The Imperial Examination, the evaluation system for officials in the Great Feng Dynasty, took place every three years. It used the “Four Standards” and “Eight Methods” as criteria for promotion or demotion.
Officials who failed to meet the standards would be demoted or even stripped of their positions and returned to civilian life. With careers at stake, the gravity of the situation was understandable. The deceased also had a distant relative who was a Supervising Secretary. If word got back to him, he could file an impeachment, and that would be the end of it.
The unsolved murder case in Changle County could become ammunition for political enemies to attack.
“How did he die?” Xu Qi An asked nonchalantly.
“He was collecting rent in the countryside and returning late at night when he encountered a burglar in his courtyard. The thief slit his throat,” a colleague explained.
“Any witnesses?” Xu Qi An inquired.
“His wife heard a commotion and went to check, but by then he was already dead in the courtyard. However, we found footprints on the outer wall.”
“Is it possible that an enemy disguised themselves as a thief to commit the murder?” Xu Qi An poured himself a cup of tea and tossed in a few pieces of candied fruit from his colleague’s stash.
His tone was reminiscent of discussing cases with colleagues back at the police station.
“We questioned the wife, children, servants, and neighbors. The deceased hadn’t made any enemies recently.”
“Have the night patrol soldiers been questioned?”
“The Imperial Blade Guards said there were no suspicious individuals in the area that night.”
The capital had three layers of city walls: the Palace City, Inner City, and Outer City.
Although there were night patrols in the Outer City, there was no curfew. The city gates remained open around the clock. Merchants could freely enter and exit the gates as long as they had made prior arrangements and carried the proper documentation.
This policy greatly enhanced the capital’s commerce and trade, promoting economic development.
Xu Qi An nodded, “In that case, if it was a thief, it must have been someone intimately familiar with the Kangping Street area.”
“How do you figure?” The fellow constables were puzzled.
“For the thief to enter and exit the residence at night without being detected by patrolling soldiers suggests they had scouted the location and were well-versed in the Imperial Blade Guards’ patrol patterns,” Xu Qi An analyzed while instinctively reaching for a cigarette in his pocket.
He came up empty-handed, feeling a pang of disappointment.
It reminded him of his time at the police station, when everyone would gather in small groups, smoking and discussing cases.
That was how he had picked up the smoking habit, influenced by his surroundings.
His colleagues were surprised and looked at Xu Qi An with newfound respect:
“That’s quite logical.”
“How did we not think of that?”
“Ning Yan, you’ve become quite sharp after your stint in prison.”
In those days, without systematic training courses, constables relied entirely on experience to solve cases. The most successful ones would become chief constables.
“If you didn’t think of it, Captain Wang surely did. Have you asked around the west side of the city?” Xu Qi An asked modestly, not wanting to show off.
A colleague replied, “We’ve been asking for two days but haven’t identified any suspects.”
The west side was the slums, full of petty thieves and a mix of unsavory characters. Whenever there was a security issue, the constables would bring along some hired muscle and head there, usually nabbing someone right away.
“How much silver was stolen?” Xu Qi An instinctively began to analyze in his mind.
One colleague glanced at Xu Qi An, noting that his tone was starting to sound like that of a county magistrate, and answered, “Nothing was stolen. The deceased had just returned from collecting rent, and it was all in small pieces of silver. The copper coins and grain—how could the thief escape carrying large boxes of money after committing murder?”
Something’s not right!
Xu Qi An narrowed his eyes. If I were the thief and had scouted the place, I would choose to steal the next day, not the same night.
He didn’t voice this doubt, instead continuing to crack melon seeds and listen to his colleagues’ chatter.
“It’s a shame about such a beautiful woman, widowed at such a young age. That figure, those breasts, tsk tsk, you couldn’t find a woman that fine even in a brothel. I’d be willing to pay a tael of silver for a night with her.”
“She’s not that young, just about twenty years younger than that Zhang fellow. She must be in her early thirties. Women that age have the hardest time remaining faithful as widows.”
Hearing this, Xu Qi An commented, “Ah, thirty-year-old women are wonderful. They understand the intricacies of the bedchamber, with endless delights.”
His mature words didn’t gain approval from his colleagues. They looked at him and laughed teasingly, “What would you know, you virgin who’s never even been to a brothel!”
To pursue the path of martial arts, one couldn’t break through to the Qi Refinement realm if they lost their virginity. Once the primordial yang was spent, it would be difficult to open the Celestial Gate.
So Xu Qi An had carried his Divine Needle for nineteen years without ever subduing a female demon.
…
In the rear hall where the County Magistrate resided.
Captain Wang, with skin as dark as a weathered farmer, hung his head dejectedly as he listened to the County Magistrate’s scolding.
The County Magistrate’s surname was Zhu. He was a portly, pale man from Yanzhou, a third-rank scholar from the national examinations twenty years ago in the Yuanjing era. He was skilled at networking but not at official duties—a scholar who understood the ways of officialdom but lacked practical abilities.
His redeeming quality was that he still had some conscience, indulging in minor corruption but not major graft. Though incompetent, he didn’t harm the common people.
His shortcoming was his bad temper towards subordinates, often resorting to verbal abuse.
“Incompetent, utterly incompetent!”
Learning that Captain Wang still had no leads after yesterday, Magistrate Zhu was furious.
“You’re supposed to be an experienced veteran, yet you can’t solve a simple murder case after so many days.”
Captain Wang’s forehead broke out in a cold sweat, feeling like he was walking on thin ice.