Zuan asked in a deep voice, "Arrest all those involved in this operation!"
His first thought was that there was a traitor among the Embroidered-Robe Envoys, otherwise how could the flower bud have escaped?
However, the name Xinrui is really full of flaws. Doesn't it just mean "good-for-nothing"? His parents really had foresight.
At this moment, the two embroidered-robed messengers reported, "This time, Lord Xiao is leading the team. He has already taken all those involved in the case into custody in the Gaoling County prison."
The two men speaking, both wearing bronze badges and embroidered robes, were named Dai Laoqi and Chen Laoba, and they had been working with Zu'an on cases for some time.
At first, Zuan thought the two names were nicknames or something, but he never expected them to be their real names. He thought to himself, what kind of mindless parents would give their children such names?
Because their names are so similar, they were naturally paired up as partners.
What's even more coincidental is not just their names. Although both are young, their hair volume is somewhat worrying. Dai Laoqi has a high hairline on his forehead, forming an M-shaped bald head; Chen Laoba is the opposite, with a bald spot in the middle of his hair, a typical Mediterranean hairstyle.
When Zuan first saw them, he thought he had run into his programmer brother from a past life.
As for Xiao Jianren, whom they mentioned, he was a silver-ranked embroidered-clothes envoy. He had offered many suggestions when investigating Xinrui's case, and was clearly a quick-thinking guy who left a deep impression on Zu'an.
Aside from the Gold Medal Embroidered-Robe Envoy, whose name is rather mysterious, the names of the others are not major secrets, at least known within the Embroidered-Robe Envoy ranks.
“Xiao Jianren…” Zu An fell into deep thought. Back then, when they couldn’t find Xin Rui’s body in the palace, and Xuanwu Gate couldn’t find any records of her entering and leaving the palace, it was Xiao Jianren who suggested that Xin Rui might have been dismembered and taken out of the palace, which led them to start checking the entry and exit records of other palace gates. Could it be that he started misleading me in the investigation from that time on?
There was no point in thinking about it anymore; they should just go to the scene and see what happened. Zu'an sent Dai Laoqi and Chen Laoba to summon some Embroidered-Clad Envoys, and then they quickly headed towards Gaoling County.
Gaoling County is not far from the capital. In fact, it is a satellite city of the capital, or even a suburb. The group of people soon arrived at the Gaoling County Government Office.
The magistrate of Gaoling County cautiously came out to greet him. He was afraid of being implicated in such a case that occurred on his territory, and all the civil and military officials were extremely wary of the Embroidered-Robed Envoy's fearsome reputation.
Zu An gave a few perfunctory replies and then went directly to the county jail. Xiao Jianren and the others were all separated and imprisoned in different rooms, so there was no possibility of collusion.
"Who arranged this like this?" Zuan asked, somewhat surprised.
Dai Laoqi replied, "It was arranged by Lord Xiao. When the arrest failed, he immediately took control of all the Embroidered-Robe Envoys and the casino owner and other related personnel."
Zu An nodded secretly; this Xiao Jianren was indeed formidable.
He then quickly arranged for people to interrogate those who had participated in the operation. The Embroidered-Robe Envoys were professionals in this area, and after more than an hour of investigation, they found nothing suspicious.
Zuan personally interrogated Xiao Jianren but gained nothing. Unless these people were all working together as a gang, it was impossible for them not to be found out.
It's unimaginable for so many people to work together like this among the Embroidered Robe Envoys.
Each Embroidered Robe Envoy's family background was rigorously investigated. Occasionally, one or two might betray the organization, but it was absolutely impossible for so many people to betray it together.
"So many of you were arresting an ordinary person, and he got away? I need an explanation." Zu An looked at the intelligence report and found that Hua Bao wasn't even a cultivator. Let alone an Embroidered Robe Envoy, even an ordinary constable shouldn't have let him escape.
Xiao Jianren asked in a deep voice, "Eleventh Lord, I have been thinking about the whole thing. There were too many coincidences in the whole process of Hua Bao's escape. After thinking it over, there are only two possibilities. One is that there is a mole among our colleagues in the operation; the other is that there is a problem with that casino. I suspect that they are cooperating with Hua Bao's escape. Unfortunately, there is no evidence. We can only arrest the person first."
Zu An's expression changed. During this period, he had been in contact with emperors, princes, or at the very least, high-ranking officials and nobles. He subconsciously ignored the people in the gambling den as if they were just passersby.
He hurriedly instructed Chen Laoba, who was standing beside him, "Go and find the casino owner."
Before Chen Laoba could even set off, a messenger in embroidered robes rushed in, frantically reporting, "Something terrible has happened! Casino owner Ning Hao is dead!"
"What?" Zu An suddenly stood up and hurriedly ran to Ning Hao's room. Xiao Jianren and the others followed. After a thorough investigation, their suspicions had been basically eliminated.
The group soon found the casino owner's body. In the cell, Ning Hao sat in the corner, leaning against the wall, his face filled with terror. He was already lifeless.
"Has anyone seen him?" Zu An asked sharply, looking at the magistrate of Gaoling County.
"No...no one. After they were locked up, I was worried something might happen, so I stayed by their cell the whole time, waiting for you to come. I didn't allow anyone to approach them." The magistrate of Gaoling County took out a handkerchief and kept wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. At first, Hua Bao ran away from the gambling den, which was a bit troublesome, but it wasn't a big problem. But now that the criminals had been silenced in his county office, this was a much bigger problem.
Losing one's official position is a minor matter; if it implicates one's family and leads to exile or military service, then everything will be over.
Zuan squatted down beside the corpse and examined it for a while. He frowned slightly, then waved his hand to signal his men to examine the body. There were experts in this field among the Embroidered Robe Envoys.
The results came quickly: "No wounds, no poisoning, appears to have died from extreme shock."
Zuan frowned. Casino owners like this all have some kind of underworld background and are incredibly bold. How could they be so easily scared to death?
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
