Chapter 53

The severely wounded Wan Tong fell from the skywell, also startling the people below.

Next, they saw the black-clad swordsman Yan Shier also jump down from the skywell, and only then did they realize that experts had been stationed above.

Although Yan Shier had lain in ambush in the darkness above and his sneak attack targeted Wan Tong, who had been gravely injured by Yan Lie and was exhausted, he nevertheless succeeded in seriously wounding and capturing her.

So the people below still cried out in alarm.

"Is that the outsider who beheaded several Southern Wu rebels?"

"That's him! I'd estimate he's at least sixth rank."

Even during the exchange plan, Zhen Qing had suggested Yang Hanlu go find Yan Shier for help, having witnessed his cultivation, and also wanted to report that she was safe.

But Yang Hanlu said she also didn't know the whereabouts of this young hero Yan.

At this moment, seeing Yan Shier suddenly appear and seize Wan Tong, nobody had expected it, thinking that this guy always manages to bring surprises.

Of course, it was still Jiang Yunzhou controlling things remotely.

Originally, they hadn't prepared to deploy paper people for the investigation, but since they needed to capture Wan Tong tonight, Jiang Yunzhou felt it wise to have the paper people ready just in case.

After all, the opponent was a fifth-rank cultivator, so making extra preparations couldn't hurt.

Moreover, achieving merit in front of the Southern Peacekeeping Office's Peacekeeping Commissioner would solidify his position.

Yang Hanlu sighed:

"He seriously wounded Wan Tong so quickly; this young hero Yan's cultivation is truly unfathomable."

Jiang Yunzhou let out a light hum:

"It was basically all Yan Lie's doing; he just hid above and picked up the easy win—what's so unfathomable about that?"

After all, he had saved her, so Zhen Qing spoke up for Yan Shier:

"Hey, I heard he also saved you."

"Tch, even without him I could easily take care of those two Southern Wu rebels."

It was rare to see the usually unflappable Jiang Yunzhou seem emotional, so Zhen Qing pressed further:

"You wouldn't be jealous of this young hero Yan, would you?"

"Jealous of him?! Tch~"

Jiang Yunzhou naturally deliberately strained the relationship, so as to prevent others from imagining any connection between himself and Yan Shier.

Yan Lie glanced up and glanced at Yan Shier; he had also heard these days that his subordinate had recruited a mysterious black-clad swordsman.

But he never interfered in his subordinates' choices, so Yan Lie didn't even ask, merely nodding and arranging:

"Give Brother Wan acupuncture treatment for his injuries, then imprison him in the Heavenly Character cell."

"Yes!"

At this point, Wan Tong naturally had no strength left to resist, allowing the Southern Peacekeeping Office's personnel to take him away.

Seeing this, Jiang Yunzhou still worried that if Yan Lie asked a few more questions he might expose himself, so he manipulated the paper people to step on the skywell and fly away.

Zhen Qing thought that young hero Yan hadn't noticed her, and she had wanted to go over to explain, but remembering that she was still under the influence of the love gu, she dismissed the idea.

This wasn't over yet; Yan Lie continued to arrange:

"Hanlu, since Fang Tao is already dead, relying solely on Qin Gui's relics and what happened here as evidence isn't enough."

"I understand, I'll take people to search Wan Tong's home right away!"

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If Wan Tong were allowed to return to the Northern Peacekeeping Office, the subsequent investigation and search would naturally be impossible.

But at this moment, upon hearing that the Peacekeeping Office's Wan Tong had been captured, the people of the Northern Peacekeeping Office naturally could not obstruct the Southern Peacekeeping Office's duties.

After searching half a night, they indeed found in the pond of Wan Tong's courtyard residence unburnt remnants similar to the Peacekeeping Commissioner's garments from when Qiu Feng was around, plus some melted silver chunks, which appeared to have recently been sunk into the pond—likely evidence destroyed by Wan Tong.

They didn't find the twin-blade murder weapon, but given Wan Tong's cultivation, he could easily condense qi blades with two fingers, which everyone had witnessed the previous night.

Thus, although there were no eyewitnesses, the material evidence was solid, and the Southern Peacekeeping Office's personnel could basically testify that Wan Tong intended to kill Fang Tao to silence him.

Especially Qin Gui's letter, which described the past silver-carriage robbery case in great detail.

The mastermind was Wan Tong, and that silver-carriage robbery case was entirely his scheme.

At that time he was merely the Deputy Peacekeeping Commissioner of the Northern Peacekeeping Office.

He had his subordinate Qin Gui communicate with the bandits under Qiu Feng's name to plot the silver-carriage robbery, choosing to frame Qiu Feng because Qiu Feng's integrity in the Northern Peacekeeping Office prevented others from conducting illicit house searches and confiscations of gray income, and, of course, Wan Tong was the most affected.

He then secretly leaked to the bandits the details of the silver-carriage escort route and personnel, enabling the bandits to successfully intercept the silver carriage; Wan Tong deliberately assigned Qiu Feng to oversee the escort, and facing traps and hundreds of bandits, Qiu Feng led his people in a death-defying breakout from the encirclement.

Qiu Feng, severely wounded and carrying the news of the silver-carriage robbery and a mole within the Northern Peacekeeping Office, fled and encountered Qin Gui and Fang Tao, who had come ostensibly to "support" but actually to ensure that the Northern Peacekeeping Office's operation left no survivors.

The severely wounded Qiu Feng was no match for the two, and was ultimately ambushed and silenced; immediately afterward, the bandit chief trusted Wan Tong, who then secretly took Qin Gui and Fang Tao up the mountain to meet the bandit leader under the pretense of celebrating victory, but actually to poison and slaughter all the bandits.

After confirming everyone was dead, the three transferred the silver, and the next day Wan Tong led Northern Peacekeeping Office personnel to come and exterminate the mountain bandits, outwardly claiming that the poison had been secretly placed by Qin Gui and Fang Tao, while in fact everyone here had already been killed the previous day.

Moreover, throughout the operation, all issues with the corpses—such as the wound from Qiu Feng's goose-wing blade on his body, the timing of the bandits' poison-induced deaths in the cave, etc. —were handled by the two coroners.

Qiu Feng was convicted of colluding with bandits, his family exiled to Yunnan, and Wan Tong secretly used silver to have the escorts, after delivering them, arrange for their elimination there to prevent future trouble.

In the end, the thirty thousand taels of silver were divided among them, and Qin Gui, Fang Tao, and the two coroners naturally knew Wan Tong wielded greater power, so to protect themselves each retained some evidence just in case.

The letter's contents were only these, and upon examining the situation of those two coroners, it was discovered they had subsequently taken up gambling and owed considerable gambling debts outside, which also explains why no melted silver ingots were found in their homes—presumably they had spent it all.

Although there is no clear evidence of the case's origin, based on the coroners suddenly having money to repay debts, it is speculated that they used the silver-carriage robbery case to extort money from Wan Tong, prompting him to devise the idea of completely silencing the four.

Finally, after covering up his own traces, Wan Tong plotted this case, disguising it as revenge by Qiu Feng's descendants, and killed the four to silence them.

Currently, they are still in the stage of detaining the suspect and gathering evidence; only after everything is complete will they report to the Ministry of Justice or have the Three Offices conduct a joint trial.

Wan Tong is temporarily detained without interrogation, while Yang Hanlu and Zhou Zhen are still busy gathering evidence.

As the east began to pale, Jiang Yunzhou, who had spent the night uneventfully, saw Zhen Qing also looking a bit weary, and stretched lazily:

"Let's go, Lady Zhen; we probably have nothing more to do today—I'll treat you to the mountain delicacies and seafood of Liang."

"Boss, one bowl of salty tofu pudding and one bowl of sweet bean curd."

After three days of interaction, Zhen Qing's antagonism toward Jiang Yunzhou had also lessened somewhat.

"Your mountain delicacies and seafood are really simple."

"The sweet are the mountain delicacies, the salty are the seafood, no mistake, you need to eat your fill before you can think about the case."

"The case? Isn't it already solved?"

Jiang Yunzhou took a sip of soy milk, furrowed his brow, shook his head, and said:

"The case is solved, but I always feel there's something wrong, yet I can't put my finger on it."

Zhen Qing thought, this kid probably isn't using the case's doubtful points as an excuse to keep living next door, right?

"There are doubts, but the case is going quite smoothly."

Jiang Yunzhou thought of something, put down his soy milk bowl, and said:

"Exactly! The problem is the smoothness! It's too smooth! The smoothness makes me feel unnatural."

Just as Uncle Hu said, when you go looking for romance, if upon first meeting someone of the opposite sex they are both charming and like you, and things progress so naturally that you can't wait to get together, then you're likely encountering a honey trap.

This case indeed everything is my own deduction, but I always feel like I'm being led by the nose, even though there's actually nothing.

"Miss Zhen, you just mentioned doubts—what exactly are they?"

Zhen Qing lifted her veil, scooped a spoonful of sweet tofu pudding, and said:

"For example, demonic aura—the Wan Tong residence didn't detect any, but the homes of the two coroners, Qin Gui and Fang Tao, did have traces of demonic aura, though slight, indicating that a demonic creature had appeared there."

"Of course, it could also be a coincidence, like a demonic creature sneaking in to steal something, but that would be too much of a coincidence."

Jiang Yunzhou heard this, pondered for a moment, then suddenly stood up and said:

"Let's go!"

"Where to?"

"Qin Gui's home! And there's one last possibility."

Saying that, he grabbed Zhen Qing and rushed out without another word.

After running five steps, he turned back, sat down, and said:

"The money's already paid, eat up first, eat up first."