“I still have to go find Steward Wang.”
Mu Xueshi turned and walked out of the room again, with Eunuch Shangde following behind in small steps.
When they reached the main hall, Mu Xueshi saw Steward Wang sprinkling fragrant dew there again. He remembered that whenever he had come here before, the room had often been filled with this scent.
“Steward Wang, you’re sprinkling fragrant dew again?” Mu Xueshi asked.
When Steward Wang saw Mu Xueshi enter the room again, he had just been about to bow in greeting when Mu Xueshi stopped him in time.
“Steward Wang, there’s no need to stand on ceremony with me. Send me a few more bottles of this fragrant dew. I can’t find any of the ones I took before.”
“Of course. If Young Master Xue wants fragrant dew, there is plenty here. This old servant will go get it at once.”
“No hurry, no hurry. I’ll have a servant come fetch it later. I have something to ask you.” Mu Xueshi spoke very respectfully.
Steward Wang quickly stopped what he was doing and faced Mu Xueshi with a cautious, serious expression.
“Have you heard of Jiuyuan charcoal?”
At first, Steward Wang did not hear clearly. Seeing his expression, Mu Xueshi repeated it again, but Steward Wang still looked utterly confused.
“What sort of charcoal is Jiuyuan charcoal?”
Mu Xueshi paused, then said to Steward Wang, “Jiuyuan charcoal is something that can burn a person into powder in an instant. Have you never heard anyone in the manor mention it? Or has no one ever used it?”
Steward Wang shook his head. “I have been in this manor for decades, and I have never seen such a thing. Does my lord mean that Master might have been burned to death by this substance?”
“It’s still uncertain…” Mu Xueshi thought for a moment, then asked Steward Wang, “Then among all the people in the Grand Tutor Manor, who is closest to people in the palace?”
Steward Wang only thought for a brief moment before saying with certainty, “That would naturally be Madam. Has Young Master forgotten? Madam’s elder sister is the favored Consort Mu in the palace, that is, His Highness’s mother!”
“Steward Wang, I’ve lost my memory. I can’t remember anything. From now on, just treat me as someone who has only just arrived at the Grand Tutor Manor.”
“Oh, this old servant forgot. This old servant apologizes to my lord.”
After hearing what Steward Wang had just said, Mu Xueshi could not calm down for a long while. Madam’s face kept appearing in his mind from time to time. For some reason, he always felt there was something strange about that face. Although her words were gentle and her temperament was soft, she still gave people an unreal feeling.
“Steward Wang, I’ll be leaving first. You can continue with your work.”
“Yes. My lord, take care.”
After Mu Xueshi left the room where Steward Wang was staying, he instructed a servant to fetch the fragrant dew, then turned and went to the main hall.
“My lord, what are you doing? You’ll catch a chill.”
Seeing Mu Xueshi sitting on the ground, Eunuch Shangde was terribly anxious. This was Mu Xueshi’s first time going out on his own. If even the slightest mistake happened, the servants like them could not pay for it even with their lives.
“It’s fine. If I get diarrhea, I’ll just say I ate something unclean.”
“If Master says that, the servants in the kitchen will suffer for it.”
Mu Xueshi found it very stifling to be managed like this, so he stood up with a frown and muttered, “I don’t even have freedom when I come outside. How depressing…”
After getting up, Mu Xueshi still looked at the ground, observing the darkened burn outline he had seen before. He even measured it with his hand. Earlier, he had sat on the floor because he had planned to lie down on it himself and try it out, to see whether the length happened to be about the same as a person’s body.
After frowning and thinking for a while, Mu Xueshi felt that his method was far too stupid. He had to think of a convenient, quick method with a high degree of accuracy to verify it.
“I’ve got it.” Mu Xueshi suddenly stood up, his eyes widening round as several gleams of light flashed inside them.
Eunuch Shangde was somewhat puzzled.
“Pack up the fragrant dew. We’re leaving.”
Eunuch Shangde answered yes and followed behind Mu Xueshi in high spirits. He wished Mu Xueshi would go back sooner. Every extra moment outside meant an extra measure of danger. If they could return completely unharmed, then this day could be considered survived.
Along the way, Mu Xueshi strode forward with great vigor. Not long after they left, he said to Eunuch Shangde, “Find me a corpse from somewhere within a few li of here, or go to a county yamen or some place like that and look for an executed criminal.”
Eunuch Shangde was startled. “My lord wants to bring the corpse back to Qinyi Courtyard?”
Mu Xueshi blinked. “Who said I’m going back to the courtyard? I’m going to the Judicial Affairs Manor. No matter how good that courtyard is, it belongs to someone else. The Judicial Affairs Manor is our home!”
After hearing this, Eunuch Shangde nearly broke down. His Judicial Affairs Minister had already held this post for over a month, yet Eunuch Shangde had never seen him go to the Judicial Affairs Manor. He probably did not even know where his own home was…
Sure enough, in the end, it was Eunuch Shangde who led Mu Xueshi there.
When they entered the Judicial Affairs Manor, a burst of ghostly wails and wolfish howls from inside frightened Mu Xueshi so badly that he nearly fell off the horse early.
“W-what is going on? Is our manor haunted too…?”
Eunuch Shangde did not know whether to laugh or cry, and quickly helped Mu Xueshi down.
“My lord, that is Wu Cai. You were the one who ordered him brought here. Has my lord forgotten already after such a short while?”
Mu Xueshi swallowed, and the color returned to his smooth little face.
“So that’s what it was.”
For the time being, Mu Xueshi avoided the room from which the roaring was coming and entered the main hall.
“My Judicial Affairs Manor isn’t bad either. Are all the things inside valuable?” Mu Xueshi touched this for a moment, then tapped that for a moment, deliberately putting on a professional expression.
Eunuch Shangde smiled and said to Mu Xueshi, “What does my lord think? If they were not valuable, would His Highness have had people send them here to be displayed? That jade Buddha statue you touched just now is worth several hundred taels of gold!”
Mu Xueshi counted on his fingers for a moment. A dozen or so taels of silver was enough to sell pork for several years, so wouldn’t several hundred taels of silver be enough for several lifetimes of pork-selling? Then how many pigs could several hundred taels of gold buy?…
“Good heavens!” Mu Xueshi cried out in shock. “It’s worth that much! If we sold this, wouldn’t we be able to reward a lot of people again?”
The corners of Eunuch Shangde’s mouth twitched twice, and he could no longer squeeze out a smile.
Futile Devices Scans 
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