“I used the Skygazing Technique from the Bureau of Astronomy and observed that all of them carried a bloody aura,” Xu Qi An said.
In the definition of the Skygazing Technique, what a bloody aura represented was undoubtedly known to the experienced Golden Gong.
“How do you know the Skygazing Technique?” Jiang Luzhong asked casually, then turned his head towards the official ship and stretched out his palm towards a white-robed artificer who had come out to watch the commotion on the deck.
An invisible force distorted the air, bringing the gesticulating white-robed artificer to the barge.
“Take a look at their fate,” Jiang Luzhong said gently.
The white-robed artificer frowned, expressing his displeasure. As a proud artificer, even when facing a high-ranking martial artist, he had the confidence to remain undaunted by power.
“What are you stupidly staring at? Hurry up,” Xu Qi An urged.
“Oh, oh…” The white-robed artificer nodded obediently, remained silent for a moment, and then a clear light overflowed from his eyes.
He carefully observed the cabin, and after a while, he retracted the clear light and said, “Indeed, the bloody aura is overwhelming.”
Jiang Luzhong’s eyes suddenly became sharp. To be safe, he asked, “Is there anything else unusual?”
“Yes!”
Xu Qi An naturally had confidence before taking action. “There are a few more suspicious points. First: There are traces of fighting in the cabin, which are recent.
“Second: These people are not those who have lived on the water for years, because they don’t even know how to remove the muddy smell from river fish.
“Third: They are overly nervous. Whether it was their panic when they first saw us, or later when I made any request, they fulfilled it without any complaint… Heh, from my understanding of clerks, they’re all a bunch of scoundrels. Even if they don’t dare to offend the night watchmen, if they were truly innocent, they should have grumbled a bit with impunity. After all, the grain transport doesn’t fall under the jurisdiction of night watchmen.
“But their behavior is like they can’t wait to get rid of us, agreeing to everything we ask.”
…Not knowing how to remove the fishy smell, even remembering such details, Xu Ningyan is indeed a genius at investigation. Jiang Luzhong marveled inwardly, but outwardly he nodded impassively:
“You’ve considered it very thoroughly. Well done.”
Then, he asked again, “This place is only half a day’s journey from Yu Prefecture. They’re stained with a bloody aura and have blood on their hands, but how could they kill people near Yu Prefecture?”
Xu Qi An said, “At night.”
Jiang Luzhong pondered for a moment and understood. Based on the current time, this barge had set out from Yu Prefecture at night.
Killing under the cover of darkness wouldn’t attract attention.
A moment later, the night watchmen gathered everyone on the ship on the deck, all tied up.
Zhu Guangxiao cupped his hands and said, “There are sixty-two people on the ship in total, all present here.”
Jiang Luzhong nodded and looked at the bearded man dressed as a constable, saying sternly, “Wake him up.”
The process of waking him up was rough. Zhu Guangxiao gave him a hard slap, waking the bearded man up with a miserable groan.
This man, disguised as a constable guarding the ship from the Grain Transport Office, looked around and understood his situation, his face immediately turning ashen.
He still couldn’t believe that he had been exposed like this, wondering where things had gone wrong.
“I ask, you answer. Conceal or deceive once, and I’ll cut off a finger,” Jiang Luzhong’s emotionless voice rang out.
The bearded man looked up and when he met those sharp eyes that seemed to see through his heart, his body trembled, and he prostrated himself on the ground.
“Your true identity!”
“This humble one is Fang He, a wanderer in the jianghu, who formed a Yellow Flag Gang in Yu Prefecture to make a living.”
“Does your ‘making a living’ include killing government clerks and robbing imperial iron ore?”
“No, no… Sir, this lowly one was paid to do this. The one who instructed us to do this is the Transport Administrator of the Grain Transport Office in Yu Prefecture. He told us that tonight there would be a barge heading to the capital, loaded with iron ore. He asked us to kill the guards on the ship and embezzle this shipment of iron ore.”
What the hell is a Transport Administrator… A series of question marks appeared in Xu Qi An’s mind.
After joining the night watchmen and gradually coming into contact with officialdom, Xu Qi An would often find his head in a muddle from all sorts of confusing official titles.
The Transport Administrator planned all this? The night watchmen silently exchanged glances, all revealing shocked expressions.
Even Jiang Luzhong’s expression became serious.
They had encountered a major case of a guard stealing from his charge.
“This doesn’t make sense,” Xu Qi An shook his head and raised a question, “Why have you killed people and seized the ship? If they just wanted to embezzle the iron ore, there’s no need for this. Cooperating with the clerks in the office would be far safer than conspiring with you.”
Jiang Luzhong looked at him and explained, “The Grain Transport Offices in various prefectures are divided into two systems: the Shore Management Department and the Transport Management Department. The Shore Management Department is responsible for managing the canal and verifying and storing goods such as grain, salt, and iron. The Transport Management Department is responsible for escorting the shipments.”
So, the officials of the Transport Management Department wanted to embezzle the iron ore, they could only act on the water… Xu Qi An nodded: “So, to completely cover up the crime, they let the guard team and the ship disappear together? This way, the Transport Management Department also becomes a victim.”
Jiang Luzhong continued to ask, “After embezzling the iron ore, how is it handled?”
The bearded man shook his head, “We’re only responsible for delivering the iron ore to Yun Prefecture. The route is from Yu Prefecture, bypassing the sandbar, and after reaching Yun Prefecture, someone will be responsible for the handover.”
Yun Prefecture?!
Jiang Luzhong’s face suddenly changed.
Damn, it’s that ghostly place Yun Prefecture again… Oh right, the Grain Transport Office is under the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of Works is controlled by the Qi faction. The Qi faction is colluding with the Witch Cult, secretly supplying military supplies to Yun Prefecture… All this fits together, but supplying materials is one thing, supplying iron ore… It’s terrifying to think about.
“Who liaised with you? From your tone, this isn’t the first time you’ve done this.”
“This year, we’ve done it three times in total. We’ve transported… 100,000 jin of iron ore to Yun Prefecture.”
Jiang Luzhong asked a few more questions, and then ordered, “You stay on this barge, turn the rudder and follow us to Yu Prefecture. Keep a close eye on these criminals.”
Then he said to Xu Qi An, “Bring him back to the ship with me.”
This time, Xu Qi An didn’t return to the official ship using his power. A force at the bottom of his feet lifted him into the air, and following Jiang Luzhong, they flew across dozens of meters to arrive beside Inspector Zhang.
“What happened? Why intercept the official barge?” Inspector Zhang asked in rapid succession.
“Something indeed happened…” Jiang Luzhong made a “please” gesture: “Inspector, please come with me inside.”
Jiang Luzhong recounted Xu Qi An’s discoveries and the confession of the bearded man Fang He to Inspector Zhang in detail. Afterward, he re-interrogated Fang He in front of Inspector Zhang.
After hearing Fang He’s testimony, Inspector Zhang’s expression became grave.
“Besides the Transport Administrator of the Transport Management Department, which other officials are involved?”
“This lowly one doesn’t know…”
Inspector Zhang looked at Xu Qi An: “You take him away first, then come back. I have some matters to discuss with you.”
The meaning of this sentence was that he was already treating Xu Qi An as someone who could be consulted, an equal. Not simply a subordinate.
Xu Qi An took Fang He out of the room, handed him over to Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao, instructing them to watch him carefully, then returned to the room and closed the door.
Seeing him return, Inspector Zhang’s expression was serious: “What do you think?”
“This humble one has a doubt,” said Xu Qi An.
When Jiang Luzhong and Inspector Zhang looked over, Xu Qi An expressed his view: “The Minister of Works has already fallen from power. As members of the Qi faction, they should be treading carefully and retracting their claws to observe. Why is the Grain Transport Office in Yu Prefecture continuing to transport iron ore to Yun Prefecture at this critical juncture?
“Moreover, even if the bandit problem in Yun Prefecture is rampant, they’re still just mountain chiefs who can’t make it to the big stage. It’s one thing for the Ministry of Works to supply weapons, artillery, and other military supplies, but even iron ore is being secretly transported to Yun Prefecture. Can mountain bandits handle this? What are they trying to do?”
Inspector Zhang closed his eyes, his fingertips lightly tapping the table, murmuring, “The Qi faction colluding with the Witch Cult… supplying weapons, artillery, and even iron ore to Yun Prefecture… Salt, iron, and gunpowder are prohibited items that Great Feng forbids from flowing out…”
He paused for a moment, then his body shuddered. He opened his eyes, revealing a shocked expression, and slowly uttered: “Rebellion and treason.”
The Qi faction supplied a large amount of military supplies to Yun Prefecture, and now adding iron ore, if it wasn’t for rebellion, it was hard to think of any other possibility.
If it was just to support mountain bandits, why go to such lengths?
Thinking of this, Inspector Zhang stood up and paced back and forth in the room, sometimes looking at Jiang Luzhong, sometimes at Xu Qi An.
“Xu Ningyan, you’ve given me another difficult problem… Encountering this on the way will delay our schedule.”
Though he said this, his expression and tone didn’t show any blame, but rather a strange mixture of worry and excitement.
Jiang Luzhong said, “If My Lord reports this matter to the capital, it would be a great achievement.”
“Your contribution to this is indispensable.” Inspector Zhang patted Xu Qi An’s shoulder forcefully.
Leaving aside the outcome of the Yun Prefecture trip, just discovering this case was a great achievement. Even if the Yun Prefecture trip yielded nothing, it would be enough to make up for it, and there would even be merit left over.
And all of this was due to Xu Qi An’s keen “sense of smell”.
A moment later, he calmed down, sat back in his chair, and pondered the current situation. There were three paths before him:
One, pretend this never happened and continue to Yun Prefecture to avoid complications.
Two, send people disguised as guards from the Grain Transport Office, coerce Fang He to lead the charge, and meet the contact person in Yun Prefecture.
Three, go to the Grain Transport Office in Yu Prefecture, handle this case, and arrest the mastermind behind it.
The first option was immediately ruled out. The second option would take too much time – traveling by water to Yun Prefecture, they would have to bypass the sandbar first, and it would take at least ten to fifteen days to arrive, which didn’t align with their schedule. The Transport Administrator in Yu Prefecture was a lead right in front of them.
After Zhang Inspector voiced his choice, he received unanimous agreement from Jiang Luzhong and Xu Qi An.
In Inspector Zhang’s view at this moment, having their support was enough.
…
At noon, the official ship arrived at the largest grain transport dock in Yu Prefecture and slowly moored.
As soon as the barge docked, it immediately attracted the attention of the porters, who swarmed over. But upon seeing the fully armed Tiger Warrior Guards escorting a group of guards from the Grain Transport Office, they fearfully retreated.
Leaving some Tiger Warrior Guards to watch over the ships, Inspector Zhang and Jiang Luzhong led a large contingent of men directly toward the Grain Transport Office of Yu Prefecture.