Steward Zhao saw her standing still and urged, "Hurry and eat. After you finish, Wang Ye has tasks for you."
Chu Chu's eyes lit up. "Tasks? Not a beating?"
Steward Zhao was taken aback. "Who said anything about beating you?"
"Then what is it?"
"No need to rush. Eat first, then we'll talk."
Chu Chu dove into the bowl of beef noodles, managing to mumble "Okay!" between mouthfuls.
Watching Chu Chu's eating manners and listening to the slurping sounds she made, Steward Zhao's cheek twitched involuntarily.
There's always only one truth...
After finishing her meal, Chu Chu was escorted to a carriage. Steward Zhao said the people sent by Wang Ye hadn't given specific instructions, only that she shouldn't bring her small bundle, and preferably nothing at all.
Better do as he says - Chu Chu had no desire to provoke that prince again.
Empty-handed, Chu Chu boarded the carriage. Having stayed up all night plus being full from the meal, she fell asleep almost as soon as the carriage started rocking. When she woke, the carriage had stopped, and she found herself lying flat on the seat with a cushion under her head and a wool blanket covering her.
Still groggy, Chu Chu turned over. How strange - she clearly remembered falling asleep sitting up, and there were no cushions or blankets in the carriage when she boarded.
The satin cushion made a perfect pillow, and the wool blanket was soft and warm. If not for the familiar corpse examination announcements coming from outside the carriage, she would have gladly closed her eyes for more sleep.
Scrambling up and jumping out of the carriage, she realized this place was too desolate to be the capital - worse than Chu Shui Town, more like some wild forest. If not for the two Royal Mansion guards standing outside and the busy officials, she would have thought the prince had abandoned her in the wilderness!
It had started snowing at some point, and the busy officials outside already had a thin layer of snow accumulated on their clothes and hair.
The male corpse lying on the ground was naked, with various old and new wounds crawling across the obviously well-maintained skin in different depths and densities. An old man dressed as a Ministry of Justice coroner was squatting by the corpse, carefully examining it while systematically announcing each wound on the snow-white, delicate skin.
Chu Chu frowned. This was already the third naked corpse in two days. Were people in the capital so poor that they had to strip the clothes off after killing someone?
As Chu Chu approached, the old coroner finished his announcements. Supporting himself on his knees, he slowly stood up and brushed the snow off his clothes. When he looked up after lowering his head, Chu Chu recognized him and exclaimed, "Uncle Qi! It's you!"
Tian Qi was startled. "Chu girl? What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to handle matters for Wang Ye."
Tian Qi glanced back at the corpse on the ground. "Here for the corpse examination?"
"Don't know," Chu Chu shook her head and pointed at the carriage she came in. "I just arrived and haven't seen Wang Ye yet."
Tian Qi grew even more confused when he followed her gesture - that carriage had been there when he arrived, nearly an hour ago...
While Tian Qi was still processing this, Chu Chu suddenly realized something from his attire and jumped up. "Ah! I almost forgot! I need to check the announcements at the Ministry of Justice entrance by noon!"Tian Qi blurted out, "The results are already posted..." and immediately regretted it.
Chu Chu anxiously asked, "Then you've already seen them?"
"No... I haven't seen them."
Tian Qi was telling the truth - he truly hadn't seen them because he hadn't had the chance to look. Early in the morning, a clerk from the Ministry of Justice had rushed to his doorstep as if his pants were on fire. The clerk only said two things: first, that Tian Qi had been accepted by the Ministry of Justice, and second, that he needed to hurry to the outskirts of the city for a corpse examination, then dragged him along.
Although he hadn't seen the posted notice, he clearly knew the other person accepted wasn't Chu Chu. While hesitating about how to tell her, the Ministry of Justice clerk organizing the corpse manifest nearby spoke without looking up, "Don't bother checking - the other person accepted is called Zhao Tieniu. That's not your name, is it, young lady?"
Chu Chu pouted her small mouth, "My name is Chu Chu..."
"Ahem... Little Chu," Tian Qi quickly interrupted, "Didn't you say Wang Ye sent you to handle some business? Wang Ye is right over there in that carriage. Shouldn't you go ask him quickly? Don't delay Wang Ye's official matters!"
"Oh..."
"Hey, wait," the clerk called to her, "Take this corpse manifest to Wang Ye while you're at it."
"Oh..."
When Chu Chu entered the carriage that was as large as a small room, Xiao Jin Yu was the only one inside. He sat behind a desk, quietly leaning against the chair back with his eyes gently closed.
Charcoal braziers burned in all four corners of the carriage. The sudden change from cold to warm air made Chu Chu sneeze crisply the moment she entered, inevitably startling the person in the chair awake.
Opening his eyes and seeing it was Chu Chu, Xiao Jin Yu supported himself on the wheelchair armrests and straightened his back with some effort, slightly raising his head and frowning lightly as he looked at her.
He had already sent someone to give her his blanket earlier - could she still have caught a chill?
Seeing that her sneeze had disturbed Xiao Jin Yu's rest, and remembering she still owed him a caning punishment, Chu Chu felt a wave of panic. "I... I didn't mean to!"
Xiao Jin Yu's voice was slightly hoarse, "It doesn't matter..."
He hadn't meant to sleep, but had been reviewing case files while waiting for various reports. While reading... where were the files?
Xiao Jin Yu's eyes found the case files that had slipped from his hand and fallen to the floor at some point. He smiled bitterly to himself - how long had he been staying up lately? He was really becoming less and less capable...
Chu Chu could see he didn't seem angry, but who knew what these high officials were really thinking! So when she saw Xiao Jin Yu trying to bend down to pick up the scattered papers on the floor, she quickly stepped forward and gathered them all up in a few quick movements. She placed the corpse manifest she had brought on top and respectfully handed the entire stack to Xiao Jin Yu. "The clerk outside asked me to bring this."
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