Chapter 71: Chili Chokes People
Back at the Weaving Institute, Fu Ze and Liu Sheng together sent Cui Cui and Liao Chengpeng, who were still unconscious, to the medical hall, then hurried to report.
Originally, Liu Sheng wanted to persuade him to wait a bit, because he had also been injured in the illusion just now and had forcibly made a move, so it would be best for him to rest as well.
But Fu Ze was indeed very responsible and insisted on reporting the matter before the Exploration Division's Deputy on duty left, so that Miss Wen could be released from prison as soon as possible.
“You don’t know, the dungeon specifically for weird objects is absolutely no place for people to stay. At deep night, the Guai Qi is very dense, and it’s easy to be corroded, not to mention that Miss Wen has no cultivation now and is just a Mortal.”
With that, Fu Ze hurried away.
Liu Sheng was just a Menshi and couldn’t help him, so she could only watch the medical cultivators feed Cui Cui and Liao Chengpeng the medicine, letting them sleep peacefully, which made her feel a little more at ease.
This way, she could finally go to the cafeteria to see what there was to eat and appease her protesting stomach.
She had only eaten a candied hawthorn stick all day, and thankfully, she had eaten some tea snacks at the Wen Manor, but this intake was completely insufficient for the day’s exhaustion!
It was already Xu shi (7-9 PM) in the evening, and the cafeteria was still brightly lit, with many people sitting there; many colleagues were just having dinner now.
Liu Sheng had also just returned from her shift to study not long ago, missing the mealtime, and only came to the cafeteria very late, only to discover that the Qinghe Weaving Institute’s cafeteria even had late-night snacks.
The first time she discovered this, she excitedly shared it with Su Yanjun, but Su Yanjun unhappily said, “Only you would consider this a good thing. Having late-night snacks means many people here have this need! Why do they have this need? Because there’s a lot of overtime!”
Indeed, the Qinghe Weaving Institute oversees all strange affairs in the northern region, so it truly cannot be idle.
Afterward, Su Yanjun emphasized to Liu Sheng again that their work as Menshi in the Ten Thousand Affairs Hall was truly a blessing.
The only problem was that it was a bit poor.
Liu Sheng, holding a steaming bowl of beef noodles, found a seat and sat down.
The chef at the Qinghe Weaving Institute’s cafeteria had good skills; the hand-pulled noodles had a springy texture, the savory and tender braised beef was sliced and laid on top of the noodles, sprinkled with a handful of Qing Cong and cilantro, and then the fresh, piping hot soup was poured over it, releasing an aroma that even Little Tentacle found enticing.
Liu Sheng casually and quietly tucked Little Tentacle into her fingertip, poured a spoonful of chili oil from the table onto her noodles, and began to eat with her head down.
A mouthful of noodles, a mouthful of braised beef, how delightful!
She was enjoying her wonderful late-night snack when she suddenly saw Fu Ze’s figure appear in the cafeteria.
But seeing his tired face and furrowed brows, Liu Sheng had a premonition of something bad.
She waved to Fu Ze, and he noticed her, nodding.
Then he also bought a bowl of noodles, slowly walked over, and sat down opposite her, absentmindedly scooping five large spoonfuls of chili.
This… Fu Ze seems to be from the south, right?
“What’s wrong?” Liu Sheng asked with concern.
Fu Ze said, “Good news, Miss Wen can be released from the prison division.”
“Moreover, according to Article 5 of the Tang Country’s New Law, her murder charge can also be waived.”
Liu Sheng knew what Article 5 of the Tang Country’s New Law was; this was a new regulation enacted after God Manifestation First Year.
It roughly states that if a person commits theft, robbery, murder, or other illegal acts due to the influence, inducement, or control of a weird object, and it can be conclusively proven that their actions were entirely under the control of the weird object’s power and that the perpetrator had no malicious intent or premeditation beforehand, then after investigation and verification by the local Weaving Institute, a request can be made to the imperial court to waive their punishment.
“So, the yamen will send people to pick up Miss Wen tonight, and once the procedure for reporting to the imperial court is complete, Miss Wen will truly be free,” Fu Ze said, finally letting out a sigh of relief.
Although it sounded like she could be acquitted, Liu Sheng also knew that this still required approval from the Ministry of Justice, which would take about ten days to half a month back and forth.
However, it was good that she could get out.
Liu Sheng nodded and said, “That truly is good news.”
“But?” Liu Sheng knew that if Fu Ze was frowning, there must be bad news.
Fu Ze sighed again, “But the Deputy told me that the Wen Family’s matter will be dropped.”
“What do you mean?” Liu Sheng’s already round almond eyes widened.
“It means that Old Master Wen, the instigator, is already dead, so they won’t pursue it anymore. They told us not to talk about this matter outside and just let it go.”
“The Deputy said this was also Yuan Zheng Fang’s intention,” Fu Ze added.
Upon hearing this, Liu Sheng also frowned, just like Fu Ze.
“Why not?”
Fu Ze shook his head and said, “Because of the Wen Family’s status in Qinghe, because of the Wen Family members’ status in the imperial court. I heard that Miss Wen’s father, Wen Siyuan, is highly regarded by the Emperor and is preparing to join the Cabinet.”
“And the Deputy said the Wen Family immediately sent someone to donate one thousand Lingtual to the Weaving Institute to replenish the weird object-controlling equipment.”
This was a much more generous move than that old man’s.
“Who arranged it?” Liu Sheng was a little curious.
The Wen Family’s Old Master had just died, and the Wen Family should have been leaderless, but they immediately had a countermeasure, so someone new must have taken over to control the situation.
And it certainly wasn’t Wen Siyuan, who was far away in Chang’an.
“I heard… it was that young man, Wen Xuanning,” Fu Ze said with a rare gossipy expression.
Liu Sheng nodded and said, “That makes sense.”
Now that Miss Wen was not present, according to Bloodline, it could only be him.
And he was probably already a super Genius with over a hundred points of spiritual power, unmatched in the world.
Fu Ze said with a wry smile, “However, this money will also give us a bit as injury allowance.”
“Even you will get some,” Fu Ze added, his meaning unclear.
As the client, Liu Sheng, according to common sense, should only be paying, not receiving an allowance.
It seemed that the higher-ups were willing to disregard reason to keep things quiet.
But Liu Sheng also knew that this outcome was already the best possible result. With just a few of them, powerless and without influence, with either low or no cultivation, truly shaking a powerful aristocratic family like the Wen Family would be incredibly difficult.
What’s more, what they said was not wrong. As it now appeared, the matter of harming Miss Wen was merely Old Master Wen’s personal act, and besides Miss Lu, no one else had died.
And Miss Lu’s death currently still seemed to be attributed to Miss Wen.
Even the instigator had already been brought to justice; besides spreading the word to tarnish the old man’s posthumous reputation, they had no other way.
However, given the relationship between the Qinghe Weaving Institute and the Wen Family, if they truly did that, they might first lose their jobs.
After Liu Sheng understood, she had only one question.
“How much money? How do I collect it?”
“Thirty Lingtual. Go to the archives room tomorrow to withdraw it, and you’ll also need to sign a confidentiality agreement.”
“Also, the fee for this commission of yours is approximately fifteen Lingtual. Remember to go to the Ten Thousand Affairs Hall tomorrow to settle the account,” Fu Ze said expressionlessly.
Liu Sheng’s fists clenched.
Noted in her little book: Wen Weilan owes sixteen Lingtual.
“I can’t talk anymore, I’m starving!” Fu Ze lowered his head and took a big slurp of noodles.
Then, the coughing sounds of being choked by chili echoed through the cafeteria, lingering mournfully.