Minister Sun arrived at the study, a spacious and luxurious space with only three people present: Emperor Yuan Jing sitting on the throne, the cunning Prime Minister Wang, and the Great Blue Robe with a few white hairs.

Minister Sun habitually glanced at the Prime Minister and noticed his solemn expression and heavy gaze, which surprised him as he thought it was just a regular morning court session.

"What is Wei Yuan up to again?" He turned his head to scrutinize the Great Blue Robe, but the intelligent eunuch had a gentle and restrained temperament that made it hard to discern his thoughts.

Minister Sun had a bad feeling and silently stood in his designated spot after bowing to the Emperor, who remained resting his eyes until he heard the voice of the Minister of Works.

Emperor Yuan Jing opened his eyes and surveyed the ministers, all of whom were high-ranking officials and leaders. "Wei Yuan, tell us what happened," he said.

Wei Yuan stepped forward and said, "Last night, Nightwatcher discovered a residence in the inner city where they kept young boys and prostitutes captive. These women were originally from respectable families, and the boys were ordinary children. They were abducted and forced to serve the drunken guests who came to the house at night."

"Nightwatcher launched a raid and captured thirteen customers, ten of whom were officials, and three were wealthy merchants in the capital. In addition, they found forty skeletons in the backyard well, all belonging to the abducted women who were brutally murdered."

Wei Yuan's words stirred up a commotion in the study, and the ministers forgot about the solemnity of the court session.

Human trafficking, prostitution, and corruption would ruin any official's career, especially during the current investigation period.

But Wei Yuan had more shocking news. "According to the investigation, the owner of the residence was involved with the God of Witchcraft, as evidenced by the demonic spells inscribed in the well. The owner confessed that he was working for Minister Liu of the Ministry of Works. The residence served as a place for corrupt officials to gather and also a secret base for contacting the God of Witchcraft."

The ministers were shocked. If the previous news had damaged their reputation, this new revelation could lead to treason charges and the punishment of nine generations of the offender's family.

Emperor Yuan Jing slammed the table, and the study fell silent. He looked at Prime Minister Wang and asked for his opinion.

"We must thoroughly investigate this matter and not tolerate any wrongdoing," Prime Minister Wang said.

Although his words sounded conciliatory, Minister Sun sensed that the Prime Minister was leaning towards Wei Yuan. Standing with the Minister of Works would only be a small favor, while standing with Wei Yuan would ruin Minister Liu and deal a severe blow to the Qi faction, as they had tried to frame him in the past.

Emperor Yuan Jing asked, "Where are the criminals?"Wei Yuan shook his head and sighed, "The criminal was cursed to death by witchcraft last night, and there is no evidence of his death."

Emperor Yuan Jing frowned.

The imperial study fell into silence, and the ministers looked at Wei Yuan with strange eyes, as if saying, "You're talking nonsense without any evidence."

Wang Zhenwen, the leader of the royal party, who was practicing his internal energy, also frowned and glanced at Wei Yuan.

The Minister of Works sneered and stepped forward, shouting, "Your Majesty, I am innocent. Wei Yuan is slandering me. Please make a fair judgement."

Emperor Yuan Jing asked calmly, "Wei Yuan, what do you have to say?"

Wei Yuan remained calm and said loudly, "Your Majesty, I request to summon Nightwatcher Xu Qi'an."

The ministers' faces looked strange upon hearing the name. Based on the incident with Zhou Chixiong last time, summoning Xu Qi'an at this critical moment made them realize that there was a follow-up to the matter, and Wei Yuan had a hidden card up his sleeve.

Especially the members of the royal party, who had a slight PTSD reaction to the phrase "summoning Xu Qi'an."

The Minister of Works' face changed slightly, but he quickly hid his emotions and remained calm.

Emperor Yuan Jing remained silent for a few seconds before saying, "Summon him."

More than ten minutes later, Xu Qi'an, who wore a black robe, carried a copper gong, and a cloak, entered the imperial study. His black gold long sword was confiscated.

Chu Caiwei and two white-robed astrologers from the Bureau of Astronomy accompanied him.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects." Xu Qi'an bowed.

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Emperor Yuan Jing remained indifferent and looked at the small copper gong. Wei Yuan turned his head and said with a smile, "Tell your discovery to His Majesty."

Xu Qi'an immediately recounted his discovery of a haunted house after using the silver that His Majesty had rewarded him to buy a property. Through empathy, he found that there was a private mansion there... and he told the story as it was.

The more the Minister of Works listened, the worse his face became, and his heart sank slowly.

The person was already dead, and the Nightwatchers were furious about it last night... they had no evidence and wanted to deceive him... the Minister of Works stabilized his emotions and sneered in his heart. After half a lifetime of experiencing so much, this was just a small trick.

After Xu Qi'an finished speaking, Emperor Yuan Jing remained expressionless and indifferent. Xu Qi'an added, "The female ghost is being kept in the feng shui disk of Miss Chu Caiwei from the Bureau of Astronomy. Your Majesty can verify it by empathizing with the female ghost with someone you trust."

He thought to himself that he must find a man to empathize with.

After a moment of contemplation, Emperor Yuan Jing looked at the eunuch next to him. If anyone on the scene was most trusted by him, it was this eunuch who had been serving him since childhood.

"I am willing to give my life for Your Majesty." The eunuch bowed.

"Don't panic, there's nothing serious." Xu Qi'an saw that the eunuch was a little frightened, and reassured him, "At most, it's like watching a movie. You won't feel anything specific."

For a eunuch who had missed out on the pleasures of a woman, being slept by a man was a compensation for his regrets.

Chu Caiwei took out the feng shui disk and came to the eunuch. The feng shui disk emitted a clear light, and the Tai Chi fish rotated, releasing a black mist.

She gently flicked it and brushed the black mist onto the eunuch's forehead. The eunuch instinctively leaned back, trying to avoid it. The next moment, the black mist invaded his soul.

Chu Caiwei pointed her jade finger at his forehead, helping him merge with the female ghost. Otherwise, with the strength of a eunuch's soul, he might be assimilated by the vengeful spirit and not be able to distinguish himself.Emperor Yuan Jing and the courtiers in the study watched the eunuch closely. They saw him go through various emotions - fear, ferocity, despair, and pain - for a quarter of an hour. Chu Caiwei then withdrew her jade finger and the black mist, and put away the Feng Shui compass.

The eunuch let out a whimper, opened his eyes, and knelt down, crying, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please help me..."

As he cried, he suddenly realized that he was a man, at least he used to be. All the experiences he had just felt were actually memories of a female ghost, not his own.

Realizing this, the eunuch wiped away his tears, his face gradually returning to normal, but his tone still filled with sorrow. "Your Majesty, I have seen it all."

Emperor Yuan Jing nodded. The eunuch then looked at the three white-clad astrologers of the Tianjian Observatory, including Chu Caiwei, and saw the clarity in their eyes. He then turned back to the Emperor and said, "I saw that she was kidnapped and brought to the capital, where she was forced to serve guests every day... no, the guests didn't even pay."

The courtiers looked at each other in shock. It seemed that Wei Yuan's words were true. This was a private house where innocent women were abducted and forced into prostitution.

"Later, she served a guest named Tamulaha and became his lover."

Tamulaha... that was the name of a foreigner.

Emperor Yuan Jing narrowed his eyes and looked at the Minister of Works. "What happened next?"

"One night, she overheard a secret conversation about 'firearms' and 'weapons' and was brutally murdered and thrown into a well. I saw it happen, and the one who talked with Tamulaha was... " The eunuch turned his head and pointed at the Minister of Works. "It was Liu, the Minister of Works."

Emperor Yuan Jing's face turned ashen.

The study erupted in chaos, and the courtiers turned their anger towards the Minister of Works. The Grand Preceptor of the Court of Judicial Review was particularly outraged, condemning Liu for being inhumane.

The Minister of Works looked like a lifeless puppet, his face pale as a sheet.

...

Leaving the palace, Xu Qi'an rode alongside Wei Yuan's carriage.

"Wei Gong, Liu is one of the leaders of the Qi Faction. If we catch him, we can uproot the entire faction," Xu Qi'an said in a low voice.

Wei Yuan chuckled from inside the carriage. "It's not the right time to get rid of the Qi Faction. Without them, the biggest beneficiary won't be us."

Xu Qi'an, who was only at the level of a silver-ranked fighter in political maneuvering, didn't dwell on the topic and instead asked, "Am I now able to redeem myself?"

Wei Yuan made a sound of agreement. "The Ministry of Justice won't catch you again, but as for the other Nightwatchers, we'll have to wait for the Emperor's decision. Later, I'll send a note to the palace."

It seemed that everything was in Wei Yuan's hands... Xu Qi'an felt confident that he would be promoted to a higher rank. He decided to go home first and comfort his aunt and uncle.

His uncle was on duty and not at home. Only his aunt and two younger sisters were there.

His aunt was sitting in the front hall, drinking tea and eating snacks while occasionally feeding their pet dog, Xiao Dou Ding, some wooden toys.

She was wearing a deep blue silk dress, her hair tied up high, and a pretty golden hairpin in it. Her beautiful face was made up exquisitely.

When she saw her unlucky nephew return, her expression changed slightly, and she urgently whispered, "What are you doing back? Your uncle said that there are spies from the Ministry of Justice nearby. Leave quickly.""Big brother, big brother..." Xu Lingyin cheerfully ran up to him, and in front of him, she abruptly stopped, her small body swaying, and her small face the size of a palm raised up: "Did you bring back anything delicious?"

"No." Xu Qi'an coldly shattered his younger sister's eager anticipation.

"Oh." Xu Lingyin was also a practical girl. She immediately abandoned her big brother and shook her little butt to go play by herself.

Xu Qi'an didn't want to deal with his aunt, so he walked to the table and reached out to grab a pastry. But the beautiful woman slapped his hand away and glared at him: "I'm talking to you."

Xu Qi'an casually said, "The matter has been resolved. I came back to let you know."

Hearing that the matter had been settled, his aunt's face showed a bit of a smile, but quickly restrained herself and scolded him, "You always cause trouble. Can't you give our family some peace?"

Ever since the tax case, there had been no peace, and there were disturbances every few days. His aunt was worried at first, but now she had become accustomed to it. This was not a good thing.

Xu Qi'an ignored his aunt's nagging and said, "I have already chosen a house. Do you want to come with Lingyue and Lingyin to take a look?"

When she heard that he had already chosen a house, her beautiful eyes lit up, and she said reservedly, "It doesn't matter, go and take a look if you want."

PS: I'm going to type up the third chapter now, it's already past midnight, so everyone can read it tomorrow. Remember to catch the bugs.