He scrutinized Xu Qi'an without leaving a trace, seeing him tense and forcing a smile. He comforted him, "I'm just ordered to bring you back for questioning. I'm not too clear on the specifics. But remember this when you get to the yamen: don't hide what you should say, and don't say what you shouldn't, even if it kills you."

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Damn it... Do I not know this logic myself? It's not even worth thirty taels of silver. This is just like those insincere excuses like "the relevant department is already handling it"... Xu Qi'an really wanted to slap the squinty-eyed man to death, but he didn't dare.

The carriage drove through bustling streets and long roads, arriving at the Nightwatcher yamen at the beginning of the snake hour.

Xu Qi'an jumped off the carriage and was escorted by two Nightwatchers into this famous yamen.

Its office was converted from two three-courtyard houses, with tall pavilions and Nightwatchers dressed in black with copper gongs coming and going. They were stern and imposing.

I don't know if I'll be sent to the Nightwatcher's prison, where they eat people without spitting out bones... Let's wait and see. I'm a law-abiding citizen, I haven't committed any crimes... Xu Qi'an took a deep breath, calming his anxious heart.

Soon, he was taken to a small courtyard.

Two Nightwatchers stood at the courtyard door, and the exchange was made. The squinty-eyed man stopped at the courtyard door and smiled, "Go in and good luck."

After speaking, he left with his serious-faced companion.

Xu Qi'an was taken in, and the two Nightwatchers pushed open the door of the room with a cold tone, "Go in."

This was an interrogation room, with various torture instruments placed in the corner and an empty long table in the center.

The chief interrogator was absent.

Xu Qi'an didn't dare to sit on the chair and stood in the room, thinking about why the Nightwatchers would come to him.

But before he could think too much, footsteps approached, and someone entered the courtyard.

The door opened, and two middle-aged men with silver gongs embroidered on their chests walked in.

Xu Qi'an's muscles tightened in an instant as he quickly glanced at the two silver gongs, surprised to find that one of them was actually an old acquaintance.

He had a high nose bridge, sharp features, slightly light-colored pupils, and half of his bloodline was from the southern barbarians.

It was the silver gong he saw in the backyard of the yamen during the tax case.

"Meeting again." Li Yuchun nodded, with no warmth in his eyes.

The two silver gongs sat behind the table, looking serious and sharp as they scrutinized Xu Qi'an.

"I ask, you answer. If you lie, you'll face severe punishment," the unfamiliar silver gong said in a deep voice.

"Yes..." Xu Qi'an's heart sank. These two were completely judging him with their eyes.

Li Yuchun frowned, "Before answering the question, tidy up your clothes. This is basic etiquette."

Xu Qi'an realized that his clothes were too loose and not symmetrical enough. It was because he secretly took out silver tickets on the carriage.After straightening his collar, Li Yuchun's expression relaxed, as if he had just solved a problem.

The unfamiliar Nightwatcher asked, "Do you know that the mastermind behind the tax embezzlement case is the former Zhou Shilang?"

Xu Qi'an answered truthfully, "I heard it from the stargazer girl at the S天监."

"Then you know that Zhou Li was trying to get back at you by framing you."

"I figured as much."

Xu Qi'an remembered the warning from the young man with squinted eyes and decided to be honest. When the S天监's white-robed men stormed into the Ministry of Justice to save him, there was no denying the truth.

It was better to admit it openly and show his innocence.

"Do you know that Zhou Li wanted to kill you?"

"I do."

"So, to avoid retaliation from the Zhou family, you kidnapped the Duke of Wei's illegitimate daughter and framed Zhou Li." The unfamiliar Nightwatcher's eyes flashed with sharpness.

It was indeed about that incident... Xu Qi'an remained calm and even showed a certain amount of confusion and panic as if he had been wrongly accused. "I don't understand what you're saying, sir."

"On the day the Duke of Wei's daughter was kidnapped, where were you when you weren't on duty at the Changle County yamen?"

"I went to the theater to listen to music. I admit that I was derelict in my duty and often snuck off to the theater."

This was something that the county's constables and other officials could testify to because they were all guilty of the same thing.

Besides, what does my skipping work to go to the theater have to do with you Nightwatchers?

"Then how do you explain the vouchers? The records of the yamen's voucher distribution show that you went to the inner city several times." Li Yuchun said in a deep voice.

"I'm innocent!" Xu Qi'an widened his eyes and defended himself excitedly. "I've never been to the inner city, and I've never taken any vouchers from the yamen."

They're framing me. Whenever I go to the inner city, I always get someone else to get the vouchers for me... and that person is Yang Ling, what does that have to do with me, Xu Qi'an?

The two Nightwatchers interrogated him for a while, but they couldn't find any clues in Xu Qi'an's words.

They looked at each other, seeming somewhat surprised.

As a professional who graduated from the police academy and worked at the police station for several years, Xu Qi'an was confident in dealing with all kinds of interrogations. Unless the other party used torture to extract a confession, that was another matter.

Zhou Shilang had already fallen, and without evidence, Xu Qi'an believed that the Nightwatchers wouldn't be too hard on him.

The unfamiliar Nightwatcher took out a small notebook from his pocket, opened it, glanced at Xu Qi'an, and read from the notebook:

"On the first day of October, on the day of Renxu, Xu Qi'an returned from the Yunlu Academy and bought two golden rattles at Baoqixuan. He was followed on the way, suspected to be someone from the Zhou family.""That night, I repelled the assassins from the Zhou Family."

"On the second day of October, the day of Guihai, I moved my family to the Yunlu Academy to avoid danger."

"On the fifth day of October, the day of Bingyin, I entered the inner city and stayed at the Shadow Plum Pavilion in the Official Brothel Sector for a night. The poem 'To Fu Xiang' is suspected to be written by Xu Qi'an."

"On the seventh day of October, the day of Wuchen, a carriage collided with the daughter of the Marquis Wei, and she was kidnapped by unknown means."

Nightwatcher, who looked unfamiliar, closed his notebook and sneered at Xu Qi'an.

Xu Qi'an felt a chill creeping up his body, like being in the midst of a cold winter without enough warm clothes, and shivered.

The Nightwatcher has been following me...since the day I went to the academy...all my plans these days have been seen by the Nightwatcher...it's over!

Why would the Nightwatcher follow me? I'm just a small constable, it doesn't make sense...Xu Qi'an roared angrily in his heart.

He felt a deep despair like falling into an abyss.

Framing the Minister of Revenue and kidnapping the daughter of a marquis, these two crimes combined are enough for a family extermination.

The great Confucian scholars of the Yunlu Academy cannot save him, nor can the white-robed sorcerers of the Bureau of Astrology. No one can save him!

I cleaned up everything my hands touched, leaving no evidence that could be used against me. But the Nightwatcher who followed me witnessed everything...man proposes, God disposes.

Xu Qi'an's forehead was sweating profusely, and drops of sweat, the size of beans, slid down his cheeks and fell to the ground under the mocking and cold gazes of the two Nightwatchers.

Wait!

He suddenly noticed an illogical detail. Since the Nightwatcher witnessed the whole process, why didn't he expose him?

As long as he handed over the notebook, Zhou Li could be exonerated, and the butcher's knife that was aimed at the Xu family would fall again after a month and a half.

Why wait until after Zhou was removed from his position to invite him over for a "chat"?

Xu Qi'an breathed out a sigh of relief, along with all the negative emotions that came with it, and lowered his head obediently. "I confess, everything was done by me. How you deal with it is up to you."

The Nightwatcher with a serious expression raised his eyebrows and exchanged a glance with Li Yuchun before smiling.

"Very clever, very sensitive," Li Yuchun smiled. "We were testing you just now. If you had shown any flaws during the interrogation, or if your mind had been shattered in the face of ironclad evidence, then you would have faced real punishment."

He paused, then relaxed his serious expression and smiled even more. "But now, you are invited by the Nightwatcher."

PS: This chapter has been modified, so the update is late.