Mo Sang – CH 305

Chapter 305. No Need to Overthink It

The case of the mute murderer in Chenliu County, along with Lady Fu’s petition, was transferred from the Ministry of Justice back to the prefectural yamen in the capital.

Prefect Bai and Magistrate Ying delivered the case and petition to the Ministry of Justice together. When the Ministry returned the case files, they were both summoned.

Prefect Bai and Magistrate Ying came and went quickly. Magistrate Ying, carrying the case files, glanced at Prefect Bai as soon as he left the Ministry of Justice. Prefect Bai immediately frowned and said, “Let’s talk about it back home!”

Magistrate Ying quickly hummed in agreement, keeping his mouth shut, and hurried back with Prefect Bai.

Back at the prefectural yamen, Prefect Bai went straight to his two small rooms, with Magistrate Ying following closely behind. Once inside, Magistrate Ying put down the case files. Prefect Bai dismissed the servants, poured two cups of tea, and pushed one towards Magistrate Ying.

“Your Honor, did you understand Minister Ren’s meaning?” Magistrate Ying asked, his brows furrowed. Cases like the one in Chenliu County were usually handled by the relevant officials in the Ministry of Justice. The two of them sent the case files and petition to the Ministry of Justice official in charge of the capital prefecture, but this time they retrieved the files from Minister Ren.

“Tell me first,” Prefect Bai said, his brows furrowed, gesturing to Magistrate Ying.

“Minister Ren initially said it was a minor case, then later said it was serious. If it is a minor case, then what makes it serious?” Magistrate Ying had been thinking about this all the way.

“That’s it! That’s the key! What makes this case, this petition, so serious? Seriously serious enough for Minister Ren to handle it personally.” Prefect Bai pressed his hand on the case file, patting it repeatedly.

“This petition?” Magistrate Ying pointed to the petition in Lady Fu’s hand.

“It’s a minor case, as Minister Ren specifically stated. Only this petition is acceptable, but what’s so significant about it?” Prefect Bai reached for the thick stack of petitions and unrolled them.

“We must first investigate it,” Magistrate Ying said, also looking at the petitions.

Minister Ren explicitly stated that this must be investigated first, and not just investigated, but thoroughly investigated.

“We must understand it thoroughly first. Otherwise, how can we investigate? Where should we even begin? This case is clear and straightforward; what’s there to investigate?” Prefect Bai slammed the petitions shut.

As the Prefect of the Capital, matters like this were the most troublesome. A lack of understanding could easily lead to serious trouble!

“Your Honor,” Magistrate Ying bowed slightly, “would you consider finding Master Lu and asking him something?”

“Hmm,” Prefect Bai pondered for a moment, then also bowed slightly. “Go tonight, find some excuse about getting some good wine and tea, and try to get some information out of him.”

“Yes.” Magistrate Ying nodded quickly.

………………………………

The next morning, Lu Hepeng walked in front, followed closely by Lady Fu, while Blind Mi, waving his cane, lagged behind the two by seven or eight steps, entering the backyard of the Shunfeng headquarters.

Li Sangrou stood up and dragged a chair for Blind Mi. Lu Hepeng quickly stepped forward, carrying two bamboo chairs in his hands, and handed one to Lady Fu.

“Last night, Magistrate Ying came to my house, saying he had obtained a jar of fine wine. He wanted to get some information from me about Lady Fu’s petition. He said Minister Ren of the Ministry of Justice personally sent it back to their prefectural office in the capital, instructing them to investigate it thoroughly, adding that although the case was small, the matter was significant.”

Lu Hepeng cut to the chase, getting straight to the point.

“He came to see her this morning. Do you have any news on this matter?” Blind Mi leaned back in his chair.

“What was your initial plan?” Li Sangrou asked, looking at Lady Fu.

“We should not have used the terms of cohabitation to obtain testimony, and we certainly should not have ignored the testimonies of witnesses outside of cohabitation.” Lady Fu paused. “Also, fathers come before sons.”

“Hmm, and now? Do you still have the same plan?” Li Sangrou continued.

“Yes.” Lady Fu nodded readily.

“No matter what the government or the court does, you are going to stick to this plan, right?” Li Sangrou asked again.

“Yes,” Lady Fu replied solemnly.

“Then why worry about so much? Just do what you want to do, do what you think you should do,” Li Sangrou said with a smile.

“Ha!” Blind Mi snorted loudly.

Lu Hepeng looked at Lady Fu with admiration.

He greatly admired Lady Fu’s decisiveness and courage, but he could not do it. He could not risk it all, he could not risk his family, and he could not risk his life.

“What she’s going to do will definitely take a long time, three to five years, ten to eight years, maybe twenty or thirty years.

It cannot just be this one case. If she fights to the end in all similar cases, she will become a real troublemaker.

Are you really going to let her fight like this?” Blind Mi asked, glancing sideways at Li Sangrou after snorting.

“If I do not let her fight, will she agree?” Li Sangrou gestured to Lady Fu.

“It’s not that she wants me to fight; it is my own idea. It is something I want to do,” Lady Fu said, looking at Blind Mi.

“Fine,” Blind Mi looked both annoyed and disgusted. “Since you’ve thought it through, I do not care. This case in Chenliu County needs to be taken seriously. We will have court tomorrow. Call a knowledgeable clerk from the Evening Post. For each court hearing, we need to write an article, and it has to be good.

Also, you’d better go see that mute woman and tell her that you are using her case to do your own thing. Is she deaf?”

“No, she’s not deaf. Her eyes are clear; she should be sensible,” Lady Fu said.

“You need to tell her that although you can at least save her life by using her case, the repeated court hearings and the repeated interrogations, dragging on year after year, are extremely grueling,” Blind Mi continued.

“Tomorrow is court; I will be there in a bit. Will you come with me? I’d like to see her, too,” Lady Fu said, looking at Blind Mi.

Blind Mi reluctantly hummed in agreement, leaning on his cane to stand up. “Let’s go, let’s go now. Tomorrow is court; you need to prepare. I also need to go to the Evening Post’s office to pick a truly knowledgeable yamen investigator; his article must be well-written.”

“I will go too. I know the yamen well; it will be more convenient,” Lu Hepeng said, standing up.

Blind Mi, head held high, brandishing his cane, turned and left. Lady Fu and Lu Hepeng bowed to Li Sangrou and went into the courtyard, one after the other.

Li Sangrou watched the three leave and slowly exhaled.

This was a protracted affair she had long anticipated. Perhaps ten, eight, twenty, or even thirty years of effort would yield no results, but at least she had tried.

Li Sangrou stared blankly for a while, then reached for the donation list on the table.

The forty-nine-day Dharma assembly had concluded five days ago, and the donations had been handed over to the Ministry of War. All that remained in her hands was this donation book.

Li Sangrou slowly flipped through the book.

Over these forty-nine days, after countless rounds of donations, almost all those listed in this book were from various large and small chambers of commerce and businesses.

Li Sangrou looked at the familiar names on the first few pages: Jingzhou Chamber of Commerce, Xin’an Chamber of Commerce, Qingzhou Chamber of Commerce…

After leisurely observing for a while, Li Sangrou called over Datou and Mazha, who were scattering scallion seeds in the nearby vegetable garden, and instructed them to go to Pan Tower across the street to inquire if they had any rooms available for the day after tomorrow; she was hosting a banquet.

Datou and Mazha washed their hands and headed straight for Pan Tower.

They returned shortly after, reporting what the Pan Tower manager had said: “The Boss hosting a banquet at Pan Tower is a huge honor for everyone at Pan Tower. The entire Pan Tower will be empty for the whole day after tomorrow!”

Li Sangrou carefully considered her plans in the register for a moment, then asked Datou to make another trip to reserve a larger private room. She then instructed Mazha to take the register to the shops in front and had Old Zuo write twenty invitations for the twenty donors she had selected and deliver them immediately.

Datou and Mazha were efficient and decisive. One quickly booked a private room and returned, while the other, after reviewing the written invitations, called for a messenger, and they went to deliver the invitations separately.

The twenty chambers of commerce and businesses that received the invitations, though filled with hope, were still quite surprised.

The idea that being able to ascend that large merit plaque would grant an opportunity to meet the head of the organization was widely circulated, but its origin was unclear, with each party relaying their own version of events.

When they inquired with the guest monk Keyi at the Daxiangguo Temple about the truth of the matter, Keyi smiled amiably and answered all their questions, offering a lengthy explanation without mentioning the veracity of the story.

While they harbored hope, they dared not speculate further. Fortunately, before the New Year, the Boss had been listening to sutras daily between the inner and outer altars, constantly watching that enormous merit plaque; this was certain.

That was enough. The Boss had seen the substantial sums of money they had offered and their attitude; that was sufficient.

Unexpectedly, right after the Dharma assembly ended, they received invitations from the Boss!

Come to think of it, they had never heard of the Boss hosting a banquet in all these years!

The day before the banquet, the manager of Pan Tower personally went to Shunfeng headquarters, bringing over several carefully prepared menus for the Boss to choose from. He also brought six or seven kinds of fine wines, asking the Boss to select two more.

The night before, the manager directed everyone to meticulously clean the private room that Li Sangrou had reserved, inside and out, rearranging the fresh flowers and herbs. They also selected three or four tea and wine servers for the day. Once everything was in order, the manager checked it again before going back to rest.

After all, this was the Boss’s first time hosting a banquet, and she had chosen Pan Tower; there could not be anything wrong with it.

On the day of the banquet, Li Sangrou, accompanied by Hei Ma and Xiao Lu, arrived at Pan Tower early. When Bao Ping, the new chairman of the Xin’an Chamber of Commerce, and his two deputy heads arrived, Li Sangrou, Hei Ma, and Xiao Lu were already waiting at the door of the private room.

“I dare not accept such praise; it is indeed the Boss who arrived the earliest.” Bao Ping stepped forward and hurriedly bowed in greeting.

“Is it not the custom at a banquet that the host arrives first?” Li Sangrou paused for a moment, then smiled.

“That’s the custom for ordinary people.” Bao Ping and the two deputy heads bowed deeply one after another, then bowed again.

“Are we not just ordinary people?” Li Sangrou smiled and ushered Bao Ping inside.

“In everyone’s eyes, the Boss is truly no ordinary person.” Bao Ping kept bowing to Li Sangrou, so she had no choice but to turn and go inside first.

“I heard you’ve been appointed the first chairman of the Xin’an Chamber of Commerce?” Li Sangrou smiled as she let Bao Ping in.

“Yes, thanks to the Boss, the Xin’an Chamber of Commerce exists.” Bao Ping and the two deputy heads took their seats, all three with their hands on their knees, displaying a respectful demeanor.

“As the Boss knows, in the Shezhou area, each county has always operated independently, and each region has its own distinct customs. Even in the small Xin’an Prefecture, there are seven or eight chambers of commerce alone.

This time, everyone realized that it would be better to unite as one, which is why we have the Xin’an Chamber of Commerce, and why I was elected as its chairman.”

Bao Ping spoke with a smile, seemingly in a very good mood, and the two deputy heads nodded in agreement.

After a few words, Xiao Lu called out from outside that more guests had arrived.

Li Sangrou quickly stood up to greet them, and Bao Ping and the other two followed suit.

Li Sangrou’s banquet lasted only about an hour. Due to the excessive respect shown by everyone, it was not particularly lively, remaining rather conventional.

However, after the banquet, everyone from the various businesses and chambers of commerce was excited.

Chairman Chai of the Qingzhou Chamber of Commerce and Steward Bai, a colleague, emerged and went directly into a restaurant across the street. Upon entering a private room, they immediately ordered two jars of fine wine.

“I never imagined our Chamber of Commerce’s past would be so well-known, especially by the Boss!” Chairman Chai was still basking in the excitement of learning about their Chamber of Commerce’s history from the Boss.

“Look at what the Boss said; she has great respect for the leader,” Steward Bai said with a smile.

“They are both leaders, and they both deserve the title!” Chairman Chai poured Steward Bai a cup of wine, then filled his own. “Come on, bottoms up!”

“Our leader said that the imperial court has opened up the postal system, and she has too. She said other companies might use the Shunfeng courier service. Is that true or just talk?” Steward Bai was more concerned about the important matters the leader had mentioned.

“The Xin’an Chamber of Commerce, is it not in the postal business? They use Shunfeng’s courier stations,” Chairman Chai said, raising his cup and gesturing to Steward Bai.

“So, shall we get involved in this postal business?” Steward Bai’s eyes lit up.

“I think the cotton that the Boss mentioned is the real business.” Chairman Chai tilted his head back and drank his wine, slamming his cup on the table. “You’ve seen the imperial decree, have you not? In the capital region, every mu of land must be planted with cotton; cotton must be planted in every field.

I’ve inquired about this. They say that after this year, this decree will apply to all prefectures and counties throughout the country!

Think about it. If that were really the case, how much cotton would there be? If, as the Boss says, the woven cloth is as fine as silk, what a huge business that would be!”

“This cotton, really? Something like this has never happened before!” Steward Bai frowned deeply. “The postal service is reliable, though.”

“The postal service is reliable, the profits are there for all to see, but this cotton!” Chairman Chai squinted, then smiled. “We’ve all seen cotton before, clumps of it growing out of the husk. Does it not look like silver?”

Chairman Chai laughed heartily.

Steward Bai chuckled, “Manager Chai, you really dare to dream! If silver could grow like that, it would not be silver anymore!”

“Why would it not be silver? Is there not enough silver growing in the ground? Why do we not go to Yangzhou tomorrow and take a good look at this cotton weaving business!” Chairman Chai suggested.

Steward Bai did not hesitate and immediately nodded in agreement.