The assassination of the prefect was second only to the suspected murder of the prince, and perhaps even more serious. After all, the prince Luo Zhenwu was only suspected, and the court did not make it clear. This was a real fourth-rank official, and he was also an important place for grain transport, and his importance far exceeded that of other prefects in remote areas.
It was truly lawless and the majesty of the empire was completely gone.
This is the sign of rebellion, no further explanation is needed.
The Demon Suppression Division imposed martial law within a ten-mile radius of the crime scene. The entire city was in a panic, and the city defense troops were mobilized, blocking all the city gates.
Relying on his status, Tang Buqi sneaked into the crime scene with Zhao Changhe and Yue Hongling.
The chief officer of the Demon Suppression Division in Yangzhou is called Gong Chaoqun, the middle-aged man who reminded Zhao Changhe of the Maitreya School's magic before. Even though the final result of that incident was like that of a wingman, he is also a gold medal supervisor of the Demon Suppression Division, and has reached the ninth level of the Mystical Gate. In terms of cultivation level alone, he is higher than Yue Hongling.
There are many people who have reached the ninth level of the Mystical Gate on the Human Ranking, and those who have achieved this level of practice but have not made it onto the Human Ranking will generally receive a phrase of praise: close to the Human Ranking.
In fact, there is a big gap between the ninth level. There are ranking differences between the ninth levels on the human list, not to mention the gap between the ninth level on the human list and the general ninth level. The gap may be even more outrageous than the gap when Zhao Changhe and Cui Yuanyang were both at the third level.
For example, as everyone knows, half a year ago, a ninth-level warrior was defeated by Yue Hongling, who was at a higher level than him.
Therefore, the four words "close to the human list" really have no reference value, which is the same as Mrs. Ru's meaning. Chi Li said that he had killed many people who were close to the human list along the way, but there were not many of them that were valuable.
But Gong Chaoqun is not on this list. He is really close to the human list and is one of Tang Wanzhuang’s trusted generals.
Seeing Tang Buqi bringing Zhao Changhe and Yue Hongling in, Gong Chaoqun said nothing, but nodded slightly to Zhao Changhe. In his mind, this was a spy from the Demon Suppression Division, and the chief had secretly told him. Young Master Tang was the chief's nephew, and with the famous chivalrous Yue Hongling, this lineup could be relied on for help.
How could he know that if the prefect had died half an hour later, these people would have killed him.
Zhao Changhe held a knife and a bow, his face looked a bit grim. He was looking forward to going to the prefect's residence with Yue Hongling at night and working together to assassinate him. Just thinking about it made him feel excited and charming. In the end, he didn't know who got there first. He couldn't blame anyone, after all, what he did was very pleasing to the people.
"Uncle Gong, have you found anything?" Tang Buqi was asking.
"Prefect Qian was killed by an arrow." Gong Chaoqun said, "He was about to enter the concubine's room when he was shot in the back of his head from the roof opposite. The arrow was so powerful that it pierced the back of his head. The assassin shot the arrow and almost didn't wait for the result. He escaped in an instant before the guards surrounded him. It was very clean and neat."
Zhao Changhe thought to himself that if I came, he would probably die in the same way...
Gong Chaoqun looked at the bow Zhao Changhe was carrying and said, "The long corridor from Prefect Qian to the concubine's room is shaded by vines, so the view is poor. The best time to stop is right when you enter the room. This arrow was shot very well, accurate and fierce. It may be slightly better than Young Master Zhao's archery skills. He is definitely a person who is used to using bows and arrows."
Zhao Changhe didn't think it was strange that others were better at archery than him. After all, he didn't use bows and arrows very often, and his daily basic training was also swordsmanship. At this moment, what came to his mind was the arrow shot at him by the blue-masked man... This arrow was really powerful. Without Longque's warning, the possibility of him being hit there was quite high.
Could it be him
Others didn't know who the blue-masked man was, so Tang Buqi's first reaction was: "He's used to using bows and arrows, could he be a Hu person?"
It is impossible for Prefect Qian to support the Hu people, but Tang Buqi wanted to put the blame on the Hu people. In fact, no one knew what kind of collusion Prefect Qian had with the Hu people. If he said that he was killed by the Hu people, at least the people and the court would believe it.
If you want to close the case quickly, this is one way to do it. It might even be beneficial, as it will make the imperial court start to pay attention to Chi Li and other Hu people who are causing trouble in China.
Gong Chaoqun's expression became somewhat amused, and he asked Zhao Changhe and the others, "Young Master Zhao and Miss Yue have both fought with the Hu people today. What do you think?"
Zhao Changhe said, "If I say that a few hours ago, near the Alien Market, someone shot an arrow and nearly killed me, what would you think?"
Yue Hongling's expression changed instantly: "Is it true?" "It's true."
Gong Chaoqun was also somewhat moved, and said thoughtfully: "If Young Master Zhao had really met with misfortune at that time, we would have certainly placed the suspicion on the alien race... If another prefect was assassinated in the same way tonight..."
Gong Chaoqun did not continue speaking. Everyone understood what he meant. It was obvious that all the other party's actions were to throw dirty water on the Hu people. The plan to kill the prefect tonight was laid out from the arrow shot at Zhao Changhe. However, they did not expect that Zhao Changhe actually dodged it.
As for why Zhao Changhe was chosen, no one knows. Could it be that they knew that Zhao Changhe was a spy from the Demon Suppression Bureau
From this point of view, the other party may not have harbored murderous intentions just because of the character he saw from the prefect at the banquet today. It has little to do with the banquet itself. Originally, Tang Buqi had some doubts about Wan Dongliu and Xuan Chong, but now it seems that is not the case.
Tang Buqi thought for a moment and lowered his voice and said, "Uncle Gong, I think it would be better to just go with the flow and let the Hu people take over. This will give us an excuse to kill all the Hu people here. Killing Prefect Qian is also a matter of justice... uh, anyway..."
He's a hero anyway, so don't investigate him too seriously.
Zhao Changhe felt more and more that his eldest nephew was quite good, although he was a little too spoiled and his fighting ability was a little weak. He tried to beat him, went too far, and even tried to sow discord between him and Yue Hongling... Damn it, this guy is no good!
Yue Hongling said: "If it were normal, I would support Brother Tang's proposal, but this person is different."
Tang Buqi: “Hmm?”
Yue Hongling said calmly: "He tried to kill Changhe."
Tang Buqi: “…”
Zhao Changhe burst into tears, look, who are the same people and what is the gap!
Gong Chaoqun asked Zhao Changhe thoughtfully, "What do you think, Young Master Zhao?"
Tang Buqi looked at Gong Chaoqun strangely. You asked him twice what he thought. He calls me nephew but he is not really my uncle. Why do you care so much about his opinion
Zhao Changhe said: "I support framing it as the Hu people. This matter is important, but after all, this person wants to kill me, so even if I blame the Hu people on the surface, I still have to secretly find out who the real murderer is."
Gong Chaoqun nodded.
Both the Young Master of the Tang Family and the Jade Card spy said so, and he also made up his mind that there are really many benefits to defeating the Hu people.
But Zhao Changhe said again: "Is there something else missing in this matter?"
Gong Chaoqun was investigating a case after all, so he immediately knew what Zhao Changhe meant: "Young Master Zhao, are you talking about the concubine?"
"Yes. If what I know is correct, the prefect has a Maitreya celestial being by his side. Based on the Maitreya's ability to seduce people, I feel that the prefect should look for her every night, which means that this concubine may be that celestial being."
Gong Chaoqun smiled, "Indeed, we have already controlled her. It was her bad luck that the prefect died at her doorstep. She couldn't even run away. If she did, it would be considered that she assassinated the prefect and ran away. She could only stay there and wait for us to interrogate her. As a result, during the interrogation, we soon discovered her identity as the Maitreya Goddess. It was really an unexpected disaster."
"So the prefect actually died in front of Maitreya's bed. Can this be pinned on Maitreya?" Zhao Changhe whispered to himself, "The Maitreya cult colluded with the Hu people and assassinated the prefect together, intending to rebel with internal and external support. The real culprit has already made up a complete story for the Demon Suppression Division. Even the army has been mobilized in the city because of the prefect's death, ready to suppress the bandits at any time... and the Hu people and Maitreya are still in the dark, thinking it has nothing to do with them."
Tang Buqi was somewhat moved by what he heard: "So he chose this moment to assassinate, and it was actually intentional? He knew that the prefect would come to Tiannv's room at this time!"
"Well... someone who knows the prefect's daily routine very well has planned a good game." Zhao Changhe looked at Gong Chaoqun: "Now the question is, will the Demon Suppression Division cooperate with this great gift from the other party?"
(End of this chapter)