The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty (ENGLISH TRANSLATION)

CH 1 [Arc 1: The Case of the Marquis Wu'an Estate]

The capital.

At near noon, two people walked out of Jubilance.

The leading one was a coxcomb, his face white with a sparse beard. An everyday set of clothes covered his body similar to how it would have covered a bamboo pole, and beneath his eyes were a pair of blue-black circles. He yawned for every two steps he took.

Following behind him was a boyservant that matched his pace. Not daring to slight him, the boy held an umbrella up for him in one hand, and carried a lantern whose flame had already gone out in the other.

Upon seeing this, passersby sidestepped them, one after the other.

The reason was none other than that Jubilance was a brothel, and brothel rules were that they should only open their doors and welcome guests in the evening. Right now, the other party had come out of the building in broad daylight; that had to mean that this Don had not only fooled around the whole night, but had also fooled around all morning, and his backing was so profound, Jubilance had no choice but to break the rules for him.

It would be great if someone like that had a good temper. In the case that he possibly had a bad temper and something happened, the ones who would suffer would be the powerless commoners. For that reason, everyone naturally had to duck out of the way when they saw him.

He couldn’t be provoked, so he needed to be avoided.

The coxcomb’s eyes suddenly brightened, and he gazed dead ahead.

The boyservant didn’t understand why. Upon following his line of sight, it suddenly became clear.

Their counterpart was in a set of everyday clothes as well, yet the similar style was worn with a dissimilar result. If the coxcomb was stated to be a bamboo pole with clothes on, then this man was an elegant and graceful jadeite tree. If someone that had a bit of literary grace was here, they might recite a few lines like ‘floating like a roaming cloud, darting like a startled dragon’[1] and such.

However, the coxcomb clearly wasn’t able to say such words that were rich with content. He was preoccupied with staring at the other man, eyes giving off light, after which he stepped airily forward to strike up a chat. “I don’t know this Don’s distinguished name. Where are you wanting to go?”

The boyservant grumbled inwardly. Their Young Lord’s addiction to intimacy-fishing, where he shied from neither man nor woman, was really annoying. Anyone that caught his eye in passing could be obstructed and harassed. The capital had nobles and officials all over the place; even though his family was hugely influential, if he happened to bump into an imperial censor, he would inevitably get accused of misconduct… and it wouldn’t be the first time.

Against expectations, the young man getting harassed merely raised his brows, then spoke his identity aloud. “Marquis Wu’an’s eldest son, Zheng Cheng?”

The boyservant suffered a shock at first, but he trailed by his Young Lord’s side year-round, so he had quite a bit of a discerning eye. Immediately recognizing that this man wasn’t a junior of the Marquis Estate, he thus rebuked him. “How bold of you, to state the taboo name[2] of our Heir!”

The youth casually cupped his hands in greeting. “Forgive my rudeness, but, to the best of my knowledge, the Dynasty seems to have not yet issued a decree appointing your Don as the Heir. Since he’s not the Heir, you addressing him as such is already a violation, were it to be looked into. If somebody submits a report before His Majesty, then your Marquis will suffer via implication with you.”

The boyservant’s head filled with big sweatdrops whilst the other spoke, increasingly afraid of being rash. “This lowly one has spoken insolently! Please forgive me, Don!”