Chapter 169

With Ma Ma Yunfeng's tiger skin pulled over him, Jia Jia Simou couldn't say anything and could only cooperate with Chu Chu Danqing's investigation.

First, they searched Lou Yuesheng's room, thinking they might find some clues.

Facts proved that Chu Chu Danqing was not a criminal investigator and couldn't find any useful clues.

Instead, the head constable and the constables determined that the primary crime scene of Lou Yuesheng's death was his room.

And they reconstructed part of the process, though it seemed a bit crude.

The final result was that the perpetrator was a master.

This result was as good as saying nothing; Chu Chu Danqing knew it without them telling him.

"Young Master Chu, it's hard to catch the person." After the head constable finished cleaning up the scene, his first sentence was a blow.

If it were an ordinary person committing the crime, there might be a chance to catch them, but if it were a master, they would be like shadows, coming and going without a trace, leaving no chance at all.

"Why not summon all the masters in the city one by one for questioning?" The head constable didn't have a good solution either.

In the past, the head constable certainly wouldn't have said this; those who practiced martial arts all had some background.

Not to mention that to reach this level, they were at least wealthy and well-connected, far from anyone he could afford to offend.

But now that it involved Prime Minister Ma Ma Yunfeng, he had the confidence.

"Leave it to you to handle; you can go ask for Lord Jia's order." Chu Chu Danqing didn't intend to investigate in that direction.

He suspected it was done by someone in Jia Jia Simou's Provincial Governor's mansion, and the people the head constable could summon certainly wouldn't include them.

"Yes." The head constable replied, also wondering why he had to ask for Lord Jia's order.

"Where did this come from?" Chu Chu Danqing found a familiar-looking illustrated book in Lou Yuesheng's bundle.

On it was drawn a small yellow dragon with scales and horns, centered on musical temperament.

This was one of the Nine Cauldrons Diagrams; according to the characteristics of the dragon's sons, it should be the Qiuniu Scroll.

"Reporting to my lord, this is the small tune Lou Yuesheng was best at, and it is the original copy passed down in his family." The head constable said immediately.

Chu Chu Danqing narrowed his eyes: "Shouldn't it be confiscated?"

"This subordinate is not sure." How would the head constable know whether it should be confiscated?

In the past, they would scrape everything clean first, but they also knew how to exercise discretion.

Don't be greedy at a time like this.

"I'll take it; consider it an offering to the Old Master." Chu Chu Danqing casually stuffed it into his pocket.

Since Ma Ma Yunfeng had agreed to let him borrow his influence, Chu Chu Danqing certainly wouldn't be polite.

The group naturally couldn't say anything, only muttering in their hearts that this person was truly an opportunist.

They 'understood' Chu Chu Danqing's intention; since it was an offering to Prime Minister Ma Ma Yunfeng, how could they dare say no?

Actually, they didn't have many thoughts; even if Chu Chu Danqing didn't take it, it wouldn't fall into their hands anyway.

"Alright, go handle the case; notify me as soon as there is any news." Chu Chu Danqing said, then left Meixiang Garden directly.

To be honest, he didn't have much confidence in this side quest.

Without the Imperial Guard or the Secret Service, he couldn't get any results by investigating on his own.

"I wonder if Guo Ming has any ability in this regard." Chu Chu Danqing looked at this Nine Cauldrons Diagram with some distress.

【Qiuniu Scroll · Literary Pulse】

【Type: Equipment · Illustrated Book】

【Quality: Excellent】

【Durability: 100/100】

【Rites and Music Clarity (Passive): Equipment/Skill cooldown -3 seconds】

【Youth Fades Easily (Passive): Healing recovery effect received -30%】

【Equipment Requirement: None】

He took a look and stuffed it into his storage space; none of his equipment or skills had cooldowns.

Most summoning skills didn't have cooldowns, not because they were particularly blessed, but because their usage frequency was low.

They were more of the type that required mana for supply and maintenance; even for 'Escort', the only active skill Chu Chu Danqing had, his full mana could only support two consecutive uses.

Unlike other types of apostles, whose skill release frequency was much higher, thus requiring cooldowns to protect themselves.

Cooldowns were not a restriction, but a protection mechanism for the apostle and their equipment.

Otherwise, high-frequency and high-intensity use in a short period would certainly cause damage.

Under normal circumstances, as long as it was used according to the cooldown and without external attacks, the durability of the equipment would decrease extremely slowly.

You might not even see a decrease after using it for generations.

Melee weapons like swords were another matter, as they had to clash hard constantly.

"Another useless item." Chu Chu Danqing actually knew that the Qiuniu Scroll was useless to him, but it might not be for other apostles.

3 seconds wasn't much, but not all skills had long cooldowns.

"Then the other Nine Cauldrons Diagram should be related to Lou Yuesheng's death."

"I've received part of the side quest reward in advance." Chu Chu Danqing muttered.

He didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing, but he could be sure that the Nine Cauldrons Diagram was highly likely related to the Great Shuo's founding emperor.

"Person, black, female." Da Bao reminded him.

The female apostle who called herself Miss Lianyun walked out from a corner.

This time, she wasn't as sexy and hot as she was at the Liu mansion, but had returned to the fully wrapped-up appearance from before.

Chu Chu Danqing ignored her directly.

The road is wide; let's each go our own way.

There was no conflict of interest between the two sides; Chu Chu Danqing wouldn't go over to strike up a conversation, nor would he provoke her.

Everyone was completing their own assessment tasks; there was nothing to talk about.

Miss Lianyun's hostile target was not Chu Chu Danqing, but the apostle who had joined the Provincial Governor's mansion.

They were the ones who were hostile; Chu Chu Danqing belonged to the neutral faction.

Miss Lianyun knew this, which was why she didn't make a move on Chu Chu Danqing.

One apostle from a hostile faction was already giving her a headache; if she offended Chu Chu Danqing as well, she would truly be dead.

"Liu Bai asked me to bring you a message." Miss Lianyun didn't appear here for no reason; she was specifically waiting for Chu Chu Danqing to pass on information to increase her faction contribution.

Joining a faction and activating the faction shop required contribution as currency to purchase items.

After receiving Chu Chu Danqing's permission, the Charioteer Armored Guard stopped the carriage.

"What message?" Chu Chu Danqing turned to look at her and asked.

"I don't know; it's written inside." Miss Lianyun said, throwing a brocade pouch to Chu Chu Danqing.

The Armored Guard to the side reached out and grabbed it first.

"I see; anything else?" Chu Chu Danqing didn't open it immediately.

"Yes." Miss Lianyun said: "Any interest in cooperating to kill"

Before she could finish, Chu Chu Danqing signaled the Charioteer Armored Guard to leave.

Chu Chu Danqing knew what she was going to say; wasn't it to kill the apostle from the Provincial Governor's mansion faction together?

Seeing this, Miss Lianyun turned and left; she had expected this result.

On the other side, Chu Chu Danqing returned directly to his rented mansion and had the Armored Guard open the pouch.

Inside was a note, and the content was very simple.

"Iron-Armored Guard Pacification Commissioner Deng Cheng entered the city secretly last night and is staying at the Provincial Governor's mansion?" Chu Chu Danqing narrowed his eyes: "Coming so fast."

"It's only the first day, and the vanguard has already arrived."

"Qi Qianshan hasn't come yet; he must be preparing for a fatal blow." Chu Chu Danqing casually used the Fire Element Spirit to ignite the note.

Just as he was thinking about how to handle it, Wei Chu Yi knocked on the open door and said: "Brother Chu, what are you busy with?"

"Thinking about Lou Yuesheng's death." Chu Chu Danqing replied.

Wei Chu Yi walked in and said: "I've found some clues."

Hearing this, Chu Chu Danqing frowned: "Didn't I tell you to disband the intelligence network?"

"Of course I listened to Brother Chu; they aren't doing those things anymore." Wei Chu Yi couldn't help but smile: "But I'm just lucky."

"It's the Bai Hu Hall."

"The night Lou Yuesheng came, the Bai Hu Hall seemed to have moved things out of Meixiang Garden."

"According to Chen Chen Asi, there were more than a dozen large boxes, and the carriage tracks weren't heavy."

"They might be books, paper, or something similar."

"I suspect they are the account books of the four major sects, which were previously moved from Yichun Tower to Meixiang Garden."

"Later, with Prime Minister Ma's arrival, they had to change locations again." Wei Chu Yi said: "I had Zhou Zhou Xiaoqi investigate, and he followed the tracks to the Bai Hu Hall."

Hearing this, Chu Chu Danqing had a look of utter confusion.

"Are you sure it's luck???" Chu Chu Danqing didn't believe it at all; this was so detailed it was almost a reenactment.

"Yes, it's luck." Wei Chu Yi insisted on this explanation: "Chen Chen Asi empties the night soil, and Zhou Zhou Xiaoqi is usually a night watchman."

"Next time, do your own jobs well and don't get involved again." Chu Chu Danqing warned, then sighed: "Tell me, what other news did your 'luck' get this time?"

Since he had already inquired, Chu Chu Danqing didn't intend to ignore it.

"I suspect Lou Yuesheng knew something he shouldn't have and was silenced."

"Although Lou Yuesheng was invited by that dog Jia Jia Simou, his arrival was rushed, and the Bai Hu Hall might not have received the news."

"So a misunderstanding occurred, and he was silenced; otherwise, even if they wanted to kill him, they would have waited until after receiving Prime Minister Ma." Wei Chu Yi didn't care about Chu Chu Danqing's emphasis on the word 'luck'.

Chu Chu Danqing looked at the sky and said: "I'll make a trip to the Bai Hu Hall tonight."

It wasn't far from dark, so he wouldn't go in broad daylight.

Because he knew that if he went this time, he would inevitably wipe them out.

He could pretend to be deaf and dumb if he didn't see it, but sometimes he truly couldn't tolerate it when he did.

"I need to go and clear the air with Ma Ma Yunfeng; you go run the errand for me."

"Don't rush back; build a better relationship with him before you return." Chu Chu Danqing said.

Wei Chu Yi was exposed to many things now and naturally understood Chu Chu Danqing's meaning; it was nothing more than wanting him to climb the social ladder.

"That doesn't seem right." Wei Chu Yi hesitated; he didn't really want to associate with such high-ranking officials.

"There's nothing wrong with it; you can't follow me forever." Chu Chu Danqing said bluntly: "You have to consider yourself."

"There isn't much I can do to help you; how far you go depends entirely on yourself."

"I, this" Wei Chu Yi's mind was a mess; he hadn't considered how to continue without Chu Chu Danqing at all.

He had this confidence only because Chu Chu Danqing was there.

(End of chapter)