Chapter 186.
by Jessie@AFNCC“I’ve observed them with the Si Tian Supervisor’s Lookout Technique, and all of them are carrying a blood light.” Xu Qi’an said.
In the definition of qigong magic, what the blood light represented, the well-read Jin Gong undoubtedly knew.
“How do you know how to look for Qi?” Jiang Ruizhong asked a question, turning his head toward the official ship and opening his palm toward a white-clothed magician on the deck who had come out to see what was going on.
Invisible chakra distorted the air and ingested the white-clad warlock with the dancing hands to the barge.
“Take a look at their chi.” Jiang Lizhong said mildly.
The white-clothed warlock frowned to express his displeasure. As a high and proud warlock, even when facing a high-grade martial artist, he had the backbone that Might could not be lusted after.
“What are you gawking at? Hurry up.” Xu Qi’an urged.
“Oooooh…” the white-clad warlock nodded obediently, silent for a moment as clear light spilled from his eyes.
He carefully observed the cabin, and in a few moments, he collected his clear light and said, “Indeed the blood light is monstrous.”
Jiang Ruizhong’s eyes sharpened all of a sudden, and for insurance purposes, he asked, “What other anomalies are there?”
“Yes!”
Xu Qi’an naturally made his move with certainty, ”There are a few more suspicious points, one: there are traces of a fight in the cabin, and it was only recently.
Two: These are not people who make a living on the water all year round, because they don’t even know how to get rid of the earthy odor of river fish.
Third: They were too vain, no matter how flustered they were when they first saw us, and later on, no matter what I asked for, they fulfilled it without complaint… Heh, from what I know about mandarins, they’re all just jerks, even if they don’t dare to offend the night watchman, if they really have a clear conscience, they should be emboldened to complain about a few things. After all, the canal transportation is not under the control of the night watchman.
And they’re acting like they hate to deal with us doing what they have to do.”
…won’t get rid of the fishy odor, even this kind of detail can be remembered in the heart, Xu Ningyan is really a genius in investigating the case. Jiang Luzhong lamented in his heart, nodding his head without moving on the surface:
“Well thought out and well done.”
He then asked, “This place is only half a day’s journey from Yuzhou, they are stained with blood and have human lives on their hands, but, how can they kill someone near Yuzhou?”
Xu Qi’an said, “At night.”
After a moment’s contemplation, Jiang Lizhong figured out that, extrapolating from the current time, this barge had departed from Yuzhou precisely at night.
Killing someone in the night will not attract attention.
A few moments later, the watchmen gathered everyone on board the ship on deck, all tied up.
Zhu Guangxiao clasped his fists and said, “There are a total of sixty-two people on board, all of them are here.”
Jiang Lizhong nodded, looked at the bearded man dressed as a constable, and said in a deep voice, “Wake him up.”
The awakening was rough, and Zhu Guangxiao woke up the bearded man with a vigorous ejaculation, moaning miserably.
This man, who was disguised as a ship-guarding constable of the Cao Yun Yamen, swept around and realized his situation, and his face was ashen.
He still couldn’t believe that he had just been defeated and what had gone wrong.
“I ask, you answer, conceal or deceive once, cut a finger.” A voice without emotion rang out from the ginger law.
The bearded man looked up, and when he bumped into those sharp eyes that seemed to see through, his body trembled and slumped to the ground.
“Yours truly!”
“Grasshopper Fang He, a jianghu casualty, has formed a Yellow Flag Gang in Yuzhou to make a living.”
“Included in the plea for life is the killing of court officials and the looting of the court’s iron mines?”
“No, no… Your Honor, I was paid to do this. The one who instructed me to do so was none other than the Program Transportation Envoy of the Yuzhou Transportation Yamen. He told us that there was a barge bound for the capital tonight, loaded with iron ore. He told us to kill the ship’s escort guards and appropriated the iron ore.”
What is anal transportation feces ah …. Xu Qi’an had a series of question marks in his head.
After joining the night watchman, and gradually starting to come into contact with the official world, Xu Qi’an’s brain would be confused by the messy official names from time to time.
The Program Transportation Envoy plotted all of this? The night watchmen silently exchanged lines of sight, all revealing looks of shock.
Even Jiang Lunzhong looked serious.
Obviously, they’ve come across a big case of theft from a jailer.
“That doesn’t make sense,” Xu Qi’an shook his head and raised a question, “Why is it so that you are allowed to kill and seize the ship? If you just want to embezzle the iron ore, there’s no need to do so. It is far safer to cooperate with the officials in the government offices than to seek business with you.”
Jiang Ruizhong glanced at him and explained, “The shipping offices in each state are divided into two systems, the Paiyang Division and the Zhan Yun Division, with the Paiyang Division being responsible for the management of the canals, as well as the acceptance and warehousing of grain, salt and iron, and other materials. The Program Transportation Division is responsible for escorting the transportation with the ships.”
That is, if the officials of the Program Transportation Division wanted to embezzle the iron ore, the only way to do it was on the water …. Xu Qi’an nodded, “So, in order to completely cover up the crime, let the guards escorting the ship disappear along with the ship? That way the Program Transportation Division also becomes a victim.”
Jiang Ruizhong continued, “How will the iron ore be dealt with after it is appropriated?”
The bearded man shook his head, “We are only responsible for delivering the iron ore to Yunzhou, the route is from Yuzhou, bypassing the sandbar, and there will be someone to take care of the joint when we arrive in Yunzhou.”
Cloud State?
Jiang Lunzhong’s face suddenly changed.
Damn again Yunzhou this ghost place …. By the way, the shipping office is under the control of the Ministry of Public Works, which is controlled by the Qi Party. The Qi Party colluded with the Witch God Cult to secretly deliver military supplies to Yunzhou. …. All of this can also be matched, only, the transportation of supplies is just, the transportation of iron ore …. The most important thing is that you can’t be sure that you’re going to be able to get your hands on the right thing.
“Who was it that approached you? By the sound of your voice, it’s not the first time you’ve done this.”
“This year, it’s been done a total of three times this year. Total shipments to Yunzhou …. One hundred thousand pounds of iron ore.”
Jiang Lizhong asked a few more questions, and then commanded, “You stay on this barge, turn the rudder to follow, and go with me to Yuzhou. Keep an eye on these prisoners.”
Again, he said to Xu Qi’an, “Take him and follow me back to the ship.”
This time, Xu Qi’an did not return to the official ship by his own power, a qi under his feet dragged him to float away, sweeping across tens of meters along with Jiang Ruizhong to the side of Inspector Zhang.
“What happened and why did you block the official barge?” Inspector Zhang inquired with a stack of questions.
“Something has indeed happened…” Jiang Ruizhong made a ‘please’ gesture, “Mr. Governor follow me into the house.”
Jiang Ruizhong relayed Xu Qi’an’s discovery, and the bearded man Fang He’s explanation, one by one, to Inspector Zhang. Afterward, in front of Inspector Zhang, Fang He was re-interrogated.
After listening to Fang He’s confession, Inspector Zhang revealed a look of gravity.
“Apart from the Program and Transportation Division’s Program and Transportation Envoy, what other official was involved?”
“The little man wouldn’t know…”
Inspector Zhang looked at Xu Qi’an, “You take him down first, then come back, this official has some matters to discuss with you.”
The meaning of his words had completely treated Xu Qi’an as someone who could seek affairs, a character of the same rank. Not just a mere subordinate.
Xu Qi’an took Fang He out of the room and handed him over to Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao, requesting that the two of them make sure to keep an eye on him before returning to his room and closing the door.
When Inspector Zhang saw him return, he looked serious: “What do you think?”
“My humble servant has a doubt.”
Waiting for Jiang Ruizhong and Inspector Zhang to look over, Xu Qi’an voiced his opinion: ”The Minister of Public Works has already collapsed, and as a member of the Qi Party, he should have clamored and collected his claws and teeth to wait and see what’s going on. Why is Yuzhou’s canal office continuing to deliver iron ore to Yunzhou at the tip of this storm?
“In addition, even if the bandits in Yunzhou are rampant, they are ultimately mountain kings that cannot be brought to the surface. It’s just as well that the Ministry of Public Works is transporting instruments, artillery, and other military supplies, but even the iron ore has to be secretly transported to Yunzhou. Is this something that mountain bandits can eat? What is this for?”
Inspector Zhang closed his eyes, his fingertips lightly clasping the table, murmuring, “The Qi Party colluded with the Witch God Cult …. Sending armaments and artillery to Yunzhou, as well as iron ore …. Salt, iron, and gunpowder are forbidden goods that the Dafeng has banned from being exported…”
He first paused, then his body shook, opened his eyes, and with a horrified look on his face, he slowly spat out, “Rebellion and treason.”
The Qi Party had delivered large quantities of military supplies to Yunzhou, and now with the addition of the iron ore, if it wasn’t for the sake of a rebellion, they really couldn’t think of any other possibilities.
Why do we have to do that if we’re just supporting the bandits?
Thinking of this, Inspector Zhang stood up and paced back and forth in the room, sometimes looking at Jiang Ruizhong, sometimes looking at Xu Qi’an.
“Xu Ning Banquet ah, you have given this official one more problem …. Encountering this on the way will surely delay the trip.”
He said this with his mouth, but his expression and tone were not half reproachful, but instead had an odd expression of mixed worry and exhilaration.
Jiang Ruizhong said, “Your Excellency will report this matter back to the capital, which can be considered a great achievement.”
“This is not without your credit.” Inspector Zhang patted Xu Qi’an’s shoulder hard.
First of all, not to mention the results of the trip to Yunzhou, just because he found the case, is a great merit, even if the trip to Yunzhou nothing, but also enough to make up for it, and even have credit.
All of this is due to Xu Qi’an’s keen sense of smell.
After a few moments, he calmed down and resumed his chair, contemplating the current situation and the three paths that lay before him:
One, pretend that this didn’t happen and continue on to Yunzhou, so as not to cause trouble.
Second, send someone to disguise as the guards of the shipping yamen escorting the ship and coerce Fang He to charge to meet the person who will meet the person who will meet the person in Yunzhou.
Third, go to the Yuzhou Transportation Yamen to handle the case and arrest the mastermind behind it.
The first option is directly ruled out, the second option is too time-consuming, take the waterway to go to Yunzhou, have to first bypass the sandbar, not ten days and half a month to arrive, this is not consistent with their schedule. And the Yuzhou program ambassador was a clue that was close at hand.
After Inspector Zhang stated his choice, he received unanimous approval from Jiang Lizhong and Xu Qi’an.
In the opinion of Governor Zhang at this time, having the support of the two of them was enough.
……
At noon, the official ship arrived at the largest canal wharf in Yuzhou and slowly docked.
As soon as the barge docked, it immediately attracted the attention of the footmen, who flocked to the barge. However, when they saw the heavily armed Huben Guards escorting a group of boat guards from the Cao Transportation Yamen, they retreated in fear.
Leaving a part of the Huben guards to look after the ships, Governor Zhang and Jiang Lv led a vast crowd of men and horses straight to the Yuzhou canal yamen.
0 Comments