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Three hundred miles away, Tongguan Garrison.

Zhang Yanming led his troops to the location Xu Qiu had mentioned, but instead of Xu Qiu, he saw a tall, imposing, unfamiliar man.

"Who are you? State your name, or you will be considered an obstruction of military affairs and will be killed without mercy."

Zhang Yanming, still mounted on his horse, looked down at Li Shiqin from his elevated position.

"My surname is Li, and I work under Lord Xu. Lord Xu is delayed by matters at his residence and will not arrive until the evening. Please wait a moment, Commander Zhang."

Zhang Yanming had met the emperor in Beijing five years ago, but Li Shiqin became commander three years ago, and they had never met before.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yanming's brows relaxed. He had originally intended to deal with Li Dacheng before Xu Qiu interrogated him, but Xu Qiu had given him the opportunity.

"Tongguan Guard is a garrison under my jurisdiction. Since Lord Xu has not arrived yet, I will arrest him first and personally deliver him to Xi'an Prefecture tomorrow."

Without waiting for Li Shiqin's reply, Zhang Yanming rode his horse into the garrison, asking, "Where are your superiors?"

The guard at the gate replied, "Reporting to the commander, the lord went out for drinks last night and has been in his room since returning. He may still be drunk."

Zhang Yanming sneered, "Bring your general here. Li Dacheng is selling smuggled salt and colluding with merchants. That's a capital offense. Come with me and arrest him too."

As soon as he arrived at Li Dacheng's door, he saw thick smoke billowing out from inside, and heard Li Dacheng's voice from within, "Lord Zhang, I have worked for you for so many years, and you are so heartless."

“I, Li Dacheng, dislike being suppressed. If you want to kill me, I will not do as you wish. I would rather die in this fire than die by your sword.”

Zhang Yanming frowned. He felt something was strange, but the person in the room was indeed Li Dacheng. "Li Dacheng, if you die, I will not make things difficult for you because you are a man of honor. I will take care of your parents, wife and children."

"Hahahaha... Okay, you said it yourself."

As soon as he finished speaking, the fire inside the door intensified. Seeing the heat wave approaching, Zhang Yanming unconsciously took a step back.

Li Dacheng's room was a separate room, unconnected to the others. Now the fire was growing bigger and bigger, but everyone remained indifferent.

After the fire was extinguished, the soldiers dragged the charred corpse out of the room. Li Dacheng's adjutant examined it carefully and nodded repeatedly, "It's Li Dacheng."

Zhang Yanming narrowed his eyes. "You're Li Dacheng's confidant?"

The adjutant's legs went weak. "Commander, I don't know anything!"

Zhang Yanming drew his sword and killed the man. He then looked at the remaining people and said, "Identify each other. Anyone who is close to Li Dacheng is an accomplice. Kill them all."

He wiped the longsword in his hand, turned around and left the garrison. Xu Qiu was slowly approaching with two people behind him.

“Commander Zhang, these…” Xu Qiu glanced at the corpses lying haphazardly behind him.

"Li Dacheng, realizing he was doomed, set fire to his room and committed suicide."

He glanced at the corpses behind him. "As for these people, they were all accomplices. But they were just small fry; killing them is no big deal."

Xu Qiu clicked his tongue in amazement. "Commander, you have some impressive skills. I'll take the prisoner's body back with me then. That way, I can report back to the prefect."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Lord Xu. The matter of Li Dacheng was due to my poor management of my subordinates, and I will submit a memorial to apologize. Now that this matter is settled, I'll head back."

"Respectfully seeing off Commander Zhang."

Seeing Zhang Yanming mount his horse and leave, Xu Qiu also got up and looked at the scene of blood flowing like a river at Tongguan Guard. The timid soldiers had already wet their pants from fright.

He directed the still-frightened soldiers, "Clean up the bodies, load them onto carts, and transport them all to the government offices in Xi'an Prefecture."

"Brother Xu, what's the next step?" Li Shiqin asked.

Xu Qiu glanced at Lu Shi, "Brother Lu, Zhang Yanming hasn't suspected anything, has he?"

"No, although Li Dacheng's body was charred, his facial features were still intact, and he recognized him."

"Next step?" Xu Qiu stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Brother Li, didn't Xu Yunliang implicate a businessman named Ma Jing? Arrest him and interrogate him. This person isn't on the list; he's a fish that slipped through the net."

"Good." Li Shiqin was excited to see the imperial envoy, who had made no progress for months, suddenly start to move. "Lu Shi, come with me to arrest the people."

Xu Qiu didn't ride a horse either, but had someone find him a cart. He sat cross-legged on it and returned to Xi'an Prefecture with the corpses from Tongguan Garrison.

Before getting into the carriage, he made a point of checking Li Dacheng's body again to make sure that there was no good flesh left after being burned and that there were no arrow wounds to be seen before he was relieved.

Li Dacheng, he's died twice already. He's both pitiful and hateful. It's just bad luck that he met him.

He's been too busy these past few days to have a proper meal with his wife, so he deliberately arrived a little late today to avoid getting covered in blood.

He didn't sleep well last night either. After thinking about it, he decided not to lie down, but instead propped his chin up and took a nap.

"Lord Xu, we have arrived."

A voice suddenly rang in Xu Qiu's ears, a clear and melodious female voice. He reached out and wrapped his arms around the waist of the person in front of him.

"Madam, don't hide. I'm clean and there's nothing on me."

Upon hearing this, Gu Yu stopped struggling, as if Xu Qiu indeed did not smell of blood.

He held her in his arms, his voice still tinged with weariness, "Why did you come to the back office of the government office today?"

"I heard that a large number of corpses have been transported from outside the city. I came to see if I've become a widow. If you were lying here, I would have really thought something had happened to you too."

Xu Qiu chuckled, "They say evil deeds live on for a thousand years, but I won't easily abandon my wife and go to the underworld by myself."

"Tell me about what happened in Tongzhou, and about Li Dacheng."

"I thought Madam had gone to question Wei Cong, but it turns out she was waiting for me."

"Yes, I'm waiting for you."

Gu Yu spoke in a much softer voice, but it still reached Xu Qiu's ears. His heart suddenly softened, as if it would sink in and never come out.

Xu Qiu released Gu Yu and began to recount his negotiations with Li Dacheng the previous day, eventually revealing Zhang Yanming's intention to kill her first to silence her.

"So Zhang Yanming really was behind the arms trafficking. Now that he believes Li Dacheng burned the evidence along with the weapons, he'll definitely be less vigilant. What are your next steps?"

"Xu Yunliang has implicated many merchants who, like him, transported grain to the Northern Di. One of them, named Ma Jing, is not on the list. I have Brother Li arrest him first, and we'll make further plans after we get the results of the interrogation."

"Since you want to investigate Zhang Yanming, why not start with the land and summon him to Xi'an Prefecture?"

Gu Yu took out several signed and stamped legal documents.

“I originally thought that you wanted to deal with the issue of the garrison encroaching on the farmland, so I had the tenant farmers whose land had been encroached on write petitions and sign them…” Gu Yu smiled charmingly.

"Moreover, many of these tenant farmers are from the vicinity of Ganzhouwei, which happens to be under Zhang Yanming's direct jurisdiction. Since there is a petition, we might as well have Zhang Yanming come to Xi'an Prefecture to cooperate with the investigation, or directly lead people to the Commandery to arrest them."

"However, I think it would be better to use a gentler approach. Just say that someone wants to sue him and hope that he can handle the evidence properly. After all, my father and he are comrades-in-arms, and he will believe that I want to help him."

Xu Qiu replied with a smile, "The best way to destroy evidence is to kill someone to silence them. Then, Madam can point the evidence back to..."

He recalled the map in his mind, "Daliushou. I've often heard that bandits frequent that area. I'll lead the officers there to ambush them and capture them on the spot."

“He tried to destroy evidence, but I caught him red-handed. He’ll have to go to jail eventually. That way, I can detain him without alerting the people behind him.”

Gu Yu pondered, “I think it would be safer to let the Embroidered Uniform Guard handle it. After all, he is the Commander-in-Chief. If he wants to mobilize troops to surround you, you will definitely not be able to escape.”

“The official is just a minor local official in Xi’an Prefecture, and you are only a local magistrate. It’s too dangerous for you to arrest him.”

"Secondly, the Embroidered Uniform Guard already had the duties of the Land Administration Bureau. Wouldn't it be more reasonable for them to use this title to appear in charge? The land cultivated by the garrison might not necessarily be granted by the Emperor, but Zhang Yanming was a descendant of a noble family, so the land under his name would definitely be managed by the Land Administration Bureau."

“If he dares to resist arrest after the imperial power has suppressed him, that would be treason.”

“Yes, Madam is right.” Xu Qiu nodded. “Then let’s do it this way. It’s frustrating that the imperial envoy has no choice but to take the evidence and not dare to arrest anyone. I hope Zhang Yanming can come up with more information.”

"I think you didn't get enough rest last night. If you don't have any errands to run today, go back to your residence and rest."

"good."

As soon as Qian Chengbi stepped into the back office, he saw the two holding hands, about to go back together. He coughed twice.

"Prefect Xu, Lord Liang said that you will assist in the trial of the Tongzhou salt smuggling case tomorrow. After all, you were the one who brought back the criminal's body, so you should know more about the affairs of Tongzhou and Tongguanwei."

Local magistrates were not supposed to be in charge of criminal matters, but it seemed like the roles were reversed when it came to Xu Qiu and Qian Chengbi.

Qian Chengbi was in charge of finances and disaster relief, while Xu Qiu was constantly running to the prison.

I don't know when, but he went to Tongguanwei and brought back six cartloads of corpses. This is a big case for Xi'an Prefecture.

“Alright.” Xu Qiu nodded, his face full of weariness. “I was busy all night. After I get home and rest for the night, I will definitely report the matter to Lord Liang tomorrow.”

Seeing that the message had been conveyed, Qian Chengbi stepped aside, and Xu Qiu, holding Gu Yu's hand, went straight out of the back office.

Gu Yu belatedly realized that the item hadn't been given, "I'll hand the complaint to Lord Qian."

"It's alright, I'll give it to him when I come to the government office tomorrow." Xu Qiu yawned. "Madam, I'm so sleepy, let's go back to the manor first."

"Alright," Gu Yu conceded.

＊

Daliugou is located in a canyon between two mountain peaks.

At the mouth of the valley stands a hundred-year-old willow tree, its trunk so large that it would take about ten people to encircle it.

Most of the villagers in Daliugou are refugees who fled famine. There is a lot of wasteland and little farmland. All the reclaimed wasteland can be used for cultivation.

This place is very close to the territory of Ganzhou Guard. Most of the cultivated land near Daliugou has been taken over by the guard.

The villagers of Daliugou cultivate their own land and have to pay rent to the garrison, making them even worse off than ordinary tenant farmers. As a result, most of the young and middle-aged people have already gone out to work and will never return.

The elderly, women, and children who remained barely survived on the remaining grain from the fields.

That night, the usually quiet Daliugou was suddenly awakened by the sound of horses' hooves and people's voices.

Many villagers lit lamps and, through their windows, saw the approaching garrison soldiers.

"Father, what's wrong?"

The child timidly huddled in the woman's arms, glancing at his father who was holding a candle.

Candles are a luxury for them; even their father wouldn't normally light one.

The man noticed that the approaching soldiers seemed a bit off, and that they even stopped at the village entrance, making it seem like they weren't just passing by.

"I'll go out and take a look. Xiao Cui, don't be afraid. Stay in the inner room with your mother." He blew out the candle, placed it in his wife's hand, and quietly left the room.

Under the cover of darkness, the man stealthily moved closer and heard the leader say to his men, "...This village is full of bandits. Leave no one alive, kill them all."

His breathing suddenly stopped, and he turned to run, only to see several people jumping out of the caves between the mountains on both sides.

The leader didn't even look at him, but just estimated the number of soldiers behind him, and then suddenly smiled.

With a hint of smugness and disdain, he was completely different from how he appeared in the palace and Shengjing.

Once he left the palace and Shengjing, he represented the emperor.

Because I didn't want to alert the enemy, I didn't use my own name in anything I did on this assignment, and now I can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Li Shiqin said to his subordinates behind him, "No more than thirty people, three for each person."

Before the soldiers in front could react, the ten men drew their swords and charged forward.

"Who goes there?" The person who asked the question sensed the murderous intent and looked at Li Shiqin, who was not wearing a mask.

"The Embroidered Uniform Guards came to investigate your officials' land, but we just happened to run into you trying to silence witnesses and destroy evidence..."

After saying this, the ten men drew their swords and charged forward, without saying another word to them.

"My lord... since you are from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, let's talk this over. I'm just following orders..."

Li Shiqin scoffed, "You've already come to massacre the village, what else is there to say? If I hadn't arrived at the right time, wouldn't it have been the poor and weak people who died?"

He remained expressionless and slit his throat with a single sword stroke.

"Sir, we did not break the law! Please spare our lives!"

The soldiers begged for mercy while resisting the attacks of the Imperial Guards.

"Illegal arrest?" Li Shiqin raised an eyebrow. "Heh, I say you're illegally arrested, so you're illegally arrested. Kill them all, leave one for questioning."

The man stood not far away, watching the fight. His legs went weak, but he couldn't move an inch, standing there dumbfounded.

The first group of people who wanted to kill them were probably from Ganzhou Guard; he had seen the leader when he came to collect grain.

The second group, claiming to be members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, were probably there to rescue them.

Seeing that the Imperial Guards had killed almost everyone, he finally regained his strength and fled in panic.