He discreetly sized up Xu Qi'an, noting his tensed body and forced smile. He offered some comfort: "I'm only following orders to bring you back for questioning. I don't know the specifics. But, take money from others and solve their problems. When you get to the yamen, remember one thing: don't hide what should be said, and never say what shouldn't be said, even under torture."
Damn it... Don't I know this myself? It's not worth thirty silver taels. What bullshit—this is no different from saying "the relevant department has been notified" with no sincerity at all... Xu Qi'an really wanted to slap the squinty-eyed man dead, but he didn't dare.
The carriage drove past busy markets and long streets, arriving at the Night Watchers' yamen at the hour of Si.
Xu Qi'an jumped down from the carriage and, under the escort of two Night Watchers, entered this imposingly famous yamen.
Its office was converted from two three-entry courtyards. Towering pavilions stood tall, and Night Watchers in black clothes with copper gongs bound to them came and went. Their expressions were grave, their bearing imposing.
I wonder if I'll be thrown into the Night Watchers' great prison. That place devours people without spitting out bones... I'll wait and see for now. I'm a law-abiding citizen—I haven't committed any crime... Xu Qi'an took a deep breath to calm his restless heart.
Before long, he was led into a small courtyard.
Two Night Watchers stood guard at the courtyard entrance. After the handover was completed, the squinty-eyed man stopped at the gate and smiled. "Go in. Good luck."
With that, he left with his solemn-faced companion.
Xu Qi'an was taken inside. Two Night Watchers pushed open the door to a room and said flatly, "Get in."
This was an interrogation room. Various instruments of torture were arranged in the corners, and an empty long table sat in the center.
The presiding officer had not yet arrived.
Xu Qi'an didn't dare sit in the chair. He stood in the room, contemplating why the Night Watchers would come for him.
But before he could think further, footsteps approached. Someone entered the courtyard.
The door opened, and two middle-aged men with silver gongs embroidered on their chests walked in.
Xu Qi'an's muscles tensed instantly as he quickly scanned the two Silver Gongs. To his surprise, he recognized one of them.
The man had a high nose bridge, sharply defined features, and slightly light-colored pupils—he was of half Southern Barbarian blood.
He was the same Silver Gongs Xu Qi'an had met in the back hall of the yamen during the tax silver case.
"Meeting again." Li Yuchun nodded, his eyes holding not a trace of warmth.
The two Silver Gongs sat behind the table, their expressions stern, their sharp gazes scrutinizing Xu Qi'an.
"I ask, you answer. If you lie, we use torture." The unfamiliar Silver Gong spoke in a deep voice.
"Yes..." Xu Qi'an's heart sank. These two were looking at him like a criminal.
Li Yuchun frowned. "Before answering questions, straighten your clothes first. That's basic manners."
Xu Qi'an only then realized his lapels were too loose and asymmetrical. It was from secretly fiddling with his silver notes in the carriage.
After he tidied his clothes, Li Yuchun's expression relaxed slightly, as if a weight had been lifted.
The unfamiliar Silver Gong asked, "Do you know that the mastermind behind the tax silver case was the former Vice Minister Zhou?"
Xu Qi'an answered truthfully: "I heard Miss Caiwei from the Bureau of Astronomy mention it."
"And you know that Zhou Li's targeting of you was also retaliation?"
"I figured as much."
Xu Qi'an kept the squinty-eyed young man's warning firmly in mind: never hide what should be said. The day the white-robed members of the Bureau of Astronomy rushed into the Ministry of Justice to rescue him, it had been witnessed by everyone present. There was no point denying it.
Better to admit it openly—that would seem magnanimous.
"Do you know Zhou Li wanted to put you to death?"
"I know."
"So, to avoid the Zhou family's revenge, you kidnapped the illegitimate daughter of Marquis Weiwu and framed Zhou Li." The unfamiliar Silver Gong's eyes flashed with a sharp light.
So it really is about this... Xu Qi'an showed no panic, even feigning confusion and the alarm of being wrongly accused. "This humble one doesn't understand what the lord is saying."
"On the day Marquis Weiwu's illegitimate daughter was kidnapped, you were not on duty at the Changle County yamen. Where did you go?"
"This humble one went to the pleasure quarters to listen to music. This humble one was indeed negligent in his duties—I often slipped away to the pleasure quarters."
This point Constable Wang and the other clerks could testify to, because they all shirked work the same way.
Besides, what does it matter to you Night Watchers that I, a quick-hand of Changle County, was slacking off at the pleasure quarters?
"Then how do you explain the entry pass? The yamen's records show multiple instances of you entering the Inner City." Li Yuchun's voice was deep.
"This humble one is innocent!" Xu Qi'an widened his eyes, agitatedly defending himself. "This humble one has never been to the Inner City, never obtained an entry pass from the yamen."
They're trying to trap me. Every time I went to the Inner City, I had someone else get the entry pass for me—my tracks are perfectly clean... And the person I委托 was Yang Ling. What does that have to do with me, Xu Qi'an?
The two Silver Gongs interrogated for a while but failed to catch any clue in Xu Qi'an's words.
They exchanged a glance, seemingly somewhat surprised.
When it comes to interrogation techniques, I'm also a professional... Xu Qi'an let out a sigh of relief. His gaze fell on the torture instruments, and his heart tightened again.
Li Yuchun sighed. "Not bad. If we hadn't already gathered the evidence in advance, we might have believed you just from that conversation."
They're trying to trap me again... and sounding very confident about it... Xu Qi'an's expression remained blank.
As a graduate of the police academy who had worked at the police department for several years, Xu Qi'an was confident he could handle any interrogation. Unless they forced a confession through torture—that was another matter entirely.
Vice Minister Zhou had already fallen from power. Without evidence, Xu Qi'an believed the Night Watchers wouldn't push too hard.
The unfamiliar Silver Gong took out a small notebook from his pocket, opened it, glanced at Xu Qi'an, and read from it:
"On the first day of the tenth month, the Renxu day, Xu Qi'an returned from Cloud Deer Academy and purchased two gold hairpins at Baoyi Pavilion. He was followed en route, suspected to be people from the Zhou residence.
"That evening, I startled away the Zhou residence assassin.
"On the second day of the tenth month, the Guihai day, I relocated the women to Cloud Deer Academy for safety.
"On the fifth day of the tenth month, the Bingyin day, I entered the Inner City and went to the Brothel Bureau. I stayed overnight at the Shadow Plum Pavilion. 'A Gift to Floating Fragrance' is suspected to have been composed by Xu Qi'an.
"On the seventh day of the tenth month, the Wuchen day, I drove a carriage to collide with Marquis Weiwu's illegitimate daughter and kidnapped her using unknown means."
The unfamiliar Silver Gong closed his small notebook and looked at Xu Qi'an with a mocking expression, sneering.
Xu Qi'an's body grew cold inch by inch, as if he were lacking warm clothes in the dead of winter. A shiver ran slowly through him.
The Night Watchers have been tailing me... They started following me the day I went to the academy... All my schemes these past days have been watched by the Night Watchers... It's over!
Why would the Night Watchers tail me? I'm just a low-level quick-hand. This doesn't make sense... Xu Qi'an screamed inwardly with rage.
He felt an abyss-like despair.
Framing a Vice Minister of Revenue, kidnapping a marquis's daughter—these two crimes combined were enough to warrant the execution of his entire family.
The great scholars of Cloud Deer Academy couldn't save him. The white-robed members of the Bureau of Astronomy couldn't save him. No one could save him!
I cleaned up my tracks thoroughly, leaving no evidence that could convict me. But the Night Watchers who tailed me witnessed my entire scheme... Man proposes, God disposes.
Cold sweat the size of beans seeped from Xu Qi'an's forehead. Under the amused, cold gaze of the two Silver Gongs, it slid slowly down his cheeks and dripped to the floor.
Wait!
He suddenly noticed an illogical detail. If the Night Watchers had witnessed the whole thing, why didn't they expose him?
All they had to do was submit the notebook, and Zhou Li would be exonerated. The blade hanging over the Xu family, delayed by a month and a half, would fall once again.
Why wait until after Vice Minister Zhou fell from power before inviting him here for "tea"?
Xu Qi'an exhaled a turbid breath, along with all his negative emotions, and lowered his head submissively. "This humble one confesses. Everything was done by this humble one. How the two lords choose to handle it is entirely at your discretion."
The stern-faced Silver Gong raised an eyebrow and exchanged a glance with Li Yuchun. Both men smiled.
"Very clever. Very perceptive." Li Yuchun smiled. "That was just to test you. If you had revealed any flaws during the interrogation, or had been broken by the ironclad evidence, then what awaited you would have been real punishment."
He paused, his stern expression softening into an even more relaxed smile. "And now, what awaits you is an invitation from the Night Watchers."
P.S.: This chapter was revised, so the update was late.