Rebirth: From being expelled from the imperial court to becoming a high-ranking official

That day, Zhang San and Li Si heard that the Jin family had the habit of going to Ci Guang Temple to worship Buddha every spring and autumn, so they went to Ci Guang Temple together to see if they could find out anything.

The Jin family was a wealthy family, so they would make donations when they came to Ciguang Temple. When the two men arrived at the temple, they checked the book of merits.

It has to be said that the Jin family was indeed pious. Among a pile of hundreds of copper coins and a few taels of silver, the Jin family would easily donate dozens or hundreds of taels.

Unfortunately, when the two found the donation from a year ago, they were immediately disappointed.

Jin Biao did come to Ciguang Temple last September, but it was on September 15th.

The two of them felt a little discouraged.

Even though they were familiar with the area, the two of them had spent the past few days asking around but still had no results. As they continued to ask around, they began to think that their results were a little far-fetched.

More than a year has passed, and it is indeed a bit difficult to find out who saw whom on a specific day.

Unless it is a wedding or funeral, who would remember what happened on a certain day a year ago?

The vegetarian food of Ciguang Temple is quite famous in Fuyu County. Since the two of them came here, they naturally decided to stay and eat vegetarian food. "Alas, another wasted trip. It's only a few days away. If it's September 20th, this thing will be done." Zhang San and Li Si muttered.

"Don't worry, maybe there will be light in the morning. Aren't Zhao Da and Liu Er also snooping over there? As long as they can find out, this thing can be accomplished."

It was lunchtime, and the dining hall was full of pilgrims who came to worship Buddha. Zhang San and Li Si finally found an empty seat and sat down while talking.

"Hey, aren't these brothers Zhang San and Li Si?"

The two were talking and didn't notice the person sitting opposite them. When the person opposite them spoke, they both looked up and realized that it was an acquaintance.

"Hey, isn't this Mr. Changshan? Is there a Dharma Assembly today? Why are you in the temple?"

Although this Changshan layman called himself a layman, everyone knew that he was just using the title to make a few taels of silver.

Some say he is a Buddhist layman, he tells people's fortunes; some say he is a Taoist layman, he visits various Buddhist temples.

When he has nothing to do, he goes to Ciguang Temple and pretends to be mysterious. When he sees someone "destined with him", he tells their fortune and looks at their face.

"No way, I'm here to discuss Buddhism with the abbot of the temple."

Zhang San and Li Si did not expose him, but just smiled and said, "Mr. Changshan has great cultivation skills."

Mr. Li naturally knew what these two people were doing, so he asked, "Are you two here to worship Buddha?"

They all knew that this Changshan layman was very knowledgeable and knew exactly what could and could not be said, so they went straight to the point without beating around the bush.

"Hey, what's the point of praying? The master asked me to find out something, but I've been busy for a few days and got nothing."

"Oh? Why don't you tell me what it is? There's nothing I don't know about this Ciguang Temple."

Mr. Changshan naturally knew that helping Zhang San and Li Si would definitely not be in vain, so he immediately became interested.

Zhang San and Li Si looked at each other and said, "How could you know what happened a year ago?"

"Tell me, maybe you'll know."

Zhang San joked, "We want to find out about Mr. Jin Biao. Do you know anything about him?"

In fact, the two of them did not hold out much hope, as this layman might not be able to win the gold medal.

"Mr. Jin? What do you want to know about Mr. Jin?"

"Haha, find out if Mr. Jin came to Ciguang Temple on September 20th last year, and if anyone saw him on that day."

"Oh - September 20th, haha." Changshan touched his beard with a confident look on his face and said, "I can't guarantee other days, but on September 20th, Jin Biao must not have gone out, let alone come to Ciguang Temple."

Zhang San and Li Si didn't expect that this person could really know that, and they couldn't help but feel skeptical.

"Why must he not have gone out?"

"Because last year I calculated that Mr. Jin would be in bad luck that day, so he couldn't go out."

Zhang San was a little skeptical: "Can he believe your calculations about whether there will be bad luck or not?"

"Tsk, why don't you believe me? I'm a famous fortune teller in Yunshan. And Mr. Jin asked me about the taboos in detail, so of course I believe it."

The two had been asking for days, naturally hoping to get some news soon. But when they finally found out that Jin Biao had indeed not gone out that day, they became even more discouraged.

How can we prove whether he was poisoned or not if he didn’t go out?

So Zhang San and Li Si returned to the inn in the city disappointedly.

Just as the two of them sat down to drink some water and take a rest, the officer who was sent to Shuanghe Village to keep an eye on Miao Wang's family came back.

When the official saw the two men, he said excitedly, "Brother Zhang San and Brother Li Si, we have found the wife and children of Miao Wang from Shuanghe Village!"

"Really?! Where is it?" Zhang San jumped up immediately.

"She is now at home in Shuanghe Village. She just came back with the child this morning. As soon as she came back, I quickly asked someone to keep her."

When Zhang San heard that he was still asked to stay in Shuanghe Village, he was afraid that something might happen, so he said, "Hurry, hurry, go pick them up now."

Li Si said, "I'll go. You stay here and continue to inquire about the news. I'll take Miao Wang's wife back to the hall first."

Zhang San thought it made sense, so he said, "Okay. Just rob the people from Shuanghe Village and take them back."

Li Si led the officials out.

The official knew that Zhang San and Li Si were generous, so he couldn't help but boast: "Ever since you two gave the order, my brothers and I have been guarding Shuanghe Village and dare not go anywhere. This morning, we saw an ox cart entering the village and going straight to Miao Wang's house. We went over to ask, but the woman didn't know her husband was gone..."

Li Si naturally understood his idea. As he walked out, he took out a piece of silver from his pocket and threw it at the official: "You did a great job. This is a reward for you. I'm sure you will reward me later."

The official smiled even more happily when he saw the silver: "Sir, now that we have found Miao Wang's wife, is our mission almost completed?"

"Mostly? It's still early, but at least there is some progress. When we pick up the people later, you and your brother will come with me to escort them back to Xu Ning's mansion."

"Yes."

The official was even happier that he could finally return to Xu Ning's mansion.

Now that the task was finally completed, Zhang San felt relieved.

Yesterday, Zhao Da and Liu Er had already found out the name of the cleaning servant. Now they are just waiting to find out the date of his mother's death from the village.

If it really was September 20th, then of course it still cannot prove Yan Guixiang's innocence.

But if it wasn't September 20th, whether it was earlier or later, it wouldn't make sense. And if Jin Biao lied about the time, then there must be something wrong with that time, and there must be a loophole.

After running for most of the day, Zhang San felt a little tired. He lay down on the bed and soon fell asleep in a daze.

It was not until the evening that he was awakened by Zhao Da and Liu Er who had been rushed back.

"Brother Zhang San, I found out that the man's mother passed away on September 18th!"

A huge stone in Zhang San's heart finally fell to the ground: It's done!

Sure enough, there is light at the end of the tunnel!