The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty (ENGLISH TRANSLATION)

CH 11

Xue Ling grumbled inwardly. When he had left, Sui Zhou had just been found by Mister Millarch for a talk, and thus nonchalantly ordered him to go invite Tang Fan over. The time he had been following Sui Zhou wasn’t short, so he naturally understood that a command like that wasn’t urgent in the least. Who could’ve known that Boss Sui would be sitting here in wait, though?

“Brother, Sir Tang has arrived,” he quickly said. “I’ll withdraw beforehand, if there’s nothing else?”

Sui Zhou gave an mn. Xue Ling, as if he had caught amnesty, skedaddled with haste, not neglecting to toss Tang Fan a look that said ‘good luck’ prior to his departure.

Tang Fan coughed lightly. “I haven’t yet thanked you for the ointment you granted me, Gonfalon Sui. After I applied it thrice, the marks completely vanished. It worked very well.”

Sui Zhou’s gaze swept over the restored patch of fairness just above the other’s collar. With a “Follow me,” he stood up and walked out.

Tang Fan trailed behind him. Passing through a courtyard, they came before another building, and after going in, they went all the way down a flight of stairs. The further they went, the lower the surrounding temperature got compared to ground level.

Due to never seeing daylight year round, the environs were extremely dark, but not damp. The candles on both sides flickered, as if there was a possibility that they could go out at any time.

It was quiet, here. No one stood guard. As they tread on the steps, their footsteps resonated far in the empty space, automatically making one tense in their wake.

This area had been used to store some of the Office’s torture implements and weapons, but now, there was an extra corpse in it.

In order to preserve it, Sui Zhou had ordered a lot of ice chunks moved over and heaped up around it.

Saltpetre-made ice originated from the late Tang period, and by the Ming era, ice-making technology had become quite developed. Every summer day, peddlers would sell cold drinks and food on the streets, while rich families would use ice cubes to enjoy cooling off. As for the wealthy and imposing Bastion Office… well, that didn’t need to be said.

“Zheng Cheng?!” Tang Fan didn’t conceal his astonishment when he saw the corpse, nor his slight pleasant surprise at the unexpected.

This wasn’t him having some sort of abnormal psychology where he had a special ‘interest’ in the corpse of a hedonist, but rather because he had believed the corpse had been burned to nothing when the Eastern Depot caught fire. He hadn’t foreseen that Sui Zhou had long taken precautions to relocate the real body.

“This Tang admires your foresight very much, Gonfalon Sui.”

Lots of people were able to think that maneuver up, but the ones that dared to do it were truly few.

If the Eastern Depot learned that it had initially carried away a ‘fake Zheng Cheng’, quite a lot of them would definitely come over to heckle Sui Zhou.

Though, with his background, he probably wouldn’t need to worry about that, anyway.

Despite hearing his praise, Sui Zhou had no special look of pride on his face. “We didn’t find anything on his body at all.”

Tang Fan’s line of sight fell upon Zheng Cheng. The coxcomb that had been lascivious and dissolute by nature whilst alive had now turned into a silent corpse. All of his clothes had been completely shucked, and he laid there peacefully. Due to the cool temperature preserving his carcass, a strange blue-white color imbued him, but he was overall in good condition, with no putrefaction.