"Mr. Wang, I am here to visit a classmate's mother. What about you?" Zeng Anmin gave a symbolic bow and asked, "Is it perhaps because of the assassination of the Crown Prince of Prince Jiang's Mansion?"
"No, no!" Wang Deli waved his hand and strode over to Zeng Anmin. His heavily bearded face revealed a trace of frustration as he said, "I am here today to seal the house of the Attendant who stole the Dragon Inspection Map."
"Oh." Zeng Anmin nodded in sudden realization.
His old man had been imprisoned by Emperor Jianhong because of the lost Dragon Inspection Map. Fortunately, he had transmigrated just in time, descending like a valiant hero to solve the case and drag his father out of prison. It seemed that the thieving Attendant's home was right here on Tong'an Street.
He raised an eyebrow and asked, "Have you found out who instructed him to do it?"
It would have been better had he not asked. At those words, Wang Deli's expression grew even more bitter. "That Attendant has no family, nor did he interact with his neighbors. There is absolutely nothing in his house..." Stopping mid-sentence, he scratched his head and grumbled, "The case of the Attendant stealing the map hasn't even been closed yet, and the Crown Prince of King Jiang just had to pick this exact time to die. It's really giving us a damn headache."
Although Wang Deli hadn't finished his original thought, Zeng Anmin understood perfectly. The clues regarding the Observation Department Attendant who had committed suicide were completely cut off.
"Then I won't disturb your official duties, Mr. Wang."
"Alright! Come over and visit us sometime, Mr. Zeng. My boy looks forward to seeing you every day!"
"See you..."
Zeng Anmin watched as Wang Deli led his men to the front of a dilapidated little courtyard. They slapped two paper seals onto the door and headed back down the street.
Zeng Anmin took Qi Dachun a few steps further and turned a corner.
"This is Tongyu's house," he said.
Staring at the heavy wooden door that had been severely eroded by time, Zeng Anmin's face was filled with sorrow. Tong'an Street was essentially the slums of Liangjiang Commandery. It was also a major headache in his father's governed territory. In his memories, his old man had worried endlessly about solving the livelihood issues of the commoners here.
"Humble beginnings breed great men," Zeng Anmin sighed, but immediately felt that his words were inappropriate. He shot a sideways glance at the Attendant's door, which had been sealed by the Observation Department not far away, and corrected himself, "Except for that map thief."
The map thief deserved to die.
"Why did Tongyu live so close to that map thief? What terrible luck." Zeng Anmin muttered as he prepared to step forward and knock.
However, right before his hand could touch the dilapidated wooden door, he suddenly froze. A jolt of electricity shot fiercely from his tailbone straight into his soul. All the scattered fragments from the past days suddenly connected into a single, cohesive line, blowing away the thick fog of mystery!
But in Qi Dachun's eyes, his master was just standing there with his Dan Feng eyes wide open, his body completely stiff. He remained motionless, like a statue.
"Mr. Zeng?" Qi Dachun looked at him in puzzlement. Seeing no movement for quite a while, he tentatively asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Zeng Anmin ignored Qi Dachun. He whipped his head toward the seals posted on the door not far away, then abruptly snapped his gaze back to the ruined wooden door of Zhang Lun's home. After a long moment, a sharp light brewed in his eyes—a gaze so intense that no one would dare meet it.
He murmured, "So that's it! I understand now!"
"What is it? What do you understand?" Qi Dachun looked completely lost. He felt that Mr. Zeng was currently acting like a chanting shaman, muttering nonsense under his breath.
Zeng Anmin took a deep breath. He looked at Qi Dachun and said in a deep voice, "Dachun, do you think a single Water Commander Order is truly enough of a motive for murder? Or rather, is Prince Jiang's Mansion really lacking this one Water Commander Order?"
Qi Dachun stared back with the blank look of a confused husky, frozen in place.
"Furthermore, Tongyu wasn't the only one in the academy who possessed a Water Commander Order..." Zeng Anmin muttered as if talking to himself.
This was a suspicious point that no one else had thought of. It was also something he had overlooked because his heart had been blinded by hatred over Zhang Lun's death.
"Tongyu's death was not because of the Water Commander Order!" Zeng Anmin's gaze was incredibly sharp.
Qi Dachun felt a bit sleepy. He forced himself to perk up, looked earnestly at Zeng Anmin, and said, "I don't understand."
Zeng Anmin's mouth twitched. He simply stopped looking at Qi Dachun and fixed his eyes on the sealed door of the Observation Department Attendant's house in the distance. He walked step by step toward the seals.
"Mr. Zeng?" Qi Dachun didn't dare ask any more questions and could only follow Zeng Anmin to the sealed door.
Stepping in front of the entrance, Zeng Anmin studied the paper seals. After a light snowfall in Liangjiang Commandery, a bright sun emerged. The sunlight now shone perfectly on the seal, making the standard emblem of the Observation Department look exceptionally dazzling.
"The Observation Department's emblem..." Zeng Anmin slowly closed his eyes. Flashing in his mind was the image of Zhang Lun's corpse from that day, with the Observation Department emblem drawn in his hand.
"Tongyu, the reason you left this emblem behind was because you wanted to tell the world...
"That the truth of your death is related to your neighbor—the lowly Observation Department Attendant who stole the map!"
Zeng Anmin's Dan Feng eyes snapped open.
"Uh." Qi Dachun's eyes still overflowed with "wisdom."
Zeng Anmin's mouth twitched as he looked at his companion's confusion. He thought that even a dog would have figured it out by now with everything laid out so clearly. He stared at the Observation Department emblem on the seal, his voice carrying a unique resonance.
"Wang Lin killed Tongyu under the guise of stealing the Water Commander Order just to cover up his true motive.
"His true motive was to silence him.
"Tongyu lived so close to that Observation Department Governmental Constable's home; it's hard not to suspect that he might have seen something.
"The reason I am so certain is because of the Observation Department emblem Tongyu drew beside himself when he died!
"He witnessed the scene of that lowly Observation Department Attendant conspiring with someone!
"That is why he brought a fatal disaster upon himself."
After finishing his explanation, Zeng Anmin's gaze turned profound as he stared deeply into the clear blue sky on the horizon.
"This..." Qi Dachun was already dumbfounded. He looked at Zeng Anmin in terror and muttered as if frightened out of his wits, "How did your brain even grow, Mr. Zeng? It spins faster than my dad doing backflips..."
Zeng Anmin was too lazy to reply.
After a long silence, he spoke in an indifferent tone, "Then, from this, we can infer that the power that instructed this Observation Department Attendant to steal the Dragon Inspection Map and framed my father, sending him to prison, comes from..."
Zeng Anmin slowly raised his head, revealing a face as chiseled as if carved by a knife and axe. With unparalleled coldness in his voice, he enunciated word by word, "Prince Jiang's Mansion!"
WHOOSH!
Qi Dachun felt as though a stick had forcefully pierced through all the fog in his mind.
"Son of a bitch!"
Zeng Anmin had explained it so clearly that not to mention Qi Dachun, even an actual confused husky would have understood!
Zeng Anmin slowly lifted his head. By now, the case of the missing Dragon Inspection Map had completely closed its loop in his mind. Prince Jiang's Mansion...
He let out a long breath. His Dan Feng eyes flickered with an awe-inspiring gleam. Enemies out in the open were vastly preferable to those hiding in the dark. Slowly burying the matter deep in his heart, he raised his head again and revealed a new smile.
"The sun is quite bright today."
Saying that, he returned to the wooden door of Zhang Lun's house and reached out to knock lightly.
KNOCK... KNOCK KNOCK.
He waited for a long time, but there was no movement inside whatsoever.
Zeng Anmin frowned and reached out to knock again. KNOCK... KNOCK KNOCK.
Still, there was absolutely no response.
Could it be...
Zeng Anmin abruptly looked up and shouted loudly, "Dachun! Break down the door!"