Chapter 51

Seeing the copper plaque fall to the ground, all four were delighted.

"The brick beneath the third horizontal and fourth vertical— that must refer to the brick on the ground of Qin Gui's residence."

Even without inspecting it, the four could guess that what was inside was likely the true evidence of the murderer.

No one expected the most crucial evidence to have been right before everyone's eyes from the start, yet nobody paid it any heed.

They thought it was left by Qiu Feng's descendants to remind the investigators of the real culprit behind the silver carriage robbery, but it turned out to be a clue left by Qin Gui.

Zou Zhen exclaimed:

"The murderer didn't even notice there was something here!"

Jiang Yunzhou pondered:

"We didn't notice it either; the murderer might have thought leaving this silver ingot would make the scene look more like revenge by Qiu Feng's descendants. Of course, another possibility is that Qin Gui arranged it, and the ingot was placed there later by someone."

"Placed there later? No way—when we went, the silver ingot was on the corpse…… Holy shit, you mean Qin Gui's steward?"

"I'm just speculating; it's only a possibility—for instance, they could have arranged beforehand with the steward to hand the ingot over to the Zhen Ning Office if anything happened to them. Or maybe the murderer simply didn't notice. Right now, the most important thing is to go see what's hidden there."

"If we go out now all excited to look for clues, we might attract attention, right?"

Soon after, Jiang Yunzhou and Zhen Qing walked out of the evidence room, their expressions still seeming quite indignant.

Coincidentally, the Northern Zhen Ning Office Envoy, Wan Tong, saw them as she was leaving.

"Young Master Jiang, are you leaving?"

Jiang Yunzhou gave a light snort and said:

"All they think about is closing the case; if I'd known they'd close it like this, why would they have had me come over?"

"Don't get so worked up, Young Master Jiang; another day I'll go pay my respects to Lord Dong and personally thank you for your assistance."

Jiang Yunzhou feigned indignation and stalked off; to make the Zhen Ning Office personnel believe he had truly left, the two chose to ride together on the same horse they had arrived on.

Zhen Qing, who mounted first, instinctively raised her right arm; Jiang Yunzhou, seated behind her, followed by extending his right hand from under her ribs to encircle her slender waist and support her lower abdomen, saying:

"Looks like Senior Heroine Zhen is quite practiced at this, huh?"

Zhen Qing, who hadn't given it a second thought just now, realized what was happening, embarrassed and helpless, she tapped her head and muttered to herself:

"Zhen Qing! What on earth are you doing?!"

If it weren't for saving face for the still‑injured Jiang Yunzhou, Zhen Qing would have wanted to turn and elbow this good‑for‑nothing quack off the horse.

The two quickly arrived at Qin Gui's courtyard, where two guards from the Southern Zhen Ning Office were still stationed; seeing Jiang Yunzhou and the heroine so intimate, they believed all the more the rumor they had heard from Zou Zhen the day before.

Jiang Yunzhou and Zhen Qing didn't waste time talking, rushing straight to the main hall and, following the copper plaque's indication, came to the brick marked three across and four down.

Drawing his sword, he sliced along the seam, and with just that one cut the gap around the brick opened up.

Jiang Yunzhou inspected and said:

"This brick has been taken out recently—perhaps Qin Gui, seeing those two coroners killed, came back to check his own preparations."

Pa!

As the floor tile was lifted, the sand beneath was revealed, along with the ceramic jar buried in it.

Removing the oil paper atop the ceramic jar, they finally saw a thick envelope placed inside.

Opening sheet after sheet of letter paper, sure enough, as Jiang Yunzhou and the others had expected, the envelope contained the true account of the silver carriage robbery case from years ago.

Even though they were mentally prepared, seeing the contents made Jiang Yunzhou and Zhen Qing involuntarily gasp.

And at the end of the letter paper, two sentences had clearly been added later:

"I don't really believe it's revenge by Qiu Feng's descendants, but I hope it is; if it isn't, this letter will surely see the light of day again."

Zhen Qing frowned, puzzled, and said:

"Since those two coroners are dead, why didn't he take this letter and the evidence and report it?"

Jiang Yunzhou pondered:

"It's a gambler's mindset; according to the letter, Qin Gui figured the murderer would only kill those two coroners, and if he were to leak this letter, he'd be as good as dead. Come on, with these few letters we'll have no trouble handling it!"

Seeing the two return, Wan Tong, who remained at the Southern Zhen Ning Office, was also somewhat surprised.

"Young Master Jiang, what is this?"

"I went back to get some medicine, to see if there's any way to cure that Lord Fang Tao; if it still doesn't work, then forget it."

Wan Tong didn't say much about it, while Yang Hanlu and Zou Zhen, upon seeing Qin Gui's letter, finally understood the whole situation; however, Zou Zhen still felt some worry and said:

"At last the matter is clear, but I'm afraid that just this letter and the evidence aren't enough; we need to find a way to catch the culprit red‑handed."

Yang Hanlu hesitated slightly and said:

"I do have a plan, though it's a bit risky."

Having heard Yang Hanlu's plan, Jiang Yunzhou nodded and said:

"Not bad; I think it's reliable—I'll take care of it myself."

Although she wanted to keep her distance from Jiang Yunzhou, Zhen Qing couldn't help reminding him:

"That's a fifth‑rank thing! You'd better forget it—I have an Illusion Talisman; if it won't work, then let me do it."

Jiang Yunzhou heard this and chuckled:

"As expected, Heroine Zhen still cares about me, huh?"

"Don't get full of yourself—I'm just worried about suffering the agony of being burned."

Zou Zhen thought to himself, "You two are really obvious in your lover's quarrel—if Jiang Yunzhou died, this Heroine Zhen would suffer the agony of being burned."

"What agony of being burned? It must be the torment of passion."

In other words, it's nothing but Jiang Yunzhou or nothing—could it be that this Heroine Zhen has already become Jiang Yunzhou's......

Seeing Zou Zhen looking at her again with that strange gaze, Zhen Qing glared at Jiang Yunzhou and said:

"Do as you please—being slapped to death by a palm would be better!"

Yang Hanlu double‑checked the plan, saw that nobody had any objections, and then nodded.

Alright, then we'll proceed like this. Everyone, please stay safe. When this matter is over, I'll treat you all to drinks!

Everyone acted according to the plan, and Yang Hanlu went out the door, heading toward the room arranged for Wan Tong at the Southern Peace Prefecture, knocking and saying:

Lord Wan! There's a turnaround! There's a turnaround!

What is it?

Just now, Young Master Jiang fed Fang Tao several kinds of medicine and administered a few needles, already rescuing Fang Tao; that fellow just regained a bit of consciousness, only uttering a few words before falling back into a deep sleep.

What did he say?

He just shouted things like 'Silver!' 'Subordinate!' and the like; I didn't quite catch it, but Young Master Jiang said he'll surely wake up tomorrow morning, then we can ask clearly what exactly happened, and the truth will come to light. So please, Lord Wan, wait another night; after the truth is confirmed, it won't be too late for me to discuss with you how to handle it.

Wan Tong's brows furrowed slightly, but she still smiled and nodded, saying:

Great! Then we'll wait one more day.

————————————

At night, the entire Southern Peace Prefecture fell completely silent; the already desolate Yan Judgment Street became even more gloomy.

Taking advantage of the Southern Peace Prefecture's Peace Marshal Yan Lie's subordinates going out on patrol, a black ghostly silhouette slipped through the rooms of the Southern Peace Prefecture, silently reaching the room where Fang Tao was.

To let Fang Tao rest well, Jiang Yunzhou demanded that no one be allowed inside the room.

Meanwhile, taking advantage of the moment when the two Southern Peace Prefecture subordinates guarding the opposite door turned their heads to pour water, that black silhouette had already silently entered Fang Tao's room.

The black silhouette slowly walked to the bedside, joined two fingers together, and condensed inner energy between them into a sharp qi blade.

Raising his hand, he slashed toward Fang Tao's throat.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Almost simultaneously, several silver needles shot out from under the bed.

At the same time, the black silhouette was startled, turned his fingers to block all the silver needles, but then his lower leg felt a slight pain.

Because the distance was too close, another silver needle shot from below still struck his lower leg.

Realizing he had walked into an ambush, yet the black silhouette did not intend to stop; he leapt back, flicked the qi blade in his hand, and it shot straight toward Fang Tao.

Clang!

However, as a burst of golden light flared, runes appeared all over Fang Tao's body, protecting him within; immediately afterward, golden talisman patterns lit up on the ground as well.

Knowing the operation had failed, the black silhouette helplessly jumped out of the room.

But hardly had he stepped outside when the ground beneath his feet violently shook; the mechanism sealing the entire Southern Peace Prefecture was activated, and the iron doors and windows forged from refined steel came crashing down.

The surrounding flames were also ignited, lighting the interior of the Southern Peace Prefecture as bright as daylight; the armed subordinates of the Southern Peace Prefecture outside also sealed off the area, leaving no gap.

At this moment, the banner officers of the Southern Peace Prefecture hidden in the surrounding rooms also rushed out; meanwhile, Yang Hanlu, who had been hiding next door to Fang Tao's room, came out with Zhen Qing.

It's about time we see who you really are.