Heng Yuan's gaze fell on the jade mirror. It was the one he had dropped into the well during the conflict with Heng Hui. After hearing Heng Hui's story and watching him pass away, Heng Yuan was too grief-stricken to care about the fragment of the Earth Book.

Soon after, the Nightwatcher arrived. Heng Yuan knew he would be thrown into prison, so he left the mirror in the well to prevent it from being taken by the Nightwatcher. Heng Yuan's plan was to retrieve the Earth Book fragment if he had the chance to escape or if Taoist Master Jin Lian could retrieve it for him.

But in the end, it fell into the hands of the Nightwatcher. Xu Qi'an stared at Heng Yuan, waiting for his response. The jade mirror was given to Xu Qi'an by Wei Yuan that morning, without any specific instructions. However, Xu Qi'an thought that Wei Yuan meant for him to return the Earth Book fragment to Heng Yuan through his hands.

After a long silence, Xu Qi'an drank some tea and slowly said, "This mirror was found in the well, so it belongs to Heng Hui. Its true name is the Earth Book." Heng Yuan looked up at him, and Xu Qi'an confidently said, "Many people in the world don't know about it, but we, the Nightwatchers, are not among them."

Heng Yuan lowered his head and softly said, "It belongs to me." Xu Qi'an asked, "As far as I know, this is a treasure of the Daoist Sect. How did a monk like you get it?" Heng Yuan replied, "I obtained it by chance and hope that you can return it to me."

Xu Qi'an shook his head, took back the jade mirror, and played with it in his hand. He smiled and said, "Master, I'm afraid it's not that simple. A treasure of the Daoist Sect, and you're saying you obtained it by chance?"

"If you speak honestly and say something useful, I'll let you go. Otherwise, you'll spend the rest of your life in the Nightwatcher's prison."

Heng Yuan was silent for a moment and then stood up to leave. Xu Qi'an frowned and asked, "Where are you going?" Heng Yuan replied, "I'm going back to prison."

Xu Qi'an thought that Heng Yuan's character was not bad since he did not betray the Heavenly Dao Society, but he also knew that this was not what he wanted. He said in a low voice, "Master, is a treasure really worth this? Isn't there anything more valuable than freedom in this world?"

Heng Yuan did not turn around and only said, "Please put the shackles back on me." Xu Qi'an looked at the clerk who was recording and said, "You can leave first."

The clerk packed up the paper, pen, and inkstone and left the interrogation room. Xu Qi'an coughed and softened his tone. He stood up and pulled Heng Yuan's arm, showing a respectful gesture. "Master, please sit down."Heng Yuan sat back at the table in confusion, looking at the copper gong that had a complete change in attitude, wondering what he was thinking.

"Sir, I really don't know anything. The Earth Book was indeed obtained by chance." Heng Yuan said helplessly.

"Don't be so sure of yourself. As a monk, you shouldn't lie. You're the sixth member of the Tian Di Hui, right?" Xu Qi'an said with a half-smile.

Σ(°△°|||)

Heng Yuan stared at him in surprise and confusion, his usual calm demeanor disappearing, replaced with hostility and caution.

It seemed that as long as Xu Qi'an revealed a signal that would harm the Tian Di Hui, he would slap the copper gong to death with one hand, even if it meant risking his own life.

Xu Qi'an lowered his voice and leaned over the table, speaking in a tone of an underground party member. "I'm Xu Qi'an, a spy planted by Yunlu Academy in the Nightwatcher's yamen. The Earth Book fragment was not found by the yamen, but by me from the well. And all of this was ordered by Number Three, who is my superior."

"Number Three?!" Heng Yuan was deeply shocked. He didn't immediately deny or doubt what the copper gong said, because at that moment, he thought of something.

"Number Three is a student of Yunlu Academy. He has mentioned several times that the academy has planted people in various yamens of the court... As a Confucian academy that used to dominate the court, such behavior is indeed normal... After the Sangpo case, Number Three also mentioned the details of the case in the internal communication of the Tian Di Hui... There are indeed spies from Yunlu Academy in the Nightwatcher's yamen... But how did Number Three know my location? Ah, Taoist Master Jin Lian knows the identity of each of us. At that time, Heng Hui and I were together. Taoist Master Jin Lian would definitely avoid conflicts with Heng Hui, so he had to seek help from others. The Nightwatcher is responsible for the Sangpo case, and Number Three, who has spies in the Nightwatcher's yamen, is the best person to ask for help... I also owe Number Three a life. He is truly a man of letters, with chivalry and courage, and is a trustworthy friend. This karma may be difficult to repay in the future." Thinking of this, Heng Yuan took a deep breath and looked at Xu Qi'an with a gaze that had lost its vigilance and hostility, softly asking, "What else did Number Three say?"

"He said that the spring exams are coming soon, and he cannot leave Yunlu Academy. If there are similar troubles in the future, he may not be able to provide timely assistance. Therefore, let me and the master make contact. If the master needs any help in the future, feel free to find me."Xu Qi'an added in his heart, "If I have any needs, I can also find you without revealing the identity of Number Three. At least not in the short term."

He didn't want to reveal his true identity for now. Firstly, the image he had built up before was a bit exaggerated, and the members of the Heaven and Earth Society thought he was a top-notch elite from the Yunlu Academy, a scholar with a wealth of knowledge.

But it turned out that Number Three was just a Nightwatcher.

Secondly, leaving some room for maneuver and not revealing his true identity meant that he had a lot of room to operate.

Anyway, for Heng Yuan, Number Six, it didn't make much difference whether I was a Nightwatcher or a student of the Yunlu Academy. I'm not deceiving anyone.

Heng Yuan nodded and took the broken pieces of the ground book that were handed to him by Xu Qi'an, who was handsome and extraordinary. He said, "If you need my help in the future, please don't hesitate to ask, sir."

Xu Qi'an smiled and waved his hand, "Master, I'll take you out now."

After sending off Heng Yuan, Xu Qi'an returned to the Chunfeng Hall. The Nightwatchers and Lv Qing, the female head of the Beijing Capital Prefecture, who worked under the Longle County Yamen, no longer came to the Yamen because they knew that Xu Qi'an might make up for his past mistakes through the Pingyang Princess case.

Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao were meditating in the side hall, while Li Yuchun was packing up his things, making sure that every item was neat and tidy.

"Boss, let me help you..."

"Don't, don't touch anything." Li Yuchun quickly stopped him, "I can do it myself, it's enough."

Xu Qi'an was happy to be leisurely and sat down at the table, "Let's go to the Official Brothel Sector for a drink after the case is over, and I'll treat everyone."

"The Official Brothel Sector... " Li Yuchun hesitated.

"Boss, have you never been to the Official Brothel Sector before?" Xu Qi'an noticed something and said with a strange tone.

In this era, it is rare to see a man with status and position who has never been to the Official Brothel Sector. It's like a female doctor in Xu Qi'an's previous life who was still a virgin, or a male doctor who was thirty years old and never had to show off.

It's extremely rare.

"Why go to such a filthy place?" Li Yuchun shook his head and said, "Will you go to watch the three executions at noon today?"

Xu Qi'an quickly shook his head, "No, I can't stand that kind of scene."

Beheading is too common in the Great Feng, not to mention the officials who were dragged to the vegetable market to be beheaded in the Jingcha, even those death row prisoners who were executed after autumn were enough for the common people to watch while eating.

There's no psychological pressure at all.

"Anyway, I'm not going." Xu Qi'an said.

For him, the impact of the scene of hundreds of people being beheaded was still too great. Even though he had a few years of criminal investigation experience and had seen many bloody murder case files, an ordinary person would probably be traumatized.At noon, at the vegetable market.

Over a hundred people knelt on the execution platform, with Zhang Fengyi, the Minister of War, and his son Zhang Yi, at the front. They were dressed in white prison clothes, their eyes covered with black cloth, waiting for death to come. Thousands of people gathered around, watching from three layers inside and outside.

Not everyone liked to watch cruel and bloody scenes, even though the executed were heinous criminals in the eyes of the people. The main reason was that the court adopted a semi-forced and semi-encouraged policy for "watching." Some people had to come and were forced to watch.

The reason was simple, to promote the majesty of the court and to deter the people.

"Execute!" The execution officer looked at the sun, threw out the execution order.

Death came, and the relatives of the blindfolded victims cursed furiously, blaming Zhang Fengyi for harming others and himself, and swearing that they would not let him go even if he became a ghost.

The executioner raised his cleaver high, and heads rolled down one by one. The scene was very exaggerated, and the strong smell of blood could even be smelled by the people on the outskirts.

After that, two more batches of death row prisoners were beheaded, the families of Ping Yuanbo and Sun Zhongming.

Heng Yuan, the monk of the Qinglong Temple who stood outside the crowd, quietly turned and left. He came to watch the execution for two reasons: first, to settle the cause and effect for his junior brother Heng Hui, and second, to calm his own obsession and prevent future heart demons.

Heng Hui was his junior brother whom he had brought up like a younger brother. An eye for an eye, this matter was settled.

"Master Shen Shu... are you awake?"

In the side hall, Xu Qi'an was still practicing his breathing exercises while calling Shen Shu, but he still hadn't received a response from the high monk.

He seemed to be able to sense my thoughts, is he a mind reader in Buddhism? Mind readers shouldn't be able to read memories... Anyway, he spends most of his time sleeping, which is a good thing.

Theft is never good, try looking at [ pawread dot com ].

Xu Qi'an was thinking about it when his heart trembled. He opened his eyes and saw that his two colleagues were still meditating with their eyes closed. He took out a jade mirror and browsed through the message.

[Chapter 6: Everyone, I'm fine, thank you for your concern.]

[Chapter 5: Is Number Six really Number Six? Could it be a Nightwatcher impersonating him?]

Number Five was the first to question, seeming cautious but actually the most foolish.

[Chapter 4: Heh, if it's fake, Taoist Master Jin Lian would have warned us in advance. Number Five, what you should be thinking about is whether Number Six has been turned by the Nightwatchers.]

Number Four was indeed a scholar and a former high official, with a sharp mind... Xu Qi'an clicked his tongue twice.

[Chapter 5: Have you been turned, Number Six?]

[Chapter 6: I'm fine, and I want to thank Number Three and Taoist Master Jin Lian for saving me.]【Chapter 9: No need to thank me, your junior brother had no intention of killing you.】

【Chapter 4: How's the progress on the Sangbo case?】

Seeing this, Xu Qi'an waited for a moment, but didn't receive any message from Number One. He typed in a message: 【The Sangbo case has ended, but it hasn't really ended.】

【Chapter 4: As expected.】

【Chapter 5: What do you mean? What do you mean by "as expected"? How did the Sangbo case end and yet not end?】

【Chapter 4: Heh, let Number Three explain. I think he can explain it better than I can.】

Xu Qi'an pondered for a moment, then decided to take on Number Four's burden. He typed in a message: 【It's simple. The true purpose of the Sangbo case was to draw out the Princess Pingyang case. Heng Hui caused chaos in the inner city with a sealing object, and destroying the Pingyuan Duke's mansion was the best proof.

【At noon today, three officials involved in the case were executed and their families exterminated at the vegetable market. The Princess Pingyang's case has ended, and the mastermind behind it has achieved their goal. They will most likely leave the capital with the sealing object, and this storm can be considered over.

【But the Sangbo case itself hasn't ended yet.】

So that's how it is. Number Five suddenly realized, then stabbed Number Three in the back without warning: 【Number Three, you're a big liar. That person who picks up money every day is clearly you.】

PS: This chapter is from yesterday, four more today. I will follow the fan rankings and update them one by one. Don't worry, leaders who haven't been updated yet, just wait patiently for my favor. Or, I can wait for you to bend over...

Also, the typos in the previous chapters have been corrected. Thanks to the efforts of the tools. Let's keep up the good work.