The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 266 - 255: Hole Card

Chapter 266: Chapter 255: Hole Card

Without evidence, they can’t just arrest people willy-nilly.

Therefore, Wei Zhi asked her, "The items Bai Qi took with him back then..."

That was the only evidence that could potentially convict everyone involved in the case. Without it, they would have to start the investigation all over, and the amount of manpower and resources that would be consumed is untold, not to mention the uncertain outcomes.

Hearing him say this, Ms. Liu’s shoulders slumped in resignation.

She had anticipated this, but once Wei Zhi confirmed it, she couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

After a pause, she said, "One of the servants who fled with Qi’er managed to survive, his name is Erji. But I can’t hand him over to you just yet. If one day you can bring the mastermind to justice and need a witness, I will hand him over."

"And the items?"

That was what mattered most.

Ms. Liu shook her head and said, "I’ve been searching for them all these years."

This time, she didn’t hold back and told him everything about the past, including Manbao’s relationship with the Zhou Yin couple. She said, "I’ve probed around and even had Daji secretly search the Zhou Family’s residence. They don’t have what we’re looking for. The Zhou Yin couple died on the road before they could make it home, and the items disappeared with them."

Wei Zhi was surprised; he hadn’t expected that little girl to be involved in the matter as well.

But if the items vanished on the road, and those who had them were already dead, he furrowed his brows—it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Ms. Liu knew this all too well. Such an elusive injustice filled her with a sense of powerlessness. It had been six years already; could she really bring her son’s wrongful death to light within her lifetime?

Ms. Liu sank into her chair, feeling disheartened, and asked, "My lord, how many people died in the recent canal breach at Jianweiyan?"

Wei Zhi clenched his jaw, recalling the hell on earth he witnessed upon his arrival in Yizhou.

In this flood, the death toll he had ordered to be tallied was over forty-eight thousand. Among those were people directly swept away or drowned by the floodwaters, but a significant number also perished from the subsequent famine, conflicts, and diseases.

But ultimately, it stemmed from the Jianweiyan breach.

If Bai Qi had survived six years ago when the canal disaster happened, then none of this would have happened today.

This case wasn’t just about the deaths of Bai Qi, the Zhou Yin couple, and their followers; it was also about today’s forty-eight thousand plus victims.

And those he couldn’t account for, whose deaths were unknown.

Wei Zhi took a deep breath and solemnly said, "Old Madam, rest assured, I will spare no effort to bring justice to everyone."

Ms. Liu’s eyes reddened, and she rose to bow to him, saying, "My lord is upright, I trust that indeed. But I also know that there are things possible and others not. I have waited for six years already and do not mind waiting another six, or yet another after that. At my age, beyond enjoying the company of my grandchildren, I have no other pursuits, so I can afford to wait."

Understanding the undertone of her words, Wei Zhi asked, "Old Madam, if you have any requests, please do not hesitate to speak."

Ms. Liu said, "Back then, to verify the identities of the Zhou Yin couple, they were deliberately slandered as thieves, which led to Zhou Man being unable to recognize his biological parents. The Zhou Family has also been keeping the death of Zhou Yin a secret."

She continued, "The Zhou Yin couple died because of my son, and I cannot let them bear this stigma even in death. Moreover, Manbao shouldn’t be kept from recognizing her birth parents forever. She is six years old this year; I can wait, but she can’t, and neither can the people of the Zhou Family, I’m afraid."

Wei Zhi fell into deep thought.

How important are a person’s posthumous matters and reputation?

Even though Wei Zhi didn’t believe in ghosts and spirits, he still valued these two things, especially one’s reputation after death.

Who doesn’t wish to be remembered fondly for generations, and who would want to carry an ill name after passing, with not even a basic ceremony to honor them?

He paced back and forth in the room, and after a long while, he asked, "Who else knows about the Zhou Yin couple’s affair?"

"Only Lizhi, you, and I," Ms. Liu replied. "As for those three, they probably guessed some of it, but right now they’re in our hands."

So on the outside, no one knew, including the Zhou Family themselves.

"That one called Daji..."

Ms. Liu immediately said, "He can be trusted."

After a pause, she added, "His whole family has been servants of my Bai Family for generations, and Erji is his younger brother, so you can rest assured, my lord."

Wei Zhi understood and nodded before saying, "That’s much better, rest assured, I will make arrangements, but you’ll have to be patient and wait a bit longer."

"Yes," Ms. Liu thanked him, "I’d like to thank you on behalf of the Zhou Family, Manbao, and especially Qi’er."

"Please don’t say that," Wei Zhi helped her up, sighing, "The Zhou Yin couple were tremendously righteous. I am only offering a meager effort; I can’t even vindicate them of their injustice."

Ms. Liu opened her mouth but ultimately didn’t voice her question.

In truth, she didn’t quite understand, no matter how intelligent she was. She couldn’t grasp why, with the Jianweiyan already breached and the barrier lying there as naked evidence, they couldn’t convict those responsible.

That was the Prince of Yizhou’s territory, and she wouldn’t believe it if someone claimed the Prince of Yizhou and the Jiannan Circuit’s military governor knew nothing about it.

The logic was clear even to her, a woman; how could the imperial court fail to hold them accountable?

Yet the imperial court really couldn’t touch them.

At present, even the Yizhou governor was being summoned back to the capital to face charges of dereliction of duty.

Indeed, summoned, not seized. He was allowed to travel at leisure with his entourage back to the capital city, as long as he arrived within the deadline provided by the Ministry of Personnel to respond to inquiries.

Because, up to now, aside from everyone’s speculation, no one could claim that the Jianweiyan breach was due to shoddy workmanship resulting in the barrier’s failure.

By the time Wei Zhi arrived, the entire Jianweiyan had already been tampered with deliberately, and any trace of the previous construction was scrapped away, drifted off with the floodwater to an unknown destination.

And the answer the Yizhou governor provided, though shameless, left them with no actual recourse.

He claimed that it was the infuriated disaster victims who had dismantled the Jianweiyan—how could he say it wasn’t so?

By the time he arrived in Yizhou, those people had already fled without a trace, and at that moment, the priority was disaster relief and saving people, not seeking out those who had destroyed the Jianweiyan.

Even now, Wei Zhi had the time to investigate the truth because most of the disaster-stricken people had been resettled, and the pacification policies he had enacted were being implemented by local officials, freeing him up to attend to this matter. Otherwise, he most assuredly would have entrusted it to subordinates or the Ministry of Justice.

He had always been clear about priorities.

Having learned what Ms. Liu’s trump card was, Wei Zhi prepared to return to the capital.

He postponed his departure by four days—by now the Emperor must be getting anxious, right?

The Emperor was indeed becoming anxious. Wei Zhi was supposed to have returned to the capital by yesterday, yet there was no sight of him on the official road.

A delay due to an incident on the road was understandable, so the Emperor waited patiently another day. However, by sunset the following day, Wei Zhi still had not returned to the capital.

Now the Emperor was truly becoming restless.

Of course, his concern wasn’t that Wei Zhi was neglecting his duties, but rather that Wei Zhi might have offended too many in his disaster relief efforts, and those people could have simply disposed of him on the road.

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