Volume One: The Overseer and the Candidate Chapter Nine: Every Step Leaves a Trace (Part Two)

After confirming that the officials present were not about to make him a scapegoat, Xu Xingzhi felt somewhat relieved. Only then did he notice the presence of Huang Ming, a young man who clearly stood out among those gathered in the hall. Not only was his age different, but his attire and demeanor also set him apart from the officials, arousing Xu Xingzhi’s suspicions.

What surprised him even more was that this youth was actually leading the questioning. "How many years have you served in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Captain Xu?" Huang Ming inquired.

Xu Xingzhi glanced at the senior officials above, and seeing no objection from them, he, though full of doubts, answered truthfully, "It has been four years now. I inherited the post from my late father through hereditary privilege."

Huang Ming understood that such inheritance allowed a son or nephew to succeed a portion of a relative’s official post after the latter’s death—a special favor granted by the court to the ranks of noble military families in the Ming dynasty. This was much more advantageous than what the descendants of scholar-officials could hope for through the imperial examinations. A prime example was Qi Jiguang, the famed general against the pirates, who was born a fifth-rank commander.

As for Xu Xingzhi, he owed this privilege to being a collateral relative of the Duke of Dingguo, the Xu family.

Huang Ming nodded slightly before continuing, "Then Captain Xu, you must have handled quite a few cases and escorted many prisoners. You must have considerable experience by now?"

"Somewhat…" Xu Xingzhi replied, then frowned impatiently. "If you have something to say, speak plainly. There’s no need to beat around the bush with me."

"Then I’ll be direct. In the case of the prison break that occurred this noon, you were one of the principal parties involved. Did you not notice anything unusual about the affair?"

"Unusual?" Xu Xingzhi furrowed his brow deeper, as if trying to recall.

"Not just during the incident itself," Huang Ming guided him further, "but also anything out of the ordinary during the journey while escorting the prisoner. Think about it—the criminals who staged the breakout could not have acted on a sudden impulse. They must have made arrangements in advance, tracked your movements, learned your routines, so they could strike unexpectedly at Sanli River."

After a moment of careful recollection, Xu Xingzhi shook his head in confusion. "To be honest, shortly after we set out from Henan with the prisoner, I did have a vague sense that we were being watched, but it was only a fleeting suspicion."

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"But once we entered Zhili, that feeling vanished. I no longer sensed anyone shadowing or pursuing us."

"Any other strange occurrences?" Huang Ming pressed.

Xu Xingzhi pondered but still shook his head. "Really, nothing stood out. We had several hundred men escorting the prisoner; at most, the locals would glance from afar. No one dared approach within a hundred paces."

"Nothing at all unusual before reaching the capital?" Huang Ming persisted. "For instance, did anything odd happen while you were resting at night? Or did you encounter any suspicious people on the road?"

That question seemed to spark a memory. Xu Xingzhi suddenly exclaimed, "Now that you mention it, there was one odd thing. The night before last, we reached the outskirts of Beijing, but because it was already late and the city gates were closed, we had to stay at the Tongzhou post station for the night.

"There were so many of us we practically filled the entire station. Yet, in the middle of the night—around this very time—a group of a dozen or so arrived, demanding to lodge as well. They ended up having a dispute with some of our men on night duty.

"According to them, they were officials from elsewhere on business in the capital. They presented their credentials and insisted on being accommodated, even wanting us to let them have one of the courtyards. I had to show my Embroidered Uniform Guard badge to make them leave.

"But it didn’t really seem a big deal. Such encounters happen when traveling, and we had no real conflict. They left afterwards."

Huang Ming’s brows rose sharply, but before he could speak, Feng Yanping and Liu Botao—both seasoned in solving cases—spoke up in turn.

"Xu, you’re being careless! That’s highly irregular. What officials travel in the dead of night and just happen to cross paths with your group?" Feng Yanping exclaimed.

"And the staff at the post station were suspicious too," Liu Botao added. "They knew you were on an important mission and that outsiders shouldn’t be allowed near, yet they let these people in to cause trouble!"

"Exactly," Feng Yanping continued, "the people at the Tongzhou station would never defer to some out-of-town officials. The fact that you had to intervene means it was a ruse—a distraction to draw your attention outside, so they could make their move behind your backs!"

The two of them spoke with such conviction that Xu Xingzhi was left bewildered.

It wasn’t that he was truly less intelligent, but rather that, having been prompted by Huang Ming, the other two could reason backward from the outcome to reach the right conclusion.

At this, Huang Ming offered a brief explanation to clarify the train of thought, concluding, "Every action leaves traces. For a crime of this magnitude, if there’s no evidence at the apparent scene, it means the switch didn’t happen there at all."

"Is… is that so?" Xu Xingzhi muttered in surprise.

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Yet, thinking it over, the deduction seemed quite reasonable. After a moment, he said, "But we still have no solid evidence. Even though several of us on watch were drawn away by that other group, we did leave some men at the prisoner cart."

"And none of them reported anything unusual…" he trailed off.

"Who stayed behind? Which office were they from?" Liu Botao asked urgently.

"Two bailiffs from Shuntian Prefecture…" Xu Xingzhi replied.

By now, Huang Ming was seventy to eighty percent certain the problem lay precisely at that point—not just because of the coincidence, but because the two left behind were from the same office, making it all too easy for them to be bribed and cover up the truth together.

"Do you remember their names? We must bring them in for questioning at once!" Liu Botao said, energized and ready to send men after them.

But Huang Ming interjected urgently, "Gentlemen, I believe our immediate priority is not apprehending these so-called suspects, but to proceed at once to the Tongzhou post station.

"First, to secure any accomplices who may still be there, and second, we might even recapture the main culprit if we act quickly enough. Delay a day or two longer, and we’ll come up empty-handed."

Liu Botao immediately grasped Huang Ming’s meaning and leapt to his feet. "You’re absolutely right, there’s no time to lose. I’ll go arrange the men at once.

"It’s almost the fourth watch. In another hour, the city gates will open—we’ll head straight for Tongzhou."

Feng Yanping was equally quick to react and rose with him. "I’ll mobilize men from the Ministry of Justice—we’ll catch the criminals together!"

Only Censor Zhou Huang and Xu Xingzhi were left standing there, momentarily dazed and unable to keep up with the others’ pace.