The Red Thread

at the same time.

Chengtian Prefecture.

After leaving Xun Jin Si, Su He returned to her own courtyard.

At the gate of the courtyard, the landlord was sweeping the ditch with a broom. When he saw him return, he immediately put down the broom.

"Young Master Su, what about this month's rent...?"

The landlord also felt awkward and rubbed his hands together: "I'm not rushing you, it's just that someone asked about the room on the east side, and the price is 20% higher. If you still want to stay, you have to give me a definite answer."

Give me a few more days.

"How many days?"

"Seven days."

The landlord looked at him and sighed, "Fine, seven days it is. I'm not an unfeeling person."

Suhe nodded his thanks and pushed open the door to go inside.

The room was the same as always: a bed, an old table, a stove, half a bowl of rice in the pot, and the water vat was empty.

Suhe only realized her eyes were a little dizzy when she went to scoop up the rice.

Since his suspension, he has only had a bowl of hot soup on the street, and has been so preoccupied with the wanted poster that he has forgotten to eat.

Suhe sat by the stove and heated up a pancake to eat.

It was so hard it hurt his teeth when he took a bite. He chewed for a long time, swallowed it, and then drank a mouthful of cold water.

Stopping the trade deficit is not something that can be said in a single sentence.

Deductions from wages are not just two words on paper.

It will become the seven days the landlord talks about, the rice in the pot that's getting less and less, and the realization after you sit down that you haven't eaten much all day.

Suhe put the remaining cakes back into the bowl, washed her hands, went to the cellar, and skillfully laid out paper.

The original clues had been burned when he left last time, so he was rewriting them.

Su He first wrote down Yan Zu's old files.

Then he wrote about the ghost saint Bai Xingjian, his eyewitness account of Xunxian Mountain, and finally about Changluo County.

After he finished writing, he put down his pen.

He wouldn't have dared to bring all of these things out before.

On the one hand, the evidence was not yet fully pieced together; on the other hand, Cha Yanzu was a red line tacitly accepted by the imperial court.

Suhe always knew what was important and what was not.

But now, the arrest warrant from Changluo County has been posted in Chengtian Prefecture.

The second urgent report, which he personally revised, was suppressed, leaving only the sentence: "A gray-clad murderer killed an official and destroyed his seal."

"Why did it become a red line?"

Su He looked at the written evidence, his brows furrowing almost together.

Su He dared to put himself in the shoes of the person sitting on the dragon throne. Regardless of his motives, there was no reason for him to make finding Yan Zu a red line.

So... was this red thread set by certain people?

When the thought popped into his head, Suhe himself was startled.

He got up, took a couple of steps around the room, and then stopped.

"The Yan Kingdom must not issue a warrant for Yan Zu's arrest! I must stop it!"

"But nobody believes me... even if I submit the evidence I have..."

His fingers traced the pages of paper. The room was quiet, with only the occasional soft popping of the embers in the pot.

Suhe pondered for a long time, and finally shook his head.

We haven't reached that point yet.

At least, it hasn't come to the point where we have to risk our lives.

"I need to know first what the red line is, and where it is..."

A person immediately came to Su He's mind.

Wu Huaiyi had been in Xun Jin Si for more than ten years. He wasn't very brave, but he wasn't a bad person.

In Kyoto, who else could Suhe trust? This colleague was the only one he could think of.

He neatly arranged the papers on the table one by one, stuffed them into the wooden box, and then took out two of the lightest papers and put them into his sleeve.

He left the courtyard as it was getting dark.

Wu Huaiyi's house was in the back alley of Zhuque Street. Two strings of dried chili peppers hung at the door, and a rocking horse for children was placed against the wall.

Suhe knocked three times.

Wu Huaiyi opened the door.

He saw Su He, paused for a moment, then pulled her into the courtyard and asked in a low voice:

"Why are you here?"

"I'd like to talk to Angkor about something."

"Come in."

Wu Huaiyi glanced at him and sighed.

Inside the house, Wu Huaiyi's wife was clearing away the dishes. When she saw Su He come in, she politely poured him a cup of hot water.

Wu Huaiyi turned and went into the inner room. After a short while, he came out with a small cloth bag and placed it on the table: "There are five taels here. It's not much. You can take it first."

Suhe paused for a moment.

Wu Huaiyi glared at him and said, "What are you looking at me for? A year's suspension and a pay cut, do you think I'm stupid enough not to guess you can't make ends meet?"

Seeing that Su He did not accept, Wu Huaiyi said again:

"Not enough?"

"no."

Suhe shook her head. "I'm not here to borrow money."

Wu Huaiyi stared at him, a bad feeling rising in his heart.

Suhe placed the paper from her sleeve on the table.

"Brother Wu, you know I've been collecting information about Yan Zu all these years. I want to submit all the clues I've gathered over the years, along with the information about Changluo County, all at once."

Wu Huaiyi's expression slowly changed after hearing those words.

He didn't speak immediately, but only glanced at his wife.

The woman was quite tactful; she picked up her bowl and chopsticks and stood up, saying, "You two chat, I'll go to the kitchen."

Once the footsteps had faded into the distance, Wu Huaiyi got up, closed the door, and lowered the window latch.

The light in the room suddenly dimmed.

"Say it again," Wu Huaiyi said.

Su He's voice was a little lower than before: "The second urgent report from Changluo County was suppressed, and the wanted poster only lists the gray-clad murderer. I suspect that the prefectural city has already decided on the nature of the case and will not allow the Liu family's heinous crime to escalate further."

Wu Huaiyi sat back down, his face extremely grim.

"so what?"

"I want to know why they won't let Cha Yanzu check."

Suhe's eyes shone brightly.

Wu Huaiyi didn't answer, but instead reached out and picked up the roll of paper. He only read two lines before his fingers stopped.

He put the paper back, as if it weren't a few sheets of paper, but a piece of burning coal.

"Suhe, do you know what you're writing?"

"Know."

"You knew it, yet you still wrote it?"

"If I don't write it, who will?"

Wu Huaiyi was speechless for a moment after hearing this remark, and then muttered under his breath, "You seem gentle most of the time, but when you get stubborn, you're harder to pull than a donkey."

Wu Huaiyi stood up, walked around the room twice, then stopped and pointed upwards.

It doesn't refer to the roof beams.

It's higher up.

"Why do you think the message isn't getting uploaded?"

Suhe looked at him.

Wu Huaiyi lowered his voice even further: "You know better than I how many hands, how many seals, how many eyes are involved in the process of an urgent report going from the county to the prefecture, from the prefecture to the ministry, and finally to the person who needs to see it."

"I understand."

"You don't understand."

Wu Huaiyi stared at him. "You only know how the paper moves, but you don't know who doesn't want it to move."

Suhe remained silent.

Wu Huaiyi softened his tone: "Beiyang Prefecture is determined to identify the gray-clad murderer. The Ministry of Justice has already stamped the document, and the Search and Reaper Division is fully cooperating. Now you're running out here shouting that you're innocent, especially since the name Yan Zu is involved. Ten heads wouldn't be enough to make you lose that claim."

He stopped there and didn't continue.

There was a breeze outside, and the lamp wick flickered.

Angkor.

"Um."

"What if it really is the Flame Ancestor?"

Wu Huaiyi's eyelids twitched.

Suhe continued, "If Yanzu were still alive, and if what he did in Changluo County was to uncover a case that had been sitting unsolved for three years, the first thing the court said to him would be, 'A gray-clad murderer, an evil cultivator from another continent.'"

Wu Huaiyi opened his mouth, but didn't say anything.

Suhe looked up at him: "What will Yanzu think of this court?"

The room was eerily quiet.

After a long silence, Wu Huaiyi finally spoke: "If you say such things tonight, keep them to yourself."

"I know."

"You don't understand, you're angry right now. You've been punished and suppressed, and you feel like there's no one in the world who's reasonable, so you want to cause a big scene."

"Yes."

Su He didn't deny it, "But I believe it's true! If I ignore it, I'm unworthy of being a Yan citizen, I'll have let down all the Confucian classics I've studied over the years! I'll never sleep a wink for the rest of my life, I'll think about this forever!"

Wu Huaiyi was stunned.

Su He pointed to a few words on the paper and asked, "Brother Wu, I won't implicate you. I want to ask, has anyone actually walked this path described on the paper?"

Wu Huaiyi looked at him, his anger slowly turning into weariness: "Go through."

Suhe's eyes flickered slightly.

Wu Huaiyi continued, "But even more died."

He didn't say who it was, nor how it died.

If you explain too clearly, it won't feel like a reminder; it will feel like you're making your final arrangements.

Wu Huaiyi pushed the silver on the table over: "Take the money."

Suhe wanted to refuse.

"Don't be stubborn with me." Wu Huaiyi pressed down on the cloth bag. "People need to eat first. No one will listen to you if you're hungry and trying to reason with them."

Su He looked at the bag of silver and finally accepted it.

He stood up and bowed.

Wu Huaiyi cursed, "Don't give me that. Don't come looking for me starting tomorrow. I'll just pretend you came to borrow money tonight."

Suhe nodded: "Okay."

As he reached the door, Wu Huaiyi called him back.

"Suhe".

"Um?"

"If it really comes to that, don't rush forward. Think about it for as many nights as you can."

Suhe didn't turn around, but said softly, "I will."

The two didn't exchange another word.

After leaving Wu Huaiyi's house, Su He did not immediately return to the small courtyard. Instead, he bypassed the West Market and walked along the long street outside the palace to a high slope.

From there you can see a corner of the imperial city.

You can also see the Drum Tower on the east side of the Imperial City.

There is a large drum under the Drum Tower.

The drum is pitch black, and no one usually approaches it. The imperial guards who guard the drum stand under the rain shelter.

Suhe hurried past, but his gaze was fixed on the inscription on the drum.

This drum is called the "Drum of Petition".

......

On the same night, the Treasurer's Office was searched for.

Zhou Fu was still awake.

On the table lay a newly delivered letter, sealed with the seal of the Prefect of Beiyang.

He stared at the seal for a moment before picking up the paper cutter and slowly peeling off the sealing wax.

Zhou Fu read it the first time, and then read it a second time.

The Prefect of Beiyang requests the cooperation of Xun Jinsi to clarify the records of Zhaoye Zong's overstepping his bounds and interfering in the affairs of the prefecture in recent years, and to supplement the documentary evidence.

The words weren't explicitly stated, but the meaning was quite clear.

The Prefect of Beiyang wanted Zhaoyezong to step back and retreat to a place a hundred miles away from the prefectural city, so that the Beiyang government could have the final say.

Zhou Fu put the letter down and pondered it carefully.

He and the prefect of Beiyang Prefecture were students who entered the Grand Secretary's tutelage in the same year.

At that time, they all thought they would be doing clean things in the future, but later they realized that even clean things can be done with dirty hands.

Zhou Fu sighed and picked up his pen.

He didn't write anything superfluous, only a few comments on what Xun Jinsi should write.

[Teruno was granted the title of a regent to control the demons and followers in the mountains and to prevent them from interfering in government affairs. He has already overstepped his bounds.]

Within a hundred miles of the prefectural city, there are strange tales of demons and ghosts. The prefectural government has jurisdiction over these matters, while sects can only assist when dispatched.

The case of the gray-clad assailant in Changluo County remains unsolved. All sects within Beiyang Prefecture must temporarily avoid the main roads of the prefectural city to prevent conflict.

Every sentence is like a rule.

Rules are the most convenient; they don't kill people, but they make people make way for each other.

After Zhou Fu finished writing, he blew the ink dry and summoned the night watchman.

"Make a copy and record it in the old records of the Bureau of Investigation and Rectification, and seal another copy and send it to the Ministry of Justice."

The clerk took the document and responded in a low voice.

The door closed again.

Zhou Fu went to the window and looked out over the entire capital. The dark clouds outside the window were very low, and rumbles of thunder rolled by from time to time.