A pure heart in a jade pot

Chapter 6

"The characters above are in small seal script, the ink seeps through the paper, the pressure is too strong but lacks lightness, and he even tried to imitate the Jin Cuo Dao style, writing such characters..." She shook her head as she looked at it, "...If I were him, I would be so ashamed. This person must be a martial arts practitioner with a rudimentary understanding of literature."

"How can you tell that he is a martial artist?" Wang Chao couldn't help but ask.

“Not only is he a martial artist, but he’s also a swordsman.” Mo Yan smiled slightly. “Although the characters are ugly, the strokes are vigorous and smooth, and the wrist movements are quite crisp. However, the tail protection is sometimes absent. Cai Yong of the Eastern Han Dynasty said in his ‘Nine Styles’: ‘Tail protection means to bring the strokes back to their fullest extent.’ This person cannot protect the tail, which is probably due to being misled by swordsmanship. It can be seen that the sword moves he has learned must be irreversible, leaving no room for retreat.”

“What the young lady said makes some sense.”

Bao Zheng and Zhan Zhao exchanged a smile, their eyes full of approval. In fact, he, Gongsun Ce, and Zhan Zhao had already carefully examined this letter, and their conclusions were almost identical to what she had said. Unexpectedly, Gongsun Ce's words from earlier that day came to mind—"I really want to ask you, sir, to summon her to the yamen; she would certainly be a capable assistant."

"Girl, with such abilities, have you ever thought about serving the imperial court?" he asked.

When Wang Chao and the others heard him ask such a question, they knew what he meant and were all taken aback. They all thought to themselves: Even if this girl is clever and quick-witted, she is still a young girl and a person from the martial arts world. How can we let her work in the government?

Zhan Zhao alone smiled faintly, but inwardly he agreed. He had no prejudice against people in the martial arts world, and besides, this girl was no less intelligent or knowledgeable than himself.

Mo Yan shook her head decisively: "My master said there's nothing good in the government, so I won't work in the public sector."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhan Zhao frowned slightly, thinking to himself: This girl really has no tact; with just one sentence, she has offended everyone in the room.

Bao Zheng was not angry, but smiled slightly and said, "Since you say so, young lady, then I can't help you even if I wanted to."

What do you mean?

“Guard Zhan is right. The affairs of the court cannot be interfered with by outsiders. If you want to investigate this case, you must go through the government to make things easier.”

Mo Yan said with dissatisfaction, "Even without joining the government, I can still find out the truth."

“You are mistaken, young lady. The one who died was a high-ranking official of the third rank in the imperial court. The affairs of officialdom are complex and complicated, and cannot be explained to outsiders like you, nor can they be understood by outsiders.”

Hearing that what he said made sense, she hesitated for a moment, biting her lip and thinking for a long time: the matter of her fifth senior brother was the most important thing at present. Wouldn't it be the best of both worlds to leave the public office after her senior brother's matter was settled?

With that thought in mind, she looked up and smiled, "Okay! I promise you."

Bao Zheng nodded: "In that case, I'll trouble you to work as a constable in Kaifeng Prefecture for now!"

"A constable?" Mo Yan tilted her head and thought for a moment. "He's a bit small, but as long as he's useful, that's fine."

Bao Zheng then stood up and said to Wang Chao, "Tomorrow, go to the Imperial Secretariat to get a token for her. It's getting late, so everyone should get some rest."

Seeing that he had chosen Mo Yan as a constable, Wang Chao Ma Han had some doubts, but still left the study as instructed.

"Miss Mo, your sword."

Now that Mo Yan was a constable, he naturally couldn't keep her sword. Zhan Zhao saw Mo Yan walking out leisurely, completely forgetting that her sword was still in his hand, so he had no choice but to catch up and hand it to her.

Mo Yan took the sword and casually tucked it into her waistband. The sword pierced through her waist with a whoosh... Zhan Zhao looked closely and realized that the scabbard of the sword was actually the silver-threaded belt she was wearing. The soft sword was light and convenient, and it was easy to wrap around her waist.

"How much silver do you earn as a constable each month?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Monthly salary is three taels."

She frowned: "Only three taels of silver..."

Bao Zheng, who had just stepped down the steps, heard them talking and turned around, saying, "By the way, young lady, breaking into Kaifeng at night is a crime that, if forgiven, would be difficult to convince the public. Let's deduct three months' salary for now!"

"..."

Mo Yan was dumbfounded. She hadn't even heard the silver jingle yet, how could it be gone!

Chapter Four

Early in the morning, the back street of the Kaifeng government office was already quite lively. Puffs of steam rose from the small shops selling breakfast. One shop after another, there was a variety of dishes, such as soy milk, steamed buns, dumplings, and noodle soup. The aroma of the food wafted through the air, making people's mouths water.

Wang Chao ordered another bowl of douzhi (fermented mung bean juice), then looked at the person sitting opposite him—Mo Yan was eating her third steamed bun, looking adorable. Little did he know how much of the rules and regulations Ma Han was rambling on about in the government offices she had actually taken in.

“Miss Mo, you’re new to the police force, so you can’t remember all the rules right away. But there’s plenty of time. Just be careful and attentive.” Ma Han spoke enthusiastically for half a day without even eating a bun himself. “Later, I’ll take you to see Constable Liang. You can start by patrolling the streets with him.”

"I don't...street..."

These words were mumbled, and Mo Yan swallowed the steamed bun in her mouth with difficulty, then took a big gulp of soy milk before speaking clearly: "I'm not patrolling the streets! I became a constable because of my senior brother's case. If I go patrolling the streets, what will happen to my senior brother?"

“You… even becoming a constable starts with patrolling the streets,” Ma Han said urgently.

Mo Yan asked curiously, "If everyone goes to patrol the streets, who will investigate the case?"

Wang Chao patted Ma Han on the shoulder, signaling him not to be anxious, before saying slowly, "Miss Mo, you are new to the police force and do not know the rules. New constables must patrol the streets for three months before they are qualified to start investigating cases."

"Three months! My senior brother would have been in court long ago!" Mo Yan couldn't help but feel anxious. "Your rules are really bad and should be changed. Patrolling the streets has nothing to do with investigating cases. Does patrolling the streets more often mean you can investigate more cases? That doesn't make sense!"

Several constables who were having breakfast nearby looked over when they heard her words. Wang Chao and Ma Han were immediately embarrassed and didn't know what to do with her.

"Well... let's talk about that later," Wang Chao said, forcing himself to continue. "You and I will go get your badges first, and once you get them, you'll officially be in office. As for the clothes... although we have a few ready-made ones, I'm afraid they're all too big, so we'll have to ask a tailor to take our measurements and make them again."

"It's fine if you don't want to! This dress is both black and gray, I really don't think it looks good." She frowned.

Ma Han was a rough and straightforward man who dealt with mostly colleagues and prisoners, so he naturally didn't know how to be tactful in his speech. Seeing her being so picky, he said with dissatisfaction, "You're not some celestial being descended to earth, why are you being so picky about clothes?"

The tone of the words was rather sharp, but Mo Yan was not annoyed. She smiled and said, "Precisely because you are not a celestial being descended to earth, you should pay more attention to your clothing and appearance. Does being ugly mean you should dress up to look even uglier?"

Wang Chao and Ma Han looked at each other helplessly, both thinking to themselves: How can this girl be so reasonable in everything!

The two were in a dilemma when they looked up and saw Zhan Zhao walking towards them. They quickly stood up and said, "Brother Zhan! Come and sit down."

Zhan Zhao came over as instructed and saw that Wang Chao and Ma Han both looked gloomy, while Mo Yan was eating steamed buns without a care in the world. The contrast between the two was somewhat comical.

Wang Chao noticed that Zhan Zhao's eyes were slightly dark, so he sighed and said, "You made a ruckus until the wee hours last night. Did you get any sleep when you got back, Brother Zhan?"

Zhan Zhao laughed and said, "I've always been a light sleeper, I'm used to it. Are you going to take Miss Mo to get her token later?"