Number Three's persona crumbles?

Hengyuan's gaze fell on the small jade mirror, which he had left at the bottom of the well. During his conflict with Henghui, he had accidentally fallen out of her arms.

After hearing Heng Hui's story and watching him pass away peacefully, I was filled with grief and no longer cared about the fragments of the Earth Book.

Then the Nightwatchers came. Knowing he would be going into the dungeon, he decided that leaving the mirror at the bottom of the well was the best option to prevent the Nightwatchers from taking it.

Hengyuan's plan was that if he had a chance to escape, he would retrieve the fragments of the Earth Book, or perhaps Master Jinlian would pick them up for him.

Unexpectedly, it eventually fell into the hands of the Nightwatchers.

Xu Qi'an stared at Heng Yuan, waiting for his reply.

The jade mirror was given to him by Wei Yuan this morning without any further instructions, but Xu Qi'an felt that Wei Yuan meant to return the fragments of the Earth Book to Number Six through him.

Seeing the bald man remain silent for a long time, Xu Qi'an took a sip of tea and slowly said, "This mirror was found at the bottom of the well. If it's not yours, it belongs to Heng Hui. And its real name is the Earth Book."

Hengyuan suddenly looked up and stared at him. Xu Qi'an smiled, his tone full of confidence. "There are many people in the world who don't know it, but that doesn't include us Nightwatchers."

Hengyuan lowered his head again and said in a low voice, "This is indeed my humble abode."

Xu Qi'an said, "As far as I know, this is Law Treasure of the Daoist School Earth Sect. How could it be in the hands of a monk like you?"

Hengyuan replied, "This humble monk obtained this Law Artifact through a series of fortuitous events, and I hope that you, sir, will return it to me."

Xu Qi'an shook his head, put away the jade mirror, played with it in his hand, and laughed, "Master, I think it's probably more than that, isn't it? Can the Law Treasure of the Daoist School sect be explained by just a phrase like 'a chance encounter'?"

"If you speak frankly and say something useful, I will let you leave; otherwise, you will spend the rest of your life in the Nightwatchers's dungeon."

Hengyuan remained silent for a moment, then got up to leave.

Xu Qi'an frowned and asked, "Where are you going?"

"This humble monk returns to the dungeon."

Number Six is a decent person; he didn't betray the Heaven and Earth Society. Of course, it might be because he wasn't tortured. But that's not what I wanted. Xu Qi'an said in a deep voice, "It's just a Law Treasure. Why is Master going to such lengths? Is there anything more precious than freedom in this world?"

Hengyuan did not turn around, but simply said, "Please, sir, put the shackles back on this humble monk."

Xu Qi'an looked at the clerk taking the statement. "You may leave now."

The clerk packed up the paper, pen, and inkstone and left the interrogation room.

Xu Qi'an coughed lightly, his tone softening, "Master, please sit down, please sit down."

He stood up, pulled on Hengyuan's arm, and made a respectful gesture.

Hengyuan sat back down at the table, bewildered, looking at Tongluo, whose attitude had completely changed, wondering what he was up to.

"My lord, I know nothing. The Book of Earth was indeed obtained by fortuitous opportunity," Hengyuan said helplessly.

"Don't be so definitive. A monk doesn't lie, or you'll be embarrassed later!" Xu Qi'an said with a half-smile, "You're Number Six of the Heaven and Earth Society, aren't you?"

Σ(°△°|||)

Hengyuan stared at him, both surprised and bewildered. His calm demeanor vanished, replaced by hostility and wariness.

It seems that as soon as Xu Qi'an reveals any signal that he is going to harm the Heaven and Earth Society, he will slap the gong to death, trading his life for the gong.

Xu Qi'an lowered his voice and, in a tone like that of an underground party member making a rendezvous, leaned on the table and said, "My name is Xu Qi'an, and I am a spy planted by the Cloud Deer Academy in the Nightwatchers's Office."

"The fragments of the Earth Book weren't found by the government; I retrieved them from the bottom of the well, and I led the men to you. And all of this was ordered to be done by Number Three; he's my superior."

Number Three?! Hengyuan was deeply shocked. He did not immediately deny or doubt the words of the gong in front of him, because in that instant, he thought of something.

"Number Three is a student of the Cloud Deer Academy. He has revealed more than once that the academy has placed people in various government departments. As a Confucian School orthodox academy that once held power in the court, such behavior is perfectly normal."

"After the Sangbo case, No. 3 also mentioned the details of the Sangbo case in a letter circulating within the Heaven and Earth Society. The Nightwatchers's Office did indeed have spies from the Cloud Deer Academy."

"But how did Number Three know my location? Ah, that's it. Master Jinlian knows the identities of each of us. Heng Hui was with me at the time, so Master Jinlian would definitely avoid conflict with Heng Hui. Therefore, we can only ask others for help. And the Nightwatchers are in charge of the Sangbo case. Number Three, who has a spy within the Nightwatchers's office, is the best person to ask for help."

"I owe Number Three another life. Number Three truly lives up to his reputation as a scholar, chivalrous and righteous, a trustworthy friend. This debt will likely be difficult to repay in the future." Thinking of this, Hengyuan took a deep breath, his gaze towards Xu Qi'an no longer wary or hostile, and asked gently, "What else did Number Three say?"

"He said that with the imperial examinations approaching, he couldn't leave Cloud Deer Academy, and if he encountered similar troubles again, he might not be able to help in time. Therefore, he asked me to contact the master, and that the master could contact me if he needed any help in the future."

Xu Qi'an added in his mind: If I need anything, I can ask you for help, and it won't expose Number Three's identity. At least not in the short term.

He doesn't want to reveal himself for the time being. Firstly, the image he had previously cultivated was somewhat exaggerated, and the members of the Heaven and Earth Society all thought he was a top elite of the Cloud Deer Academy, a learned and talented scholar.

It turned out that number three was actually just a gong.

Secondly, keeping a backup plan and not revealing one's true identity leaves considerable room for maneuver and provides ample room for maneuver.

Anyway, for Hengyuan No. 6, it doesn't make much difference whether I'm Nightwatchers or a student of the Cloud Deer Academy. I don't cheat on sex.

Hengyuan nodded, took the fragment of the Earth Book from the handsome Tongluo, and said, "If you ever need my help in the future, please don't hesitate to ask."

Xu Qi'an smiled and waved his hand, "Master, I'll take you out now."

After seeing Hengyuan off, Xu Qi'an returned to Chunfeng Hall. The constables, including Lü Qing, from the prefectural government office had stopped coming to the office, because they knew that Xu Qi'an might be able to make amends for his actions in the case of Princess Pingyang.

Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao were meditating in the side hall, while Li Yuchun was tidying up, making sure every item was neat and tidy.

"Boss, I'll help you."

"No, don't move!" Li Yuchun quickly called out, "I can do it myself, I can do it myself."

Xu Qi'an was happy to have some free time. He sat down at the table and said, "After the case is over, let's go to the Imperial Academy of Music for drinks. It's on me."

"The Imperial Academy of Music," Li Yuchun said hesitantly.

"Boss, you've never been to the Imperial Academy of Music, have you?" Xu Qi'an noticed the key point and winked sarcastically.

In this era, it's extremely rare for a man of status and position not to have been to Imperial Academy of Music. It's as rare as Xu Qi'an's female PhD in his previous life being a virgin, or a thirty-year-old male PhD never using his hands to show off.

These are all extremely rare in the world.

"What's the point of going to such a filthy place?" Li Yuchun shook his head and said, "Those three will be beheaded at noon today, are you going to watch?"

Xu Qi'an quickly shook his head. "No, I can't stand that kind of scene."

Li Yuchun cast a questioning look at him.

In Great Feng Capital Evaluation, the death row inmates executed in the autumn were enough to make the common people familiar with the practice, and they would watch it while eating.

There is absolutely no psychological pressure.

"I'm not going anyway," Xu Qi'an said.

The sight of hundreds of people being beheaded was still too much for him to bear; it kept him awake at night. This was despite him having several years of criminal investigation experience and having seen many gruesome murder case files. For an ordinary person, it would probably leave them with psychological trauma.

At noon, at Caishikou.

On the execution platform, more than a hundred people knelt, the first two being Zhang Feng, the Minister of War, and his son Zhang Yi.

They wore white prison uniforms, their eyes blindfolded, awaiting their death. Thousands of people gathered around them, watching in layers.

Not everyone enjoys watching such a cruel and bloody scene, even though in the eyes of the common people, those who are beheaded are all heinous criminals. The main reason is that the imperial court adopted a policy of semi-coercion and semi-encouragement towards "watching." Some people had no choice but to come; they were forced to watch.

The reason is simple: to uphold the authority of the imperial court and intimidate the people.

"Execute!" The officer glanced at the sundial and threw out the order.

As death approached, the blindfolded relatives cursed and swore, accusing Minister of War Zhang Feng of harming others and himself, saying they would haunt him even as ghosts.

The executioner raised his blade high, and heads rolled off one by one, blood splattering wildly, the pungent stench of which could be smelled even by the people on the outskirts.

Afterwards, two more groups of death row inmates were executed, namely the family members of Pingyuan Bo and Sun Zhongming.

Standing outside the crowd, the monk Hengyuan silently turned and left. He had come to witness the execution for two reasons:

First, he came to settle the karmic debts for his junior brother Heng Hui, hence his visit to witness the execution of his enemy. Second, he came to calm his own obsessions and prevent the development of inner demons in the future.

Heng Hui was his junior brother whom he had raised himself, like a brother and a son. An eye for an eye, this matter is now settled.

"Master Shenshu, are you awake?"

In the side hall, Xu Qi'an practiced breathing Qi Refinement and summoned divine intervention, but still received no reply from the high monk.

He seemed to be able to sense my thoughts; was it Buddhist School telepathy? Telepathy shouldn't be able to read memories. In any case, he was asleep most of the time, which was a good thing.

As Xu Qi'an was thinking, his heart skipped a beat. He opened his eyes and saw that his two colleagues were both breathing exercises with their eyes closed. Reassured, he took out a small jade mirror and began to read the message.

[Six: Everyone, I am now well. Thank you for your concern.]

[Is number 5 or 6 really number 6? Could it be Nightwatchers in disguise?]

Number Five was the first to raise questions; at first glance, he seemed cautious, but he was actually the most foolish.

[Four: Ha, if it were fake, Master Jinlian would have warned us long ago. Five, you should be thinking about whether Six has been Nightwatchers watchman.]

Number Four is indeed a scholar by birth and a former high-ranking official; he's quite astute. Xu Qi'an clicked his tongue twice.

[5: Were you recruited, Number Six?]

[Six: This humble monk is well. This humble monk wishes to express his gratitude to Number Three and Daoist Golden Lotus for their rescue.]

[Nine: No need to thank me, your junior brother had no intention of killing you.]

[Part 4: What is the progress of the Sangbo case?]

Seeing this, Xu Qi'an waited a moment, but didn't receive a message from Number One. He then typed in the message: [The Sangbo case is over, but it's not really over.]

[4: Just as I suspected.]

[5: What does this mean? What does "as expected" mean? How did the Sangbo case end, and how is it said to be not over?]

[Four: Ha, let Number Three explain it. I think he can explain it more clearly than I can.]

Xu Qi'an pondered for a moment, then chose to accept the burden of number four and entered the information: [It's very simple. The real purpose of the Sangbo case is to bring up the Pingyang Princess case. Heng Hui's rampage in the inner city with the sealed artifact and the destruction of the Pingyuan Earl's Mansion is the best proof.]

At noon today, the three officials implicated were executed along with their entire families at Caishikou. The case of Princess Pingyang is now closed, and the mastermind behind it all has achieved its goal. They will most likely leave the capital with the sealed artifact, and this whole affair will be over.

[But the Sangbo case is not over yet.]

"Oh, I see," Number Five suddenly realized, then abruptly stabbed Number Three in the back. "[Number Three, you're a big liar! The person who's been picking up money every day is clearly yourself.]"

PS: This chapter is from yesterday; there will be four updates today. I will add extra chapters one by one according to the fan ranking. Don't worry if you haven't been ranked yet, just wait patiently for my attention. Or, I can just wait patiently too.

In addition, the typos in the previous chapters have been corrected. Thanks to the hard work of the staff. Keep up the good work!