Chapter 17: Demon Sealing Tower (2)

Court of Judicial Review, Yuewei Hall.

Shen Jibai sat behind the desk, holding a slip of paper no longer than a finger.

His brows and eyes were lowered, clearly deep in thought.

Ever since Emperor Gaozu founded the Tang, several emperors had worked to recover lost territory and expand the empire’s borders. Years of warfare had left many refugees and orphans along the frontier with no home to return to, and they had drifted into the Eastern Capital.

To prevent too many refugees from flooding in, or to avoid disputes caused by mistakenly taking in someone else’s child, the prefect would carefully investigate every outsider and register them in the records.

The bailiff Shen Jibai had sent to investigate Chao Nanyi had followed the information Perfected Linghe filled in years ago and found the place where he had picked up Chao Nanyi. But when the bailiff rushed there, he discovered that it was an abandoned village, uninhabited for decades. There could not possibly have been an abandoned infant there.

Who would travel all that way to abandon a child in a deserted place? If they wanted to abandon one, they would leave the child at the entrance of a Daoist temple or in front of someone’s home, making sure someone would see.

He took out a small portrait, rolled it up, and stuffed it into the bamboo tube on a carrier pigeon’s leg. Then he had a bailiff take the portrait and make discreet inquiries to see whether anyone had seen someone with a similar appearance.

Yes. He had always suspected that the current “Lord Lingyun” was a sister who looked exactly like Chao Nanyi, and that the two of them were secretly plotting something.

That was why, during their heart-to-heart beneath the moonlight in the osmanthus courtyard, his attitude had softened somewhat. He had wanted to use the opportunity of investigating the case to approach her and find clues when the chance arose.

The door opened with a creak. Shen Jibai immediately released the carrier pigeon and shifted his gaze toward the doorway. His brows furrowed slightly as he reprimanded, “Do you not understand the rules?”

“I was just about to ask whether you understand the rules!”

Before the words had even settled, a plump man over forty years old walked in slowly with his hands clasped behind his back.

Shen Jibai rose. “Duke Song.”

Chief Minister Song lifted his robe and sat in the Eight Immortals chair by the window. He picked up the teacup on the high table, blew on it, and said as though casually, “I heard you transferred a group of officer-cultivators out of the Demon-Locking Tower, as if you intend to question them separately?”

Shen Jibai said, “Yes.”

Chief Minister Song took a sip of tea and slowly spoke. “Tea, no matter how bitter and astringent it tastes, is not necessarily the fault of the person who brewed it. If one insists on digging to the root of things, not only will face be damaged, but one’s foundation will be harmed as well. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Shen Jibai sat back down. “Duke Song, you may as well speak plainly.”

“You—!”

Seeing that he would not respond to either soft or hard tactics, Chief Minister Song heavily set the teacup back on the high table and put on the imposing air of a superior, his authority pressing down on others. “Could Court Minister Shen have forgotten why the entire Court of Judicial Review was last purged from top to bottom?”

“Shen understands.”

Shen Jibai said calmly, “Just as Duke Song memorialized, that night, the Fox King broke through the seal on its own. It was not due to the officer-cultivators in the Demon-Locking Tower failing in their duty.”

“Ah! That’s exactly it.”

Chief Minister Song showed an expression as if Shen Jibai was finally teachable and nodded in great satisfaction. “Although you were out investigating a case that day and were not in the city, you understood the whole sequence of events after you returned. What else is there to investigate?”

Shen Jibai changed the direction of the conversation. “Lord Lingyun does not believe it and insists on investigating to the end.”

What a coincidence. Chief Minister Song did not believe a single word of this either.

But Lord Lingyun’s status was special. Although she held the post of court secretary, she could not truly be considered his subordinate. Using her as a shield was indeed somewhat troublesome.

He frowned and asked, “The two of you have always been at odds. Half a month ago, you even fought so badly that the matter was brought before His Majesty. Why are you helping her this time?”

“Duke Song saw it as well. Lord Lingyun’s methods are formidable. Since she insists on this, how could Shen refuse?”

Three bells rang out. It meant the dining hall had opened, and latecomers would not be served.

Shen Jibai stood and made an inviting gesture, signaling that they could speak while walking.

Chief Minister Song stared fixedly at him for a long while before finally standing and walking out first.

With their status, they did not need to personally go to the dining hall. Bailiffs naturally delivered food boxes to them every day.

But Shen Jibai disliked special treatment. Since taking office, he had personally handled everything himself. Everyone in the Court of Judicial Review knew this.

Because of that, although Chief Minister Song’s expression looked somewhat ugly, he did not say anything.

The two went to the dining hall together. Probably because he saw that Shen Jibai would not yield to either force or persuasion, Chief Minister Song could only patiently and earnestly recount what had happened ten years ago from beginning to end.

The Demon-Locking Tower had once lost a demon. The officer-cultivators on duty that night did not dare conceal it and immediately reported it to the Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

At that time, the Chief Minister was a trusted and important minister deeply valued by His Majesty. He submitted a memorial pleading guilty, but unexpectedly, His Majesty truly dismissed and investigated him because of it. He also demoted the court minister and several court secretaries in succession, crippled the cultivation of the officer-cultivators on duty that night, and imprisoned them at the lowest level of the imperial prison, where they had still not been released to this day.

Although he did not say it outright, his meaning was very clear: the consequences of losing an unnamed minor demon were already so severe. If His Majesty learned of the Fox King matter, no one in the Court of Judicial Review would escape punishment.

Only then did Shen Jibai finally confirm that the matter was not, as Chief Minister Song had memorialized, the Fox King “breaking through the seal on its own.” It had escaped due to human interference.

Everyone in the Court of Judicial Review, out of selfish motives, had tacitly chosen to lie.

＊

The dining hall.

The top two figures of the Court of Judicial Review had come to collect their food together, frightening the server so badly that his hand trembled and he nearly failed to hold the wooden ladle steady.

He subconsciously looked back at the cook resting behind him, then tapped his right foot hard against the ground. The sound drew the cook’s gaze.

Taking the opportunity, he made frantic eye signals and lifted his chin toward the two men.

The cook immediately walked over, picked up the idle wooden ladle nearby, and served Shen Jibai his food. When it was Chief Minister Song’s turn, he deliberately lowered his voice and said with an apologetic smile, “Why has Duke Song come in person today? Was the meal sent over not to your taste? Would you like us to make something else?”

The Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review’s meals were prepared separately by the cook every day. This had been specially “hinted” at after Chief Minister Song took office. Originally, the court minister was also included in this special treatment, but their Court Minister Shen was young, straightforward, upright, and unmoved by either soft or hard persuasion. He hated this sort of special treatment most and had canceled the privilege himself.

“No need.” Chief Minister Song said to the server, “Give me less.”

The server shook the wooden ladle and picked out the meat as he filled the bowl to the brim. Only after watching him leave did he and the person beside him both let out a breath of relief.

Those two difficult ancestors sat down at a small table by the window. Court Minister Shen lowered his head and ate without saying a word the entire time. Chief Minister Song, on the other hand, kept saying something and did not even have time to eat.

The server craned his neck and watched for a while. Then he saw a paper crane fly in through the window of the dining hall and land on Court Minister Shen’s shoulder.

“Shen Jibai!”

It was Lord Lingyun’s voice.

The bailiffs in the hall, who had been eating with their heads lowered, all paused and pricked up their ears. Even the cook, who had returned to sit in the back, stood up and stretched his neck to look toward the window.

“Chao has found some important clues. Does Court Minister Shen want to know?” Another paper crane landed on Shen Jibai’s shoulder.

Chief Minister Song, who had been nagging nonstop, finally closed his mouth. His expression grew darker and darker, uglier and uglier.

They only saw Shen Jibai raise his hand and brush the paper crane off his shoulder. As the paper crane fell midway through the air, it suddenly turned into a wisp of cloud and vanished.

He looked at the person sitting across from him and raised one eyebrow slightly. “Duke Song saw it as well. This is all Lord Lingyun’s idea.”

As soon as he finished speaking, another paper crane flew in and circled above Shen Jibai’s head.

“If Court Minister Shen begs Chao, or calls Chao a good big sister, Chao can seriously consider telling you.”

The raised eyebrow slowly fell. This time, it was Shen Jibai’s expression that turned ugly.

After delivering the message, the paper crane suddenly vanished.

The bailiffs listening in on the gossip looked at one another, the shock on their faces impossible to suppress.

Even the server could not hold back. He turned around and gossiped with the cook. “What’s going on? Haven’t those two always been at odds? How did they suddenly get along?”

The cook shook his head. “I heard those two came out of the Shen residence together yesterday and even took the same carriage to Taiqing Temple. Court Minister Shen personally got out of the carriage to send Lord Lingyun back to the temple, and he didn’t come out all day. Yesterday was the first time in all these years that he was absent from duty!”

The server narrowed his eyes. “It must be your minds that are dirty. Lord Lingyun once made a vow, swearing that she would never seek a Dao companion in this life. I don’t believe it.”

“A vow exists so it can be broken one day, doesn’t it?” The cook did not think much of it.

Chief Minister Song was silent for a moment before saying, “Lord Lingyun has lost her memory. She is causing trouble blindly, and Court Minister Shen is following along with her nonsense? If this truly reaches His Majesty, the entire Court of Judicial Review will have a layer of skin peeled off. Taiqing Temple will not suffer in the slightest.”

Shen Jibai said, “Taiqing Temple’s duty is to catch demons, not imprison them. The Demon King escaped from the Court of Judicial Review, so naturally this has nothing to do with Taiqing Temple.”

Hearing this, Chief Minister Song’s expression stiffened. He suddenly slammed the table and stood. “Good! So that was your plan. Is the position of court minister no longer enough to satisfy you? Now you want to curry favor with Taiqing Temple and climb higher! Shen Jibai, I overestimated you. What great thing can come from someone recommended by a stinking Daoist who spends all day flattering His Majesty and pretending to be mysterious?”

He swept the bowls and plates onto the floor with one hand, flicked his sleeves, and left. Porcelain shattered all over the floor with a crackling crash, and murky vegetable soup spilled onto the ground, mixing with rice and slices of meat.

When the portion of meat had been hidden beneath the rice, it had not looked like much. But now that it was spilled across the ground, everyone realized there was enough meat there to divide among three or four bailiffs.

The dining hall grew even quieter. Earlier, the sound of bowls and chopsticks could still be heard, but now not even swallowing could be heard.

Shen Jibai continued eating without any change in expression. Only after swallowing the last mouthful of rice in his bowl did he stand. Seeing that the bailiffs who had been eating in the hall had all run off and there was now not a single person left, he could only walk outside and say to a servant sweeping the courtyard, “Go to Taiqing Temple and invite Lord Lingyun here. Tell her everyone has already arrived.”

＊

Outside Luoyang City, the locust forest.

A fierce wind blew, knocking down several leaves. The leaves drifted downward and landed on the head of the Daoist priestess who had appeared out of thin air.

Zhou Xin looked around, clicked her tongue in wonder, and sighed. “This escape art really is pretty good! Next time, I’ll try seeing whether I can escape into the men’s bathhouse...”

After making a mark on the tree, she walked forward for a while, only to discover that it seemed as though she had encountered a ghost wall. No matter how she walked, she would return to the marked tree and could not go any deeper.

There was Qimen Dunjia technique in this locust forest, and quite possibly formations and barriers as well, hiding that mountain away.

Zhou Xin mobilized her Daoist qi, formed a hand seal, and chanted an incantation. The silver bells on her right wrist rang out sharply. Along with a clear jingling sound, a sudden thunderclap rose in the sky, and a bolt of lightning struck straight toward the locust forest.

The locust tree before her was split in half. She tried walking again, but before long, she returned once more.

Zhou Xin tried several times in a row, splitting the trees she could see into pieces, but she still could not break the formation and remained trapped, circling in place.

She had no choice but to set up several formations nearby, then use the Five Elements Escape Art to return to Taiqing Temple.

As soon as she appeared at the entrance of Taiqing Temple, she saw a young man in the uniform of the Court of Judicial Review riding toward her. When he saw her, he hurriedly tightened the reins and called, “Lord Lingyun! Court Minister Shen sent this lowly one to invite you to the Court of Judicial Review!”

“I know.”

Zhou Xin waved her hand, signaling for him to go first.

The servant had just turned his horse around when the Daoist priestess behind him suddenly vanished.

Zhou Xin had never been to the Court of Judicial Review before, and there was no image of its terrain or layout in her mind, so she had not expected that she would suddenly appear in Yuewei Hall, sitting on the very desk where Shen Jibai worked.

The person seated in the grand preceptor’s chair behind the desk seemed to be consulting something. His right hand was still holding a bamboo brush, while his left rested lightly on the edge of the desk. If not for the fact that his eyes had widened in shock and his temples were throbbing, anyone looking at this scene would have thought he was neglecting his proper duties and had trapped the elegant and radiant Lord Lingyun between the desk and his body, as though about to do something shameful.

Thinking of the consequences of the previous two instances of physical contact, a chill ran down Zhou Xin’s spine, and all the hairs on her body stood on end.

She had just opened her mouth to explain when footsteps sounded at the door. Then a middle-aged man’s voice entered the room along with the footsteps.

“Lu heard that Court Minister Shen and Duke Song had a great argument in the dining hall. What is it this time beca—”

The voice abruptly stopped.