Inside the Imperial Blessing Ministry.
“I’ve won!”
Zhao Yuyu smiled proudly, triumphantly pushing down her tiles.
Bai Yunyun sighed, feeling as if she were being infinitely targeted.
Gu Xiao and Lin Ling were busy gathering their money, and after counting the rounds, the one who had lost the most was indeed Bai Yunyun.
Xiu Jiming lay back in his chair, sipping tea.
He glanced at the four women playing mahjong and said, “Don’t corrupt Ling’er.”
“Boss, you’re blaming us wrongly. Big Sister-Boss definitely knows how to do this herself; she plays quite well,” Bai Yunyun wailed.
Lin Ling triumphantly brandished the chips in her hand at Xiu Jiming, signaling that she had won heaps and heaps of money.
【Ah, the wait for money to come in is truly long.】
Lin Ling leaned back in her chair, waiting for Zhao Yuyu to shuffle the tiles.
Suddenly remembering something, she leaped from her chair and approached Xiu Jiming.
She quickly wrote: “Little Ming-zi, what is my monthly salary?”
Xiu Jiming gave her a strange look, somewhat dissatisfied with this nickname that sounded like one used for a eunuch.
However, he still answered, “We receive an annual salary. As a regular Rank Six official of the Imperial Blessing Ministry, your annual salary is four hundred taels of silver, forty low-grade spirit stones, and one mid-grade spirit stone. The spirit stones are the bulk of it.”
One mid-grade spirit stone was equal to one hundred low-grade spirit stones, which was equal to one hundred taels of silver.
In Yueshan County, 10 taels of silver could provide food and clothing for a typical family of three for a year, and a top-tier banquet cost about 5 taels.
A high-quality steel longsword cost about 10 taels, and a basic Qi-Gathering Pill was worth about five to ten taels, or half a low-grade spirit stone.
“What about you?”
Lin Ling asked.
Xiu Jiming fell silent for a moment, seemingly calculating his own assets.
After a moment of thought, he said, “In short, I’m not short on money.”
【Holy crap, a tycoon! What kind of posturing is this? Bah!】
Lin Ling looked at him with disdain.
After sticking her tongue out at Xiu Jiming, she leisurely returned to the mahjong table to dominate once more.
Xiu Jiming let out a chuckle; lately, he felt as if he could always understand what Lin Ling was thinking.
“Crazy girl.”
He shook his head, continuing to brew his tea while watching the four women play mahjong.
“Ah! Big Sister-Boss Lin, you’re cheating!”
Bai Yunyun immediately protested.
“I saw the runes on your arm!”
Lin Ling hurriedly pulled up her sleeves, hiding her hands to prevent them from seeing.
But in the end, there was strength in numbers.
Bai Yunyun and Zhao Yuyu grabbed Lin Ling from the left and right, while Gu Xiao began to inspect Lin Ling’s wrists.
Lin Ling struggled twice, but finding that the two holding her were tightening their grip, she instantly gave up her resistance.
Gu Xiao looked at the charms in Lin Ling’s hand, feeling somewhat speechless.
“A luck charm? Don’t you have any other cheating methods?”
“Little Ming-zi, help!”
Lin Ling hurriedly waved her hands at Xiu Jiming for help.
Unfortunately, it was useless.
The three women washed her arms clean before returning to the mahjong table.
As expected, Lin Ling gradually began to fall to the bottom.
Bai Yunyun had a look of triumph on her face.
“I knew I couldn’t be the worst.”
Zhao Yuyu coughed and reminded her, “Um, based on the total score from this round, Lingling is still quite a bit higher than you.”
“Ah!”
Bai Yunyun’s smile froze, and her face instantly crumpled in misery.
Lin Ling gave a proud smile, but then she also froze.
【What the heck is ‘Lingling’? Why do I feel like my status is getting weirder and weirder?】
Just then, a burst of knocking at the door sounded, interrupting their chirpy bickering.
Everyone looked toward the door and saw a man dressed like a servant leaning against the frame, out of breath.
Bai Yunyun went forward to inquire.
Upon hearing the news, she learned that a ghost was haunting a wealthy household in the city and they had come here to seek help.
Lin Ling glanced at the sky.
It was currently clear for thousands of miles, the weather couldn’t be better.
【Haunted in broad daylight, huh.】
Xiu Jiming tossed out a few copper coins.
After a glance, he said, “Go yourselves this time. It’s not a major issue.”
【Ooh, classmate Little Ming, you didn’t go study math with Xiao Hong but learned divination instead? Impressive!】
Lin Ling skipped over to Xiu Jiming’s side and gave his shoulder a praising pat.
Xiu Jiming: “…”
He always felt she was thinking about something bad.
In any case, after packing up, the group followed the servant to the wealthy household.
As soon as they arrived, Lin Ling saw a crowd of people gathered around the entrance, murmuring among themselves.
Zhao Yuyu stood on the carriage, holding high the badge of the Imperial Blessing Ministry and shouting, “The Imperial Blessing Ministry is handling a case! Unrelated persons, disperse!”
“The Imperial Blessing Ministry is here.”
“Imperial Blessing Ministry? It’s really the Imperial Blessing Ministry!”
“Do we even have an Imperial Blessing Ministry in our county?”
“Looking at the badge, it seems to be real…”
【…Classmate Little Ming, look at how much bad reputation you’ve brought to our department.】
Hearing the crowd’s discussion, Lin Ling felt her face burning with embarrassment.
Once the crowd dispersed, they saw several servants pinning down a young man.
The young man was frantically muttering about ghosts, saying things like “there’s a ghost on me.”
“You guys let go and let us check him,” Zhao Yuyu stepped forward and said calmly.
The head of the house was a stout man.
Seeing this, he hurriedly said, “Immortal Ladies, are you really sure? This is my only son.”
Zhao Yuyu glanced at him and shook her head.
“Let’s take a look first.”
Before the servants could step away, Gu Xiao took out an immobilization charm prepared by Lin Ling, fearing he might do something drastic.
And so, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, this young man stripped himself bone-naked with incredible speed, leaving two butt cheeks shivering in the cold wind.
Lin Ling: “…”
【Good lord, man, I haven’t even husked corn as fast as he did that.】
There were many respectable women in the crowd who cried out in shock at the sight.
Lin Ling covered her ears and hurriedly told Bai Yunyun to disperse the crowd.
Bai Yunyun didn’t mind; she had seen everything growing up.
While shouting at people to leave, she was peeking back over her shoulder.
In short, Lin Ling didn’t feel any presence of ghosts or monsters.
She estimated that this guy might have suffered some shock and become mentally ill.
Looking up at the wealthy household’s mansion, Lin Ling muttered, “There’s probably something inside the residence.”
The master of the house hurriedly ordered the servants to pick up the clothes to dress the young master.
But this boy was like he’d been injected with chicken blood; hanging loose, he jumped around like a monkey.
Seeing this, Gu Xiao sent an immobilization charm flying, sticking it to the boy’s forehead, finally ending this farce.
“Overseer Lin, what do we do?”
Zhao Yuyu looked at Lin Ling seriously.
Lin Ling patted her shoulder with a face full of emotion.
【Yuyu is the one who understands officialdom after all, knowing to use official titles during work.】
Lin Ling wrote on the paper: “Go inside his house and take a look.”
Gu Xiao pointed at the immobilized boy and said to the master of the house, “Make sure you watch him closely. Don’t let that charm on his forehead fall off.”
The crowd hurriedly agreed.
After inspecting the mansion, they couldn’t find anything unusual.
【There’s no lingering yin energy on him, no traces of evil spirits, and there’s nothing wrong with this house. Is the problem really with the person?】
Lin Ling’s suspicious gaze landed on the eldest young master.
【This kid couldn’t be faking madness, could he?】