Chapter 525

A few days before Zhu Youjian was assassinated, a carpenter from out of town had visited their village.

He stayed at Li Erniu's house at the end of the village.

However, after the assassination attempt on the Emperor, that carpenter and Li Erniu's entire family disappeared.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard immediately pressed, "Why didn't you mention this when we questioned you before?"

The villagers of Xiao Huang Village looked rather grim.

It was the old village head among them who stepped forward to reply: "At the time, we thought everyone was dead. The whole village was terrified and dared not speak rashly..."

With the help of most villagers recalling the events, the face of this out-of-town carpenter was quickly described.

Among the Embroidered Uniform Guard, there were already masters of quick sketching.

Soon, an image very similar to the culprit was drawn.

Su Qiao followed them to Li Erniu's courtyard.

This courtyard was at the end of the village, indeed not very conspicuous.

Why this "carpenter" chose to stay here was also obvious.

Neither Su Qiao nor the Embroidered Uniform Guard found anyone here, but the house did not look like someone had left.

Both the Embroidered Uniform Guard and Su Qiao realized that the people here should not have left.

Rather, they should have been killed.

Luo Yangxing instructed his subordinates: "Pay attention to the soil in the courtyard; see if there are signs of it having been turned over."

"Yes!"

Since a snowfall had already occurred, after a simple clearing of the snow cover, the soil was exposed to the air.

Fortunately, Li Erniu's courtyard was not large, and with the Embroidered Uniform Guard's many hands making light work, the snow was cleared in no time.

Soon, they made a discovery!

"My lord, there are signs of digging in the vegetable patch!"

Even with the greatest caution, as long as one is careful enough, turned soil will be found.

Moreover, this "carpenter" had not hidden it carefully.

So it was very fortunate that the Embroidered Uniform Guard found it so quickly.

There were indeed signs of digging in the vegetable patch in the backyard.

At the very least, Su Qiao saw vegetable leaves turned into the soil.

Furthermore, the color of the soil in this area was different from the rest.

Do not be fooled by the snow covering it above; the earth was not completely frozen.

The difference could still be seen.

"Dig, dig it up!"

Luo Yangxing ordered without hesitation.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard immediately fetched shovels and pickaxes and began to dig.

In a short while, a foul stench wafted over.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard also discovered the body buried in the soil.

As expected!

This confirmed that the "carpenter" and those plotting the assassination of Zhu Youjian were from the same organization.

They had not investigated wrongly!

Luo Yangxing immediately ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to take the sketch drawn earlier back, copy it, distribute the copies, and send people to find this person.

However, Su Qiao added an extra reminder: "Do not rely too much on this portrait. If it were me, I would simply disguise myself and change my appearance, so there will certainly be differences, such as hair, beard, walking posture, and so on."

Originally, Luo Yangxing and the others were quite excited.

They had finally found a truly usable lead.

But after Su Qiao said that, they immediately felt as if a basin of cold water had been poured over their heads in the dead of winter, chilling them from head to toe.

The key point was that what Su Qiao said made sense.

Luo Yangxing opened his mouth: "Alright, did everyone hear what Mr. Su said? We must still search, but we must also pay attention to cases where they are wearing a beard, or have changed their hair, and so on."

"Yes!"

"The shovel was not found; it must have been taken by the 'carpenter' as well. We just do not know where he threw it. We will have to look for it later; perhaps it is buried somewhere."

Su Qiao said after thinking for a moment.

"He left a deep pit over there; why would he bother specifically burying a shovel?"

One of the Embroidered Uniform Guard nearby could not help but mutter.

Su Qiao chuckled; instead of blaming him, he nodded and said: "This is a suspicious point. A shovel should not be a tool that exposes the 'carpenter's' identity; there was no need to specifically bury it."

"But he indeed did just that! The shovel is gone, specifically thrown away or buried. This proves that this shovel is important! It must contain clues that expose his identity!"

......... 0

Su Qiao said directly without thinking.

"Find the shovel!"

Luo Yangxing did not want to waste any more time.

By this time, the sun had already begun to set in the west, and Su Qiao and the others had not yet eaten.

Su Qiao had been summoned by Luo Yangxing to the Northern Embroidered Uniform Guard Office since breakfast this morning.

It was now almost afternoon, and they still had not had lunch.

Even though Luo Yangxing had felt rather awkward toward Su Qiao before, he now felt somewhat ashamed.

"Mr. Su, it's getting late. Let them continue searching while we go eat first."

"Hmm, if Lord Luo hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have remembered. Now that you say it, my stomach really is growling."

"I am truly ashamed! Thanks to Mr. Su's help, otherwise we wouldn't have so many leads." Luo Yangxing kept his posture very low.

After all, this was a request for guidance, and with Su Qiao coming to help, it had indeed brought the Embroidered Uniform Guard tremendous progress.

Many things previously ignored had, in Su Qiao's hands, turned into useful clues.

He truly admired Su Qiao's mind.

Getting into the carriage, Luo Yangxing brought Su Qiao to Jingcheng's top restaurant, Yipin Lou.

The waiters and Shopkeeper of Yipin Lou saw Luo Yangxing and the Embroidered Uniform Guard's flying fish robes, shivered with alarm, and hurried forward to greet them.

"Oh my, Lord Luo, please, my lords, up to the second floor! There are private rooms upstairs!"

"Good. Shopkeeper, serve good wine first, then bring a full table of fine dishes! Be quick, we haven't had lunch yet, we're hungry!"

"Right away!" The door.

380, the Handprint has a problem!

Su Qiao, being a guest following the host's lead, didn't pay it any mind.

Just as he had said earlier, his stomach had been hungry long ago.

Now he was just waiting to eat!

The Shopkeeper of Yipin Lou knew the Embroidered Uniform Guard was not to be trifled with, and knew even better Luo Yangxing's identity.

Immediately, he served several cold dishes, along with Shaoxing yellow wine.

The warmed yellow wine, once drunk into the stomach, was extremely warming; the chill in his body was instantly dispelled.

Afterwards, various signature dishes and wines were served, and Luo Yangxing and Su Qiao picked up their chopsticks first.

No one stood on ceremony; everyone ate in a lively, bustling manner.

At the table, besides Luo Yangxing toasting Su Qiao with two cups of wine, no one else offered a toast.

Because everyone knew clearly that after finishing the meal, they still had to go to the outskirts to check the situation.

Of course, the Embroidered Uniform Guard took turns, or brought their own meals.

It was impossible to keep working without letting them eat.

Even the Emperor doesn't starve his soldiers!

So this meal was eaten very quickly, unlike previous banquet situations where one had to go through the motions of toasting and exchanging cups.

Anyway, everyone ate very decisively and cleanly.

After the meal, Su Qiao poured himself a cup of tea and drank it slowly, taking a temporary rest.

Meanwhile, two other members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard went down to tell the waiter to prepare more food to take away; they would wait a while during this time.