Deduction
The Grand Canal Transport Office was divided into two systems: the Canal Dispatch Office and the Canal Transport Office. The highest-ranking official was the Transport Commissioner, Principal Fourth Rank official, who managed nearly a thousand people inside and outside the Grand Canal Transport Office.
"The grain transport department is the most lucrative of all the government offices. In the 20th year of the Yuanjing reign, the court even implemented a policy of selling official positions, all related to the grain transport department," Governor Zhang said in a deep voice as he led the way.
"By the 22nd year of the Yuanjing reign, the policy of selling official positions was abolished by the Duke Wei and the Grand Secretary Wang. However, within just two years, the number of corrupt officials who had entered the ranks without merit was appalling. Even today, there is still a group of incompetent people who occupy high positions."
Xu Qi'an paid little attention to Governor Zhang's indignation, but instead extracted some intriguing points from his words.
It requires the combined efforts of Wei Yuan and Chief Minister Wang, two sworn enemies, to suppress this person. Who is this person who sells official positions?
Without a doubt, it was Emperor Yuanjing.
Historical records show that many emperors sold official positions and titles; Emperor Yuanjing was not an isolated case. These emperors all had one thing in common: they spent money like water.
Moreover, historical records generally do not have a favorable view of such emperors, at least they criticize such behavior.
They arrived at the Yuzhou Canal Transport Office. The yamen runners saw a group of people approaching menacingly, led by a high-ranking official in a scarlet robe and Nightwatchers with a golden gong embroidered on his chest.
Without even asking any questions, he rushed into the yamen to report.
A few minutes later, the transport commissioner of the Yuzhou Canal Transport Office, a high-ranking official of the Principal Fourth Rank, hurried out to personally greet him.
The transport commissioner was over fifty years old, with a white beard and an ordinary appearance. A black mole between his eyebrows added a touch of specialness to his otherwise unremarkable appearance.
"I, Zhang Xingying, have been ordered to go to Yunzhou to investigate a case. This is a document from the Cabinet." Governor Zhang took out a thin booklet and handed it over.
"So it's the Governor, my apologies for not recognizing you. Please come in." After reading the document, the Transport Commissioner respectfully handed it back and then stepped aside, gesturing for him to enter.
The group entered the yamen (government office), and the transport commissioner led Governor Zhang to the main hall. After they were seated and served tea, the transport commissioner smiled and said:
"Your Excellency, you must be tired from your journey. Do you intend to rest in Yuzhou for a few days?"
He observed the governor from the capital with a calm demeanor, finding him to be a stern and uninteresting man who had not smiled since they met.
Are all adults from the capital this arrogant?
This transport commissioner is still unaware of the gravity of the situation. Governor Zhang waved his hand. "Whether I stay here overnight depends on the progress of the case."
"What do you mean by that?" the transport commissioner asked in astonishment.
Governor Zhang looked out of the hall and said loudly, "Bring them up!"
Including the bearded man Fang He, sixty-two members of the Yellow Flag Gang were brought up. They had injuries of varying degrees and looked dejected.
Upon seeing these people, the transport commissioner stood up, both surprised and bewildered. Pointing at them, he looked at Governor Zhang and asked, "What's going on with these people? Why are they wearing the uniforms of my canal transport office?"
"This is the reason I am visiting the Transport Commissioner."
At that moment, Governor Zhang recounted the entire incident to the Transport Commissioner, who, upon hearing it, turned deathly pale, slumped back into his chair, and muttered, "What should we do? What should we do?"
"Tsk tsk, his composure is terrible. Compared to the officials I've dealt with in the capital, this transport commissioner is practically a bronze-level Xu Qi'an thought to himself as he observed the transport commissioner's expression and subtle actions.
Governor Zhang said in a deep voice, "Your Excellency, Transport Commissioner, I ask you, are you aware of this case?"
The transport commissioner hurriedly shook his head, trying to explain, "I knew nothing about this, Your Excellency the Governor."
Governor Zhang ignored him and turned to look at the white-robed Warlock in the crowd. Several of the white-robed Warlock nodded slightly, indicating that they were not lying.
After a moment's hesitation, Governor Zhang asked, "Is the Transport Commissioner inside the yamen?"
The transport commissioner then turned his attention to the culprit, furious that a traitor had appeared among his ranks, and said in a deep voice:
"The Transport Commissioner Yan Kai is off duty today and not at the yamen. I will immediately take the Governor to arrest this scoundrel."
Outside the residence of Transport Commissioner Yan Kai, Governor Zhang waved his hand, ordering the Tiger Guards to disperse and surround the residence.
Yang Muhua, the transport commissioner of the Grand Canal, who came with him, also brought twenty constables.
After the Tiger Guards dispersed, Jiang Luzhong led his men to break down the door and subdue all the servants and guards in the mansion.
Three groups of men—the Tiger Guards, the constables from the Grand Canal Administration, and the Nightwatchers —swept through the entire Yan residence with lightning speed, giving the other side no chance to react.
"My lord, he's in the study."
The constables from the Grand Canal Administration were the first to spot Yan Kai. When Xu Qi'an and his colleagues arrived at the study, they were too late. He saw blood splattered all over the floor, thick and viscous.
Envoy Yan Kai lay weakly on the large chair, his head tilted to the side, a deep wound on his neck, and a dagger lying on the ground to his right.
This result clearly took Transport Commissioner Yang and Governor Zhang by surprise, and anger filled their chests.
However, their anger was different. The Transport Commissioner's anger was closer to impotent rage. With the Transport Commissioner dead, all eyes were on him, and he was bound to be the first suspect.
Governor Zhang's anger was like that of a cooked duck flying away.
Too many people could easily disrupt the crime scene. Furthermore, there's no guarantee that the murderer isn't present, which could potentially obscure crucial clues. Xu Qi'an, being the calmest, made a decisive decision in a flash:
"Everyone, leave the study and wait outside."
Upon hearing this, Governor Zhang's spirits lifted. He glanced at the crowd and said in a deep voice, "All of you, go outside and wait. Exit the study."
Soon, only Jiang Luzhong, Xu Qi'an, and the two adults remained in the study.
"Your Excellency, Yan Kai must have committed suicide out of fear of punishment. This case has nothing to do with me," Transport Commissioner Yang explained repeatedly, eager to distance himself from the matter.
Governor Zhang completely ignored him and looked at Xu Qi'an, saying, "Xu Ningyan, take a good look."
Transport Commissioner Yang glanced at Xu Qi'an, but quickly looked away and pulled Governor Zhang aside to continue explaining, rambling on and on about his grievances and proving his innocence.
"The blood has congealed into clumps; the person died recently, but before we entered the manor," Jiang Luzhong said.
"They died around the time we entered the Grand Canal transport office," Xu Qi'an nodded.
He briefly examined Yan Kai's body; the wounds were so obvious that there was no need for an autopsy. He had died from having his carotid artery severed.
After examining the body, Xu Qi'an, as usual, checked every corner of the study, looking for any possible clues.
The whole process took only five minutes. Xu Qi'an sighed, "Your Excellency, he was murdered, not committed suicide out of fear of punishment."
Governor Zhang nodded and asked, "How can you tell?"
The incessantly chattering transport envoy stopped arguing and turned to look.
"If the carotid artery is severed, a person would struggle due to lack of oxygen and the instinct for survival, not sit like this. Of course, that alone isn't enough to conclude he was murdered," Xu Qi'an said.
"Yan Kai is left-handed, isn't he?"
Transport Commissioner Yang was taken aback. "How did you know?"
"He had a thick callus on one side of his left middle finger, which was left from holding a pen for many years. Normally, calluses are on the right middle finger, so I judged that he was left-handed."
"Look again at the wound on your neck. The left side is deeper than the right; this is a knife wound left by a right-handed knife user."
The fortune teller stared at Xu Qi'an in astonishment, his eyes no longer showing any contempt. In less than half an incense stick's time, he had found clues and deduced the true cause of death.
To the transport commissioner, who was not good at solving cases, this was an absolutely amazing display of ability.
This was the first time that Governor Zhang had personally witnessed Xu Qi'an's ability to solve cases, even though he had heard about him before. Regardless of what was said about this little gong in the official circles of the capital, hearing about it and seeing it for yourself are two different things.
However, it was all in vain, failing to make any breakthrough in the investigation. Yan Kai's cause of death was a slit throat, unlike the elaborate murders in the wizard's dreams. But precisely because this simple and brutal method of killing could be done by anyone, it made it even more difficult to identify the killer. Without surveillance footage, solving the case was simply too much of a struggle.
"There are no signs of forced entry or damage to the doors and windows, so the murderer and the victim clearly knew each other. Interrogate the servants in the mansion to see if anyone has just visited or heard Yan Kai's cries for help. Also, interrogate everyone in the canal transport office, including the transport commissioner, and remember to search them to rule out any magical Law Artifact could conceal their presence and hinder the observation of Qi-Watching Technique," Xu Qi'an suggested.
Governor Zhang said, "Sir Transport Commissioner, please cooperate with us."
For more than an hour afterward, the three Warlock from the Bureau of Astronomy kept observing the officials and clerks of the Grand Canal Transport Office.
But nothing came of it; with the death of Yan Kai, the transport commissioner, the trail to this "embezzlement" case went cold.
Accompanied by Jiang Luzhong, Governor Zhang went to the Provincial Judicial Commissioner's Office in Yuzhou. This office was in charge of criminal justice and was the one responsible for this matter. It was also the imperial court's supervisory body, subordinate to the Censorate.
Governor Zhang was the Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, and the direct superior of the Provincial Judicial Commissioner.
In the afterglow of dusk, Xu Qi'an sat on the roof of the Grand Canal Administration Office, bathed in the golden light, and reviewed the case in his mind.
The death of a transport commissioner has cut off the entire trail of the case. Ah, this is also a clue, indicating that the person behind the scenes did not control the entire canal transport office.
This shows that this is not a simple case of corruption. The Minister of Ministry of Works has fallen from power, but the transport office in Yuzhou continues its repetitive operations, smuggling iron ore to Yunzhou. This means that someone is still pulling the strings behind the scenes. This person doesn't have much power; they can only control the transport commissioner. No, it's not necessarily that they don't have much power; perhaps they are just trying to operate covertly.
If I hadn't stumbled upon it by sheer luck, the smuggling of iron ore might have continued indefinitely.
Since there's smuggling of iron ore, could there also be smuggling of government-owned salt and saltpeter? The imperial court needs to thoroughly investigate the grain transport offices in each prefecture.
"This trip to Yunzhou is probably more dangerous than I imagined," Xu Qi'an thought worriedly, when he suddenly heard someone calling him from below.
"Ningyan, let's go to the Imperial Academy of Music) for some entertainment." Song Tingfeng stood in the courtyard and waved to him.
"No way, I'm thinking about important things," Xu Qi'an said irritably.
"Go ahead, I've heard that the women of the Imperial Academy of Music in Yuzhou are very good at serving people," Song Tingfeng coaxed patiently.
"All you ever think about is the Imperial Academy of Music Imperial Academy of Music, be careful you never get promoted," Xu Qi'an replied, exasperated.
Yuzhou, Imperial Academy of Music).
Amidst the melodious sounds of traditional Chinese string and wind instruments, Xu Qi'an raised his wine cup and laughed loudly, "Come on, let's drink! We've been floating on the water for six days!"
The Nightwatchers their glasses together, each one a beautiful young woman, exchanging toasts and laughing merrily.
Xu Ningyan did indeed come along, which was not surprising to Song Tingfeng; in fact, it was all within his expectations.
When they were in the capital, Xu Qi'an never went to the Imperial Academy of Music on his own initiative. It was always Song Tingfeng who suggested it, and then he and Zhu Guangxiao would go together.
Sometimes when Xu Ningyan was cultivating, he would curse loudly, "Song Tingfeng, if you had any conscience at all, you shouldn't be disturbing my cultivation."
After yelling, he dusted himself off and followed.
The Imperial Academy of Music) in Yuzhou differed from that in the capital. It didn't occupy as much land, but it was built along the river, with six courtyards and two tall buildings. Its advantage lay in its elegant scenery.
The rippling water distorted the reflection of the red lanterns, and the sounds of traditional Chinese string and wind instruments drifted through the courtyard and across the shimmering river.
Given Xu Qi'an's status and position, he certainly wouldn't go to the brothel to drink with those mixed-race patrons. Led by officials from the Grand Canal Administration, they arrived at the courtyard of a courtesan named Hongxiu for a tea party.
The courtesan named Hongxiu seemed somewhat reluctant; the group had been drinking in the courtyard for almost half an hour, but she still hadn't come out.