jdhmnovel Chapter 1138 A Treasure in My Heart
Chapter 1138 A Treasure in My Heart
It turns out that Huai Zhizhen was a "filial son".
The guards pushed open the courtyard gate.
The shouting inside the courtyard stopped abruptly.
Shen Zheng and Xu Yunyan stepped inside together. In the pavilion, a man and a woman stood up. The woman looked timid and took small steps back, while the man frowned and looked at them without saying a word, but his eyes showed vigilance.
"Who...who are you...?" the woman asked, twisting her handkerchief.
Shen Zheng glanced down at her official robes. "Is my identity so hard to discern?"
The woman's eyes widened suddenly, and the man pulled her down to kneel. "I am Huai Zhizhen, greetings to Lord Shen."
"Get up." Shen Zheng sat down and asked Huai Zhizhen, "Huai Zhizhen, what did you just say... that I'm a new official making a big show of things? You think I shouldn't investigate your father?"
Huai Zhizhen slowly stood up, bowed her head and said, "Perhaps you misheard me, sir."
"I misheard..." Shen Zheng picked at her ear and laughed, "Which shop did Young Master Huai send his calligraphy and paintings to for mounting? I'll send someone to pick them up for you."
Huai Zhizhen lowered his head even further, "I dare not trouble Lord Shen. I can wait three days."
Shen Zheng looked at his forehead and squinted, saying, "I don't find it troublesome at all, so please speak."
Huai Zhizhen's forehead tightened, and he remained silent for a long time.
Shen Zheng had already grasped the general idea and continued to ask, "Does Young Master Huai have the key to Tingying Pavilion?"
“…I do have it,” Huai Zhizhen replied.
"Does Young Master Huai know the origin of those parrots?" Shen Zheng asked again. "There are dozens of parrots in the pavilion, and each parrot has a different taste. It must be difficult to feed them, right?"
Huai Zhizhen clenched her fists secretly, and her voice was no longer as steady as before: "Reporting to you, sir, the birds' tastes are mostly the same, and they only need to be fed some grains on a regular basis."
Upon hearing this, Shen Zheng felt even more confused. "You still haven't answered my previous question."
Huai Zhizhen fell silent once again.
Shen Zheng didn't urge him, but just kept looking at him until he said, "Replying to you, sir, most of those birds were bought by my father from the bird market when he was young, and some were gifts from his friends. They weren't worth much money. After all, as you know, parrots have only become popular in the last ten years or so, but in my memory, my father was already raising birds more than ten years ago."
After he finished speaking, Shen Zheng remained silent. He then added, "Lord Shen may not know, but the lifespan of ordinary birds is only a few years. However, the larger the parrot, the longer it lives. For example, there are quite a few parrots in Tingyingxuan that are over ten years old."
Upon hearing this, Shen Zheng had to admit that both of Huai Gongwang's sons were very intelligent.
Leaving aside Huai Jin for the moment, let's talk about Huai Zhizhen in front of us.
Previously, he deliberately made a great fuss in the courtyard to whitewash Huai Gongwang.
At this point, he wanted to use a few words to prolong the battle and whitewash the act of "Huai Gongwang accepting bribes after going to Liuyang Prefecture" into the illusion that "Huai Gongwang has been raising birds for many years, and those birds are valuable now, but were worthless in the past."
But perhaps even he himself didn't realize that the more he tried to cover things up, the easier it was for flaws to be seen.
Shen Zheng glanced at him, then got up and left.
Huai Zhizhen finally breathed a long sigh of relief after the courtyard gate was closed.
After leaving Huai Mansion, Shen Zheng went to the prefectural school with Xu Yunyan.
The eaves of the main hall of the government office were empty. All the birdcages had been taken back to the government office by the soldiers. The educational officials were all on edge and were as quiet as quails in front of Shen Zheng.
Shen Zheng did not speak to them, but instead led Xu Yunyan directly into the shelving.
Unbeknownst to them, the light in the warehouse gradually dimmed.
The sky was covered in thick ink.
Just as Xu Yunyan turned on the wall lamp, there was a knock on the warehouse door.
"My lord..." It was Su Yan's voice.
Xu Yunyan stepped forward to open the door, and Su Yan entered in two steps. Shen Zheng looked at the booklet in her hand and asked, "What did you find?"
Su Yan took two steps forward and whispered, "Before Bai Rigongwang was taken away by the government officials, he did send someone to tell Huai Zhizhen a message. The original message was, 'Remember to feed the birds. The red-breasted birds like millet, and the blue-backed birds like sorghum.' After receiving the message, Huai Zhizhen left the government office and went to the place you guessed earlier. As for the rest, I am still investigating."
"Red-collared millet, blue-backed hawthorn...?" Shen Zheng put down the booklet and fell into deep thought.
What message did Huai Gongwang want to convey through these two sentences?
Shen Zheng couldn't figure it out for the time being, but she knew that investigating Huai Zhizhen would be enough.
"Go and find out who Huai Zhizhen wanted to see at noon," Shen Zheng said.
Su Yan accepted the order and left. Shen Zheng added, "Remember to eat, everyone. You've all worked hard these past few days."
Su Yan paused, his front teeth reflecting the flickering light. "Sir, your subordinates haven't had a hard time. We're all thrilled to be able to follow you in investigating corrupt officials!"
After saying that, he grinned and went out of the warehouse. Before he could even raise his hand to close the door, Yu Zhengqing arrived.
Yu Zhengqing hurried into the storeroom and said, "That kid from Huai Mansion didn't lie. There is indeed something engraved inside the parrot leg ring."
He pulled Kumen up with his hand, took out a small booklet from his pocket and handed it to Shen Zheng: "I've copied it all down, take a look."
Shen Zheng took the booklet, looked at the symbols on it, and her brows slowly furrowed.
Bird beak, bird claws, bird eyes, bird feathers, and more or less vertical lines and dots...
"Can you understand it?" Yu Zhengqing asked.
Shen Zheng looked at it twice, "This bird claw symbol is even divided into left and right feet."
"..." Yu Zhengqing paused, "That's it?"
"That's all for now." Shen Zheng flipped through the booklet again. "Let's arrange them in the order of the patterns and see if we can find any rules. Come on, Xiao Xu..."
The booklet was in Xu Yunyan's hands in the next instant.
Seeing Xu Yunyan's nonchalant expression, Yu Zhengqing added, "I have annotated each page with the corresponding bird and also drawn a rough sketch of the bird next to it. If you don't understand, go to the government office and look it up."
The bird's image on the book was clearly drawn in a very rough handwriting, but Xu Yunyan said, "It's very clear."
Yu Zhengqing coughed lightly, about to speak, when the door to the warehouse was knocked on again.
This time, it was a guard from the prefectural school who knocked on the door: "Lord Shen, the school officials have all gathered in the main hall and say they want to go home."
Shen Zheng's eyes flickered slightly.
After being locked up for a day, some people are starting to get restless.
Xu Yunyan stayed in the shelving to disassemble the symbols, while Shen Zheng and Yu Zhengqing went to the main hall.
As soon as the two arrived, the previously noisy main hall became quiet again.
Shen Zheng strode in and asked with a smile, "Why haven't you gentlemen returned to your quarters to rest yet?"
No one answered for a long time, and Shen Zheng's gaze swept across their faces one by one.
After a while, some people showed signs of backing down, some yawned, and some couldn't help but express their dissatisfaction: "Lord Shen, even if the prefectural government has detained the supervisor, we officials are innocent... Why don't you ask us to leave the prefectural government?"
"You're not allowed to leave the office?" Shen Zheng pointed to the darkened office and asked, "Didn't you all leave the office a long time ago?"