Guard Zhan, You Seem a Bit Afraid of Ghosts!

Nan Zhi quietly protected her purse and turned to the waiter. "Excuse me, I didn't order these?"

Zhan Zhao, dressed in bright red, strode up the stairs and sat down across from her quite naturally.

"Miss Nan Zhi has traveled thousands of miles from Dingyuan. To me, you are a guest. How could I let you spend your own silver?

The tea at Lady Li's Tea House is quite excellent. Even when I am off duty, I often come here to drink tea and rest. However, my salary is meager, so I can only afford to treat you to this one pot of tea."

"I suspect Guard Zhan has just come from the prison and met those two fools. You must be very confused and want me to clear things up. In that case, this pot of tea will serve as my payment."

Knowing he was being modest, Nan Zhi didn't stand on ceremony. She pushed the teacup to the empty space on her left and got straight to the point.

"I assume that scholar—the poor scholar who married into wealth and is related to Lord Qi of the Northwest Circuit Bureau of Military Affairs—must have filed a complaint against me.

He likely claimed that I conspired with ghosts to harm people and attempted to seize the Wang family's property, is that right?"

Zhan Zhao's expression stiffened for a moment before he replied smoothly.

"Miss Nan Zhi is a straight talker. However, I suspect there must be more to the story. If you truly acted in such a way, not only would the sword in my hand disagree, but you would never have passed the test of the Demon Suppression Division's Xiezhi Mirror."

Dealing with intelligent people was indeed much more comfortable.

Nan Zhi took out a case file and placed it on the table, then tapped the unopened jar of Immortal Brew.

"I wonder if Guard Zhan, living far away in Bianjing, has ever heard of Immortal Brew?"

"Naturally, I have. The Immortal Brew from the Wang Family Distillery is sold all over Bianjing. However, for some reason, it has been nearly impossible to find a jar in the markets for the past half-month."

Zhan Zhao didn't know what she was getting at and spoke cautiously. "Could it be related to the death of the Wang family head, Wang Fugui?"

"Heh, I took the raw materials for the brewing with me. How could they brew any more wine?

Guard Zhan, you might not know that the Wang family has very strict rules for brewing. Every vat of old wine must use water taken from the mother vat in their garden to make the mash. But no one knew that soaking inside that mother vat was a beautiful woman's head."

Nan Zhi let out a cold laugh, slapped open the mud seal on the wine jar, and poured it onto the table.

The transparent liquid flowed across the tabletop and onto the floor. Without her seemingly doing anything, a thin, long strand of hair suddenly sprouted from the liquid on the table, wriggling as if it were alive.

"This is—"

Zhan Zhao looked on with a sense of creeping dread. Remembering Nan Zhi's words, he couldn't help but ask, "So, Wang Fugui used sorcery to brew wine, which is why there is such an evil thing in it? But why did not a single demon suppressor in Bianjing notice this?"

Nan Zhi shook her head. "That, I do not know. I can only roughly speculate that it's because there was too little yin energy in the wine.

Think of yin energy like ink. If you try to find a drop of ink on a white sheet of paper, it's naturally easy. But if I disperse that drop of ink into a lake or the ocean, how could you ever detect it?

Actually, this wine isn't harmful to the human body. It's just that I happen to know the owner of the head in the wine, and I happened to learn about a thirty-year-old injustice."

With that, Nan Zhi recounted the events of thirty years ago. This time, she held nothing back, including Wanniang's request and the fact that Wanniang had killed Wang Fugui.

"Are you speaking of the Imperial Wine Case from years ago? That case is indeed famous. I remember hearing people talk about it when I first started working at the Kaifeng Prefecture."

Zhan Zhao was not one to believe easily and frowned. "Ghosts are treacherous and cunning. How can you be sure that ghost didn't deceive you? Does Miss Nan Zhi truly have the ability to distinguish the hearts of others?"

Nan Zhi: "..."

She couldn't exactly tell him she had a system.

Fortunately, she had come prepared.

"Naturally, I conducted various investigations to verify Wanniang's words. Moreover, before he died, Wang Fugui admitted with his own mouth that he poisoned the wine, bribed the presiding judge, and framed the Qu family.

This is the old case file from the Capital Judicial Bureau. Anyone with eyes can see the truth at a glance.

Although there are signatures and seals from various judicial commissioners from bottom to top, the Qu family's case was handled far too hastily. The most ridiculous part is that as the Qu family's adopted son, Wang Fugui was also involved in handling that batch of poisoned wine. Yet, not only did he escape unscathed, but the Qu family's property even fell into his hands."

Nan Zhi handed over the file that Xu Zi had "borrowed" from the Capital Judicial Bureau that afternoon, specifically pointing to the name of the presiding judge from those years.

"Does this name look familiar to you, Guard Zhan? If you don't recognize it, that's fine. This Ma Wuyan is Wang Fugui's in-law, Wang Chen's father-in-law, and the maternal uncle of Lord Qi Mingyuan from our Northwest Circuit Bureau of Military Affairs."

Ma Wuyan.

Wang Fugui.

One was the original presiding judge.

The other was the adopted son of the Qu family who came out of the murder case completely clean.

Years later, these two had actually become in-laws through their children.

Even a fool could see there was something fishy going on.

Zhan Zhao thought for a moment and understood.

The Demon Suppression Division was powerful; they could capture ghosts and even arrest people outside the normal rules, but they were independent of the imperial court and could not interfere in government administration.

No wonder she had traveled so far to deliver the prisoners here.

"I will take the case file first. I guarantee it will be on Lord Bao's desk tonight."

Zhan Zhao's face showed a hint of admiration. "For the sake of a single promise, Miss Nan Zhi was willing to endure such hardship and travel all the way to Bianjing. You are truly a woman of great honor.

Since you trust me so much, you can rest assured. I have always hated those who use their power for private gain and bully others. Back when I roamed the world, I also cut down a few... cough, cough... officials who colluded with merchants to oppress the people.

If this is true, Lord Bao will surely seek justice for that daughter of the Qu family and clear the names of all thirty-seven members of the Qu family.

The tea in the pot is still warm, and the snacks here are delicious. You should finish your tea before leaving, Miss Nan Zhi. I shall take my leave now."

Suddenly learning of such a major case and obtaining the file, Zhan Zhao was anxious to verify everything. He took the file and left immediately.

As he turned, his eyes seemed to play a trick on him. He saw a female ghost in mourning clothes standing behind Nan Zhi.

Her long hair covered her face, a purplish-red long tongue hung down to her chest, and on her pale, terrifying face, a pair of pitch-black eyes without any whites were rolled slightly upward.

From somewhere, a faint sigh echoed: "Thank you."

Zhan Zhao's body stiffened, but he maintained his composure and walked downstairs, though his pace was noticeably hurried.

...

Wanniang was silent for a moment before looking down at Nan Zhi. "That Guard Zhan seems a bit afraid of ghosts!"

Nan Zhi chewed on a snack, looking at Wanniang's hanging tongue, her pale and terrifying face, and those pitch-black pupils. She didn't have the heart to tell her the truth.

Even though they had spent a long time together, sometimes when Wanniang suddenly appeared behind her, looking so eerie and dark, it really was a bit frightening.

She was at the level where she could apply for the roles of Sadako or Kayako and get the job immediately.

It was no wonder Zhan Zhao was scared.

Seeing that Nan Zhi had no doubt the Kaifeng Prefecture could clear her name, Wanniang also calmed down for some reason. She smoothed her hair and simply sat down beside Nan Zhi to drink tea.

How could they not believe?

That was the Kaifeng Prefecture.

When Nan Zhi was a child watching television, whenever that big, dark-faced man appeared and the stirring music started, she knew the bad guys were about to die.

Although this wasn't the Great Song of history, those three guillotines were truly placed in the Kaifeng Prefecture court.

If Bao Zheng did not act with integrity, how could he have the title of "Justice"?

Nan Zhi broke off a piece of a snack and stuffed it into her sleeve. A rustling sound came from the cuff.

After a while, a pair of small paws reached out, quickly took the snack, and disappeared again.

It was the little hedgehog Nan Zhi had saved from Ma San.

Having been away for so long, she really missed Corn.

Once she finished with Wanniang's business, she would head home to take a look.

Nan Zhi let out a small sigh of relief.