The Prodigal Son

Two days later, all the personnel who had entered Jiangning Prefecture through various channels had arrived, and Qin Yu and his group's provisions were also prepared.

Qin Yu handed over the matter to Fu Mingzhu.

They then set off for Haizhou.

Along the way, Qin Yu tried to get closer to Guo Yang.

However, Guo Yang seems to be quite aloof and rarely interacts with people.

Most of the time, Guo Yang was just mingling in their group.

Very inconspicuous!

If they hadn't known Guo Yang's identity, they wouldn't have noticed this person at all.

The same applies to those under Guo Yang's command.

Quiet and reserved, he does not communicate with others.

After several unsuccessful attempts, Qin Yu simply gave up.

"Do you know that person?"

Qin Yu and Lü Si huddled together, and Qin Yu gestured towards Guo Yang, who was standing in the crowd.

"Where can I find out?"

Lu Si rolled his eyes and whispered, "He rarely speaks. Most of the time, even when he's next to the Empress Dowager, no one can see him! When he and the Empress Dowager eat at my house, he either sits far away and eats alone, or he doesn't eat at all..."

Upon hearing what Lü Si said, Qin Yu also remembered that when Guo Yang ate at the Qin family's house a few years ago, he also sat alone on one side.

Qin Yu thought for a moment, then asked in a low voice, "Does he not want people to smell his perfume?"

"Who knows!" Lu Si had no interest in discussing this issue with Qin Yu and changed the subject, saying, "Should we also investigate Huaizhou properly? The Crown Prince was assassinated in Huaizhou back then. If we investigate properly, we might find some clues."

"Investigate my ass!"

Qin Yu said in a low voice, "If we could find it, we would have found it back then. Why did we have to wait until now?"

Although he didn't know much about the aftermath of the Crown Prince's assassination, he could easily guess that the imperial court must have thoroughly investigated Huai County.

When the Crown Prince was first assassinated, they couldn't find anything in Huai County, let alone now.

Instead of wasting this time, we should explore deeper into Nanping Mountain.

"Too."

Lu Si nodded slightly, then asked with some concern, "What if we can't find out who's behind this? If we can't find out, won't Auntie be worried sick?"

"We can find out! We definitely can!"

Qin Yu clenched his fists tightly. "Back then, we couldn't find the answer because we were investigating in the wrong direction! Now, as long as we're in the right direction, we'll definitely find it!"

His words seemed to be addressed to Lü Si, but also to give himself confidence.

This isn't a question of whether it can be found out or not!

It absolutely must be found out!

Even if his initial guess was wrong, he still had to thoroughly investigate the Sun Min case!

……

After several detours, carrying a large amount of dry rations, they spent more than two days entering the depths of Nanping Mountain to meet up with the Baojing Division personnel who were still searching.

Seeing that Qin Yu had brought so many reinforcements, Ding Che was overjoyed.

"How's it going? Did you break through?"

Upon seeing Ding Che, Qin Yu couldn't wait to ask him anything.

Ding Che replied wearily, "Too many mine shafts have collapsed, and too few people can enter at once, making it difficult to dig..."

"Even if it's difficult to dig, we have to dig!"

Qin Yu said in a deep voice, "It just takes a little more time! We brought plenty of dry rations this time, enough for us to stay here for a while longer!"

"good!"

Ding Che nodded slightly. "However, we have recently discovered another important clue."

"What clue?"

Qin Yu immediately pressed for more information.

"Please follow me, sir!"

Ding Che immediately led Qin Yu to the side.

Soon, they found themselves next to a patch of withered plants.

"Is this the crucial clue you were talking about?"

Nan Que'er looked at the thing in front of her, puzzled.

What kind of clue is this?

"right!"

Ding Che nodded emphatically, "These are small black soybeans, high in oil content, and easy to store. They are mainly used to feed horses, hence the name 'horse soybeans'!"

"But this isn't a crop from our dynasty; it was only introduced from the nine snowy kingdoms during the middle of the late emperor's reign!"

"As far as I know, before the assassination of the Crown Prince, besides the seven northern provinces, only Weizhou, Longzhou, Tongzhou, and Taozhou had large-scale cultivation of it!"

"The wild beans here must have accidentally spilled out..."

"What does this prove?" Lü Si asked疑惑地, "Fangzhou has a well-developed canal transport system, so they can buy soybeans from other places..."

He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence.

He understood what Ding Che meant!

Taozhou!

This thing must have been bought from Taozhou!

Those places are all too far from here!

This stuff was transported from elsewhere, and the tofu is now priced like meat!

"It seems Lord Lü understands as well!"

Ding Che smiled, "The reason why the soybeans grown in Taozhou are mainly to supply the troops stationed in Yinzhou is that not much of them can enter the market! And these people will definitely need a lot of horses to mine here and transport grain in..."

He even suspected that these people forced the miners to eat black beans in order to keep them physically strong.

Although this stuff tastes awful and makes you fart easily, and it's a bit more expensive than mung beans or soybeans, it's definitely filling.

For this reason, soybeans are not a staple food for humans; most people buy them to feed livestock.

If non-military personnel buy large quantities of soybeans, the sellers will likely have a strong impression of them!

"Yes, this is indeed an important clue!"

Qin Yu nodded slightly and asked, "Any other discoveries?"

Ding Che shook his head and said, "We haven't made any other discoveries, but we still have a big question."

"What question?"

Qin Yu inquired.

Ding Che glanced around and frowned, saying, "Logically speaking, with so many people here, there should be some pots and pans! But we've searched this area several times already, and we've only found a few broken pottery bowls. Everything else seems to have vanished into thin air..."

This problem puzzled him and many others in the Baojing Division.

They found traces of large groups of people living together.

The problem is that there are only traces, not a large number of artifacts.

Based on the information we have so far, the mastermind behind the murders thoroughly cleaned up the place after silencing the witnesses.

No matter how carefully you clean, you can't possibly take all the pots and pans with you, right?

These things need to go somewhere!

"This is a good thing!"

The usually taciturn Guo Yang suddenly spoke up, "The fact that these things are gone means that the real culprit behind this is also worried that someone will trace them back to them because of these artifacts..."

"Yes, that's what I think too!"

Ding Che nodded in agreement: "I judge that those things must have been buried nearby! But there are no traces of burial around here, which has left me at a loss, and I'm just running around like a headless fly all day long..."

"As long as these things weren't ground into powder, we'll definitely find them! No matter how careful they are, they couldn't possibly take them all!"

A glint flashed in Qin Yu's eyes. "Pass down the order: everyone immediately conduct a thorough search of the surrounding area, focusing on finding any traces of virgin soil or excavation!"

He still didn't believe it!

With so many people searching, those things won't be found.

Although so many years have passed, many traces are still impossible to erase easily.

If you search carefully, you're sure to find something.

As Qin Yu's order was relayed, everyone immediately began a thorough search, using the mine as the center.

The group searched very carefully, leaving no inch of ground unchecked.

They also judge whether the land beneath their feet has been dug up by observing the growth of the plants and comparing them with the surrounding soil layers.

The surrounding cliffs and ravines were also key areas of their search.

Even so, by dusk, they had found nothing except a few tattered pieces of coarse cloth.

This result left Qin Yu somewhat puzzled.

Damn it!

Do we have to be so cautious?

Can those things even fly anymore?

Surely they won't actually be taken away?

Qin Yu was completely baffled, so he took off his water pouch and poured a mouthful of water into his mouth.

Ok?

After taking a sip of water, Qin Yu suddenly froze...