Chapter 128 - 101: Dad’s Power Can Grow Stronger Again!

Chapter 128: Chapter 101: Dad’s Power Can Grow Stronger Again!

...he headed home.

It was late at night.

By the candlelight, Zeng Anmin took out a stack of letters from the Preparation Space and examined them one by one. Most of them were correspondence between Prince Qi and an unknown woman. The reason he guessed it was a woman was because the handwriting on the letters was extremely delicate, exuding a gentle, flowing elegance. However, the woman’s tone was extremely domineering.

Although there weren’t many letters, they contained a massive amount of information. The letters repeatedly mentioned a name: Liangyou Chamber of Commerce. And the president of the Liangyou Chamber of Commerce: Liu Sanjiang.

As he examined them one by one, he grew increasingly alarmed. They implicated at least three major figures in the Court. The most eye-catching of them was: Ren Weizhi, Minister of the Ministry of Revenue!

Minister of the Ministry of Revenue... Liangyou Chamber of Commerce... Minister of the Ministry of Revenue...

The letters were all sent in the form of secret missives, concise and to the point. They lacked details, but even from this tip of the iceberg, many problems could be seen.

"One year ago, during the northern drought, through Minister of the Ministry of Revenue Ren Weizhi and Liu Sanjiang of the Liangyou Chamber of Commerce, embezzled ten million taels of the Court’s disaster relief funds..."

"Two years ago, during the Jiangnan floods, embezzled eight million taels..."

Zeng Anmin analyzed the information in the letters bit by bit, his heart pounding wildly, until his gaze landed on the last letter.

"Coerce and bribe Lou Yingqi; if he refuses to comply, eliminate him."

This slip of paper had exactly twelve words, but these twelve words were extremely glaring.

Lou Yingqi! Who was Lou Yingqi?!

Zeng Anmin’s eyes flickered with a deeply solemn light. He was the current Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, a major official of the Third Grade! A bona fide high-ranking official in the Capital City!

If he refuses to comply, eliminate him? What an arrogant tone!

Following this clue, a closed-loop case slowly surfaced in Zeng Anmin’s mind. This mysterious woman, along with the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Ren Weizhi, and Prince Qi. Over the years, they had been embezzling disaster relief funds through that Liangyou Chamber of Commerce in the Capital City. They were caught by the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Lou Yingqi. Perhaps they themselves were originally a community of shared interests, but for some reason, they had now fallen out. Of course, it was also possible that Lou Yingqi refused to join them, so they wanted to eliminate him.

Then this Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Lou Yingqi...

A scene suddenly flashed in Zeng Anmin’s mind. Before today’s property confiscation raid, he had seen a few words in a document on Bai Ziqing’s desk: Lou Tong, son of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, was poisoned!

At this thought, Zeng Anmin’s heart skipped a beat despite himself. This case was currently being investigated by Bai Ziqing. About five days ago, at the entrance of the Imperial City Department, he had seen Prince Qi warning Bai Ziqing. At that time, it was said that this case only had a seven-day deadline left. In other words, there were only two days left now.

Zeng Anmin took a deep breath, his gaze turning profoundly dark as he muttered, "Dad just entered the Court and currently lacks a solid foundation. If I can pull in a Third Grade Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue to his side..."

Thinking of this, a sharp light gleamed in his eyes. "His future path in the Court would be much smoother... The greater Dad’s power, the safer and more comfortable I’ll be."

His train of thought reached this point.

Zeng Anmin slowly looked out the window. "Then the next step is to investigate one thing first. Who is the woman writing these letters to Prince Qi? Liangyou Chamber of Commerce... Liu Sanjiang."

"Wait!" Zeng Anmin’s body suddenly stiffened. As if remembering something, he abruptly stood up. "The mysterious person who silenced Prince Qi that night... Could it be someone sent by this woman for fear of exposure? And that disgusting homosexual in Prince Qi’s Mansion’s ancestral hall today... there’s an eighty percent chance he’s also a subordinate of this woman..."

Countless thoughts surged into his mind at once. He wanted to get up and go to his dad’s room, but he suddenly remembered that his dad was spending the night at the Ministry of the Secretariat and hadn’t come back. He suppressed the thought for now.

Lying in bed, Zeng Anmin couldn’t sleep.

He had searched around, but he still hadn’t found any clues about Emperor Xi’s Map. While this wasn’t good news, it wasn’t exactly bad news either.

Now he felt there were two possibilities. First, Prince Qi had never come into contact with Emperor Xi’s Map at all; he might not even know what it was. Because Zeng Anmin himself knew that the reason for Prince Qi’s death was largely due to his own framing. But if that was the case, who was the person that actually obtained Emperor Xi’s Map from Count Zhongyuan’s Mansion?

Zeng Anmin closed his eyes.

PHEW!

Then he suddenly opened them again. In the darkness, a flicker of suspicion flashed in his eyes.

Could it be that Emperor Xi’s Map was never lost in the first place? Because in the end, someone from Count Zhongyuan’s Mansion was saved by his dad! And that person... was his older cousin!

Of course, this was only a possibility. But the likelihood wasn’t low.

The next day.

Zeng Anmin woke up bright and early. However, as soon as he stepped out the door, he saw Bai Ziqing shivering in the wind.

"Uh... Bai Ziqing, what are you doing here?" Zeng Anmin raised an eyebrow. This time, he didn’t see stubbornness on Bai Ziqing’s face. All he saw was a face full of melancholy and haggardness.

AHEM. Bai Ziqing’s face turned slightly red, his gaze evasive. "Um... Quan Fu, there’s a case I might need your help with..."

Zeng Anmin almost laughed out loud, wondering why Bai Ziqing didn’t keep up his tough act. Was he giving up already?!

"Oh? I assume it’s that case?" Zeng Anmin suppressed the laughter in his heart. He looked at Bai Ziqing with a serious expression.

"No, how could it be? I’ve already solved that case," Bai Ziqing retorted subconsciously. At this point, he glanced to the side. "It’s another one."

TSK TSK.

Zeng Anmin grinned in silent amusement. Oh, his dear Bai Ziqing, he hadn’t even asked which case it was!

"As expected of the Capital’s Number One Sword. Truly unparalleled in intelligence to solve such a major case so quickly," Zeng Anmin praised with a thumbs-up. He couldn’t be bothered to expose him. Seeing through it without pointing it out is the hallmark of a good friend, after all.

AHEM. Bai Ziqing came over to Zeng Anmin’s side, leading the horse for him as they walked. "This case is quite complicated... It’s related to Lou, the current Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Eight days ago, Lou Tong, the son of the Assistant Minister, was severely poisoned."

"Eight days ago?" Zeng Anmin raised his eyebrows at Bai Ziqing. "That’s pretty close to the time of the case you just solved. Quite a coincidence, huh."

"Uh." Bai Ziqing’s expression stiffened. He let out a dry laugh and said, "It is quite a coincidence. Let’s not talk about that. According to the physician’s statement, the poison Lou Tong ingested is from a Green-bellied Snake, and the only antidote is its gallbladder."

Saying this, his brows furrowed tightly. "However, the Green-bellied Snakes were almost hunted to extinction seven years ago during the Yin Wu Demon Eradication Campaign. It’s simply impossible to find this poison in our Great Saint Dynasty."

Thinking of a loophole, Zeng Anmin interrupted Bai Ziqing and frowned. "Can snake venom be preserved?"

"Yes, but it’s very difficult." Bai Ziqing nodded first, then shook his head. "I also thought of using this as a breakthrough, but later learned that this poison is extremely difficult to preserve. It needs to be nourished by Spiritual Power, but Spirit Stones are incredibly expensive. If someone wanted to preserve it from seven years ago until now... the preservation cost alone would be tens of millions of taels... and that’s assuming they had a continuous supply of Spirit Stones to buy. It’s too much trouble for a thankless effort."

Bai Ziqing rubbed his aching head.

"Could it be that the poisoner has been waiting for this very day?" Zeng Anmin muttered to himself, a sharp glint in his eyes. He had seen the contents of the secret letters. If Prince Qi, that mysterious woman, and the current Minister of the Ministry of Rites worked together... They definitely had the resources to pull it off.

"What?" Bai Ziqing looked up blankly.

Zeng Anmin slowly shook his head. "Let’s go to the Assistant Minister’s Mansion to take a look first." What he wanted to do now was to meet this Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue first. If there was a chance to rope him in, his dad’s power would become a bit stronger.

"Let’s go."

The two of them walked together outside the main gate. Then, both mounted their horses and headed toward the residence of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.