Becoming a God from a Water Monkey

Chapter 1151 A Chance Encounter: A Conspiracy in Southern Xinjiang (Part 2, requesting monthly votes at the beginning of the month)

Within the military camp, a brilliant purple-gold light shot into the sky, dazzling and awe-inspiring. Every inch of the land and every puddle here shone with an all-knowing brilliance.

So dazzling!
Purple gold is high, and the imperial guards are tough.

The Purple-Gold Cavalry are tall and tough!
This is what a super detective is all about.

After spending half a month busy in the Blood River Boundary, reporting to the Jade Pavilion, confirming his identity, settling his belongings, and arranging relationships, Liang Qu had a very fulfilling time and almost forgot about this matter.

Recalling their meeting at the beginning of the month, he felt that she acted very quickly, almost as if Ling Xuan had just left and returned. This sense of disorientation made him admire her even more.

"Pah." Ling Xuan spat out the tea leaves, savoring the refreshing fragrance that washed away the fatigue of the journey. She put down her teacup. "The story is rather convoluted..."

"Wait a minute!"

He raised his hand to interrupt, and to Ling Xuan's bewilderment, Liang Qu lifted the curtain and ran quickly out of the tent.

Ling Xuan looked at Long Eying.

Long Eying didn't speak, but picked up her teacup and quietly took a sip.

When Liang Qu reappeared, he came back with Xu Yuelong, Long Yanrui, and Long Binglin.

"Everyone has it!"

歘.

Otter jumped off the beam, did several side somersaults, pushed and pulled with bent arms, his eyes sharp, grabbed a small stool from the corner and threw it. As it landed, the stool crossed and spread out, and the little mirage dragon flew in the sky. With a whoosh, it swooped down and placed the small square table.

"Clap."

Long Eying took the porcelain plate from the little otter, wiped off its short fur, and placed it on the square table. Liang Qu took out a whole branch of tangerines, broke off two bunches of branches, and gave them to Xu Yuelong and Long Eying on his left and right.

The hedgehog half-stood up, lay down by the table, pulled the fruit off its back, and put them one by one into the fruit bowl.

Xu Yuelong naturally wouldn't stand on ceremony.

Long Eying peeled a small orange, carefully removed the pith, and stuffed it into Liang Qu's mouth.

"I forgot to introduce him. This hero is Xu Yuelong, the Commander-in-Chief, the grandson of the Duke of Wei and the son of the Earl of Guanying. I know quite a bit about him; he's one of our own." Liang Qu puffed out one cheek and gave a brief introduction. "Well, you can tell me now. Go ahead and tell me."

He remained silent for a moment.

Ling Xuan sorted out her chaotic thoughts.

Things are simpler than I thought...

"Pfft." Liang Qu spat out a white seed. "Eat it, don't be shy. December is the perfect time to eat in Lingnan. Let's talk while we eat."

Ling Xuan subconsciously reached out and touched a small orange, only remembering what she was there to do halfway through peeling it.

"call……"

The initial tension between the North and South, and the hurried mood, were eased considerably by Liang Quyi's interruption.

Put down the orange.

"Let's talk about business first."

"please."

Liang Qu pricked up his ears.

"At the end of last year, the Imperial Censor reported that because Qinzhou faces the southern border directly, its location is special and the area is quite sensitive. His Majesty ordered Lingnan to conduct a thorough investigation. Upon receiving the decree, Lingnan Province dispatched Prefect Lai Jiazhang to investigate."

"It's just an investigation, surely it shouldn't amount to defecting to the enemy? Could there really be a problem in Qinzhou? Are you feeling uneasy?" Xu Yuelong asked.

As long as someone is an official, there will always be problems in some places, and people will investigate. No one is unafraid, but even if they are afraid, they wouldn't go so far as to defect to the enemy.

"It's not that serious. I traveled to many places and finally found the investigation results and records of Prefect Lai Jiazhang at the local government office. According to the records, the so-called rape of women and cutting off women's feet was completely fabricated."

According to the records, the actual situation was that in the same year, the eldest granddaughter of a prominent family, Zhenxiang, and three of her female relatives went missing during a temple fair. They were later found, having lost only one embroidered shoe. As for the alleged rape, the Zhenxiang family denied it.

Refusing to admit it?

Long Yanrui scratched his head: "Were the eldest daughter and the three female relatives actually raped?"

"Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. Why are you so curious?" Liang Qu patted Long Yanrui on the back, put his elbow on his shoulder, and leaned on him. "Ling Tiqi, continue."

"I can't be sure whether it happened or not, there's no way to verify it now." Ling Xuan sighed. "The Zhenxiang family was almost completely wiped out when Qinzhou fell. The people involved are nowhere to be found. The criminals who abducted the eldest daughter and female relatives were bandits who roamed the no-man's-land between the Southern Frontier and Da Shun."

"Bandits, bandits, are inherently wicked. After abducting women, they robbed and murdered. Before Lai Jiazhang could investigate, they had already been captured by the governor of Qinzhou and beheaded according to the law."

Xu Yuelong's eyes flashed: "Interesting. Preserve the woman's reputation, and incidentally build good relations with the local powerful families. A swift and decisive solution, leaving no room for evidence?"

"Sister." Long Yanrui leaned back and tugged at Long Eying, "Did she commit rape or not?"

"No," Long Eying said irritably.

"Oh, that's good." Long Yanrui was somewhat relieved.

Long Binglin chuckled and shook his head.

Ling Xuan continued, "After Lai Jiazhang investigated the matter thoroughly, he suggested that it be reported truthfully, saying that the incident was a misunderstanding that spread from Lingnan to the capital."

"These are just Lai Chia-chang's one-sided accounts, aren't they?" Hsu Yueh-lung asked.

“That’s right. I guess the officials in Lingnan Province at the time had the same idea as Commander Xu. They didn’t know if Lai Jiazhang had accepted bribes and was lying when he returned. So, after Lai Jiazhang returned, they sent a second person, Prefect Gong Qianqing.”

"Wait a minute." Long Yanrui raised his hand again. "If there are no problems, isn't that a good thing for Lingnan Province? Why does it seem like we have to find some problems?"

“It’s good that there are no problems, but the premise is that there really are no problems.” Xu Yuelong peeled an orange. “If we report it, will His Majesty believe it? Will the censors believe it? If the court doesn’t believe it, what if they send an envoy?”

Just like Lord Ling Xuan, who is now acting as an angel, if Lai Jiazhang has accepted bribes and the angel discovers problems, then the problems in Lingnan Province will be truly serious. At the very least, there will be no escaping the fact that officials protect each other.

"How do you know there's really no problem? If there's been no problem, keep sending people." Even the usually mature Long Binglin couldn't figure out the inside story. But halfway through his sentence, he suddenly thought of something, and his expression changed.

Xu Yuelong stuffed the orange into his mouth. As the grandson of the Duke of Wei, he had grown up in the capital and knew all too well the ins and outs. He sneered, "I think I have a pretty good idea of ​​what's going on. The problem lies with Gong Qianqing, doesn't it?"
The governor of Qinzhou is indeed without fault; it's just that the officials in Lingnan Province are uneasy. Reporting this matter could easily offend the Imperial Censor, who is capable of impeaching officials. To avoid future deliberate targeting of Lingnan, they might as well go all the way and frame the governor of Qinzhou!

Long Binglin frowned.

Long Yanrui was completely dumbfounded.

"Deliberate slander? If Qinzhou has problems, then doesn't Lingnan Province, which governs Qinzhou, also have problems?"

“No, it’s not the same.” Liang Qu stepped on the wooden bar under the table and sucked an orange into his mouth. “If there’s a problem in Qinzhou, and Lingnan reports it, then it’s because the prefect of Qinzhou is covering it up. Lingnan Province is also an ‘innocent’ being deceived. There will be trouble, but it will be a minor one! In this way, everyone will be happy, the censor’s face will be saved, and the province will be safe.”

Conversely, this is a self-proving trap. If the higher-ups say you have a problem underneath, does that mean you do or not? They might as well just cut away all the 'lesions', regardless of whether they're good or bad.

Ling Xuan didn't reply: "I found the local people where Gong Qianqing lives and discovered that Gong Qianqing's reputation is not good. She is extravagant and often goes to brothels and doesn't come home at night. But this can't be used as evidence, it can only be a clue."

Based on the servants' accounts, I investigated Gong Qianqing's travel records and found that he had been away from the mansion for a total of two and a half months in the first half of the year. According to the route, he stayed in Qinzhou for two months. However, because Qinzhou was captured and was guarded by the Martial Saint, I was unable to sneak in to investigate.

Fortunately, they had a clue that he frequented brothels. After three days of searching, they found a pimp in the most famous brothel in Qinzhou at the time, located in Nanhai County.

No.

How could this be found?
Anytime, anywhere, a super detective, solving cases with utmost seriousness?
Liang Qu was amazed by Ling Xuan's professional skills.

"Guigong" refers to a man who does odd jobs inside a shop. In the south, he is called "guigong," while in the north, he is called "dachahu."

In a large brothel, there are many such people. They clean up excrement and urine. It's not impossible for a few to escape, but it's quite absurd to find them.

"When Qinzhou fell, the experts couldn't escape, but these lowlifes fled with the common people, all the way to Nanhai County. According to that pimp, from March 6th to May 3rd, Gong Qianqing stayed in brothels."

Liang Qu raised an eyebrow: "What brothel? It's so attractive. Cough cough, it's nothing, it's nothing, keep talking."

He looked away.

"In other words, if that pimp wasn't lying, Gong Qianqing went to Qinzhou for two months and spent those two months in brothels there. According to the pimp, this person was very generous, with a constant stream of delicacies every day, but the Qinzhou governor always paid the bill, and the exact amount spent is now unknown."

Liang Qu stroked his chin: "Gong Qianqing probably guessed what the province was thinking and wanted to take the opportunity to make a quick buck?"

"I have no evidence of this, but based on speculation, it should be so."

"The governor of Qinzhou defected to the enemy, probably because Gong Qianqing forced him to do so," Xu Yuelong guessed. "He thought that by treating them well and spending a lot of money, he would be safe and sound, but Gong Qianqing tricked him. From the very beginning, Gong Qianqing's fate was to be dismissed. Unfortunately, he did not see through the intentions of the officials in Lingnan Province, which made things worse."

Liang Qu remembered the snake demon incident in Xiangyi County.

He used the pretext of resolving the snake demon's disturbance to extort benefits from local tycoons.

The difference is that he dealt with the snake demon, while Gong Qianqing just ate and did nothing.

"Is there any reason for the removal?" Liang Qu asked.

“No written records were left in Nanhai County or the local area, so they must have been deliberately hidden.” Ling Xuan shook her head. “But… I went to see Prefect Lai Jiazhang in private and recorded his statement, according to him.”

Gong Qianqing's reason at the time was that the governor of Qinzhou was "decrepit" and unfit for the important task of guarding the frontier. The province also agreed. Before the document reached the capital, the white ape died, plunging the country into chaos. Nanhai County also realized the matter had escalated and hurriedly withdrew the document.

"..."

Xu Yuelong scoffed, "What a listless old age."

That's good, you're not so listless anymore.

Full of energy, causing chaos and confusion.

Liang Qu sat back down on the small stool.

at this point.

The defection of the governor of Qinzhou is now quite evident. Gong Qianqing's extortion and opportunistic behavior, along with his dismissive attitude, were undoubtedly crucial factors, while the blanket ban on Lingnan Province was the root cause.

To make a final decision, all we need to do is find Gong Qianqing.

It was surprisingly easy.

Liang Qu initially thought the matter of the King of the South Sea would involve many twists and turns, various decryption and case-solving, and a battle of wits and courage. However, Ling Xuan turned around and, in just half a month, directly captured the whole picture.

Clearly.

Everyone looked at Ling Xuan.

Ling Xuan spread his hands: "Gong Qianqing is the nephew of the King of the South Sea."

Depend on!
The last piece of the puzzle is in place.

The whole process was clear and straightforward.

In the end, it was actually a set of unspoken rules operating within a bureaucratic system, a power struggle between local authorities and the imperial court. No one thought there was anything wrong with it, but the governor of Qinzhou, who was described as "decrepit," and the governor of Lingnan province exploded and defected to the southern frontier.

Just as the Southern Frontier unleashed the two divine arts of mayfly blood collection and blood concealment gu, they seized this golden opportunity, ruthlessly conquering most of Lingnan and pushing the battle line all the way to the gates of Nanhai County.

Things have become extremely serious.

The Prince of Nanhai, who also served as the Governor-General of Lingnan, was put in a very difficult position and bore direct responsibility for this.

If it weren't for the rebellion of the governor of Qinzhou, could Southern Xinjiang have taken over most of Lingnan?

Mostly the same.

Mayflies collecting vital energy is not something that can be done in a day; it takes two or three months. In fact, after the war began, the southern border had already been opened to "full vision" and "the fog of war" on its own side.

If a comparison must be made, the sudden death of the white ape was more impactful than the defection of Qinzhou to the enemy.

Between Zhenxiang and Yaolong, the latter undoubtedly offers greater opportunities.

Qinzhou is just one point along the entire line, affecting tactics. The key to the whole battle lies in the blood collection of the mayfly and the blood-hiding gu, which is the strategy.

However, things just happened to happen this way, which was quite glaring, and someone had to be blamed.

What can the King of the South Sea do?
It's easy to solve, but we'll just have to use Gong Qianqing as a scapegoat.

The second time Gong Qianqing was sent out, although it had a bit of a "trouble-making" connotation, it was not explicitly stated within the province and was a tacit understanding. If something happened, it could be used as a precaution, with the excuse of worrying that someone had been bribed. I had never thought that Gong Qianqing would do this.

If it were anyone else, Liang Qu believed he would have been beheaded long ago.

However, Gong Qianqing's identity is special.

After all, he's my own nephew.

If you send people out whenever there's a problem, what will your subordinates think? What will the imperial court think?
Cold-blooded and inhumane?

Relatives should conceal each other's wrongdoings.

The incident happened suddenly. The battle between the King of the South Sea and the Martial Saint of the Southern Frontier was not without its flaws, and he was indeed injured. He had been claiming illness and staying away from home, probably hoping to use this opportunity to plead for mercy, to play the victim for time, and to try to get a better outcome.

"Oh!" Long Yanrui slammed his fist on his palm. "I understand now, so that's how it is. But, were the eldest daughter and other female relatives actually raped?"

"..."

“Sigh…” Xu Yuelong’s head ached. “If the governor of Qinzhou hadn’t cared about the woman’s reputation and had written it down in the dossier, and had her sign and seal it before her execution, things wouldn’t have turned out like this.”

“We can’t write it.” Liang Qu tapped the table with his index finger. “Writing it won’t cause any problems later, but it will still offend the Zhenxiang family. They’re local bullies, just as difficult to deal with. There’s no way to deal with them either way.”

Ling Xuan is indeed impressive; she managed to sort everything out in half a month, and it's basically the truth.

Of course, this is partly because there aren't many conspiracies involved.

This is the starting point, and the subsequent choices made by all parties led to a somewhat inevitable outcome.

"I'm safe now," Liang Qu thought to himself.

At least the King of the South Sea didn't defect, so I won't have too many worries about the consequences if I take action. There are people restraining the Martial Saint level, unless…

and many more.

I can't guarantee anything.

To properly quell this matter, the imperial court must find a balance between appeasement and punishment.

Too much appeasement might raise suspicions of future repercussions, while excessive punishment serves as a cautionary tale, as seen with the governor of Qinzhou. Even if the punishment is just right, a sensitive person like the King of the South Sea might still worry about the negative impression left behind and the fear of losing trust.

The reasons why something happens are too complex.

Personality, environment, the influence of relatives, and the instigation of enemies—it's all like a chaotic black box.

Nobody knows what will come out of what they put in.

Ling Xuan cupped his hands in greeting: "Based on my investigation, the matter is roughly as described. I hope Brother Liang can lend me Chishan again so I can send a message back."

"Isn't the Purple Lightning Ship acceptable?"

"The Purple Lightning Ship is in the South Sea Prince's Palace. Sending a message there might cause problems. However, this time it won't take too long. It can be delivered to Southern Zhili or even Pingyang. Then, the Purple Lightning Ship can be sent from Pingyang. A round trip will take six days."

"Take it and use it." Liang Qu was very generous.

"Thank you!"

Ling Xuan stuffed the confession and evidence into a tube, sealed it, and tied it to Chi Shan's body.

The crimson light flowed, and it moved close to the ground. Once it was far away from Lingnan and confirmed that it would not be shot down by the southern border, it took off into the air.

"Chaos, what a mess!"

The tent was empty of people, and Liang Qu paced around the square table.

In order to resolve the Southern Xinjiang issue without leaving any future troubles, he waited patiently for Ling Xuan to investigate, only to find out such a result.

The messy affairs of the King of the South Sea and his nephew have absolutely nothing to do with Liang Qu.

Unfortunately, the Martial Saint is a pillar of the nation, while Liang Qu is currently a martial artist inside a house, locked in combat with the enemy. With the pillar unstable, dust is falling from the roof beams, making it difficult for him not to be affected in his performance.

"Damn it, they're all controlled by their crotches. Are there crotch demons in Southern Xinjiang?"

Liang Qu considers himself a model youth: patriotic, loving his family, his wife, his parents, and aquatic animals, and he never goes to shady places.

I was reminded of an old friend I've never met—Yuan Yuwen.

The previous tiger-hunting record holder was only nineteen years old. Not long after being crowned, he seduced the Holy Maiden of Southern Xinjiang, was poisoned with a love potion, and died suddenly in a brothel.

The same applies now: the bandit who abducted the legitimate daughter, and Gong Qianqing, who spent two months in a brothel.

This place has feng shui problems!

"It's all a conspiracy in Southern Xinjiang!" the little mirage dragon said viciously.

"What did you say?" Liang Qu looked up.

"what?"

The little mirage dragon covered its mouth, thinking it had said something wrong, flicked its tail, and hurriedly shrank behind Long Eying.

Long Eying pulled the little mirage dragon out: "I'm here, what are you afraid of? I'm asking you a question."

The little mirage dragon clasped its hands together and tentatively asked, "A conspiracy in the Southern Frontier?"

"Southern Xinjiang conspiracy, Southern Xinjiang conspiracy... Yes, it's all a Southern Xinjiang conspiracy!"

Liang Qu's eyes flashed.

Ling Xuan sent a secret report, and the Holy Emperor will surely know the whole truth. But the truth is sometimes not important; the King of the South Sea will be just as anxious once he knows.

The most urgent task is to resolve the crisis of trust, assist the court, and appease the anxious Prince of Nanhai.

Having a stable rear allows one to achieve great things on the front lines.

The main issue is to resolve the Lingnan problem as soon as possible and stabilize the situation.

"The conflict between Lingnan and the imperial court alone is too sharp and difficult to reconcile with the central government and local authorities."

There's a power struggle between the two sides, so why not just bring Southern Xinjiang in?

Liang Qu's eyes gleamed.

With the front lines stabilized, the Holy Emperor would be happy to go along with it.

"Yuan Yuwen and the Holy Maiden of Southern Xinjiang serve as cautionary tales and are credible. Can we really smear Southern Xinjiang?"

The bandits at the beginning of the year were deliberately instigated by the people of southern Xinjiang!

Thinking of the Holy Maiden of Southern Xinjiang.

Liang Qu unconsciously touched his wrist.

I've been in southern Xinjiang for half a month, and Awei has been gone for half a month...

(End of this chapter)