Chapter 111: The Truth No One Cares About

【Detected unnotarized consumable; provided by covenant partner, you may choose regular notarization or waive notarization】

【1. Notarize, Excellent-tier consumes Paradise Points × 5000】

【2. Do not notarize, it will be sent back upon repatriation】

——

【Detected covenant partner carrying a prohibited item belonging to a reserve Dimensional Apostle: Skill Book (Basic Ranged Combat), interception successful】

——

【You have sent back the covenant partner, repatriation cognitive rationalization modification complete, current duration: 2 hours, consumption: Paradise Points × 200】

Chu Danqing looked at the skill book that had fallen to the ground and immediately retrieved it; it seemed that basic skills were indeed strategic resources of the Paradise.

They were actually directly prohibited from circulation.

"Money-grubbing bastards." Chu Danqing's eye twitched; that was another 5,200 Paradise Points gone.

However, being able to exchange Paradise Points for resources and inheritances suitable for himself was already a great fortune; other Dimensional Apostles wouldn't even have a path to spend this money.

Then he opened the information on the improved Five-Cloud Pill.

【Five-Cloud Pill】

【Type: Consumable】

【Quality: Excellent】

【Effect: After consumption, accumulate 1000 points of Five Elements Qi in the body; complete refinement can improve the progress of Five Elements-type skills】

After seeing the effect, Chu Danqing fell silent; one Five-Cloud Pill was worth ten Five-Qi Pills.

"The so-called improvement, wouldn't it be lowering a high-quality pill to Excellent-tier?" Chu Danqing's eye twitched; this was simply a waste of heavenly treasures.

Guo Ming should know that he is poor; Excellent-tier ones cost 1,000 Paradise Points to afford, and if the quality were higher, he would go bankrupt.

Fortunately, he had obtained quite a few pieces of equipment and props, which he could sell after returning; otherwise, he would really be drinking the northwest wind upon his return.

After putting away the five Five-Cloud Pills, he continued to stare at the scene.

Now was not the time for cultivation.

He estimated that these five Five-Cloud Pills could raise all of his Five Elements Spirit Beast Scripture to around LV5~LV6.

Time ticked away until dawn; the personnel and materials of the entire Ghost Market had been detained and collected, and the entire area was completely sealed and monitored.

Chu Danqing took everything he could carry back to the Donggong, whether people or objects; he didn't let anything go.

Among them were large amounts of gold, silver, antiques, and other wealth.

As soon as he stepped into the Donggong, attendants were waiting for him, saying the Crown Prince wanted to see him.

Chu Danqing gave instructions for people to be settled before following them to see the Crown Prince.

"I need an explanation." After seeing Chu Danqing, the Crown Prince spoke in a tone that wasn't very good.

He thought Chu Danqing wanted Zhang Cai's corpse to make a fuss, but he didn't expect him to directly wipe out the entire Ghost Market.

The Crown Prince held high rank and heavy authority; how could he not know about the existence of the Ghost Market? It was just that he didn't dare to intervene.

But Chu Danqing doing this was equivalent to his own order.

Once dawn broke, the memorials impeaching him and Chu Danqing could be piled higher than a person.

"An explanation is too pale; the Feather-Wielding Guards have already cleared up part of the accounts and rosters." Chu Danqing said, taking out a freshly baked report: "The mastermind behind the assassination of Your Highness is Prince Fu."

After Chu Danqing presented it, several Feather-Wielding Guards stood by holding several account books, rosters, and documents.

A hint of joy appeared on the Crown Prince's face; he reached out to take the document Chu Danqing had presented and also had his own registrars and advisors verify the complete contents brought by the Feather-Wielding Guards.

After he briefly went through it, he handed it to one of his advisors and had him write a memorial first.

After about half an hour, the registrars and advisors finished their verification.

"Your Highness, what Lord Chu said is correct."

"The proprietor of the Ghost Market is Prince Fu, in which His Majesty holds a 70% stake, Consort Zheng and Prince Fu hold 10%, and the remainder belongs to the Investigative Bureau and the Qiutan Party respectively."

"Secondly, Zhang Cai entered the capital through the Ghost Market's channels, and the greenwood bandits used to intercept Commander Xiong and Lord Chu previously were also from the Ghost Market's channels."

"In addition, the iron staff used by Zhang Cai was forged by the Wu Family Blacksmith, who is secretly one of the blacksmiths of the Ghost Market."

"The Five-Stone Powder he consumed was also sold by the Ghost Market."

The Crown Prince heard what he wanted to hear, and the smile on his face became increasingly bright.

As for the involvement of Emperor Taichang, the Investigative Bureau, and the Qiutan Party? It didn't matter anymore.

This group wanted his life and the throne; if he chose to endure it, he might as well just slit his own throat and commit suicide, at least he would suffer less before dying.

"Left Guard Commander Chu has handled this matter well; you must be tired after working all night, go and get some rest." The Crown Prince said.

Next would be the Crown Prince's home field: a confrontation in the court to completely crush Prince Fu and make him roll out of the capital to his fief.

Without Prince Fu, the Qiutan Party would lose its moral high ground, and suppressing them would be no problem.

The Investigative Bureau is the sharp blade of the royal family and should not be overly depleted.

Whoever is the Emperor, the Investigative Bureau serves them; once he ascends the throne, it will be his own force.

It can be targeted, but it shouldn't be done too excessively.

"Yes, Your Highness." Chu Danqing bowed and left with Da Bao.

However, he didn't go back to rest, but returned to the place where the documents and files were stored.

He sat down and flipped through them slowly.

His B-tier side quest hadn't been completed, which meant he hadn't found the true culprit behind the "Tingji" (assassination attempt).

The mission was to find the true culprit; it didn't require him to kill or capture them, and he didn't need to give anyone an account.

Prince Fu and Consort Zheng were just the means for Chu Danqing to achieve his goal, and also the result the Crown Prince wanted.

By now, no one cared about the true culprit or the truth anymore.

As he flipped through, a large number of fragments were constantly being pieced together in his mind.

"Li Wanwu." Chu Danqing softly spoke the name of the Commandant of the Investigative Bureau.

【Mission completed, you obtained: Paradise Points × 5000, Attribute Points +3】

"So it really was you." Chu Danqing didn't expect it to actually be this eunuch.

Li Wanwu held a 10% stake in the Ghost Market; the Ghost Market's actions seemed to be Prince Fu's plan, but looking through the surface to see the truth, everything was led by Li Wanwu.

Prince Fu's methods were far inferior to Li Wanwu's.

"So, what exactly does Li Wanwu want to do?" Chu Danqing could be certain that even if he hadn't wiped out the Ghost Market, Li Wanwu would have subsequently released other clues to lead the Crown Prince to Prince Fu.

The goal was achieved, but he encountered someone like Chu Danqing who didn't play by the rules, making the process and result unacceptable to everyone.

Even Li Wanwu's own interests were affected.

"Sushen?" Chu Danqing's gaze fell on the transactions in the account book.

Large amounts of population, military equipment, and grain were being resold through the Ghost Market and finally sold to the Sushen people.

"A spy?" Chu Danqing suspected that Li Wanwu was a spy planted by the Sushen in the Taichang Dynasty: "But he's a eunuch, what is he after?"

"He is already above one person and below ten thousand; if he were really a Sushen spy, he should have defected by now."

Chu Danqing couldn't think of any reason for Li Wanwu to do this.

"Perhaps it was to use Prince Fu to strike at the Qiutan Party." Chu Danqing couldn't think of any reason, so he simply stopped there.

Eunuchs don't have many pursuits; power is one of them.

The Qiutan Party was powerful and extremely detrimental to Li Wanwu; perhaps that was why he gave birth to the idea of borrowing a knife to kill.

He didn't need to dwell on the purpose of a dying man.

After the situation calmed down, he would first kill Emperor Taichang, and after the Crown Prince ascended the throne, he would assist the new Emperor in pacifying the Qiutan Party; at that time, he would kill Li Wanwu.

The Crown Prince was 90% likely not a good Emperor, but in a world of choosing the lesser of two evils, at least the Crown Prince wasn't that bad.

As for him personally rebelling? The success rate existed, but then what?

Once the trial was completed, he would have to leave; it was impossible for him to stay in this Trial World for long.

Doing so would just be moving himself while harming others.

He could only try his best to maintain stability and make the Emperor of the Taichang Dynasty act a bit more human.

If the Crown Prince didn't act human after taking the throne, Chu Danqing wouldn't mind killing him again and replacing him with Prince Fu.

Anyway, all crows under heaven are black; he just needs an Emperor who isn't quite as black.

He closed the document and stood up to leave; by this time, the sky was already bright.

The Crown Prince had already taken the evidence and memorials to attend the morning court; when there was another opportunity, he would tell the Crown Prince the truth.

As for what the result would be, Chu Danqing didn't know.

It had to be said that the Crown Prince wasn't some black-hearted capitalist; he was quite generous to him.

Having taken someone's salary, Chu Danqing wouldn't slack off.

"It's time to offer incense to the Snake Soul to exchange for offerings, and cultivate while I'm at it." Chu Danqing muttered, taking Da Bao back to his residence in the Donggong.

After finishing, Chu Danqing took a look at his reputation level; the growth rate was very fast, obviously because the Ghost Market affair had begun to ferment.

After about ten minutes, his reputation reached the "Widely Renowned" level required for the trial mission.

【Reputation: Widely Renowned (107/100000)】

【Mission completed, you obtained: Paradise Points × 2000, Attribute Points +2】

【Trial mission is generating in real-time, expected to take seven days.】

(Note: Real-time mission generation time is not counted towards mission time)

Seeing this, Chu Danqing also felt amazed; could it be because the situation in the capital was currently unsettled, and his trial mission had been completed too quickly, that it required time to generate?

"The temporary reputation attribute didn't disappear and is still growing; it seems it will be useful later." Chu Danqing looked at his soaring reputation; it had already risen from 107 when he opened it to 3218.

However, the growth rate had slowed down, obviously because the various factions had communicated and already understood Chu Danqing's situation, which was why the growth efficiency had decreased.

If he wanted to continue growing, he would have to pull off another major event like wiping out the Ghost Market that affected the high levels of the court and the capital.

"Mr. Chu, you... this is a bit too big of a stir, isn't it?" Zhuo Bufan had been waiting for Chu Danqing for a long time; his father, Zhuo Qingsui, was still locked up in the prison.

"Otherwise? How could you and I save those people who were being sold like piglets?" Chu Danqing said calmly: "Don't worry about your father's matter; once there is a result in the court, he can be released."

"It's just that after this matter, your father will be part of the Crown Prince faction, no longer the Qiutan Party; tell him to stand in the right position."

Chu Danqing gave a reminder; as for whether Zhuo Qingsui could listen, that was none of his business.

"Many thanks for the reminder, Lord Chu; a gentleman associates but does not form cliques; my father is not some Qiutan Party member, just a loyal subject." Zhuo Bufan said.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 112 =====