Damn… The moment Xu Qi An saw the dog meat shop owner, only that word remained in his mind. After a long while, confusion and anger followed, along with a slight tinge of fear.
The confusion stemmed from not understanding how things had turned out this way. The anger came from feeling his intelligence had been insulted. The fear arose from the realization that if the other party had ill intentions, he could have easily fallen into their trap.
“This man is called Liang Youping. Unlike Zhou Min, he’s a local from Yun Province. According to Yang Chuannan, this person also connected with the Qi faction through his channels,” Li Miaozhen said.
“An experienced official in the Chief Command, with authority similar to Zhou Min’s…” Governor Zhang pondered, then questioned after a moment, “Why didn’t you and Yang Chuannan contact me earlier and be frank about this?”
Li Miaozhen sat with her back ramrod straight, her posture unchanged since the beginning. She merely turned her wheat-colored oval face and said coolly:
“In the year of the imperial examination, court factions are fiercely competing. How do we know if Wei Qingyi isn’t planning to use this opportunity to uproot Qi faction officials across the regions?”
“As the Emperor’s representative, I should naturally fulfill my duties diligently, care for the people, and severely punish corrupt officials. Only then can I live up to His Majesty’s and Lord Wei’s trust,” Governor Zhang said solemnly.
Li Miaozhen pursed her lips, her face full of disdain.
That damnable Emperor Yuan Jing… Xu Qi An could guess Number Two’s inner thoughts at this moment.
He exhaled tiredly, tapped the table to draw the attention of the three, and said in a low voice, “I know this person!”
The three were startled.
Xu Qi An stared at the portrait and asked, “Is he lame?”
“Yes, Liang Youping once fell off a cliff while suppressing bandits and broke his leg,” Li Miaozhen answered.
…Not a single word that guy said can be trusted. I can’t believe I was moved by him at the time. Xu Qi An felt the urge to curse again.
At the same time, he realized his mental state was truly poor, as he hadn’t thought to use his Qi-observing technique to see if what the man said was true or false at the time.
Usually, he wouldn’t make such a big oversight.
“What’s going on?” Governor Zhang couldn’t help but ask.
Xu Qi An waved his hand while pinching the bridge of his nose, “Governor, my mind is in chaos right now. Um, let me go somewhere, and I’ll explain everything to you properly when I return.”
Saying this, he looked at Jiang Liuzhong: “Constable Jiang, will you accompany me?”
Jiang Liuzhong glanced at Governor Zhang and shook his head: “Lord Wei’s orders are to follow and protect the Governor at all times.”
Fair enough, makes sense. What if we come back to find the Governor’s head has been taken off and used as a ball… Xu Qi An said:
“Then call two silver-badge constables to accompany me, and lend me thirty Tiger Guard soldiers.”
He wouldn’t admit he was a bit scared; it was all for the sake of caution.
“I’ll go with you!” Li Miaozhen volunteered enthusiastically.
Xu Qi An immediately changed his mind: “Constable Jiang, I want three silver-badge constables.”
Li Miaozhen: “…”
This bronze-badge constable didn’t trust her. Li Miaozhen showed a hint of feminine behavior, glaring at him fiercely.
Shortly after, Xu Qi An led three silver-badge constables, thirty Tiger Guard soldiers, as well as Li Miaozhen and Susu. The group rode out of the post station on horseback, heading towards the black market on Huangbo Street.
With the recent experience of the large troop movement, the patrolling soldiers, upon seeing the Night Watchmen’s uniforms, didn’t even try to stop them. Instead, they voluntarily made way.
The inspection team from the capital had the authority to act at their discretion.
After leaving the inner city, they quickly arrived at Huangbo Street. A group of Tiger Guard soldiers in shining armor rushed into the black market, causing wariness and hostility among the passersby, who retreated in succession.
Xu Qi An led the team to shop number 15 on Ding Street, only to find the main door shut tight, with dark windows and no lights inside.
His heart sank. He waved his hand, ordering the Tiger Guard to surround the shop, preparing to force entry.
“Wait!” Li Miaozhen called out.
She took out a sachet from her waist pouch, opened it, and wisps of green smoke floated out, seeping into the shop through the cracks in the doors and windows.
“A perfect spy,” Xu Qi An praised.
Li Miaozhen responded with a modest “Mm.”
The Dao schools are really interesting. The Three Clarities divide into Heaven, Earth, and Human sects, each with completely different cultivation paths. The Earth sect cultivates merit, the Heaven sect cultivates emotionlessness, while the Human sect does the opposite, turning a beautiful Daoist nun into a vixen… Xu Qi An inwardly grumbled while suddenly realizing a point.
The Heaven and Human sects are at odds with each other, perhaps precisely because of their opposing cultivation methods.
The Earth sect cultivates merit, not taking sides, so their relationship with both sects is still acceptable, without enmity. They can even exchange pleasantries when meeting.
Otherwise, Li Miaozhen, a holy maiden of the Heaven sect, wouldn’t be able to join the Heaven and Earth Society.
And that Sect Leader Luo Yuheng wouldn’t have gifted pills to Daoist Master Jin Lian.
Indeed, being able to navigate both sides is the true way, just like how I’m caught between Lin’an and Huaiqing, able to please both sides, able to flirt with both.
Flirt!
Perfect.
At this moment, a few wisps of green smoke gracefully returned, whispering by Li Miaozhen’s ear for a moment before slipping back into the sachet.
“There’s no one in the shop and no ambush,” Li Miaozhen said.
Xu Qi An immediately waved his hand, leading the three silver badge constables to break down the door and enter. They searched upstairs and downstairs, finding everything in the shop still in its original place, undisturbed.
There were even twenty taels of silver in a locked drawer, which Xu Qi An chose to confiscate, putting them into his purse.
…No signs of a struggle, no signs of looting… It’s as if the shop owner just temporarily left… Xu Qi An’s search yielded no results. He led the group out of the shop and walked towards the owner of the neighboring shop who had come out to watch the commotion.
This neighboring shop also sold “dog meat” business.
“Come here, I have some questions for you,” Xu Qi An called.
The owner of shop number 16 on Ding Street obediently came over, eyes lowered respectfully: “Sir.”
“Where did the owner of shop number 15 go?” Xu Qi An asked.
“It hasn’t been open for business for a few days. The girls who worked there have all come to my place to make a living,” the owner of shop 16 answered, responding to questions but not offering any extra information.
“When did it close?” Xu Qi An asked again.
“Three days ago.”
Three days ago… Damn, right after I left? Xu Qi An’s eyes flickered slightly, and he continued to ask, “Is the owner of shop 15 the lame one?”
“Yes, but he’s not the original owner.”
…Not the original owner. A certain guess in Xu Qi An’s mind was confirmed. “What about the original owner? When did the new lame owner take over the shop?”
“Shop 15 changed hands about ten days ago. I don’t know where the original owner went.”
Xu Qi An also asked the owners of other nearby shops and received similar responses. The neighboring shop owners were also surprised by the sudden change of ownership of shop 15.
However, in the black market, people were indifferent, and no one took it to heart.
On the way back, the horses moved slowly. Xu Qi An pinched the bridge of his nose, not knowing how many times he had done so.
Li Miaozhen turned her head to look at him, her voice carrying the magnetism of a mature woman, “You seem to be exhausted.”
It’s good that you know I’m not just a lecher… Xu Qi An said, “General Li seems to have a misconception about me, thinking I’m a lecherous man. Otherwise, why would you send Miss Susu to seduce me?”
“Aren’t you?”
Faced with Xu Qi An’s sudden aggressive approach, Li Miaozhen chose to confront him directly.
“I’m trying to break through to the Spirit Refining realm. I haven’t slept for a long time,” Xu Qi An explained.
He didn’t specify exactly how many days it had been.
Breaking through to the Spirit Refining realm? Li Miaozhen’s beautiful eyes widened slightly as she scrutinized him.
It was only at this moment that she realized she had been mistaken all along. Seeing Xu Qi An with his heavy dark circles, anyone would instinctively think he had been overindulging in carnal pleasures.
Rather than first thinking about breaking through to the Spirit Refining realm, she had later heard Number One in the Heaven and Earth Society evaluate Xu Qi An as a lecher, indulging in the pleasure quarters, a man of loose morals. This impression has been reinforced ever since.
Even if this change was brought about by breaking through to the Spirit Refining realm, it doesn’t change the fact that you’re a lecher… You’ll never know how well I understand you… Li Miaozhen thought to herself.
However, she was somewhat curious about how long this guy had been staying awake.
Li Miaozhen didn’t know much about the martial arts system, after all, she had only been experiencing the world for a few short years and hadn’t encountered a martial artist who happened to be breaking through to the Spirit Refining realm.
Someone as experienced as Yang Chuannan could tell at a glance that Xu Qi An was breaking through to the Spirit Refining realm. This was the insight of someone who had been through it.
“If I remember correctly, the limit for breaking through to the Spirit Refining realm is ten days, right?”
“General Li doesn’t seem to know much about the martial arts system.”
“Why should I know about it?”
“You seem to look down on martial artists.”
Li Miaozhen answered quite humorously: “I’m not alone in that.”
Xu Qi An: “…”
He couldn’t help but think of the proud white-robed sorcerers and Confucian scholars. They also looked down on martial artists. In this world, the hierarchy of contempt was: everyone disrespects everyone else, but everyone unanimously looks down on martial artists.
Xu Qi An used to think that the most nauseating discrimination in the world was “cracking down on pornography and illegal publications,” but now he had found another one called: martial artists.
Except for sorcerers and martial artists, all other systems had beings that transcended ranks or had produced beings that transcended ranks. But sorcerers’ roles far exceeded those of martial artists, and sorcerers were more easily respected.
He wondered when the martial artist system would produce a Martial God.
“It makes one shiver with cold,” Xu Qi An said.
…
Upon returning to the post station, Governor Zhang and Constable Jiang were no longer in the main hall. A Tiger Guard soldier was left waiting, informing Xu Qi An and Li Miaozhen that the Governor was waiting for them in his room.
After knocking on Governor Zhang’s door, Xu Qi An and Li Miaozhen entered the room.
“The person in General Li’s drawing is the black market shop owner who was keeping the evidence for Zhou Min. I deciphered the clue left by Zhou Min and traced it there, which is how I obtained the ledger,” Xu Qi An explained the course of events to Governor Zhang and Constable Jiang.
After listening, Governor Zhang’s expression became grave: “Could the original shop owner be the real person who was keeping the ledger?”
Xu Qi An nodded: “Most likely, and if I’m not mistaken, he’s probably been silenced. The shop owner I encountered later was Liang Youping in disguise.”
Constable Jiang stroked his stubbly chin, his tone puzzled: “Then how did they find the black market?”
“Remember what I said when analyzing the case?” Xu Qi An pinched the bridge of his nose, “We traced the black market shop number 15 through the clue of Yang Yingying. But this clue wasn’t meant for us, it was for Governor Yang of Qing Province.
“In other words, the clue Zhou Min originally left for us was deciphered ahead of time.”
There are plenty of clever people in the world.
Li Miaozhen shook her head: “Don’t you find it strange? If they had already found the ledger, they could have just destroyed it. Why wait for you to come find it and then hand it over to you?”
Constable Jiang was startled: “Was the ledger swapped? Is the one we got fake?”
“No!” Governor Zhang shook his head: “If the ledger were fake, tomorrow when I go to the Chief Command to check the accounts, the discrepancies would be obvious very quickly. What would be the point of giving us a fake ledger then?”
Constable Jiang’s brow furrowed even deeper: “But giving us the real ledger is even more absurd. They killed the original shop owner who was the real contact, and then handed over the ledger to us intact?”
“Indeed, whether the ledger is real or fake, it doesn’t make sense logically,” Xu Qi An pinched his brow, pacing around the room:
“Let’s review this case carefully.
“Zhou Min discovered that Yang Chuannan was secretly supporting the mountain bandits and wrote a confidential letter to report back to the yamen. When the Qi faction found out, they immediately challenged the Night Watchmen yamen, creating a corruption case to try to force Lord Wei to compromise.
“Then, by chance, I uncovered the inside story of the Qi faction colluding with the Witch God Cult and secretly supporting the mountain bandits. Only then did the court realize the seriousness of the matter and sent me… “
Governor Zhang coughed forcefully.
Xu Qi An corrected himself: “Sent the Governor to investigate in Yun Province.”
“I inquired in the black market earlier, and the original owner of shop 15 was killed about ten days ago. At that time, we were still at the border of Qing Province. General Li, when did Yang Chuannan receive the secret letter from the capital?”
“The letter was received about six days ago, from a friend of Lord Yang,” Li Miaozhen said.
“That’s right, we were already traveling on the fastest route, and even if the Qi faction was faster than us, they couldn’t have been more than ten days ahead,” Xu Qi An nodded: “Whether it was killing Zhou Min to silence him or killing the dog meat shop owner, it shouldn’t be related to the Qi faction in the capital. Our real enemy is in Yun Province.
“In that case, this case has only two possibilities: One, all of this is a ruse by Yang Chuannan. Two, there’s a hidden hand behind the scenes, preparing to push Yang Chuannan out as a scapegoat. When the secret letter was sent back to the capital, they had already started planning. They killed Zhou Min, searched for hidden evidence, and tried to frame Yang Chuannan.
“If the ledger is real, then the possibility of the first scenario is low because it would be like voluntarily handing the butcher’s knife to us.
“If the ledger is fake, it makes even less sense. Yang Chuannan neither escapes suspicion nor truly gets convicted. Liang Youping voluntarily giving us the ledger raises suspicion, indirectly saving Yang Chuannan.”
Li Miaozhen keenly caught a logical flaw: “So you’re saying the ledger must be real. According to your deduction, the ledger is real; there’s a mastermind behind the scenes trying to push Yang Chuannan out as a scapegoat.
“Then Liang Youping killing the dog meat shop owner and personally handing over the ledger to you doesn’t make sense, does it?”
Yes, under the premise that the ledger is real, the hidden mastermind only needed to wait for the inspection team to find it, and Yang Chuannan would be indefensible.
Liang Youping’s actions would be unnecessary.
Governor Zhang pondered: “Perhaps there’s an issue with the ledger. The ledger is real, but it contains some problem that would lead us to point our suspicions at the true mastermind behind the scenes. Therefore, they had to rack their brains to find it and destroy the evidence within.
“Then they impersonated the dog meat shop owner, waiting for us to come so they could hand over the ledger to us.”
Constable Jiang first nodded, then shook his head: “How did they know there was a problem with the ledger? Wasn’t it made by Zhou Min?”
Governor Zhang smiled: “Zhou Min was able to find the evidence because he was an experienced official in the Chief Command, in charge of the storehouse and dispatches. All military supplies and equipment passed through his hands. And that Liang Youping is also an experienced official.”
Xu Qi An suddenly said, “There’s something I can’t figure out.”
“Hmm?” Li Miaozhen looked over.
“Why was Liang Youping responsible for handing the ledger to us?” Xu Qi An scanned the three of them, “Don’t you find it strange? Liang Youping has already been exposed. Once we capture Yang Chuannan and interrogate him, he’ll certainly defend himself to prove his innocence and reveal everything he knows.
“In this situation, as long as we compare Liang Youping’s portrait… well, that’s why we’re having this meeting now.”
Li Miaozhen frowned: “Because only Liang Youping could find the problem in the ledger?”
Constable Jiang glanced at her: “They had plenty of time to find the hidden problem in the ledger. At that point, they could have just replaced him with someone else in disguise. There was no need for Liang Youping to stay there. If it weren’t for Ning Yan seeing your portrait, he wouldn’t have realized the dog meat shop owner was fake.
“In other words, as long as that person wasn’t Liang Youping, we wouldn’t have discovered it. It looks like they deliberately exposed the flaw.”
As for disguises, with Xu Qi An and the others’ keen eyes, it would be easy to see through any disguise at close range.
…
Zhu Guangxiao awoke from his dream, feeling the pressure in his bladder, so he got up to use the latrine.
Leaving his room and walking down the corridor, he suddenly saw a woman in a white dress sitting at the table in the hall.
She had beautiful, lustrous black hair. From this angle, Zhu Guangxiao could only see the side of her face, but even just that profile was so beautiful it seemed otherworldly, making one’s heart skip a beat.
Su… Miss Susu… No, it’s that female ghost!!
Zhu Guangxiao’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.