Xuanqing Guard

Tang Qingyuan was momentarily stunned.

"The Government Office doesn’t just have officials, it also holds prisoners."

This one sentence seemed completely unrelated to what the two had just been discussing, but it actually had a deeper implication. Tang Qingyuan caught onto it and, now dazed, his mind quickly began calculating.

"You mean that guy might have been locked up in the Government Office’s prison as an inmate?!"

"Does Lord Tang think that’s possible?"

Tang Qingyuan was silent for a moment before saying, "I must say, your mind really doesn’t work like us ordinary folks. You come up with things like this so quickly." Then, looking at the map on the wall, he said, "What you’re suggesting is indeed very possible, and it’s not especially difficult to pull off. Look here, from this small inn, if you just turn left and walk a short distance, you’ll reach the street on the left side of the Local Government Office. There are a lot of governmental officials coming and going there. If you stir up a little trouble, there’s every chance you’ll get arrested."

The Local Government Office’s prison is not like the Xuanqing Guard’s prison; it’s divided into inner and outer parts. The inner cells are heavily fortified, meant for serious offenders or death-row inmates awaiting execution. The outer prison, though, isn’t guarded so strictly, and is mainly for minor offenders—petty thieves, brawlers, and the like.

Generally, those locked up in the outer prison are released within ten days to half a month—or even sooner if their families pay some confiscatory fines in silver coins.

Tang Qingyuan meant that as long as that person caused some small trouble near the Government Office—say, started a fight or stole something and got caught on purpose—he’d likely be sent to the Local Government Office. Since the offense was just petty theft, it’s likely the governmental officials would overlook his Cultivator identity, letting him get by undetected and be locked up with the minor offenders, making it look to the outside world as if he’d disappeared.

Who would suspect that a petty thief is a highly skilled Cultivator? Naturally, they wouldn’t bother checking with a Magic Disc. And after ten days or half a month, by the time the winds calm down in Fengri City, wouldn’t slipping out of the city be a breeze?

The more Tang Qingyuan thought about it, the more plausible it seemed, until he couldn’t sit still—he sprang up to verify, but was stopped by Shen Hao again.

"No need to rush, Lord Tang. If that guy really is holed up in the Local Government Office’s dungeon as I suspect, then there’s no need to act in haste. Since, according to your intel, he’s possibly connected to the Royal Guard, you’d better communicate with your superiors first."

"Yes, you’re right. I’ll start by heading to the Local Government Office to check the recent inmate registry, then have someone show a portrait to the prison guards. I won’t do anything reckless, you can be sure of that." As he rushed to leave, Tang Qingyuan turned back and added, "Thanks a lot."

"No need for thanks, Lord Tang, just a small favor."

Tang Qingyuan hurried off, and Shen Hao remained in front of the map for a while. He had a premonition that his deduction this time couldn’t be wrong. If it were him, he’d also choose to lie low in the prison to avoid detection—after all, there were no cruel tortures in the outer cells of the Local Government Office, and you could spend ten days or half a month there in relative comfort, and then stride out as you pleased. How nice is that?

The problem is, if it’s really the Royal Guard, then Shen Hao would need to seriously consider his own position.

Sitting back down, Shen Hao kept mulling it over. Logically, the past grudges he had with those two Princes were hardly serious enough for them to try and kill him right out in the street—it just wasn’t worth it.

If it wasn’t old grudges, could it be new ones?

Shen Hao unconsciously tapped his fingers on the table, pondering for a long time before forming a vague theory: that one particular Prince wanted to use his death for some purpose—not out of personal enmity with Shen Hao himself.

But what purpose would that be?

Shen Hao guessed it probably had to do with the "Ma San Case" he was investigating at the time. It involved the Military, and if he died, the Military would instantly become the prime suspect—at that point, who knows how the whole Xuanqing Guard would react. But chaos, for sure.

Still, all this is speculation; nothing is certain. Only after catching the person can you know for sure.

Collecting his thoughts, Shen Hao took out the dossier he’d been working on and continued writing. He should finish today; then just review it twice more to check for any omissions before submitting it and applying to close the case.

He got so busy he lost track of time. Lunch was delivered by Doorman Liu: meat pies, some braised meat, and a jug of fruit wine.

In this world, most wines are extremely low in alcohol—about the strength of beer in the other world. This fruit wine’s the same, more like a soft drink with a hint of alcohol. Because drinks here are so weak, there’s no saying like, "Wine is good but don’t overindulge!" At most, you might visit the latrine a few more times, no big deal. That’s why even at the Xuanqing Guard’s dining hall, fruit wine is served at lunch.

Doorman Liu knew all about Shen Hao’s appetite—the meat pies were each three taels, and he brought three, plus over a pound of braised meat and some vegetable cakes. Normally, three people would struggle to finish that, but for Lord Shen, it was barely enough.

He was eating heartily when Doorman Liu came in to say that Wang Xiaoqi was requesting to see him—said it was urgent.

"Let him in, and bring some more pies and braised meat from the canteen. Never mind the fruit wine; Wang Jian probably hasn’t eaten either."

"Yes, sir."

Wang Jian came in soon after. Hearing Shen Hao was inviting him to lunch, he thanked him quickly and, at Shen Hao’s gesture, sat down on a chair.

"Sir, the Four Divisions have mostly finished sorting through Xu Hong’s family assets—please have a look." As he spoke, Wang Jian placed a stack of documents about an inch thick by Shen Hao’s hand.

Shen Hao glanced at them but didn’t pick them up—he went on eating, signaling for Wang Jian to summarize first.

"Sir, Xu Hong’s family accounts are interesting—they operated sort of like the house in a gambling den, backing a number of major merchants to make money for them. With Xu Hong’s reputation keeping others in check, their business made steady profits, accumulating a huge fortune over time.

Also, the Xu Family dabbled in lots of trades, but mainly focused on medicinal herbs, leather, and cloth, with a complete operation from production to retail..."

Wang Jian was still giving an overview when Doorman Liu came in, bringing the food for Wang Jian, set it down, then quietly left and shut the door.

"Didn’t have Old Liu pour you any fruit wine—this stuff, I just drink for refreshment, but if you drank it, you’d be red-faced and useless. You’d better stick to water and pies."

"Hehe, you’re right, sir. I really can’t handle alcohol, or I’d mess things up."

The two paused the official talk and chatted as they handled their lunch. After Old Liu returned to clear the dishes, Wang Jian went on, "Sir, other than their above-board business, the Xu Family has a few covert deals—mainly mid to High Grade elixirs."

"Oh? Elixirs? Selling, or buying?"

"Selling!"