Chapter 72

  Older brother

  "Which one do you want?" Ruo Lan looked very gentle at this moment, her hand pointing to the chubby chin below, "Want that..."

  The thing in his hand was a cloth tiger.

  "Call me brother and I'll give it to you."

  "Grandpa..."

  "Brother!"

  Yin Ruofei was about to speak up and stop her, but Ruo Lan had already shouted out loudly.

  Yin Ruofei glared at her young sister, "This cloth tiger has sold herself out?"

  Rong Jingze burst out laughing and threw out the two bamboo hoops in his hand. One hoop landed on a cloth tiger and the other on a small cloth bag.

  The people around called out "good", and the stall owner brought over two things at the same time, also picking up the bamboo circle to bring over.

  "Take it..." Jing Ze handed over the old tiger blanket.

  "Thank you, brother!"

  Yin Ruofei silently looked at her sister, thinking that in the future, her brother-in-law must be careful not to let someone elope with a few words.

  Just as he was thinking about it, the small package in Rong Jingze's hand fell into his.

  Yin Ruofei raised his head dazedly, and Rong Jingze was pursing his lips at him, "What should I say?"

  "......thank you brother......" Yin Ruofei's head went numb and she involuntarily said a sentence.

  Róng Jìngzé's face, which had been calm and collected all along, suddenly lit up, as if he was pleased, and he patted Yīn Ruòfēi's head with a very friendly and satisfied expression. He completely ignored Xī Líng Hào, who had already frozen in place, as well as Róng Shí, one of the twenty-eight guards, whose smile had stiffened, and the person involved, who was quite frightened...

  It seems like I've gotten addicted to playing.

  After that, Rong Jingze went crazy buying all sorts of snacks and trinkets, and even bought a very delicate lantern. Of course, the lantern wasn't originally for sale, it was meant to be used as a signboard, but since Yu Feng liked it and Rong Jingze was willing to pay for it, the shopkeeper happily sold it to them.

  Not only did Ruo Lan distribute various snacks, but Yin Ruofei also did the same, and no one else was left out. Listening to Ruo Lan's sweet voice and Yin Ruofei's stiff voice, Rong Jingze felt that this outing was really worthwhile.

  Maybe it was a big deal, but when I lost a pack of pine sugar to Rong Shi's hands, Rong Jingze actually looked at me with that kind of gaze.

  Rong Shi felt his knees go weak, and he struggled to stay awake, refusing to call out. Rong Jing Ze also realized that they had found the wrong person, and quickly shifted his gaze back to Yin Ru Fei's body.

  Yin Ruofei was about to cry, who was the bastard that incited him to attend the Lantern Festival?

  Xiling Hao, who was hiding behind everyone, couldn't help but shiver and touched the back of his neck with a guilty conscience.

  Xiling Hao saw that the situation was not good and had already slipped away quietly. Jin Yuan and the others were all boys, and they didn't visit every stall, so they were much faster than Yin Ruofei's group.

  A group of people came walking towards them from the front, Jin Yuan hastily responded, but saw that each of these people was carrying large and small bags.

  Jinyuan's smile was a bit stiff, "You're really enjoying yourself, old man."

  Rong Jingze's mood was extremely refreshed at this moment, and he didn't dislike Jin Yuan either. He glanced slightly at Yin Ruofei beside him, "It's fine."

  Divide the things into two halves, let Jin Yuan take one away. At first, Jin Yuan was a bit hesitant. Yin Ruofei covered his eyes with his hand and said, "Brother, take it away quickly. I don't want to see it for another moment."

  Thinking of Rong Jingze holding a drumstick and making him call "brother" just now, Yin Ruofei really felt that living was worse than death.

  The Spring Festival has passed in such a lively and bustling manner...

  To be honest, Yin Ruofei felt several times more tired during this holiday than usual. Moreover, for a long time to come, the few guards close to him, such as Gongjiu, would secretly repeat that sentence: "Thank you, brother!" Making him so embarrassed that he wanted to beat them to death, and the reason he didn't was just because he couldn't win for the time being.

  After the New Year's holiday, everything got back on track, and Yin Ruofei started her busy study again.

  Recently, there was a case in the suburbs of Beijing.

  There is a nun's temple that claims to be the Bodhisattva manifesting, giving believers medical treatment. Among them, there are also some manifestations of holiness, and almost half of the capital city knows about them.

  Many people went to ask for medicine, donating a large amount of money in the form of incense oil, and got back a small package wrapped in yellow paper, which they took home and used with water.

  It so happened that there was a young child who cried every night, and his grandmother and mother tried every method to no avail, asking for divination and fortune-telling, but it didn't work. After hearing that the nun's temple was effective, they went to find her.

  After taking a dose of medicine, not only did it fail to cure the night crying syndrome, but also caused a whole body rash and was on the verge of collapse.

  The family became anxious, suspecting that it was related to the nun's case. Coincidentally, this family had a certain status and was the maternal uncle of Madame Rongchang. A complaint was filed with the Metropolitan Governor, who sent someone to arrest the nun and bring her back for trial. Upon investigation, many things were uncovered.

  These nuns, upon investigation, were not genuine nuns at all. Normally, the incense in this nunnery was flourishing, but someone had intentionally spread rumors, and those so-called sacred manifestations were utterly absurd. Everyone knew about it, yet no one had ever seen them.

  The governor of the capital suspected that they were extorting money from the people and accumulating wealth maliciously. After a beating, several nuns cried and confessed, revealing that the so-called "divine medicine" was actually just incense ash, which was special but not much different from other incense ash, deceiving many ignorant commoners.

  It turned out that not only was the manifestation of the saint a fake, but those medicines were also fake. They said someone had gathered them there and used the nunnery to collect money, but apart from the rice, flour and grains sent by the common people, they didn't get any share of the money at all, it was all taken away by the people who controlled them.

  In these years, there have been several tens of thousands of taels of silver every year.

  The Governor of Jingzhao did not dare to conceal this matter and hastily wrote a memorial, but the memorial reached the hands of King Ze.

  The safety of the capital, whether the officials are clean or not, is all under Rong Jingze's secret control. So this letter was first sent to Rong Jingze's hands. However, after Rong Jingze took a look, he thought of something else in his heart.

  Call over Yin Ruofei and throw the contract in front of him, let him see if there's any problem.

  As expected, Yin Ruofei did not disappoint Rong Jingze's expectations and immediately felt that this matter seemed to be connected to the poisoning of his grandmother, the old lady of Zhenjiang Houfu.

  Rong Jingze was slightly satisfied, and this kid didn't seem too dull after all. However, things might not be that simple.

  Rong Jingze took the folded paper and ran to the imperial study room to discuss with the emperor. Afterwards, he sent someone to bring those nuns out from the capital governor's place and locked them up in a secret location.

  When it comes to using torture, the Prefect of Beijing can't compare with Ze Wang. He has twenty-eight guards under his command, almost all of whom have exceptional skills, including those who excel at interrogation. These few nuns were just a few private prostitutes, later caught by someone and forced to shave their heads and become nuns in this convent, but secretly still privately colluding with several officials.

  After being tortured, these officials' names were spat out.

  "These few people must be related to the person behind the scenes." Yin Ruofei slowly opened his mouth, "It's just how to investigate who sent the ashes to the Hou Mansion."

  In the past few years, several nuns have impersonated divine medicine and scattered incense ash, but it's unknown how many people they gave it to. As far as he knows, neither before nor after did Lin go to the nunnery. Lin was a concubine herself, her mother was also a concubine, and many nunneries in the suburbs of Beijing were places where large households sent their concubines who had broken household rules, so they were quite taboo about nunneries. If there's something to burn incense and worship Buddha, it's usually done at temples, never at nunneries.

  This is strange, Xiao Lin didn't go to the nunnery, so how did this incense ash end up in Old Lady's food? Is it possible that this matter has nothing to do with Xiao Lin?

  Yin Ruofei dispelled this idea.

  It's strange if she has nothing to do with it; in this family, the one who wishes for the old lady's demise the most is her.

  "Your brain is too rigid." Rong Jingze tapped Yin Ruofei's head with the white jade protective board in his hand, "Those nun's scattered medicine was for healing, could it be that your family's concubine would ask for medicine from Old Madam to no avail?"

  Yin Ruofei's expression changed to one of sudden realization.

  Watching Yin Ruofei rush back to the secret room, Rong Jingze hummed a little tune, "Young man, you're still too tender."

  Several nuns had already become startled birds, this time no need to use torture, just waving the torture instruments in front of them a couple of times was enough to scare them out of their wits.

  "I'm asking you, confess honestly, otherwise..." Yin Ruo Fei smiled coldly.

  The room was originally dark, and the two arm-thick tallow candles on either side occasionally crackled, under the dim candlelight, you could vaguely see the terrifying torture instruments on both sides of the wall, with dark spots all over them, as if they were old bloodstains, which made several nuns tremble with fear.

  These days they were repeatedly tortured and interrogated, and the Jingzhao government did not spare them either, only this was even more vicious and cunning.

  At this point, Yin Ruofei made a threatening gesture, and several people hastily nodded their heads, "Master, please ask, we will definitely tell everything."

  Yin Ruofei left with a satisfied smile, holding a confession based on the handprint, and the answer he was seeking was also clear in his mind.

  It turns out that these nuns are not only deceiving people by selling fake medicine, but they also often get asked by the wives of officials if they have any medicine that can make someone disappear.

  The nuns also have a large house, and they were driven out to become secret prostitutes. They are also aware of this kind of thing. However, they are just ordinary people, and since they can't make divine medicine, they won't make poisonous medicine either. But in order to complete the task given by the person behind the scenes, they simply don't do one or two things, a pack of incense ash, continue to deceive.

  However, they are very careful about the poison, after all, it's not as good as saving people, and can be said to be insincere. These people who buy poison are all wealthy and powerful, many of whom are beyond their reach, if not for the sacred medicine signboard, who would bother with them.

  So this poisonous medicine was sold in much smaller quantities than the divine medicine, and to this day only five or six portions have been used, so a few people remember it clearly.

  Several people were mentioned in a row, and Yin Ruofei just let them be recorded. Suddenly, he heard the name of Lin Fu Ren, the Lang Zhong of the Ku Bu department, and Yin Ruofei's eyes suddenly lit up. His mother's two uncles from her natal family were now officials in the imperial court, and his second uncle, who was also the father of Lin Hui'er, who had fallen into the pond at the Hou Mansion, was none other than Lang Zhong of the Ku Bu department?

  This Kubo Langzhong's official position is not high, only a positive fifth product, but the power in his hands is not small, and it is also the object of Ze Wang's secret investigation. His wife, isn't she that He Shi who made a scene at the Hou Mansion trying to frame him and his cousin?

  Yin Ruofei's eyes narrowed dangerously, fine, let's settle the total account together.