The Hall of Minor Memorials was normally the blandest room in the Ministry of Records.
Two long tables.
Stacks of bamboo slips.
A few ink pots that always seemed half-empty.
It was the kind of place where minor clerks sat and prayed that nothing interesting ever happened.
Today was not that day.
Chen Yuantai stood at the head of the table, hands clasped behind him, expression carved from stone. Three Dali Temple bailiffs flanked him like shadows. And beside him—casual, relaxed, but unmistakably commanding—was Qinghe Qinwang, Zhao Jianyan.
He lounged against the far table with no regard for how nervous it made the junior scribes. A warm prince was still a prince, and Jianyan had a way of making people wonder if their hearts were beating too loudly.
"Bring them in," Chen said.
A eunuch bowed deeply, then ushered four clerks into the hall.
They approached slowly—like men walking toward their own reprimands. Each wore the same expression: half fear, half hope that maybe, maybe, the Wangye wouldn't recognize them.
Jianyan did.
"Ah," he said brightly, smiling at Clerk #3, "you're the one who tripped over a teacup in last year's flood-aid audit, yes? Good reflexes."
The clerk's soul visibly left his body.
Chen cleared his throat. "Wangye…"
"Just easing the air," Jianyan replied, tone innocent. "Men give better answers when they're not choking on fear."
Chen let it pass. For now.
The clerks knelt. "Wangye. Vice Minister. We await instruction."
Chen gestured. "Rise."
They obeyed, nervous and rigid.
Chen placed two scrolls on the table—county and prefecture versions. "You all reviewed—or refused—Qiu Fen's petition at different points during its transmission. We ask now: why?"
Clerk 1 stepped forward, trembling. "Vice Minister… the prefecture scroll had already declared the case closed. We followed procedure. We cannot forward a duplicate to the capital without necessity."
Chen looked unimpressed. "Procedure does not justify negligence. You did not compare the two versions?"
"We… we assumed the prefecture's version was the final one."
"And why assume that?" Chen pressed.
Clerk 2 swallowed. "Because… it was immaculate, Vice Minister."
Jianyan's eyebrow arched. "Immaculate is suspicious, you know."
The clerks blinked at him.
"Real county documents," Jianyan continued, gently tapping the county scroll, "always have personality. Smudges. The occasional ink skip. A dusty fold or two. A clerk scratching his nose mid-brushstroke. But this—" he lifted the prefecture scroll— "is cleaner than an imperial edict drafted by two Grand Secretaries and polished by ten eunuchs."
Clerk 3 coughed nervously.
"W-Wangye… we merely… believed in the prefecture."
"Belief is for temples," Jianyan replied pleasantly. "Not paperwork."
Chen cut in. "You will answer clearly. Did any of you check for contradictions?"
The four clerks stiffened and shook their heads almost in unison.
"No, Vice Minister…"
"No…"
"We did not…"
"We trusted the prefecture seal…"
Chen slammed his palm on the table.
The sound cracked the air like thunder.
"You trusted what? A seal impression rotated three degrees identically across multiple cases? A stamp placed by one hand, not a prefectural board? Not even the Prefect?"
Clerk 4 whimpered. "Vice Minister, we… we did not notice the rotation!"
Jianyan leaned forward suddenly—warm expression gone, replaced by something sharper.
"Then notice it now."
He placed the two scrolls side by side, sliding them forward so the clerks could see clearly. The perfect rotation. The same tilt. The same pressure.
"Look carefully," Jianyan said softly. "Every stroke. Every stamped edge. Every brush lift. Same style. Same arrogance."
The word rattled the clerks.
Chen watched them coolly. "Explain why this did not reach Dali Temple for verification."
Clerk #1 almost knelt again. "Vice Minister—Wangye—the prefecture seal was too… authoritative. We… we believed…"
"You believed the wrong authority," Jianyan said, his tone suddenly kind again. "Happens often. That's why benwang is here."
The relief on their faces was instant and pathetic.
But Jianyan wasn't done.
He stood upright, folded his arms, and said gently, almost conversationally:
"Speak honestly now. Did any of you find the prefecture's courier… odd?"
Clerk 2 hesitated.
Chen didn't move, but the air around him stiffened.
Clerk 2 stuttered, "The courier… h-he looked nervous… more than usual."
"Nervous men don't deliver clean scrolls," Jianyan mused. "Nervous men smudge seals."
Clerk 3 added, "He… he kept looking over his shoulder, Wangye. As if afraid."
Chen leaned forward. "And did this not alarm you?"
"We thought—" Clerk #3 swallowed— "we thought he feared the weight of the case."
Jianyan smiled faintly. "No, clerk. That is the face of a man who delivered something he shouldn't have."
All four clerks fell silent.
"And one more question," Jianyan said lightly, as if asking about tea preferences. "Did any of you hear names? Whispers? Complaints from the prefecture?"
Clerk 4 froze.
"Speak," Chen commanded.
Clerk 4 bowed deeply. "Wangye… Vice Minister… a month ago, a prefecture scribe visited our hall. He said… he said Jinzhou's Seal Master was… 'too proud'."
"Too proud," Jianyan echoed softly.
Clerk 4 nodded frantically. "Yes, Wangye. He said the Seal Master stamped documents like a king. He… he talked as if the prefecture's fate was in his hands."
Jianyan exchanged a glance with Chen.
Chen's eyes hardened. "A boastful seal master does not equal guilt—but it does equal access."
Jianyan nodded. "And men who brag often hide fear. Benwang has met many gamblers like that."
Clerk 2 blinked. "G-Gamblers, Wangye?"
"Same habits," Jianyan said breezily. "Loud talk, quiet fingers, very sticky hands."
Chen straightened. "Your statements will be recorded officially. If any detail was withheld today, you will be punished."
All clerks dropped to kneel immediately.
"We would never!
Wangye! Vice Minister!
We swear we said all we know!"
Jianyan chuckled softly. "Relax. We only need the truth. Not your fear."
Chen added firmly, "Dismissed."
They scrambled out of the hall like fish escaping a net.
When the clerks were gone, the hall felt strangely large.
Chen returned to the table, examining the scrolls again. "We have contradictions. Suspicious courier behavior. A clerk's rumor about the Seal Master's pride. But we do not yet have criminal proof."
Jianyan came to stand beside him. "Proof waits for the patient. Pride gives us a direction."
Chen dipped his brush in ink and began writing the compiled inconsistencies:
Witness testimony dated after death, Stamp rotation identical across, multiple cases, Newly written ink passed off as old, Contradictory closure dates, County ruling declared ongoing, Prefectural ruling declared closed, Courier Du Ming missing, 'Too perfect' scroll presentation
, A prefectural scribe complaining of a boastful Seal Master
Chen set the brush aside. "We need one thing now: the seal-room register."
"Already en route," Jianyan said. "Our rider should reach the first relay station by noon."
Chen nodded. "We must also track down Du Ming. His disappearance is the most alarming detail."
Jianyan tapped the table lightly. "Benwang will handle his colleagues."
Chen eyed him. "Carefully."
"When is benwang not careful?"
Chen didn't answer. That said enough.
The doors creaked and the Chief Archivist shuffled in, bowing. "Wangye… Vice Minister… the ink-age tests are complete."
He placed a small tray on the table.
Two tiny paper strips lay on it.
The county scroll strip had absorbed moisture evenly—old ink.
The prefecture strip absorbed nothing—ink used within the week.
Chen took a slow breath. "That is definitive."
"Not guilt," Jianyan corrected gently. "Just bold lying."
The Chief Archivist shivered. "Wangye… if this level of tampering occurred without oversight, then Jinzhou has been manipulating cases for years."
Jianyan's voice was warm but firm. "Then we will un-manipulate them."
Chen added, "And uproot anyone who stood behind those forgeries."
"It might be more than one scribe," the Chief Archivist warned.
"Of course," Jianyan said with an easy smile. "Corruption likes company. But company leaves tracks."
He looked at Chen.
Chen looked back.
No more words were needed.
Not long after a eunuch hurried in then, bowing low.
"Wangye, Vice Minister—His Majesty has received your memorandum. He sends no reply… only this."
He handed Chen a small ivory tag.
Chen examined it. "Travel exemption. Immediate relay priority. Full clearance for Dali Temple investigative movement."
Jianyan smiled. "His Majesty speaks loudly when he chooses silence."
Chen tucked the tag into his sleeve. "We move soon. We will continue verifying contradictions tomorrow, then depart for Jinzhou within three days."
"Benwang," Jianyan said lightly, "will pack practical boots."
Chen sighed. "Wangye—please refrain from antagonizing prefectural officials immediately."
"I never antagonize," Jianyan replied cheerfully. "I merely exist. They antagonize themselves."
Chen gave him a weary side-eye.
In that officials hall the lanterns were lit early. Outside, dusk washed the capital rooftops in gold.
Scrolls were rolled. Ink dried. Doors shut. A day's worth of corruption peeled back by just a few men.
Tomorrow, the real chase would begin.