Chapter 68: Buried Fragrance Soul Under the Chaotic Grave Mound

  Xiao Jiading knew that they invited him to such a place, naturally it was to drink flower wine. However, he had an aversion to Su Lao Cai from the bottom of his heart. His own biological daughter was in prison, and he must have known about it, but he only spent money to bribe his first wife out of her shackles, while ignoring his own daughter. It really chilled him to the bone.

  Xiao Jiading agreed to meet him mainly to ask where Su Yunxia's mother was buried, and also to listen to what this Su Lao Cai had to say. He did not plan to drink wine with them, let alone flower wine.

  Xiao Jia Ding furrowed his brow and said, "I have an engagement tonight, at most I can only spare half a time unit. We won't be going to Huanhua Creek. Let's just find a place to chat casually."

  "Then, then it's at Yizhou Wine House outside the yamen, how about that?"

  "Let's go, I don't have much time, let's get straight to the point. Don't arrange a banquet, I have something tonight and can't drink."

  "Right!"

  Xiao Jiading said he had an engagement in the evening, which was originally an excuse, but unexpectedly, it wasn't long before a real engagement came knocking on his door. - A invitation sent by Ya Niang from Cuicui Jade Building, inviting him to meet at "Lan Zhou Hua Fang" by the river of Huahua Creek that night.

  Xiao Jia Ding secretly called it a lucky coincidence, fortunately he had turned down the Left City Magistrate's invitation to go to Hua Hua Creek to drink flower wine, otherwise they would have bumped into each other. He also thought that at this time, Ya Niang asked him to meet, could it be that she had made an appointment with Tang Lin? Thinking about it again, it didn't seem very possible, Ya Niang said that Tang Lin was extremely difficult to invite. It's probably not that easy to see him.

  When he came out of the yamen, the Left Market Commissioner had already changed into informal clothes and was waiting outside. Seeing Xiao Jiading come out, he hurriedly went forward to greet him, bowing his hands repeatedly.

  Xiao Jiading said: "I'm really sorry, the evening engagement was advanced, so there's only time for one meal. I apologize, let him make it brief."

  "Alright, got it, little brother."

  Xiao Jiading patted his shoulder again and said, "I know, you also can't save face, so you agreed to him. Each person has their own path in life, even if I couldn't help him out, the brotherly bond between us won't be affected at all. In the future, if there's anything that needs to be done, just speak up, and if I need your help with something, you can't refuse either, haha!"

  Upon hearing this, Zuo Shiling was overjoyed and hastily bowed his waist, saying: "Yes, yes, thank you, Xiao Zhuiyi. No, I mean, thank you for your recognition, big brother. Whatever instructions you have, I will definitely do my best to carry them out."

  Xiao Jiading and the yamen people called each other brothers, which was also for convenience in doing things later. In China, from ancient times to the present, everyone hates the relationship network, but cannot leave it, and yearns for more relationships. This is reality. In this regard, Xiao Jianding has been deeply experienced since his time as a lawyer in modern society, although not too long ago, and has been actively expanding various relationships. Now that he has arrived in the Tang Dynasty, he has also brought this set of methods here.

  The two of them came to the elegant hall of Yizhou Wine House, laughing and chatting. They saw a stout man with a wine nose, his face full of that habitual flattering smile, raising his plump hands, bowing repeatedly. The Left Market Director made an introduction, and this was indeed Su Yunxia's father, Old Money Su.

  Su Lao Cai hastily ordered his assistants to bring up the best wine and dishes. Zuo Shi Ling saw Xiao Jia Ding's serious face, didn't sit down either, and quickly pulled Su Lao Cai's sleeve, saying in a low voice: "Wait for now, Xiao Zhixin has an engagement, he will leave soon, at most only one meal time to talk to you. Hurry up! Xiao Zhixin is very busy, no time to listen to your nonsense."

  "Alright!" Su Lao Cai originally wanted to invite Xiao Jia Ding to sit down and talk, but Xiao Jia Ding didn't seem to want to sit down, so he could only stand there, smiling and saying: "It's like this, I have a concubine named Liu, who speaks out of turn and does things inappropriately. She often offends my wife, Wu Shi. The other day, she again angered my wife, who was momentarily enraged and grabbed scissors to stab her. Unexpectedly, the scissors landed on the concubine's neck, and she died as a result. My wife didn't intentionally mean to kill her; it was just an accident. If anyone is to blame, it's that concubine for being disobedient and disrespectful. She deserved to die, but my wife truly didn't mean to harm her. Please, you must uphold justice!"

  Xiao Jia Ding stared at his thick lips, flying up and down, coldly smiling in his heart. At that time, Su Yunxia and several maidservants who were present all testified that Wu Shi was like a madman, holding scissors and stabbing randomly. The autopsy also proved that the deceased Liu Shi had seven wounds on her body, including three on her neck, one on her head and face, and one on her lower back! Where is this still an accident? It's clearly intentional murder. The reason was just that Wu Shi found fault with Liu Shi and scolded her, but Liu Shi couldn't bear it and retorted, so Wu Shi went mad and committed the crime. After the incident, all the servants and maidservants present were stunned, Su Yunxia cried and asked them to report to the authorities, but according to Tang law, if a slave accused his master of a non-rebellious crime, he would be sentenced to death by hanging. Therefore, no servant dared to go, and they all hid. However, this old man Su actually wanted to settle the matter privately, preparing to have someone carry the body away and bury it to end the matter. Su Yunxia was furious and could only run to the government office to report the crime herself. Now, this old man Su wants to help him change the charge against that cruel woman to a manslaughter charge, which would allow her to keep her life and be released on bail.

  Xiao Jiading suppressed the anger in his heart and calmly asked: "Where is that dead Liu woman buried?"

  Su Lao Cai did not expect Xiao Jia Ding to ask this, and for a moment he was at a loss, thinking for a moment before forcing a smile and saying: "It's buried... uh, it's buried in the Knife Split Cliff in the south of the city..."

  The Knife Cut Cliff in the south of the city is a chaotic burial mound, located between two gorges, where sunlight rarely shines through, and the feng shui is extremely poor. As a result, the government used it as a place to bury dead refugees who had fled due to famine, as well as executed prisoners whose bodies were not claimed by anyone. Poor commoners who could not afford to buy burial land also buried their dead here, turning it into a chaotic burial mound.

  Unexpectedly, Su Lao Cai actually buried his deceased concubine in such a place, without even buying a grave for her.

  Xiao Jiading continued to ask: "Where is it buried at Knife Cut Cliff? Is there a tombstone?"

  Su Lao Cai did not expect Xiao Jia Ding to ask so carefully, and hurriedly said: "Just inside the Knife Split Cliff, about two hundred steps in, there is a... uh, small stele..., with a name written on it."

  Xiao Jiading nodded, since he could set up a monument, there was still a little bit of conscience left. Tomorrow, he would go to pay his respects himself, and it would be easy to find the place.

  Su Lao Cai saw Xiao Jia Ding finish asking these questions, and he fell silent, looking somewhat frightened, stealing a glance at the left market commander beside Xiao Jia Ding.

  Zuo Shiling nodded in agreement, coughed and said: "I'll go hurry up the dishes..." After speaking, he turned around to leave.

  "Hey, Left Magistrate!" Xiao Jiading shouted to stop him, "Don't go!" Then, looking at Su Lao Cai: "Do you have anything else to say?"

  Xiao Jiading hoped he would mention his daughter Su Yunxia, who was also trapped. However, Su Lao Cai didn't even mention half a word about her, as if she didn't exist at all. This made Xiao Jiading despise him even more, so he refused to sit down and wouldn't let Zuo Shi Ling leave either, staring coldly at him.

  Zuo Shi Ling couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed standing there, unable to disobey Xiang Jia Ding's words.

  Su Lao Cai had been in business for many years and knew the use of money well. He often dealt with officials, and not a few of them were initially stern-faced, but as soon as they saw the money, they immediately put on a smiling face. This official was probably no exception. At this point, he quickly picked up a money box from the corner of the wall and placed it in front of Xiao Jia Ding, opening it to reveal that it was full of copper coins.

  Su Lao Cai looked at Xiao Jia Ding with a hint of complacency and said, "This is just a small token of my goodwill, please accept it with a smile. As long as my wife can be cleared of the wrongful murder charge and released from prison, I'll send another box of money to you..."

  Xiao Jiading could have sternly rebuked this bribery behavior, but that would have embarrassed the Left Market Commander who was standing beside him, which wouldn't be good either. So, he said with a gloomy face: "I've never accepted bribes from others, didn't the Left Market Commander tell you?"

  Su Lao Cai was taken aback and looked at the Left Market Commander.

  As soon as Zuo heard Xiang's words, he knew that things had gone wrong. Xiang was now giving himself an excuse to get out of the situation, and he quickly scolded Su: "Didn't I tell you? When Xiang Zhayi came to eat, it was already a great favor to you. Zhayi is a very honest person and never accepts bribes. Why didn't you listen? You've made a big fuss about this!

  Su Lao Cai was extremely embarrassed and muttered: "This... this is just a small token of goodwill... I'm really sorry..."

  Xiao Jiading interrupted him: "Alright! I already know what you mean. In principle, since the Left Market Commander has spoken, I would have helped. No need to go through this routine. However, as you all know, I'm just a small errand boy, my words don't count, only the County Commander's words count. So, I love but cannot help, sorry! I have something else to attend to, I'll take my leave first!"

  Having said that, he bowed his hand at Zuo Shi Ling, swung his sleeve and left.

  Although Xiao Jiading was only holding his clothes, everyone in the yamen knew that County Magistrate Kang himself did not understand the law, and all criminal cases were handed over to him for handling. Moreover, Xiao Jiading was personally recommended by Tang Sima, so County Magistrate Kang valued him highly, and his words were to some extent County Magistrate Kang's decision. Now he used this as an excuse, naturally making it clear that he didn't want to help. Helplessly glancing at Old Su, he hastily chased out and escorted Xiao Jiading all the way to the door downstairs. Old Su had no choice but to follow closely behind.

  Xiao Jiading stopped and turned around to bow to Zuo Shi Ling before walking forward.

  That's Huahua Creek, a serene and picturesque little river not far from the county government office. The scenery on both banks is extremely beautiful, so there are some flower boats on the creek for tourists to play and enjoy the view, lingering and frolicking.

  Xiao Jiading had come with Zhu Haixin last time, so he knew the way. Just now when he came out, he had already changed into a green long gown, looking like a handsome young master.