"Whoosh!"

An arrow flew through the air.

The middle-aged military officer drew his long knife and deflected the arrow that was shot towards him. The soldiers' murderous intent immediately surged.

How dare this little copper gong shoot an arrow at him? He deserved to die. Nightwatchers were always arrogant and domineering, and if they didn't retaliate now, when would they?

The middle-aged military officer raised his long knife and shouted, "Those who dare to break into the Ministry of Justice shall die!"

The clanging sound echoed continuously, and the soldiers drew their swords with solemn expressions, looking like they were about to go to war.

Xu Qi'an exerted force with his legs on the stirrups and leaped several zhang high in the air. During his flight, he held onto the handle of the black gold long knife with his right hand.

The middle-aged military officer sneered, and his long knife carried a strong aura as he charged forward.

In mid-air, a bright flash of the knife passed as Xu Qi'an and the middle-aged military officer crossed paths, and he landed steadily at the entrance of the Ministry of Justice.

It wasn't until this moment that both sides reacted. Even Xu Qi'an's Nightwatcher colleagues didn't expect him to be so decisive.

In their minds, Xu Qi'an would show his golden medal and drive away the guards. This way was gentler and less likely to cause trouble.

Xu Qi'an held the knife in his right hand and flicked his wrist, causing a bloodline to appear on the ground.

The middle-aged military officer's body swayed, and he fell to the ground.

A soldier came forward to check and touched the military officer's neck. He exclaimed, "He's dead!"

The Nightwatchers' expressions changed.

Although they looked like they were about to fight, killing someone was a whole different level, especially since it was someone from the Ministry of Justice.

Even the most arrogant Nightwatcher had never killed someone on the street in front of any yamen of the Six Ministries.

Swish!

All the soldiers turned around and faced Xu Qi'an. The atmosphere was like a powder keg, about to explode.

This Broken Extreme Technique was only suitable for a three-second burst of energy... it wasn't enough to sustain a prolonged battle. He should find a chance to switch to another technique.

Enduring his fatigue, Xu Qi'an took out the golden medal and showed it to everyone. "I am acting under orders. Anyone who obstructs me will be killed without mercy!"

He scanned the soldiers with a sharp gaze.

"Haven't you retreated yet?" he shouted.

Under the dual intimidation of the golden medal and the military officer's corpse, the soldiers fell back.

Xu Qi'an put away his knife and led two silver gongs and twelve copper gongs into the Ministry of Justice.

Along the way, Yang Feng and Min Shan, the two silver gongs, kept scrutinizing Xu Qi'an as if they were getting to know him again.

Min Shan frowned and said, "Isn't this too impulsive? You killed someone outside the Ministry of Justice's gate, and he was a person with an official position. Aren't you afraid of being pursued later?"

Xu Qi'an, who had just killed someone for the first time, still had a murderous aura on his forehead. He glanced at the bearded man and said coldly, "Do I have a later?"

Min Shan was stunned.

Xu Qi'an continued with a cold smile, "I am already in dire straits. For me now, progress is life, and clues are life. Anyone who dares to obstruct my investigation is trying to kill me."

"The Ministry of Justice and the Nightwatcher yamen have always been at odds. If the yamen of the prefecture steals my achievements, these people will be obstacles to my investigation. If I'm not ruthless, there will be a second, third, and fourth person who will jump out to obstruct me. If I don't kill them, they will indirectly kill me."

"I killed someone who didn't have eyes today. Tomorrow, others who don't have eyes will be wary and afraid. This is also a way to reduce the killing."Xu Qi'an spoke and glanced at Yang Feng and Min Shan, smiling but not really smiling, "Even the two of you, who are under Yang Jinluo's command, doubt my ability and do not trust me. What more for the yamen and the Ministry of Justice?"

He spoke very clearly, this was to establish his authority.

Yang and Min both laughed and said, "Master Xu, we have underestimated you."

This "Master Xu" was a genuine expression of their feelings, not just because of imperial decree.

The yamen of the Ministry of Justice was very large, and Xu Qi'an caught a powerless official on the way to lead the way.

The official was a bit afraid of the fierce Nightwatchers and dared not disobey, leading them to the conference hall.

After passing through the courtyard, they arrived at the conference hall of the Ministry of Justice. It was a spacious hall with no tables, only chairs neatly arranged.

The officials of the two yamens sat on opposite sides, clearly divided.

On the left were the officials of the Ministry of Justice led by the second-rank official Xingbu Shangshu, who wore a crimson robe embroidered with a rooster.

On the right were the officials led by the fourth-rank Jingzhao Prefecture Chen Fuyin, who wore a crimson robe embroidered with clouds and geese.

In the middle sat a eunuch wearing a tall hat and a python robe, with a pale face and a strange tone.

Two court eunuchs stood beside him.

At the door, the official trembled like a quail and said in a trembling voice, "Gentlemen...the Nightwatchers have arrived..."

In the conference hall, more than a dozen officials with great power looked over at the same time.

Xu Qi'an faced the gaze of the bigwigs, stepped over the threshold, and saluted, "This official is Xu Qi'an. Gentlemen, please."

He scanned the crowd and saw a familiar woman, one of the catchers of the Jingzhao Prefecture, Lv Qing.

She also noticed him and her eyes flashed with confusion. Especially when she saw the two silver gongs and other bronze gongs faintly following Xu Qi'an, she was even more shocked.

An official of the Ministry of Justice looked at Xu Qi'an and said lightly, "Such a big case, and the Nightwatchers did not even send a gold gong. I will impeach you tomorrow."

Xu Qi'an said calmly, "Why do the Nightwatchers need to report to your Ministry of Justice when investigating a case?"

Pausing, he said, "I heard that the Ministry of Justice has detained many officials from the Grand Court, the Ministry of Rites, and the palace, and obstructed our Nightwatchers from interrogating them. Shangshu, may I ask what this means?"

Sun Shangshu, who had once met Xu Qi'an, did not speak or even look at him. He expressionlessly picked up his teacup and took a sip.

In the officialdom, serving tea means sending off guests.

Xu Qi'an's mouth twitched, and he did not continue to argue. He silently found a seat and sat down.

In the eyes of everyone, he was admitting defeat and enduring Sun Shangshu's show of power.

At this moment, a panicked official rushed in, glanced at the Nightwatchers, and whispered a few words in the ear of a Ministry of Justice official.

That official's face changed drastically, and he stood up and pointed his finger at Xu Qi'an and others, scolding, "This is outrageous, it is simply lawless!"

The officials in the hall were all surprised, even the haughty and silent eunuch looked at Xu Qi'an and others in astonishment.Minister Sun's face remained unchanged. He lightly tapped the armrest of his chair and said, "The Ministry of Justice is in charge of criminal law and regulations. We serve Your Majesty and plead for the people. Bring him in..."

"Hold on!" Xu Qi'an interrupted loudly with a cold smile. "I am here to investigate the case under the imperial order. The Ministry of Justice is obstructing the investigation. I hold the golden plaque and will take action first and report later. Also, I suspect that the Ministry of Justice is colluding with the thieves and is the culprit behind the destruction of the Yongzhen Mountain and River Temple. Minister Sun, why don't you come with me to the Nightwatcher's office?"

So bold?

The officials in the yamen looked at each other in disbelief. Was this really something a small Nightwatcher could say?

Minister Sun was a powerful second-grade official and one of the court officials. This copper gong in front of him dared to speak like this, completely disregarding Minister Sun.

The officials couldn't help but look at their superior, but found that Chen Fuyin was looking up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, pretending not to see.

"How dare you!"

"How dare you falsely accuse Minister Sun? How many heads do you have?"

The officials from the Ministry of Justice were furious.

Xu Qi'an was even more arrogant. He stepped forward, pressed his hand on his sword, and stared at the officials of the Ministry of Justice. "If the Ministry of Justice can't solve the case, I will. If the Ministry of Justice can't kill someone, I will."

"And another thing!" Xu Qi'an took out the golden plaque given by the emperor from his pocket and shook it. With a bang, the plaque spun and embedded itself in the ground, raising a fine dust.

"If the Ministry of Justice obstructs my investigation, I will kill them all!"

"Is that clear enough?"

The conference hall fell silent. The officials of the Ministry of Justice suddenly became speechless, not because of fear, but shock.

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What was going on with the Nightwatcher's office? What was going on with Wei Yuan?

Sending such a reckless person to handle the case was not giving the handle to the political enemies?

Just based on these words, he could be thrown into the Ministry of Justice's prison for the rest of his life. Tomorrow, the Ministry of Justice would jointly submit a report to Wei Yuan. Let's see how he would explain it.

"Hehe!" The eunuch in a python robe laughed. "Indeed, he is full of youthful vigor and sharpness."

He looked around at everyone. "Let me introduce you to this copper gong. He is the chief Nightwatcher recommended by Princess Chang, and personally appointed by the emperor."

"By the way, he was sentenced to seven days of waist-cutting by Wei Gong for injuring his superior. The emperor showed mercy and allowed him to redeem himself."

The chief Nightwatcher appointed by the emperor, no wonder he was so arrogant... Injuring his superior and being waist-cutting seven days later, no wonder he was so murderous!

The officials of the Ministry of Justice suddenly became silent.

This was a desperate thug, and solving the case was his only chance. Such people were most likely to go to extremes. If they pushed him too far, he would probably be willing to take a few people down with him.

This could be seen from his unhesitating killing of military officers.

Seeing the officials of the Ministry of Justice avoiding the situation, the eunuch pressed his hand and said, "Sit down, everyone. The case of Sang Bo involves a lot, and His Majesty attaches more importance to it than the case of taxes and silver. He specially appointed me as the governor to supervise your investigation."

"The Nightwatcher is here, so I don't have to go back and talk to you again."

This eunuch clearly leaned more towards me... more precisely, towards the Nightwatcher. Was it because of Wei Yuan's relationship?

Xu Qi'an clasped his fists and returned to his seat.

Song Tingfeng was very cooperative. He ran up and pulled out the golden plaque, offering it with both hands. "Sir, here is your golden plaque."

Xu Qi'an looked at everyone with a demonstration-like gaze and reached out to take it. "Hmm!"His second stage of establishing authority had a good effect.

Presenting himself as a desperate ruffian could solve many problems. If the officials from the Ministry of Justice or the Prefecture wanted to compete for credit, they had to think twice. The person he was facing was a lunatic who would draw his sword at the slightest provocation.

As for the troubles that might follow, Xu Qi'an didn't care. First, he believed that Wei Yuan would cover him. Second, if he couldn't solve the case, he didn't have to worry about the consequences. He would either die or leave the capital forever.

Liu Gonggong took a sip of tea and asked, "Several people have disappeared from the three yamens. These missing people are likely to be thieves who help to secretly transport gunpowder. What do you all think of this?"

Chen Fuyin replied, "My yamen has already investigated the families of the nine deceased, and they are all still in the capital. They know nothing about the disappearance of their loved ones. I suspect that the nine people were not trying to escape, but were silenced."

Liu Gonggong nodded slightly.

An official from the Ministry of Justice said, "There must be thieves hiding in the three yamens, and the most secretive ones are those who kill and silence witnesses."

Liu Gonggong frowned and pondered.

Xu Qi'an silently listened to the discussion. Since he stayed to attend the meeting, the purpose of the detained people was no longer significant. He could learn what he wanted to know just by listening to the officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Prefecture.

"I'm afraid it's not just the Grand Court and the Ministry of Rites. Even the Ministry of Public Works has thieves," Lv Qing said in a deep voice.

Everyone looked at the only woman present.

Liu Gonggong scrutinized Lv Qing and nodded. "Please continue."

Lv Qing said, "I have investigated their family backgrounds and social relationships. With their abilities, they are not capable of stealing so much gunpowder from the factory. Therefore, there must be someone from the Ministry of Public Works secretly assisting them, and the official is not low-ranking."

The logic was clear and reasonable, and everyone nodded in agreement, looking at Lv Qing with admiration.

Xu Qi'an noticed that an eunuch beside Liu Gonggong was writing down their conversation quickly. Was he going to show it to Emperor Yuan Jing? The Emperor was more concerned about this case than the tax silver case. Well, it was understandable. The thing that came out of Sang Bo's bottom was unknown.

Something extremely terrible and important would not be sealed in Sang Bo.

Xu Qi'an thought to himself.

Liu Gonggong, dressed in a python robe, looked towards the Nightwatchers and Xu Qi'an, asking, "Xu Daren, as the chief organizer of the Nightwatchers, have you gained anything?"

The officials from the Prefecture and the Ministry of Justice also looked over.

PS: I'm a bit mentally exhausted and don't want to go through every word to correct mistakes. Please remind me in the comments if you spot any errors in this chapter.