The Prodigal Son

"What's wrong?"

"What did you find?"

The group all cast expectant glances at Nan Que'er.

They genuinely hoped that Nan Que'er would make some discoveries, so they wouldn't have to search for a needle in a haystack anymore.

This is not only mentally taxing, but also physically exhausting!

"Xiaping County comprises five prefectures, but Xinpu County's files are conspicuously absent!"

Nan Que'er raised her head, her face showing a hint of curiosity.

"Xinpu?"

Qin Yu was slightly taken aback, then quickly realized, "I heard Fu Mingzhu say that Sun Min served as the magistrate of Xinpu County for five years..."

Qin Yu suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

Xinpu?

The next moment, Qin Yu suddenly slapped his forehead, "That's right! How could I not have thought of Xinpu!"

"Is there anything special about Shinpu?"

Qin Xiong looked over, puzzled.

Sun Min served as the magistrate of Xinpu for five years. He wanted to show that he had good political achievements and that there were no major cases in the area he had served. Isn't that normal?

What's so special about that?

"Fool!"

Qin Yu glared at Qin Xiong: "He served as magistrate of Xinpu for five years! He must have his own connections in Xinpu! Let's start investigating from Xinpu and move down to Ping County; maybe we can find something useful! Qin Xiong, go find a map of Fangzhou..."

"yes!"

Qin Xiong accepted the order and immediately went to find a map.

Qin Yu continued to share his thoughts with them.

Since we can't find any evidence that Sun Min's family was maliciously murdered, let's start the investigation from the places where Sun Min once worked!

Let's try a different approach!

Instead of looking for evidence, look for possible causes that could have led to this!

Upon hearing Qin Yu's words, everyone's eyes lit up.

Yup!

Why is it necessary to directly find evidence?

If there's no evidence, look for the trigger!

If we can find the trigger, we might even be able to uncover the real culprit!

Alternatively, we can first identify some suspects and then investigate them gradually!

"We can also check the former prefect of Xiaping County!"

Lu Si, realizing what was happening, immediately offered his opinion, "Sun Min used to be his subordinate, okay? We'll deal with Sun Min's matter with him..."

"etc!"

Ruan Zhi's eyelids twitched suddenly, and he abruptly interrupted Lü Si.

"What came to your mind?"

Qin Yu asked curiously.

"The former prefect of Xiaping County was also the previous governor of Haizhou!"

Ruan Zhi looked intently at Qin Yu: "After the Crown Prince's case, he was transferred to Haizhou as the Chief Administrator. Four years later, he was promoted to Governor of Haizhou. He died of overwork after serving for two years..."

As Ruan Zhi finished speaking, everyone's eyelids twitched.

In other words, the previous governor of Haizhou may have also been murdered!

Suddenly, Qin Yu remembered what Pei Du had told him.

Pei Du had previously suspected that the previous governor of Haizhou had not died of illness, but had been murdered!

However, Pei Du suspected that the person was harmed by a salt merchant or someone with vested interests in the salt merchant, and did not consider the case of Sun Min.

Suddenly, it seemed like they had untangled a thread.

At this moment, Qin Xiong also found a map.

Qin Yu immediately unfolded the map and located the locations of Xinpu County and Xiaping County on it.

The moment they saw the map, their eyelids twitched almost simultaneously, and they looked at each other in unison.

Although they did not exchange any words, they almost simultaneously thought of a possibility.

Counterfeit copper coin case!

Xinpu County, Huai County, and Zilang County!

These places are separated by a large mountain!

"It's definitely related to the counterfeit copper coin case!"

Lu Si excitedly pulled Qin Yu along, "Do you still remember the Liao brothers' case involving smuggled salt?"

"It hasn't been that long, of course I remember!" Qin Yu nodded gently.

Lu Si exclaimed excitedly, "Since the Liao brothers could transport smuggled salt to Fangzhou through a hidden passage in Cuiping County, it's possible that people from Xinpu County could also discover a hidden passage in the mountains to transport counterfeit copper coins to Zilang County or Huai County!"

"The reason why there are no major cases in Xinpu County is likely because someone is making counterfeit copper coins and is worried about being discovered!"

At this moment, Di Rong also realized what was happening and excitedly said, "Sun Min and the previous governor of Haizhou were both silenced because of the counterfeit copper coin case!"

"The reasoning makes sense, but the timing is wrong!"

Ruan Zhi said solemnly, "The counterfeit copper coins we found were all from His Majesty's reign, while Sun Min served as the magistrate of Xinpu County during the late Emperor's time! If they were making counterfeit coins, they should have been Deyou Tongbao coins!"

"Ah...this..."

After Ruan Zhiyi's words, the two who had been excited just moments before immediately frowned again.

Yes!

They were so happy that they completely forgot about the fact that the coins were fake.

Moreover, based on the information they had previously gathered, the counterfeit copper coins should have only appeared within the last two years.

At that time, the previous governor of Haizhou had already passed away!

Thinking of this, their excitement instantly vanished by more than half.

The path I just figured out seems to be blocked again!

"Whatever!"

Qin Yu wasn't discouraged. "Anyway, we're going to send people to Xinpu County to secretly investigate. We'll know if there are any counterfeit copper coins there! Investigating in Xinpu County should be the right approach!"

"right!"

Nan Que'er nodded gently: "Among so many files, Xinpu is the only one missing. If Sun Min wasn't trying to show that the place he governed was well-governed, then it means they are likely deliberately hiding something to prevent outsiders from investigating!"

"Also, the magistrate of Xinpu County must be investigated!"

Qin Yu agreed, saying, "If Sun Min really wants to hide something, the magistrate of Xinpu County might be his confidant! Perhaps the magistrate of Xinpu County knows something that is unknown to others!"

In any case, at least they now have a direction to follow.

Sending people to Xinpu to investigate can also help investigate the counterfeit copper coin case.

If there are no traces of involvement in the counterfeit copper coin case in Xinpu, then it can be basically ruled out that Sun Min and the previous governor of Haizhou were murdered because of the counterfeit copper coin case.

Let's take it one step at a time!

Investigating this kind of case is all about unraveling the mystery step by step, isn't it?

Thinking of this, Qin Yu immediately ordered Di Rong: "Tomorrow morning, you will send thirty men to secretly infiltrate Xinpu County to investigate! If there is no finding in Xinpu County, then investigate in Xiaping County!"

"yes!"

Di Rong accepted the order.

Afterwards, Qin Yu specifically reviewed the files of Xiaping County again.

These limited case files are mostly murder cases that have already been investigated, and there is also a county magistrate who was exiled for embezzling public funds.

Qin Yu glanced through them, but couldn't discern any problems from the files alone.

"Alright, don't be discouraged! At least we have a direction now!"

Qin Yu clapped his hands. "Let's continue looking at the rest of these files after we've eaten!"

Man is made of iron, food is made of steel!

Only when you are well-fed and watered can you have the energy to continue dealing with these troublesome matters.

"Still watching?"

Lu Si groaned in despair, "Now we have a direction, don't we?"

He really didn't want to watch this stuff anymore!

He doesn't even want to read books normally, let alone these intricate case files.

Qin Yu rolled her eyes at him, "Having a direction doesn't mean it's accurate. You still have to look!"

"While we're at it, let's also review the cases in Fangzhou over the past few years!"

"Furthermore, once we're outside this door, we are not to divulge any of our speculations to anyone else without my permission!"

After the meal, they continued to review the case files.

They read through more than half of the case file by late at night.

However, based solely on the files they had already reviewed, they did not discern any problems.

The biggest discovery, however, was the anomaly of Xinpu, which was found based on the number of files.

Just as Qin Yu was about to tell everyone to go and rest, a commotion suddenly broke out outside...