The day after Frost Descent, the silver-thread charcoal in the bronze furnace of the Marquis’s Mansion crackled, yet it could not melt the frost on the brows of those gathered. Lu Jingyuan, dressed in a black silk robe, presented a gilded casket with both hands. As the lid shifted, the cinnabar-red secret seal of the Prince of Zhennan’s Mansion flickered in and out of view. The moment Marquis Li Chongshan lifted the lid, the veins on the back of his hands bulged like earthworms, and his three-tufted beard trembled violently with each breath.
"Is this the entirety of the evidence?" His voice sounded like raw iron striking blue bricks, startling the swallows on the rafters into flight.
"Replying to the Marquis," Lu Jingyuan stepped back half a pace, the jade pendant at his waist striking the gilded casket with a clear, crisp chime, "Every secret letter has a deposition from the courier, every grain ledger bears the thumbprint of the warehouse manager, and Manager Zhou of Xinglong Drapery and Steward Wang’s errand boy are waiting in the side hall."
Chapter 130