Chapter 739

The Imperial Preceptor had really graced us with his presence, and in person? "The Jinlian Taoist priest is so important …" Xu Qi'an felt flattered as he saluted the Jinlian Taoist priest.

"Greetings, Grand Preceptor."

When he looked at Luo Yuheng again, he noticed something different. The Luo Yuheng he saw in the Spirit Treasure Temple was beautiful, but she was still made of flesh and blood.

The Grand Preceptor in front of him was glowing with a holy light. If he had to describe her, he would say that she had skin of ice and bones of jade.

Luo Yuheng looked at him and said, "This is the Yang Spirit."

Yang Spirit … A third-grade Daoist Yang Spirit? The legendary Yang Spirit that was unafraid of wind and thunder and could roam the universe? Xu Qi 'an's face was filled with astonishment. Like a panda watching a panda, he could not move his eyes away.

Luo Yuheng frowned slightly and her clear eyes flashed with anger. She said, "Why did you call me?"

Realizing that his gaze had inadvertently offended the Grand Tutor, Xu Qi 'an hurriedly sat up straight. He looked straight ahead and said in a deep voice, "I have something to tell the Grand Tutor."

He paused and said, "During the massacre in Chuzhou, the Yuanjing Emperor and Duke Huai conspired. One of them made the blood elixir and the other made the soul elixir. Duke Huai made the blood elixir to break through to the third-grade Great Perfection and devour the concubine's spiritual essence. "

Since they had already fallen out, there was no need to pretend to call him "Your Majesty". As for the concubine's secret, Xu Qi'an didn't believe that a second-grade Dao Chief wouldn't know about the concubine's hidden spiritual essence.

"What I want to know is, why did the Yuanjing Emperor make the soul elixir?"

Hearing this, Luo Yuheng frowned and thought for a few seconds. She said slowly, "Yuan Jing cultivated for twenty years and reached the sixth-grade Yin Spirit realm. His core formation is still far away. "

Th-this … twenty years of cultivation and he's still only at the Sixth Stage. I don't even know what to say anymore. With the resources of the entire nation, even a pig should have reached Core Formation!!

Yuanjing Emperor's talent in cultivation was equal to Xu Lingyin's talent in reading?

Xu Qi'an gathered his thoughts and said, "Could it be a disguise?"

Luo Yuheng glanced at him but didn't say anything.

Xu Qi'an bowed repeatedly to express his apology.

Such doubts were disrespectful to a Dao Sect's Second Stage powerhouse.

Luo Yuheng continued, "Yuanjing's soul is naturally weak, and this is because of his poor aptitude in cultivation."

Taoist Priest Golden Lotus had said that the soul elixir could strengthen the primordial spirit. Could it be that Emperor Yuan Jing was trying to make up for his congenital defects? As Xu Qi 'an thought to himself, he heard Luo Yuheng frown.

"But there are many ways to strengthen one's primordial spirit. Meditation and food are all fine. There is no need to refine a soul elixir."

Xu Qi'an nodded, "That means the soul elixir has other uses."

From a psychological point of view, only a madman would have no scruples. But the Yuanjing Emperor wasn't a madman. On the contrary, he was a scheming monarch.

Before he did anything, he would weigh the consequences. He would only do it if the benefits were good enough. If the soul elixir could only stabilize the sixth-grade foundation, he wouldn't have taken the initiative to massacre the city. The price was too high.

At most, he would acquiesce to Duke Huai.

Luo Yuheng asked, "What do you think?"

Xu Qi'an smiled bitterly, "I lack clues and can't guess. I will try to investigate this matter. As for Imperial Preceptor, just do it in your heart. "

He believed that with a second-grade expert's intelligence, he didn't need to explain too much. A reminder was enough.

Luo Yuheng hummed and asked, "Princess, she was really kidnapped by the barbarians and there was no news of her?"

Xu Qi'an sighed, "Yes, it's a pity for Daibun's number one beauty. Duke Huai is dead, I'm afraid Princess is also …"

He appropriately showed some regret, fully expressing a normal man's regret for a beauty's misfortune.

Luo Yuheng looked at him without batting an eyelid. After a moment of silence, she casually asked, "I heard from Jinlian that you found an ancient bedroom technique in the underground tomb outside of Harmony Prefecture City?"

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

"Did you comprehend it thoroughly?"

When he asked, Luo Yuheng's beautiful eyes focused on him.

"Well … I haven't practiced it before. I heard from the Jinlian Taoist priest that this technique can only be practiced by a man and a woman who are proficient in bedroom techniques."

Xu Qi'an was a wily old fox, but he was still a bit embarrassed to talk about such a private matter with such a beautiful woman.

Luo Yuheng nodded slightly.

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

"The massacre in Chuzhou City has come to an end for now. Yuanjing can't wait to take revenge on you." Luo Yuheng reminded him.

"As for the future, you have to be careful. If you find any signs of him taking revenge, ask your family members to resign and wait for a later date. "

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

The culprit behind the scenes didn't show any signs of making a move. It was a distant threat, but the Yuanjing Emperor was a nearby one.

I have to improve my cultivation as soon as possible so that I can protect myself …

"Put this Talisman Sword away and activate it when you are in danger. It can be counted as my attack. If you need to contact me, just infuse it with your Immortal Will. "

Luo Yuheng's Yang Spirit turned into a beam of golden light and flew away.

Xu Qi'an put away the Talisman Sword and pinched between his eyebrows. "My short-term goal is to reach the fifth level. After that, I will investigate the Yuanjing Emperor. Heh, I didn't think that I would have to investigate the emperor one day. "

…

"Zhong Li, Zhong Li …"

Xu Qi'an walked out of the room and looked around.

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

"As long as she didn't get hurt …" Xu Qi'an heaved a sigh of relief.

He led Zhong Li past Xu Erlang's study. Looking through the window, he saw Xu Erlang and Chu Yuanzhen drinking and chatting merrily. The scholar was still talking.

Well, with Brother Chu's experience in the ways of the world, he wouldn't rashly mention the Tomes of the Earth fragment if he knew that Erlang "didn't want to reveal his identity."

For Erlang to be able to chat with Chu Yuanzhen for so long, he was worthy of being a Spring Ebony Huiyuan scholar and a second-rank Jinshi. Not bad.

On the way to the door of Li Miaozhen's room, he heard Susu say crisply, "Father, ah, father, ah …"

Like a repeater, she repeated it over and over again, looking overjoyed.

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

Susu was wearing an exquisite and complicated white dress. She giggled and said, "It's none of your business. Your stupid child is really interesting. Master taught her how to read, and she wrote the word 'father'.

"Your stupid child said, ah!"

Susu laughed so hard that her feet slipped. She leaned on the table and trembled uncontrollably.

Xu Qi'an: "…"

No wonder Li Miaozhen looked as if she was doubting life at that time.

Then why was Chu Yuanzhen so furious? He thought about it and refrained from asking. He didn't want to expose his companion's scars.

"I'm going out for a while. If you're free, why don't you accompany me?" Xu Qi'an looked at Tenzō Shōnin.

The Saintess's little face was filled with the word "unhappy". She said in a bad mood, "If you have something to say, say it. Don't disturb my cultivation."

Her tone was a little harsh. Don't vent your anger on me … Xu Qi'an explained, "I know of a private residence of High Duke Cao.

"I know of one of Cao Guogong's private residences. There's something incredible hidden inside. Shall we go explore it together?"

"Now that you mention it, I'm interested …" Li Miaozhen laughed and said, "Sure."

…

High Duke Cao's private residence was a few miles away from the Imperial City. It was a small courtyard by the lake.

Although it was called a small courtyard, it wasn't small. It had two entrances, and the door was locked. No one had lived in it for a long time.

Li Miaozhen squinted and looked at the residence. She snorted and said, "Such a private residence, not far from the Imperial City, in a good location, and quiet. It's worth at least eight thousand taels of silver.

"And High Duke Cao has more than ten private residences like this. He uses them to keep a mistress. How hateful. He deserves to be killed."

"Sorry, soon I'll also become a man who buys a private residence to keep a mistress …" Xu Qi'an mocked silently. He looked around. The instinct of a martial artist to sense danger didn't give him any feedback.

There was no one lying in ambush. High Duke Cao's private residence was indeed well-hidden.

Seeing that there was no one around, Xu Qi'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 touched when she jumped over the wall, plunged into his arms.

Senior Sister Zhong's delicate body was soft. They could still feel the elasticity of her skin through the cloth robe.

"Thank you …" Zhong Li was a little happy. Originally, she would have fallen to the ground first.

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

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

Level Five Warlock and Prophecy Master. Who knew how many geniuses had died.

This courtyard hadn't been lived in for a long time, but it didn't look shabby. High Duke Cao must have sent people to maintain and clean it regularly.

Passing through the courtyard and entering the inner hall, the three of them searched around and found that this was an ordinary house. It was empty and there was nothing too precious.

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

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

Xu Qi'an looked at Tenzō Shōnin in astonishment and explained, "The structure of the house and the size of the interior are not enough to hide a secret room."

Li Miaozhen suddenly understood. She untied the sachet and patted it gently. Wisps of green smoke came out and drilled into the ground.

After a while, a wisp of green smoke returned and whispered 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 that was connected to the master bedroom. She pushed the big chair behind the desk and stepped hard.

"Boom …"

The floor tiles shattered, forming a dark hole in the ground. Steep stone steps led to the cellar.

The three of them followed the stone steps into the cellar. The stuffy air echoed with their footsteps.

The cellar was not deep. It was like the cellar that ordinary rich people used to store ice cubes and vegetables. However, Cao Guogong used it to store rare antiques.

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

There were rows of antique shelves in the cellar, filled with all kinds of antiques, porcelain vases, jade, bronze beasts, luminous pearls and so on.

It was dazzling.

"The world does not lack beauty, but it lacks the eyes to discover beauty …" This famous saying came to Xu Qi'an's mind.

Then, he heard Li Miaozhen say, "Every item here is worth a lot of money. If you exchange them for silver, you can save many homeless and starving refugees."

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

“？”

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

"Did I bring you here for this?" He coughed and said, "That's true.

However, charity should be done according to one's ability. Only a fool would go bankrupt to do charity. "

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

Are you sure you're Li Miaozhen, the Supreme Wang Qing?

"When the time comes, I will take 30% of it for your good deeds." Xu Qi'an waved his hand and did not want to talk more about it.

He said, "These things are either obtained through bribery or other shady channels."

Zhong Li reached out her small hand and picked up a blue ice bead. It was crystal clear, as if there was a blue ocean hidden in it. In the light of the oil lamp, it reflected a soul-stirring light.

"This is a very precious mermaid pearl produced by the South Sea Nation. It is a tribute." As a disciple of the Celestial Commissioner, Zhong Li knew far more about luxury goods than Xu Baihuo and Tenzō Shōnin.

Embezzling tributes?!

Xu Qi'an understood now. No wonder Cao Guogong wanted to buy a private house to house these things.

Next, he took out the fragments of the Book of the Earth and put them into the mirror world one by one. For example, those that were easily damaged, such as porcelain, were more troublesome.

"There is a box here. Put them in the box." Li Miaozhen pointed to a corner deep in the cellar.

The box opened.

There was no mesmerizing golden light or silver light. Xu Qi'an was a little disappointed.

There were stacks of secret letters in the box. Xu Qi'an opened a few of them and his breathing quickened.

He flipped through the letters one by one, quickly skimming through them. These secret letters were recorded by Imperial Duke Cao, records of corruption and perverting the law.

Some of them could even be traced back to ten or twenty years ago. Embezzling tributes, embezzling money for disaster relief, occupying military fields … Among those who colluded with him were civil officials, nobles, and members of the royal family.

If these secret letters were exposed, it would definitely cause turmoil in the court. Countless people would be involved.

"Give these secret letters to Duke Wei. Give these secret letters to Duke Wei …"

Xu Qi'an's subconscious and instinctive reaction was to hand them over to Wei Yuan so that he could control the information and increase Wei Yuan's political capital.

After a few seconds, he calmed down.

"No hurry. Even if I have to give them to Duke Wei, there is no hurry." "No, I can't give all of them to Wei Yuan. I have to leave some for Erlang. I also need political capital."

As he was thinking, he took out another secret letter from the bottom and unfolded it to read.

"In the 15th year of Yuanjing, he has joined hands with the King's Party, the Yan's Party, King Yu, and other nobles to eradicate Su Hang and completely purge … the party. Su Hang was sentenced to death. All the women in his house were sent to the Musical House and the men were exiled. He accepted bribes of eight thousand taels from the Yan's Party and the King's Party … "

"Su Hang, this name is so familiar …" As the thought flashed through Xu Qi'an's mind, he heard Li Miaozhen's beautiful face turn pale and blurt out, "Susu's father …"

Xu Qi'an suddenly remembered that Susu's father was called Su Hang. He was a Jinshi in the 29th year of Joan of Arc. In the 14th year of Yuanjing, for some unknown reason, he was demoted back to Jiangzhou to serve as the magistrate. The next year, he was sentenced to death for bribery and corruption.

"Did Susu's father really die in a party struggle, or did so many parties join hands?"

"It turns out that Susu's father was killed by them. The Yan's Party, the King's Party, and King Yu and other nobles. "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 space before the word 'party'? Completely purge the so-called 'party'?"

There was a blank space in front of the word 'party', which was exactly the width of a word.

"Could it be that there's a reason that Cao Guogong was afraid and didn't write the party?" Li Miaozhen guessed.

"If that's the reason, he didn't write it, or use a code name instead. Besides, it's already been purged, so what's there to be afraid of? "Xu Qi'an shook his head and denied Li Miaozhen's guess. He pointed to the secret letter and said,

"It's more like words were written here, as if they were forcibly erased by some force, leaving behind a blank space."

Li Miaozhen frowned as she tried hard to analyze the situation. After a long time, she erased the question marks from her mind and gave up on thinking. She asked,

She asked, "What do you think?"

Since there was an experienced and capable reasoning expert by her side, why should she use her brain?

"What can I think? This little information is not enough to provide me with a hypothesis. Hmm, didn't you say that the dossier on Susu's father can't be found in Jiangzhou?

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

Xu Qi'an sighed. "But one thing is for sure. The death of Susu's father was not simple. It was not ordinary corruption and bribery. It involved a party struggle, and I'm afraid many people were involved. I feel that we might be able to dig out a lot of things by following this clue. "

Immediately, they put the porcelain into the box, and then the box into the fragments of the Book of the Earth, sweeping away all the valuable things in this private house.

Of course, Xu Qi'an did not forget to take the deed of the land and the house with him.

He planned to sell this house and buy a small courtyard near the Xu Mansion to raise the princess there.

…

The three of them returned to the Xu Mansion. Susu was sitting on the roof, looking at the scenery, holding a bright red paper umbrella.

In the courtyard, Xu Lingyin, who had eaten and drunk her fill, was practicing boxing and tempering her Qi and blood. She did not forget to dub herself: Hey Hey Hey Hey!

Her two shallow eyebrows were raised, and she put on a fierce expression.

Chu Caiwei and Lina were chatting on the side, giving her pointers.

Susu sat on the roof and watched the show. The wind lifted her hair and fluttered the hem of her dress. She was like an otherworldly fairy, beautiful beyond compare.

Li Miaozhen stood in the courtyard, looking up and waving her hand. "Susu, come down, I have something to tell you."

"Okay!"

Susu smiled sweetly and gently landed on the ground.

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 over to hug his big brother's leg.

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

"You're not fat, you have a fatty liver." Xu Qi'an patted her head.

"Mom is Dad's little sweetheart, I'm Big Brother's fatty liver, right?" Xu Lingyin still remembered this conversation, which her 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, I'm Big Brother's fatty liver."

"Shut up!"

Auntie came out of the house, blushing. Holding a feather duster, she chased Xu Lingyin all over the courtyard, but she could not catch up …

Auntie shouted angrily.

When Xu Qi'an and the others entered the house, Li Miaozhen pressed Susu down on the table and said with a serious expression, "We found a clue about your father's execution."

Susu's delicate body trembled visibly, and the corner of her mouth with a light smile slowly smoothed out. Her lively eyes dimmed, and then a flash of sadness and confusion appeared.

Her eyes were covered with a layer of mist, and she looked at Xu Qi'an in a daze. "You found it?"