My family has been wielding knives for generations, but now it's my turn to wield a pen!

"An Zhiyuan? How did he die!"

Jiang Xiaobai stared at the corpse, then looked up at Pei Shen in disbelief: "You killed him?"

That's right, as Pei Shen just said, if he had arrived earlier, he might have seen living people.

The meaning is self-evident!

"I killed him!"

Pei Shen's answer was so straightforward that Jiang Xiaobai was taken aback.

"An Zhiyuan turned himself in to the police two days ago."

As Pei Shen spoke, he slowly wiped his fingers, then looked at Jiang Xiaobai and said calmly, "He was the one who did everything related to the cheating in the imperial examinations."

"Moreover, this person is very persistent."

"Well... that doesn't warrant killing him, does it?"

Jiang Xiaobai's eyelids twitched as he listened: "Kill him, and the trail will be completely cut off, won't it?"

Yes, An Zhiyuan was the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

Moreover, he was also the one who prompted his predecessor to buy an official position.

He believed that if he could dig deeper into An Zhiyuan's case, even if he couldn't directly uncover the person behind it all, he could at least find a useful lead.

But now?

People are dead!

This line was effectively severed with a single stroke.

"Sigh, I didn't want to either."

Upon hearing this, Pei Shen sighed softly: "An Zhiyuan bit into something poisonous."

"I did this to prevent him from being poisoned!"

"..."

Jiang Xiaobai's forehead immediately broke out in a black line.

no!

To avoid being poisoned, Pei Shen killed him first?

Is this something a normal person would say?

"Young Master Jiang, there's no need to look at me like that."

Pei Shen looked at Jiang Xiaobai's expression and smiled faintly: "The rules here are very simple. Only I can kill him. There's no such thing as him being able to die just because he wants to."

hiss!

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xiaobai felt a chill run down his spine for no apparent reason.

Pei Shen is indeed a ruthless person.

No, rather than saying he's ruthless, it's more accurate to say that this person is somewhat insane.

When others interrogate a prisoner, they want the prisoner to talk.

When Pei Shen interrogated prisoners, he wouldn't even let them choose how they wanted to die.

Tang Ningshuang stood to the side and glanced at Pei Shen with surprise.

This Pei Shen... he's got something wrong with his head!

Zhang Xinnian quietly swallowed.

He had previously called Pei Shen a ruthless person, but now it seems he had underestimated him!

"Oh well, what a pity!"

Pei Shen put down the white cloth in his hand, then looked at Jiang Xiaobai: "Young Master Jiang, what do you think we should do next?"

Jiang Xiaobai smiled wryly. His original plan was to join forces with Pei Shen and first approach An Zhiyuan as a starting point.

Now that An Zhiyuan is gone, they can't do anything about him anymore.

After a moment of contemplation, Jiang Xiaobai said, "Right now, that won't work... Let's go to the examination hall and check the records of past imperial examinations."

"Oh, I've retrieved the file."

Pei Shen spoke up.

"..."

Jiang Xiaobai stopped speaking abruptly and looked at Pei Shen in surprise.

"All the examination records for this year's examination in the Imperial Examination Hall were sealed last night."

Pei Shen remained calm and continued, "I've had people bring over the original scroll, the transcribed copy, the admission roster, and the sealed code book."

"But... no obvious problems have been observed yet."

Jiang Xiaobai looked surprised.

This person is moving so fast?

"Then let's see if anyone in history has ever passed the imperial examination."

Jiang Xiaobai continued, "If there are any problems inside, we will investigate further."

"I checked."

Pei Shen spoke again.

Jiang Xiaobai: "..."

Pei Shen said calmly, "On this year's list of successful candidates, I had everyone's records of passing the imperial examinations re-verified."

"Several problematic individuals have already been detained."

"That……"

"Yes, the interrogation has been completed!"

"That……"

"Nothing found!"

Pei Shen shook his head and said, "Their testimonies all point to An Zhiyuan."

"Everyone says that it was An Zhiyuan who arranged for them to get involved."

what?

Jiang Xiaobai frowned.

All the lines point to An Zhiyuan.

That makes things even more suspicious.

It's too clean.

It was so clean that it looked as if someone had deliberately paved the road.

"That……"

Jiang Xiaobai was just about to speak.

"Yes, I have investigated all the people closely associated with An Zhiyuan over the years."

Pei Shen's voice rang out again: "I've asked about his relatives, students, old friends, stewards in his household, and even the teahouses and taverns he frequents."

"That……"

Jiang Xiaobai opened his mouth.

"Yes, nothing was found!"

"That……"

"Young Master Jiang and I are thinking the same thing!"

Pei Shen continued, "I also sent people to search An Zhiyuan's residence."

"His study, secret room, cellar, well in the yard, and even his wife's dressing table were all searched."

"Sigh, it's a pity we didn't find it either."

"..."

Jiang Xiaobai's lips twitched even more violently.

Wait, is Pei Shen going to answer first?!

With a wry smile, Jiang Xiaobai said, "Since that's the case..."

Is it poisonous?

Pei Shen said, "I also investigated. The poison in An Zhiyuan's mouth is lethal upon contact with blood."

"Luckily, my sword was fast enough to kill him first; otherwise, he would have broken my rules!"

"In addition, I have sent people to investigate several large pharmacies in the capital, but there are no results yet."

Jiang Xiaobai wore a bitter smile.

No.

He didn't say anything!

But one has to admit, Pei Shen is indeed quite capable.

Before he even made a move, Pei Shen had already swept through the entire path ahead.

Moreover... it was swept even more thoroughly than he had imagined.

"so……"

Pei Shen looked at Jiang Xiaobai again: "Young Master Jiang, what should we do next?"

"this……"

Jiang Xiaobai had just uttered one word.

Pei Shen suddenly nodded: "That makes sense."

"?"

Jiang Xiaobai looked completely bewildered.

No, does whatever I say make sense?

While Jiang Xiaobai was still in a daze, Pei Shen spoke up: "Young Master Jiang is right."

"Since all the clues point to An Zhiyuan, then An Zhiyuan is very likely a pawn that was pushed out and discarded."

"Continuing to investigate him will only waste time!"

"Therefore, we can indeed start with the second and third tiers."

"Especially those whose ranking is neither high nor low, who can enter officialdom but are not too conspicuous."

"Let's see if we can get anything out of this."

"..."

Jiang Xiaobai stood there, his bitter smile deepening.

Now he understood why Zhang Xinnian had said Pei Shen had a strange temper.

That's really strange.

He clearly didn't say anything.

Pei Shen had already thought of a solution for him.

But there's no denying that this kind of person is indeed a damn talented individual!

When it comes to handling cases, the worst thing isn't using ruthless methods.

It's because they're slow-witted.

Pei Shen was the complete opposite; he was not only ruthless but also swift.

As they approached... Jiang Xiaobai felt he couldn't keep up.

Zhang Xinnian stood to the side, his expression somewhat strange.

He had only heard that Pei Shen was not someone to be trifled with.

Meeting him today, I realized that this Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review is far more than just someone to be trifled with.

This person's words and actions are very strange.

Tang Ningshuang also looked at Pei Shen.

He was formerly a commander of the Zhenying Division and is now the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

He has an extremely eccentric temper and is a ruthless person who slaughtered his own sect.

I initially thought the rumors might be exaggerated.

It seems the rumors have subsided, especially given the astonishing level of their thinking.

Jiang Xiaobai had only just started, but Pei Shen had already pushed him several steps further.

In terms of talent for solving cases alone, few can compare.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from afar.

Immediately afterwards, a constable from the Court of Judicial Review rushed over.

"Lord Pei, someone has escaped from prison!!"