The Prodigal Son

Something deeper?

Hearing Qin Yu's words, Lü Si couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

Is there something deeper than the assassination of the crown prince?

If such a thing were to happen, it would be an absolutely catastrophic incident!

"I haven't thought about anything deeper. I've just been wondering if foreign powers might be involved."

Pei Du continued his analysis, "First of all, assassinating the Crown Prince would definitely benefit other countries!"

"Secondly, if we can protect Sun Min, it will be tantamount to planting a thorn in our side!"

"Judging from the locations of Xinpu and Huai County, if there is indeed a foreign power, it is most likely the State of Chu!"

"Of course, the states of Beiqi and Yan are also worth suspecting!"

Lu Si thought for a moment and asked, "Could it be some minister in the court? He was originally a spy from an enemy state, and he's in cahoots with Sun Min! Now that Sun Min is about to be exposed, he has no choice but to silence Sun Min to protect himself?"

"Anything is possible now!"

Qin Yu said in a deep voice, "If they are mining, where did the mined ore go?"

Pei Du nodded and said, "I've thought about that too! Chu has relatively few mineral deposits, and I suspect that those deposits may have entered Chu through hidden channels! That's why I initially suspected Chu!"

Chu?

Qin Yu lowered his head in thought.

He did know that the Chu Kingdom did indeed have relatively few mineral deposits.

Last year, the State of Chu sent troops to help Yu Wu, one of the conditions being that they would obtain the mining rights to two iron mines in the State of Min.

Qin Yu thought for a moment, then immediately asked, "What kind of mine is the one deep in Nanping Mountain?"

"That's unclear at the moment."

Pei Du shook his head and said, "The mine has collapsed, and we can't get to the deepest part of it. Judging from the hunter's discovery of the copper mine, this mine is very likely a copper mine!"

Copper mine?

If copper was mined in large quantities, it is indeed very likely that the copper would flow into the State of Chu.

After all, it is indeed quite difficult for refined iron and copper to flow from the depths of Nanping Mountain to Beiqi or Yan State.

After pondering quietly for a while, Qin Yu asked again, "Do you know the specific details of the Crown Prince's assassination attempt?"

"Who knows?"

Pei Du shook his head and smiled bitterly, "The Crown Prince and his more than 500 entourage were all killed, not a single one survived! After they died, they were all finished off, as if they were afraid that some of them might have survived by chance! No one knows the specific details."

"More than five hundred people?"

Qin Yu's eyelids twitched. "The Crown Prince only brought a little over five hundred people with him on his trip?"

"You have no idea how strong the Crown Prince's guards are!"

Pei Du shook his head and said, "I have reviewed the case files of the Crown Prince's assassination. The Crown Prince's five hundred guards were even more elite than the Golden Armor Imperial Guards. The weakest among them were at the fifth level, most were at the sixth level, and there were more than thirty seventh-level experts, six eighth-level experts, and three ninth-level experts..."

It is said that the Crown Prince decided to go sightseeing on a whim, so he only brought his own guards, and the 5,000 imperial guards in golden armor did not accompany him.

Even so, this guard of over five hundred men was still a top-tier protective force.

If a real fight breaks out, the five thousand imperial guards in golden armor might not be a match for the Crown Prince's guards!

With such top-tier protection, unless a Grandmaster or at least five experts at the Ninth Realm join forces to assassinate him, it is virtually impossible for the Crown Prince to be assassinated!

Even if only one Grandmaster were to make a move, they would have a great chance to cover the Crown Prince's escape!

The reason why the late emperor imprisoned Zhao Yi without having solid evidence was twofold: firstly, one of Zhao Yi's subordinates confessed that Zhao Yi did indeed have the idea of ​​assassinating the crown prince; secondly, it was because only Zhao Yi could possibly have such strong power!

"Zhao Yi shouldn't have that kind of power, right?" Qin Yu frowned. "If he did, would he have ended up under Fan Bing's command?"

"When was that?"

Pei Du shook his head and said, "When Zhao Yi was imprisoned, a large number of his top fighters were eliminated! Later, those people were killed again in an attempt to rescue him. After his rebellion failed, another batch of his men were killed..."

After being killed in batches, Zhao Yi's core forces were basically wiped out.

It's already quite remarkable that Zhao Yi survived!

No wonder!

Qin Yu suddenly realized what was going on and began to ponder it silently.

With such a strong guard, assassinating the crown prince would indeed be extremely difficult.

The problem is, the crown prince was still assassinated!

It's possible that enemy forces are involved!

The three of them sat in the room and discussed for a long time.

Although it seems they have uncovered the hidden details of the Crown Prince's assassination attempt, there are still too many perplexing questions surrounding the matter.

After a long while, Qin Yu rubbed his throbbing head and instructed Pei Du, "Here's what you do: first, find out what kind of mine that is, and at the same time, find a route to transport the ore out!"

"We're already doing this!"

Pei Du said seriously, "I also wanted to ask you this: should we start digging that mine on a large scale?"

"Are you trying to lure the real culprit out of hiding?"

Qin Yu immediately realized what was happening.

"right!"

Pei Du nodded and said, "If the real culprit behind this finds out, they will definitely worry about being exposed and will take action!"

Qin Yu lowered his head, thought carefully for a moment, and shook his head, saying, "We don't even have a specific suspect right now. Let's proceed quietly and not alert them! If we can think of luring them out, they'll probably think of that too."

"All right!"

Pei Du nodded. "By the way, should we report this matter to His Majesty and the Empress Dowager?"

"Of course I have to report it!"

Qin Yu said speechlessly, "Such a big matter, you still want to wait until you've investigated it thoroughly before giving His Majesty and the Empress Dowager a surprise?"

Now, it's not just them who need to exert their efforts.

The central government will probably have to step in as well!

The reason he didn't report it before was because it was just a sudden, whimsical guess.

Now that his conjecture has been basically confirmed, it definitely needs to be reported.

The key to this kind of thing is to concentrate our efforts and find out the truth as quickly as possible!

Otherwise, who knows how many people would be implicated!

"well……"

Pei Du sighed heavily, saying with a bitter expression, "This matter is truly life-threatening! If we find out, it'll be troublesome; if we can't find out, it'll be even more troublesome!"

Who would have thought that these seemingly unrelated cases, when investigated, would eventually uncover a major case from years ago?

If they can't find out the truth, His Majesty and the Empress Dowager will probably never have peace of mind for the rest of their lives.

The investigation has been completed; I wonder how many more people will lose their heads.

If things go wrong, a large number of officials in the court will die, and some of those who are already dead will probably be dragged out and their corpses whipped!

Moreover, once the truth is uncovered, an explanation must be given to those officials who were wrongfully imprisoned back then!

But this involves the reputation of the late emperor, who is revered by the world!

However, no matter what, it's definitely much better to find out than not to find out at all!

"Who can argue with that?"

Qin Yu also looked distressed. "Damn it, this is much more stressful than things like regulating the salt administration..."

Filled with bitterness, Qin Yu walked to the desk and sat down.

He needed to figure out how to report this matter to the female demon and the Empress Dowager...