A chance to turn the tables

Xu Qi'an stepped forward, slapped the guards to the ground, kicked away their swords, and slapped them one after another. "Will you let them in or not? Will you let them in or not?"

The guards nearby were stunned, unsure whether they should stop it.

"Stop, stop hitting him!" The fallen guard clutched his head, groaning in distress. "You're making things difficult for me! What will Duke Wei think of us later?"

Xu Qi'an was a favorite of Wei Yuan, and he dared not resist. As long as the other party did not force his way into Haoqi Tower, the guards would not choose to turn against him.

"I understand, everyone has their difficulties." Xu Qi'an, satisfied that the slap had broken the other man's arrogance, withdrew his hand and took out one tael of silver from his purse.

"Is this vulgar gold and silver ingot worth the risk? If not, I'll find someone else."

"Alright, alright." The guard took the silver, picked up his sword, and dashed into the Haoqi Tower.

About ten minutes later, Xu Qi'an saw candlelight illuminate the seventh floor. A moment later, a guard came downstairs and respectfully said, "Duke Wei requests your presence upstairs. This young lady..."

"The Warlock from the Bureau of Astronomy are one of us." Xu Qi'an led Chu Caiwei into the building.

The building was quite lively during the day with officials on duty, but it became eerily quiet at night, adding to the sense of desolation and chill.

Didn't Wei Yuan find it lonely living in the building all year round?

As I walked, lost in thought, I arrived at the tea room on the seventh floor. It wasn't warm there; there was no charcoal fire burning inside, and not a single servant was present.

Wei Yuan, dressed in a blue robe with his black hair loose, sat cross-legged at the table, an oil lamp beside him. Seeing Xu Qi'an approach, he readily ordered him around.

"Burn charcoal, boil water, and light the other candles."

He seemed a bit cold. Hey, Wei Yuan may be cunning and calculating, but he doesn't seem to have any talent for martial arts. Haha, heaven is fair. Xu Qi'an did as he was told, lighting candles one by one to illuminate the spacious tea room, placing charcoal fires beside Wei Yuan, and setting up a copper kettle.

"Today I had Qianrou tell you to hide, but we searched the entire government office and couldn't find you. We went to the Xu Residence to inquire, but you didn't return. We went to the Imperial Academy of Music to inquire, but you were still not there."

"You're calling me so late, it's not about the embezzlement case, is it?" Wei Yuan smiled, looked at Chu Caiwei, and asked suspiciously:

"Is this little copper gong meant for Caiwei's sweetheart?"

Chu Caiwei blushed slightly. "No, that's not it."

However, she was Aperture Opening; her blush quickly passed, and she glanced at the coffee table and other tables, but didn't see any food.

This place is quite boring.

"Duke Wei, I've discovered a major case." Xu Qi'an sat cross-legged at the table, facing Wei Yuan. "I took leave today to buy a house and discovered a haunted, abandoned house. After dealing with the matter with Miss Caiwei, I empathized with the female ghost."

Xu Qi'an recounted the details of the empathy, and Wei Yuan initially didn't pay much attention, but his expression darkened slightly when he heard about the house.

Upon hearing that the Minister of Ministry of Works had secretly met with someone suspected of being a member of the Witchcraft Cult, secretly sold weapons and cannons, and had connections to Yunzhou, the Grand Eunuch's face darkened considerably.

"The Qi faction is indeed involved with the bandits in Yunzhou. Very good, this intelligence is extremely important." Wei Yuan looked at Xu Qi'an, his eyes gentle yet appreciative. "You always manage to surprise me."

"Then please adopt me as your godson, "Xu Qi'an said with a sigh.

Xu Bai Piao is a person who cares about his reputation, so he can't bring himself to say such things. It's like how he was incredibly handsome in his past life, but he could never say, "Auntie, I don't want to work hard anymore."

"Duke Wei, Zhu Yang's betrayal was entirely because of me," Xu Qi'an said with shame.

"Even without him, there would be other troubles. This time, it's the Qi faction that's opposing me, but of course, other factions are also secretly stirring things up." Wei Yuan didn't explain why the Qi faction wanted to oppose him.

Is Qi's faction the mastermind behind this corruption case?

He learned from Number One through the message sent from the ground that Zhu Yang had betrayed the government and become a double agent.

But since Number One didn't mention that the mastermind behind it was the Qi faction, Xu Qi'an thought it was the Wang faction causing trouble.

What a coincidence! A corruption case just happened at the government office today, and I was implicated in it, and then this big discovery came about so quickly.

Is it because I'm about to advance to the Spirit Refining Realm that my luck has undergone a qualitative change? Otherwise, it doesn't make sense.

"How interesting! The Wang faction is colluding with the Demon Race, and the Qi faction is colluding with the Witch God Cult. What kind of people are in the imperial court?" Chu Caiwei complained.

"His Majesty has probably lost his mind from practicing Daoism too much."

Xu Qi'an quickly nudged the uninhibited girl with his elbow.

"His Majesty neglects state affairs, and although he still holds great power, it's inevitable that some monsters and demons will emerge from his neglect of state affairs. He is skilled in political maneuvering, but the officials in the court are not fools." Wei Yuan didn't care about Chu Caiwei's offense; after all, the Warlock in the Bureau of Astronomy were all Virtue this.

Yang Qianhuan, whose behavior was somewhat eccentric, always had his back to His Majesty when he met him. His Majesty never got angry, and he was always kind and benevolent to those who were of great use but had no real power.

"The Confucian School Dragon-Slaying Technique —isn't that exactly what it's about, slaying this great dragon?" Xu Qi'an chuckled.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Chu Caiwei retaliated by poking him with her elbow.

Emperor Yuanjing manipulated the court, and the officials in the court were also playing him. When an emperor only cares about his own power and ignores the country and the people's livelihood, the starting point for selecting talents will change, and the evaluation criteria will tend to be obedient and easy to control.

As for character and ability, they are not so important, unless one is exceptionally talented like Wei Yuan.

The problem is rotten at its source, Wei Yuan. Is this why you're clearing away obstacles? Xu Qi'an recalled Wei Yuan's words: he wanted to cleanse the court of its corruption and sweep away the decadent atmosphere of the nation. But before that, he had to blend in with the crowd and allow his subordinates to make mistakes.

He was already a lone minister; if he didn't have a few capable subordinates, how could he contend with the officials in the court?

At this moment, Wei Yuan took out paper and pen, intending to write a document. Xu Qi'an, poured water and ground ink. He watched as Wei's father wrote the arrest warrant and affixed the official seal.

"Take this document to Zhang Kaitai, the officer on duty, and have him lead his men to wipe out the Yazi organization," Wei Yuan said.

I know a great scholar named Chen Tai. What's the meaning behind Zhang Kaitai? Xu Qi'an nodded. "Yes."

He took Chu Caiwei away from Haoqi Tower and asked around for Jinluo Zhang Kaitai's office, which was called "Shenjian Hall". When they met, they realized that it was the same Jinluo who had met a few times before and was a swordsman.

He was one of the four men who were wrapped in bandages back then.

Zhang Kaitai is like a proud swordsman; when he is silent, he gives off a cold and aloof vibe that keeps people at arm's length.

If he were born in modern times, he would definitely be a professional Ximen Chuixue (a character from a popular Chinese TV series). Xu Qi'an thought to himself.

"What is it?" Zhang Kaitai's gaze fell on the document in Xu Qi'an's hand.

Xu Qi'an handed over the document and then repeated what he had said to Wei Yuan.

After listening, Zhang Kaitai's calm and somewhat indifferent face broke into a delighted smile, as if spring ice had melted. "Good, good, this time we'll make sure the Qi faction suffers a terrible fate."

"You deserve the most credit for enabling your colleagues to overcome this difficulty."

Zhang Kaitai had a decent impression of Xu Qi'an, but he didn't understand why Yang Yan and Jiang Luzhong had gone to such lengths because of him, and he couldn't figure out why Duke Wei valued him so much.

Although he has some backbone and outstanding case-solving abilities, and is indeed a talented person, what is Duke Wei's status? Why does he show such favoritism towards a mere clerk?

After the Sangbo case, he acknowledged that Xu Qi'an was a talent worth cultivating.

At this moment, Zhang Kaitai, pleasantly surprised, began to appreciate the seemingly ordinary little gong. It always managed to surprise people.

A quarter of an hour later, the troops were assembled, consisting of forty guards, more than twenty gong players, and six silver gong players, fully armed with muskets, crossbows, ropes, and other equipment.

The main force, carrying torches, followed closely behind Xu Qi'an at a rapid pace. With the flames rising and falling, they arrived at their target residence in just half an hour.

The mansion had no plaque, and its red-lacquered gates were tightly shut. Zhang Kaitai waved his hand, his face cold, and succinctly gave the order, "Surround it."

The servants, carrying torches, dispersed.

A silver-clad man stepped forward, drew his sword, and with a loud shout, unleashed a slash that smashed through the red-lacquered gate.

The Nightwatchers rushed in, and a squad of private soldiers with swords shouted angrily as they tried to stop him. The moment the two sides made contact, the Nightwatchers slashed them down, dead or alive.

The faint sounds of string and wind instruments drifted from the inner courtyard, but quickly subsided, as if the commotion in the front yard had been detected. A moment later, the entire mansion erupted in commotion.

Xu Qi'an gripped his knife and led his men at the front, hacking down any private guards they encountered. As he slashed, fragments of memories of the woman kept flashing through his mind.

It skips over the women who were bullied and harmed.

Rushing into the inner courtyard, they found a dozen guests and women gathered in the warm, spring-like front hall. They were disheveled and looked terrified.

"Nightwatchers?" The guests looked terrified.

Xu Qi'an flicked his black-gold longsword, splattering a crimson line of blood on the ground. Pointing the sword at the crowd, he said in a deep voice, "Take them all down. Anyone who disobeys will be killed without mercy."

After shouting, he left the hall and, with several men, kicked open the doors of the rooms, gathering them in the courtyard.

"No clothes allowed, everyone put your hands on your heads and squat down."

He was very familiar with the hotel room check process. The difference was that he used to treat the clients with a somewhat mocking attitude, asking, "Are you married?"

Now he is filled with rage and murderous intent.

Compared to brothels, these private club-like residences are more secluded, allowing for more secure discussions.

Moreover, even if they were killed, someone would handle the mess. You can't play around with women from the Imperial Academy of Music like that.

The raid ended quickly. Zhang Jinluo adopted Xu Qi'an's suggestion and made the guests squat in the courtyard with their heads in their hands, enduring the cold wind of early January.

At first, someone shouted "A scholar can be killed but not humiliated," but after being killed by Zhang Kaitai with a single blow, everyone became obedient.

Nightwatchers have the authority to act first and report later in their operations.

"It's you, Lord Cao! Lord Wang is here too. Lord Tang, you're quite the short but capable fellow." A silver-robed official spoke to an official he knew with a sneer.

More than twenty beautiful women and handsome young men were gathered in the warm inner hall.

The Great Feng resolutely cracked down on the practice of keeping prostitutes, but there were quite a few merchants and officials who liked pederasty. Many brothels would keep some prostitutes to act as pimps, and when customers with this interest came, they would be responsible for sleeping with them.

"Disgusting," a silver-gong-wielding man said with disgust.

Zhang Kaitai was interrogating the owner of the mansion, a middle-aged man dressed as a wealthy gentleman, who kept kowtowing and saying, "I am guilty, I deserve to die."

Zhang Kaitai asked in a deep voice, "Who is behind you?"

"I merely wish to cultivate relationships with some powerful figures in the court; I have no backers behind the scenes."

Zhang Kaitai didn't ask any questions, but simply instructed his subordinate, Yinluo, to keep a close watch on him and prevent him from committing suicide. Once he's in the Nightwatchers's dungeon, even a stone statue can be pried open.

Xu Qi'an said, "There's a well in the backyard, used specifically to dispose of female corpses."

Zhang Kaitai gave the middle-aged man a deep look.

Xu Qi'an, Chu Caiwei, and Zhang Kaitai went to the backyard, found the well, and shone a torch on it. The well water was dark black, and a faint stench of decay wafted up.

After the flesh rots, the bones will sink; we'll probably have to go down the well to retrieve them. Xu Qi'an's lips twitched.

Suddenly, Chu Caiwei let out a soft "Eh," looked around for a moment, then leaped onto the roof ridge, overlooking the entire backyard.

"What's wrong?" Xu Qi'an stood by the well and looked up to ask.

"There's a sealing formation in the courtyard; the resentment in the well has been sealed off," Chu Caiwei said.

A sealing formation? That's why the Nightwatchers haven't noticed anything unusual all these years. Xu Qi'an nodded in realization, his expression suddenly turning strange:

"Isn't setting up formations your job as Warlock?"

At the same time, another question arose in his mind: if he had the ability to set up an array to seal the resentment, why not just eliminate it directly?

It should be noted that even a seventh-rank Chu Caiwei could do this; by placing an extremely masculine feng shui arrangement in the backyard, she could eliminate any future troubles.

"Well, there must be some Rogue Cultivator Warlock, right?" Chu Caiwei pouted. "Wasn't there Alchemist pulling the strings behind the tax silver case?"

I was speechless! When Xu Qi'an turned his gaze back to the well, he saw Zhang Kaitai staring at the well wall in deep thought. Following his gaze, he discovered that the well wall was engraved with complex and strange incantations.

"This is a method of the Witchcraft Cult, probably some kind of incantation. Its specific function is unknown. Have someone make a copy, and we'll check it in the archives later," Zhang Kaitai explained.

"Hmm, based on the information I gleaned from empathizing with the vengeful spirits, this place is indeed connected to the Witch God Cult." Xu Qi'an said, inwardly complaining:

I've been ridden by that guy named Tamraha countless times. If I ever get the chance to see him, I'll teach him a lesson about what it means to be a burly man.

Just then, a commotion and screams erupted from the front hall.

PS: This chapter is a bonus chapter for yesterday's patron. I'll try my best to finish three chapters before midnight tonight, it doesn't matter, it's a bonus chapter after all, I'll pay it back sooner or later.