Early in the morning, Xu Qi'an arrived at the back hall and heard Xu Lingyin's voice.

There was a bright red pimple on her smooth and tender face, which hurt when pressed. Her aunt had lied to her, saying that there were worms eating her flesh and she would be disfigured and unable to get married in the future. Xu Lingyin didn't care about getting married, but she always thought of herself as a cute child who would become a mischievous troublemaker like her mother and sister.

Hearing her mother say this, she was heartbroken and on the verge of tears. Her aunt was such a mean person to even deceive her own daughter and laugh at her.

"Big brother..." Xu Lingyin ran to Xu Qi'an, pointing to her cheek and pouting. "I'm going to be disfigured."

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"This isn't disfigurement," Xu Qi'an touched her head. "It's a beauty mark."

"What's a beauty mark?"

"It means you'll definitely be prettier than your mother and sister in the future."

Xu Lingyin believed him and ate three bowls of porridge for breakfast.

...

At the Nightwatcher's yamen, Xu Qi'an, Song Tingfeng, and Zhu Guangxiao, who were responsible for the daily patrol, walked together on the street.

"Your sword is nice," Song Tingfeng noticed the sword hanging from Xu Qi'an's waist, which had a different style.

Xu Qi'an unsheathed the black gold sword with a flick of his thumb and then quickly sheathed it again, smiling proudly. "It was a gift from the S天监."

He didn't say it was a gift from the head of the S天监, and even if he did, no one would believe it. If it spread, it would attract the attention of covetous people.

"Is it a magic weapon?" Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao's eyes lit up.

Xu Qi'an shook his head. It wasn't a magic weapon and didn't have any engraved formations. Its only feature was that it was hard, which suited Xu Qi'an well.

The streets in the inner city were wide and well-connected. Xu Qi'an bought a lot of snacks and shared them with his two colleagues while walking. Besides the Nightwatchers, there were also the royal guards and yamen constables, which reduced the pressure of their work and allowed them to have time to relax. They could go to tea houses to drink tea and listen to stories, or go to the Theater to listen to music.

As they walked, Xu Qi'an stepped on a hard lump and picked it up without pause. His actions were so natural and smooth that Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao thought he was just doing something ordinary like adjusting his pants or tapping his boots.

They didn't realize that their new colleague had just earned three silver coins.

Xu Qi'an pinched the silver coins and suggested, "How about listening to music at the Theater?"

Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao hesitated for a moment before agreeing. The three of them went to the Theater and entered a private room on the second floor. The table was placed near the railing, allowing customers to drink tea and watch the performances on the stage below.

There was a variety show on the stage. "The day after tomorrow is the emperor's ancestral worship ceremony. You guys have experienced it a few times, right?" Xu Qi'an opened the topic and asked for advice from his colleagues.

"We just need to guard the edge of Sangpo. The ceremony is held there, and you know that, right?" Song Tingfeng chewed on peanuts and took a sip of wine.

Xu Qi'an nodded. Sangpo was a small lake outside the imperial city, which happened to be guarded by the five military camps of the capital. The Nightwatchers' task was simple: to maintain order and protect the safety of the imperial family and relatives.

The ritual process was the responsibility of the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Household Department, and the peripheral patrol was done by the royal guards and Jinwuwei, the imperial city's forbidden army.

After watching a variety show, Song Tingfeng found it boring and called for the madam. In no time, a group of girls dressed up in a flashy manner came in, standing in a row and throwing flirtatious glances at the three guests.The Nightwatcher uniforms on Xu Qi'an and his two colleagues were quite intimidating.

After the gold vault was emptied by Fu Xiang yesterday, Xu Qi'an decided not to touch women. Cultivators in the Qi refining stage did not need to practice abstinence, but they still needed to exercise restraint and not indulge themselves.

"When you're on duty later, try to get the girl to call you 'daddy'," Xu Qi'an whispered.

Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao stared at him incredulously, as if asking, "Are you a beast?"

After picking two beautiful women, the two of them did not leave the elegant room but entered the inner room. In places like the theater, it was not just about listening to music, but also about completing the transmission of life while listening to music.

Therefore, there was usually a separate room in the elegant room.

The madam and the girl who was not selected left, and Xu Qi'an watched the new program while listening to the faint sounds in his ears.

Soon, Song Tingfeng whispered, "Call me daddy."

Upon hearing this, Xu Qi'an smiled contentedly. He knew that he had opened the door to a new world for his colleagues.

On the other side, Zhu Guangxiao was a hardworking and down-to-earth person who did not speak.

As noon approached, the three of them left the theater because they were full of pastries, tea, snacks, and alcohol. They decided to skip lunch.

"We had a lot of fun today," Song Tingfeng squinted his eyes, feeling satisfied.

"What we did was nothing. Next time, I'll teach you how to play Russian roulette," Xu Qi'an sneered.

"Russian roulette?" Song Tingfeng looked unfamiliar, but it did not affect his interest. "Is it fun?"

"I haven't tried it myself," Xu Qi'an shrugged. After all, only the wealthy could afford to play this game.

Song Tingfeng looked at him as if he was joking. "Then why did you tell me about it?"

"Because I haven't learned to manage my time well," Xu Qi'an said helplessly.

As they walked and talked, they suddenly saw a group of court bailiffs in official uniforms rushing towards them on horseback. A tall, beautiful woman with thick eyebrows and a heroic spirit was leading them.

"Master Xu, we meet again... and how are you two doing?" Lv Qing said in a clear voice after reining in her horse and letting it neigh loudly.

She called him "Master Xu," but referred to us as "you two," as if we were just two nameless extras... Song Tingfeng smiled and greeted her, "It's been a while, and you look even more heroic, Head Lv."

Lv Qing smiled and then remembered the matter at hand. "There has been a murder in Sanshui Street, which is within your patrol area. Since we've met, let's go together."

A murder... Song Tingfeng's face darkened. "Okay, Head Lv, you go first, and we'll follow."

Xu Qi'an and his colleagues arrived at Sanshui Street and saw the court bailiffs' horses tied up on the side of the road. They entered the courtyard and saw several court bailiffs interrogating people. The women in the house had red eyes and were crying.

Lv Qing was not in the courtyard but inside the house.

Xu Qi'an looked at the beautiful hostess and asked, "Was the deceased your husband?"

The hostess saw the Nightwatcher uniform and nodded meekly while wiping her tears with a handkerchief.

Xu Qi'an glanced at her curvaceous figure and said in a deep voice, "Call your son out."

The hostess did not understand what the Nightwatcher wanted, so she sent a servant to fetch him. A few minutes later, the servant led a child of about ten years old out.

"Is there anyone else?" Xu Qi'an asked.

"...Only my only son," the hostess said, holding the child in her arms.

I was thinking too much! Xu Qi'an nodded in relief and walked past the crowd with his two colleagues into the house.This is a study room, and the deceased is lying face down on the desk. Dried blood has coagulated and covered half of the tabletop, indicating a large amount of bleeding.

With just one glance, Xu Qi'an estimated that the victim's throat had been cut.

Lv Qing, the female chief constable of the Jingzhao Prefecture, was inspecting the corners, doors, windows, and rafters of the study room with two constables.

Xu Qi'an asked, "Did you find anything?"

Lv Qing shook her head, "Everything is intact. There are no signs of forced entry, no footprints on the windowsill, and no signs of tampering on the rafters."

Xu Qi'an said, "It was done by someone familiar."

He reached this conclusion so quickly?

Knowing that Xu Qi'an was a master, no one refuted him and waited for an explanation.

"The doors and windows are intact, and there are no footprints on the rafters, which basically rules out the possibility of someone breaking into the study to commit the murder. The victim was sitting upright with a proper posture, and from the angle of his body, he died instantly without struggling. This indicates that the victim knew the killer and not only knew him but also respected or feared him greatly."

"Why do you say that?" Lv Qing asked humbly.

"Is the victim a scholar?" Xu Qi'an asked.

Lv Qing didn't understand what he meant and answered, "He was a small flag officer of the Jinwu Guard."

Xu Qi'an nodded, "A normal person sitting in his study at home should be relaxed and comfortable, not sitting so upright and meticulously. Unless he was facing someone who made him have to show respect."

"In addition, the cause of death appears to be a throat cut, but I suspect the real cause of death is here..." Xu Qi'an grabbed the victim's hair and lifted his pale face.

The people in the room saw a shallow depression on the victim's forehead.