Chapter 542

Xu Qi'an soon reached the bottom of the lake. His eyes were like two small light bulbs in the darkness.

The bottom of the lake was filled with silt. With the foundation of the white marble platform as the center, stone pillars were arranged in a unique pattern, surrounding and protecting the platform in the center.

"This seems to be some kind of formation …" Xu Qi'an guessed.

In the capital of Daibun, only the Celestial Commissioner could set up a formation. In other words, the Celestial Commissioner had also participated in the construction of the Yongzhen Temple of Mountains and Rivers.

It could be inferred that besides the emperor, the old Supervisor also knew the secret of Sampo … So, it was true that the Supervisor was sick? Or was it caused by the collapse of the Yongzhen Temple of Mountains and Rivers?

"Hiss … What kind of secret is hidden here?

The people who are plotting against the secret of Sampo and destroying the Yongzhen Temple of Mountains and Rivers are definitely at the king level … I am just a small gong, and I feel like I will be involved in the fight …

"Even if I can find out the truth, will the royal family tolerate me?"

Thinking of this, Xu Qi'an felt heavy in his heart.

"Wei Yuan already showed me the way. If I encounter trouble I can't solve, I should inform the yamen and Yang Jinluo … This hint is obvious enough. I am just a pawn, a hunting dog in charge of tracking. If I can't solve it, I can fake my death and leave the capital. "

While thinking, he moved his limbs and leaned toward the stone pillar closest to him.

The surface of the stone pillar was carved with twisted and strange tadpole characters.

Xu Qi'an could roughly see that it was some kind of language, but he couldn't decipher it due to his limited education. He memorized a few characters.

After checking a few more stone pillars and finding the same characters, Xu Qi'an left the dark bottom of the lake because of his fear of the deep sea.

In the quiet and deep water, he always imagined a pair of cold eyes staring at him from behind, or a huge shadow appearing in the darkness in front of him.

Xu Qi'an came out of the water and returned to the boat. He put the black gold long knife in his mouth back into the sheath and used his Qi to evaporate the lake water.

Wisps of steam rose.

Li Yuchun stared at him in surprise. This brat had broken through to the Mortal Realm in his hands. How long had it been? How could his Qi be so strong?

"Your Qi doesn't look like someone who just reached the Mortal Qi State." Li Yuchun was puzzled.

"I just meditate for four hours every day." Xu Qi'an looked innocent.

"…" Brother Chun waved his hand, unwilling to talk about this topic. He looked at Yang Jinluo and said, "Yang Jinluo doesn't like you. He just came up and analyzed the situation with us. He learned something. He said that if your analysis is the same as his, he will like you.

"We're all in the same team. There's no need to hide anything."

The tall Yang Feng smiled and didn't refute.

Xu Qian glanced at the bearded Min Shan. Min Shan did not speak but stared at Xu Qian, waiting for him to speak.

Xu Qi 'an rolled his eyes. "From the cracks on the platform, we can infer that the explosion point was in the temple, not under the water. In addition, the gunpowder was probably hidden in the temple after the ceremony. It was less than two hours before the ceremony ended.

"If it was hidden in the temple, the smell of gunpowder would be strong. His Majesty would have smelled it when he entered the temple. He will only have a chance after the ceremony. Arrest all the servants, the officials of the Dali Monastery, and the officials of the Ministry of Rites. Interrogate them one by one. Yang Jinluo, you will take care of this.

"Also, inform the yamen to ask His Majesty for a few Celestial Commissioner's White Robes. Boss, you do it. Yes, I want the Celestial Commissioner's Miss Cai Wei to help me.

"Min Yinluo, follow me to the Ministry of Works. I want the records of the gunpowder factory. It's impossible to smuggle such a large amount of gunpowder out. "

After a pause, he added, "But before that, we need to see the corpses of the soldiers who sacrificed themselves."

The three Silver Gongs looked at each other. They found that this little brother of theirs was quite reliable. He arranged the tasks in an orderly manner. His thinking was clear and logical. The two Silver Gongs, Yang Feng and Min Shan, stopped looking down on him.

If it were them, they would not be able to give such a clear direction so quickly. They would need to think for a long time before they could think clearly.

The corpses were kept in the barracks. The imperial guards brought them to a tent and lifted the curtains. Inside were corpses with their faces covered with white cloth.

The same corpses were in the two large tents nearby. There were a total of three hundred and twelve soldiers patrolling around the Sampo. All of them had been sacrificed.

Xu Qi'an lifted the white cloth and looked at the miserable state of each corpse.

"You also know how to examine corpses?" Yang Feng saw that his expression was becoming more and more serious. He could not help but ask, "What did you find?"

"I found something important."

"Tell me." The three Silver Gongs became spirited. Even the leader of the imperial guards who led the way looked over.

Xu Qi'an said slowly, "I found that I am only a small gong. If there is a battle, I still need the three of you to work hard."

All the soldiers died in the same way. They were all drained of their blood by some kind of evil spell. There were no other wounds on their bodies.

This method was not something a Mortal Realm warrior could deal with.

If there was really a thief, Xu Qi'an could only wave his hand and say, "Charge!"

He would stay behind.

…

Xu Qi'an brought Min Shan to the Ministry of Works. With the gold medal opening the way, there was no obstruction.

He found the official in charge of the gunpowder factory and said, "I want to check the production and usage records of gunpowder in the past month."

It was easy to falsify the account books. The most common method was to exaggerate the amount of gunpowder used. For example, to make a batch of artillery shells, only two hundred kilograms of gunpowder was needed, but it was written as three hundred kilograms in the records.

Another example was to make gunpowder. The raw materials transported could make two hundred kilograms of gunpowder, but the quantity of raw materials was written as a small amount. This way, the extra gunpowder could be hidden.

However, these methods could not stand up to investigation. There were traces of any crime.

Xu Qi'an did not trust the officials in the Ministry of Works. He sent people to the Yamen to get his own officials. Dozens of people rushed into the Ministry of Works.

This was a complicated process with a lot of work. They still had to go to the place where the raw materials were collected to collect evidence and verify.

…

After lunch in the Ministry of Works, Xu Qi'an sat comfortably on a big chair and picked his teeth. He watched the officials and the gong bustle about.

Yang Feng, who was in charge of investigating the Dali Monastery, the Ministry of Rites, and the palace, sent someone back to report.

"Three officials from the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Rites have gone missing. Three people from the palace have also gone missing," said the copper gong that had brought the news.

In the palace, the eunuchs with a lower status were called servants. Usually, they did chores.

"When did they go missing?" Xu Qi'an sat up straight, instantly breaking free from his lazy state.

"The people in charge of the ancestral worshipping ceremony have all been detained by the Ministry of Justice and the Yamen. They refuse to hand the people over to us," the gong said helplessly. "Yang Yinluo is in a stalemate with the Ministry of Justice."

"How dare they snatch the people from us night watchmen?" Xu Qi'an raised his eyebrows.

Although he had only been a night watchman for a short period of time, he had already been infected with the arrogance of the night watchmen.

The gong explained, "The Ministry of Justice and the Yamen have also received orders from His Majesty to investigate the case. They are all under the orders of the Emperor, so they are not afraid of us. Yang Yinluo does not have the Emperor's gold medal with him, so he asked me to hurry here to inform you. "

Usually, the night watchmen had a higher status than the other yamen. However, there was an exception, and that was the Emperor's decree.

"Let's go and get the people!" Xu Qi'an was furious.

It was not strange for the Emperor to have the Ministry of Justice and the Yamen involved in the case at the same time. Many major cases were investigated by multiple parties. A yamen alone had limited manpower. They had their own duties, and it was difficult to devote all their manpower and resources to other matters.

The advantages of a multi-party investigation were obvious, but the disadvantages were equally obvious, and that was to steal the credit!

"To me, I will not be fine just because the Sampo Case is solved. I must make a significant contribution in this case, only then will the Imperial Court spare me the death penalty. If I do not make any contribution, I am afraid I will not be able to escape the punishment of beheading at the entrance of the market … I will not show mercy to anyone who dares to stop me from handling the case!"

When it came to his life, Xu Qi'an did not delay. He grabbed the black gold long knife on the table, looked around at the officials, and said in a clear voice, "All of you continue to investigate the case.

Check all the production and consumption records from the middle of the year until now. If you find any clues, each person will be rewarded with twenty taels of silver. "

As the chief official, he had the authority to give out a certain amount of reward, which was provided by the night watchman's yamen.

The eyes of the officials from the night watchman's yamen were shining.

Twenty taels of silver was equivalent to half a year of their salary.

Leaving the officials behind, Xu Qi'an hurriedly left the Ministry of Works with the silver gong, Min Shan, and the rest of the gongs. He rode a fast horse to the Ministry of Justice.

The Ministry of Justice was not far away. In less than half an hour, Xu Qi'an saw the red lacquered door of the Ministry of Justice.

The entrance was heavily guarded, with two rows of armored soldiers standing guard.

Yang Feng and the six gongs were blocked outside, and both sides were facing each other.

"The Ministry of Justice is investigating the case by imperial order. Those who obstruct the investigation will be killed." A middle-aged officer, who was the leader, held his knife and scolded the night watchman.

Behind him, dozens of armored soldiers held their knives.

The veins on Yang Feng's forehead were bulging. He had probably never felt so aggrieved. In the past, nobody dared to scold him in front of his face.

Although he also held his knife, he did not dare to be reckless. The chief official was not here, so he was not qualified to say that he was investigating the case by imperial order. It was impossible that the Ministry of Justice did not know that the night watchman was also involved in the case, but they deliberately blocked him outside.

This was to deliberately disgust them, to deliberately trip them up.

"Hey!" The middle-aged officer sneered. With one hand on his knife, he saw a group of night watchmen galloping over on horseback.

"The Ministry of Justice is investigating the case. Those who are unrelated to the Ministry of Justice will be killed!"

As soon as he finished shouting, he saw the young gong at the front of the horse pull out the military crossbow from his waist and pull the trigger without hesitation.