The four bailiffs who had been bitten by snakes were carried away for treatment.

Meng Jianqing was about to continue interrogating Chen Laozhong, but when he returned to the room, Yun Yanjiao had also arrived, her expression grave—clearly there was urgent business to discuss.

After a moment’s consideration, he decided to temporarily set aside Chen Laozhong, this turtle in a jar who seemed unlikely to speak anytime soon.

After dismissing the others, Yun Yanjiao said softly, “Miss Long has awakened. She says that the small golden snake was a Python Mountain copper-head snake. She saw one when she was young. This type of snake, after many years, will gradually transform into golden yellow, with scales all over its body as hard as iron, and its toxicity becomes even more deadly. If we hadn’t intercepted this snake in time tonight and obtained the snake’s gallbladder and blood for the antidote, she would have died within ten breaths, with absolutely no hope of rescue.”

Yun Yanran’s expression couldn’t help but change.

Meng Jianqing was secretly startled. Even if this copper-head snake was extraordinarily poisonous, even if the perpetrator didn’t intend to threaten the Long family but wanted to kill Long Yan outright, why would Yun Yanran’s expression be so grim?

Perhaps there was another reason?

The Yun siblings seemed to have detected his suspicion. They looked at each other, understanding each other’s thoughts. Yun Yanran said in a low voice, “Captain Meng, I think we should be frank with you about this matter. This Python Mountain copper-head snake is extremely difficult to raise, let alone raise until it turns golden yellow. I suspect this snake is related to one of our master uncles. This master uncle of ours was most skilled at raising snakes. Years ago, he returned to China, but because it was a time of war and chaos, we quickly lost contact with him.”

After a moment’s contemplation, Meng Jianqing said: “Long Yan saw this type of snake when she was young, so has she seen the person who raised snakes?”

Yun Yanjiao hesitated before saying: “That snake-keeper was formerly from the Ming Sect—oh, the Demon Sect’s Five-Colored Dragon King. When Long Yan met him, he had already become a monk, with the dharma name Wuse.”

Though the siblings spoke vaguely, their meaning was quite clear.

Meng Jianqing couldn’t help but be startled.

He had long known the great name of the Five-Colored Dragon King, but hadn’t expected that the Five-Colored Dragon King originally came from the Immortal Mountain of the Sea.

It was indeed precious that the Yun siblings would confide such a great secret to him.

But perhaps it was only because he would inevitably learn from Long Yan who the snake-keeper was. Once the Imperial Guard mobilized with the nation’s mountain-moving, sea-overturning power, the Five-Colored Dragon King would probably not survive. It was better to handle this matter through negotiation now.

Meng Jianqing remained silent for a long time, then said as if to himself: “If Chen Laozhong was sent by the Five-Colored Dragon King, is this a dispute between the Five-Colored Dragon King and the Long family, or does the Demon Sect want to make a comeback? If the Demon Sect wants to make a comeback, why target Long Yan and choose the Chen family as scapegoats? If Long Yan died, who would gain the greatest benefit?”

Yun Yanjiao blurted out: “Naturally, other members of the Long family.”

Meng Jianqing shook his head: “Whether according to our dynasty’s legal system or precedents from previous dynasties, even if the main family line ends, family servants have never been able to inherit the master’s property. Ownerless property, by precedent, goes to the government—”

At this point, they were all startled.

The Long family had no other relatives. If Long Yan died, the Long family’s wealth rivaling nations would, by precedent, be confiscated by Quanzhou Prefecture. Such an enormous fortune would nominally belong to Quanzhou Prefecture, but in reality, the person who would truly control this wealth would be the Prefect of Quanzhou!

After a moment of silence, Yun Yanran said, “I wonder how His Majesty views the Long family. Brother Meng must know something about this.”

His sudden raising of this topic made Meng Jianqing think considerably. After several mental turns, he finally guessed at Yun Yanran’s implication. Could the Hongwu Emperor dislike the Long family being too wealthy, just as he had dealt with Shen Wansan, wanting to discipline the Long family to prevent them from becoming so powerful as to overshadow officials?

After a while, Meng Jianqing said carefully, “Long Yin was very good at reading the times. He had several encounters with His Majesty back in the day. Although Long Yin has now passed away, His Majesty is still very concerned about the Long family, worried that with only an orphaned daughter remaining, she might be bullied.”

Long Yin was skilled at investment, and these “several encounters” probably held great significance—otherwise they wouldn’t have made the Hongwu Emperor remember them to this day.

Thinking that the Hongwu Emperor was worried that this orphaned daughter, Long Yan, might be bullied, all three felt somewhat between laughter and tears. But before seeing Long Yan with their own eyes, who hadn’t thought the same way?

Speaking of which, the Hongwu Emperor had quite a preference for rooting out the strong to help the weak. In his eyes, Long Yan was such a weak woman, quite different from Shen Wansan, the richest man under heaven, who paraded before his very eyes. Probably the old man could never imagine wanting to root her out.

This being the case, didn’t that leave only one possibility?

All three felt the situation was grave.

Meng Jianqing immediately said: “Let’s go see Prefect Wang now.”

Don’t give Prefect Wang a chance to leisurely deploy troops and assign generals.

When Prefect Wang saw the three enter, he immediately welcomed them with a smiling face: “Captain Meng’s skills are indeed extraordinary, capturing that Chen Laozhong in time. Please sit, please sit. Brother Yun and Miss Yun, please sit as well.”

While speaking, he also shook his head and sighed: “I won’t hide this from the three of you—this official has been in Quanzhou for four years, and it’s been peaceful the whole time. Just the day before yesterday, I received documents from the Ministry of Personnel about being reassigned to Jiangxi. Now, suddenly, this case has occurred. If it can’t be properly resolved, these four peaceful years might all be for naught.”

The three looked at each other.

Prefect Wang wouldn’t lie about something so easily verified.

This being the case, Prefect Wang had neither the opportunity to control the Long family’s wealth nor any motive to assassinate Long Yan.

As for his successor, whoever it was, to do such a thing, they should at least wait until they took the position of Quanzhou Prefect.

Meng Jianqing said directly: “Magistrate Wang, this case might be related to Master Wuse.”

Prefect Wang was startled. When he came to his senses, his expression changed as he stammered: “Is this—so?”

Meng Jianqing looked at him and smiled slightly: “I need to visit the master and consult with him. Please assign a legal secretary and twenty bailiffs to await orders. As for the various necessary items, I’ll prepare a list later. Please provide your full assistance.”

This case should have been handled by the Quanzhou Prefect, but with Meng Jianqing’s words, he had completely taken it over without any courtesy.

Prefect Wang knew this was somewhat improper, but at this time he only sought to clear himself as soon as possible. How could he worry about such things? He immediately agreed and went back to the prefectural office to deploy personnel. Meng Jianqing ultimately couldn’t completely trust this Prefect Wang, so he assigned one guard to assist Prefect Wang with procuring necessary supplies, but secretly signaled the guard to be extra careful. This guard had followed Meng Jianqing for a long time and naturally understood, knowing what his real mission was.