When he returned to the yamen, Su Yunkai tried Yang Fugui’s case overnight, but it wasn’t resolved until midnight. Ming Yue went to the morgue to remove the twine from Yang Baijia’s bones, place them into the altar, and prepare them for return to the people of the Yang Family Village tomorrow, so that they could erect a gravestone for him. Every year, during the Tomb Sweeping Day, the weeds would be removed and the candles would be lit up. That way, some souls no longer needed to wander aimlessly.
After all of these tasks were completed, it was nearly dawn. When Ming Yue came back from collecting the bones, she was surprised that she was not frightened. However, there was a heaviness in her heart. No wonder her grandpa said that when a case was over, one should forget about it quickly, otherwise, the more one thinks about it, the more unhappy one will be.
She sighed, the sound penetrating the night. Back in the neiya, she returned to her room. She encountered someone standing at the other side of the corridor, holding his hands behind his back and gazing into the night. She recognized that person as Su Yunkai with just a glance. He was still wearing the official uniform he had donned for the hearing. He didn’t change it, meaning that he had neither washed up nor returned to his room. She stepped forward quickly. At the sound of her footsteps, Su Yunkai was recalled from deep thought. Seeing that it was Ming Yue, his face relaxed. “Are you returning to your room?”
“Mhm.” Ming Yue stepped before him, observing him. “How come you haven’t returned to rest? After a while, it will almost be daybreak.”
Su Yunkai said, “I can’t sleep.”
After so many days of back and forth, he would occasionally feel sleepy. But now that the case was settled, he couldn’t sleep. Ming Yue understood. Just like him, she found the case too heavy to be let go of easily.
“Although Yang Fugui was hateful, it was still the officials who drove him to desperation. Since something like this happened in Damingfu, is it the same in other places?” Su Yunkai wished he could remove all the corrupt officials and wash the tumultuous world with clean spring water.
“I don’t know if there are any in other places, but as long as there are more good officials like you, things like this won’t happen anymore.”
“I also don’t know if there are any others, but I won’t let it happen again during my tenure,” said Su Yunkai. “I can’t purge the whole Song Dynasty, but in any place under my jurisdiction, I will take responsibility.”
Ming Yue smiled. “I know you will.” She had a feeling that he had become more open-minded. She saw that he didn’t always frown like before. Even though he felt that he was powerless in the government, he wouldn’t complain. Instead, he would be more motivated to move forward.
This Su Yunkai was more like the one she knew when she was a child, always waiting patiently for the clouds to open and reveal the bright moon, never mystified.
They stood under the porch and talked for a while, which caused their insomnia to worsen. These past few days, they had been bustling in and out. They hadn’t had the opportunity to properly talk. Since there was no one with them, they talked alone for a long time.
It wasn’t until the watchman outside the wall reported that it was past three that Su Yunkai said, “You should sleep.”
Ming Yue agreed. Since her room was in the opposite direction of his, they parted ways. Su Yunkai stood in place until he saw Ming Yue enter her room and close the door.
*
In March, the evening wind was still cold. When the rooster crowed, Bai Shui, who led the yamen officers to finish the work for Yang Family Village, had returned to Damingfu. She was satisfied that the matter could be settled so quickly. She was glad that she had such a talented superior. She was also proud of herself for not being lazy. When she returned to the neiya, she decided that she would take an hour-long nap after washing up. Although she was tired, it was worth it, as a big case had been solved.
She walked back to her room. Almost as soon as she heard the sound of her door opening, she looked up and saw a head sticking out. She frowned and asked, “You sleep so late. You always sleep until the sun is bright up in the sky. What do you even do in your room?”
Qin Fang strode out, approached her, and leaned over to stare at her. “When a man doesn’t sleep, read, or handle cases, what do you think he does?”
Bai Shui glared at him. “How vulgar.”
Qin Fang smirked, “Of course, it’s just that I couldn’t fall asleep. What did you think it was?”
Bai Shui was angrier. “How vulgar!”
She reached out to hit him, but he grabbed her hand as soon as she moved. Her hand felt cold and she noticed a bottle stuffed in her hand. Qin Fang said, “Don’t always try to start a fight. Be more refined. If you want to catch prisoners, don’t always rush ahead. Even if you really want to rush ahead, you should be careful.”
After he finished speaking, Qin Fang ran back to his room, leaving Bai Shui confused. She looked over the white jade bottle several times, but she didn’t know what was inside. She pulled out the cork and smelt the strong and familiar smell of medicine. She paused, a balm for injuries? When had she fought with someone? Was he blind?
Just as the cork was about to be put back into the bottle, she saw the injury on the back of her hand caused by preventing Yang Fugui from suiciding. The wound was bruised. She pressed down and it was quite painful. She had forgotten because she was so busy.
Yet that fool had remembered.
Bai Shui stood still for a long while. A night wind blew by; it was so cold that she instantly regained her wits.
Why was she standing there as if she had just been stunned silly? She just found it atypical that she thought him good at that moment.
She shook her head, closed the door, and left all her disordered thoughts outside. They were not allowed to come in again. It was better if they just disappeared into the cold evening wind, never returning to seek her out again.
*
After the ten-year-old bones case, there were no other big cases in Damingfu. By April, Su Yunkai had nearly finished investigating all the cases that had piled up. It was a good day to go out as the people’s lives were now peaceful, the weather was bright, and the rainy season had passed. One morning, when Su Yunkai got up to eat breakfast, he said, “Every year, the department of criminal justice inspects the counties and states. I want to take advantage of my free time in April to go out for inspection. Who wants to go?”
“Me.” Qin Fang was the most active. He was tired of staying in the yamen and obviously wasn’t about to miss a chance to go out.
“Me.” Bai Shui wanted to go out and tour the major counties and states for more experience. It would at least be better than handling small cases in the yamen.
“Me.” Ming Yue had just taken a bite of dumpling and choked as she spoke. She went wherever he went.
Su Yunkai understood. “I’ll pack up my things and we’ll set out tomorrow morning.”
Upon hearing this, Qin Fang didn’t even eat anymore food. Instead, he hurried back to his room to begin packing. Bai Shui was impatient and also stopped eating, hurrying to hand over her work to the other constables. Once the two of them had left, only Ming Yue and Su Yunkai remained. They seemed very calm in comparison to those two restless people.
After breakfast, they even shared a cup of hot tea. Su Yunkai said, “I sent someone to Nanle County to pick up your grandfather, but your grandfather went back to the county yamen and was unwilling to come over. He said that there was a case and he couldn’t leave. He will come see you in person once he has time.”
Ming Sheng also requested that Su Yunkai take good care of Ming Yue. Ming Sheng stated that Ming Yue should be rounder than she had been when Su Yunkai took her away.
Ming Yue asked, “Then…while patrolling, will we go to Nanle County?”
“The last three officials all went, so we probably won’t be going there.”
“Oh… Then I’ll go back to see grandpa when I’m free. I’m on official business anyway, so I can’t be selfish.” Ming Yue added, “Last time, you did some information-gathering for Shui Shui. Was there a letter back?”
Su Yunkai shook his head. “I asked my colleagues in the Court of Judicial Review, and they replied with two letters, one of which I gave Bai Shui. This was because the other one mentioned that although Bai Ying’s position was not as high in the Kaifeng yamen – he was only a constable – he could still be considered a government official. There needs to be more research done into this, but after he disappeared, the criminal department closed the case soon thereafter. It seems that someone deliberately cut off the process of tracing.”
Ming Yue said in a low voice, “It seems that the disappearance of Brother Bai Ying is not a simple matter.”
“Don’t tell Bai Shui now. She is impatient, especially regarding matters of her brother.”
“Mhm. I hope that Brother Bai Ying is still alive. I hope he’s just missing.”
Although she spoke calmly, she still felt uneasy.
*
Every year, when the Chief of Crime went on patrol, his entourage would probably pass five or six states and more than twenty counties. It would take over a month. It was the duty of the chief to supervise the officials under his jurisdiction and select local cases for retrial. The month of the patrol was determined by the current official, and the counties and states were randomly selected.
In the evening, Su Yunkai worked out the route and estimated the times. He calculated that it would take almost forty days.
The next day was a fine day as well. The four of them sat in the carriage—no one was in uniform—with the air of a group setting out on a vacation. After departing the city gates into the countryside full of green scenery, Qin Fang sighed, “I knew that I should’ve gotten up earlier to pack some food from the inn to eat and drink while watching this spring scenery.”
Bai Shui harrumphed. “I don’t care how beautiful the scenery is. If you dare do anything to delay the trip, I will ruin it for you.”
Ming Yue’s eyes curved and she smiled, “What if Little Monkey is looking at himself?”
“I’ll destroy that too.”
Qin Fang covered his face in fright. In the future, he wouldn’t look in the mirror for too long.
Ming Yue laughed, “Brother Bai is just scaring you.”
Hearing her call him Brother Bai, Qin Fang felt proud again. Bai Shui found him strange. What was he smiling like that for?
On the other hand, seeing him smile and noticing that his gaze kept sliding to Bai Shui, Su Yunkai paused. He kept on feeling as if his “brother-in-law” was acting strange, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
When he retracted his sight, he saw that Ming Yue was currently joking with Bai Shui, her pretty face beaming like blooming flowers, as radiant as the early summer. He glanced at the pair a few more times and suddenly remembered. No wonder Qin Fang’s gaze as he looked at Bai Shui was familiar. It was the same as when he looked at Ming Yue.
What kind of gaze was it?
The wise Third-Place-in-Imperial-Examinations began to ponder this deeply.
He still hadn’t thought it through by the time they got to the courier station.
The courier stations were for the officials to live in. Commoners couldn’t live in courier stations. After Su Yunkai verified his identity, the officer detached the horse from the carriage and led the horse to the stable to eat grass and feed.
It was a month without holidays, so not many officials were taking breaks. There were many vacant rooms there, so everyone got their own room.
The food at the station was not very delicious. Qin Fang didn’t have enough of an appetite for supper, but he was hungry before he went to sleep. He rubbed his stomach and came out to find something to eat. As soon as he got to the door, he saw a dark shadow running by quickly, which made him shiver and scream.
Bai Shui, who had just come back to her room, heard him shout. Qin Fang pounced on her as soon as he saw her, hugging her arm and shouting, “There’s a bandit[1]!”
Bai Shui glanced at him. “Is it a deflowering larcenist?”
Qin Fang glared. “Even if it was, they wouldn’t pick you, you cannibalistic flower.”
Bai Shui harrumphed. Suddenly, there was a cry and the sound of horse hooves from the stable. She could feel that something was off, but Qin Fang was still holding her arm, so she simply grabbed his hand and dragged him along. She wanted to see what was happening, which scared Qin Fang and caused him to scream again.
She could resist any longer. “Shut up.”
“Then you need to protect me.”
“…” Faint-hearted coward!
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[1] The original word zei (贼) is quite a wide encompassing word. It could also mean simply a bad person. ↩
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A Hint of Spring 
Bai Shui and Qin Fang’s interactions are gold. Thanks for the chapter!
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Their interactions are too funny!
Btw the link for next chapter is missing here
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