ll know tomorrow. Just don’t be startled—your husband is perfectly fine.”

Meng Jinyao pondered this, forming a guess but unsure.

That night, Gu Jingxi was full of energy and kept her busy half the night.

The next morning, Meng Jinyao woke to find her husband still asleep. His eyes were closed, his cheeks flushed. She reached out and felt his face—burning hot, seemingly with a high fever.

Meng Jinyao panicked for a moment, then recalled his words from yesterday. She knew he was fine, though she didn’t know why he appeared like this. She resolved to cooperate.

Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself, quickly got out of bed without even putting on shoes, and ran to fetch a maid, her expression frantic. “Someone! Quickly fetch a doctor! The Marquis is ill!”

The maid, seeing her so flustered, hair disheveled and barefoot, assumed the Marquis was gravely ill. She hurriedly ran to instruct a servant to fetch a doctor, knowing the servant could run faster.