"Go to the Document Library and retrieve all case files handled by the Jia Flag over the past five years."
"Shen Zongqi, case files are classified documents. They can only be consulted, not borrowed..."
"No need for formalities, make an exception. This is special authority granted by Lord Hundred Households; the Records Room will permit it. Just make sure you complete the borrowing procedures."
Since the internal investigation was to begin, the first target would naturally be the ones he was at odds with.
The Jia Flag was precisely the group that Shen Hao had found nettlesome all these years, especially its current General Flag, Li Bing. At the last major case review, that bastard had played dirty tricks almost causing Shen Hao to fall into a pit—Shen Hao had kept that grudge ever since.
By midday, Shen Hao's Public Office was crowded by bundles of case files. Wang Jian and Zhang Liao had personally hauled in every case file handled by Jia Flag over the last five years.
The Jia Flag's full roster had four teams, and calculating at a rate of one formal case per team per month, that made two hundred forty cases in five years. Each closed case file weighed at least five catties.
So at this moment, the case files alone in Shen Hao's Public Office weighed over one thousand catties.
"General Flag, all here."
"Alright. Zhang Liao, go get Han Xin as well. The few of us will have a tough couple of days, but let's aim to get through all these case files within today and tomorrow."
"Ah?"
"Ah what? Get moving!"
Zhang Liao left with a defeated look to fetch Han Xin. Wang Jian remained, staring at the towering stacks of case files, scalp tingling.
"General Flag, with so many files, I doubt we'll finish in two days."
"Perhaps less than two days, perhaps more; it all depends on when we find the right case."
"What counts as 'right'?"
"Don't concern yourself with that. Just pull out any files where you find the case unclear or the conclusions doubtful and give them to me—I will judge if they're suitable."
...
When Zhang Liao dragged Han Xin in, the cramped Public Office filled with the rustle of case files being turned.
At first, Shen Hao had some leisure; after a few sticks of incense, the first suspicious file was selected by Han Xin.
It was a case of Evil assaulting a merchant caravan, four years ago, investigated by Jia Flag's Team B. The case concluded with the slaying of a Second-Grade Evil. But the specific situation of the victimized caravan was never mentioned, which violated normal archiving protocol.
Shen Hao glanced at the file and tossed it aside. The case wasn't complicated—problems were clear; but it wasn't the kind of big, eye-catching issue he wanted. Not recording the caravan details likely just meant their goods were confiscated; such things were common.
Afterwards, more files were pulled and laid before Shen Hao, an unexpectedly large number.
Judging from Wang Jian and the others' reading pace, over a tenth of the reviewed files had suspicious points! That was an alarming ratio, suggesting not only Jia Flag staff were scheming, but certain people in the Records Room were deliberately abetting them; otherwise, so many questionable files could never have made it into storage.
He checked several suspicious files in succession. Besides financial irregularities, some cases were so absurd Shen Hao's experience let him spot ten or more flaws at a glance.
"False cases?"
Shen Hao swiftly found a rational explanation for these seemingly ludicrous files. He couldn't help but deride their laziness—it was a joke that such crude forgery escaped the Records Room's scrutiny.
If one were to investigate thoroughly, it would uncover a whole swath of issues.
"I'll put you aside for now; plenty of time to deal with you later." Shen Hao neatly sorted those files he couldn't use yet, marking them covertly. He intended to make use of them only once his Black Banner Battalion had secured its footing.
Deep into the night, a file titled "" caught Shen Hao's attention.
This file was archived at the end of last year, only about half a year ago. The case wasn't especially odd; compared to the previous false cases, it didn't stand out much—but what truly grabbed Shen Hao was a particular name and a line of explanation in the file.
Summarized: Lin Haokun, Steward of Yunyang Government Office, colluded with smugglers in Yunyang City and surrounding areas to traffick forbidden materials, and obstructed investigations by the Xuanqing Guard, attempting to mislead authorities. Jia Flag's Team B uncovered this, arrested him, the mastermind was executed, and his close and extended family sent to the brokerage for sale.
The file was riddled with anomalies, likely a false case, but what jumped out was a row of family names after Lin Haokun, including: "Female, Lin Xin'Er, age 17, sent to brokerage in Li City for sale..."
Lin Xin'Er?
The name made Shen Hao pause; it sounded familiar—as if he'd heard it somewhere, and coupled with the mention of brokerage, it came to him at once.
"Isn't she the clever girl Xia Nu was talking about yesterday, the one always protesting her wrongful conviction in the brokerage?"
Shen Hao's brow furrowed, his easy mood gone. He realized Lin Xin'Er in the file should be the same Lin Xin'Er Xia Nu described—the coincidences of name, brokerage, and misfortune were too precise unless it was truly so.
"If the person matches up...then this isn't merely a false case, it's a 'wrongful conviction'?! No—at least, it looks very likely to be a wrongful conviction!"
The earlier false cases hadn't caught Shen Hao's eye, but this wrongful conviction lit up his gaze.
It wasn't a false case, it was a wrongful conviction—an important distinction.
And the victim was a Court official, which made the matter topical enough to easily draw higher-level attention.
Finally, if the accusation of framing and killing a Court official was proven, everyone in the Jia Flag would face certain death—severing future troubles for Shen Hao.
Suitable!
Perfectly suitable!
And with Xia Nu as a ready lead, there was no need for extra effort in investigation.
"Everyone, stop for a moment."
Having thought it through, Shen Hao interrupted the trio's file-reading.
"This —pass it around. Find and note every flaw. Focus on it for two days; if nothing turns up, we'll proceed with this case."
"Also, this stays strictly between the four of us. If anyone leaks it, that's military secrets betrayed—the penalty is execution! Understood?"
The final word "execution" fell from Shen Hao's lips like an ice shard—so chilling, not a single doubt remained.
Shen Hao needn't have admonished them; none would divulge a word.
Wang Jian, for one, had shared life-and-death bonds with Shen Hao, and equally despised Jia Flag's people—he'd love nothing more than to trample them into the ground.
Zhang Liao and Han Xin were the most frustrated type in Xuanqing Guard. Jia Flag had never shown them kindness, so they harbored no qualms.