socalfunplaces Page 515
Page 515
The magistrate of Taikang County was arrested because Xu Qi'an and his team had reported their progress to Emperor Yuanjing a few days earlier, and Emperor Yuanjing personally issued an imperial edict.
The imperial edict also promoted Lü Qing to the position of Deputy Chief Constable of the Six Doors. Since the Chief Constable of the Six Doors, Li Chang'an, was essentially a senior advisor, Lü Qing's power would be considerable in the future.
"Yes, yes, yes, your humble servant obeys."
Led by the jailer, Xu Qi'an and his group arrived at Magistrate Zhao's cell. Magistrate Zhao was lying motionless with his back to the cell door, wearing prison clothes.
"Get up! The night watchman wants to ask you a question!"
Song Tingfeng and the jailer shouted several times, but Magistrate Zhao did not react. He immediately opened the prison door.
The jailer rushed forward in anger, only to find that Magistrate Zhao's body was limp and already dead.
"Too late! This Magistrate Zhao is indeed suspicious!" Lü Qing said through gritted teeth.
Song Tingfeng also said, "The people behind this are obstructing our investigation. It seems we're on the right track!"
Xu Qi'an remained silent, simply watching as Lü Qing summoned the coroner to examine the body, and quietly awaited the results.
He now suspects that this might be a smokescreen released by other forces to complicate the case further.
The coroner arrived quickly, and the autopsy results were also strange: "No poisoning, no struggle before death, no wounds on the body, and the time of death was within three hours."
The result was that he died of natural causes.
It is clearly impossible that Magistrate Zhao, who was arrested just last night, suddenly died of natural causes in prison.
“He died of natural causes, that’s impossible,” Xu Qi’an asserted.
Lü Qing, being well-informed, said, "I can think of two possibilities: one is the Yin spirit of Taoism, and the other is the shaman of the Witch God Sect."
Chapter 312 Xu Qi'an: Master is such a scumbag, did he learn it from me?
Xu Qi'an had some interactions with Song Qing using his knowledge of chemistry, so he had also gained some initial exposure to the knowledge of various cultivation systems.
The belief in shamans was common among the northeastern kingdoms, much like the status of Buddhism in the Western Regions. In the Northeast and the Western Regions, religious sects did not reign supreme over imperial power.
"The fourth rank of a wizard is called a Dream Wizard, who can create dreams to kill people in their dreams. There has been a precedent of a Dream Wizard causing two thousand demon soldiers to die in a dream."
There are two possibilities: the Human Sect is the state religion of Dafeng, and its leader, Luo Yuheng, is at the height of his power, making him someone they cannot afford to offend.
The Witch God Cult is essentially an enemy state, so it's quite possible they were involved in this case. But are they the masterminds, or just those taking the opportunity to muddy the waters?
Xu Qi'an traveled for several more days, and with some suspicions in his mind, he went to Haoqi Pavilion to report to Wei Yuan as usual.
In the bright and airy tea room, Wei Yuan sat alone at the table, playing chess with his left hand against his right, as if performing a lonely one-man show.
Without looking up, he said, "I've played chess for half my life. At first, I lost many battles, but I kept fighting. Later, I gradually got into the swing of things and defeated one national master after another. Before I knew it, I couldn't find any enemies anymore."
Xu Qi'an thought to himself, "I just heard not long ago that you and the Supervisor were evenly matched."
"However, the enemies outside the chessboard are numerous and giving me a headache." Wei Yuan put down a chess piece and rubbed his temples. "Any progress?"
“This subordinate does have some leads, which I need to report to Lord Wei.” Xu Qi’an decided that apart from the lead of Li Chang’an’s secret pursuit of Zhou Chixiong, all other progress should be reported to Wei Yuan so that Wei Yuan could help him mobilize resources and deal with the person behind the scenes.
Because if Zhou Chixiong is successfully captured, he should be able to reveal his direct superior, which would allow the case to be solved smoothly.
However, the people behind Zhou Chixiong's superiors may not be so easy to expose.
"The magistrate of Taikang County was silenced. His death was bizarre; there was no poisoning, no wounds, and it looked exactly like a natural death."
Wei Yuan said calmly, "It should have nothing to do with the Human Sect. They already hold a high position and have no need to get involved in these matters. The Earth Sect is in a mess internally, still fighting amongst themselves. The Heaven Sect doesn't appear in public much. You mean... the Witch God Cult?"
Xu Qi'an took a deep breath and said, "The Sangbo case involves the demon race and the Northeast Witch God Sect. I have racked my brains and thought about it carefully. Besides that person, who else in the court has the ability to collude with these two major forces?"
Wei Yuan shook his head and said, "This is your guess, there is no evidence whatsoever."
Xu Qi'an also understood this principle: "Currently, there has been no significant progress in the creation of magical artifacts to conceal one's aura. These artifacts may originate from powerful forces outside the capital."
"This humble servant has a strong feeling that these clues are very convincing to the Prince of Zhenbei, so I have decided to start the investigation with the demon race and investigate the demons in the capital."
Wei Yuan nodded and said, "Go find Yang Yan and ask him to give you the files on the demons lurking in the capital over the past hundred years. Then find the most likely location where the demons will appear."
Once the leads have run out, the only option left is a large-scale investigation, a method that has been used throughout history.
If the target of the investigation is a demon race, this world also has advanced detectors like the Qi Observation Technique, which may make the investigation more efficient.
After leaving the Seven Star Tower, Xu Qi'an found Yang Yan and gathered a group of people to study the hiding place of the demon race.
The demon race often hides in the outer city, specifically in areas where poor people live, because these areas are far from high-level cultivators and are not easily discovered.
Afterwards, Xu Qi'an went to Li Chang'an's residence to ask Li Chang'an for some pages of the book on Qi Observation.
Because finding Li Chang'an is the most convenient option, as Li Chang'an has high cultivation and it's convenient for him to write these things.
Upon arriving at Li Chang'an's residence, Xu Qi'an saw Xu Lingyin again. Xu Lingyin had actually slept until almost lunchtime before waking up and was playing in the courtyard with her maid.
If this were at the Xu family's house, Li Ru would never have allowed her to sleep this late.
"Little bean!" Xu Qi'an called out from afar.
Xu Lingyin, still half-asleep, glanced lazily at Xu Qi'an and said casually, "Oh... Ning Yan."
Upon hearing this address, Xu Qi'an almost choked on his breath; the tone was clearly that of an elder giving a lecture.
Needless to say, it must be because I often hear Li Chang'an and Xu Lingyue say this; children always like to imitate adults.
Xu Qi'an was annoyed and was about to question the little bean curd, "Why do you always stay at my master's house?"
"Why are you at my brother-in-law's house again? Are you here to freeload again?" Xu Lingyin preemptively struck!
Xu Qi'an pointed at Xu Lingyin and said, "It's clearly you who always comes to my master's house to freeload."
Xu Lingyin blinked her big eyes and jumped up and down. "Yes, but I'm a little kid."
Because Li Ru is busy with the business of Changqing Trading Company, Xu Lingyin spends a lot of time staying at Xu Lingyue's place. Also, Li Chang'an really likes Xiaodouding, so Xu Lingyin often stays at her sister's house.
As the two were talking, Xu Qi'an saw Chu Caiwei skipping and hopping in through the front door.
Chu Caiwei bought donkey meat sandwiches, fried fish balls, crystal cakes, and braised pig's trotters, packed them up, and tucked them into her bosom.
"Miss Caiwei, it's been a long time!" Xu Qi'an respectfully cupped his hands.
Chu Caiwei blinked her big, watery eyes and pointed at Xu Qi'an, saying, "You're Xu Chang'an! The night watchman's gong!"
Xu Qi'an smiled respectfully, then corrected, "I am Xu Qi'an, and my master is Li Chang'an."
Chu Caiwei patted her head, looking rather dim-witted, and said, "Right, right, I remember now."
Xu Qi'an continued, "The donkey meat sandwich that Miss Caiwei bought is from Tianlu Pavilion, right? Dragon meat in the sky, donkey meat on the ground, you have such good taste!"
Then he thought to himself, "It's a pity that eating donkey meat is useless for women."
Xu Qi'an is now quite familiar with the people in the capital, and he has learned a lot about Chu Caiwei from his colleagues.
Chu Caiwei is an incredibly beautiful woman with a stunning face, though her figure is rather unremarkable. However, she is undeniably cute and innocent.
Moreover, Chu Caiwei is very insensitive and not interested in romantic relationships. She forgets many men's advances as soon as they appear, but it is said that she has some entanglement with her master.
Xu Qi'an couldn't help but think to himself, "Does this little girl also want to be my master's wife? I feel so embarrassed."
Chu Caiwei was quite pleased with the compliment. "It seems you have good taste; this donkey meat sandwich is for Li Chang'an..."
She was only halfway through her sentence when a pair of equally innocent and pure eyes were staring at her from in front of her.
The little girl looked up at Chu Caiwei, swallowed hard, but out of politeness to a stranger, she didn't ask for food; she just stared intently at Chu Caiwei.
"Do...do you want to eat it?" Chu Caiwei seemed to see her younger self, and couldn't help but soften her heart.
Xu Lingyin nodded vigorously.
“Okay, then I’ll share some with you.” Xu Lingyin took out some food, and the two walked side by side toward Li Chang’an’s main room. Their movements of picking up food and putting it into their mouths were perfectly synchronized.
Xu Qi'an followed silently behind, swallowing hard as he smelled the tempting aroma of the food.
"What's your name? Are you related to Li Chang'an?" Chu Caiwei asked.
"Um... my name is Xu Lingyin, and I'm considered Lord Li's sister-in-law..." The little boy's tone was surprisingly like an adult's.
Before long, the three arrived at Li Chang'an's main room and overheard Li Chang'an and Xu Lingyue's conversation.
"Take this face mask to the Princess and tell her not to overwork herself..."
"Give this booklet to Princess Lin'an so she can use these stretching methods after playing shuttlecock to prevent her calves from getting bulky and to improve her flexibility. She has great potential for the future..."
"Send some of this latest perfume to Fu Xiang; she likes it..."
"Lingyue, you've worked so hard. This earring is for you."
Then, Xu Qi'an heard Xu Lingyue's delighted exclamation, "Young master, you are so good to me..."
Xu Qi'an couldn't help but sigh, "Master is so busy, and such a jerk!"
"Li Chang'an, I brought you something delicious!" Chu Caiwei entered the room.
Xu Lingyue, who had just been sitting in Li Chang'an's lap, jumped up from his arms when she realized that Chu Caiwei had entered and seen this scene, looking very nervous and shy.
"Miss Caiwei, please excuse my poor manners."
The naive Chu Caiwei stepped into the room, clearly not paying much attention to Xu Lingyue's actions.
“Li Chang’an, don’t the two princesses come here often? Why do you still have Lingyue deliver things to them? Why don’t you just have them take them back with them when they come?”
Li Chang'an said with a smile, "It's about reciprocity."
Chu Caiwei became even more curious, "I didn't see the two princesses give you anything valuable as a reward."