Xuanqing Guard

The Fifth Prince? Prince Shou, Yang Lin?

Shen Hao certainly wouldn't forget this Fifth Son of the Emperor, someone he'd had a grudge with.

Back when Prince Shou came to Fengri City, Shen Hao had volunteered to help with the city garrison. Then Prince Shou, in front of Wu Changhe—the then Xuanqing Guard Thousand Households—and Xie Youlin, the Local Government Office's Chief Officer in Fengri City, openly tried to recruit Shen Hao, even showed off some spirit stones in an attempt to bribe him. But after Shen Hao refused, Prince Shou got rather annoyed.

But even if Prince Shou was annoyed with Shen Hao, would he take such a huge risk just for revenge? That hardly adds up.

Even if Prince Shou is petty and vindictive, so much time has already passed. Wu Changhe's already turned to dust and bones, and only now Prince Shou suddenly wants to kill Shen Hao? Seems highly unlikely.

If it's not Prince Shou, then who could it be? Of the Emperor's seven sons, Shen Hao had only dealt with the Fifth, Prince Shou—the rest, he'd never even met.

Right, there's also the Seventh Prince.

Not long ago, Third Master Song, Song Zhizhou from the Song Family in the Imperial City, came over trying to get the rights to Zhang Family's Wine Shop and the Wuliangye recipe for nothing, but in the end Shen Hao put him in his place and cut off his greed. The Song Family got burned and backed off. That must've left a grudge with the Song Family, but as for whether the Seventh Prince behind them would care enough to remember—it's impossible to know. Still, would they really go so far as to kill him out in the street over this?

Doesn't make sense.

"I don't know. Have you found anything else? How could a living person just vanish into thin air? Even if they're a cultivator, there's no way they slipped out of Fengri City after the immediate lockdown, right?" Shen Hao didn't dwell on details he couldn't make sense of, but habitually shifted focus back to the available clues.

Who cares which Royal Guard he belongs to, as long as they're caught, things will come out naturally.

"That's all. Both the teleportation array and the city gates were locked down quickly that day—you know how it is, when a talisman goes off in the sky, you can see it clearly for dozens of miles, and the sound is deafening. From the moment you were attacked, it was less than half an incense stick's time before every outbound route was completely cut off. The inn wasn't exactly close or far from the teleportation array, but was pretty far from the city gate—getting there in half an incense stick would require leaping rooftops, but there were no witnesses. As for the teleportation array, no way—people come and go in groups, it's not like you can just hop in whenever."

"So based on what you have, that person is highly likely to still be in the city?" Shen Hao summed up Tang Qingyuan's point.

Tang Qingyuan nodded. "That's how it looks. But for days, the whole city's been combed over—every street, every alley, not a corner missed. Still no trace of the guy. So I'm leaning toward him having already slipped out."

"Run? How?"

"If I knew, would I still be sitting here? Even with the city locked down, there are still tons of people going in and out of all four gates every day. Food, drink, supplies all have to come from outside, right? Even waste carts go out by the dozens daily. So if someone disguised themselves and hid in a cart, is it really impossible?"

So I'm thinking the killer must've snuck out using some method. Who knows if he'll circle back for a sneak attack—so on your end, your guards and you yourself need to stay armed and alert. Best not to wander around unless necessary."

So they're just dragging this out?

Shen Hao hesitated before saying, "Lord Tang, if I remember right, this case was pledged publicly before Lord Jiang and even made it onto the official bulletin. If you just drag your feet like this, not only will you be in trouble if the culprit isn't found, I'm afraid Lord Kuang won't get off easily either."

How about I help you analyze things again? Don't worry, I won't breathe a word to anyone once I step out the door."

Since this involved him, Shen Hao had no choice but to care. If Tang Qingyuan and his crew really let the suspect get away or slip through, that would be a mess for him.

As for caring if Tang Qingyuan can close the case? That was just an excuse Shen Hao used offhand.

Push comes to shove, there are so many condemned prisoners in the dungeons, isn't it easy enough to get a couple in to take the fall? And don't think fake confessions are easy to expose. With Tang Qingyuan leading it and Kuang Shengyuan covering for him, it's really not that easy to spot a setup.

If it comes to scapegoats, wouldn't Shen Hao, the victim, end up the most shafted?

Tang Qingyuan never doubted Shen Hao's investigation ability—if he ever had, after all they'd been through, he was long since convinced. And he knew Shen Hao was trustworthy; a promise from him was solid. So Tang Qingyuan barely hesitated before nodding, then laid out every detail and clue they had so far, one by one.

"You've already checked the officials' residences?"

"We have. Even checked Local Government Office Chief Officer Xie Youlin's house thoroughly. These days the Local Government Office in Fengri City doesn't have bite anymore—thanks to your last Jingxi Action. They all got shaken up and don't dare poke their heads out. At least we'll have peace for a few years."

Even Chief Officer Xie Youlin's house was searched, so there's no reason any so-called upper-tier people were missed. Basically, the whole city had no blind spots at this point.

But even with such a thorough, dig-three-feet search, nothing turned up. No wonder Tang Qingyuan was now guessing the perpetrator had already left the city—every possible place had been checked, what else could you do?

Shen Hao listened closely, frowning, then stood from his chair and paced back and forth before finally stopping in front of a wall map of Fengri City.

Tang Qingyuan stood up too, walked over beside Shen Hao, looked at the map on the wall, pointed, and said, "Here's where you were ambushed. Less than a li from here is that little inn—right...about here. If you opened the window at an angle you could see you coming from a distance."

Shen Hao gestured at the map a few times. How could someone disappear without a trace without alerting bystanders? Could it be some sort of magic disc trick to hide movements?

No, that makes no sense. Even if you hide with a magic disc, you can't last long. The later citywide Xuanqing Guard search would definitely expose you.

Just as Shen Hao was about to turn and sit down, a thought struck him out of nowhere.

"Lord Tang, when you searched the city, you didn't check here, did you?" Shen Hao quickly went back to the map and jabbed his finger hard at a specific cluster of buildings.

"Hmm? This is...the Local Government Office? Wait, you don't think the culprit is hiding inside the Local Government Office, do you? That's even less likely. All the officials there are registered and know each other—if a suspicious stranger slipped in, there's no way they wouldn't notice.

Your theory isn't possible."

Tang Qingyuan laughed and directly shot it down. At the same time, he thought Shen Hao's mind really did work differently from other people's. Hiding in the Local Government Office? Isn't that walking into a trap? How dumb would you have to be to try that?

But Shen Hao said coolly, "The Local Government Office doesn't only have officials. There are also prisoners."