Princess Er resided in “Shaoyin Palace,” a spacious and elegant villa.
The head guard led Xu Qi An across the high threshold, around the spirit wall, and into a courtyard filled with girlish innocence.
A swing hung from the grape trellis, broken clay dolls were piled in the corner, and the eastern pavilion was vaguely visible, filled with strange and wonderful trinkets.
At the edge of the western flower bed, Princess Er Linan was playing kickball with several maids. Amidst the chattering of the women, Linan’s silvery laughter could be heard from time to time.
“Your Highness, Xu Qi An has arrived,” the head guard announced from afar, cupping his hands in salute.
Princess Er stepped on the embroidered ball and turned to look. She stared at Xu Qi An for a few seconds, the corner of her mouth lifting slightly as she kicked the ball hard.
Bang!
The ball flew through the air as Princess Linan’s skirt suddenly blossomed into a circle, like a blooming flower.
Xu Qi An, caught off guard by this show of force, tensed inwardly. He was about to dodge when he suddenly held back, realizing the ball had veered off course, bouncing away with a series of thuds.
“…I’ll spare you this time,” Princess Er said, trying to save face. She walked towards the front hall and said, “Xu Qi An, follow me inside. The rest of you wait outside.”
In the grand and luxurious front hall, Princess Er sat regally in a large chair while Xu Qi An stood in the center. The two silently sized each other up.
Princess Er attempted to use her status as a royal princess to intimidate Xu Qi An with her gaze, forcing him to submit.
She knew that in her youth, Princess Huaiqing had once tamed hawks. A hawk’s eyes are the sharpest, like knives, and ordinary people cannot maintain eye contact with them for long. Therefore, during the taming process, one must use an even sharper and colder gaze to subdue them.
If the tamer looks away, they lose the right to become the hawk’s master.
Huaiqing’s purpose in taming hawks was to train her piercing gaze. Even now, Princess Er didn’t dare to maintain eye contact with Huaiqing for long.
Unfortunately, her watery peach blossom eyes lacked any real killing power. When she stared directly at someone, it gave off more of a coy, flirtatious impression.
Xu Qi An observed Princess Er. Her face was round and plump, somewhat similar to Chu Caiwei’s, but the latter had a hidden sweetness with her large, anime-like eyes.
Princess Er was more of a young mature beauty type, with peach blossom eyes that seemed to gaze at everyone with deep affection.
“Xu Qi An, I hear you’re Huaiqing’s loyal dog,” Princess Er sneered, seeing that her fierce stare had failed to intimidate Xu Qi An and resorted to verbal attacks instead.
“Yes, my name is Hachiko,” Xu Qi An replied earnestly.
“What’s Hachiko?”
“A loyal dog.”
“Are you mocking me?” Princess Linan raised an eyebrow.
“I wouldn’t dare,” Xu Qi An said, neither servile nor overbearing.
Princess Linan let out a delicate snort and said, “I’ll give you a chance. Pledge your loyalty to me now and abandon that Huaiqing woman. Otherwise…”
Pledge loyalty to you? I’ve already latched onto the Crown Princess’s jade leg and General Wei’s thigh. If I pledge to you as well… wouldn’t that make me a servant to three houses?
Xu Qi An shook his head, “I’m sorry, but this humble official has already sworn to serve the Crown Princess as a beast of burden, to lay down my life for her.”
Princess Er immediately said, “Then I want you to be my beast of burden too.”
Will you feed me grass then? Xu Qi An understood the situation now. Princess Er saw that he was favored by the Crown Princess, was one of her underlings, was handsome, could write poetry, and spoke well. She had become jealous and wanted to snatch him away from the Crown Princess.
“Princess Er, please don’t force me,” Xu Qi An sternly refused. One must have a sense of loyalty. Having agreed to work for the Crown Princess, he couldn’t pledge allegiance to others.
“If you’re unwilling,” Princess Er widened her eyes and sneered, threatening, “I’ll scream that you’re molesting me right now and tell the guards you tried to seduce me.”
“This lowly one is willing to lay down his life and serve as a beast of burden for Princess Er,” Xu Qi An said sincerely.
Princess Er immediately brightened up. “A wise man submits to circumstances. You’re a talented person… Mm, from now on, come here to see me afternoon every day to be at my disposal.”
“Your Highness, this humble official has duties to attend to. I need to investigate the Sangbo case,” Xu Qi An sighed.
“…Oh, that’s right,” Princess Linan thought for a moment. “Then forget about tomorrow. Come when I want to use you.”
Xu Qi An saw through her now. This woman was just making trouble, not wanting him to do anything. She was purely trying to annoy the Crown Princess.
Her earlier threat didn’t have much impact either. Trading the reputation of a noble princess for the life of a lowly Constable would be a terrible deal!
It was precisely because he saw through her that he changed his attitude and agreed to Princess Er’s demands. He might as well play along with the child, humoring her casually.
“You may leave now,” Princess Er said, in high spirits because things had gone smoothly.
“Yes.”
“Wait,” Princess Er called out to him, removing the jade pendant from her waist. “This is my token. You can enter the palace with it, and the guards won’t stop you. But you can only come to my place; you can’t go anywhere else.”
…So generous? You must be joking. Xu Qi An’s eyes lit up as he accepted the jade pendant and tucked it away. “From now on, this humble official will serve Your Highness wholeheartedly.”
Xu Qi An, now a servant to three houses, left the Imperial City before dusk and rode back to the Constabulary Office.
The office had already closed for the day, with only the night watchmen and clerks on duty, much quieter than during the daytime.
As soon as Xu Qi An entered the office, he was met by a high-nosed, broad-foreheaded Golden Constable – Zhu Yang, Zhu Chengzhu’s father.
Enemies meeting face to face, there was no reddening of eyes, only sinister mutual scrutiny.
“Golden Constable Zhu, how are your son’s injuries?” Xu Qi An asked with a smile, confidently taking out his waist token and fastening it to his belt.
Zhu Yang’s gaze swept over the golden token, his expression unchanged as he said coolly, “He’s lucky, not dead yet. I’m afraid Sir Xu will have to go first.”
Xu Qi An waved his hand, his smile friendly, “I’ll wait for him on the road. We’re acquaintances, after all.”
Zhu Yang stared at him for a few seconds, then nodded, “Investigate the case well.”
“Take care, Golden Constable Zhu.”
Entering the side hall of the Spring Breeze Hall, the Bronze Constables under Li Yuchun and several yamen runners from the prefectural office were still there.
Hearing footsteps, Li Yuchun came out of the Spring Breeze Hall and said, “There’s some clue about Magistrate Zhao’s death. Hmm, it might not be the work of the Dao School.”
Xu Qi An nodded and followed Li Yuchun into the Spring Breeze Hall instead of entering the side hall.
“This afternoon, Prefect Chen invited a White Robe from the Court of Astronomical and Calendrical Calculations to interrogate the night duty jailers and clerks. It was confirmed that they had no issues, further verifying that Magistrate Zhao indeed died silently in his cell in the early hours of the morning.”
Li Yuchun poured a cup of tea for Xu Qi An, who was both his subordinate and superior and continued, “The Dao School’s Yin spirits can do this, silently bypassing the guards and jailers. But after checking the records today, we found that there’s another system that can achieve this.”
Xu Qi An took a sip of tea and listened patiently.
“Witches!” Li Yuchun said.
“Witches?”
“Have you heard of the Witch God Cult?”
“I’ve heard you mention the Witch God before, Chief. A deity beyond the ranks, a god-level figure. Is the Witch God Cult a sect established by the Witch God?”
Li Yuchun nodded, “The Witch God is a deity worshipped by all the northeastern countries. The Witch God Cult holds supreme power in the northeast, just as Buddhism does in the Western Regions.”
The Great Qi Dynasty upholds imperial power, as do the northern tribes.
But in the Western Regions and the northeast, divine power is supreme, with religious sects being the true rulers.
“Can witches rival the Dao School in the realm of Yuan Shen?” Xu Qi An humbly sought guidance.
“No, no system can compare to the Dao School in the realm of Yuan Shen,” Li Yuchun shook his head and said, “But fourth-rank witches, also called Dream Witches, can weave dreams and kill people within them.
“Seventy years ago, there was a war between the northern demon race and the Witch God Cult over territory. According to intelligence brought back by Constabulary spies, a force of two thousand demon soldiers died silently in their military camp. They had no wounds on their bodies. All of them had fallen asleep with their weapons by their sides but never woke up again.”
Fourth-rank witches… How did witches get involved again… This case is too difficult.
The Human Sect is now the state religion of the Great Qi, and the Dao Leader is the Imperial Tutor. This is already the highest honor possible. What benefit would they gain from helping the Marquis of Zhenbei usurp the throne?
It’s impossible to rise any higher; they’ve reached the maximum level.
So, the possibility of the Witch God Cult being involved is greater. If it was a Dream Witch who killed Magistrate Zhao, then the forces behind the Sangbo case are the mastermind (Marquis of Zhenbei), the northern demon race, and the northeastern Witch God Cult!
Xu Qi An took a sip of tea, unable to hide the fatigue in his eyes.
“It’s not entirely without progress. At least we can preliminarily rule out the Human Sect, and the case has made some headway,” Xu Qi An said. “Chief, report this to Minister Wei.”
Li Yuchun nodded, also looking worried, “I always feel that the end of the Gengzi year is the beginning of great chaos.”
“We’re just responsible for solving cases. Don’t worry about the fate of the country when we’re living on gutter oil wages,” Xu Qi An patted his shoulder and left the office.
By the time he got home, it was completely dark. Having been hungry all day, his stomach was growling. He ate the meal the cook had warmed up, drank the milk brought by sister Lingyue, returned to his small courtyard, and fell asleep immediately.
On the third day, Xu Qi An rode to the office at dawn, just in time to see Chu Caiwei, dressed in a yellow skirt, also riding a horse across the street, clip-clopping over.
She held the reins with one hand and hugged an oiled paper bag with the other. Half of a white, fluffy bun was peeking out, trying hard to jump out with each bounce of the horse.
“Do you want one?” Chu Caiwei generously offered him a bun, adding, “It’s meat.”
Xu Qi An felt as touched as if he had heard that Xu Lingyin had only eaten a bowl of porridge out of worry for him. This glutton is treating me as one of her own.
Xu Qi An took the bun and held it in his mouth, casually tossing the reins to the clerk at the door.
As he ate and walked inside, he asked, “Do you have any leads?”
Chu Caiwei said, “I asked around. Senior Brother Song Qing said that, excluding some artifacts from the palace and the Court of Astronomical and Calendrical Calculations, the only artifacts in the capital that can block the Art of Observing Qi are probably from the Buddhist sect. Mm, not those mundane Buddhist temples, but the Qinglong Temple.”
Qinglong Temple?!
That legacy left behind by the Baota Temple… Xu Qi An was both surprised and unsurprised.
Indeed, the Buddhist sect couldn’t be separated from this Sangbo case.
The Court of Astronomical and Calendrical Calculations, the royal family, the Witch God Cult, the northern demon race, the Marquis of Zhenbei, the Buddhist sect… Such a small Sangbo case had involved so many major powers.