Xuanqing Guard

Actually, if you really calculate it, it hasn’t been long since Shen Hao was attacked on the street, just a few days in total. It’s not very likely to catch the culprit in such a short time, but Shen Hao noticed that Tang Qingyuan’s expression suddenly became a bit stiff when he brought up the issue.

"What’s wrong? Lord Tang, you look like it’s inconvenient for you to talk." Shen Hao stopped his chopsticks, a bit curious, and asked again.

Tang Qingyuan was way too familiar with Shen Hao, and knowing that his expression just now had tipped Shen Hao off, he gave a bitter smile and said, "Why the rush? I’m the one investigating this case—don’t you trust me?"

Shen Hao laughed as well, resumed eating, and said while chewing, "Looks like it really is inconvenient to tell me. Maybe I should go ask Lord Kuang?"

"It’s not that it’s inconvenient, it’s just... there’s no conclusion yet, it’s not proper to bring it up." Tang Qingyuan hurried to explain. Letting Shen Hao go ask Kuang Shengyuan straight away wouldn’t do at all, wouldn’t that make him look incapable?

"Then why not just tell me, Lord Tang? Does this case need to be kept secret from me, the victim?"

"It’s not exactly a secret, just... never mind, let’s eat first. We’ll talk at your place after."

Shen Hao nodded, didn’t push it further, but inside he was genuinely curious. What exactly had they found in the investigation of his attack that made Tang Qingyuan so odd? Logically, the killer probably only left a few traces, and since the culprit was still at large, what shocking secrets could there really be?

After finishing the meal, they made tea in Shen Hao’s public office and sat across from each other.

"Can you tell me now? Making it look all mysterious."

Tang Qingyuan snorted, "You say that like it’s nothing. If it were you, you’d be even more tight-lipped than me."

"Hmm? What did you find that has you this nervous?"

Tang Qingyuan was silent for a long time before he spoke: "You were busy with that Ministry of War case, weren’t you?"

It used to be confidential, but now the higher-ups had finalized it, and Xu Hong was in prison, the case wrapping up, so the news had spread everywhere. Shen Hao, as the one in charge, was making waves inside the Xuanqing Guard again.

So Shen Hao didn’t hold back, directly nodded and admitted it.

"So at first we suspected the head thief from the military camp faction was behind your attack. If you died, even if someone took over the investigation, it would cause big delays, giving plenty of time for those who were cornered to react."

"But then we found something odd, that made the case totally different from what we’d guessed at first..."

Tang Qingyuan began his explanation, saying that when they got news of Shen Hao’s assault, they immediately cut off all ways out of Kai Fu City, including the teleportation array.

Then there was a city-wide search.

This wasn’t exaggeration—it was literal. Even the drains were turned over, let alone houses. Anyone without household registration documents or those whose travel passes were from outside were repeatedly scrutinized.

Every squad of soldiers wandered with Magical Artifacts sensing True Qi, looking for people.

And actually, this dragnet search, though slow, had its effect. Leaving or entering the city meant passing through the gate or teleportation array—both required identity records. Comparing those to the actual people in the city, whoever didn’t match was probably suspicious.

Of course, there were plenty of these people, and not all were the ones who attacked Shen Hao. Maybe they slipped in for other reasons. But none of them were upstanding citizens, so lately in Kai Fu City, arrests were everywhere. The unlucky ones locked up with board locks, dumped into the Xuanqing Guard’s prison for severe interrogation—probably even the pettiest thieves wouldn’t see daylight again.

Who told you to be unlucky and bump into trouble?

After sorting and distinguishing, a few useful clues entered Tang Qingyuan and the others’ sights.

"We found, in a little inn, an out-of-town guest who left not long after the incident and never returned. He still had a debt of twenty taels of silver on the inn’s account—most people don’t just walk away from that kind of money... And when we searched, we couldn’t find a trace of him at all. According to the inn boy’s description, the guy’s gaze was extremely gloomy, you couldn’t look him in the eye, and his aura wasn’t like an ordinary person—very likely a Cultivator.

And we checked the room this person booked, and as soon as you opened the window, you could see the spot where you were attacked, less than a mile away."

Shen Hao raised his eyebrows—this was an important clue. But he still hadn’t figured out why Tang Qingyuan had been so hesitant to discuss the case progress earlier.

He didn’t interrupt, just kept listening, guessing there must be more findings.

Sure enough, Tang Qingyuan continued: "That man is very likely the one who used illusionary kill against you. But before we could find him, he left the inn and now there’s no sign of him anywhere in Kai Fu City.

We could only get a sketch of his appearance and some distinctive features from the inn boy’s memory. But then, we actually found a problem." As he spoke, Tang Qingyuan pulled a palm-sized piece of paper from his storage bag and handed it to Shen Hao.

Shen Hao took it and opened it, and saw a crest drawn on the paper.

The background was three golden spears crossed, and there was a rice field. Shen Hao blinked at the crest for a long while, silent.

Finally, Shen Hao tugged at the corner of his mouth, looked up at Tang Qingyuan with a rather uncomfortable expression, unsure what to say, opened his mouth several times before squeezing out, "Don’t tell me this thing is related to me?"

Tang Qingyuan said irritably, "What do you think? Now you know why I said it was hard to talk about. This crest was seen by the inn boy when the guy took out his money bag to pay the deposit. You ought to know the weight of this crest, right?"

"Yeah, this is... the Royal Guard crest. Rice Field Three Spear Pattern."

The Royal Guard, as the name implies, are guards recruited by the Royal Family to garrison their own safety. They’re not part of the Jingjiu Dynasty official corps, basically like retainers of noble families, and different from the Emperor’s Imperial Palace Guard.

But the Royal Guard’s strength can’t be underestimated—the training, equipment, cultivation, all rival the Imperial Palace Guard. The only difference is the extremely strict quantity limits, determined by rank.

"That’s right. Rice Field Three Spear Pattern, exclusive crest of the Royal Guard. The guy who tried to kill you with illusionary kill is very likely a Royal Guard. Now tell me, isn’t this case complicated? I find it odd, I, Tang Qingyuan, have worked in the Xuanqing Guard most of my life and barely made any enemies, but you, Shen Hao, have folks trying to kill you every other day—even the Royal Family is involved now.

...Do you think it could be... the Fifth Prince?"