Xu Qi'an quickly arrived at the bottom of the lake, his eyes filled with clarity, shining like two small light bulbs in the darkness.

Mud was piled up at the bottom of the water, and around the foundation of the Hanbaiyu platform, stone pillars were arranged in a unique pattern to encircle the platform in the center.

This seemed to be some kind of formation... Xu Qi'an speculated in his heart.

In the Great Feng capital, only the sorcerers of the Celestial Observation Bureau could set up formations, which meant that the Celestial Observation Bureau had also participated in the construction of the Eternal Temple.

From this, it could be inferred that besides the current emperor, the only other person who knew the secret of Sangpo was the bureau chief, that old scoundrel... So, was the bureau chief really sick? Or was it because of the collapse of the Eternal Temple?

What secrets were hidden here?

Those who plotted to uncover the secret of Sangpo and those who destroyed the Eternal Temple were definitely at the level of kings... I, a small copper gong, would be caught in the middle and feel like I could be caught in the crossfire at any moment...

Even if I could uncover the truth, would the royal family tolerate me?

Thinking of this, Xu Qi'an felt heavy in his heart.

"Wei Yuan has already shown me the way. If I encounter any unsolvable problems, I just need to inform the yamen or notify Yang Jinluo... This hint is clear enough. I am just a pawn, responsible for tracking like a hunting dog. If all else fails, I can just fake my death and leave the capital."

With this thought flashing through his mind, he paddled his limbs and swam towards the nearest stone pillar.

The surface of the stone pillar was carved with twisted and strange tadpole-like characters.

Xu Qi'an could vaguely tell that it was some kind of writing, but due to his limited cultural level, he couldn't decipher it. He memorized a few characters.

After checking a few more stone pillars, he found the same characters and his fear of the deep sea prompted him to leave the dark bottom of the lake.

In the silence and deepness of the water, he always imagined that there were a pair of cold eyes staring at him from behind or a huge black shadow looming in the darkness ahead.

Xu Qi'an emerged from the water and returned to the boat, inserting the black and gold long knife in his mouth and using his luck to evaporate the lake water.

Steam rose up in wisps.

Li Yuchun stared at him in surprise. This kid had just advanced to the Qi Refining Realm in his hands, and now, after only a short while, his Qi was so strong?

"Your Qi doesn't seem like that of a newly advanced Qi Refining Realm." Li Yuchun said in confusion.

"I just meditate for two hours every day." Xu Qi'an innocently replied.

"..." Li Yuchun waved his hand, not wanting to talk more about this topic. He looked at Yang Jinluo and said, "Yang Jinluo doesn't believe you. He just analyzed the situation at the bottom of the water and had some gains. He also said that if your analysis is the same as his, he will believe you. We're all part of the same team, there's no need to hide anything."

Tall and thin Yang Feng smiled and did not argue.

Xu Qi'an glanced at the stubbled Min Shan, who had not spoken but was staring at him, waiting for him to speak.

Xu Qi'an rolled his eyes. "From the fracture point of the platform, it can be inferred that the explosion point was inside the temple, not at the bottom of the water. In addition, the gunpowder was most likely hidden in the temple after the ancestor worship ceremony. It couldn't have been more than an hour since the end of the ceremony.""If it was hidden in the temple beforehand, the smell of gunpowder would have been strong. If Your Majesty had entered the temple at that time, he would definitely have smelled it. The only chance was after the ancestor worship ceremony. Go and arrest all the officials responsible for cleaning up, from the local officials to the officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Grand Court. Interrogate them one by one. Yang Yinluo, you go handle this.

"Also, notify the yamen and request a few white-robed officials from the Bureau of Astronomy to come and work with us. Head, you go handle it. Hmm, I want the Bureau of Astronomy's Caiwei girl to come and help me.

"Min Yinluo, come with me to the Ministry of Works. I want the records of the gunpowder factory's imports and exports. With such a large amount of gunpowder, it couldn't have been smuggled out."

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Pausing for a moment, he added, "But before that, we must take a look at the bodies of the soldiers who sacrificed themselves."

The three Yinluos looked at each other, realizing that this little brother was quite reliable in his work. He arranged the tasks in an orderly and logical manner. Yang Feng and Min Shan, the two Yinluos, put away their disdain and distrust of him.

They thought to themselves that if it were them, they probably wouldn't have been able to come up with such a clear direction so quickly. They would have had to think for a long time to sort out their thoughts.

The bodies were collected in the military camp. The soldiers led them to a tent outside, where they lifted the curtain to reveal bodies covered in white cloth.

The same bodies were in the nearby tents. A total of 312 soldiers who patrolled near Sangpo had sacrificed themselves.

Xu Qi'an lifted the white cloth and carefully examined the condition of each body.

"You can also examine bodies?" Yang Feng couldn't help but ask when he saw Xu Qi'an's expression becoming more and more serious. "Did you find anything?"

"I found something big."

"Tell us." The three Yinluos were excited, even the leader of the soldiers leading the way looked over.

Xu Qi'an slowly said, "I found out that I am just a small copper gong. When it comes to fighting, I still need the three of you to work hard."

All the soldiers had the same cause of death, their blood sucked out by some kind of demonic magic. This method couldn't be countered by Qi refining stage cultivators.

When they really encounter bandits, Xu Qi'an could only wave his hand and say, "Charge!" and stay behind.

...

Xu Qi'an rushed to the Ministry of Works with Min Shan. With a golden plaque leading the way, they encountered no obstacles.

He found the official in charge of managing the gunpowder factory and said, "I want to investigate the production and usage records of gunpowder in the past month."

Account books were easy to falsify, and the most common method was to exaggerate the usage amount. For example, making a batch of shells only required 200 kilograms of gunpowder, but in the records, it was written as 300 kilograms.

Another example was that when making gunpowder, the amount of raw materials transported could make 200 kilograms of gunpowder, but deliberately writing less for the amount of raw materials, the excess gunpowder could be hidden.

But these methods couldn't withstand investigation, as every crime left traces.

Xu Qi'an didn't trust the officials in the Ministry of Works and sent people to the Nightwatcher yamen to bring his own officials, and dozens of them rushed into the Ministry of Works.

This was a tedious process with a lot of work, as they had to go to the raw material collection sites for evidence and verification.

...

After having lunch at the Ministry of Works, Xu Qi'an sat comfortably in a large chair, picking his teeth while watching the officials and Yinluos busy at work.Yang Feng sent someone to investigate the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Rites, and the palace guards.

"The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Rites each have three missing officials, and three palace guards are also missing," the messenger said.

In the palace, eunuchs with lower status were called palace guards, who usually did odd jobs.

"When did they go missing?" Xu Qi'an sat up straight, instantly shaking off his lazy state.

"The people responsible for the closing ceremony of the ancestor worship were all detained by the Ministry of Justice and the local government. They refused to hand them over to us," the messenger said helplessly. "Yang Yinluo is currently in a stalemate with the Ministry of Justice, unable to resolve the situation."

"Dare to compete with us Nightwatchers for people?" Xu Qi'an's eyebrows furrowed.

Although he had only joined the Nightwatchers recently, he had already adopted their arrogant attitude.

"The Ministry of Justice and the local government both received orders from His Majesty to investigate the case. They are both carrying out the imperial decree and are not afraid of us. Yang Yinluo does not have the imperial gold medal, so he urgently informed us," the messenger explained.

The Nightwatchers usually held a higher position than other yamens, but there was one exception, which was when the emperor issued an order.

"Let's go and get the people back!" Xu Qi'an was furious.

It was not surprising that the emperor had ordered both the Ministry of Justice and the local government to be involved in the case. Many major cases were investigated by multiple parties, and a single yamen had limited manpower and was responsible for other matters, making it difficult to devote all manpower and resources to the case.

The benefits of joint investigation were obvious, but the drawbacks were equally clear, which was the competition for credit!

"For me, it's not enough to solve the Sangpo case. I must establish a pivotal role in this case, so the court can exempt me from the death penalty. If I don't establish any credit, I'm afraid I won't be able to escape the punishment of being beheaded in the market... Whoever obstructs my investigation, I won't be polite!" Xu Qi'an did not delay when it came to life and death. He grabbed the black gold long knife on the table, looked around at the officials, and said loudly:

"You continue to investigate the case and thoroughly investigate all records of production, consumption, and so on from the beginning of the year. Find clues, and each person will be rewarded with twenty taels of silver."

As the presiding officer, he had the power to give a certain reward, which would be issued by the Nightwatchers yamen.

The officials from the Nightwatchers yamen all had shining eyes.

Twenty taels of silver was equivalent to half a year's salary for them.

Leaving the officials behind, Xu Qi'an hurriedly left the Ministry of Works with Yinluo Minshan and the other messengers, riding fast horses to the Ministry of Justice.

The Ministry of Justice was not far away, and in less than a stick of incense, Xu Qi'an saw the red lacquered gate of the Ministry of Justice.

The entrance was heavily guarded, with two columns of soldiers in armor guarding it.

Yang Feng and six messengers were blocked outside, and both sides were deadlocked.

"The Ministry of Justice is investigating the case according to the imperial decree. Those who obstruct the investigation will be punished," a middle-aged military officer, who led the group, rebuked the Nightwatchers with one hand on his sword.

Dozens of soldiers behind him held their sword handles.

Yang Feng's forehead bulged with anger. He had probably never been so humiliated before, as even ordinary people dared to rebuke him face to face.Although he held onto the hilt of his sword, he dared not act recklessly. Without the presiding official here, he had no right to claim that he was acting on orders. The Ministry of Justice could not possibly be unaware that the Nightwatchers were also involved in this case, yet they deliberately kept them outside.

This was a deliberate attempt to frustrate them, to deliberately trip them up.

"Heh!" The middle-aged officer in charge sneered, his hand resting on his sword as he saw the Nightwatchers riding towards them from afar.

"The Ministry of Justice is handling this case. Trespassers will be executed without mercy!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the young Nightwatcher at the front of the group draw the crossbow from his waist and pull the trigger without hesitation.

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There will be another chapter tonight, but it might be a bit late. That's all for now, I'm off to work hard.