Father, who is both a heir and a descendant, is still biased; the bound system has gone berserk.

"I am Mingzhiyuan, and I was unaware that the Crown Prince of Qinjiang had also arrived in Anzhou. I apologize for not being able to greet you properly. May I ask which of you is His Highness the Crown Prince?" Mingzhiyuan said politely.

Ying Yufu and the Crown Prince exchanged a glance. Ming Zhiyuan did not ask about the case first, but instead asked about the Prince of Qinjiang.

Young Master Jiang glared at the Crown Prince and Ying Yufu, who had used him as a scapegoat, and said, "It was this young master."

Yuan Zhiming looked at Young Master Jiang and, seeing that he indeed possessed an extraordinary bearing, his eyes lit up. He said, "Oh, so you are the Crown Prince of Qinjiang. What brings you to Anzhou, Your Highness? May I offer my humble assistance?"

Ming Zhiyuan asked with a smile, but his eyes swept over Young Master Jiang, a hint of doubt in them.

Young Master Jiang sneered and took out the token of the Qinjiang Prince's Mansion, playing with it in his hand.

Ming Zhiyuan, with his sharp eyes, immediately recognized that it was indeed the token of the Qinjiang Prince's Mansion, and his smile instantly became much warmer.

"Your Highness, please take a seat."

Young Master Jiang didn't stand on ceremony and went straight to the seat at the head of the table to sit down.

After he sat down, he glanced guiltily in the direction of the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince was dressed as a foreign merchant, which made Young Master Jiang feel at ease.

Hmph, the Crown Prince is going to disguise himself as a foreign merchant, no wonder he's being disrespectful.

A smug glint flashed in his eyes.

Opportunities to sit at the head of the Crown Prince's table are few and far between.

Seeing him sit down, Ming Zhiyuan went behind the table and sat down again. His subordinate said, "Sir, the young master and his companions found those corpses when they passed by, and they gave the commoners a lot of money."

Mingzhiyuan glared at his subordinate again. Such an important matter, and you're only bringing it up now.

Mingzhiyuan's expression immediately turned serious. He slammed his gavel down and looked down, "State your names and explain how you discovered the body."

The man at the head of the group said, "Sir, my name is Li Daniu. Today it's my team's turn to clean up the rotten fish and shrimp, and it just so happens that these distinguished guests are passing by..."

Li Daniu recounted the events.

"Oh? You gave them 1,200 taels of silver?" Ming Zhiyuan was full of surprise; this was no small sum.

They were incredibly generous with their money for a few unfamiliar corpses.

Then the Crown Prince said, "We are from the Mu Family Trading Company."

Mu's Trading Company?

Akinohara's expression immediately changed.

The Mu family business is no ordinary business; behind them is the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

This is not surprising, given that the Mu family was extremely wealthy and their lavish spending was not unexpected.

Then the Crown Prince said, "The Mu family business has always been based on benevolence and integrity. Seeing a corpse with an unknown cause, we would like to do our part. If there is any injustice, this is also an act of doing good deeds."

"Ah, as expected of the Mu family's business, I admire you!" said Mingzhiyuan.

Just then, the village chief and village head of Fushui Village, along with several villagers, were brought in.

As soon as they arrived, they knelt down to pay their respects.

The village chief said, "This humble citizen, Zhuang Fuchang, the village chief of Fushui Village, greets Your Excellency the Prefect!"

Ming Zhiyuan looked at them and asked, "Zhuang Fuchang, go and identify those corpses."

He ordered his men to remove the white cloth covering the six corpses.

Zhuang Fuchang and the village head, along with other villagers from Fushui Village, went forward to take a look, and their expressions changed drastically at first glance.

The more timid ones fell to the ground with a thud, exclaiming, "It's...it's Zhuang Youfu's family!"

Ming Zhiyuan's expression changed, and he said, "Are you sure you've seen clearly? It's the missing Zhuang Youfu family!"

Zhuang Fuchang said, "Sir, we would never mistake you. We are all from the same village. Even if you turn to ashes, we would never mistake you."

The one on the far right is Zhuang Youfu, the one next to him is Zhuang Youfu's wife, Zhuang Li Shi, the two elderly people are Old Man Zhuang and Old Woman Zhuang, the other two are Zhuang Youcai, and Zhuang Youcai's son, Zhuang Dazhuang.

Ming Zhiyuan said, "Zhuang Fuchang, you previously reported that the Zhuang family had eleven members, but there are only six here. The other five are not here."

Zhuang Fuchang said, "Sir, the Zhuang family does indeed have eleven members. We are missing Zhuang Youfu's daughter Zhuang Cuiluo, his son Zhuang Dali, Zhuang Youcai's wife Zhuang Zhoushi, Zhuang Youcai's second son Zhuang Dagang, and Zhuang Youcai's youngest daughter Zhuang Cuizhu."

"However, sir, the villagers in our village went into the mountains to cut pig feed and found the bodies of Zhuang Youcai's wife and his youngest daughter, Zhuang Cuizhu."

Ming Zhiyuan was taken aback, and then saw the yamen runners who had brought Zhuang Fuchang and the others order people to carry up two corpses. They were Zhuang Zhoushi, Zhuang Youcai's wife, and Zhuang Cuizhu, the youngest daughter, whom Zhuang Fuchang had mentioned.

"Lord Ming, this is a case of annihilation of an entire family."

Young Master Jiang said, "We also found Zhuang Cuiluo earlier, but she wasn't dead and was still breathing, so we rescued her."

Therefore, there's no need to search for Zhuang Cuiluo's body anymore; currently, only Zhuang Dali and Zhuang Dagang haven't been found yet.

"His Highness has found Zhuang Cuiluo. She's still alive?" Ming Zhiyuan asked in shock.

Young Master Jiang narrowed his eyes slightly. "Are you surprised, sir?"

Ming Zhiyuan shook his head: "Yes, I am very surprised. Wasn't Zhuang Cuiluo found with her family under the rotting fish and shrimp? How come she is still alive?"

"Yes, all I can say is that this woman is lucky to be alive," said Young Master Jiang.

Ming Zhiyuan looked at Zhuang Fuchang and the others, and asked them how they found the bodies of Zhuang Zhoushi and Zhuang Cuizhu. He said, "Go back and keep a close eye out. If you find Zhuang Dali and Zhuang Dagang, come and report immediately."

Village chief Zhuang Fuchang nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Ming Zhiyuan narrowed his eyes and asked, "Has this dealer offended anyone? What kind of person is he usually? Does he have any enemies?"

Zhuang Fuchang said, "Your Excellency, the Zhuang family members are not of good character, especially Old Madam Zhuang, who is sharp-tongued and mean, and Zhuang Zhou is also shrewd and calculating."

The men in the Zhuang family aren't all good either. Take Zhuang Dali, for example. He's Zhuang Cuiluo's older brother, and he's incredibly strong, but he treats his sister Zhuang Cuiluo like a servant.

Zhuang Dazhuang and Zhuang Dagang followed suit and bullied Zhuang Cuiluo, especially last year…

Zhuang Fuchang hesitated halfway through his speech.

Mingzhiyuan said sternly, "Speak! You mustn't hide a single word!"

Zhuang Fuchang was startled and quickly said, "Last year, Zhuang Dazhuang and Zhuang Dagang actually broke into Zhuang Cuiluo's room in the middle of the night and asked her to warm the bed for them!"

If Zhuang Cuiluo hadn't suddenly gone mad and made such a commotion in the middle of the night, alarming the whole village, who knows what might have happened!

However, sir, even so, the Zhuang family doesn't have any enemies who would want to wipe out their entire family.

Although everyone disliked their family, they were all neighbors and relatives. At most, they would have a few arguments; there was no way they would want to wipe out the entire family!

Ming Zhiyuan nodded and said, "Continue talking about Zhuang Cuiluo. What happened to her afterwards? After what happened, wasn't her reputation completely ruined?"

Zhuang Fuchang continued, "Yes, at the time, this incident made our entire Fushui Village feel ashamed. After finally resolving the matter, I heard that Zhuang Cuiluo was almost beaten to death by her parents after returning home."

At that time, Cuiluo was only fourteen years old, thin and small. She was beaten so badly that she couldn't get out of bed for half a month, but she didn't utter a sound.

Later, her heartless parents stopped beating her for fear of killing her, but Old Lady Zhuang immediately arranged for her to marry him off.

The Xu family were relatives of Zhuang Zhou's maternal family. The man was a 45-year-old widower who had already beaten his three wives to death.

The other party agreed to pay thirty taels of silver as a betrothal gift, so the landlord sold the girl Cuiluo.

When their family found out about Cuiluo's situation and made a fuss, they kept it from her. Cuiluo, whose injuries had just healed, went up the mountain to cut pig feed and rescued a young master, bringing him home.

The young man was dressed in fine clothes, clearly from a wealthy family. The Zhuang family wanted to profit from him, so they kept him and had Cuiluo look after him.

Later, the young master stayed for a month and left, but then returned. He not only helped Cuiluo repay the old widower's thirty taels of silver, but also said that he would marry no one but Cuiluo.

The Zhuang family was initially somewhat dissatisfied and wanted to marry Zhuang Cuizhu off to the other family, but the young master there wanted Zhuang Cuiluo instead.

The Zhuang family had no choice but to treat Cuiluo like a precious gem, telling everyone they met that their Cuiluo was a lucky woman.

Ming Zhiyuan said, "Alright, you guys go back first. Keep an eye on Zhuang Dali and Zhuang Dagang when you get back."

"Yes, sir. We will take our leave now."

Ming Zhiyuan then looked at Li Daniu and the other villagers, "You too, keep a close eye on the piles of rotting fish and shrimp. If you find anything, report it immediately."

"Yes, sir." Li Daniu and the others also left.

"Your Highness, this case is of great importance, involving many lives. I will first place these bodies in the morgue while we investigate the murderer and search for Zhuang Dali and Zhuang Dagang. In addition, Zhuang Cuiluo is a prime suspect..."

Young Master Jiang said, "Lord Ming, Zhuang Cuiluo is also a victim. If she hadn't been lucky, she would be dead."

Mingzhiyuan: "Yes, yes, Your Highness is right. I only have suspicions. However, if she is a victim, since she is alive, she should have seen the killer's face. If she wakes up, may I summon her for questioning?"

"That's natural."

"Lord Ming, I am tired and need to go back to rest. This case was discovered by me and my companions. If there are any developments in the case, please inform me immediately. I am staying at Tongfu Inn."