A few snowflakes fell outside the silver window, and the cold wind rustled the paper windowpanes.
Jie Xiangsi observed Zhou Yanzhi's reaction, and seeing that he didn't make any significant movements, continued, "Logically speaking, since the Xiao family case hasn't been decided yet, this kind of evidence should be kept by the Dali Temple. How did you manage to get it out, cousin?"
As Jie Xiangsi finished speaking, Zhou Yanzhi's eyes flickered, and he looked at the person opposite him with an inscrutable expression.
He had already taken the silver ingot as quickly as possible when he got out of bed. How did she find out?
And was she saying this because she cared about the Xiao family case? Why would she care?
Why would a woman who grew up in Danzhou be curious about the Xiao family case in the capital?
Zhou Yanzhi glanced at the woman before him almost imperceptibly, then leaned back against the low table, asking instead of answering, "Since you know I am the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, what's wrong with taking some evidence?"
Hearing this, Xie Xiangsi met Zhou Yanzhi's probing gaze without flinching, and said seriously, "Evidence is crucial evidence in the trial; it cannot be taken without permission. As the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, are you knowingly breaking the law, cousin?"
Zhou Yanzhi chuckled.
Was she threatening him?
Zhou Yanzhi patted her twice lightly and said casually, "Cousin, you really know a lot about official duties in the capital. Actually, it wouldn't hurt to tell you, but I hope you can answer one question for me first."
Xie Xiangsi frowned, "Cousin hasn't answered my question yet."
Zhou Yanzhi raised an eyebrow, "It involves a case, so cousin, you should answer my question first, otherwise..." At this point, his gaze suddenly sharpened, and he bluntly said, "If you interfere with the Dali Temple's judgment without authorization, cousin, you'll probably have to go to the Dali Temple."
Xie Xiangsi: "..."
The air froze for a moment. Xie Xiangsi suddenly looked up at Zhou Yanzhi. Seeing that his expression didn't seem fake, she gritted her teeth secretly, feeling indignant.
This Zhou Yanzhi, still so rigid and hateful!
Did she interfere with his judgment?!
Clenching her palms and suppressing the anger of punching him in the face, Xie Xiangsi forced out tears and pretended to be aggrieved, "Xiangsi was just curious, cousin, why are you being so aggressive?"
Zhou Yanzhi's expression remained unchanged, neither confirming nor denying.
Seeing that he wasn't buying it, Xie Xiangsi decisively stopped crying, lowered her eyes, and whispered, "Then what does cousin want to ask?"
Seeing her give in, Zhou Yanzhi finally dropped his coldness and leaned forward until Xie Xiangsi's eyes kept darting away. Only then was he satisfied and said meaningfully, "You've been far away in Danzhou since childhood, confined to your chambers. How could you be so familiar with the procedures for handling cases in the capital?"
Xie Xiangsi: "!"
She almost forgot that the person in front of Zhou Yanzhi now wasn't Xiao Yan, but Xie Xiangsi.
What Xiao Yan in the capital knew, Xie Xiangsi in Danzhou might not know.
After thinking for a moment, Xie Xiangsi secretly pinched her thigh hard. The sharp pain successfully caused a ripple in her dark eyes. Sniffing, Xie Xiangsi slowly raised her head, her tone more dejected than ever before: "People often say, 'Women are inferior to men.' What do you think, cousin?"
Zhou Yanzhi frowned: "Nonsense."
Hearing this, a smile bloomed on Xie Xiangsi's face, and she said slowly.
"Many people believe that women are inferior to men, so they confine them to their chambers and force them to conform to social norms. Unfortunately, Xiangsi has a rebellious heart and does not want to be a woman confined to a wealthy household. Therefore, from a young age, she has aspired to criminal investigation and yearns to be a soaring eagle."
At this point, noticing a slight softening in Zhou Yanzhi's expression, Xie Xiangsi changed to an admiring look and continued, "And the Dali Temple is the most powerful judicial organ in the land. Therefore, even though Xiangsi is confined to her chambers in Danzhou, she has considerable knowledge of the cases handled in the capital. Seeing the evidence in my cousin's hands, she was momentarily excited and forgot the rules."
Zhou Yanzhi's eyes flickered slightly.
"Is that so?" Xie Xiangsi
's eyes were firm.
"Yes."
Although she said this, her hands, hidden under the quilt, were slightly damp. This was half true and half false. While Xiao Yan did not truly believe that 'women are inferior to men,' her ambitions did not lie in criminal investigation.
She said this merely to shorten the distance between herself and Zhou Yanzhi. After years of getting to know each other, this was one of the few good qualities she considered in him:
he never looked down on women.
Secondly, if it were all a lie, Zhou Yanzhi, as the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, would naturally sense something was amiss. But if it was a mixture of truth and falsehood, coupled with her certainty, five parts truth would become seven.
Besides, Zhou Yanzhi had offended her first tonight, and now he felt guilty towards her. When he felt guilty, those three parts of unease wouldn't cause any trouble.
Thinking this way, Xie Xiangsi's already resolute expression seemed even more sincere.
Unexpectedly, she answered like this. Zhou Yanzhi was silent for a moment, then lowered his eyes and apologized: "Cousin, you are very perceptive. I was rude."
Xie Xiangsi shook her head.
"It's alright, but...cousin, can you answer my question now?"
Afraid Zhou Yanzhi would try something again, she quickly added, "Cousin promised me."
Seeing her distrustful look, Zhou Yanzhi was speechless, somewhat at a loss. "I can't, don't worry."
Thinking of her earlier question, Zhou Yanzhi pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "This item is not evidence in the Xiao family's treason case, but rather Yangqu disaster relief silver. It only resembles the evidence in the Xiao family's treason case."
"What?!" Xie Xiangsi exclaimed.
"What's wrong?" Zhou Yanzhi asked, puzzled.
"...Nothing...nothing."
Suppressing her shock, Xie Xiangsi tried to keep her tone even. "Then...can the Xiao family be innocent?"
The Da Zhao silver was produced in batches. She had clearly seen that the silver ingot in Zhou Yanzhi's hand was exactly the same as the silver ingots seized when the Jin'an Marquis's mansion was sealed!
Those silver ingots were of unknown origin and could not be traced. Perhaps investigating this silver could overturn the Xiao family's case!
Regardless of the turmoil on her side, Zhou Yanzhi remained calm. Since it involved the case, he couldn't say too much, only leaving the words, "I don't know, but there might be clues about the Xiao family case in Yangqu," before falling silent.
Hearing this, Jie Xiangsi
's long eyelashes trembled slightly. Now that Yangqu Baiyin had entered the Dali Temple, it proved that the Dali Temple had taken on this case. Furthermore, since this case was related to the Xiao family case, Zhou Yanzhi, as the Dali Temple Minister, was bound to investigate it personally.
Jie Xiangsi pursed her lips.
Since there were clues about the Xiao family case in Yangqu, she would inevitably have to investigate as well. But Zhou Yanzhi was naturally aloof; how could she possibly get involved?
Before she could finish thinking, Zhou Yanzhi sat up, leaving behind the words, "It's getting late, cousin, get some rest," before climbing out the window and disappearing into the night, leaving only the trembling red plum blossoms by the window.
A cold wind swept into the room. Jie Xiangsi, wrapped in a quilt, went forward and closed the open window tightly.
"That damned Zhou Yanzhi, he left without even closing the window."
...
The next day, in a private room of the largest restaurant in the capital, three handsome men sat around a stove.
The most handsome of them held a cup of wine but hesitated, his brows furrowed with worry. "Tell me," he said, "if you want to apologize to someone, what should you do?"
Hearing this, the other two paused in their drinking, one of them choking on the spicy wine and coughing incessantly. After a long while, he blushed and exclaimed in surprise, "You actually apologize to people?"
This person was none other than Su Feng, whom Jie Xiangsi and the others had encountered at the city gate.
And the person Su Feng was referring to was none other than Zhou Yanzhi, who had mistakenly entered the boudoir yesterday.
Seeing the exaggerated expression on Su Feng's face, Zhou Yanzhi chuckled lightly, "What do you think? What, in your heart, am I an unreasonable person?"
"No, no, you're the most reasonable person." Having successfully received the threat from Zhou Yanzhi, Su Feng quickly waved his hand, his tone solemn and sincere, "Who doesn't know that our Chief Justice Zhou's judgments are reasonable and well-founded, and no one can disagree? How could I be an unreasonable person?"
He said this, but anyone could tell he was being forced.
Not to mention the meticulous Zhou Yanzhi, but with the situation pressing, he couldn't afford to fool around with Su Feng any longer. He finally sighed helplessly, "Yunyun."
Hearing this, Su Feng jumped, "Oh, alright, alright, I won't mess around anymore." He then rubbed his arm, still shaken, and said, "I hate it when you call me that. If you don't, it's fine, but if you do, it's never good news."
Zhou Yanzhi: "..."
What nonsense!
"Bang—"
Suddenly, a crisp clinking sound rang out.
The two looked over and saw Qi Minghua calmly put down his cup, saying lightly, "Alright, Yunyun, Ce'an is always busy. He must have something important to tell us. Let him finish speaking first."
Without waiting for Su Feng to object, she turned to Zhou Yanzhi.
"Ce'an, you speak."
Zhou Yanzhi, suppressing a laugh, glanced at the aggrieved Su Feng and coughed twice. "Actually, it's nothing serious. I just wanted to ask what to give as an apology."
After all, he was indeed in the wrong yesterday. Although Jie Xiangsi only asked him to answer her questions, she did answer him, so he felt he owed her something.
But he didn't know how to make amends, so he decided to ask these two.
Hearing this, Qi Minghua and Su Feng exchanged a glance. After a moment, the former spoke slowly, his tone heavy: "Ce'an, have you encountered any difficulties lately? You can tell us directly, no need to beat around the bush."
Zhou Yanzhi: "…"
Seeing that even the most composed of the three, Qi Minghua, didn't believe he genuinely wanted to apologize, Zhou Yanzhi suddenly felt powerless.
Was his image in their eyes really that bad?
Zhou Yanzhi was furious and hissed, "I...didn't!"
Seeing that he was about to explode, Su Feng quickly spoke up, "Oh, alright, alright, if you didn't, you didn't. You just said you wanted to apologize, right?"
"Yes." Zhou Yanzhi nodded.
"I see." Su Feng thoughtfully tapped his wine cup, then suddenly exclaimed, "I've got it!"
Zhou Yanzhi and Qi Minghua looked over at the sound of his voice.
They saw Su Feng pull out a gold ingot from his sleeve and flick his sleeve with extreme elegance.
"Then I'll give you gold!"
Zhou Yanzhi: "..."
Qi Minghua: "..."
Speechless.
Seeing that the two were silent, Su Feng felt that his idea had been completely rejected and said somewhat unconvinced, "What kind of eyes do you have? How could anyone in this world not love money? Everyone loves this kind of thing!"
"Vulgar." Zhou Yanzhi scoffed lightly.
Not to mention how unthoughtful this kind of thing was, the key point was that money wasn't needed to relieve unrequited love. Although Danzhou wasn't a wealthy place, Xie's father had been an official for many years and only had one daughter, Xie Xiangsi. How could he not prepare something for his only daughter?
Qi Minghua thought for a moment: "What about calligraphy and painting? Rare masterpieces?"
"Yes, and not too vulgar, quite elegant, right?" Su Feng chimed in.
Calligraphy and painting?
Zhou Yanzhi shook his head: "Boring."
Su Feng: "..."
Qi Minghua: "..."
"This won't work, that won't work, Yanzhi, who did you offend?" Su Feng clicked his tongue, "Minghua and I know your personality; you never hesitate."
Qi Minghua nodded in agreement.
Seeing the two looking at him with concern, Zhou Yanzhi was inexplicably speechless, half-concealing himself.
"I didn't offend anyone, just... I accidentally broke someone's red plum blossom."
Hearing this, the two were surprised.
"Red plum blossom?"
All this fuss, just for a single red plum blossom?