“Lord Li, where are we going?” Min Shan asked.
“To apprehend the suspects!” Having left the council hall, Li Qi’an had no reservations and stated his intentions directly.
Yang Feng and the other Bronze Gongs looked at Li Qi’an in surprise. Zhu Guangxiao and Song Tingfeng had some ideas, as they had been involved in both the saltpeter mine case and the case of the Banner Officer, knowing more than the others.
If Li Yuchun were here, he would probably be able to piece things together too, but he had gone to invite Chu Caiwei from the Astrology Bureau.
“Why hasn’t the chief returned yet? Does it take an entire morning to invite someone?” Li Qi’an frowned, “Has he encountered some trouble?”
Just as they left the Ministry of Justice and mounted their horses, they saw two yellow-clad riders approaching rapidly – it was Li Yuchun and Chu Caiwei in her pale yellow dress.
Li Yuchun explained, “Miss Caiwei wasn’t at the Astrology Bureau, she had gone to the palace. I waited for her at the palace gate for a long time before she came out…”
She went to mooch food from the Princess again, this glutton… Someday I’ll have to give her a taste of my staff… Li Qi’an smiled warmly, “Miss Caiwei, it’s been days since we last met. You’ve grown even more beautiful.”
Chu Caiwei’s oval face bore a sweet smile. She was about to say something when she remembered her status and the surrounding Constables watching. She composed herself and simply grunted an “Mm.”
Time was of the essence, so Li Qi’an kept it brief: “Silver Gong Min, take my golden token to the east gate of the Imperial City and apprehend Centurion Zhou Chixiong.
“The rest of you, come with me to the Zhou residence to make the arrest.”
Since he wasn’t sure if Centurion Zhou was on duty today, they split into two groups.
Li Qi’an’s arrangement made sense. The Imperial City was right under the Emperor’s feet, so conflicts rarely occurred there, and no one dared to cause trouble. But at the same time, one couldn’t just arrest people there on a whim – an official token was needed to clear the way.
So sending one Silver Gong was sufficient.
As for going directly to Centurion Zhou’s home to make the arrest, he might become desperate and resist. Li Qi’an had just used the Heaven and Earth Single Slash technique, severely depleting his combat ability, so he needed two Silver Gongs to accompany him.
…
Meanwhile, Lü Qing was reporting the situation.
“Eunuch Liu, my lords, if I’m not mistaken, it’s highly likely that there are demons involved in this incident.”
This statement caused the officials present to change color, and even Minister Sun of the Ministry of Justice frowned.
An official from the Ministry of Justice was skeptical and asked, “What evidence do you have?”
“A few days ago, this lowly official and Lord Li investigated a case in Taikang County involving a demon from Mount Dahuang devouring unregistered households.”
“A demon devouring unregistered households?” Eunuch Liu frowned.
“Yes, in the middle of the year, a demon appeared in the river at the foot of Mount Dahuang and devoured hundreds of local unregistered households. This lowly official and Lord Li jointly handled the case and discovered a depleted saltpeter mine on Mount Dahuang…”
Lü Qing explained the details of the Mount Dahuang saltpeter mine case clearly to the officials present.
This was an excellent way to buy time, as she wasn’t just spouting empty words. The officials listened with rapt attention and didn’t rush her.
“So when this lowly official was discussing with Lord Li earlier, we analyzed layer by layer and discovered that the gunpowder might not have come from the Ministry of Works, but is related to the Mount Dahuang saltpeter mine,” Lü Qing said.
The officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Prefecture looked serious. To think this case involved demons – there were two major demon factions in the Nine Provinces: the demon tribes in the northwest and the Myriad Demon Kingdom in the south.
The southern Myriad Demon Kingdom had been destroyed in the Jiazi Demon Purge, with only remnants barely surviving.
The northwestern demon tribes had allied with the northern tribes to resist Great Qi and the Western Kingdoms.
Which demon force was behind the saltpeter mine?
Eunuch Liu glanced at Prefect Chen, who made a sound of recognition and vouched for his subordinate: “Indeed, this is true. The Prefecture only recently took on this case, and Constable Lü was in charge of handling it at the time.”
Eunuch Liu’s expression darkened: “If we had discovered the saltpeter mine earlier, perhaps the Sangbo incident wouldn’t have happened. Why was the demon devouring people case from mid-year suppressed until now?”
Lü Qing was about to denounce the Taikang County Magistrate for dereliction of duty and disregard for the lives of unregistered households, but a glance from Prefect Chen stopped her.
Old Chen sighed: “The demon was powerful, and the Taikang County Magistrate was in a difficult position.”
Eunuch Liu snorted coldly: “I will report this to His Majesty as it happened.”
Minister Sun spoke up, glancing at Lü Qing: “What did Li Qi’an go to do?”
He seemed to have noticed that Lü Qing was subtly buying time and cut straight to the point, not wanting to let her ramble on.
Hearing this, Eunuch Liu pondered: “Even if the demons had gunpowder, how could they smuggle it into Sangbo past the Great Qi Imperial Army and the palace guards?”
“This involves another case,” Lü Qing answered.
“Another case?” Everyone was surprised. To think the Sangbo explosion case was connected to so many incidents.
Lü Qing said: “The day before His Majesty’s ancestral worship, Jinwu Guard Banner Officer Liu Han died inexplicably at home. Lord Li and I handled that case as well. At the time, Lord Li deduced that he had been silenced, but since there was no connection to the saltpeter mine case, we didn’t make the association.”
A Jinwu Guard Banner Officer silenced… gunpowder smuggled into Sangbo… Everyone present was intelligent, and there was no more confusion.
“So that Li fellow just now…” Officials from the Ministry of Justice and some from the Prefecture suddenly stood up from their chairs.
“Just now, Lord Li recalled this matter and had a sudden realization, which is why he left in such a hurry,” Lü Qing said.
Minister Sun said in a deep voice: “Order the arrest of all Jinwu Guard centurions, quickly!”
With a clatter… everyone stood up and rushed out of the council hall, knocking over chairs without care.
With the case analyzed to this point, it was very clear. Capturing the spy within the Jinwu Guard would be equivalent to achieving the greatest merit.
Lü Qing slowly exhaled, having done her best.
If it were just fair competition, Lü Qing wouldn’t have helped Li Qi’an like this. But his situation was precarious, and this case was his only hope for redemption.
Lü Qing felt that out of friendship, she should help if she could.
She left the council hall with her colleagues from the Prefecture.
The spacious council hall was left with only Eunuch Liu and the eunuchs he brought, Minister Sun, and Prefect Chen.
Eunuch Liu held out his hand, and his attendant Eunuch immediately dried the ink and handed him the booklet.
Eunuch Liu carefully read the contents. The first two pages were discussions of the case between the Ministry of Justice and the Prefecture, mostly arguments, quite dry.
It wasn’t until Li Qi’an joined that the case began to become clear, and within the time it takes to burn an incense stick, they had identified the suspects.
The speed at which the case progressed surprised Eunuch Liu. Following normal procedures, it would probably take two or three days to connect the Mount Dahuang saltpeter mine case with the Banner Officer case.
It seems His Majesty appointing Li Qi’an as the lead investigator for the Constabulary had deeper meaning… Eunuch Liu suddenly realized.
“Little Yunzi, from today on, you will stay at the Constabulary office, responsible for supervising their investigation and promptly relaying messages to me,” Eunuch Liu said.
“Yes!” The small eunuch who had been taking notes accepted the order.
…
At the Zhou residence, the black-lacquered main gate was tightly shut.
At Li Qi’an’s signal, Song Tingfeng stepped up to the door and knocked loudly.
“Open up! Constabulary investigating a case.”
An old voice came from inside: “The Centurion is ill and not receiving visitors. Please leave.”
Song Tingfeng knocked again, but there was no response from inside. Playing dead?
Song Tingfeng sneered and kicked the main gate. With a loud “bang,” the solid wooden door shattered into pieces, wood splinters flying everywhere.
An old man in a blue cloth robe cowered in the distance, looking fearfully at the uninvited guests.
“Leave two people to guard the gate, the rest follow Silver Gongs Li and Yang inside,” Li Qi’an waved his hand, ordering the Bronze Gongs to charge in while he and Chu Caiwei stayed behind.
“You’re the lead investigator, why aren’t you charging in?” Chu Caiwei tilted her head and looked at him.
“Did you ever see His Majesty charging into battle during the Shanhai Pass war?” Li Qi’an glanced back at her.
Chu Caiwei was speechless. She knew he was using twisted logic, but her not-so-clever brain couldn’t come up with a rebuttal at the moment.
“I was going to give you a Great Strength Pill, but forget it,” she said, stony-faced.
“Great Strength Pill?”
“It would help replenish your body, your qi and blood are so depleted,” Chu Caiwei said.
As a feng shui master in the sorcerer system, she had been healing people while Li Qi’an was still lifting stone locks in the courtyard.
Just by looking at Li Qi’an’s complexion, she could tell he was severely depleted.
“Give me one, and I’ll treat you to dinner tonight,” Li Qi’an nudged her with his elbow.
Chu Caiwei stepped back in disgust and took out a porcelain bottle from her deerskin pouch, tossing it to him: “This should last you for a while.”
Iron-willed Chu Caiwei, Li Qi’an liked girls with such spirit. As he walked inside, he tilted the porcelain bottle and swallowed a brown pill.
The pill had a strange taste, becoming spicy after a few chews.
Li Qi’an swallowed it whole, and after a few seconds, he felt a warm comfort in his stomach, and much of his fatigue disappeared.
“Let me clarify, this is a negative effect from my ultimate skill, it doesn’t mean I’m Ruan Xiaoer.”
“What’s a Ruan Xiaoer?”
“Nothing good.”
They talked as they walked, arriving at the inner courtyard.
Li Yuchun and Yang Feng came to meet them, shaking their heads: “The person is gone.”
The latter added: “All the valuables in the house have been taken away.”
Song Tingfeng immediately grabbed the old doorkeeper, put a knife to his throat, and shouted: “Where is Zhou Chixiong?”
“The Centurion… he, he took his wife and children out of the city to visit relatives.”
“Then why did you say he was ill?”
“The Centurion instructed so, and I, I just followed his orders…” The old doorkeeper’s face was terrified, his legs shaking. He didn’t seem to be lying.
Li Qi’an asked: “When did they leave?”
“The day the ancestral worship ceremony ended…” The doorkeeper swallowed and pleaded: “What, what crime has the Centurion committed? This lowly one knows nothing, truly nothing…”
Li Qi’an waved his hand, signaling Song Tingfeng to release him.
He led the group back into the house, searching room by room. Except for some valuable antiques and paintings that had been taken away, everything in the residence was intact.
“Centurion Zhou has fled!” Li Yuchun said gravely.
“It’s too early to say that,” Li Qi’an glanced at Chu Caiwei.
The oval-faced beauty somehow understood his meaning and gracefully leaped onto the roof. She opened her clear, flowing eyes and scanned every corner of the Zhou residence.
She wasn’t looking for people, but searching for other things. Her focus was on the garden and the stone wall.
A moment later, Chu Caiwei jumped down from the roof and shook her head: “There are no hidden corpses in the residence, and no one has died here recently… Though it’s possible it was concealed by special means. You can dig three feet deep and search thoroughly.”
“No need,” Li Qi’an sighed. “Whether dead or fled, this lead has gone cold.”
However, it was most likely that they had fled, as the household staff had seen Centurion Zhou leave with his family.
Leading the group out of the Zhou residence’s main gate, they saw Min Shan approaching with several Bronze Gongs, shouting without even reining in his horse: “After the ancestral worship ceremony, Centurion Zhou took a long leave.”
Seeing the gloomy faces of his colleagues, his heart sank.
“He’s fled,” Yang Feng exhaled heavily.
…
Just as Li Qi’an led his group away, people from the Ministry of Justice and the Prefecture arrived at the Zhou residence on horseback. Seeing the collapsed main gate, their hearts immediately sank.
They summoned the household staff for questioning and learned that the Constables had just missed their target, as Centurion Zhou had already fled the capital.
The people from the two offices felt strangely conflicted, not knowing whether to feel relieved or regretful.
…
At dusk!
Eunuch Liu rushed back to the palace before the city gates closed. With the help of his sons, he changed into casual clothes, took a bath, and drank pre-dinner tea.
A young eunuch hurried in and said in a soft voice: “Godfather, His Majesty has sent someone to summon you.”
Eunuch Liu pinched the bridge of his nose and said irritably: “I know!”
He took a sip of water, called for his son to help him change, and put on his python robe. Just as he stepped out the door, he suddenly thought of something.
“Bring me the case files, the one I brought back today.”
The young eunuch went back to fetch it.
On the way to Jingxin Hall, after being announced, he was led into the hall and saw Emperor Yuanjing in his Taoist robe with his long beard flowing.
Emperor Yuanjing wasn’t meditating or working. He held a book in his hand, but his thoughts were not on it.
“Liu Rong, I sent people to urge progress on the case. It’s been a whole day, what results do we have?” Emperor Yuanjing’s tone was flat.
Eunuch Liu’s heart tightened. Having served in the palace for decades, he knew Emperor Yuanjing’s temperament well. The more he acted like this, the more troubled he was inside.
Asking about the case was just a pretext; His Majesty was about to lose his temper.
Eunuch Liu felt a wave of fear, followed by relief. He thought to himself, fortunately, I was prepared, and fortunately, there was some progress today.
“Your Majesty, this is today’s case summary. This slave was just about to present it to you,” Eunuch Liu took out a thin booklet from his sleeve.