Chapter 65: Chapter 54: Examiner Official Fan Zhenglian_1
After Grain Buds, the rains in Shengjing began to increase.
With the waters under Luoyue Bridge rising deeply after the Grain Rain Festival, "The silkworm women boiled the cocoons and spun silk on their wheels," new silk hit the market, invigorating the business of the neighboring tailors and silk shoe shops day by day.
The cool morning and evening breezes caused Shopkeeper Du to dress too lightly and carelessly, resulting in a cold, which greatly reduced his visits to the medical hall these past few days. Business at the medical hall turned sluggish, with hardly anyone seeking treatment after the "Chun Shui Sheng" remedy stopped being sold.
Ah Cheng returned from the market with bitter herbs, fitting for the Grain Buds season to boost energy and lighten the body. Lu Tong cleaned and prepared the bitter herbs in the medical hall, listening to the idle talk of the West Street vendors.
This idle talk occasionally mentioned the Ke Family, who were in the porcelain business in Shengjing.
It was said that the Ke Family had recently fallen on hard times.
Master Ke mysteriously drowned in Wan’en Temple, and although the Imperial Court’s investigators found no evidence, they closed the case as an accidental drowning of a drunk man. To the discerning eye, it was apparent that Ke Chengxing was passed over by the Imperial Court due to his private worship of the former dynasty’s deity.
With the Ke Family in such a predicament, those who previously did business with them started to distance themselves. Ever since the Grand Preceptor’s mansion’s birthday banquet, the Ke Family had connected with a group of officials through the Grand Preceptor’s influence. But now, with matters related to the previous dynasty, who would dare to gamble with their official hats? One by one, they withdrew their orders with the Ke Family.
Originally, when Ke Chengxing married Lady Qin, Madam Ke had given the Qin Family control of the household to win over Lady Qin’s father. Now, with Lady Qin fuming back to her maiden home, Madam Ke realized that without her noticing, Lady Qin had squandered a large sum of silver to subsidize her own Qin Family, leaving the accounts in a disastrous state.
Having no alternative, Madam Ke was forced to pawn property to settle the debts, with little left of the family’s savings accumulated over decades. With chaos at home, the servants scattered or stole valuables and fled, while Wan Fu, who had served Ke Chengxing for years, left the Capital without saying goodbye one night, taking his family with him.
Lu Tong wasn’t surprised when she heard this news; Wan Fu was a smart man who had been kept by Ke Chengxing’s side because of his caution. Not a greedy person, Wan Fu would inevitably be implicated in Ke Chengxing’s death. Now that the Imperial Court was no longer pursuing the matter, he had taken the opportunity to disappear before old accusations could resurface—a far from pleasant outcome. It was better to take advantage of the Ke Family’s disorder and flee with his family.
What slightly surprised Lu Tong was the Grand Preceptor’s mansion.
After falling into disrepair and having nowhere else to turn, Madam Ke made a covert visit to the Grand Preceptor’s mansion, presumably to seek help. However, she couldn’t even gain entrance.
Lu Tong had originally thought that the Grand Preceptor’s mansion would extend help to the Ke Family due to Madam Ke holding leverage over them because of Lu Rou, but it turned out they had no fear whatsoever. Upon further thought, Lu Tong realized that since Lu Rou had died at Ke Chengxing’s hands, even if Madam Ke revealed this, the Ke Family would not gain any advantage. Naturally, the Grand Preceptor’s mansion felt secure.
However...
Daring to visit the Grand Preceptor’s mansion at such a critical time, regardless of whether Madam Ke intended to threaten them, her fate would not be good.
After finishing with the last clump of bitter herbs, Yin Zheng walked in from outside the shop.
As Ah Cheng swept the doorstep, Yin Zheng approached Lu Tong and whispered, "Miss, I’ve found out about the Fan Family."
Lu Tong looked up.
Yin Zheng lowered her voice even more, "The Judicial Commissioner, Lord Fan, was promoted last September."
Lu Tong was taken aback, "Promoted?"
In September of the thirty-seventh year of Yongchang, three months after Lu Rou’s death, according to what Wan Fu had previously said, Lu Qian had already arrived in Shengjing, met with Madam Ke, and for some reason became a wanted criminal of the Imperial Court.
Was Lu Qian’s imprisonment related to the promotion of the Judicial Commissioner, Fan Zhenglian?
Yin Zheng continued, "In September of last year, the Department of Criminal & Justice did have a case. Officers from the department mentioned that someone had requested to see Fan Zhenglian to accuse an official. Later, for some reason, the accuser was wanted for breaking in and robbery. Lord Cao’s men said the entire city was under a manhunt; it was a big commotion. The suspect hid very well, until one of his relatives, choosing justice over family ties, reported his hiding place to the Imperial Court, leading to his arrest. Miss," Yin Zheng hesitated, "do you have relatives in Shengjing?"
Lu Tong, also puzzled, merely shook her head, "No."
The Lu Family had few close relations; if there had been relatives in Shengjing, perhaps Lu Rou wouldn’t have been so vulnerable and subject to such humiliation.
"I’ve already asked Lord Cao to continue looking into who that relative might be. Still, Lord Cao said it’s difficult to inquire about matters involving the Imperial Court, and there’s the issue of silver..." Yin Zheng sighed, "The silver we used to gather information this time was actually the money that Shopkeeper Du gave us for materials for the new medicine. He hasn’t seen how little we have accomplished because he’s been ill these past days. If he knew we’ve spent most of the silver and have nothing to show for it, I don’t know how furious he would be..."