Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 410 - 385: Crown Prince Digs a Grave

Chapter 410: Chapter 385: Crown Prince Digs a Grave

The next day, at the early court assembly.

Emperor Kaihuang noticed Shen Erxian standing below at a glance.

"Oh, isn’t that Shen Erxian, the Magistrate of Metropolitan Prefecture, grievously injured? How come? You came to the court despite such severe injuries; that must be tough!"

Shen Erxian couldn’t understand, Shen Wei was also feigning illness, yet Emperor Kaihuang didn’t concern himself with that, while he was truly injured!

Shen Erxian immediately stepped forward to reply, "Your servant was bedridden with serious injuries, unconscious. Upon hearing someone conveying Your Majesty’s command, instructing your servant to work both injured and well, I, hearing how much Your Majesty values me, felt my injuries heal by sixty percent instantly! It’s many times more miraculous than the Rune Words Spirit."

Emperor Kaihuang just silently watched Shen Erxian’s performance, too lazy to expose him.

"Since your injuries have healed, let’s discuss yesterday’s events. What exactly did your Metropolitan Prefecture Government Office do? There were hundreds injured in the stampede at West Market alone! Moreover, there were dozens of missing children! Are these the good deeds your office has accomplished?"

Shen Erxian promptly bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, my office has limited manpower. Yesterday at the Demon-Execution Platform, we had to maintain order among fifty to sixty thousand people and also assist the Town Demon Office in capturing Zhang San, which really strained our limited resources."

Emperor Kaihuang glanced at Qian Shanxiu and sneered, "Now, this is interesting. Why does Chief Qianshanshiu of the Town Demon Office claim they maintained order and captured Zhang San? What, now? When there’s merit, it’s all yours, but when there’s trouble, it’s someone else’s fault?"

Shen Erxian bowed to Qian Shanxiu, who stood not far away, and asked, "I am curious, when the Town Demon Office says it maintained order, what order did it maintain? The major chaos yesterday stemmed from some members of the Demon Clan accidentally releasing Demon Qi among the crowd, leading the Town Demon Office’s Martial Artists to indiscriminately capture innocents. This caused panic among the crowd, who didn’t know whether those captured were transformed members of the Demon Clan, and thus they fled in all directions. Is this how the Town Demon Office maintained order?"

"And about capturing Zhang San, I, the Magistrate of the Metropolitan Prefecture, personally led the pursuit to the Golden Light Gate and was injured by Zhang San. However, I heard that only Principal Officer Zhang was injured in the Town Demon Office, seemingly because he stabbed himself in the chest before the capture of Zhang San."

"Chief Qianshan, is there a single falsehood in what I’ve just said?"

At that moment, Qian Shanxiu’s face turned as dark as a cauldron.

"But didn’t the Town Demon Office lose over fifty men in the pursuit of Zhang San; are their injuries not considered injuries?"

Qian Shanxiu thought to himself: Casualties can imply injuries or deaths. Although no one died, it’s not wrong to say this!

Shen Erxian scoffed, "Or could it be because they are incompetent?"

"Then what about the injuries suffered by the Metropolitan Magistrate?"

"I risked injury to get closer to Zhang San and obtained crucial clues. I report to you, Emperor Kaihuang, I have discovered Zhang San’s whereabouts!"

At these words, Qian Shanxiu was startled.

The Town Demon Office had nearly dug three feet into the ground outside the Golden Light Gate yesterday.

They even pulled back several Martial Artists skilled in tracking from Longyou Road, yet still failed to find Zhang San.

How could Shen Erxian have found Zhang San!?

Emperor Kaihuang, hearing this, was overjoyed.

Zhang San indeed was very capable; if someone could capture him, it would certainly prove that person competent.

"Shen Erxian, come, tell us, where is Zhang San now?"

"Reporting to Emperor Kaihuang, I have only discovered traces of Zhang San and determined a general area. I am still investigating his exact location."

"Quickly, where is it?" Qian Shanxiu asked anxiously.

Shen Erxian bowed to Emperor Kaihuang and said, "Zhang San is in a wetland to the northeast of Daxing City, and west of that wetland lies a Mass Burial Mound. Zhang San is there!"

"I approached Zhang San exactly to find crucial clues on him, thus uncovering his hiding place, and that’s why I was injured."

"Last night, I secretly dispatched people to surveil that area and they discovered Zhang San’s tracks. He appeared to be... digging graves. It seemed he was searching for something."

After Shen Erxian finished speaking, Emperor Kaihuang glanced at him.

"Shen Erxian, were you truly injured by Zhang San?"

Shen Erxian bowed and said, "Although Zhang San is merely at the Qi Flow Transformation stage of the True Core Realm, he makes decisively quick moves. I was momentarily careless, and that’s how I fell into his trap. If Your Majesty doubts, you can summon the Imperial Physician to examine my injuries."

Seeing that Shen Erxian did not appear to be lying, Emperor Kaihuang nodded his head.

"Now that we know where he is, let’s see who among you can capture this Zhang San first, or even find what Zhang San is searching for! Whoever accomplishes this task will be rewarded by me, but there is one condition: I want Zhang San alive!"

After the court session that day, the Crown Prince immediately led the Eastern Palace Ten Rates to surround the wetlands to the northeast outside Daxing City, even personally directing his men to start digging graves, determined to find what Zhang San was searching for.

Qian Shanxiu instructed Zhang Datui to recover from his injuries while he personally led a team to the Mass Burial Mound area to also search for any traces Zhang San might have left behind.

Even the Town Martial Office’s Vermilion Bird brought people along.

However, after the Vermilion Bird and his men arrived, they merely watched from a distance as the Eastern Palace Ten Rates and the Town Demon Office dug the graves, while the Town Martial Office’s men simply observed.

A martial artist beside the Vermilion Bird asked, "Principal Officer, aren’t we going up? If they find clues about Zhang San first, we’ll lose our advantage."

Vermilion Bird scoffed.

"What’s there to fear! Just follow them. When they encounter Zhang San, then we make our move. This dirty, tiring work—who would do it if not fools!"

The martial artist admired the Principal Officer Vermilion Bird’s intelligence while also noticing the Crown Prince who was personally directing the dig at the site.

Hopefully, the Crown Prince hadn’t heard what their Principal Officer had just said.

However, after digging for three two-hour periods, they found nothing that could possibly be what Zhang San was searching for.

After all, buried here were either the impoverished or slave servants of low social class; there were no valuable burial goods.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, there’s a discovery!"

Suddenly, one of the Eastern Palace guards finally unearthed something glittering with gold.

The Crown Prince immediately ran over, excitedly slipped and fell in the mud, but he immediately got up, grabbed the item, and saw that it was indeed a Token, bestowed by Emperor Kaihuang.

Could this be the Token Zhang San was searching for!?

Then, someone nearby said, "Your Highness, this Token was found on this corpse, and there’s another smaller, child-sized corpse nearby."

The Crown Prince, looking at the Token in his hand, laughed and said, "Good! Zhang San must have wanted to find this Token, otherwise, why would he dig graves? Continue the search, see if there are other clues nearby."

Saying this, the Crown Prince turned to the guard standing there eagerly watching him and laughed, "Rewards! Promote to Deputy Commander of the Guard!"

The mud-smeared guard hesitated for a moment, then wiped the mud from his face and said, "Your Highness, it’s me. I am already the Deputy Commander of the Guard."

"Oh, that’s fine then."

Deputy Commander of the Guard: ???

Just then, someone shouted, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, we’ve found traces of a Rune Array nearby, but it’s been partly destroyed."

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince thought of Zhang San as the mastermind behind the Floating Corpse Case, and commanded, "Everyone back off, from now on, no one come near. Have the Magistrate of Metropolitan prefecture send someone to inspect and see if these rune formations are the same as those in the Floating Corpse Case!"