The posthouse and the Supreme Court were on the same route.
Su Buchi rode a tall horse and escorted the little princess's sedan chair. Occasionally, he would explain some local customs in the capital. He was polite and never overstepped the mark.
The emperor had ordered a thorough investigation into the South - Seas shipwreck case. Naturally, the officials of the Supreme Court dared not be the least bit negligent. They checked the case files, summoned witnesses, and were so busy that their feet hardly touched the ground.
Most of the South - Seas envoys who had come on the ship were missing. Those sent out in haste for salvage and rescue operations had not sent back any news yet.
For the time being, this case was extremely tricky and there seemed to be no clue at all.
"I heard that the South - Seas tribute ship was smashed to pieces by the waves. It's really tragic. I'm afraid none of the mission members will survive."
"Alas, if only one person could be successfully rescued, they could at least tell us what happened before the shipwreck. Then it wouldn't be so difficult for us to investigate this case..."
Two clerks sighed and whispered to each other. Just then, a messenger's voice suddenly came from outside.
"Sir Su, there's a group of refugees outside the city claiming to be the South - Seas mission. They're now outside the Supreme Court asking for an audience!"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's face showed uncontrollable joy.
Su Buchi remained calm and simply said indifferently, "This matter happened suddenly. How can we know whether these refugees are the surviving members of the mission or spies? Summon them in first and interrogate them carefully."
Several junior clerks quickly agreed. Before long, they returned with the interrogation confessions.
"Sir, it's really a blessing from heaven! They are truly members of the South - Seas mission!"
Su Buchi took a brief look and immediately understood.
The attack on the mission was within his expectation.
According to Li Ying's plan, Lu Xunguang had made a big splash in the capital, making all the high - ranking officials and nobles compete to praise the rarity of the pearl jewelry.
Now, pearls were extremely hard to come by. With such a profitable business, how could Commissioner Lin sit idly by?
He coveted the pearl farm in the fishing village. Although he had reached a superficial cooperation with Li Ying, it was like trying to quench one's thirst with water from a distant source. How could he miss this opportunity to make a fortune in the pearl business?
Moreover, this man was naturally greedy. He was the kind of person who would take advantage of any situation. Ever since he had volunteered to escort the South - Seas pearl - carrying ship, it was obvious that he had already had the idea of taking risks.
Li Ying had planned everything carefully. Sure enough, this corrupt official had lived up to expectations and had really sent his family's loyal bodyguards to carry out a covert operation.
The confessions of the South - Seas envoys were very clear.
The ship had sailed for several days without any wind or waves. But one night, for no apparent reason, the ship suddenly shook violently.
All the envoys and sailors were half - awake from their sleep. By the time they regained their senses, the bottom of the ship had already been punctured with several big holes by the bandits. The cold sea water immediately poured in.
Although the envoys were good swimmers, they were successively attacked by masked bandits and fell into the sea. They had a narrow escape and finally woke up on a deserted island. Fortunately, a passing merchant ship had come to their rescue, and they had managed to survive. After many twists and turns, they had finally reached the capital.
"Sir, what kind of water bandits are these? They are so bold that they even dare to rob the tribute of the envoys! Don't they want to live?"
"The South - Seas tribute ship had many agile guards who were guarding the tribute on the ship layer by layer. Ordinary water bandits only know some basic martial arts. Even if they chose to attack in the dead of night when people were sleepy, it was still too easy for them to succeed, wasn't it?"
All the officials in the Supreme Court looked embarrassed and had different opinions.
Su Buchi tightened his grip on the case file in his hand, stood up, and his eyes shone with a cold and sharp light.
"Sinking this huge South - Seas ship is indeed extremely difficult."
"But if it was a pre - meditated conspiracy with inside help, it wouldn't be so difficult."
He said in a deep voice, "I would like to trouble all of you to investigate the origin and whereabouts of these water bandits carefully! If there is anyone who has colluded with the South - Seas secretly and leaked the mission's itinerary, it is a matter of national security! We must not be negligent!"
His words were resounding. Everyone's expressions became solemn after hearing them.
Su Buchi tidied his clothes, held his breath, and rushed straight towards the palace gate.
Today was really a good day with the snow just stopped and the sky cleared.
In the imperial study, Su Buchi briefly reported the ambush on the South - Seas merchant ship.
Although he only vaguely mentioned that he suspected that there might be some court officials who had deliberately leaked the information and stolen from the treasury.
The emperor immediately darkened his face and slapped the table hard. Two jade beads from the string of jade he had been playing with were even smashed.
"Good! How dare they!"
"My trusted officials have actually reached their hands into my treasury! Good, good! They really have a lot of nerve!"
He was extremely angry and casually threw a token to Su Buchi.
"Su Buchi! I order you to search every corner if necessary and arrest these audacious people!"
Su Buchi crawled forward two steps on his knees, respectfully received the token, and kowtowed to thank the emperor.
With this token, he could move freely in the palace and handle all the inspections and interrogations with ease.
Within half a day, a South - Seas envoy remembered that he had once seen the bandits who had ambushed the tribute ship. Although the bandits had covered their faces with black scarves, there was a strange - looking emblem clearly printed on their chests.
His drawing was rather clumsy, but as soon as the officials in the Supreme Court saw it, they all fell silent.
Anyone with a bit of seniority would recognize that pattern.
It was exactly the mark on the water bandits who had punctured the official ships during the case of the salt - smuggling by the Canal Gang in the past!
Su Buchi remained silent and just stared fixedly at the strange expressions on the officials' faces.
"After the salt - smuggling case, weren't all the water bandits thrown into prison and sentenced to death in autumn? How... are there still some remnants alive?"
After a long time, someone finally asked doubtfully.
The spark in Su Buchi's eyes flickered. He just said indifferently, "It seems that the complete eradication of evil in the past was not as thorough as you all thought."
As if to confirm his suspicion, sure enough, the Ministry of Justice also sent news that they had salvaged the fragments of the tribute ship. The South - Seas envoys' words were true. There were indeed signs of the ship being punctured at the bottom.
And this ruthless method was exactly the same as that in the salt - smuggling case back then.
In the past, the water bandits of the Canal Gang had all been arrested by Commissioner Lin himself.
If there were any escapees...
It could only be that he had harbored them!
As soon as this was said, it shocked the whole court.
"Could it be that Commissioner Lin..."
Everyone knew that in the past, Commissioner Lin had become famous overnight because of his integrity and tough measures in thoroughly investigating the salt - smuggling case of the Canal Gang. He had then become a favorite of the emperor.
At that time, he had repeatedly claimed that he was pleading for the people and was determined to make the common people live a life without fearing power, which had won the praise of the people.
Now, overnight, there was news that such a noble - minded Commissioner Lin was actually a person with evil intentions?
The emperor was extremely angry and strictly ordered Su Buchi to conduct a thorough investigation to find out all the truths.