Liu Zhan seemed to understand what Kun Bai was thinking, and said, "Don't worry, Master, my disciple has ordered someone to watch, no problem."
Kun Bai nodded, half scolding and half praising, "You are what I like in this aspect."
The three of them arrived at the inn.
"Sir, I'm at the back."
The young man who had gone to Dali Temple to ask for help walked out of the inn and saluted the three of them respectfully.
Liu Zhan nodded and walked into the shabby inn first.
He locked people up in the backyard.
In the backyard, the three assassins were nestled in the corner unhappily. They made no move after hearing the noise. They still lowered their heads, not knowing what they were thinking.
"Didn't you give them food? Why do they feel so sick?" Qiao Qixin was a little confused.
The young man said quickly, "Young lady, you don't know. These three people are all assassins. If you give them enough food, it might be difficult for me to control them, so..."
"So we don't get any food?" Qiao Qixin answered.
"Not bad." The boy bowed and saluted.
Qiao Qixin nodded to express her understanding.
"Hey, wake up." Liu Zhan kicked the three of them.
The three of them raised their heads and saw Liu Zhan, dragging his hungry body up from the ground, and then knelt down in front of Liu Zhan.
"Sir, sir, we are all good citizens! We are all forced by City Lord He!" The leader grabbed the ground with his head.
The other two people also followed suit and kept kowtowing.
Liu Zhan looked at the three of them coldly and said, "City Lord He has been arrested and brought to justice. The three of you will follow me back to the capital for investigation. If you make false claims..."
"If there are lies, we will be struck by lightning!" The three people swore quickly.
"It's just...after this review..." One of them hesitated, opening his mouth but refusing to say it clearly.
Liu Zhan said coldly, "If you perform well, I will return you and reunite you with your relatives."
"But if you dare to talk nonsense and distort the facts..." Liu Zhan's eyes swept across the faces of the three of them coldly, "Then together with City Master He, you will have a companion on the road to Huangquan!"
"No, no, no, absolutely not, absolutely not!" The three people kowtowed quickly, "We will definitely cooperate with you, Master, we will definitely cooperate! We will never dare to lie!"
Liu Zhan nodded, and then tied up the three of them one by one.
He grabbed the rope and got into the same carriage with the three people.
Qiao Qixin and Kun Bai rode in the same car.
In the carriage, Kun Bai looked at Qiao Qixin with a smile.
Qiao Qixin didn't know why, but she felt that Kun Bai's expression was a bit malicious.
Sure enough, Kun Bai said, "My little friend and Liu Zhan are really in sync with each other this time."
Qiao Qixin broke into a cold sweat behind her back. She didn't know how Kun Bai could see the "tacit understanding of cooperation".
"Haha...it's all Mr. Liu who is smart." Qiao Qixin replied bravely.
Kun Bai stroked his beard and said with a smile, "You are so humble, little friend. Dali Temple took over a case yesterday. I wonder if you are interested in going there with my unlucky apprentice?"
Oh, so you are waiting for me here.
Qiao Qixin thought.
"This...if Mr. Liu is willing, I can't do it..." Qiao Qixin said tactfully.
She was fishing in troubled waters this time. Liu Zhan definitely didn't think she could do anything, and naturally he wouldn't agree with Kun Bai's idea.
That's right! Qiao Qixin placed her hopes on Liu Zhan! I hope he can firmly refuse her to work with him!
With a beautiful vision in mind, the carriage of three people returned to Dali Temple.
After getting off the carriage.
"Liu Zhan!" Kun Bai shouted.
Liu Zhan, who was leading the three assassins, heard this and stopped entering Dali Temple.
"What's wrong, Master?"
"Dali Temple received a murder case yesterday. I'm going to send you and my friend there. What do you think? Do you have any opinions?" Kun Bai said with his hands behind his back.
Liu Zhan shrugged, "Master, you have already made arrangements, is my opinion still important?"
Kun Bai nodded with satisfaction, then looked at Qiao Qixin, as if to say, "Look, I'll just say he agrees."
Qiao Qixin: Arranged distribution is not advisable...
——
Dali Temple Dungeon
"Tell me, who sent you to assassinate me?" Liu Zhan asked.
Qiao Qixin, who was captured for the portrait, kept tracing the faces of the three people on the paper with her hands.
"Sir, Sir, it was City Master He who arranged for us to do this! We didn't know you were the Young Minister of Dali Temple at the beginning, Sir!" Assassin A said in horror.
The dungeon is dark and gloomy, but a small window is open.
The sunlight shines in through the thick glass, making the dungeon even more eerie and terrifying.
The three assassins were tied up, and they were even more frightened. They immediately said whatever Liu Zhan asked.
"Oh? How did City Lord He arrange for you to assassinate me?" Liu Zhan paused, then pointed to the assassin B in the middle, "You start first."
The assassin B trembled and said quickly, "City Lord He showed me your portrait and told me that if I kill you, I will give you ten taels of gold!"
Oh, I didn’t expect Liu Zhan’s life to be so valuable.
"Then what?" Liu Zhan asked next.
"Then, the little one was so courageous that he found a place to shoot arrows secretly to kill the master. Then, the little one was caught by the master..." said the assassin b.
For some reason, Qiao Qixin actually felt that this guy's last sentence was a bit pitiful.
Liu Zhan nodded, pointed to Assassin A next to Assassin B, and said, "You."
Assassin A also shook his head and said, "Back to you, Sir, I was also shot by City Master He after he saw your portrait, and then assassinated you in an alley..."
This Assassin A was rather reckless. When Liu Zhan entered the alley, he jumped out and struck Liu Zhan with a big knife.
Then Liu Zhan kicked him away, and the big knife in his hand was inserted directly into the ground between Assassin A's legs.
Assassin a was defeated.
"You." Liu Zhan pointed at the assassin c.
This assassin C was the most unlucky. He also used a knife to kill Liu Zhan, but when he ran in front of Liu Zhan and was about to kill him, he tripped over a bump on the ground.
He lay on the ground and looked at each other with Liu Zhan, and then assassin C also lost.
In summary, Liu Zhan not only has strength, but also has luck bonus.
"Why did City Lord He ask you to assassinate him?" Liu Zhan asked again.
The three of them looked at each other, and one of them said, "Back to your lord, City Master He just showed you your portrait and said he wanted to kill you, and then there was nothing else."
Hearing this, Liu Zhan nodded, then looked at Qiao Qixin aside, "How many paintings have you drawn?"
Qiao Qixin handed the three pieces of paper to Liu Zhan without raising her head.
Liu Zhan took it and saw that the faces of the three assassins had all been painted.
He looked at Qiao Qixin, who was still painting, and asked curiously, "Then what are you still painting now?"
Qiao Qixin raised her head and glanced at Liu Zhan, then continued to draw.
Liu Zhan stood up curiously and went over to take a look. The person in the painting was actually himself.
The self in the painting is vivid and delicate. In comparison, the three portraits of the assassins look much rougher.
"What are you painting me for?" Liu Zhan asked in surprise.
Qiao Qixin paused for a moment, then said nonsensically, "Well... you are so beautiful, I can't help but want to draw it."
She wouldn't say that she painted Liu Zhan because she heard about the ten taels of gold and wanted to prepare for emergencies.
Liu Zhan completely misunderstood.
"If you are so good at painting... why not go to the next door and paint that one too?" Liu Zhan suggested.
Although this sentence sounds a bit weird, Liu Zhan is definitely giving Qiao Qixin sincere advice.
But Qiao Qixin felt that Liu Zhan was adding more work to her, so she quickly waved her hand and refused, "No, no, I won't draw anymore."
As she said that, she slapped Liu Zhan's painting on the table, which had not yet been detailed, to express that she really didn't want to paint anymore.
Liu Zhan looked at himself in the painting and felt a little pity.
The three assassins looked at the two of them in fear, wondering why the topic suddenly changed.
Liu Zhan asked them a few more questions, then stood up and said, "Come, keep an eye on them."
After that, he faced Qiao Qixin and said, "Let's go together."
Qiao Qixin nodded, then followed Liu Zhan and left the dungeon with her drawing paper and ink pen.
"What about City Lord He? Why didn't you see him?" Qiao Qixin asked curiously.
"City Lord He was sent to the Ministry of Punishment. The place just now was the private dungeon of Dali Temple." Liu Zhan explained.
"Ah? Why was City Lord He taken to the Ministry of Justice? Doesn't that mean he can only be interrogated by people from the Ministry of Justice?" Qiao Qixin asked doubtfully.
Liu Zhan took the portraits of the assassins from Qiao Qixin's arms and explained, "City Lord He has a bad nature, and the Ministry of Punishment has strict control. It will not be easy for him to escape if you put him there."
"As for the interrogation, if you are interested, I will take you to the Criminal Department to interrogate him." Liu Zhan said.
Qiao Qixin thought for a while and said, "Forget it, I'd better not get involved."
"Hey, you two just came up from below?" Uncle Wang appeared out of nowhere with meat skewers in his hands.
He took a bite of the sizzling and oily meat skewers and said, "The Minister of Dali Temple asked me to tell you that he has left the information about the new case with Liu Zhan. He asked you to go and take a look at it, and we will set off tomorrow."
Qiao Qixin said in surprise, "So early?"
Uncle Wang nodded, "This case seems to be quite serious and strange. You two should be careful."
Qiao Qixin and Liu Zhan looked at each other.
——
"Is this what Uncle Wang is talking about?"
In the room, Qiao Qixin picked up the bamboo slips on the table and said.
Liu Zhan nodded, "This bamboo slip was not here when I left."
The bamboo slips are very thick and heavy in the hand.
"Then I opened it?" Qiao Qixin looked at Liu Zhan, her fingers frantically testing the opening of the bamboo slip.
Liu Zhan nodded, "Go ahead."
Qiao Qixin opened the bamboo slips and spread them out on the table.
A long bamboo slip was spread out on the table with densely packed characters. Just looking at Qiao Qixin gave her a headache.
"What happened in Lin'an City." Liu Zhan looked at the bamboo slips and said.
Qiao Qixin also came forward and took a look.
Lin'an City has been experiencing frequent accidents recently. First, it went without a drop of rain for several months, and then poultry died suddenly and inexplicably.
The people were miserable.
After the government's disaster relief food was distributed, it would become moldy and rotten overnight, and it was not uncommon for it to even turn into water.
At the same time, a plague broke out among the crowd, causing countless casualties...