Several luxury cars were parked along the spacious street.
On the other side of the street stood a magnificent residence.
At the center, two vermilion gates stood open, with a white jade lion over two meters tall placed on either side.
The plaque above the gates bore the words "Prince Cheng's Residence."
There were few residences in Lanling City that could occupy an entire street in such a costly area. Prince Cheng's Residence was one of them.
Prince Cheng was the Son of Heaven's younger brother. After the Son of Heaven ascended the throne, he granted Prince Cheng an entire province as his fief!
Though it was not an actual hereditary fief, taking a portion of a province's yearly taxes still amounted to an astronomical sum. Even if Prince Cheng did nothing at all, merely collecting that share of the taxes each year would make him fabulously wealthy.
This showed just how deeply the current Son of Heaven cherished his own brother.
An old man and a young woman dressed in blue official robes entered the street and walked straight toward the gates of Prince Cheng's Residence.
"Two officials, may I ask what brings you here?"
The guards at the gate stopped them and asked.
"I am He Jian, a first-rank investigator of the Supervisory Pavilion. I have been ordered to investigate a case."
The old man took out a token and showed it to the guards.
"Greetings, Lord He."
The guard bowed courteously. "I'll go report this at once."
He quickly turned and ran into the residence, while He Jian and his disciple, Yuan Mengfei, waited outside.
A moment later, a middle-aged man in a light-red robe came to the gate. He cupped his hands toward He Jian and said calmly:
"Greetings, Lord He. I am Xi Ran, the