"Marquis of Wu'an has lately been occupied with the official examination. How could he spare attention for a mere missing-person case?" Su Guanying said impassively. "As for the case Commander Shi mentioned, to my knowledge, it is already under investigation. It is simply that the official examination has tied down too much official manpower, so progress will not be so swift."
Shi Mingcheng's expression was grave. "This is no trifling matter. Governor Su must give it due weight. If even the son of a prefect in a dignified region cannot be kept safe, if he can vanish for five days without a trace, how are the people of the Southern Borderlands to feel secure?"
Su Guanying said, "Human lives hang in the balance; naturally, it is a serious matter. But a prefect's son is not somehow special. The Southern Borderlands span ten thousand li, with hundreds of millions of people. Every day, every hour, people are born, grow old, fall ill, and die. Could we possibly concern ourselves with every last one? Could the military governor concern himself with them all? The court has its own system, and the Criminal Affairs Office has its own duties to bear. What we at the helm must do is ensure the overall stability of the Southern Borderlands. At present, the official examination is the priority. Once it concludes successfully, official governance is put in order, and the inside and outside are unified, handling public security will follow as naturally as water flows into its channel."
With a flip of his large hand, Shi Mingcheng produced two case files and tossed one each before Su Guanying and Jiang Wang.
"On the fifteenth of July, the only son of Jiangyong Prefect disappeared. On the sixteenth of July, the brother-in-law of the Shunye Prefect was murdered