In less than a quarter of an hour, the person who brought the gift was brought in.
Although the other person was dressed in silk and satin, his face was full of fear.
He knelt before Lord Wu and cried out, "Lord, spare my life! Even if I had ten times the courage, I would never dare to harm you!"
"Which family are you from?" Wu An asked first.
The other party kowtowed to Wu An and said, "My Lord, my name is Wang. I am the head of the Sifang Chamber of Commerce, specializing in selling goods between the border and the capital."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhilu looked at Lord Wu Hou, who nodded with a serious face.
Zhou Zhilu walked up to Shopkeeper Wang with the Dragon Blood Cigarette and asked in a deep voice, "Shopkeeper Wang, was this a gift from you?"
Shopkeeper Wang glanced at the bright red tobacco, hesitated for a moment, and nodded, "This is indeed one of the gifts from me."
"Tell me what you know about this thing."
Shopkeeper Wang explained carefully, "This thing is rarely known to outsiders. It is only sold by the gold seal grass merchants in the frontier.
“Not everyone can buy it. You need an introduction. Not only that, most people don’t have the right to take it away. They have to smoke it inside the Chamber of Commerce before leaving.
"I...I used a lot of connections and spent a lot of money to get this little bit out."
Zhou Zhilu frowned when he heard this and asked, "How many people in the border area buy this kind of tobacco?"
Shopkeeper Wang shook his head and said, "I don't know. After all, this thing is not sold through formal channels."
"Then you know that this thing contains toxins. It is addictive when inhaled by humans, and it contains evil spirits when ignited, which is extremely harmful to the human body!"
Upon hearing this, Shopkeeper Wang's face turned pale and he said in horror, "I really don't know! I only know that this thing is a rare underground treasure in the frontier, so I got some to give to people in the capital. If I knew it was poisonous, I would never dare give it to you, my Lord!"
Zhou Zhilu pressed on, "Then do you know who's behind this Golden Seal Grass Merchant?"
Shopkeeper Wang replied with a bitter face, "Sir, I'm just the head of a small guild. I don't really know much about this. I only know that the Golden Seal Guild has only been around a few years, but it's grown quite rapidly."
Zhou Zhilu pondered what Shopkeeper Wang had said, then turned to Lord Wu and nodded, "Lord, I've finished my questions."
Lord Wu Hou nodded when he heard this, waved his hand and asked his servants to take Manager Wang away and temporarily control him.
Then he asked, "Zhilu, what do you think? Is what he said credible?"
Zhou Zhilu thought for a moment, then nodded and replied, "I think what Shopkeeper Wang said can be trusted. Otherwise, he would be courting his own death."
Lord Wu Hou agreed with what he said and immediately said, "Zhilu, I'm really grateful to you this time, otherwise I would have been in trouble. Since you are in charge of this matter, please let me know if you need any help."
"Yes, Brother Zhou, how about I check it with you?" Wu An said excitedly.
"Nonsense! What can you do? Apart from showing off your strength when arresting people, how can you help in investigating the case? Stay still!" Lord Wu Hou scolded harshly.
Zhou Zhilu also advised Wu An that he would definitely be called upon when the case was fully investigated and when force was needed to suppress the rebellion.
After leaving Wuhou Mansion, that night, the Anbu delivered the information about the Golden Seal Grass Merchant to Zhou Zhilu.
Zhou Zhilu immediately went to the Fuyesi Demon Inspection Department and asked to see Xiao Wenlan.
…
"Fan Jin?"
Xiao Wenlan looked at the secret letter in his hand in surprise and asked, "Why is Fan Jin behind the Golden Seal Grass Merchant, and not Fan Quan?"
Zhou Zhilu quickly replied, "There are three possibilities. One is that Fan Quan opened a grass trading business under the name of Fan Jin. Two is that Fan Quan was unaware of Hong Jing and everything was Fan Jin's doing. Three is that Fan Quan was training Fan Jin to open this grass trading business on his own."
Xiao Wenlan raised his eyebrows slightly and asked, "Which answer do you prefer?"
"The third option! The first option is unnecessary, the second option is unlikely, and the third option is the only one. If Fan Quan also has red crystal businesses elsewhere, then it seems to be watertight and difficult to find any clues.
"But Fan Jin is different. Only he could make such a mistake!"
Xiao Wenlan nodded in agreement after hearing this: "So what are you going to do next?"
"At present, we can only prove that the Golden Seal Chamber of Commerce is related to the Dragon Blood Grass, but I'm afraid it's not enough..."
Zhou Zhilu's eyes flashed, "Minister Xiao, I have an idea. Maybe I can lure them into this trap!"
After discussing with Xiao Wenlan, Xiao Wenlan shouted, "Okay! Then do as you say. When the fish is caught in the net, arrest the Fan family father and son immediately!"
…
The next day, news came from the capital.
The Sifang Chamber of Commerce, which often travels to the frontier, brought back a rare treasure called Dragon Blood Smoke. It is extremely rare and will soon arrive in the capital for auction.
Fan Mansion.
Fan Quan, with an angry face, picked up a wooden stick and hit Fan Jin, who was kneeling on the ground, hard.
"Ah! Dad! I was wrong, I was wrong!" Fan Jin curled up and cried out in pain.
Fan Quan raised the wooden stick and wanted to hit him again, but when he saw Fan Jin's pitiful look begging for mercy, he couldn't bear to hit him anymore.
He said with a look of dismay, "What can I say about you? You are a jerk who can do nothing but cause trouble!"
"Dad, I didn't expect those servants couldn't resist the temptation and gave away the dragon blood grass for a little money..." Fan Jin complained.
"You still dare to quibble! Let's not talk about the matter of the Golden Seal Grass Merchant for now, but it was you who leaked Feng Yuan's Red Crystal Method?" Fan Quan said angrily.
"Dad, what I gave Feng Yuan was just a defective product. It was a flawed method. The real refining method was not revealed. I just wanted to make some money from him. Who knew he would be so cruel..."
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