Chapter 47: I Was Thinking of Gu Huaiyu. Part 1

It was the early hours of the morning, before the break of dawn, and the mist had yet to fully dissipate.

The Court of Judicial Review was situated on the western side of the Imperial City, adjacent to the bustling marketplace. Even at this hour, the street was alive with the calls of vendors selling silken tofu, pushing vegetable carts, or balancing poles laden with sugar cakes.

Through the morning fog, two bailiffs held lanterns as they swept the grounds. One leaned over to clear fallen leaves from the stone steps, while the other used a broom to brush away cobwebs from the eaves of the main gate.

Suddenly, one of the bailiffs froze. He clutched his neck and spun around. “Why did you hit me?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing!” the other retorted. “Why did you hit me?”

The two exchanged a wary glance. With unspoken coordination, they raised their lanterns simultaneously toward the grand plaque of the Court of Judicial Review.

As the golden light illuminated the area, they saw a human figure hanging from the center of what had been an empty plaque.

It was a corpse.

It hung upside down.

The body had been precisely suspended between the strokes of the character for Justice, as if the heavens themselves were meting out a divine sentence.

As the morning breeze blew, the corpse swung back and forth like a macabre pendulum. A piece of paper fell from its open robes. It was an official missing persons flyer issued by the imperial court, searching for the lost Chief Envoy of Eastern Liao.

The ink-wash portrait on the paper overlapped perfectly with the face of the hanging corpse. A piercing scream shattered the morning silence.

The cries of the morning market ceased instantly. Civilians from all directions rushed toward the sound, swarming the area.

“It’s Wu Wei, the Chief Envoy of the Eastern Liao delegation!”

The revelation exploded through the crowd like a thunderclap, sending a jiver through the hearts of everyone present.

In an instant, the front of the Court of Judicial Review was like a pot of boiling water. Countless citizens surged forward, packing the street so tightly that not a drop of water could pass.

By the time the sun had fully risen and the clerks of the court arrived for their shifts, the corpse was still hanging from the plaque. Not a single “kind soul” moved to take it down. One by one, the officials simply lowered their heads and walked past either side of the body, refusing to give it a second glance.

And so, the corpse remained there in its grand display, greeting the morning sun for the duration of the entire morning.

Citizens from all over the capital flocked to the site. Families brought their elders and children, forming layers of crowds that made the court’s entrance impenetrable. Some stood on small stools to see over the back; others hoisted children onto bamboo poles for a better view. Tea vendors and fruit stalls even set up shop on the corners, doing a brisk business amidst the spectacle.

By mid-morning, the news reached the Censorate.

Lord Zhang, the man to whom Nie Jin owed his career, was leisurely sipping his morning tea. When he heard his subordinate’s report, he spat out a mouthful of hot liquid.

Lord Zhang’s meticulously trimmed beard was instantly soaked. His elderly face turned ashen. “How… how does he dare…”

The subordinate nodded in agreement, complaining in a low voice, “Indeed, how does Nie Jin dare? I think he’s intentionally making a scene—”

Before the man could finish, Lord Zhang snapped his head up, his face full of terror, his voice rising sharply. “How does he dare!”

The subordinate froze, his face losing all color as the realization hit him. Lord Zhang wasn’t talking about Nie Jin.

By the time Lord Zhang arrived at the Court of Judicial Review, the atmosphere was as festive as a temple fair. Several young children sat on their fathers’ shoulders, giggling as they pointed at the plaque. Some unscrupulous soul had even set off firecrackers in the street; the pop-pop-crack of the explosions mingled with the raucous laughter of the commoners.

With the body hanging there all morning, the news of Wu Wei’s death had likely reached every alleyway in the capital. There wasn’t a soul in the city who didn’t know by now.

The veins on Lord Zhang’s forehead throbbed. He shouted in a fit of rage, “Men! Take that corpse down at once!”

“Lord Zhang, please forgive us.” The bailiff at the gate looked troubled. “Master Nie has given orders. Chief Envoy Wu Wei was a guest of the Court of State Ceremonies. Since this involves diplomatic relations between two nations, the Court of Judicial Review cannot handle it arbitrarily. The body must be dealt with by Minister Qin’s office.”

Lord Zhang was no fool; he could hear the biting sarcasm behind the words. He stormed over the threshold, heading straight for the back hall to find Nie Jin.

Behind the desk in the back hall, Nie Jin sat upright, reviewing case files as if it were any other day. The ink bled into the rice paper as he wrote, his head never lifting. “To what do I owe the visit, Censor Zhang?”

Lord Zhang rushed forward, leaning in to hiss, “What are you waiting for? Why haven’t you taken that body down?!”

Only after finishing his last stroke did Nie Jin slowly set down his brush. “Since the Chief Envoy was a guest of the Court of State Ceremonies, Minister Qin may come and collect it himself.”

Lord Zhang nearly ground his teeth to dust. How could he not know Nie Jin’s intent?

Ever since the delegation entered the capital, the citizens had not seen a single day of peace. Now, with the Chief Envoy’s corpse hanging high above the court’s gates, the entire city was cheering. This wasn’t about waiting for the Court of State Ceremonies to collect the body; this was Nie Jin demanding a long-overdue sense of justice for the people of the capital!

“Fine! Fine!” Lord Zhang’s beard trembled with fury. He leaned over the desk and snarled, “You constantly claim the law is your heaven, yet you allow a corpse to hang from a government office? Where is your law now?!”

“Lord Zhang is mistaken.” Nie Jin finally looked up, his tone clinical. “The law is heaven, but in this court, there is someone who stands even higher.”

In the Great Chen Dynasty, who could possibly stand higher than heaven? The answer was unspoken.

A sudden chill raced down Lord Zhang’s spine. More than Gu Huaiyu’s audacity in killing a foreign envoy, it was Nie Jin’s reaction that truly made his blood run cold.

He knew this young man too well—he was the one who had promoted him. Nie Jin was like a mountain of iron, never bowing to the pressure of powerful officials or the debts of old friendships. He had never bent his back for anyone, not even for his mentor.

Yet now, this stubborn, unyielding man had uttered the words “higher than heaven” in reference to him. Just how terrifying were Gu Huaiyu’s methods to have tamed a stubborn mule like Nie Jin?

Lord Zhang’s throat felt tight, and cold sweat beaded on his brow. “If you don’t handle the body, the delegation will take this to the palace! At that time, even he will be implicated!”

Nie Jin’s dark eyes were clear and steady. He said softly, “Do not use our petty cleverness to speculate on his courage.”