The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 257 - 246: Stay Behind

Chapter 257: Chapter 246: Stay Behind

At that time, Wei Zhi wanted to summon Bai Qi for questioning, only to find out upon inquiry that this scholar, who had passed the imperial examination in the first year of Dazhen, had not been transferred to another location. He had died in the second year of Dazhen.

He died while in office, during a bandit suppression campaign.

Having previously worked in the Ministry of Justice, Wei Zhi’s intuition honed from adjudicating cases told him there was something not normal about it.

Thus, he set aside the investigation on the Jianwei Canal and turned to look into Bai Qi instead.

Two years had passed, and nothing could be discerned from the financial records of the Jianwei Canal. He knew there were issues with it, but without evidence, everything was in vain.

So, he investigated Bai Qi.

Everyone who had been with Bai Qi back then had all died, including not only his servants but also some local government runners. Assistant County Magistrate He Ziyun of that year and his eldest son died together, all in the name of suppressing bandits.

Wei Zhi felt greater resistance when investigating Bai Qi than when he looked into the Jianwei Canal.

For instance, if he requested to see the accounts of the Jianwei Canal at the Yizhou Prefecture, they would hand them over without blinking an eye, and no one stopped him from meeting the laborers who had worked on the construction of the canal.

But when he searched for some former acquaintances to ask about Bai Qi, there were those who persistently obstructed him again and again, and the questioned parties were always elusive in their speech.

He had previously seen the case files and various notes from Bai Qi’s time in office, but overnight, a fire broke out at the Shu County office, burning all those records.

It was precisely because of these series of actions that he knew his investigation was on the right track.

So he immediately sent people to Bai Qi’s hometown of Longzhou to look for his family.

Meanwhile, he was engaged in flood relief efforts in Yizhou. When his sent people returned from Longzhou, the relief work was already largely completed.

Only then did he learn that the people he was looking for were actually within Yizhou Prefecture.

So, when he overheard two refugees by the road mentioning that Mianzhou was also severely affected by the disaster, he took advantage of the situation and made his way there.

In Jiannan Road, in Yizhou, his every move was watched; it would be impossible for him to directly approach Ms. Liu.

In Baxi, he was still contemplating what excuse to use to visit Qili Resort in Luojiang County, so when Old Master Bai also went, he made a point of calling him over to talk.

He thought if he got to Luojiang County and Old Master Bai, like other local gentry, politely invited him to rest at his house, he would definitely accept the invitation.

As it turned out, the situation was even better than he had expected.

It was getting dark when Old Master Bai suddenly sent his servant away, not allowing Wei Zhi to think further.

What he didn’t expect was that such a surprise awaited him in Qili Village.

The guard who returned reported that before them, another group had arrived at Qili Village, but for some unknown reason, they had a conflict with the local villagers and were taken into custody.

Wei Zhi came to Qili Village for two reasons: first, to see the three men who were taken into custody and preferably take them away; second, to talk to Ms. Liu.

The fact that they were so afraid of him investigating Bai Qi indicated that Bai Qi must have had something in his possession that they feared.

Wei Zhi suspected that these items were with Bai Qi’s family.

But all Ms. Liu gave to Wei Zhi were two family letters and two signed confessions.

Wei Zhi’s brows furrowed as he asked, "Besides these two letters, didn’t Bai Qi leave behind anything else?"

"Why would my son bring something like that home and involve us?" Ms. Liu said, "At the time, he was alone in his post, and my grandson was too young to travel far, so we stayed in our old home in Longzhou."

This was troublesome.

Wei Zhi asked, "Old Madam, do you have any other clues? Please think about it; where might he have hidden the items?"

Ms. Liu shook her head, saying, "I really can’t think of anything."

Old Master Bai glanced at Ms. Liu and lowered his head.

Wei Zhi sighed and said, "I would like to see those three men."

Ms. Liu immediately had Daji take Wei Zhi to see them.

Once they were gone, Old Master Bai asked, "Auntie, even if we say nothing, Lord Wei will still know about the existence of the Zhou Yin couple after seeing those two people. Why hide it from him?"

"Is Lord Wei trustworthy?"

"At least ninety percent trustworthy," Old Master Bai said.

"But with so many lives on my conscience, I can’t take the risk, even if it were ninety-nine percent," Ms. Liu said, "He knows there’s such a couple, but he definitely won’t think of Zhou Yin now."

"Then..."

"Let’s wait," Ms. Liu said, "Let’s wait a little longer. Anyway, he’s not in a hurry to leave, right?"

Wei Zhi could sense that Ms. Liu did not fully trust him, but after a moment’s thought, he understood why.

When he came out of the guesthouse, Wei Zhi was somewhat silent.

The guard couldn’t help but ask, "My lord, does Ms. Liu know who that couple is?"

Wei Zhi sighed, "She may know, but she definitely didn’t get Bai Qi’s items, she might not even know where they are."

"So what do we do? Without physical evidence, we can do nothing to the Prince of Yizhou and others," the guard said.

"Yes, without physical evidence," Wei Zhi said, "so whether she trusts us or not is irrelevant. These three witnesses aren’t very helpful, like chicken ribs – a pity to throw away but of little use."

The key still lay with what Bai Qi had in his possession, but Bai Qi was already dead. Where could he have placed those items?

Wei Zhi’s brows were tightly furrowed as he said, "The person who knows Bai Qi best in this world is probably that Old Madam. Getting her to speak up will be much harder than getting those three criminals to talk."

"Then..."

"But we’re not in a hurry; we have plenty of time. If need be, we’ll just stay a few more days," Wei Zhi said.

The guard agreed to the plan.

When Wei Zhi said he would stay, he naturally couldn’t stay on this side given that Ms. Liu and Mrs. Bai were widows and Bai Shanbao was young, so Wei Zhi and his guards stayed at Old Master Bai’s household, claiming the identity of the latter’s friend.

Old Madam Bai and Mrs. Bai didn’t suspect a thing and joyfully welcomed them, even planning to hold a welcome feast for them, eager to have them stay a few extra days.

Wei Zhi gladly accepted.

Old Madam Bai then said to Bai Erlang who had come running back from school, "Go next door and call your cousin over as well, and Manbao too, if she’s there. Bring her along. I haven’t seen those two kids for two or three days now, and I’ve been quite missing them."

Bai Erlang called out, "They took a leave of absence; they only went to school today."

He was a bit indignant and huffed, "Grandmother, they’re always taking leaves of absence." So they didn’t seem like diligent students at all.

Old Master Bai glanced at him disapprovingly and said, "Yesterday, Shanbao and Manbao were studying in the library all day long. You did go to school, but what did you learn?"

Bai Erlang wasn’t convinced and muttered under his breath, "Who stays home to study after taking a leave..."

Wei Zhi laughed out loud and asked, "Is Shanbao the grandson of Old Madam Liu?"

"Yes, a very smart and clever child," Old Madam Bai boasted about Bai Shanbao, unable to help herself. After all, with her oldest grandson not around, a nephew was almost like a grandson, right?

After praising Bai Shanbao, she casually complimented their own Erlang, saying with a smile, "Our Erlang is also very sweet and filial."

But she didn’t mention anything about him being clever.