Reasoning

"Uncle Wang, I came here to visit a classmate's mother. What about you?"

Zeng Anmin gave him a token salute and asked:

"Could it be because of the case of the Young Master of Prince Jiang's Estate being assassinated?"

"No, no!"

Wang Deli waved his hand and strode toward Zeng Anmin.

His bearded face was full of frustration as he said:

"I came today to seal up the home of the attendant who stole the Dragon Survey Map."

"Oh~"

Zeng Anmin nodded in realization.

His father had been thrown into prison by Emperor Jianhong because the Dragon Survey Map had gone missing.

Fortunately, he had transmigrated in time, descended bravely from the heavens, solved the case, and pulled his father out of prison.

The map-stealing attendant's home seemed to be on Tong'an Street.

He raised his brows and asked:

"Have you found out who ordered him to do it?"

It would have been better if he had not said that. The moment he did, Wang Deli's expression grew even more bitter.

"That attendant had no family, never interacted with his neighbors, and there was nothing in his home..."

At that point, he shut his mouth, scratched his head, and muttered a complaint:

"The attendant's map theft case still isn't closed, and the Young Master of Prince Jiang's Estate just had to pick this time to die. Damn it, he's really making trouble for people."

Though he had not finished speaking, Zeng Anmin understood.

The Xuanjing Division attendant who had committed suicide had taken the clues with him.

"Then I won't disturb Uncle Wang while you're on official duty."

"Alright! Young Master Zeng, come visit my home sometime. My boy looks forward to seeing you every day!"

"See you around..."

Zeng Anmin watched Wang Deli lead his men to the entrance of a dilapidated little courtyard.

After slapping up two seals, he led them away toward the end of the street.

Zeng Anmin walked a few more steps with Qi Dachun and turned a corner.

"This is Brother Tongyu's home."

Zeng Anmin looked at the worn wooden door before him, weathered by time until it had become heavy and battered, his face full of sorrow.

Tong'an Street was practically the slums of Two Rivers Prefecture.

It was also a constant thorn in his father's side within his territory.

In his memories, his father had often worried himself sick over how to solve the livelihood problems of the people here.

"From humble homes come great sons."

Zeng Anmin sighed, then felt that saying this was not quite right.

He cast a sidelong glance at the attendant's home not far away, its door sealed by the Xuanjing Division, and corrected himself:

"Except for that map thief."

Anyone who stole the map deserved to die.

"Why did Brother Tongyu live so close to that map thief? What bad luck."

Zeng Anmin muttered as he prepared to step forward and knock.

But before his hand could touch that battered wooden door—

He suddenly froze.

A current shot fiercely from his tailbone straight into his soul.

All those scattered fragments from the past suddenly connected into a single line.

With a boom, they blew away every shred of mist!

But in Qi Dachun's eyes—

His young master's phoenix eyes had widened, and his body had gone rigid.

He did not move at all, like a statue.

"Young Master?"

Qi Dachun looked at Zeng Anmin in confusion. After seeing that he remained motionless for a long while, he cautiously asked:

"What's wrong with you??"

Zeng Anmin ignored Qi Dachun. He abruptly looked toward the seal posted on the distant door.

Then he suddenly turned back to look at the battered wooden door of Zhang Lun's home.

After a long while.

A sharp gleam rose in his eyes, so fierce that no one dared meet his gaze. He murmured:

"So that's how it is!!"

"I know now!!"

"How is it so? What do you know?"

Qi Dachun looked utterly lost. At that moment, his young master seemed like a spirit-medium granny, muttering and chanting to himself.

Zeng Anmin drew a deep breath, looked at Qi Dachun, and said in a low voice:

"Dachun, do you think a single Shuidu Order could truly be a reason to kill someone?!"

"Or rather, does Prince Jiang's Estate really lack one Shuidu Order?!"

Qi Dachun stood rooted to the spot, staring like a husky.

"Besides, Brother Tongyu wasn't the only one in the academy who possessed a Shuidu Order..."

Zeng Anmin murmured as if talking to himself.

This was the point everyone had overlooked.

It was also what he had missed because Zhang Lun's death had blinded his heart with hatred.

"Brother Tongyu didn't die because of the Shuidu Order!!"

Zeng Anmin's gaze was incomparably sharp!

Qi Dachun felt a little sleepy. He forced himself to focus and looked earnestly at Zeng Anmin.

"I don't understand."

Zeng Anmin's mouth twitched. He simply stopped looking at Qi Dachun and fixed his gaze on the home of the Xuanjing Division attendant, sealed off not far away.

He walked step by step toward that seal.

"Young Master?"

Qi Dachun did not dare ask more. He could only follow Zeng Anmin to the seal.

When they reached the door—

Zeng Anmin looked at the seal before him.

After the light snowfall in Two Rivers Prefecture came bright sunshine.

The sunlight happened to fall upon that seal at this moment.

Making the standard emblem of the Xuanjing Division shine brilliantly.

"The Xuanjing Division's emblem..."

Zeng Anmin slowly closed his eyes.

In his mind flashed the Xuanjing Division emblem Zhang Lun had drawn beside his hand on the day he died.

"Brother Tongyu, the reason you left behind this emblem was to tell the world..."

"The truth behind your death was this neighbor of yours... that lowly Xuanjing Division attendant who stole the map!!"

Zeng Anmin's phoenix eyes snapped open.

"Uh."

Qi Dachun's eyes were still filled with profound wisdom...

Zeng Anmin looked at his blank expression, and his mouth twitched.

I've spelled it out this clearly. Even if you were a dog, you should have figured it out by now!

He looked at the Xuanjing Division emblem on the seal.

His voice carried a peculiar resonance:

"Wang Lin killed Brother Tongyu using the Shuidu Order as an excuse in order to conceal his true purpose."

"His true purpose was to silence him forever."

"Brother Tongyu lived so close to that Xuanjing Division attendant's home. It's hard not to suspect that he saw something."

"The reason I'm so certain is the Xuanjing Division emblem Brother Tongyu drew beside him when he died!"

"He saw that Xuanjing Division attendant conspiring with someone!!"

"That was why he brought this disaster upon himself."

After saying all this, Zeng Anmin's gaze turned distant as he looked deeply at the clear blue sky on the horizon.

"Th-this..." Qi Dachun was already dumbstruck. He looked at Zeng Anmin in terror and muttered as though frightened out of his wits:

"How was Young Master's brain made? How does it turn faster than my dad doing somersaults?"

Zeng Anmin could not be bothered to reply.

After a long silence, he said coldly:

"Then from this, we can infer that the force that ordered this Xuanjing Division attendant to steal the Dragon Survey Map and framed my father into prison came from..."

Zeng Anmin slowly raised his head, revealing that face carved as if by knife and axe.

His voice carried unparalleled frost as he enunciated each word:

"Prince. Jiang's. Estate!"

"Boom!!!"

Qi Dachun felt as if a stick had brutally punched through all the mist in his mind!!

"Holy fucking shit!!"

Zeng Anmin had made it so clear that not only Qi Dachun—even a real husky could understand it!

Zeng Anmin slowly raised his head.

At this point, the case of the missing Dragon Survey Map had completely formed a closed loop in his mind.

Prince Jiang's Estate...

Huff...

Zeng Anmin let out a long breath.

His phoenix eyes gleamed with a soul-shaking sharpness.

An enemy in the open was far better than an enemy in the dark.

Slowly pressing this matter into his heart—

He raised his head again, and a smile returned to his face.

"The sun seems much brighter today."

As he spoke, he returned to the wooden door of Zhang Lun's home and knocked lightly.

"Tap... tap tap."

He waited for a long while, but there was not the slightest movement.

Zeng Anmin frowned and knocked again. "Tap... tap tap."

Still, there was no response.

Could it be...

Zeng Anmin suddenly raised his head and shouted:

"Dachun! Break down the door!!"