At this moment, the sun was setting and night was approaching.
Watching people come and go freely in and out of the government office, Su Yan couldn't even get through the gate, and felt a deep sense of melancholy.
Even without thinking, it's obvious that someone did this on purpose.
Su Yan stood up, stretched, and then kicked Chen Yao, who was meditating.
"Lord Shen, please stop meditating. It seems that Shi Zhongyu intends to avoid us."
Shen Yao slowly opened his eyes and looked at Su Yan, "Should we break in and confront Shi Zhongyu face to face?"
Su Yan shook her head. "No need. Shi Zhongyu is deliberately avoiding us. Even if we meet, he probably won't tell us the truth."
"So what do we do next?"
Su Yan raised a meaningful smile and said coldly, "If someone treats me with respect, I will repay them tenfold. Since Shi Zhongyu is so ruthless, I will naturally return the favor."
"Lord Shen, let's find a place to rest and recuperate first. Tonight, we'll infiltrate the Suizhou government office."
"good……"
After saying that, the two stopped lingering at the entrance of the government office and went to the nearest inn.
As soon as the two left, the guards immediately ran into the government office to inform Tang Rong, Shi Zhongyu's close subordinate.
Soon, Shi Zhongyu learned that the two had left.
Tang Rong was puzzled by Shi Zhongyu's avoidance of him.
“Prefect Shi, I heard that the person sent by Chang’an this time is a favorite of the Crown Prince. If we avoid meeting him, will he report us to the Crown Prince?”
Shi Zhongyu focused intently on carving the stone in his hands, a calm smile on his face. "I am just a temporary prefect, not a real one. Let him decide whether to impeach me or not. At worst, I will resign and return to my hometown to carve my stone in peace."
"Your Excellency, since this person was sent by the Crown Prince, why don't you grant him a meeting?"
"I don't want to see him. Let whoever wants to see him see him. I'm not going to see him. Tomorrow morning, you go see him for me and say I'm not feeling well. Then give them all the files about Li Qingming. Anyway, all the evidence has been destroyed. I want to see what they can find out."
Tang Rong was in a difficult position, but he still agreed.
At midnight, Su Yan and Chen Yao, dressed in black, ran through the darkness.
The curfew in Suizhou was not as strict as that in Chang'an, and there were still many people wandering the streets.
At this time, the Suizhou government office had only one or two patrol guards, and no other security.
Huai'an Prefecture is said to be wealthy, but the defenses of the prefectural government office look so weak that even a random thief could break in.
It's not exactly wealthy, but it's much better than Luoshui Town.
Unsurprisingly, Su Yan and Shen Yao slipped into the government office as if they were returning home, without making a sound.
Following her memory, Su Yan found the place where the government office stored the files, and soon found the archives.
Shen Yao quickly pried open the lock on the cabinet storeroom door.
Su Yan pushed open the door and went inside.
As soon as I stepped across the threshold, a wave of dust hit me.
Su Yan subconsciously closed her eyes, waving away the dust in front of her, which made her cough.
"Cough cough cough..."
Seeing this, Shen Yao pulled Su Yan behind him and, by the light of the tinderbox, saw that the room was filled with miscellaneous items and some oddly shaped stones.
Su Yan and Shen Yao looked at each other, then took two steps back in perfect unison and looked up together. If it weren't for the three words "Jiageku" clearly written on the plaque, the two would have thought they had entered a room full of miscellaneous items.
"Chen Yao, it says 'Jiageku' on this, right?"
Shen Yao nodded, "That's right..."
Su Yan was clearly somewhat incredulous. She rubbed her eyes and looked into the room again, only to find the same unchanging clutter and broken stones.
Su Yan finally understood why the guards outside were so lax, realizing that the once grand storehouse had been reduced to being used as a storage room.
With just these things, there's probably nothing to steal from such a large government office.
After a night of fruitless searching, Su Yan and Shen Yao returned to the inn.
As soon as she entered the room, Shen Yao's voice rang out behind her, "Su Yan, I think there's something wrong with the Suizhou government office..."
Su Yan turned around. "I'm not stupid. I saw it too."
Shen Yao frowned, looking at Su Yan with a serious expression. "What should we do next? What about the case file regarding Li Qingming..."
The case file sent back to Chang'an was only a record of the beginning and end of the case; the evidence related to the case and Li Qingming's body were kept in the Suizhou government office.
But now it seems that's not necessarily true.
Su Yan was well aware of the importance of the case files and the corpse. The fact that the nighttime investigation had yielded nothing was clearly a precaution.
After thinking for a moment, Su Yan decided to start with Li Qingming's corpse.
"Since we can't find the case file, let's investigate Li Qingming's body first. But this time, Shi Zhongyu can't escape."
…………
The next day, Su Yan got up very early.
The two arrived at the entrance of the government office, too lazy to deal with the guards, and swaggered in.
The guards wanted to stop him, but seeing Shen Yao's fierce appearance, they pretended to faint.
As soon as Su Yan stepped into the government office, a man in his thirties approached her with a cunning smile.
"This must be Commander Su Yan, right?"
Su Yan looked the man up and down. He wasn't wearing official robes, nor was he a constable or anything like that, so she frowned.
"Who are you?"
Tang Rong smiled at Su Yan, "I am Tang Rong, a retainer of Prefect Shi."
"Where is Shi Zhongyu? Where is he? Tell him to come see me..."
"Commander Su, Prefect Shi is unwell and unable to come, so he specifically ordered me to deliver Li Qingming's case file."
After saying that, Tang Rong respectfully handed the dossier in his arms to Su Yan.
Su Yan quickly flipped through the files and found that they were indeed about Li Qingming, including a confession he wrote before committing suicide.
After handing over the dossier, Tang Rong was about to leave when he said, "If Commander Su has nothing else to do, I'll take my leave now."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Su Yan stopped him, "Where is Li Qingming's body?"
Tang Rong looked very troubled and said hesitantly, "Three days ago, the mortuary suddenly caught fire and burned all the bodies."
"Burned to ashes? Nothing was left?"
Tang Rong nodded. "The fire was too big, and there was no time to put it out. Lord Li's body has already been burned to ashes."
Su Yan wasn't stupid; she immediately understood that Li Qingming's body had been deliberately burned.
Moreover, Su Yan had lived in the mortuary for two or three years. Because corpses cannot be stored for long, mortuaries are generally located in shady places with water sources.
Moreover, three days ago was the very day Su Yan decided to set off for Huai'an Prefecture.
The moment the man was about to arrive in Huai'an Prefecture, his body was burned to ashes.
What good are case files if the body is gone?
It's obvious that Shi Zhongyu didn't want people to keep investigating.
Su Yan gritted her teeth in anger. After handling so many cases over the years, this was the first time she had been at a loss.
Su Yan had to admit, this was a really ruthless move.
Most people wouldn't be capable of such a ruthless move.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com