Chapter 396

Chapter 396: The Son Is Foolish but Truly Amusing

Yu Zhi Yi trained in seclusion on and off for seven days. Each time she finished refining ten strands of merit-gold light, she would stop and study something else: sometimes formation arrays, and sometimes talismans.

She had already learned to draw the Invisibility Talisman, and maybe because her power had grown, the talisman she drew could hide someone for one shichen (about two hours). With a light wave of her hand, she drew one hundred at once. She kept only five for herself, then gave twenty each to the mystic Xiao Qing, Jiang Liu Yun, and Red Luan, and ten each to Li Rou, Zhang Xiang, and Han Lian Qiao.

Looking at the five Invisibility Talismans left in her hand, she thought of Zi Yuan, who was a thousand li away, so she drew twenty Heavenly Thunder Talismans and fifteen more Invisibility Talismans for her. But a new problem came up: who would deliver them? Ordinary people would not do. These are life-saving items, and an ordinary courier might get greedy. [These things save lives. Better not tempt anyone.]

In the end, she summoned Jiang Liu Yun. He arrived at once and answered with a grin: “Deliver talismans? I’m in!”

He had been in the Capital City for a few days and was bored out of his mind. Yu Zhi Yi had given him a rune book to copy, but doing the same thing every day gets dull. A trip sounded perfect. That very afternoon, he slung on a pack, mounted his horse, and set out.

Yu Zhi Yi had just turned back to continue her cultivation when Constable Song came to request an audience: “Official Yu, my lord invites you.”

The minister of the Court of Judicial Review wanted her help with the rape cases. In the past few weeks, five new assaults had happened in the capital. Though each victim’s situation was different, the minister felt-and he included the three earlier cases in this-that all eight assaults were the work of one man. The trouble was, the culprit was too sly; he didn’t even have proof to show the same person did them all.

Eight rapes in a little over a month had thrown the capital into panic. Families with daughters didn’t dare let them out. Looking around, there were far fewer women on the streets. Those who still came out were mostly older and very poor. If they didn’t work, their families wouldn’t have grain to eat.

Yu Zhi Yi read through the files. The victims’ identities, ages, and looks were all different. The oldest was thirty; the youngest was only fifteen. Their backgrounds ranged widely-some were farm girls, some were daughters of small merchants with a bit of property, and one was even the daughter of an official. The criminal had great nerve. He struck in hidden places at night and, sometimes, even in broad daylight. The official’s daughter had been attacked inside her home.

Yu Zhi Yi hadn’t stepped in at first because the first three victims had already reported the crimes, and she believed the Court of Judicial Review would solve the case quickly. But now, hearing how many girls had been hurt-and that more might be targeted-she could not stand by.

She said to the minister: “Bring me the eight women’s birth charts.” After a pause, she added: “Also summon them all to the Court of Judicial Review. I want to read their faces.”

The minister agreed at once: “Understood. Thank you, Official Yu.” She answered with a simple: “You’re welcome.”

Before long, all eight women arrived at the Court. By then, Yu Zhi Yi had finished reading their birth charts and had already seen that this trial was written in their fates. But charts alone weren’t enough. The hardest part of the case was that the culprit always covered his face and didn’t even remove his clothes. There was no way to check for scars or marks. The only clue was this: his height was around 1.7 meters, with an average build. That was it. No one could describe his accent or voice, either, because he never wasted words; he would drug the victim, tie her up, and commit the crime. Each attack took about a quarter hour. The sedative he used wasn’t rare and could be found easily in shady markets.

With every trail blocked, the case had stalled. Not just the constables and the minister- even Yu Zhi Yi couldn’t point to the culprit right away. The man always wore a black cloak and covered his head. Even face-reading could not name him for certain. Luckily, she had one more advantage: she could look into each victim’s past and search for threads there. If it truly was the same man, then these eight victims had all seen him before. So she only needed to find the person they all had in common. [This will be a grind, but it’s the surest path.]

It was a massive task. Even with her stronger power, reading eight lives at once and checking again and again for shared points was not easy.

Two shichen later (about four hours), cold sweat beaded on her brow. The minister watched, nerves tight. He had seen her divine fate before, always calm and in control. He had never seen her look strained like this.

He asked softly: “Official Yu, are you alright?”

Yu Zhi Yi withdrew her hand. She didn’t bother to wipe the sweat dripping to the floor. A smile flashed in her eyes as she said: “Found him.”

Sun Can was known as an honest man. Everyone who knew him said he was simple and kind, sincere and good-hearted. His family had some wealth. He was the second son; he had an elder brother above him. The elder brother was very capable and managed the family business in perfect order. Sun Can, though, was mediocre in skill. Their aging father decided to pass the business to the elder son. As for the younger son, since he lacked talent, he needn’t meddle with trade. A fixed monthly allowance plus a share of the profits would be enough for him to live well all his life.

People thought Sun Can would protest. The Sun family wasn’t a great house of power, but their property was sizable. His allowance and share alone came to two hundred taels of silver a month-proof of how profitable the business was. But Sun Can didn’t fight. He calmly and happily accepted his father’s plan. He bought a thousand mu of good farmland and hired long-term workers. With his dividends and the grain profits, he lacked for nothing. The workers said their master was gentle and a truly good man.

That day, as usual, the “good man” Sun Can went to stroll around the grain estate. On the road, his carriage suddenly went out of control and almost hit a woman. He jumped down to apologize. When his eyes fell on the woman’s face, they filled with shock and wonder. [Beautiful. Too beautiful.] She was stunning-so clear and airy it made you forget to breathe.

The woman wasn’t hurt, only shaken. She glanced at him and said coolly: “Drive slower next time. Not everyone will be as lucky as I am.”

He snapped out of it and bowed quickly, agreeing again and again. The incident ended there. But his gaze followed the woman as she walked into an inn not far away. He looked up and took in the inn’s signboard with a long, deep stare.