Book 5: Chapter 26: Offending Both Sides At the Same Time!
Book 5: Chapter 26: Offending Both Sides At the Same Time!
Lin Xi watched as Lian Zhanshan brushed his sleeves and left, releasing a light sigh.
He was a tourist, his knowledge regarding this world extremely limited. However, if they were strictly speaking about what they knew, the total amount of his knowledge, apart from Principal Zhang, perhaps not even the most erudite student knew more than him.
Moreover, towards fame and profit, he actually didn’t really desire any of it.
It was precisely because he was detached from all of this, that he could see everything much clearer than ordinary people.
Lian Zhanshan was a Yunqin official after all, so even if it was for the river gangsters like Fourth Grandpa Zhu, no matter how much dissatisfaction he had towards him, there was no way it would be this clear, he immediately noticed this.
Only if officials from above expressed something would Lian Zhanshan dare adopt this type of methods without being scared of being denounced by others.
Even though he didn’t know who it was, through which official this intention was passed down, when Lin Xi thought about it, it should precisely be Liu Ziyu, those people.
For those ‘high level golden spoons’, doing this type of thing was far too easy.
“I expected you all to do these types of things, I just never thought you all wouldn’t have the slightest bit of patience, in this much of a hurry.”
Lin Xi frowned slightly. At this time, he somewhat understood why Vice Principal Xia was in such a rush to send him to the outside world.
It was because no matter which cultivator it was, in the end, they still had to fight against other people. No matter how high one’s cultivation was, if they didn’t know how to fight against other people, it was still useless.
“Let’s go. Let’s take a look at that floating corpse.”
Lin Xi waved his hand in a calm and even-tempered manner, having Liang Sansi lead the way.
East Port Town’s port.
He could see the two large ships docked at the port from far away, the celebrated words ‘Thriving Prosperity’ on them. There were six other large ships from other trading companies.
“I’ve heard you guys bring up Thriving Prosperity all the time, saying how this unloading doesn’t need to be managed, just what is the story behind this?”
As they walked, he carefully examined the two ships with extremely thick planks, asking this.
“Thriving Prosperity is the largest tung oil store of breath river, Aleurites Town Hu Family’s business. Because the business is huge, the tung oil spanning across a larger half of Yunqin, that is why Thriving Prosperity has excellent relations with many shopkeepers, close to even many great officials in capital city. Together with every ship having many guards, many of them old soldiers discharged from the local armies, no one along this entire Breath River dares provoke them, even the Town Supervisors have to treat them extremely politely.” Bailiff Qi Guangwu who was almost directly punished by Lian Zhanshan because of this excuse spoke in a bootlicking manner.
“Town Supervisor Dong is also here.”
Right at this time, Du Weiqing suddenly reminded quietly behind Lin Xi.
Only now did Lin Xi see that at the center of the crowded townsmen was an open space. Among the few officials, there was a fifty something year old man dressed in a black official uniform. His posture was a bit stooped, but when the other officials stood in front of him, they all imperceptibly seemed a bit shorter than him.
When they saw that the people of Enforcer Office came, the townsmen who had already crowded all around this wide port immediately moved aside, letting Lin Xi and the others walk in.
Because of the arrest of Liu Tong yesterday and today’s events in the fish market, Lin Xi already had quite the reputation in East Port Town. Only, most of the townsmen didn’t see him personally yet. Now that they saw that he was just as young as the rumors stated, they immediately began to whisper among themselves, all of them wishing to see how this Enforcer who was clearly ridiculously young was going to handle this case.
When he walked up close, Lin Xi saw the corpse that was laying on a bamboo mat, also seeing that this East Port Town’s Town Supervisor Dong’s mouth stuck out a bit, chin a bit like an ape’s. However, at the same time, the sharp Lin Xi also sensed a wave of foul wind and bloody rain from his body, an iron-blooded aura, this aura making this Town Supervisor Dong’s face appear especially fierce and dignified.
Lin Xi knew that this Town Supervisor definitely fought for who knew how long in the border army.
“Town Supervisor Dong.”
Because this was the first time they were meeting, Lin Xi walked up in an extremely natural manner, directly greeting this Town Supervisor respectfully.
Town Supervisor Dong nodded. After giving Lin Xi a look, he said, “Enforcer Lin is really young as expected… Since Enforcer Lin has finally arrived, then I will leave this place to you. I hope that this case can be settled within the deadline to prevent the people from being alarmed and losing hope, don’t let down the wage the emperor has graced you with.”
After saying this, Town Supervisor Dong passed by Lin Xi’s side, leaving.
His tone was extremely calm, but these words were just like his attitude when departing, making Du Weiqing and Liang Sansi’s hearts go cold. Why was even the Town Supervisor like this to Sir Lin?
Meanwhile, Xu Jianling who was originally taking delight in Lin Xi’s disaster immediately produced a bit of a pleased smile.
An old bailiff like him, how could he not sense the true meaning behind this Town Supervisor’s seemingly calm words?
Truly young, this sounded like praise, but in reality, it revealed a wave of doubt and despise.
Enforcer Lin finally arrived, this was clearly mocking that Lin Xi was too slow, that even Town Supervisor already came, yet he only arrived just now.
This was even more the case when he mentioned the deadline, as well as the final line of not letting down the emperor’s grace, his intentions even more apparent… If Lin Xi couldn’t meet Lian Zhanshan’s demands, then that would be letting down this salary.
Even though this Sir Lin looked rather ambitious, he might not sit on this seat for much longer.
While carrying these types of thoughts, Xu Jianling quickly looked over this floating corpse, immediately feeling even more pleased. This was an unfamiliar face, meaning that there was no way it was someone from East Port Town. The likelihood of solving this case became even lower.
“A youngster like you, I fear that when you see a corpse, your legs will just become weak, perhaps you will even vomit for half a day, right?”
Xu Jianling’s eyes stopped on Lin Xi’s body. He took a slight step back, watching with joy, waiting for Lin Xi to make a fool of himself.
However, what left him stupefied, and what made the surrounding townsmen feel that this young Sir Lin was formidable was that Lin Xi didn’t even use a handkerchief to cover his nose, directly calmly squatting down, carefully examining this corpse.
Lin Xi directly held his breath.
As a cultivator, he could completely avoid breathing while examining this corpse thoroughly.
His brows quickly furrowed.
It wasn’t that he was particularly scared of this corpse, but rather that ever since he saw true blood, experienced true life and death situations, this type of feeling was already quite faint for a cultivator like himself. What made him frown was that it shouldn’t have been long since this corpse entered the water, which was why even though the body was bloated, his facial features were still rather clear, clearly visible, a young man who might not have necessarily reached thirty years of age yet.
This young man’s appearance when he was alive should be delicate and pretty, the first impression it gave Lin Xi was that he was a scholar, and not a fierce brave warrior. However, this man’s eyes were still opened rigidly, as if he carried an extreme unwillingness from the depths of his eyes, this was what gave Lin Xi an uncomfortable feeling.
Suddenly, Lin Xi put on a set of deer leather gloves Enforcers used for work, turning this corpse around.
The reason for this was because the hemp rope was bound extremely tightly, already digging into his skin. Moreover, the wound on his neck was on the back right side, the feeling this gave him was that this man was tied up, wishing to jump into the river to escape, but the instant he jumped into the river, he was given a cut from behind.
Originally, the Internal Affairs Sector official and the few merchant-like individuals, when they saw how young Lin Xi was, and how late he came, all carried a bit of mockery. However, when they saw how Lin Xi’s expression remained unfazed, his carefully examining expression, they all shivered inwardly, the feelings of mockery immediately disappearing.
“Du Weiqing, this injury was inflicted when he was running away. You’ve spent quite some time on this river bank, with your experience, how long has it been since this corpse entered the water?”
Lin Xi didn’t care about the reactions of the people around him, instead slowly standing up, turning around and asking Du Weiqing.
“If I am not mistaken, the amount of time he was in the water shouldn’t exceed twenty hours.” Du Weiqing immediately replied.
“If he floated his way down, according to the water flow and time, we can at least roughly mark out the area which he moved through. According to your judgment, help me investigate which ships passed through that region around that time.” Lin Xi calmly looked at Du Weiqing, and then said, “I need Liang Sansi to help me with other matters, if you want assistance, you can choose some other people.”
“Alright.” Du Weiqing didn’t say any more either, quickly nodding towards Qi Guangwu, and then the two of them lowered their heads, leaving.
Lin Xi nodded towards Liang Sansi, and then said, “Liang Sansi, I want you to help me find a painter, draw this man’s portrait, and then stick it everywhere, see if anyone recognizes him. At the same time, carry out an inspection, see if anyone among East Port Town’s resident merchants is missing anyone. Judging from his clothing, he doesn’t seem to be a foreigner from too far away.”
“This subordinate accepts your order.” Liang Sansi quickly ran out.
Xu Jianling’s face immediately became ugly to the extreme, not expecting Lin Xi to actually be this proficient, from the inspection to the assignment of orders, having this level of ability in arrangement and decision making. Perhaps even if an older Enforcer was here, they would still speak out in praise. Right now, there were already several townsmen who cheered. Meanwhile, judging from Lin Xi’s words, he already hinted that Du Weiqing was even above him, throwing him off to the side, not paying him any attention.
“Do you think I am blind, not seeing how happy you were to see me in trouble? Even if I’ve never served as an Enforcer before… I at least watched Detective Conan…” Lin Xi showed the unpleasant faced Xu Jianling a look of disdain, inwardly sneering.
“Where is the one who discovered this corpse, where are Thriving Prosperity’s people?” Lin Xi cupped his hands towards several Internal Affairs officials, asking this.
“This humble one is Song Chengpeng, the manager of these two Thriving Prosperity ships. Sir Lin’s arrangements are thorough, this one is in admiration. I will have to ask sir to continue looking after us in this East Port Town in the future.” When Lin Xi’s words sounded, a round faced, middle-aged merchant dressed in purple silk clothes at these officials’ sides immediately smiled kindly, respectfully cupping his hands in greeting.
The Internal Affairs Sector officials on the side also began to explain. The elder who discovered this corpse already fainted from shock, currently resting at home, perhaps unable to come over immediately for quite some time.
Lin Xi greeted Song Chengpeng, saying, “I must ask these two ships to please not leave the harbor before this case has been dealt with, all of the people on the ships must also not leave them so I can carry out a detailed interrogation.”
The smile on Thriving Prosperity manager Song Chengpeng’s white round face immediately went rigid. Only after several breaths of time did he seem to completely understand the meaning behind Lin Xi’s words, saying in disbelief. “Sir Lin, you are going to confiscate two ships from Thriving Prosperity? What does this have to do with our Thriving Prosperity company?”
Lin Xi looked at him, calmly saying, “This floating corpse was discovered in this harbor, apart from there being a possibility that it came from the upper reaches of the river, the chances of it falling from a ship near this port is also extremely high. That is why this is not only the case for your Thriving Prosperity’s ships, I am going to investigate everywhere around the harbor.”
“Sir, your respected self also understands our Thriving Prosperity’s prestige.” Song Chengpeng’s face became a bit red, saying angrily, “How could this be related to us?”
Lin Xi shook his head. “Trust and cases don’t have any direct relationship. If we are going to eliminate all suspects from the start, then many cases have no chances of being solved.”
“However, sir, does your respected self know just how great the losses will be for our Thriving Prosperity by stopping here for several days, how much losses there will be for East Port Town?” Song Chengpeng took a deep breath, and then looked at Lin Xi, coldly saying, “Moreover, just now, Town Supervisor great one already said that our ships can depart at any time.”
Lin Xi shook his head. His movements were extremely gentle, but his gaze was extremely strict. “According to Yunqin Law, the one who presides over this case is the Enforcer. If other officials wish to interfere, they must first present documents of misconduct, first remove the Enforcer from his position.”
After a slight pause, Lin Xi looked at Song Chengpeng who was so angry his entire body was shaking a bit. “If I do not recall incorrectly, even if an official reply is given to a subordinate, the process should still be at least six or seven days, about the same as my deadline for this case. That is why if you wish to leave the port earlier, I must ask for Manager Song’s cooperation… the earlier this case is solved, the earlier I can thank Manager Song and Thriving Prosperity on behalf of the townsmen.”
“Have you carefully thought through the consequences of this?” Song Chengpeng took a deep breath, completely calming down. After saying this, he directly brushed his sleeves and walked off.
Lin Xi remained unfazed, standing in place quietly.
The faces of Xu Jianling and all of the officials here turned pale.
This was especially the case for several officials here who were full of chilliness inside, just never expecting Lin Xi to be this fierce… He clearly already heard the words Town Supervisor Dong spoke to Song Chengpeng, so now that he acted like this, it was clearly to forcibly drag Thriving Prosperity down into the waters, use Thriving Prosperity’s power to help him investigate this case!
With Thriving Prosperity’s abilities, if they began to move out, the speed of examining this case will definitely become much faster.
However, this Lin Xi was just a trifling Enforcer, why did he dare act this brazenly, completely going head-on, actually even daring to offend both Town Supervisor Dong and Thriving Prosperity?!