The Imperial Coroner Season 2

Chapter 23: Home-style Tofu (Part Twenty-Three)

When Leng Yue and Jing Yi arrived at the kiln shed, Zhao He was already waiting inside with the bewildered Xu Qing and Sun Dacheng.

A batch of porcelain was being fired in the kiln. Flames danced at the firewood feeding port, casting a shimmering glow on Zhao He's sweaty face. Placed beside the two dark-skinned faces of Xu Qing and Sun Dacheng, the contrast was strikingly vivid.

It was unclear what Zhao He had told the two men, but the moment Jing Yi stepped through the doorway, they knelt in unison, exclaiming thunderously, "Your humble subjects pay respects to Lord Jing!"

Both were sturdy men in their prime, and their booming voices made Jing Yi falter mid-step, nearly causing him to tumble to the ground.

"No, no, no... It's neither a festival nor a holiday, why such formality..." Jing Yi said amiably, walking over to personally help them up with a bent waist. "Hurry and rise. Go find an empty crate each by the wall and squat inside. If you break them, I'll pay for it."

Squat inside empty crates...

Leng Yue watched as the two robust men's faces darkened from black to an even deeper shade. Even the simple, honest smile that usually graced Xu Qing's face had vanished into the gloom.

For a moment, Leng Yue couldn't fathom why Jing Yi wanted them to squat in the crates.

Clearly, Zhao He didn't understand either. He forced a stiff, smile-like expression onto his face and bowed respectfully to Jing Yi. "Lord Jing, may I ask..."

Zhao He had barely begun when Jing Yi amiably cut him off.

"Are you truly daring to ask?"

"...I dare not."

Jing Yi patted the spot on his chest where his official badge was tucked, his smile deepening. "Steward Zhao, no need for courtesy. There are plenty of crates here—why don't you find one to squat in as well."

"Yes..."

Watching the three burly, broad-shouldered men squeeze themselves into the rosewood crates meant for storing porcelain, leaving only their round, dark heads visible, Leng Yue felt an inexplicable pang of pity.

Crammed in like that, how uncomfortable must those crates be...

After observing the scene with satisfaction for a while, Jing Yi turned to Leng Yue with an obedient smile. "My dear, which one do you want? You decide."

Hearing Jing Yi's words, Leng Yue suddenly understood.

Zhao He also wore an expression of sudden realization and hurriedly chimed in with a flattering smile, "Lord Jing and madam are here to select crates?"

Leng Yue raised her willow-leaf eyebrows slightly, a hint of a smile playing on her lips. "Steward Zhao isn't entirely wrong. I came for the crates, but not for the crate shells—rather, for the crate fillings."

The three men squatting in the crates instinctively glanced down at themselves.

At the moment, it seemed they were the crate fillings.

Jing Yi added very good-naturedly, "Pitch-black crate fillings."

Zhao He was baffled and couldn't hold back. "Lord Jing, Linglong Porcelain Kiln primarily produces white porcelain. We've never made black items..."

Jing Yi waved his hand dismissively, still smiling. "There are... not often, but they exist. You just haven't seen them." With that, he gestured toward Xu Qing with his chin. "If you don't believe me, ask him."

Several pairs of eyes simultaneously fell on Xu Qing's face. He flushed slightly. "I... I haven't seen any either..."

Before he could finish, Xu Qing finally grasped a clue from the identically profound gazes of Jing Yi and Leng Yue. He froze, the reddish tint in his dark face suddenly fading. "You... you mean...""Right, that's the one." Leng Yue cut off Xu Qing's words with a calm yet heavy tone, her phoenix eyes shifting lightly toward the still bewildered Sun Dacheng. "I don't know much about kiln work, but judging by your appearance, you're not a kiln worker, are you?"

Both Xu Qing and Sun Dacheng had dark complexions, but not the same kind of dark. Xu Qing's darkness came from long-term exposure to smoke and fire, while Sun Dacheng's was the kind tanned by constant sun and wind outdoors.

Sun Dacheng shook his head blankly. "I'm in charge of chopping firewood."

Leng Yue raised an eyebrow to a chilling angle. "Did you go looking for Boss Xiao yesterday because of firewood matters?"

Sun Dacheng's dark face turned ashen, his tongue stiffening before he managed to say, "Yes..."

Before the trailing syllable faded, Jing Yi interjected with leisurely amusement, "Yes, my foot."

"..."

Leng Yue took a few steps closer to the crate where Sun Dacheng was crouching, her phoenix eyes narrowing as the chill in them intensified. "What was the real reason?"

Pinned under Leng Yue's intimidatingly cold gaze, Sun Dacheng tried several times to stand up from the crate, but to no avail.

"Don't move, don't move..." Jing Yi waved at him amiably. "I can tell you've never squeezed into tight spaces before. When you crouch with your legs curled up in a narrow spot like this, it's easy to squat down, but trying to get yourself out through sheer struggling is hard. Especially for someone your size—you must have put so much effort just squatting down, there's no way you can manage to get out on your own... Stop struggling pointlessly. If you end up breaking this crate, do you have the money to pay for it?"

Hearing Jing Yi's initial words, Xu Qing and Zhao He also instinctively tried to push themselves up, but it proved futile. Then, upon hearing Jing Yi's final remark, the three of them immediately settled back into their crates, none daring to move again.

As insiders of the porcelain kiln, they knew all too well how valuable these crates were.

Leng Yue couldn't discern the exact worth of the crates, but as she glanced at Jing Yi standing beside her, his smile unwavering, she suddenly understood why he had made these three men squat inside them.

She hadn't brought her sword, nor any weapon for that matter.

Rather than stepping in to fight these three robust men in a messy brawl if they were driven to desperation, Jing Yi preferred this method—one that harmed no one, spared himself, and maintained peace.

An inexplicable softness warmed Leng Yue's heart, softening her words with a tone of domestic harmony. "If you won't say it, I'll guess... You went to see Boss Xiao to ask for money, didn't you?"

Sun Dacheng looked slightly stunned. Zhao He froze for a moment, then turned to look at him. "What? Did you really go to the master to ask for an advance on your wages?"

Before Sun Dacheng could open his mouth, Xu Qing had already twisted his neck to glare at him wide-eyed. "An advance? Didn't you say you were working on some... some big business? I even gave you my saved ten taels of silver!"

Zhao He's eyes widened even more than Xu Qing's. "Business? You told me you couldn't even afford a steamed bun!"

Cornered by Xu Qing and Zhao He's alternating accusations, Sun Dacheng's face flushed and paled in turns until, finally, he snapped and roared in defeat, "I lost it gambling! I'm broke, I can't go on like this, so what!"The words that should have been delivered with full confidence and intimidating force, when spoken by Sun Dacheng while crouched inside a crate, somehow felt...

Rather pathetic.

"Not impressive," Leng Yue said indifferently. "When you couldn't make ends meet, you went to Boss Xiao, hoping to trade some information for money. But Boss Xiao took your information, handled his business, yet you never received your payment, correct?"

Sun Dacheng stared at Leng Yue as if he'd seen a ghost. Before he could speak, Jing Yi cut in.

"Correct." Jing Yi looked kindly at Sun Dacheng, gestured toward his own face, and added, "It's written all over your face."

Sun Dacheng instinctively raised his hand and dumbly touched his own face.

Were there... words on his face?

Leng Yue frowned slightly and looked at Jing Yi. "Then does his face also say that after he beat Zhang Chong to death with the iron hook used for tending the kiln fire, he stuffed the body into the fuel feed opening?"

The porcelain kiln suddenly fell silent, deathly still. The three people in the crate stared with eyes growing wider by the moment.

Thus, when Jing Yi looked deeply at Sun Dacheng's complicated expression and spoke in his gentle, soft voice, everyone felt his words were deafening.

"It wasn't written before... but it is now."

Jing Yi's words snapped Xu Qing out of his thunderstruck astonishment. "Jing... Lord Jing, are you saying Chong'er has already... already..."

Jing Yi tilted his chin slightly toward Sun Dacheng. "Ask him."

Sun Dacheng was no less shocked than Xu Qing. Looking up at Jing Yi, who still maintained the demeanor of a refined gentleman, his mind was in turmoil and his voice trembled. "He... wasn't he already reduced to ashes? You... you..."

Jing Yi then tilted his chin toward Xu Qing. "Ask him."

Xu Qing froze for a moment, then suddenly understood, his face instantly turning ashen. "That... that person was Chong'er?"

Zhao He felt like all the sweat on his forehead had seeped into his skull, turning his brain into complete mush. The confusion became unbearable. "Wait... wait a moment, Lord Jing, Madam, what exactly are you two talking about? Didn't Zhang Chong return to his hometown urgently? His grandfather, the Porcelain King Zhang Laowu of the capital, came personally to say so! He even apologized for not having time to say proper goodbyes and voluntarily took over his grandson's shift, saying he'd keep firing the kiln until his grandson returned... What's this about beating someone to death with an iron hook and stuffing them into the fuel feed?"

Jing Yi sighed softly. "Ask them."

For a moment, the three men stared at each other, each with countless questions but no idea how to begin asking.

"These matters aren't urgent. Before the trial, all three of you will be staying in Dali Temple Prison for a while. You'll figure it out gradually..." Leng Yue said calmly as she pulled Qin Hehuan's money pouch from her robe and dangled it before Sun Dacheng's eyes. "First, tell me - you've seen this before, right?"

Sun Dacheng pressed his thick lips together. "What thing... Never seen it!"

Jing Yi sighed softly and shook his head. "Do you know why you always lose at gambling?"

Sun Dacheng stared blankly. Though he didn't know why Jing Yi suddenly asked this question, he genuinely wanted to know the answer. "Wh-why?""Gambling is about skill, and so-called gambling skills are nothing more than cheating, deceiving, swindling, and stealing," Jing Yi gestured toward Sun Dacheng's dark, plump face in the air. "Even your lies are written all over your face. How can you expect to achieve much at the gambling table?"

As he spoke, Jing Yi took out the three dice from his waist and tossed them into the crate where Sun Dacheng was crouching. They landed steadily beside Sun Dacheng, producing a series of crisp, clattering sounds against the wooden box.

"Considering we share half a common interest, I'll give you these three dice." Jing Yi's smile grew even more amiable, almost taking on a benevolent quality. "Keep them safe. When you get to the King of Hell, show them to him and say your Ancestral Grandmother sent you down. Out of respect for her, the King of Hell might grant you a chance to reincarnate and start anew as a human."

Sun Dacheng clutched the three dice, clearly bewildered. "Ancestral Grandmother...?"

Jing Yi pointed to himself, then to Leng Yue beside him, who looked equally confused. "I am your Ancestral Grandfather, so of course my wife is your Ancestral Grandmother."

"..."

For a moment, Leng Yue's expression took on a shade similar to Xu Qing and Sun Dacheng's.

You're the Ancestral Grandmother. Your whole family are Ancestral Grandmothers...

"Don't just stand there dumbfounded," Jing Yi said, looking at Sun Dacheng—whose temples were visibly throbbing—as if he were a junior disciple. "Your Ancestral Grandmother is asking you questions. Answer truthfully, or when you get to the underworld, the King of Hell might convict you of deceiving your ancestors and obliterating your lineage. If you're reincarnated as a pig or a sheep, don't blame me."

Under Sun Dacheng's complicated gaze, Leng Yue felt something was off.

What is this sudden sense of pride from being promoted in seniority...

Sun Dacheng hesitated for a moment, gripping the dice. "I... I've seen these before. They belong to the boss lady. She... she gave them to Zhang Chong. I saw it with my own eyes."

Before Leng Yue could speak, Xu Qing roared, "You bastard! You killed Chong'er over this lousy money, didn't you!"

Xu Qing had always been honest and kind-hearted, so his sudden outburst startled Sun Dacheng, who blurted out, "Yes—" He caught himself mid-word and snapped, "Yes, my foot!"

Jing Yi tried to hold back but failed. "You really are a fool."

Sun Dacheng choked, his expression growing even more complicated. "...What do you mean!"

Jing Yi shook his head and sighed, pointing toward the firewood feeding port. "You stuffed the body in there, thinking you could burn it to ashes and that with no corpse, there'd be no evidence against you, right?"

Sun Dacheng pressed his lips tightly together and remained silent.

If he hadn't believed Zhang Chong had already turned to ashes, why would he have stayed so boldly in this porcelain kiln...

"It's written all over your face..." Jing Yi shook his head again, exasperated. "You fool, if you don't know how to fire a kiln, don't shove people into it! You blocked the air vents for stoking the fire. How did you expect to reduce anyone to ashes? Tsk, tsk, tsk... When you get to the King of Hell, don't say you know me!"

Watching Sun Dacheng's temples pulse with rage, Leng Yue finally understood—she had probably overthought things.

Jing Yi trapping these three in the crate was most likely for the sake of his own survival..."Forget it..." Leng Yue was genuinely worried that if Jing Yi continued, there might be additional casualties here. She tucked the money pouch back into her robe. "First, have a few people take them to Dali Temple Prison. You can discuss the matter of fanning the flames later."

"Wait!" Upon hearing they were to be imprisoned immediately, Sun Dacheng panicked and exclaimed urgently, "Everything I said earlier was just empty talk—all nonsense, made-up stories... You have no evidence! You can't arrest people arbitrarily!"