Chapter 554

The officials of the Ministry of Justice heard Eunuch Liu's words and thought that he was making things difficult for the little gong surnamed Xu. They were gloating and decided that as long as Xu Qi 'an said something wrong, they would immediately attack and embarrass him.

Scholars were actually very good at fighting, just not in terms of martial arts.

The officials of the yamen and the constables had a wait-and-see attitude and didn't care what clues this rash gong could give. But they were surprised to find that the magistrate was no longer absent-minded. He slightly straightened his back and even put on a posture of listening carefully.

Lü Qing whispered, "Have you forgotten? Xu Qi 'an, Xu Qi' an of the tax case. "

With her reminder, the officials of the yamen suddenly came to their senses and remembered Xu Qi 'an.

No wonder the name sounded familiar. It turned out that he was the little fast hand who turned the tide in the tax case and solved the mystery of the fake silver.

Well, now he was the gong of the night watchman.

No wonder His Majesty appointed him as the chief of the night watchman … At this time, the officials of the yamen really came to their senses.

"Yes, I did gain something!" Xu Qi 'an nodded.

He didn't want to say it because the Ministry of Justice and the yamen were both competitors. There was no reason to share the clues with these dogs.

But just now, he noticed the little eunuch's notes and the officials of the Ministry of Justice and the yamen were communicating without hesitation. Xu Qi 'an suddenly realized that this might be an opportunity to show off.

To show off to His Majesty.

Not surprisingly, this transcript was to be handed over to the emperor. Imagine, after reading the transcript, the Yuanjing Emperor found that the Ministry of Justice and the yamen were actively discussing, giving clues and working hard to solve the case, but the night watchman was silent.

What would he think?

Although it was a bit of a loss to share the information, the credit had been recorded on the paper.

"Regarding Arrester Lü's speculation, I have a few questions." Xu Qi 'an and the others looked at him and said methodically,

"I went to the Sampo this morning to check. To blow up the whole Mountain River Temple of Yongzhen and the high platform, a huge amount of gunpowder is needed."

"Yes, what's the problem?" Lü Qing also went to the Sampo to investigate the scene.

"Here's the problem. You just said that gunpowder is a strategic material that the imperial court attaches great importance to. All kinds of security and anti-theft measures are very strict and complete. It is very difficult to smuggle the gunpowder, not to mention to erase the corresponding traces. "Xu Qi 'an said,

"What kind of person do you think can do this?"

Lü Qing hesitated for a moment, "Minister Lü Qing of the Ministry of Justice.

Everyone was shocked. Even the little eunuch who was recording with his head lowered paused.

Xu Qi 'an nodded. "If it was the Minister of Works and the two assistant ministers, then everything makes sense. With their skills and abilities, it is not impossible for them to bribe the officials of the Supreme Court or the Ministry of Rites. "Lü Qing" said, "Lü Qing Lü Minister"

"Lü Qing Qing of Of Minister of Of of Chen of the" Qing "

Xu Qi 'an said, "To smuggle such a large amount of gunpowder, no matter how clean they are, they can't stand up to investigation. I believe that those who can become Minister and Assistant Minister are not so stupid. "

Lü Qing nodded, "If it's not them, who else can provide so much gunpowder other than the Ministry?"

Xu Qi 'an said, "Is it possible that it was transported from outside the city?"

Lü Qing shook his head, "Let's not talk about the outer city first. The inner city has to pay the entrance tax and the guards will check the goods. It's even more impossible for the imperial city. How can something as conspicuous as gunpowder be smuggled? Unless it's raw materials, and not gunpowder … "

Lu Qing and Xu Qi 'an continued to reason as if there was no one else around them. No one else had the right to interrupt them. Eunuch Liu was not in a hurry and listened patiently.

The young eunuch who was in charge of taking notes wrote faster and faster.

What was transported in was not gunpowder, but raw materials. Among the raw materials for gunpowder, sulfur and charcoal are not precious. Especially during winter, the capital's consumption of charcoal is terrifying … But saltpeter is strictly controlled by Daibun … As Xu Qi 'an was deep in thought, a bolt of lightning flashed across his mind.

"Saltpeter mine!?" He widened his eyes and stared at Lü Qing.

The female constable's delicate face was stunned for a moment. Then, she understood and exclaimed, "Saltpeter mine!!"

Both of their faces were filled with shock. On the other side, Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao looked at each other and their expressions changed slightly.

The four of them had personally surveyed the Great Yellow Mountain and discovered a saltpeter mine there.

Lü Qing calmed down from his shock. Various thoughts flashed through his mind and new doubts welled up in him, "If it was really done by them, then what about the nine missing people?"

Xu Qi 'an said slowly, "It's very simple. They're framing them!"

Then, he shook his head, "No, it's to divert our attention and fight for time to escape from the capital."

Lü Qing nodded slightly, "Yes, they made us think that the gunpowder came from the Ministry of Works and that there were spies in the imperial court. So, the focus of the investigation was shifted to the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Rites, and the Chancellor of the Dali Monastery."

Eunuch Liu frowned. He realized that he could not understand the conversation between these two people.

Other than the high-ranking Minister of Justice and Governor Chen who remained calm and collected, everyone else looked at each other. Similarly, they could not understand what Xu Qi 'an and Lü Qing were talking about.

He felt as if he had missed an episode.

Xu Qi 'an shook his head, "If that's the case, there's a doubt that we can't solve. How did they transport the gunpowder to Sampo?"

Lü Qing said, "It's very simple. The nine missing officials must have been bribed or threatened. I'm more inclined to the former. "

It made sense. If the demons could smuggle the gunpowder into Sampo, they must have an accomplice. If there were no spies in the imperial court, it would be impossible for them to do it.

Let's not talk about the traitors in the imperial court. Why did the demons want to blow up Sampo?

To be precise, they were after the Sealed Artifact under Sampo. What was the use of the Sealed Artifact to them?

As he was thinking, he heard Lü Qing say, "We seem to have misunderstood, because I noticed a detail just now …"

The heroic female constable stared at Xu Qi 'an, "Nine missing people. Three of them were servants in the palace, three of them were from the Ministry of Rites, and three of them were from the Dali Monastery … How did they smuggle the gunpowder in without their colleagues' knowledge?"

Xu Qi 'an wasn't very clear about the procedures of the ancestral worship ceremony, so he hadn't had time to ask the officials and servants in charge of the clean-up. However, after hearing Lü Qing's words, he had an idea. "You're saying that with just three people, it's impossible to smuggle the gunpowder without their colleagues' knowledge. Yes, why did they deliberately separate the nine people? If all nine of them were from the Ministry of Rites, Dali Monastery, or the palace, it might be possible. "

Lü Qing gave a heartfelt smile, which was actually quite bright.

This was what she admired the most about Xu Qi 'an. He was smart and could immediately understand what she meant. It wasn't tiring to discuss matters with him. Instead, it made her smile.

Xu Qi 'an said, "Therefore, there must be someone else among the people who helped them. And this person must have the ability to enter and leave the Imperial City freely, or the ability to smuggle the gunpowder into the Imperial City …"

At this point, Xu Qi 'an and Lü Qing looked at each other again. They remembered a case.

The case of the young flag officer of the Jin Wu Guards.

This case happened the day before the ancestral worship ceremony. Similarly, they had personally taken over the case.

The young flag officer of the Jin Wu Guards was silenced … Before he was silenced, he revealed to his wife that he wanted to bring his family out of the capital … He was on duty before he died … Xu Qi 'an was suddenly enlightened. It wasn't difficult to figure out the truth by linking the case of the saltpeter mine and Liu Han.

The demons had driven away the gray households to mine the saltpeter mine in the Great Yellow Mountain to make gunpowder to blow up the Mountain River Temple in Yongzhen and release the Sealed Artifact in the Sampo.

The reason why gunpowder was used was because the Imperial Palace was heavily guarded and could not be broken in by force. However, gunpowder could be smuggled in without anyone noticing.

Whether it was the Supervisor of the Celestial Commissioner, the female Grand Tutor of Renzong, or the high-ranked Warrior of the Imperial Guards, they could sense the intrusion of powerhouses, but they couldn't detect inanimate objects like gunpowder.

Liu Han was just a small flag officer. He didn't have the ability to smuggle gunpowder into the Imperial City without his superiors' knowledge.

He was just doing his job, and the instigator was his superior. It was also this superior who silenced him.

Damn it, the demons' way of doing things was like an old sow wearing a bra, one set after another.

The brothel was full of customers — everything was in order.

As long as they captured Liu Han's superior, the baihu of the Jin Wu Guards, and interrogated him, everything would be revealed!

Xu Qi 'an quickly locked onto a suspicious person — baihu Zhou!

Xu Qi 'an stood up and cleared his throat. "Eunuch Liu, Sirs, I still have some matters to attend to at the Ministry of Works, so I'll take my leave first."

His expression was the same as usual, and his tone was relaxed. "The night watchman, follow me."

He quickly led his men away.

The officials present were not fools. Although Xu Qi 'an's behavior was normal, when he conversed with Lü Qing, his expression changed several times, and the content of their conversation, although they didn't fully understand it, it didn't stop them from speculating that Xu Qi' an had discovered an important clue.

Everyone immediately looked at Lü Qing.

Lü Qing pretended not to know.

Eunuch Liu tapped his finger on the table and urged, "Did Xu Qi 'an discover something? Is there any progress in the case? Hurry up and tell us!"

Lü Qing thought to himself, 'I've already done my best.' After all, although he admired Xu Qi 'an, they didn't have a special relationship, and he wasn't her fiancé or anything like that.

It was already very loyal of him to help him stall for time.