The Prodigal Son

Two days later, in Jiangning Prefecture.

Guo Yang, Zeng Guan, Xu Wan, Pei Du and others arrived at the governor's mansion.

"You've all arrived?"

Qin Yu looked at the group of people who had suddenly appeared with surprise.

"We're just the vanguard; the main force is behind us."

Xu Wan replied, "Guo's men and everyone from the Baojing Division have arrived. To avoid suspicion, they will enter Jiangning Prefecture from various directions."

Upon hearing this, Qin Yu was immediately startled.

Holy crap!

This is going to be a thorough investigation!

Coming to his senses, Qin Yu asked Zeng Guan with a grin, "Boss Zeng, even you're here. Looks like those dozens of cartloads of treasure have been found?"

"Um!"

Zeng Guan nodded slightly. "Alright, let's not talk about that now! Tell me about your situation! Pei Du told us some things on the way here. Have you found anything else in the past few days?"

"Let's talk about it in the study!"

As Qin Yu spoke, he instructed Qi Dachui, "Go and call Que'er, Ruan Zhi, and Lü Si to come over!"

After saying that, Qin Yu led the group toward the study.

Before long, Nan Que'er and Ruan Zhi arrived together.

When they saw the people sitting inside, they suddenly realized that something terrible had happened!

"The case of Sun Min's murder is most likely related to the assassination of the Crown Prince years ago!"

Qin Yu briefly explained the situation to Nan Que'er and Ruan Zhi before continuing, "In the past few days, news has come from deep within Nanping Mountain that they have thoroughly searched the area around the mine but have not found any traces of large-scale transportation..."

However, they found an extremely hidden mule and horse trail.

Although the mountain path is covered by vegetation, some traces can still be seen.

This mountain road follows a mountain stream near the mine pit all the way to a wild river in the southwest of Xinpu County.

And that little river happens to connect to Pingjiang!

This entire corridor is an area without any eyes or ears.

The only nearby mountain village was forced to relocate entirely two years before the prince's assassination due to a sudden wildfire.

Xinpu County was very poor at that time, and the county government did not have enough money to settle the people.

In order to settle the people, Sun Min, the magistrate of Xinpu County at the time, not only shamelessly visited several wealthy families in the county many times to ask them to donate silver, but also took out his two hundred taels of silver that he had saved over the years.

Even now, the villagers who were resettled back then are still deeply grateful to Sun Min.

Zeng Guan narrowed his eyes slightly: "So, Sun Min and his group started secretly mining in the mountains two years before the Crown Prince's assassination!"

"That should be about right."

Qin Yu nodded slightly: "If I'm not mistaken, the basic necessities for those miners were all transported through that hidden passage! When Sun Min sent boats to patrol that section of Pingjiang back then, it's possible that they weren't just arresting people for mining, but also using patrols as a pretext to transport supplies!"

A cold glint flashed in Guo Yang's eyes, and he said in a deep voice, "So, the State of Chu is the most suspicious?"

Qin Yu gently shook his head. "No, I think the State of Chu is actually the least suspicious!"

"That makes sense!"

Zeng Guan nodded in agreement.

Why?

Guo Yang and the others looked at the two of them with confusion.

Qin Yu looked up at Zeng Guan, signaling Zeng Guan to speak first.

Zeng Guan didn't mince words, analyzing, "The terrain where Pingjiang connects to the branches of Mangshan and Nanpingshan has a very large drop, reaching as high as thirty zhang at its highest point, making it impossible to transport the mined ore to the Chu Kingdom by boat!"

"The only way to transport large quantities of minerals to the State of Chu is via secret mountain passes!"

"If no hidden passages were found along the way, it can only mean that the ore they mined was not transported to the State of Chu..."

If it's something light and valuable, perhaps it can be transported using sheepskin floats, with someone downstream to receive it.

But this is a mine!

Using sheepskin floats to transport ore is not only incredibly inefficient, but also ridiculously expensive.

Of course, there is another situation.

These mineral deposits were transported by waterway to the vicinity of Xiaping County, and then by land to Raojin, from where they were transported to the State of Chu.

However, in his view, if a large amount of concentrate were to be transported to the State of Chu in this way, it would require bribing a great many people; otherwise, it would definitely be discovered!

After the Crown Prince was assassinated, all officials of the seventh rank and above in Haizhou were subjected to torture during interrogation, but none of them revealed this incident. It can be basically concluded that this route did not exist.

Only after Zeng Guan finished speaking did Qin Yu continue, "Based on the discoveries of the past few days, I have a rough idea of ​​what kind of mine it is!"

"Could it be a gold mine?"

Xu Wan asked tentatively.

"Yes! It's very likely a gold mine!"

Qin Yu nodded: "Think about it, in two years, how many trees would you have to cut down to make charcoal if you wanted to smelt copper or iron? Although we found a lot of logging deep in Nanping Mountain, it's far too little compared to smelting iron and copper! The few trees that were cut down are more like basic necessities..."

"Oh right! We almost overlooked the two-year timeframe!"

Pei Du realized, "If it's a gold mine, then it's easy to explain! That mountain stream is perfect for panning for gold!"

No iron ore or copper ore is as reliable as gold ore!

The price of 100 jin of copper is incomparable to the price of 100 jin of gold.

Taking the gold away is so easy!

Zeng Guan pondered for a moment, then said seriously, "If it's a gold mine, then we can basically rule out the possibility of enemy forces being involved! As long as we find out who Sun Min associated with most closely during his tenure as magistrate of Xinpu County, we should be able to find some clues!"

"This is a bit difficult!"

Qin Yu exhaled a breath of turbid air. "Ding Che's side has already found out that because Xinpu County has a relatively small population, Sun Min spent most of his time concurrently serving as the county lieutenant. Back then, the assistant magistrate of Xinpu County also served as the chief clerk, but that person died a few years ago."

"A few years ago, the Xinpu County Government Office was renovated, and the original roster of the yamen runners was lost."

"If nothing unexpected happens, any constables who knew about it back then were likely also silenced!"

It's clear that the mastermind behind this is extremely cautious.

Of course, it's impossible not to be cautious when it comes to such a major event as assassinating the crown prince.

Upon hearing Qin Yu's words, everyone fell silent.

If this line is broken, where should we start?

After a long silence, Zeng Guan suddenly raised his head: "Dig! Dig through the collapsed mine shaft! If there are still people buried inside, start by investigating their identities!"

"Furthermore, send more men to thoroughly search the area around the mine, and also send people to search along that hidden passage!"

"With so many people around, it's impossible that nothing was left behind! Even if the real culprit cleaned up carefully afterward, there must have been some things missed!"

"Those remaining artifacts may very well hold the clues we're looking for!"

They lack everything except people!

Moreover, such a major event as assassinating the crown prince would definitely make the mastermind behind it panic.

Normally, they would only think about quickly concealing all traces, and would never carefully clean up every place they had been.

"We can also trace the gold's whereabouts!"

Xu Wan said in a deep voice, "If it really is a gold mine, a considerable amount of gold should be extracted in two years. We can investigate where large amounts of gold have suddenly appeared..."

"We can discuss this a little later!"

Qin Yu pondered, "Right now, let's determine if that mine is a gold mine!"