The Second Shopkeeper cried and shouted, howling and yelling with tears and snot streaming down his face. He tried to say something, but his words were unintelligible.
Gu Zhao stepped aside, crouched down, and reached out to grab his blood-stained face.
"When? Where? What kind of ledger? Tell the truth. If there is even half a word of a lie, or if you dare to falsely accuse anyone, I will send you to your grave right now."
Having been tortured for a day and a night without sleep, food, or water, the Second Shopkeeper was starved, parched, and in agonizing pain. Seeing a sliver of hope for survival, he refused to let it slip away.
Now that Vice Minister Gu had come personally to ask about the ledger, the Second Shopkeeper knew he was at the final juncture of life and death. Not daring to hide a single detail, he racked his brain and howled loudly.
"Two years ago, in the master's study. I went to hand in the account books and accidentally saw the master writing something. Finding it strange, I later sneaked in to find it and read it. It was a ledger concerning the illicit connections between Zhao Shiyuan and Hu Xiaofeng."
Zhao Shiyuan was the Salt Commissioner of Yangzhou two terms ago. His downfall was triggered precisely by an anonymous report involving a fake ledger.
That very fake ledger was currently sitting on Gu Zhao's bookshelf.
This case had been personally tried by the Emperor. Feeling fooled by the fake ledger and having his imperial authority undermined, the Emperor still harbored resentment over it. Gu Zhao was ordered to Yangzhou with two missions: first, to investigate and deal with Lei Dawu, and second, to track down the fake ledger.
If the fake ledger from Zhao Shiyuan's case was truly written by Zhang Jingyan, it would constitute the crime of deceiving the sovereign. The male members of the family would be executed immediately, and the female members would be reduced to official slaves. No one in the Zhang family would escape.
Official slaves.
These two words pressed heavily on Gu Zhao's heart. If the Zhang family truly fell to such a state, and if she really became an official slave without any means to protect herself, who else could she rely on but him to save her from the dust?
Gu Zhao tossed the Second Shopkeeper aside. Though his heart was in turmoil, his exterior remained as calm as ever. He interrogated again.
"What grudge was there between Zhang Jingyan and Zhao Shiyuan?"
Having been tortured all day, the Second Shopkeeper was truly terrified and dared not speak nonsense. He cried out.
"I really don't know about this, my lord. Before Zhao Shiyuan's downfall, the Zhang family and Lord Zhao not only had no grudges, but their relationship was very good. During festivals, the Zhang family was always the most diligent in sending gifts to Zhao Shiyuan. I never heard of any bad blood."
Seeing the torturer behind Vice Minister Gu pick up the whip again, the Second Shopkeeper was so frightened that he half-sprawled and half-knelt, kowtowing frantically.
"I wouldn't dare deceive you with lies, my lord! I truly don't know, my lord, I truly don't!"
Gu Zhao stood up and ordered.
"Give him paper and pen. Have him write out that ledger from memory."
Hearing this, the Second Shopkeeper collapsed in despair. He wasn't the reincarnation of a god of literature; how could he remember a ledger he had seen two years ago, let alone write it from memory? He couldn't do it even if they killed him. He continued kowtowing frantically.
"Spare my life, my lord! I really can't remember that much. I only glanced through that ledger in a panic, I truly can't write it out."
Gu Zhao smiled.
"I will give you one day. If you truly cannot write it, then you can take it into your coffin. Let's see if you can remember it when you're in the underworld."
Ignoring the Second Shopkeeper behind him, who was crying and kowtowing so hard he might smash his head to pieces, Gu Zhao stepped out of the cell.
With the Second Shopkeeper's blood still sticking to his right hand, Gu Zhao took a handkerchief from his robe with his left hand to wipe it. Seeing that it was that light cyan plain handkerchief, he paused. Ultimately, he couldn't bear to let the handkerchief be stained with filth, so he put it back exactly as it was.
Enduring the discomfort of his blood-stained hand, he waited until he returned to his study. When his attendant brought water, Gu Zhao finally washed the dried blood off his hand.
He washed it meticulously three times with fragrant soap. Once it was completely clean, he carefully dried his hands with a towel, ensuring that every last trace of dirt was washed away.
Gu Zhao took a locked box from the shelf in his study and opened it with the key he carried on him. Inside the box were four ledgers.
He spread the four ledgers out on the desk one by one. One was the evidence from Zhao Shiyuan's case two years ago, one was the evidence from Yan Qizhong's case last year, one was submitted by Yan Pan, and one was presented by Prefect Liu.
The one from Yan Pan and the one presented by Prefect Liu were exactly the same.
The Second Shopkeeper had also confessed that he had written a copy for Prefect Liu last year, but for some unknown reason, there had been no movement. Recently, Prefect Liu had asked him to write another one. Figuring that writing two was the same as writing one, the Second Shopkeeper fabricated another copy.
Even the latter two ledgers, both written by the Second Shopkeeper, were only seventy percent similar and full of their own respective loopholes. Therefore, Gu Zhao never expected the Second Shopkeeper to truly possess the extraordinary talent to write out from memory a ledger he had seen two years prior.
To judge whether a person was telling the truth or a lie, the key lay in the details. The general framework could be fabricated, but details could not be made up without having actually seen them. As long as the Second Shopkeeper could write down details that matched, then what he said was most likely the truth.
Sitting at his desk, Gu Zhao took out that light cyan plain handkerchief again.
A beauty in distress was like a brocade handkerchief covered in dust.
Once a brocade handkerchief was stained with blood, no matter how much effort was spent, it would be difficult to wash completely clean.
Similarly, if she truly became an official slave, he could rightfully claim her as his own and take whatever he desired from her. But for her, the status of a slave would accompany her for the rest of her life.
Gu Zhao held the plain handkerchief in his palm, gazing at it for a long time, before finally putting it back into his pouch to treasure it.
......
Following Gu Zhao's instructions, Zhang Shen went to the government office the next day to meet Vice Minister Gu. Because he answered well, Gu Zhao assigned him a new task, requiring him to report to the government office every day.
Seeing him leave early and return late every day, Zhu Qingyu was very curious. While having dinner together in the evening, she asked him.
"What task did Vice Minister Gu assign you that keeps you so busy?"
Zhang Shen had been busy for the past few days. The food at the government office at noon was poor, and he couldn't stomach it. He returned every day exhausted and starving. Looking tired, he replied.
"Vice Minister Gu transferred me to help with bookkeeping. Although he didn't say it explicitly, I suspect Vice Minister Gu is about to make a move against Lei Dawu, so we are taking inventory of the rations and fodder."
In the height of summer, many soldiers suddenly appeared inside and outside Yangzhou City.
Thus, it wasn't just Zhang Shen at the government office who speculated this way; rumors also began to spread among the public that Vice Minister Gu was going to wage war against the salt smuggler Lei Dawu, which was why he had been mobilizing troops from all over.
It became a topic of conversation for many people after meals.
However, most of the commoners felt that catching Lei Dawu wouldn't be so easy. After all, hadn't Lord Gao, the Governor-General of Liangjiang, failed to catch him even after trying for two years?
In Zhu Qingyu's view, seeing how Vice Minister Gu usually planned carefully before acting and kept his composure, if he was ready to make a move, he must be fully prepared. He would definitely catch him. As for the process of how Gu Zhao would catch Lei Dawu, she wasn't all that concerned.
Instead, Zhang Shen having to go to the government office every day to run errands, and growing thinner day by day because he couldn't eat lunch, became Zhu Qingyu's top priority.
Unlike her, who lived a rather unrefined life, Zhang Shen was a true young master who had grown up in the lap of luxury. He had high standards for his daily life and was quite delicate: meat had to be freshly slaughtered that day, vegetables had to be fresh from that day, and he only ate new rice from the current year.
Gu Zhao could taste the bitterness of the government-issued salt in the communal meals at the government office, and naturally, Zhang Shen could too.
This wasn't just a matter of a day or two. How could he just endure starving all day, every day? So, Zhu Qingyu came up with an idea for Zhang Shen:
"Or, how about I have the head steward deliver your lunch?"
Zhang Shen didn't know whether to laugh or cry:
"That is a government office. With so many officials of all ranks, even Vice Minister Gu eats the same way. I am just a commoner, not even a clerk, yet I would have a servant wait on me and deliver my meals? Qingyu, does that seem appropriate to you?"
Put that way, it did seem a bit inappropriate.
Zhu Qingyu came up with another idea:
"If a servant won't do, a wife surely will, right? I will go deliver it to you. No one could possibly say anything about that, could they?"
