17 - Marriage Agreement

Chapter 17 – Marriage Agreement

When Di Jing came out of the prison cell, Qiu Dan followed behind him in silence. Both of them did not say anything and after a while, Di Jing suddenly asked him.

“Regarding Shangguan Yan’s information, why was the matter of her engagement left out?”

Qiu Dan was stunned and noticed that the Lord seemed unhappy. But when he raised his eyes to look again, it seemed the Lord’s face did not show any unhappiness and assumed he must have over thought.

“It was just a verbal marriage agreement, so it should not be binding. That’s the reason why it was not documented.”

To Qiu Dan, that Pan Gongzi is just a scholar and the Pan Family is not prominent, therefore, held no importance so there was no need for an investigation.

Di Jing reprimanded sternly. “Nothing must be left out. Sometimes, trivial information is the keys to solving crimes.”

Qiu Dan immediately understood and hurriedly held up his hands to acknowledge a lesson learned. “It’s the negligence of this humble one.”

“Investigate the Pan Family and report to this Officer.”

“This humble one obeys.”

Di Jing had put Shangguan Yan in prison for only five days and it could be said that Di Jing was able to see how extensive were her connections. Many people came to intercede for her and every one of them had strong backgrounds.

First, it was the Ninth Prince then the Ling Wang and there were also many influential and powerful people from the government and business arena. What made it even more impressive was that not only men came to visit her in prison but there were also women.

Thinking back to that time in the past, although she was a maid with a pockmarked face in the Qin Mansion with an unimpressive appearance and humble background she was like a fish in water, loved by everyone.

“You’re really capable! This Officer has seen it all and the people who claim to be brothers and confidants with you are aplenty. This Officer admires and salutes you.”

Today alone, five beautiful and tearful women came to visit her bringing with them the food that they had personally prepared. The women who came comprised of the brothel prostitutes, dancers, Ling Wangfei , and the daughters of noble families.

“No, no…….this humble one normally accumulates merits by doing good deeds and had done a lot of good deeds in the past. God has eyes and is showering blessings.”

Does she mean that by locking her up, his dog eyes are blind?

It was another quiet time in the middle of the night. Both of them were sitting on the floor of the prison cell with her sitting inside while he was sitting outside. This night he was wearing a loose robe without his official hat on and his body emitted the refreshing scent after a bath. But she was in a miserable state. She had not bathed for five days and due to the humidity, sweat had accumulated all over her body emitting an odor of sweat and it made her feel itchy and uncomfortable.

“My Lord, when can this humble one leave the prison?”

“At present, the situation is unclear. Now the imperial court is divided into two forces. One is the force of Consort De and the other is the force of the Empress’s relatives and they are embroiled in politics…….” She was listening seriously and would occasionally offer some insights.

“Oh yes, how did you get your face pockmarked?” He suddenly interjected. She was taken aback and looked up at him, wondering why he was asking this question.

Di Jing who was at the brunt of her suspicious gaze casually added another sentence.

“Just in case Liu Shan used your unique method of disguising, then it will be difficult to find him.”

She replied without a thought. “Impossible.”

“Oh? How is it impossible? If you can do it, why can’t others do it?”

“Because……..” She suddenly became alert.

This Lord Di can’t be using this excuse to fish the information from her, right?

Her method of disguising is an exclusive secret and cannot be revealed casually. Changing her mind, she said. “Because the pockmarks were real and it was not a disguise.”

Di Jing was stunned and did not quite believe her. “The pockmarks were real?”

“That’s right. At that time, when I was outside working on a case under the sun and rain, I didn’t know what illness I contracted and pockmarks appeared on my face. Later I had to recuperate for three months before I recovered.”

He frowned and looked at her suspiciously. She was a smooth-talker and did not avoid his questioning gaze.

Di Jing was still doubtful and always had the feeling that she was hiding something from him. This girl is extremely cunning. Initially, he had wanted to get close to her to pry information from her but it looked like he had failed.

It is not a problem as there is ample time. Now that she is in his hands, he has the patience to slowly wear her down.

“Never mind, this officer is tired. You should rest as well.” He stood up.

When she saw he was about to leave, she hurriedly said. “My Lord……”

He turned around to look at her and saw she was showing a flattering smile with a pleading expression.

“Even though I’m pretending to be imprisoned, can this humble one at least freshen up once? The weather is too hot and unbearable.”

Looking at the anticipation on her face, he smiled but the words he said were contrary to her wishes. “Since this is an act, it should show some ‘reality’, so just bear with it.”

While she was caught by surprise and was dumbstruck, he turned around and left without giving her any chance of negotiation.

Act? Bear with it?

Flames shot up in Shangguan Yan’s heart.

If this is just an act, why is good food delivered to her and why is the bedding so clean? She is also given a separate cell with windows for air circulation without the rancid smell of normal prison cells. Even the jailer is very polite to her!

It was clear that he had deliberately disallowed her to wash up which caused her to itch all over. In her heart, she felt very angry and after thinking about this, the only conclusion she had was that he still wanted to take revenge with this excuse. If not, then he must have discovered that she was hiding the truth about the disguise and deliberately punished her.

As she paced back and forth in the cell, she scratched her body here and there.

Forget it, she will endure! It’s not that she can’t bear with it. When she was outside investigating cases, she had also experienced hardship. So what if she doesn’t wash up for a few days? Humph!

What she did not know was that there was a dark room next to the cell she was staying. It was a special secret room for monitoring and handling cases. Through a small hole in the wall, one could observe everything in the cell.

Her angry expression was all taken in by Di Jing. He smiled and before he left, he gave some orders to the guards.

“Protect her well. There must not be any mistakes.”

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“Yes, my Lord.” The five female guards held up their hands in obeisance and acknowledged the order.

He had deployed twenty elite guards to guard the cell. Out of the twenty guards, five female guards were responsible for monitoring the movements inside the cell while the other fifteen male guards were responsible for guarding the surrounding area. The cell was heavily surrounded to protect her from any mishap.

Due to the order given by the Prison Head that whoever wanted to visit the prisoner must first report to Di Jing, so when Pan Gongzi came to visit her the next day, the guard immediately made a report.

After listening to the report, Di Jing who was in the middle of a discussion in the study with the Lord Magistrate could not help but pause. Then after contemplating for a while, he threw out two words.

“Permission granted.”

Upon receiving the order, the guard left and Di Jing continued the discussion with the Lord Magistrate as if nothing had happened. After the discussion was over, the Lord Magistrate left and Di Jing pondered for a while before he walked out of the study to head towards the prison.

When the guard saw Di Jing coming over, he hurried forward to greet him.

“Is the visitor still inside?” Di Jing asked.

“Yes, my Lord. It has been quite a while. It’s a gentleman surnamed Pan. This humble one will go and chase him out.” The guard assumed that the Lord was unhappy about the visitor spending such a long time inside and wanted to drive the person away.

“Wait, let it be. Don’t let the people inside know that this Officer has been here, understand?”

The guard hurriedly replied. “Yes, this humble one understands.” As he said, he stepped back quietly.

Di Jing walked out of the prison to stand under a big tree and quietly enjoyed the cool air.

After waiting for a while, someone came out of the prison and Di Jing immediately looked over to see a man wearing a set of silver-white robes slowly walking out.

The man had a refined appearance, fair-skinned, and looked quite handsome with a scholarly air on him. It could be seen that he is a gentle and warm man. Di Jing knew that this person was the young master of the Pan Family, Pan Zeming.

Pan Zeming repeatedly thanked the guards who were guarding the prison door showing his elegant and modest bearing.

Di Jing looked at him secretly until the other person finally left before he turned around and slowly walked away.

After he had returned to the study, he sat in front of the desk and thought deeply.

He has a resolute personality and is selfless and strict when handling cases but he is very persistent towards women.

That time, he watched with wide eyes as she left. He was shocked and angry at the same time but when all the emotions had died down, the only thing that he could not get over was her heartless departure. She did not even show a trace of nostalgia for him, while during these two years, he had missed her more and more as each day passed

The face of the woman that he thought of countless times in his mind had subconsciously been carved into his memory. It did not diminish nor dilute with the passage of time, instead, it was deeply imprinted in his memory. That was the reason why when he saw her, he felt that her every move and every look in her eyes seemed so familiar.

Does he know that Shangguan Yan was wronged? Of course, he knows and he is the only one who knows!

Only when no one is around would the corners of his lips curve up. The woman who escaped from his grasp two years ago has now fallen into his hands. It will be strange if he is willing to let her go!

He recalled the information that Qiu Dan had gathered.

This Pan Gongzi is twenty-one years old. More than two years ago, the elders of the Pan Family and the Shangguan Family had a verbal agreement to allow Shangguan Yan to marry Pan Zeming. Later Old Master Pan suddenly died and Pan Zeming, as the grandson, had to observe a mourning period of three years. This mourning period is going to expire in autumn this year and now there are only two more months left.

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Perhaps, it was because Shangguan Yan was talented in business and usually dressed as a man while the Pan Family also wanted to keep a low profile, so both families agreed to keep the secret about Shangguan Yan was doing business outside disguised as a man.

Therefore, both the Pan and Shangguan Families were tacitly silent on this matter and as a result, not many outsiders knew about their verbal marriage agreement.

“Two more months…….” Di Jing muttered.

“My Lord?……..” Qiu Dan standing at the side raised his head and looked at the Lord in puzzlement.

“Two more months and it will be autumn.” Di Jing said as he looked up at the moon in the sky.

“Yes, my Lord.” Qiu Dan thought that the Lord was counting the days to autumn but in reality, Di Jing was counting the days when Pan Zeming’s mourning period ends.

Since there is not much time left, he has to speed up his actions.