Transmigrating to the Qi Family - Chapter 206

“Ah Che, you’re looking for me?”

Su Jin is a bit puzzled. The four of them have already gathered once after Pei Che returned to the capital. Since then, everyone has been busy with their own affairs, and they have agreed to meet monthly at a set time that does not interfere with each other. Now it’s not time yet, so why is Pei Che looking for him now?

Pei Che points to the chair beside him, signaling Su Jin to sit down for a chat.

“Ah Jin, I remember you mentioned last time that you’re now working in the Imperial Guards, right?” Pei Che gets straight to the point without beating around the bush.

Su Jin nods. He has always been fond of martial arts. Studying and calligraphy are merely obligations to pass exams. If given the choice, he would naturally opt for a military career.

The Princess Royal, fearing he might sneak away to join the army, has mentioned him to the emperor. As a result, Su Jin becomes an Imperial Guard, tasked with patrolling several main halls in the palace. During his free time, he practices martial arts and spars with other guards. Although Su Jin isn’t entirely satisfied with this arrangement, it is still better than before.

“I need your help with something,” Pei Che says, unable to access the palace records himself.

“What is it? You want my help, but you’ll have to offer me some benefits.” Su Jin teases, a little surprised—Pei Che rarely asks anyone for favors.

“As long as you help me, you can name your price,” Pei Che replies, knowing Su Jin is joking.

Su Jin pretends to think for a while and says, “Alright then, I want your household to prepare me a table full of glutinous rice dishes.” Su Jin loves glutinous rice-based foods, but the ones sold in most shops are too sweet and greasy. Although there are also salty pork dumplings made by imitating Jiang Miao’s products, they don’t taste the same. Jiang Miao’s food is far superior.

Pei Che chuckles. “Does the Princess Royal’s household ever deprive you of food? Fine, I’ll tell Ah Miao when I get back. Now, listen carefully to what I need your help with.”

Su Jin listens attentively to Pei Che’s request. Though a bit puzzled, he doesn’t press for details and readily agrees.

After Pei Che leaves, Su Jin swaps shifts with a fellow guard and goes to see the Imperial Guard commander. The current commander, surnamed Guan, has previously served as a guard in the Third Prince’s residence. His years of dedication earn him a promotion to oversee the palace guards after the Third Prince ascends the throne.

When Commander Guan sees Su Jin approach, he quickly stands up to welcome him, showing no airs despite his senior position.

“Young Master Su, what brings you here? Is the duty schedule unsuitable, or are you trying to swap shifts but can’t find a good time? You could have just sent someone over to let me know,” Commander Guan inquires with concern.

Among all the royal relatives, the one he fears the most is Su Jin’s mother, the fiercely protective Princess Royal. If she decides to throw her weight around, not even the emperor can rein her in. Now that her son is working under his command, she often sends people to check in, making sure no one dares neglect her son.

This isn’t just taking up a position; it’s like being worshipped as an ancestor!

“Commander Guan, I’d like to take a look at the past waist token records. Is that possible?” Su Jin is already accustomed to their cautious attitudes and doesn’t bother being overly polite.

Commander Guan looks a little confused. “Token records?” He can’t quite figure out what this “ancestor” wants and hesitates, pretending to be deep in thought, reluctant to agree immediately.

“Well? Yes or no?” Su Jin asks impatiently. He has no patience for such pretense. “I’m only taking a quick look. I won’t take anything or cause any trouble, so don’t worry about it. I won’t make it difficult for you.”

“Oh, no, no,” Commander Guan quickly laughs. “Young Master, you’ve misunderstood me. How could I not agree to your request? I was just trying to recall where I put the key to the archive. My mind wandered for a moment. Please don’t take offense.”

Su Jin smirks. “Since that’s the case, Commander, please open the door and let me take a look.”

Commander Guan retrieves a set of keys from his desk drawer and accompanies Su Jin to the archive. In the palace, the guards rotate every five years, and their tokens are replaced accordingly. If a guard is promoted, reassigned, or dies during this period, their token is reclaimed and handed to their successor. Lost tokens are also recorded to prevent any misuse.

When the door to the archive opens, Su Jin gazes at the shelves packed with books and lets out a frustrated sigh. He hates dealing with books, let alone so many books.

“If I want to look up records from a specific year, how should I go about it?” Su Jin asks, not wanting to bother flipping through them himself. He hopes to rely on Commander Guan’s expertise to locate them quickly

Commander Guan chuckles. “You’ve come to the right person. If you’d asked a few days ago, it might’ve taken ten days to half a month. But now, using the Ministry of Revenue’s method, I’ve reorganized the books on these shelves by year. Which year’s records do you need?”

Su Jin nods in satisfaction. “Find me the records for the 37th year of Mingcheng.”

Commander Guan looks puzzled. Mingcheng is the reign title of the late emperor, and records from that era are about ten years old. Why would Su Jin need to look at token records from that time? However, there’s no harm in sharing this information—after all, if the young master wants to see it, it’s better to simply provide it. Asking too many questions and irritating him might cause unnecessary trouble.

“Young Master, here are the token records from the 37th year of Mingcheng,” Commander Guan says as he brings over a thick stack of books and places them in front of Su Jin. Fortunately, they have been reorganized recently; otherwise, they would have been covered in dust.

“This many?” Su Jin frowns deeply. He suddenly feels that one meal isn’t enough compensation—he should have demanded two.

“Take your time. Once you’re done, just let me know,” Commander Guan says, clearly not planning to stay and accompany him.

Su Jin waves him off, indicating he can leave, and then takes out a token wrapped in cloth. He opens the first book and compares it to the design of the token. Finding no match, he moves on to the next book.

“This token…”

Su Jin is startled by the sudden sound in his ear. He turns around and glares at Commander Guan, saying sinisterly, “I remember that Commander Guan had just left.”

Commander Guan quickly puts on a sheepish smile. “I just realize I forgot my keys. Apologies for startling you, Young Master. My mistake, my mistake.”

“What were you saying about this token? Do you recognize it?” Su Jin decides not to argue further and turns back to ask.

Commander Guan takes the cloth-wrapped token and examines it carefully. After a thorough look, he nods firmly. “This token is identical to one I carry for five years. Even though it’s corroded and rusted beyond recognition, I can recognize it at a glance.”

“So, the owner of this token must have entered the palace during the same batch as you?” Su Jin is secretly pleased—this means he won’t have to go through every record book one by one.

Commander Guan gives the token another look and confirms, “That’s correct, from the same batch. But how does the Young Master have this token? Could it be that someone secretly kept it and failed to return it?”

Su Jin glances at him and says, “How I got it is none of your business. Bring me all the records from your batch so I can take a look.”

Commander Guan has no choice but to sift through the stack of books, pulling out several volumes. Opening one of them, he says, “This one even has my name recorded in it.”

Su Jin takes the book and notices that beneath Commander Guan’s name, the words “returned” are written. This means that anyone who hasn’t returned their token should also have it noted. With that in mind, he begins flipping through the records quickly. However, after going through all the books, he can’t find a single instance of an unreturned token.

“Are you sure you didn’t make a mistake? This token is right here, so why are all the entries marked as ‘returned’?” Su Jin’s expression darkens, suspecting that Commander Guan is playing tricks on him.

Commander Guan slaps his forehead. “Young Master, are you looking for the list of unreturned tokens? You might not be aware, but all unreturned records are kept in a separate ledger. I’ll go fetch the list for that year right away.”

Su Jin sighs in frustration; he has no choice but to stand aside and continue waiting.

After a while, Commander Guan returns with the ledger. Su Jin flips through it and notices that some names are circled, while others are not.

“What do these mean?” he asks, pointing to the circled names.

“Those are the names of Imperial Guards who were confirmed deceased,” Commander Guan explains. “In the final years of Mingcheng’s reign, there were several assassination attempts orchestrated by rebel forces. Most were intercepted at the palace gates, leading to fights with the guards. Some guards die in action, but their tokens are not recovered. Since we couldn’t justify ransacking their homes, those tokens are simply marked as lost.”

“So, the uncircled names belong to those whose whereabouts are unknown?”

Commander Guan nods.

Su Jin then asks him to bring paper and a brush, and he carefully records the names of the missing individuals, along with information about which residences they were assigned to before their disappearance. While making notes, he asks further questions. If Commander Guan is familiar with anyone, Su Jin confirms their physical characteristics and excludes them from suspicion on the spot.

Once he finishes compiling the list, Su Jin takes the papers and heads off to report to Pei Che.

Commander Guan finds the matter peculiar. After some thought, he decides to inform Emperor Liangping about it.

After listening to him, Emperor Liangping too finds it strange. “You’re saying that my nephew is investigating those who disappeared in the 37th year of Mingcheng? I recall he was just a child back then. What could he be looking into?”

Commander Guan shakes his head. “Your Majesty, I don’t know either. Initially, I didn’t think much of it, but the more I pondered, the more I felt something was off. That’s why I’m here to report it to you.”

“The 37th year of Mingcheng… the 37th year…” Emperor Liangping mutters, falling into thought. Suddenly, he pauses. “Do you remember what happened that year?”

Prompted by the Emperor’s question, Commander Guan immediately replies, “I remember. That was the year when the heir of the Zhongguo Duke’s household and his wife were found dead in the wilderness.”

His expression turns to one of astonishment. “Could it be that Young Master Su is investigating what happened that year?”

Emperor Liangping ponders for a moment before saying, “Send someone to follow him. See if he has any contact with that boy Pei Che.”

“Understood!” Commander Guan’s usual smiling demeanor vanishes, replaced by a serious and resolute expression.