Dafeng Night Watchman

Chapter 392: An Old Case

Chapter 392: Chapter 392: An Old Case

The Imperial Master actually came to visit, and in person? Taoist Master Jinlian is so prestigious... Xu Qi'an was impressed by Taoist Master Jinlian's prestige, and saluted with a sense of flattery.

"Meet the Imperial Master."

When he looked at Luo Yuheng again, he found something different. The Luo Yuheng he saw in Lingbao Temple was beautiful, but still a flesh and blood body.

The female Imperial Master he saw in front of him exuded a holy glow. If he had to describe it, it would probably be the best interpretation of "ice skin and jade bones".

Luo Yuheng glanced at him and said lightly: "This is Yang Shen."

Yang Shen... the third-grade Yang Shen of Taoism? The legendary Yang Shen who is not afraid of wind and thunder and travels in the void? Xu Qi'an was surprised, like watching a giant panda, he couldn't move his eyes away.

Luo Yuheng frowned slightly, her clear eyes flashed with anger, and she said lightly: "What do you want to call me for?"

Realizing that his gaze had inadvertently offended the national teacher, Xu Qi'an hurriedly sat up straight, looking straight ahead, and said in a deep voice: "I want to tell the national teacher something."

After a pause, he considered: "In the Chuzhou massacre case, Emperor Yuan Jing and Prince Huai conspired, one refined the blood pill and the other refined the soul pill. Prince Huai refined the blood pill to impact the third-grade great perfection, and then devour the princess's spiritual essence."

Since he has already fallen out, he will not pretend to call him "Your Majesty". As for the princess's secret, Xu Qi'an does not believe that a dignified second-grade Taoist master would not know that the princess has hidden spiritual essence.

"What I want to know is, what is the purpose of Emperor Yuan Jing refining soul pills?"

Hearing this, Luo Yuheng frowned, pondered for a few seconds, and slowly said: "Yuan Jing has practiced Taoism for twenty years, and has barely reached the sixth-grade Yin Shen realm. It is a long way to go to form a pill."

This, this... After practicing Taoism for twenty years, he is still a sixth-grade, I don't know how to complain, with the resources of the whole country, even a pig should be able to form a pill!!

Is Emperor Yuan Jing's talent in practicing Taoism the same as Xu Lingyin's talent in reading?

Xu Qian'an gathered his thoughts and said: "Could it be a disguise?"

Luo Yuheng glanced at him and said nothing.

Xu Qian'an bowed repeatedly to express his apology.

Such doubts are disrespectful to a second-grade Taoist master.

Luo Yuheng continued: "Yuan Jing's soul is naturally weak, which is the reason why he has poor aptitude for practicing Taoism."

Taoist Master Jinlian said that soul pills can strengthen the primordial spirit. Could it be that Emperor Yuan Jing is trying to make up for his congenital defects? Xu Qian'an thought to himself, and then heard Luo Yuheng frowning and said:

"But there are many ways to strengthen the soul, meditation, eating bait, you don't have to refine the soul pill."

Xu Qian'an nodded: "In other words, the soul pill has another function."

From a psychological point of view, only madmen are reckless, but Emperor Yuan Jing is not a madman, on the contrary, he is a king with deep scheming.

Before he does something, he will definitely weigh the consequences, and he will only do it if the benefits are rich enough. If the soul pill is only to stabilize the foundation of the sixth rank, he is unlikely to take the initiative to plan a massacre, the cost is too high.

At most, he will acquiesce to King Huai.

Luo Yuheng asked back: "What do you think?"

Xu Qian'an smiled bitterly and said: "There is a lack of clues and no way to guess. I will try to check this matter. As for the national teacher, you just do it in your heart."

He believed that with the wisdom of a second-rank strongman, he didn't need to explain and exhort too much, just a reminder was enough.

Luo Yuheng said "hmm" and asked, "Was the princess really abducted by the barbarians and there has been no news since then?"

Xu Qi'an sighed, "Yes, it's a pity for the most beautiful woman in Dafeng. The prince of Huai is dead, and the princess is probably..."

He showed some regret appropriately, fully expressing the regret of a normal man for the misfortune of a beautiful woman.

Luo Yuheng looked at him calmly, and after a moment of silence, he asked casually, "I heard from Jinlian that you found the ancient art of sex in the underground palace tomb outside Yongzhou City?"

Why are you asking this? Xu Qi'an was stunned for a moment and answered truthfully, "Yes."

"Have you comprehended it thoroughly?"

When asking, Luo Yuheng's beautiful eyes stared at him intently.

"This... I have never practiced it. I heard from Taoist Master Jinlian that this technique can only be practiced by men and women who are proficient in the art of sex. It is not possible to practice it with a woman."

Xu Qi'an is also an old hand. It is still a bit awkward to talk about such private matters with a stunning beauty.

Luo Yuheng nodded slightly.

Xu Qi'an saw a trace of satisfaction in her eyes?

"The Chuzhou massacre case has come to an end for the time being. Yuan Jing is now eager for this matter to be over immediately. He will never retaliate against you in the short term." Luo Yuheng reminded:

"As for the follow-up, you should be more careful. Once you find signs of revenge, let your family resign immediately and wait for them to be reinstated later."

Xu Qi'an nodded. This is the price of offending an emperor.

The mastermind behind the scenes has not shown any signs of action for the time being. It is a long-term threat, while Emperor Yuan Jing is a near worry.

I must improve my cultivation as quickly as possible so that I can protect myself.....

"Keep this talisman sword. Use the Qi to stimulate it in times of crisis. Just count it as one of my attacks. If you need to contact me, just inject your divine thoughts into it."

Luo Yuheng's Yang Shen turned into golden light and fled away.

Xu Qian'an put away the talisman sword and pinched his brows: "Short-term goal is to be promoted to the fifth rank. Then check on Emperor Yuan Jing. Hey, I didn't expect that there would be a day when I would check on the emperor."

.......

"Zhong Li, Zhong Li..."

Xu Qian'an left the house and looked around.

"I'm here." Zhong Li hugged her knees, sat by the window, and responded weakly.

It's good that you didn't fall... Xu Qian'an breathed a sigh of relief.

He took Zhong Li past Xu Erlang's study and looked through the window. Xu Erlang and Chu Yuanzhen were drinking and talking happily, and the scholar was still talking without any help.

Well, with Brother Chu's sophistication in dealing with people, knowing that Erlang "does not want to reveal his identity", he would not rashly mention the fragments of the Earth Book.

Erlang can chat with Chu Yuanzhen for so long, he is worthy of being the first place in the Spring Examination and the second-class Jinshi, and his level is not bad.

All the way to the door of Li Miaozhen's room, I heard Su Su said crisply inside: "Dad, hey, dad, hey....."

Like a repeater, over and over again, looking very happy.

"Have you started practicing how to call me dad? Don't call me dad, call me dad." Xu Qian'an pushed open the door and entered the room.

Su Su, wearing an exquisite and complicated white dress, giggled and said: "What does it have to do with you? Your stupid kid is really interesting. The master taught you to recognize words, and you wrote a "daddy". The master said: Dad.

"Your stupid kid said: Hey! "

Su Su's feet slipped from laughing, and she fell on the table, shaking.

Xu Qiyan: "....."

No wonder Li Miaozhen looked like she was doubting her life at that time.

Why was Chu Yuanzhen so furious? He thought about it, but refrained from asking, not wanting to expose his companion's scars.

"I'm going out for a while. If you have nothing to do, can you accompany me?" Xu Qiyan looked at the Saint of Tianzong.

The Saint's little face was full of the three words "unhappy", and she said unhappily: "If you have something to say, just say it, don't disturb my practice."

The tone was a bit aggressive, don't take your anger out on me... Xu Qiyan explained:

"I know a private house of Duke Cao, and there are incredible things hidden in it. Let's explore it together?"

I'm interested when you say that... Li Miaozhen smiled: "Okay. "

.......

Duke Cao's private residence is a small courtyard facing the lake a few miles away from the imperial city.

Although it is called a small courtyard, it is not small, with two entrances and a locked gate. No one has lived there for a long time.

Li Miaozhen narrowed her eyes, examined the house, and snorted coldly: "Such a private residence is not far from the imperial city, the location is good, and it is quiet. It costs at least 8,000 taels of silver.

"And Duke Cao has more than a dozen such private residences, which are used to keep mistresses. It is simply hateful and worth killing."

Sorry, in a short time, I will also become a man who buys private residences to keep mistresses... Xu Qian'an teased silently, looking around, and the warrior's instinctive intuition about danger did not give any response.

There was no ambush around, and Duke Cao's private residence was indeed hidden.

Seeing that there was no one around, Xu Qian'an, Li Miaozhen and Zhong Li jumped over the high wall and landed lightly in the courtyard.

The moment his feet touched the ground, Xu Qi'an suddenly turned around and opened his arms. The next moment, Zhong Li, whose toes were pulled when she climbed over the wall, fell into his arms.

Senior Sister Zhong's body was soft, and the elasticity of her skin could still be felt through the cloth robe.

"Thank you..." Zhong Li was a little happy. Originally, her face would have touched the ground first.

"You're welcome. Practice makes perfect." Xu Qi'an smiled.

"....." Li Miaozhen opened her mouth and sighed with pity.

A fifth-grade sorcerer and a prophet, I don't know how many proud children of heaven have been killed.

This courtyard has not been inhabited for a long time, but it does not look desolate. I think it is because Duke Cao has people come to maintain and clean it regularly.

After crossing the courtyard and entering the inner hall, the three of them explored around and found that this was a normal house, idle, and there were no precious things.

"There should be a dark room." Li Miaozhen analyzed.

"It's not a secret room, it's a cellar."

Xu Qi'an met the astonished eyes of the Saint of Tianzong and explained: "The structure of the house and the size of the room are not enough to hide a secret room."

Li Miaozhen suddenly realized, untied the sachet, tapped it gently, and wisps of green smoke came out and drilled into the ground.

After a while, a wisp of green smoke returned and whispered ghost language in Li Miaozhen's ear.

Li Miaozhen listened for a moment and said, "Follow me."

She took Xu Qi'an and Zhong Li to the study connected to the master bedroom, pushed open the big chair behind the desk, and stepped hard.

"Boom..."

The floor tiles broke and collapsed into a dark hole. Steep stone steps led to the cellar.

The three of them followed the stone steps into the cellar, and their footsteps echoed in the dull air.

The cellar was not deep, just like the cellars used by ordinary wealthy families to store ice and vegetables, but Cao Guogong used it to hide precious antiques.

Li Miaozhen lit up the oil lamps embedded in the wall, one after another, bringing a fiery glow to the dark cellar.

In the cellar, there were rows of antique shelves filled with all kinds of antiques, porcelain bottles, jades, bronze beasts, night-shining pearls, etc.

It was dazzling.

The world is not short of beauty, but it lacks eyes to discover beauty...... Xu Qian'an thought of this famous saying.

Then, he heard Li Miaozhen say: "Every item here is valuable. If you take it out and exchange it for silver, you can save many homeless and hungry refugees."

When she said these words, her eyes flashed with excitement.

"?"

Xu Qian'an stiffened his neck and slowly turned his head to look at her.

Is this what I brought you here for? Believe it or not, I will kill you to silence you... He coughed:

"That's true, but you should do charity within your means. Only a fool would go bankrupt for charity."

"Aren't these ill-gotten gains?" Li Miaozhen squinted at him.

Are you sure you are the Supreme Forgetful Li Miaozhen?

"I'll give you 30% to do good things when the time comes." Xu Qian'an waved his hand, unwilling to talk more, and said:

"These things are either obtained through corruption or bribery, or from other shady channels."

Zhong Li stretched out her little hand and picked up a blue ice bead. It was clear, as if it was hiding a blue ocean. In the light of the oil lamp, it reflected a thrilling light.

"This is a mermaid pearl that is abundant in the South Sea Kingdom. It is very precious and is a tribute." As a disciple of the Sitianjian, Zhong Li's understanding of luxury goods far exceeds Xu Baipiao and the Saint of Tianzong.

Embezzling tribute? !

Xu Qiyan understood. No wonder Duke Cao had to buy a private house to house these things.

Next, he took out the fragments of the Earth Book and put these precious things into the mirror world one by one. For example, things that are easy to break, such as porcelain, are more troublesome.

"There is a box here, put it in the box." Li Miaozhen pointed to the corner deep in the cellar.

With a snap, the box opened.

There was no fascinating golden light or silver light flashing, Xu Qiyan was a little disappointed.

There were stacks of secret letters in the box. Xu Qiyan opened a few of them and his breathing suddenly became rapid.

He flipped through them one by one and quickly browsed. These secret letters were records of corruption and abuse of power recorded by Duke Cao.

Some can even be traced back to more than ten or twenty years ago. The people who embezzled tribute, embezzled disaster relief silver and grain, occupied military land... Among those who colluded with them were civil officials, nobles, and royal relatives.

If these secret letters were exposed, it would definitely cause turmoil in the court, and countless people would be affected.

"Give it to Duke Wei, give these secret letters to Duke Wei..."

Xu Qian'an's subconscious and instinctive reaction was to hand it over to Wei Yuan, so that he could master these materials and increase Wei Yuan's political capital.

After a few seconds, he calmed down.

No rush, even if I want to give it to Duke Wei, I won't rush it. No, I can't give it all to Wei Yuan, I have to leave some for Erlang, he also needs political capital.

Thinking in his heart, he pulled out another secret letter from the bottom and unfolded it.

"In the 15th year of Yuan Jing, he had joined forces with Wang Party, Yan Party, Prince Yu and other relatives and nobles to eliminate Su Hang and completely eliminate the... Party. Su Hang was executed, the women in the mansion were sent to the Jiaofangsi, and the men were exiled. He accepted bribes of 8,000 taels from Yan Party and Wang Party..."

Su Hang, this name is so familiar...... Xu Qi'an thought of it, and then heard Li Miaozhen's face turn pale and blurted out: "Su Su's father..."

Xu Qi'an's fierce memory, Su Su's father was called Su Hang, a Jinshi in the 29th year of Zhend's reign. In the 14th year of Yuan Jing, for some unknown reason, he was demoted back to Jiangzhou as a prefect. The following year, he was executed for bribery and corruption.

Did Su Su's father really die in a party struggle, or did so many parties join forces?

"It turns out that Su Su's father was killed by them. Yan Party, Wang Party, and Prince Yu and other noble relatives." Li Miaozhen said angrily.

"No, this letter has a big problem..." Xu Qi'an pointed to a blank space on the secret letter and frowned, "Look, why is there a blank in front of "Party", what party is being completely eliminated?"

In front of the word "Party", there is a blank space, which is exactly the width of a word.

"Could it be that there is some reason that made Cao Guogong afraid and did not write that party?" Li Miaozhen guessed.

"If this is the reason, he can just not write it, or use a code name instead. Besides, it has been eliminated, what is there to be afraid of?" Xu Qi'an shook his head, denied Li Miaozhen's guess, and pointed to the secret letter and said:

"It seems more like there are words written here, as if it was erased by some force, leaving a blank."

Li Miaozhen frowned and made an effort to analyze. After a long time, she erased the question mark from her brain, gave up thinking, and asked:

"What do you think?"

Since there is an experienced and powerful reasoning expert around her, why should she use her own brain?

"What can I think? This little information is not enough for me to establish a hypothesis. Well, didn't you say that the files of Su Su's father could not be found in Jiangzhou?"

"Then let's find a chance to check the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Justice, or the Dali Temple. Wait until we find more clues."

Xu Qian'an sighed: "But one thing is certain, the death of Su Su's father is not simple. It is definitely not normal corruption and bribery. There are probably many people involved in the party struggle involved. I feel that following this line, we may be able to dig out a lot of things. "

Immediately, they put the porcelain into the box, and then put the box into the fragments of the earth book, and swept away all the valuables in the private house.

Of course, Xu Qian'an did not forget to take away the land deed and the house deed.

He planned to sell the house, and then buy a small courtyard near the Xu Mansion to keep the princess there.

......

The three returned to the Xu Mansion. Su Su was sitting on the roof to watch the scenery, holding a bright red paper umbrella.

In the yard, Xu Lingyin, who had eaten and drunk enough, was doing boxing in a serious manner to temper her blood. She did not forget to dub herself: Hey, hey, hey!

Two shallow eyebrows stood up, making a fierce look.

Chu Caiwei and Lina chatted on the side and gave instructions.

Su Su sat on the roof to watch the fun. The wind lifted her hair and blew up her skirt. She was like a fairy out of the world, beautiful and gorgeous.

Li Miaozhen stood in the yard, raised her head and waved: "Susu, come down, I have something to tell you."

"Okay!"

Susu smiled and landed lightly.

The little bean pointed at Susu and said to Lina and Caiwei: "I want to learn this too."

"You can't, you're too fat." Lina and Caiwei refused.

The little bean ignored them angrily and ran to hug the big brother's legs.

"Big brother, am I fat?" Xu Lingyin tried to regain confidence from the big brother.

"You're not fat, you have fatty liver." Xu Qian'an touched her head.

"Mom is Dad's little sweetheart, and I am big brother's fatty liver, right." Xu Lingyin still remembered this conversation, which the big brother had said to her before.

"Yes, yes, yes."

The little bean ran back to Lina and Chu Caiwei and announced loudly: "Mom is Dad's little sweetheart, and I am big brother's fatty liver. "

"Shut up!"

Aunt came out of the house, blushing with embarrassment, holding a feather duster, and chased Xu Lingyin all over the yard, but she couldn't catch up...

Aunt screamed in anger.

Xu Qian'an and others entered the house, Li Miaozhen pressed Su Su to the edge of the table, and said with a serious expression: "We have found clues about your father's execution."

Su Su's body trembled visibly, and the corners of her mouth with a faint smile slowly smoothed, and her lively eyes dimmed, and then flashed with sadness and confusion.

Her eyes were covered with a layer of mist, and she looked at Xu Qian'an infatuatedly: "Did you find it?"