The factions entangled in the Mulberry Lake case

The second princess lived in "Shaoyin Palace," a spacious and elegant villa.

The head guard led Xu Qi'an across the high threshold, past the screen wall, and before them lay a large courtyard filled with the innocence of a young girl.

A swing hangs from the grapevine trellis, broken clay figurines are piled up in the corner, and many strange and unusual objects can be vaguely seen piled up in the east pavilion.

At the edge of the western flowerbed, the Second Princess Lin'an, accompanied by several maids, was playing a game of kicking an embroidered ball. Amidst the chattering and laughter of the women, Princess Lin'an's silvery laughter could be heard intermittently.

"Your Highness, Xu Qi'an has arrived." The head guard announced loudly, clasping his hands in a fist salute from a distance.

The second princess, stepping on the embroidered ball, turned around and looked over. She stared at Xu Qi'an for a few seconds, then with a slight smirk, kicked the ball away with force.

Bang!

The embroidered ball flew out, and Princess Lin'an's skirt suddenly burst open into a circle, like a blooming flower.

Xu Qi'an, who had been given a rude awakening upon meeting her, was about to dodge when she suddenly held back. The embroidered ball went astray and bounced away into the distance with a series of thuds.

"I'll spare you this time." The Second Princess forced herself to save face, stepped towards the front hall, and said, "Xu Qi'an, come in with me. The rest of you wait outside."

In the luxurious and grand front hall, the Second Princess sat regally on a large chair, Xu Qi'an stood in the center. The two silently scrutinized each other.

The second princess attempted to use her status as a princess to pressure Xu Qi'an into submission through her gaze.

She knew that when Huaiqing was young, he had trained a hawk for a period of time. Hawk eyes are extremely sharp, like knives, and ordinary people cannot look into them for long. Therefore, in the process of training a hawk, one must use an even sharper and calmer gaze to suppress it.

Once the hawk tamer turns his gaze away, he loses his right to be the hawk's master.

Huaiqing trained the hawk to sharpen its eyesight, and the Second Princess still dares not look Huaiqing in the eye for long.

Unfortunately, her watery, peach-blossom eyes weren't very dangerous; when she stared at someone intently, they actually gave off a kind of unspoken, affectionate air.

Xu Qi'an sized up the second princess. She had a round face, somewhat similar to Chu Caiwei's, but the latter had a sweet charm and large, anime-like eyes.

The second princess is a mature and elegant beauty, with peach blossom eyes that look at everyone with affection.

"Xu Qi'an, I've heard you're Huaiqing's loyal dog." Seeing that her fierce gaze couldn't intimidate Xu Qi'an, the Second Princess sneered and resorted to verbal attacks.

"Yes, my name is Hachiko," Xu Qi'an said sincerely.

What is Hachiko?

"He's a loyal dog."

"Are you toying with me?" Princess Lin'an raised an eyebrow.

"I wouldn't dare," Xu Qi'an said neither humbly nor arrogantly.

Princess Lin'an gave a coquettish snort and said, "I'll give you a chance. Immediately pledge your allegiance to me and get rid of that woman Huaiqing. Otherwise..."

Submit to you? I'm already clinging to the Princess's leg and Wei Yuan's thigh; if I were to submit to you now, wouldn't I become a slave to three different families?

Xu Qi'an shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I have already sworn to serve the Princess like a slave, even unto death."

The second princess immediately retorted, "Then I want you to be my slave!"

"Then will you give me grass?" Xu Qi'an understood the situation. The Second Princess saw that he was appreciated by the Eldest Princess, was a lackey of the Eldest Princess, was handsome, could write poetry, and spoke eloquently. She became jealous and wanted to snatch him away from the Eldest Princess.

"Second Princess, please don't force me." Xu Qi'an sternly refused. People should have a sense of contract. Since he had agreed to work for the Eldest Princess, he could not rely on anyone else.

"If you refuse," the second princess widened her eyes, sneered, and threatened, "I will shout 'molestation' right now and tell the guards that you tried to harass me."

"I am willing to serve the Second Princess with my life, even at the cost of my life," Xu Qi'an said sincerely.

The second princess immediately became happy. "A wise person knows when to yield. You are a talented person. From now on, you will come here to see me every day after noon and serve me."

"Your Highness, I have duties to perform; I need to investigate the Sangbo case," Xu Qi'an sighed.

"That's true," Princess Lin'an thought for a moment, "Then forget about tomorrow. Come back when I want to use you."

Xu Qi'an understood. This woman was just fooling around and didn't really want him to do anything. She was just trying to cause trouble for the princess.

The threat just now was not very effective. For a princess to exchange her reputation for the life of a lowly clerk like him is a huge loss!

He changed his attitude and agreed to the second princess's request precisely because he understood the situation; he treated it as playing with a child and just going through the motions.

"You may leave." The second princess was in a good mood because things were progressing smoothly.

"Yes."

"Wait," the second princess called out to him, taking off the jade pendant from her waist, and said, "This is my token. You can enter the palace with this, and the guards won't stop you. But you can only go to my palace; you can't go anywhere else."

So generous? You must be a fool. Xu Qi'an's eyes lit up as he took the jade pendant and put it in his pocket. "From now on, this humble servant will certainly do his utmost to serve Your Highness."

Xu Qi'an, a slave from the three families, left the imperial city before dusk and rode back to the Nightwatchers's office.

The yamen had already closed for the day, leaving only the night Nightwatchers and clerks on duty; it was much quieter and less deserted than during the day.

As soon as Xu Qi'an entered the yamen, he was greeted by a man with a high nose and broad forehead, Zhu Chengzhu's father, Zhu Yang.

When enemies meet, there is no hatred in their eyes; they simply scrutinize each other with a sinister look.

"Zhu Jinluo, how is your son's injury?" Xu Qi'an asked with a smile, as he took out his waist token and confidently tied it around his waist.

Zhu Yang glanced at the gold medal, remaining calm and composed, and said indifferently, "He's lucky; he won't die. I'm afraid Lord Xu will have to go first."

Xu Qi'an waved his hand, smiling kindly, "I'll wait for him on the road. We've known each other for a while, after all."

Zhu Yang stared at him for a few seconds, then nodded. "Investigate the case thoroughly."

"Farewell, Zhu Jinluo."

Upon entering the side hall of Chunfeng Hall, the gong belonging to Li Yuchun and several constables from the government office were still there.

Hearing footsteps, Li Yuchun came out of Chunfeng Hall and said, "There's some progress on Magistrate Zhao's death. Hmm, it might not be the work of the Daoist School."

Xu Qi'an nodded, did not enter the side hall, and followed Li Yuchun into Chunfeng Hall.

"This afternoon, Prefect Chen summoned the officials in white robes from the Imperial Bureau of Astronomy to interrogate the jailers and clerks on duty that night. They confirmed that the jailers were innocent and further confirmed that Magistrate Zhao had indeed died silently in his cell in the early hours of the morning."

Li Yuchun poured a cup of tea for Xu Qi'an, who was both his subordinate and superior, and continued, "Daoist School Yin spirits can do this, and can also bypass guards and jailers silently. But after checking the information today, I found that there is another system that can do this."

Xu Qi'an took a sip of tea and listened patiently.

"A wizard!" Li Yuchun exclaimed.

"Wizard?"

Have you ever heard of the Witchcraft Cult?

"I've heard you mention the Witch God, boss. He's a god-like figure beyond the official ranks. Is the Witch God Cult a sect founded by the Witch God?"

Li Yuchun hummed in agreement. "The Witch God is a deity commonly worshipped by the various kingdoms of Northeast China. The Witch God religion holds supreme power in the Northeast, just as Buddhist School in the Western Regions holds power in those kingdoms."

The Great Feng was ruled by an emperor with supreme authority, and the northern tribes were no exception.

However, in the Western Regions and Northeast China, theocracy reigned supreme, and religious sects were the true rulers.

"Can wizards rival Daoist School in the realm of Primordial Spirit?" Xu Qi'an humbly inquired.

"No, no system in the Primordial Spirit realm can compare with the Daoist School." Li Yuchun shook his head and said, "But a fourth-rank wizard is also called a dream wizard, who can weave dreams and kill people in those dreams."

"Seventy years ago, the northern Demon Race and the Witch God Cult fought a war over territory. According to intelligence brought back by the Nightwatchers watchman's spies, a force of two thousand Demon Race soldiers died silently in their camp. They had no wounds; all of them had slept soundly with their weapons as pillows, but they never woke up again."

How did a fourth-rank wizard get involved with wizards again? This case is too difficult.

The Human Sect is now the state religion of the Great Feng, and its leader is the National Preceptor. This is already an unparalleled honor. What benefits would they gain from helping the Prince of Zhenbei plot to usurp the throne?

It's impossible to level up any further; you've reached the maximum level.

Therefore, the involvement of the Witch God Cult is more likely. If the one who killed Magistrate Zhao was the Dream Witch, then the forces behind the Sangbo case are: the mastermind (King Zhenbei), the Northern Demon Race, and the Northeast Witch God Cult!

Xu Qi'an took a sip of tea, his eyes revealing his weariness.

"It's not a complete loss; at least we can preliminarily rule out patriarchal clan members, and the case has made some progress," Xu Qi'an said.

"Boss, report this to Duke Wei."

Li Yuchun nodded, his face also full of worry. "I have a feeling that the end of the Gengzi year will be the beginning of great chaos."

"Let's just focus on solving cases, don't worry about the country's affairs while living a life of hardship." Xu Qi'an patted him on the shoulder and left the yamen.

It was completely dark when he got home. He was starving after a long day. After eating the food the cook had heated up and drinking the milk that Lingyue served him, he returned to the courtyard and fell asleep immediately.

On the third day, as dawn broke, Xu Qi'an rode his horse to the yamen and saw Chu Caiwei, dressed in a yellow dress, riding her horse across the street.

She held the reins in one hand and clutched the oil paper bag in her arms with the other, half a white bun peeking out, trying to jump out with the horse's jolting.

"Do you want some?" Chu Caiwei generously handed over a steamed bun, adding, "Meat one."

Xu Qi'an was deeply moved, no less than when he heard that Xu Lingyin had only drunk a bowl of porridge because she was worried about him. This foodie really considers me one of her own.

Xu Qi'an took the steamed bun and put it in his mouth, then casually tossed the horse reins to the official at the door.

As they ate, they walked inside and asked, "Any clues?"

Chu Caiwei said, "I asked around. Senior Brother Song Qing said that, excluding some of the Law Artifact in the palace and Law Artifact of the Bureau of Astronomy, the only magical Law Artifact in the capital that can block the Qi-Watching Technique are probably from the Buddhist School. Hmm, not those ordinary Buddhist temples, but the Qinglong Temple."

Qinglong Temple?!

Xu Qi'an was both surprised and unsurprised by the legacy left behind by that pagoda temple.

Indeed, Buddhist School is inextricably linked to the Sangbo case.

The Bureau of Astronomy, the Imperial Family, the Witch God Cult, the Northern Demon Race, the King of Zhenbei, and Buddhist School. A seemingly minor case, the Sangbo case, has unexpectedly implicated so many powerful forces.

PS: Thanks to the leader of "Xianmo Meikai".

Thank you all for pointing out the typos in the comments section of this chapter. The errors in previous chapters have already been corrected. This chapter also relies on you all; I corrected it myself word by word, which was exhausting.

Although I can't copy this chapter's saying like other authors, I can find other ways to get freebies, haha, how clever I am.