The Prodigal Son

In the morning, Qin Yu didn't even eat breakfast, and finally managed to refine Zhou Jishan's power to a near-complete degree.

After absorbing Zhou Jishan's power and refining some of his strength, Qin Yu's strength reached a new level.

He also used his extra strength to help Nan Que'er improve.

He had vaguely touched the threshold of the ninth realm, but he was just a little bit short.

This feeling isn't very pleasant.

It's like having a stunningly beautiful woman standing naked in front of you; all you have to do is step through that door and you can spend the night with her.

But this door was a steel gate!

Just as Nan Que'er said, the more power one needs to draw upon as one progresses.

However, Qin Yu did not lose heart.

If one doesn't work, then find another!

I just don't know where to find the next ninth-realm expert, or perhaps we should just find a few more eighth-realm experts!

As for the seventh-realm experts, even if he absorbed their power, it wouldn't significantly improve his abilities.

Feeling the power within his body, Qin Yu's meridians were slightly injured due to the influx of too much power, but he paid no attention to it, feeling incredibly comfortable in both body and mind.

If only we had another master like Zhou Jishan!

"Knock knock..."

Suddenly, there was a rapid knocking on the door.

"Thirteenth Young Master, Li Yan is dead!"

Qi Dachui's voice rang out from outside.

Qin Yu's heart skipped a beat. He darted to the door, flung it open, and his voice rose eight octaves: "What did you say? Who died?"

"Li Yan from the Baojing Division, that's the one who delivered the message to you in Jiankou County!" Qi Dachui said somberly, "Shi Yi and Shi Wang were assassinated at the governor's mansion ahead. Li Yan and Ding Che happened to be there, and one of them was killed and the other wounded while chasing the assassins..."

Hearing Qi Dachui's words, Qin Yu's face turned frosty. "Where is Ding Che?"

Qi Dachui replied, "He was brought here by Shi Yi's men. Shi Yi was also injured by a stray arrow..."

Qin Yu felt slightly relieved. "Take me to see him quickly!"

"Who are we going to see?" Qi Dachui asked.

"Nonsense, of course we're watching Ding Che! Shi Yi isn't dead, what's there to see?"

As Qin Yu spoke, he called over another guard and ordered in a deep voice, "Immediately inform Lü Si that Shi Yi has arrived. Tell him to stay in his room and not cause any trouble!"

After giving his instructions, Qin Yu quickly followed Qi Dachui to Ding Che's room to settle in.

When they arrived, Nan Que'er had already gotten there before him and was taking Ding Che's pulse.

Upon seeing Qin Yu, Ding Che hurriedly tried to stand up and bow, but Qin Yu stepped forward and pressed him back down, saying, "You're both injured, so let's skip these formalities."

"Thank you, Lord Qin."

Ding Che's face was slightly pale, but his voice was still strong.

It seems the injury isn't serious.

However, Qin Yu was still worried and asked Nan Que'er about Ding Che's injuries.

"It's just some internal injury, nothing serious."

Nan Que'er raised her eyes, "It should take a few days to recover."

"That's good!"

Relieved, Qin Yu then asked Ding Che, "How did you end up running into Shi Yi?"

Ding Che's eyes were filled with anger as he gritted his teeth and replied, "We've been secretly investigating in Taozhou all this time."

"A few days ago we heard that a large cavalry force from Yinzhou passed through Taozhou and entered Fangzhou. We guessed that Lord Qin had arrived in Jiangning Prefecture."

"So we withdrew from Taozhou, intending to report what we had found to the lord!"

"We had only been in the city a short time today when we unexpectedly witnessed Shi Yi being assassinated..."

Then, Ding Che told Qin Yu about the situation at that time.

Based on his judgment, the assassin who used the soft sword should have the strength of the peak of the seventh realm.

Speaking of the situation at the time, Ding Che couldn't help but feel a burning hatred.

He himself possessed the strength of the seventh realm, while Li Yan had been stuck at the sixth realm for two or three years, which could be considered the peak of the sixth realm.

They thought that with their strength, they should be able to capture one or two assassins.

I never expected that there would be such a skilled assassin among those assassins.

A cold glint flashed in Qin Yu's eyes, then he comforted Ding Che, "Don't be sad. Focus on recovering first, and leave the rest to me!"

"It's not like this is the first time someone has died in the Treasure Mirror Division, there's nothing to be sad about."

Ding Che shook his head slightly, a fierce glint in his eyes: "Right now, all I want is to find those people and make them pay for their crimes in blood!"

The Baojing Division handles all sorts of tasks, including investigating cases, making arrests, and spying on enemy positions.

Casualties are inevitable.

Entering the Treasure Mirror Division requires one to be prepared to die in battle.

For the living, there's nothing to be sad or upset about; all they need to do is avenge the dead!

"Don't worry, I will definitely find those people and avenge Li Yan!"

Qin Yu clenched his fists tightly. "By the way, are only the two of you here in Jiangning Prefecture?"

Ding Che lowered his eyes, "There are other people too. If we hurry a little, the others will probably arrive half a day later..."

Upon hearing this, Qin Yu asked Nan Que'er, "Have the people Di Rong arranged set off yet?"

"We set off very early this morning!"

Nan Que'er answered.

Qin Yu pondered for a moment, then looked at Ding Che: "Here's what we'll do. Once the others arrive, you take ten men and stay behind to serve. The rest of you should immediately head to Xinpu County to assist the Golden Armored Guards in their investigation! I'll give them a warrant then, ordering the Golden Armored Guards to obey their commands..."

Then, Qin Yu briefly explained their deductions from the previous night to Ding Che.

"good!"

Ding Che immediately agreed, "Let me tell you what we found out, sir!"

"OK!"

Ding Che didn't waste any time and immediately told Qin Yu what they had found out during this period.

After Sun Min's incident, they stopped paying attention to Ma Laoqi and instead began to secretly investigate the case of Sun Min's murder.

They discovered that about ten days before Sun Min was murdered, Jia Dequan and several other salt merchants met with Shi Wang in Yunhuai!

Shi Wang?

Qin Yu's eyelids twitched slightly.

Could it really be Shi Jiaqian?

After a moment's thought, Qin Yu immediately asked, "Have you found out why they met with Shi Wang?"

"We were afraid of alerting them, so we didn't arrest anyone for questioning."

Ding Che shook his head. "If you want to know, sir, you only need to arrest and interrogate the three salt merchants who were with Jia Dequan..."

As he spoke, Ding Che told Qin Yu the names of three other salt merchants.

Because Taozhou is close to Fangzhou, and Fangzhou has the largest salt warehouse in the area, they initially thought that Ge Songtao might have some entanglement with Sun Min.

Therefore, these days they have focused their investigation on Ge Songtao, a salt merchant from Taozhou.

As a result, no connection was found between Ge Songtao and the Sun Min case, but some other things were unexpectedly discovered.

Unsurprisingly, Ge Songtao also frequently engaged in the practice of passing off smuggled salt as official salt.

However, a large portion of Ge Songtao's smuggled salt was not sea salt, but rock salt!

The rock salt mine was discovered a few years ago in a county under Xinde County, Taozhou. Although the salt production is not large, it is all high-quality rock salt.

Now, all the officials in that county have been bribed by Ge Songtao. As for whether the prefect of Xinde and the governor of Taozhou were involved, they have not yet found out.

In Taozhou, Ge Songtao was outwardly a great philanthropist. He would distribute porridge and silver whenever there was a famine.

But behind the scenes, this person has committed numerous evil deeds.

Forcing women into prostitution and abusing one's power are minor matters.

Most seriously, Ge Songtao is also suspected of keeping a private army, colluding with the government to fabricate charges, turning good people into villains, and making them mine salt.

The guards at that rock salt mine were all Ge Songtao's men.

The salt mine was heavily guarded, and it took them a great deal of effort to sneak in.

The conditions for salt mining there were extremely harsh, and salt workers would be whipped by guards if they stopped for even a moment.

He estimated that quite a few people must have died at that rock mine!

They originally intended to continue their investigation, but upon learning that Qin Yu had arrived in Jiangning Prefecture, they immediately withdrew from Taozhou...