Xuanqing Guard

The wealth hidden in Xu Hong’s home was so vast, it truly startled Shen Hao. When he saw the massive silver balls dug up from several cellars—already streaked with mold—he thought calling him ’rich enough to rival a nation’ might be an exaggeration, but ’immeasurably wealthy’ was definitely accurate.

And this is the guy who always scored excellent in official evaluations, hailed as "honest and diligent"?

Bah!

Even Shen Hao himself didn’t dare claim he was a "good man or good official," yet this dog-faced Xu Hong managed to rake in so much behind the scenes?

Of course, these gigantic silver balls, each weighing hundreds of jin, were custom-made for easy storage and theft prevention. And they didn’t come solely from embezzlement, either. Xu Hong "did business." He dabbled in several trades, took a cut here and there—who’d dare say the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War’s business would ever lose money? People would even take losses just so Lord Xu’s deals could skyrocket.

Just with this pile of silver coins alone, every bit of shine Xu Hong had in Shen Hao’s mind was gone. This guy might be sharp on the battlefield, but he’s certainly not a good person.

Besides the silver coins, there were several other cellars full of elixirs, magical artifacts, antiques, rare treasures... Each with its own background, but piled together they still made people’s jaws drop.

Li City Black Banner Battalion was in charge of this raid—all veterans, many of whom Shen Hao knew. Even without Chen Tianwen leading the party, Shen Hao could handle it directly; no one dared slack off.

"Make it clear to all the brothers: not a single thing from this case is to be pocketed. This isn’t the time to get rich—all items are to be registered and sealed in the case files. Anyone who screws around, I’ll chop their head off. Understand?"

Shen Hao grabbed a chair and sat in the Xu Mansion’s central courtyard, personally reviewing every ledger as it was recorded before it was carried away. From morning till dusk, they hadn’t finished moving it all.

At 7 p.m., Wang Yiming returned. The guy had dark circles under his eyes, clearly hadn’t slept at all.

"Lord, everything on the Jingxi Army side has been handled."

Previously, Wang Yiming had personally stationed himself at Jingxi, planning to break open the case starting from the Jingxi Army. After all, their supply battalion offered plenty of leverage to dig into, and it looked most likely for a breakthrough in the short term.

But man proposes, heaven disposes—the progress at Jingxi Army was held up by a few stubborn hard-heads. Wang Yiming was beyond frustrated, unable to pry open their mouths; just as he was at his wit’s end, he was told to "wrap up," and then heard Vice Minister Xu Hong of the Ministry of War had been taken down.

What...the hell happened?!

He’d thought everyone was stuck in a deadlocked investigation—then suddenly, there was a major breakthrough? Not a whiff of news beforehand!

He hastily finished up with the Jingxi Army, rushed back to Fengri City to ask around, only to be told Shen Hao was already raiding Xu Hong’s house at the Imperial City, and even Xu Hong himself had been locked in the Jingxi Town Governor’s Office dungeon by Your Majesty’s orders.

The pace changed too fast—Wang Yiming felt like he’d missed half a lifetime, so he hurried straight for the Imperial City.

In Xuanqing Guard, Black Banner Battalion’s information control was the tightest. Wang Yiming didn’t bother asking anyone along the way—he knew no one would talk. Unless Lord Shen gave the nod, the case details were locked up tight.

"You’re quick, at least. Alright, since you’re here, you supervise the raid. Remember, everything seized goes into the official records—anyone messes around, and I’ll chop them up."

"Yes, sir!"

Shen Hao didn’t care about Wang Yiming’s rushed mood. Whether he was curious or trying to look good, it didn’t matter. He just needed someone to keep watch over the Xu Mansion—no mistakes allowed—and he himself wanted to head to the Jingxi Town Governor’s Office, since Xu Hong’s interrogation had started and that was the real show.

Leaving Wang Yiming behind, Shen Hao gathered his guards and headed straight for the Jingxi Town Governor’s Office, armed with his Waist Token and a note from Jiang Cheng, giving him temporary free access.

Because today was extraordinary, the Jingxi Town Governor’s Office was brightly lit; a lot of folks stayed and didn’t clock out.

Jiang Cheng’s deputy stood watch at the gate, and as soon as Shen Hao arrived, he led him inside.

"Lord knows you’d definitely come, told me to wait for you here. Hurry up."

The Deputy was already familiar with Shen Hao; both were Jiang Cheng’s confidants, their conversation casual, no formalities.

"Brother Zhang, what’s going on with the Lord?"

"What do you think? Tough as nails. Never mind, you’ll see for yourself soon enough. This way..."

They wound their way through the Jingxi Town Governor’s Office, east and west—this was Shen Hao’s first time in the Governor’s Office dungeon.

Compared to the Black Banner Battalion dungeon in Fengri City, the ones here looked pretty similar from the outside. But moving closer, the array fluctuations were something else, and there were way more cultivators stationed guard.

Even with Jiang Cheng’s deputy leading him, Shen Hao went through three strict security procedures before entering the dungeon.

He found Jiang Cheng dressed in short sleeves, with his arms rolled up to the elbows, sweat beads on his brow, and a ferocious look on his face that Shen Hao had never seen before.

And what was Jiang Cheng doing? Before Shen Hao arrived, he’d never have guessed Jiang Cheng would be wielding a slim finger-sized blade, personally interrogating...

"Subordinate greets Lord." Shen Hao stood stunned for several moments after entering the spacious interrogation room, finally bowing to the "busy" Jiang Cheng.

"Mm, what took you so long?" Jiang Cheng didn’t look up, instead bent over, working on the prisoner’s lower body. There were visible bloodstains at his feet, but not much.

"Replying to Lord, your subordinate was monitoring the house raid, couldn’t slack off. Just now my deputy returned so I handed the task to him and hurried over." Shen Hao answered while glancing at the prisoner tied to the pillar.

Oval face, short beard, features like a man in his fifties or sixties, small eyes, pale complexion, jaw clenched tight, eyes bulging almost out, but holding firm without making a sound.

Shen Hao had seen portraits, knew this was the former Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, Xu Hong. He hadn’t thought Jiang Cheng would personally torture Xu Hong—and from the look of it, he actually knew what he was doing, probably trained for it.

"Mm!"

Who knows what Jiang Cheng did, Xu Hong suddenly let out a muffled grunt, veins bulging on his forehead as he endured unimaginable pain, but still refused to speak.

"No good. My technique’s rusty. Just from that, the effect’s at least thirty percent less than it used to be. Never mind, clean him up and let him rest."

Jiang Cheng was unhappy with the result after all his work, but didn’t continue. He passed the slim blade to someone else, then cleaned his hands in a copper basin held by another attendant before picking up a teacup and gesturing for Shen Hao to sit.

"Back in the military, I learned interrogation from a master. He said I had talent—’promising material’—but now, I’m definitely rusty."

"Heh, Lord, your skills are impressive, but Xu Hong’s just got a mouth made of steel."

"Doesn’t much matter if his mouth’s tough. Lord Pang says you can start wrapping up the case."

"What?"