The guards robbed their own charge

"I used the Qi-Watching Technique of the Bureau of Astronomy to observe them; they were all covered in a bloody aura," Xu Qi'an said.

In the definition of Qi-Watching Technique, Jinluo, with his rich experience, undoubtedly knew what blood light represented.

"How do you know the Qi-Watching Technique?" Jiang Luzhong asked, turning to look at the official ship and opening his palm towards a white-robed Warlock who had come out to watch the commotion on the deck.

An invisible force distorted the air, drawing the white-robed Warlock, who was gesticulating wildly, onto the barge.

"Let's see how their fate unfolds," Jiang Luzhong said gently.

The white-robed Warlock frowned, expressing his displeasure. As a proud Warlock, even when facing a high-ranking martial artist, he possessed the confidence to remain unmoved by power.

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up," Xu Qi'an urged.

"Oh, oh." The white-robed Warlock nodded obediently, remained silent for a moment, and then his eyes gleamed with a clear light.

He carefully observed the cabin, and after a moment, his gaze dimmed as he said, "Indeed, the air is thick with blood."

Jiang Luzhong's eyes sharpened instantly. Just to be on the safe side, he asked, "Is there anything else unusual?"

"Have!"

Xu Qi'an naturally acted only because he was confident. "There are a few other suspicious points. First, there are signs of a struggle in the cabin, which appeared recently."

Second: These people are not people who make a living on the water all year round, because they don't even know how to remove the muddy taste from river fish.

Thirdly, they were overly guilty. Whether it was their initial panic upon seeing us, or their subsequent acquiescence to whatever I asked for without complaint, they were all quite brazen. Ha, based on my understanding of the officials, they were all reckless and unscrupulous. Even if they dared not offend the Nightwatchers, if they truly had a clear conscience, they should have dared to complain a few times without fear. After all, the canal transport was not under the Nightwatchers's jurisdiction.

Their behavior was one of eagerness to get rid of us, always ready to grant our every request.

"He can't even remove the fishy smell, yet he remembers such a detail. Xu Ningyan is truly a genius at solving cases." Jiang Luxin thought to himself, but nodded calmly on the surface.

"Very thoughtful, well done."

Then he asked, "This place is only half a day's journey from Yuzhou. They are stained with blood and have murders on their hands, but how did they kill people near Yuzhou?"

Xu Qi'an said, "Tonight."

After a moment's thought, Jiang Luzhong understood. Judging from the current time, the pontoon must have departed from Yuzhou at night.

Murdering under the cover of night will go unnoticed.

A moment later, the Nightwatchers gathered everyone on the deck and bound them tightly.

Zhu Guangxiao clasped his hands in a fist salute and said, "There are a total of sixty-two people on board, and they are all here."

Jiang Luzhong nodded, looked at the bearded man dressed as a constable, and said in a deep voice, "Wake him up."

The awakening process was brutal. Zhu Guangxiao gave a powerful thrust, waking up the bearded man, who groaned miserably.

The man, disguised as a constable protecting the boats of the Grand Canal transport office, glanced around and realized his predicament, his face turning ashen.

He still couldn't believe that he had been exposed so easily; he wondered where things had gone wrong.

"I ask, you answer. For every instance of concealment or deception, I'll cut off a finger," Jiang Luzhong's emotionless voice rang out.

The bearded man looked up and met those sharp eyes that seemed to see right through him. He trembled and fell to the ground.

"Your true identity!"

"Fang He, a commoner and wandering Rogue Person, formed the Yellow Flag Gang in Yuzhou to make a living."

"Making a living included murdering government officials and robbing the imperial iron mines?"

"No, no. My lord, I was just doing this for money. The one who ordered me to do this was the transport commissioner of the Yuzhou Canal Transport Office. He told us that there was a barge bound for the capital tonight, loaded with iron ore. He ordered us to kill the guards on board and seize the iron ore."

What exactly is anal pooping? A series of questions filled Xu Qi'an's mind.

After joining the Nightwatchers, Xu Qi'an gradually began to come into contact with officialdom, and his mind would often be confused by the messy official titles.

Was all of this orchestrated by the envoy? The Nightwatchers exchanged silent glances, all revealing expressions of shock.

Even Jiang Luzhong's expression turned serious.

It was obvious that they had encountered a major case of embezzlement.

"This doesn't make sense," Xu Qi'an shook his head and questioned, "Why are you being asked to kill and seize the ship? If you just wanted to take over the iron mine, there would be no need for this. Cooperating with the officials in the government is far safer than conspiring with you."

Jiang Luzhong glanced at him and explained, "The canal transport offices in each prefecture are divided into two systems: the Canal Management Office and the Transport Office. The Canal Management Office is responsible for the management of the canal, as well as the acceptance and storage of grain, salt, iron, and other materials. The Transport Office is responsible for escorting the ships."

In other words, the officials of the Transport Bureau could only embezzle the iron ore by operating on water. Xu Qi'an nodded. "So, to completely cover up their crimes, they made the guards protecting the ships disappear along with them? That way, the Transport Bureau also became a victim."

Jiang Luzhong continued, "After seizing the iron ore, what were you going to do with it?"

The bearded man shook his head. "We're only responsible for delivering the iron ore to Yunzhou. The route starts from Yuzhou, goes around Shazhou, and someone will be there to make contact once we arrive in Yunzhou."

Yunzhou?!

Jiang Luzhong's expression immediately changed.

Damn it, it's Yunzhou again, that godforsaken place. Right, the Grand Canal Transport Office is under the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of Works is controlled by the Qi faction. The Qi faction colludes with the Witch God Cult to secretly supply military supplies to Yunzhou. That all makes sense, but supplying supplies is one thing, but supplying iron ore... that's terrifying to think about.

"Who contacted you? Judging from your tone, this isn't the first time you've done this."

"This year, we've done it three times in total, transporting a total of 100,000 jin of iron ore to Yunzhou."

Jiang Luzhong asked a few more questions, then instructed, "You all stay on this pontoon, turn the helm and follow me to Yuzhou. Keep a close eye on these prisoners."

He then said to Xu Qi'an, "Take him back to the ship with me."

This time, Xu Qi'an did not return to the official ship on his own. A surge of energy beneath his feet carried him into the air, and he swept across dozens of meters with Jiang Luzhong, arriving beside Governor Zhang.

"What happened? Why are you blocking the government's barge?" Governor Zhang asked repeatedly.

"Something has indeed happened." Jiang Luzhong gestured for him to enter. "Your Excellency, please come inside."

Jiang Luzhong relayed Xu Qi'an's discovery and the confession of the bearded man Fang He to Governor Zhang in detail. Afterwards, in front of Governor Zhang, he re-interrogated Fang He.

After listening to Fang He's confession, Governor Zhang's expression turned solemn.

"Besides the Transport Commissioner of the Transport Bureau, which other official was involved?"

"I wouldn't know."

Governor Zhang looked at Xu Qi'an: "Take him away first, then come back. I have some matters to discuss with you."

His words implied that he considered Xu Qi'an as an equal, someone capable of undertaking tasks, rather than simply a subordinate.

Xu Qi'an led Fang He out of the room and handed him over to Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao, instructing them to keep a close eye on him. Then he returned to his room and closed the door.

When Governor Zhang saw him return, his expression was serious. "What do you think?"

"I have a question."

When Jiang Luzhong and Governor Zhang looked over, Xu Qi'an expressed his opinion. "The Minister of Ministry of Works has already fallen from power. As a member of the Qi faction, he should be on high alert, keeping his guard down and observing the situation. Why is the grain transport office in Yuzhou continuing to supply iron ore to Yunzhou at this critical juncture?"

"Furthermore, even if the bandits in Yunzhou are rampant, they are ultimately just low-level mountain bandits. It's one thing for the Ministry of Works to supply military supplies such as machinery and artillery, but even iron ore is being secretly transported to Yunzhou. Can these mountain bandits handle that? What are they trying to do?"

Governor Zhang, with his eyes closed, tapped his fingertips lightly on the table and murmured, "The Qi faction colluded with the Witch God Cult. They supplied Yunzhou with weapons, cannons, iron ore, salt, iron, and gunpowder—all prohibited items from leaving the Great Feng Dynasty."

He paused for a moment, then his body trembled, he opened his eyes, his face filled with horror, and slowly uttered. "Treason and rebellion."

The Qi faction has been supplying Yunzhou with large quantities of military supplies, and now, with the addition of iron ore, it's hard to imagine any other reason for this if it weren't for the purpose of rebellion.

If it's just about supporting bandits, why go to such lengths?

Thinking of this, Governor Zhang stood up and paced back and forth in the room, glancing at Jiang Luzhong and then at Xu Qi'an.

"Xu Ningyan, you've given me yet another problem. Encountering this on the way will definitely delay our journey."

He said this, but his expression and tone showed no blame whatsoever; instead, he had a strange expression that was a mixture of worry and excitement.

Jiang Luzhong said, "Your Excellency's reporting of this matter back to the capital is a great achievement."

"You deserve a lot of credit for this." Governor Zhang patted Xu Qi'an's shoulder forcefully.

Regardless of the outcome of his trip to Yunzhou, the mere fact that he discovered this case is a great achievement. Even if the trip to Yunzhou yielded nothing, it would still be enough to make up for it, and might even be considered meritorious.

All of this is thanks to Xu Qi'an's keen "sense of smell".

After a moment, he calmed down, sat back down in his chair, and considered the current situation. He was faced with three paths:

First, pretend that nothing happened and continue on to Yunzhou to avoid any unforeseen complications.

Second, send men disguised as guards from the Grand Canal transport office to coerce Fang He into charging into battle and meeting with the people he was supposed to meet in Yunzhou.

Third, go to the Yuzhou Canal Transport Office to handle this case and arrest the mastermind behind it.

The first option can be ruled out immediately, and the second option is too time-consuming. Traveling by water to Yunzhou would require going around the sandbar, and it would take at least ten days to half a month to arrive, which does not fit their itinerary. The Yuzhou Transport Commissioner is a clue that is right in front of them.

After Governor Zhang stated his choice, he received unanimous approval from Jiang Luzhong and Xu Qi'an.

At this point, Governor Zhang felt that the support of the two of them was enough.

At noon, the official ship arrived at the largest canal wharf in Yuzhou and slowly docked.

As soon as the barge docked, it immediately attracted the attention of the porters, who swarmed over. But when they saw the fully armed Tiger Guards escorting a group of guards from the canal transport office, they retreated in fear.

Leaving behind a portion of the Tiger Guards to watch over the ships, Governor Zhang and Jiang Luzhong led a large contingent of troops straight to the Yuzhou Canal Transport Office.