TGCFNM -Chapter 5 The Missing Official Silver

Chu Ling had a splitting headache. Ghost Cui Xi was still sobbing uncontrollably, while Ghost Scholar slowly drifted over, looking as though he had something to say.

“Master, please speak,” Chu Ling said in a low voice.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Ghost Scholar glanced at Cui Xi’s body being carried away and said, “Let’s go take a look. Consider it fulfilling your maid’s final wish.”

Chu Ling sighed, then put on an official air and looked down at the boatman from a position of authority. “Take this official to see your son. Let me see whether his leg was truly broken from a fall, as you claim.”

“Yes, yes, my lord,” the boatman replied hastily, bowing deeply. As he turned to lead the way, his foot slipped, and he nearly fell.

The surrounding onlookers immediately reached out to steady him. Their gazes toward Chu Ling grew increasingly displeased, and they spontaneously followed behind the boatman as they all moved forward together.

The boatman lived in Yangchang Alley by the Sishui River—a small house deep within the alley. From the outside, the house was not large, and due to years of disrepair, it looked extremely dilapidated. Moss had grown thick in the cracks of the stone steps beneath the eaves from years of rain leakage, making them very slippery.

Chu Ling walked carefully and casually asked, “How much did this house cost?”

“In reply to Your Excellency, when this commoner was in his prime, I helped dredge the Sishui River, so I was allotted this place,” the boatman explained, his hands trembling, his voice unsteady.

Chu Ling hummed softly and gestured for the boatman to open the door.

She knew about the Sishui River. According to the plot, there would be another flood in Sishui County later on. The river dredged earlier was too shallow and too narrow, so when the waters rose, they overflowed and washed away houses.

At that time, the female and male leads happened to be nearby after capturing a city, so they evacuated the villagers. No one was hurt, but Sishui County was completely submerged.

With a click, the lock opened, and the boatman shakily pushed the door open.

The moment they stepped into the courtyard, a foul stench assaulted them, spreading everywhere. Among it, the smell of medicinal decoctions was especially strong.

The boatman led everyone to a bedroom and pushed the door open. An even more unbearable odor rushed out, nearly causing Chu Ling to faint on the spot.

The others could only cover their mouths and noses in disgust, frowning as they entered. At a glance, they saw Xiao Sanzi lying on the bed.

Xiao Sanzi’s face was sallow, his right leg a bloody mess, and he looked half-dead, as though on the brink of the grave. Even with so many people pouring in noisily, he showed no sign of opening his eyes. He truly looked like someone with only a few days left to live.

Yet Chu Ling had an inexplicable intuition—Xiao Sanzi would not die.

At this moment, Cui Xi had already rushed to Xiao Sanzi’s bedside, crying hysterically, wailing in grief. The scene looked like a deeply moving farewell to a beloved man, though Chu Ling felt nothing in particular.

The boatman wiped his tears with his sleeve and said pitifully, his voice trembling, “My lord, you’ve seen it.”

“Yes, I’ve seen it. The injury is very serious,” Chu Ling said, her gaze shifting to Ghost Scholar at the side.

Ghost Scholar spoke helplessly. “Your Excellency’s maid seems… rather simple-minded.”

Chu Ling let out a cold chuckle. The sound was especially abrupt, drawing many looks of displeasure from those present.

She didn’t care and continued speaking on her own. “This official misspoke earlier. My maid did not take leave to return home. Rather, she took advantage of my inattention, deliberately injured me, stole her indenture contract, and took the official silver.”

“Official silver?!”

One stone stirred a thousand waves—everyone was instantly shaken.

“What official silver? There was official silver too?”

“The wound on this magistrate’s head doesn’t look fake at all.”

“Official silver bears the official seal; it wouldn’t be easy to sell. But the bundle the maid carried is gone.”

“So the maid didn’t drown accidentally—she was robbed of her bundle by bandits. And there was official silver inside? This is serious trouble.”

Chu Ling listened to the murmurs around her while watching Cui Xi, who had stopped crying and was now staring at her in confusion.

She slightly raised her hand, signaling Cui Xi to follow her out first.

“My lord! There is something I don’t understand.”

Suddenly, someone stepped in front of her. He looked at her with a playful grin, dressed in fine brocade casual clothes, wearing a handsome but frivolous expression—like a peacock showing off its feathers.

“My lord, how could your maid’s bundle contain official silver? By rights, such a thing should never be in your possession,” the man said. His smile faded slightly; though his tone sounded joking, his questioning was aggressive.

Official silver was tax revenue meant for the treasury. How could it possibly be in the hands of a county magistrate—especially a corrupt one? It made no sense.

“It was bestowed by His Majesty. If you don’t believe it, go to the capital and ask,” Chu Ling shot him a sideways glance, utterly unconcerned with him, and walked straight past.

Ghost Scholar and Ghost Cui Xi immediately followed.

Once they left the alley, Chu Ling, exhausted in both body and mind, sat down in her sedan chair. After the chair was lifted, Ghost Cui Xi and Ghost Scholar floated slowly along on either side.

“Why didn’t Your Excellency personally examine Xiao Sanzi’s injuries, to see whether he was lying?” Ghost Scholar asked, puzzled.

Chu Ling waved her hand firmly.

She had no intention of doing that. She wasn’t the halo-blessed female lead who knew everything—how could she tell anything about medical conditions?

“Then how does Your Excellency plan to judge this case? And what you said just now—that the official silver was bestowed by the Emperor—is full of loopholes,” Ghost Scholar said, his face filled with disapproval. “If suspicion arises, you’ll draw the capital’s attention. That would be disastrous.”

Chu Ling lifted a corner of the curtain, propped her chin on her left hand, and let her gaze fall casually on Ghost Scholar’s face, smiling mysteriously.

“The official silver belongs to the General’s Manor. When I came to Sishui County, I took quite a bit—probably embezzled. As for that man just now, judging by his appearance, he’s a merchant. Even if he can do business in the capital, do you think he can really go ask the Emperor whether official silver was bestowed?”

Ghost Scholar smiled helplessly but still advised against it. “What if he has wide connections and asks other officials?”

Chu Ling raised one finger and shook it, wearing a look that said you don’t understand, and spoke obliquely. “In the capital, out of ten officials, nine are corrupt. Who hasn’t pocketed a little? If he really dares to ask, I doubt he’ll get to keep his head.”

“Your Excellency’s words—I cannot agree,” Ghost Scholar said sternly, his expression displeased, a sharp light flashing in his eyes. “There are still incorruptible officials in our Great Zhou.”

“For example?” Chu Ling asked.

“For example… Minister Tao Jing of the Ministry of Works.”

Chu Ling thought carefully for a moment before replying, “You mean the Minister of Works, Tao Jing. He’s embezzled quite a lot. In the capital, he looks clean and upright, but in reality, he’s deposited all the money in the Tiansheng Grand Bank. He’s even bought up many properties in the neighboring county of his hometown and already built the Tao Manor. It’s more magnificent than even the princes’ residences in the capital.”

Back then, after the male and female leads stumbled upon this by chance, they immediately investigated and wiped out the entire Tao Manor, seizing a great deal of wealth to recruit troops. The female lead became rich overnight.

“How do you know this?” Ghost Scholar asked in disbelief.

That Tao Jing looked like such an honest man—could he really be that kind of person?

“I can even see ghosts. What do you think I don’t know?” Chu Ling said smugly. Then she let down the curtain and leaned back in the sedan chair, closing her eyes to rest.

Even after returning to the government office, Ghost Scholar still looked deeply shaken. Cui Xi didn’t look much better either. So the moment Chu Ling closed the door, Cui Xi knelt down anxiously.

“Miss, this servant—this servant did not strike you. This servant…”

Chu Ling set her official hat aside, touched the back of her head, and looked at Cui Xi. “You didn’t drown. You were struck on the back of the head with a heavy object. Although the water washed away the blood, judging by the swelling I felt, it should have been a heavy weapon. The wound was very concentrated—smack—”

Cui Xi recalled last night. After thinking carefully, she said, “It seems so. In an instant, everything went black. I couldn’t see anything.”

“To kill with a single blow using a heavy object, the attacker must have considerable strength and likely some skill with their feet. Only then could they approach silently without being discovered,” Ghost Scholar said, sitting to the side. After finishing his analysis, he looked at Chu Ling. “It shouldn’t be Xiao Sanzi.”

“This servant also feels it wasn’t Xiao Sanzi. With his injuries so severe, there’s absolutely no way he could have killed me,” Cui Xi said. As she spoke, tears mixed with blood streamed down her face.