They had specially invited the Astronomical Bureau to check several times, and the number of altered time records had become far fewer compared to those densely packed records from before.

After an entire afternoon of searching, as evening mealtime approached, the three of them had found over twenty entries. After sorting through the records, Bai Zhu said, “These deceased individuals whose times were altered several times include both old and young, and their ages don’t seem to be in common!”

Liu Yuan, however, did not think much of it and said, “The pursuit of pleasure had nothing to do with age — one could be just as carefree and romantic!”

This was true! Bai Zhu glanced at Liu Yuan, who had spoken, paused, and added, “They all come from powerful families…”

That was also just empty talk. If one were not among the powerful and influential, how could ordinary folk possibly invite the Astronomical Bureau?

While Bai Zhu and Liu Yuan engaged in a back-and-forth conversation, Lin Fei remained silent. He circled the final burial locations of the individuals listed on the map of Chang’an City spread out on the desk, looking over the twenty or so records he had compiled. Then, he called out, “Come and take a look!”

Liu Yuan and Bai Zhu, having been summoned, exchanged a glance before walking over to Lin Fei and looking down at the circled locations.

They were all scattered outside Chang’an City… which didn’t seem unusual at first glance! Who would choose to bury the deceased within the city walls?

Without a word, Lin Fei picked up his pen again and circled one of them, saying, “This is the location chosen by the owner of Linliu Manor!”

The circled locations were scattered and still didn’t seem particularly remarkable.

Seeing that Liu Yuan and Bai Zhu remained silent, Lin Fei took another pen from his pen holder. This time, he dipped it not in ink but in a vibrant cinnabar.

Using the cinnabar-dipped pen, Lin Fei circled several large areas outside the city walls.

The contrast between red and black was striking: the red and black circles seemed to be intentionally avoiding each other, not interfering with each other.

Lin Fei pointed at the red circle he had drawn and nodded without saying anything.

Off to the side, Liu Yuan and Bai Zhu, upon seeing the situation, immediately lowered their heads to look. After staring for quite a while, the expressions on their faces suddenly changed, and they almost spoke in unison, blurting out, “Not right!”

Not right! Where was it wrong?

“The locations Lin Shaoqing has circled are all occupied by the city’s powerful and influential. Even wealthy businessmen among the common people are trying their best to secure a piece of this Feng Shui treasured land!” Liu Yuan said excitedly. “Each piece is worth a fortune! Many wealthy businessmen have even spent a lot of money to seek help from noble people to obtain one! But these people…”

Bai Zhu looked at Liu Yuan, who was tongue-tied in his excitement, and took over his words. “It would be so easy for these people to obtain such a Feng Shui treasured land, but they chose to abandon such a Feng Shui treasured land and seek out such a previously unheard-of wilderness!”

Could it be that the Feng Shui master they found was more powerful than the officials with a long history in the Astronomical Bureau? Obviously not!

“There must be some other purpose to abandon such a Feng Shui treasured land that has existed since ancient times!” Bai Zhu said this, thoughtfully. “Choosing the middle of the night for the funeral must be because they are afraid of being discovered.” Choosing the middle of the night instead of the auspicious time under broad daylight was always a bit strange.

After all, even if the cover-up was perfect, according to the funeral process for the deceased owner of Linliu Manor, they would have buried him alive while he was still breathing!

In broad daylight, if someone was particularly meticulous, for example, someone like Lin Shaoqing, and noticed the soil beneath their feet wasn’t right, they might have noticed something was wrong.

Choosing the middle of the night, when it was difficult to see where to go in the wilderness, and the guests coming to see him off were exhausted, would naturally be the easiest time to get away with it.

Only then did they finally understand Lin Fei’s intention in having them come this way.

Next, they naturally knew how to investigate them. The families responsible for the funeral arrangements of the powerful and influential must have known! Then, they could investigate who these people had close ties with in the past. Finding the one with whom they shared a common bond would most likely be the mastermind behind this.

“Putting aside the damage such living burials did to one’s spiritual virtue, burying good, lively people alive was unimaginably cruel,” Bai Zhu frowned as he thought of those few young women being buried in the earth. “Not to mention humanity, even the Darong laws forbade such things! If it were just an ordinary acquaintanceship, no one would dare recklessly bring people in. If one were careless, and the person brought in felt compassion and exposed the matter, it would surely cause a huge uproar!”

Therefore, even if the owner of Linliu Manor had no respect for human life, they wouldn’t dare to do such a thing openly.

Finding the mastermind behind this was incredibly simple. Not only the calmer Bai Zhu, but even the usually volatile Liu Yuan, subconsciously glanced at Lin Fei, not immediately shouting to do it as he usually did.

It was certainly simple, but looking at those twenty-plus dignitaries, those with whom he had close ties must be extraordinary people! It wasn’t that they were afraid of the powerful; if that were the case, why would they come to the Dali Temple?

But there were so many people involved; could they really convict them all? Or was the widespread involvement just a matter of making a big noise but not getting any results?

Just letting it go was a bit unacceptable!

The room suddenly fell silent. Everyone knew what to do, but what to do next was a dilemma.

Liu Yuan exchanged glances with Bai Zhu, unable to resist a wry smile. He looked at Lin Fei, only to see him staring down at the list of dignitaries, silent.

After a long silence, Bai Zhu tentatively said, “This case has far-reaching implications. How about reporting it to Lord Zhao?”

The Lord Zhao Bai Zhu was referring to was Zhao Mengzhuo, the Minister of Justice.

This superior was actually quite good. When he was young, he handled cases with great vigor and determination. In recent years, due to his age, he had not handled most of the cases in the Ministry of Justice. Of course, it was not wrong to report to the superior when in doubt. As the Minister of Justice, he had to shoulder this responsibility.

But…

Even Liu Yuan couldn’t help but shake his head and said, “I don’t think it’s a good idea. Madam Zhao is pregnant recently, and Lord Zhao has become more and more humane lately!”

Being humane was certainly not a bad thing. At least officials like them in the Ministry of Justice felt that Lord Zhao was kind.

But letting the humane Lord Zhao take over a case involving such a wide range of people would probably raise some concerns. More importantly…

“If Lord Zhao finds out, then that ZhongshulingThe chief official of the Central Secretariat, responsible for drafting imperial edicts and advising the emperor. Lord Du will also know,” Liu Yuan thought for a moment. When he mentioned the three words “Zhongshuling,” he recalled the previous Zhongshuling Wen Xuance, and the lingering sweetness of the milk tea in his mouth suddenly turned bitter. “Lord Du’s abilities were indeed outstanding, but his likes and dislikes were too clear-cut, and his personal biases too strong. If any of the powerful figures involved had private ties with him, they would probably have known immediately before the case was uncovered!”

Can Lord Du know about this kind of case? Of course not!

(End of this chapter)

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