Chapter 113: The Clue is Broken

“Lord Xu, where are we going?” Min Shan asked.

“Apprehend the criminal!” Leaving the council chamber, Xu Qi’an had no qualms about stating it directly.

Yang Feng and the other tongluo looked at Xu Qi’an in surprise, Zhu Guangxiao and Song Tingfeng had some thoughts in their hearts, whether it was the saltpeter mine or the case of the small flag officer, both of them were involved and knew more than the others.

If Li Yuchun is here, he can probably also sort out his thoughts, only he went to ask Chu Caiwei of the Divisional Superintendent.

“Why isn’t the chief back yet, do you have to hire someone for the whole morning?” Xu Qi’an frowned, “Did he run into some trouble.”

Leaving the Criminal Ministry Yamen entrance, just mounted on the horse, they saw two yellow horseback riding fast, it was Li Yuchun and Chu Caiwei of light yellow long dress.

Li Yuchun explained, “Caiwei girl is not in the Division, went to the palace, I waited for a long time at the entrance of the Imperial City, only to wait for her to come out …..”

Going to the Rapunzel’s place again to dally for food, this foodie …. Sooner or later in the future, I will let her eat my old grandson a stick …. Xu Qi’an smiled warmly, “Miss Caiwei, after not seeing you for many days, you have become more and more beautiful.”

Chu Caiwei round goose egg face, put on a sweet smile, just want to say something, remembering their own identity as well as next to the watchmen onlookers, so the face, “hmm” a sound.

The matter is as urgent as fire, Xu Qi’an made a long story short: “Min Yinluo, you take my gold medal to go to the east gate of the Imperial City, to catch Zhou Chixiong Zhou Baifu.

“The rest of you follow me to the Zhou Mansion to get the people.”

Because I don’t know if Zhou Baifu is on duty today, the soldiers split into two.

Xu Qi’an so arranged is reasonable, the imperial city is the foot of the emperor, idle will not conflict, also no one dares, but the same is not easy to say take people to take people, have to have waist license to open the way.

So go for a silver gong and be done with it.

And if he went directly to Zhou Baidu’s house to apprehend him, he would most likely jump over the wall in a dog’s mouth. Xu Qi’an had just finished executing the Heaven and Earth Slash Slash, and his battle power had slipped severely, thus he needed to be accompanied by the two silver gongs.

…..

On the other side, Lu Qing was reporting on the situation.

“Eunuch Liu, Lords, if nothing else, there is a strong possibility that there is a demon race meddling behind this matter.”

These words caused the faces of the officials present to change drastically, and Minister of Justice Sun frowned.

An official of the Ministry of Justice was not quite convinced and asked, “What is your basis for this.”

“A few days ago, my humble servant and Lord Xu had worked together to investigate the case within Taikang County, where a demonic creature from Da Huang Mountain had devoured a gray household.”

“A demon devouring an ash household?” Eunuch Liu frowned.

“Yes, in the middle of the year, a demonic creature came to the river at the foot of Da Huang Mountain and devoured hundreds of local gray households. I worked with Lord Xu on the case, and found a cleanly collected saltpeter mine in Da Huang Mountain …..”

Lu Qing told the case of the saltpeter mine in the rhubarb mountain to the adults present in a detailed and clear way.

It was very good, stalling, because what was said was not empty words, and the adults also listened extraordinarily attentively without prodding.

“That’s why when I exchanged words with Lord Xu just now, I dissected the layers and realized that the gunpowder might not have come from the Ministry of Public Works, but rather, it was related to the Dahuang Mountain saltpeter mine.” Lu Qing said.

The faces of the officials of the Ministry of Justice and the Prefectural Office were serious, this case actually involved the demon race, and there are two camps of the demon race in Kyushu: the Demon Race tribes in the northwest; and the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom in the southern border.

The Southern Border Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom had long since perished in the Azi Swing, leaving the remaining remnants lingering on.

The Demon Race in the northwest formed an alliance with the northern tribes to fight against the Dafeng and the western territories.

Which demonic power is the mastermind behind the saltpeter mine?

Eunuch Liu glanced at Minister Chen, who gave an “oh” and endorsed his subordinate, “This is indeed the case, and the government office just accepted the case a few days ago, and the person in charge of handling it at the time was Sheriff Lu.”

Eunuch Liu looked somber: “If the saltpeter mine could have been discovered earlier, the Sangpo case might not have happened. The case of the demonic creature that swallowed a man in the middle of the year, why has it been suppressed until now?”

Lu Qing was just about to accuse the Taikang magistrate of malfeasance and disregard for the lives of the gray households, but he was stopped by a look from Prefect Chen.

Old Chen sighed, “The demonic creature is powerful, and it’s difficult for the magistrate of Taikang to deal with it.”

Eunuch Liu snorted coldly, “We will report to His Majesty as we should.”

Shangshu Sun spoke up and swept his eyes at Lu Qing, “What is Xu Qi’an going to do?”

He seemed to see that Lu Qing was subtly stalling for time, and directly addressed the issue, not wanting her to bleep more.

Eunuch Liu sniffed and mused, “Even if the Demon Race has gunpowder, how can they hide it from the Da Feng forbidden army, the guards guarding the city, and smuggle the gunpowder into Sang Po?”

“This then involves another case.” Lu Qing replied.

“Another case?” The crowd was amazed… the Sampo bombing case… it involved so many incidents?

Lv Qing said, “The day before His Majesty’s ancestor sacrifice, Liu Han, a small flag officer of the Golden Guard, died at his home for no reason, and again, it was Lord Xu and I who dealt with it, and at that time, Lord Xu surmised that he had been silenced, only that this did not intersect with the case of the saltpeter mines, and we didn’t associate it with any of this.”

Small Flag Officer of Jinguwei was silenced …. Gunpowder smuggled into Sampo …. Those present are all intelligent people, and there is no longer half a doubt.

“That surnamed Xu just now…” the officials of the Ministry of Justice and some of the officials of the Prefectural Offices, violently stood up from their chairs.

“Just now, Lord Xu remembered this matter and was enlightened, which is why he left in a hurry.” Lu Qing said.

Sun Shangshu said in a deep voice, “Order the arrest of all the hundred households of the Golden Guard, go quickly!”

With a crash …. Everyone was on their feet, scrambling out of the council chamber, knocking over chairs and not caring.

The case is dissected to this point, it is already very clear that catching the saucer inside the Golden Guards is the same as making a head start.

Lu Qing slowly exhaled, trying his best.

If it was just a fair fight, Lu Qing wouldn’t help Xu Qi’an so much, it’s just that the other party’s situation is worrisome, and this case is his only hope of redeeming himself.

Lv Qing felt that out of the righteousness of friends, he would help if he could.

She left the council chamber along with her fellow government officials.

Only Eunuch Liu and the eunuchs he brought with him, Shangshu Sun, and Prefect Chen remained in the large council chamber.

Eunuch Liu stretched out his hand, and the permanent eunuch immediately blew the ink dry and handed the booklet to him.

Eunuch Liu carefully read the contents, the first two are the Ministry of Justice and the government offices to discuss the case, to argue, more dry.

It wasn’t until Xu Qi’an joined in that the case began to cleanse and clarify itself, and the suspect was locked in within an incense burner.

The progress of the case is so fast that Eunuch Liu felt surprised, according to the normal process, to link the saltpeter mine in Da Huangshan and the two cases of the small flag officer, I am afraid that it will take two or three days.

In this case, it seems that His Majesty’s order for this Xu Qi’an to be the organizer of the night watchman’s yamen has a deeper meaning ah …. Eunuch Liu came to a sudden realization.

“Xiao Yunzi, from today onwards, you will stay at the office of the night watchman, and be responsible for supervising them in their cases, and delivering news like me in a timely manner.”

Eunuch Liu said.

“Yes!” The little eunuch who made the transcript led the order.

…..

Zhou Mansion, the black-painted gate was closed.

Song Tingfeng, at Xu Qi’an’s gesture, crossed the steps to the door and thumped it.

“Open the door! The night watchman is on the case.”

A pale voice came from the door, “Master Baihu is sick and won’t see guests, go back.”

Song Tingfeng tapped the door again, the inside pretended to be dead and did not respond.

Being a scoundrel?

Song Tingfeng sneered, a foot stomped on the door, “bang” loud sound, the solid wood door fell apart, broken wood shooting.

An old man in green cloth, trembling, hid in the distance, staring at the uninvited guests with a terrified expression.

“Leave two people to guard the gate, the others go in with Li Yinluo Yang Yinluo.” Xu Qi’an waved his hand, ordering the gongs to charge and himself and Chu Caiwei to stay behind.

“You’re the organizing officer, why aren’t you rushing?” Chu Caiwei cocked her head and looked at him.

“You’ve seen His Majesty charge into battle during the national war at Shanhaiguan?” Xu Qi’an returned her glance.

Chu Caiwei was dumbfounded, knowing full well that what he was saying was crooked, but her not-so-smart brain couldn’t come up with a rebuttal to say for the time being.

“I was going to send you a Power Pill, forget it.” She scowled.

“Power Pills?”

“It’s just the right time to replenish your body, your qi and blood are deficient like this.” Chu Caiwei said.

As a Feng Shui master of the Warlock System, when she was healing and saving people, Xu Qi’an was still jacking stone locks in the yard.

Just by looking at Xu Qi’an’s aura, one could tell that he was losing a lot of money right now.

“Give me one and I’ll buy you dinner tonight.” Xu Qi’an poked her with his elbow.

Chu Caiwei took a few steps back in disgust, fished out the porcelain vial from the buckskin pouch and threw it over, “Enough for you to use for a while.”

Iron Bone Chu Caiwei, Xu Qi An likes such a girl with a backbone, and while walking towards the inside, he dumped the porcelain bottle and got high on a brown pill.

The pills had an odd flavor, and after a few chews, they welled up with spice.

Xu Qi’an gulped it down, and after a few seconds, she felt her stomach warm and very comfortable, and the feeling of being off her feet had returned quite a bit.

“For the record, this is a negative effect from my jutsu, it doesn’t mean I’m Ruan Xiaoji.”

“What the hell is Nguyen?”

“Not good.”

Side walk to the inner courtyard.

Li Yuchun and Yang Feng greeted him and shook their heads, “The person is gone.”

The latter added: “Everything of value in the mansion has been moved.”

Song Tingfeng immediately grabbed the old concierge over, put his knife on his neck and drank, “Where is Zhou Chixiong?”

“Hundred households old master …. He, he has taken his wife and young masters and young ladies out of the city to save their relatives.”

“Then why did you say he was sick?”

“Hundred households old master so accounted for, small person, small person then said …. accordingly.” The old concierge’s face was terrified, his legs were shaking, and he didn’t look like he was lying.

Xu Qi’an asked, “When did you leave?”

“The day of the end of the ancestor sacrifice ceremony ….” The concierge swallowed his saliva and begged, “Hundred, what crime did the Hundred Household Master commit? I don’t know, I don’t know ah ….”

Xu Qi’an waved his hand, signaling Song Tingfeng to release him.

He himself led the people back into the house and searched from room to room. Except for some of the more precious antiques, paintings and calligraphy that were taken away, all the furnishings in the mansion were intact.

“Baihu Zhou has escaped!” Li Yuchun said in a deep voice.

“It’s too early to say that.” Xu Qi’an glanced at Chu Caiwei.

The googly-eyed beauty unexpectedly ghostly GET to his meaning, leaping onto the roof, opening her bright eyes with clear light flowing through them, scanning every corner of the Zhou Mansion.

She wasn’t looking for someone, but searching for something else. The focus was on the garden and the stone well.

A moment later, Chu Caiwei leaped off the roof and shook her head: ”There are no hidden corpses in the mansion, and no one has died here recently …. Well, it may also have been covered up by special means. You guys can dig three feet into the ground and search.”

“There’s no need.” Xu Qi’an sighed, “Dead or fleeing, this clue is broken.”

However, it was 80% that he had escaped, because the people in the residence had seen Zhou Baifu leave with his family with their own eyes.

Leading the men out of the Zhou Mansion’s gate, Min Shan rushed over with a few gongs, too late to strangle his horse, and shouted, “After the Ancestor Sacrifice Ceremony, Baihu Zhou took a long vacation.”

His heart sank when he saw the depressed faces of his colleagues.

“Escaped.” Yang Feng exhaled a mouthful of turbid air.

…..

Xu Qi’an had just left with his men, when the people from the Ministry of Justice and the government offices galloped over to the Zhou Mansion, and when they saw the collapsed gate, their hearts immediately went cold.

Recruiting the servants of the house to interrogate, learned that the night watchman just pounced, Zhou Baifu has long escaped from the capital.

The hearts of the two magistrates were inexplicably complicated, and they didn’t know whether they should be glad or sorry.

…..

Dusk!

Eunuch Liu rushed back to the palace before the city gates closed, and under the service of his sons, he changed into civilian clothes, took a bath, and was drinking his pre-dinner tea.

A small eunuch hurried in and said in a thin voice, “Godfather, His Majesty has sent someone to invite.”

Eunuch Liu pinched his brow and said in a good-natured manner, “Got it!”

He took a sip of water, greeted his son and changed into his python robe, and had just stepped out of the threshold when he suddenly thought of something.

“Bring us the dossier, the one our family brought back today.”

The little eunuch went back to the house to get it.

All the way to the Jingxin Hall, after the pass, was led into the hall and met the Yuanjing Emperor who wore a Taoist robe and had a long flowing beard.

Emperor Yuan Jing did not meditate or work, holding the scroll in his hand, but his thoughts were not in the book.

“Liu Rong, I sent someone to supervise the case, it’s been a day, what’s the gain.” Emperor Yuan Jing’s tone was flat.

Eunuch Liu’s heart flinched, he had been an official in the palace for decades, and even Emperor Yuan Jing’s temperament, the more he made this gesture, the more annoyed he felt in his heart.

Asking about the case is a lie. His Majesty is losing his temper.

Eunuch Liu a moment of fear, followed by celebration, said that fortunately early preparation, fortunately today is really something.

“Your Majesty, this is the summary of today’s cases, the slave girl was about to undertake to show you.” Eunuch Liu took out a thin booklet from his sleeve.

PS: Something happened during the day, the update is late, first more and then change, the old rules, the wrong word this chapter said to see.