Chapter 338: Implications

While seated in the horse carriage, Yan Liqiang sensed what Eunuch Liu was thinking. Thereafter, he shared the entire story of his three encounters with Xu Lang.

Their first encounter was in the servant quarters. Xu Lang and the others were the ones who started creating trouble, almost implicating Yan Liqiang. Ultimately, this ended with an exchange on the Arena of Life and Death with Liang Yijie.

Their second encounter was the day Xu Lang and Liang Yijie sparred on the Arena of Life and Death.

Their third encounter was the time he met Xu Lang and the others a few days ago when he came out from the restaurant. Yan Liqiang also mentioned the disagreements he had with them. As for killing, it was something that Yan Liqiang would absolutely not admit to. It was because he knew that it was impossible for anyone to have seen him kill Xu Lang and the others. Even if anyone had seen the process, they would only have seen King Cobra and not him. Toward this, Yan Liqiang had absolute confidence.

As for the witness and plaintiff which Director Chen had mentioned, it was merely an excuse to scare the others. That person would at most be able to prove that a few days back, Yan Liqiang had some disagreements with Xu Lang and the others outside the restaurant. The person would not have been able to prove anything else and Yan Liqiang was not afraid in the least.

In the carriage, Yan Liqiang even shared the reason he met with Zhang Yourong from the Soul Mountain Sect’s Thousand Engineering Hall with Eunuch Liu. Some of his “small inventions” back when he was in Gan Province had caused the number one engineer to have some interest in him. Zhang Yourong went to find Lu Peien in the Gan Provincial Guild Hall, who was an old friend of Yan Liqiang’s from the same hometown. Zhang Yourong then invited Yan Liqiang for a meal at Sky Beyond. Yan Liqiang also shared the matter of how he worked together with Fang Beidou to publish newspapers.

After listening to Yan Liqiang talk, Eunuch Liu looked at Yan Liqiang in surprise for quite a while. It was as if he had just gotten to know Yan Liqiang. He felt both gratified and surprised. “What is that ‘The Great Han Times’ that you mentioned?”

Yan Liqiang gave an explanation. However, after Eunuch Liu heard everything, he merely commented, “This idea is interesting. It’s rare for you to be able to think of this kind of thing that can provide people with some kind of entertainment.”

Seeing that Eunuch Liu did not treat this newspaper in high regard but merely saw it as an interesting tool, Yan Liqiang did not speak about it any further. “I also thought that it would be interesting to come up with this. It won’t violate any taboos and I might even be able to earn some extra money. Therefore, I went ahead with it. It’s just that the first publication sales weren’t that good and the total number of newspapers we sold did not even get us ten taels of silver.”

Eunuch Liu shook his head, “Something like this is comparable to other people admiring flowers or taking a walk with their pet birds. Just treat it as a pastime. If you really wish to earn money, there are plenty of other ways to do so. As long as you master your abilities, you’ll be able to look for a good job and stand above the others. People will come at your beckoning and even queue up to present you with money. There’s no need to waste all this energy!”

“Eunuch Liu is right!” Yan Liqiang did not argue. Instead, he just nodded. “I didn’t put too much money into this. If I lose the money, then I’ll just forget about it. But if the business works, then it’ll allow me to earn a living as well!”

Eunuch Liu nodded after listening to Yan Liqiang. “I hadn’t expected for you to have such capabilities and ideas, to be able to create mechanisms that even Zhang Yourong is fascinated with. Don’t worry. This time around, I definitely won’t let those people from the Ministry of Justice do as they wish with you…” Saying this, Eunuch Liu’s voice turned slightly colder, “You’re someone that Lord Sun recommended and you even gained merit when you were with Lord Sun. Right now, you’re with Deer Villa, which means that you’re on His Majesty’s side. Judging from what you’ve said, those people wanted to deal with you since a long time ago due to your relationship with Lord Sun. It’s just that they didn’t have the opportunity to take action. This time around, they’ve finally managed to find a reason to take action…”

“Oh, right. When I met Xu Lang and the others at the restaurant’s entrance the other time, they were with someone called Young Master Lin. Back then, I felt that Young Master Lin placed a lot of attention on me. His gaze even made me shudder..”

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Eunuch Liu frowned, “Young Master Lin? What does that person look like?”

“He doesn’t really have any special traits. There’s a black mole next to his mouth, and he wore an arrogant expression, appearing to be a little eerie. When he was with Xu Lang and the others, they seemed to be trying to get into his good books!”

“It’s no wonder. So it’s him!” A cold gleam flashed across Eunuch Liu’s eyes, “I was wondering why those people from the Ministry of Justice were so quick to jump out this time around, acting so impetuously to come to Deer Villa to arrest people. So it’s because there’s someone pushing them from the back…”

When Yan Liqiang saw Director Chen at Deer Villa earlier on, he already knew about Young Master Lin’s identity through Director Chen’s mind. However, when he heard Eunuch Liu saying this now, Yan Liqiang still asked, “Eunuch Liu, who on earth is that Young Master Lin?”

“That Young Master Lin is called Lin Zhe. He is the Grand Chancellor Lin Qingtian’s nephew and a famous family member of an official in the Imperial Capital. Since Lin Qingtian doesn’t have any children of his own, he treats Lin Zhe like his own son although he is his nephew. Lin Zhe always colludes with others in the Imperial Capital, acting recklessly without care…”

“Who is that Director Chen?”

“Who else could he be? Just a lackey who wishes to get into Lin Qingtian’s good books…” Eunuch Liu said with disdain.

…

The Ministry of Justice was located north of the Imperial Capital and it was not too far from the palace. Its walls were a dark red color, and from the outside, it appeared to be a strongly fortified and cold place. Before they even got near it, Yan Liqiang noticed that the number of people walking along the streets around the Ministry of Justice had lessened. The air which had been a little cold to begin with, seemed even colder when they arrived at the Ministry of Justice.

As the Great Han Empire’s powerhouse, the Ministry of Justice’s structure was massive. Just in the Imperial Capital alone, the organizations under the Ministry of Justice included the Law Enforcement Unit, Judicial Unit, Mitigation Unit, Investigation Unit, Imprisonment Unit, Treasury, Castigation Unit, Criminal Law Hall, and others. Other than the Minister and Vice Minister of Justice, there was also the director, vice director, scribes of various rankings, supervisor, clerks, clerk manager, and many other officials, let alone the constables and the like.

It was only after Yan Liqiang arrived that he noticed that there was something fishy about this place. By right, based on the procedure for him to be brought into the Ministry of Justice for questioning, the plaintiff who was supposed to be suing him for having committed murder should be waiting to confront him at the Investigation Unit. However, the people from the Ministry of Justice did not seem inclined to seriously interrogate him. Instead, they merely got the people from the Imprisonment Unit to be ready to arrest him before any interrogations…

This was something that the people from the Ministry of Justice should be used to doing. This time around, it was unknown if they did not communicate well internally or if it was because the people in-charge were used to acting arrogantly that they did not pay too much attention to the details. When Yan Liqiang and Eunuch Liu arrived at the Investigation Unit, all the flaws were revealed…

Eunuch Liu, who saw the problems with one glance, immediately flew into a rage. He took this chance to create a fuss. After making a scene at the Investigation Unit, he swung his sleeves and left the Ministry of Justice, bringing Yan Liqiang along with him. They then headed straight to the palace to lodge a complaint…

…