Xuanqing Guard

Li Qing’s assigned task was to protect Qin Xiuyuan’s household, while simultaneously conducting a search both above and below. The target wasn’t just the few members of the Qin Family’s Third Branch, but every possible suspicious account, letter, or document.

The Ministry of Justice’s thinking was actually quite simple—they knew the Xuanqing Guard and Prince Shou were now "joining forces" and showing signs of seizing investigative authority over the case, which must mean there’s intel they haven’t gotten hold of yet. Most likely, this information was handed to the Xuanqing Guard by Prince Shou. Otherwise, the Xuanqing Guard, who always kept its distance from every prince, would never suddenly team up with him.

Protecting the Qin Family’s Third Branch wasn’t just about getting to search first—it also helped project an image to the outside world that "the Civil Servant Group is dead set on defending the families of their colleagues." Meanwhile, weren’t you Xuanqing Guard frantically trying to take people away? I simply won’t let you take them! It’s just a matter of stalling—who doesn’t know that trick? Consider it Xue Gui’s payback for Shen Hao and Jiang Cheng’s deliberate evasion and difficulties they caused him.

Just now, she’d shoved that deputy called Wang Yiming back, and the disgruntled look on his face gave Li Qing a huge sense of satisfaction.

The Xuanqing Guard people really were too infuriating. Like vipers lurking in the grass—unclear but never to be underestimated, striking out at any careless moment. What was originally a straightforward case had now been completely twisted out of shape.

Unfortunately, however, the people who’d followed Wang Yiming returned and reported that he’d gone back to the Jingxi Town Governor’s Office, hadn’t gone elsewhere, and hadn’t seen any trace of Shen Hao.

Where did that Shen bastard hide himself? Or could it be he’s been holed up in the Jingxi Town Governor’s Office military quarters this whole time? Li Qing really wanted to dig three feet underground to drag that asshole out and thrash him. She hadn’t seen her own Lord Xue this furious in years.

"Sir—bad news!"

Just as Li Qing’s thoughts were drifting, a plainclothes governmental official rushed in from outside Qin Xiuyuan’s mansion. Li Qing recognized him—he was the one previously assigned to shadow Wang Yiming.

"What’s happened?"

"Sir, it’s terrible—the Xuanqing Guard has surrounded Lord Qin’s mansion and are inside searching for Qin Xiangyu!"

"Lord Qin? You mean the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Qin Wenhe’s house?!"

"Yes sir, I watched Wang Yiming lead people over, and by the time I turned around, they’d already smashed open the gates of the Qin Mansion."

"How dare they... Shit! Qin Xiangyu! Qin Xiangyu is Qin Xiuyuan’s daughter. The Xuanqing Guard has the guts to come to Qin Xiuyuan’s mansion for an arrest, so they of course have the guts to go to Qin Wenhe’s mansion and arrest Qin Xiangyu! This..."

"Sir, what should we do?"

"Leave a few behind to keep searching—the rest of you, follow me! We can’t let the Xuanqing Guard walk out with her so easily!" Li Qing dashed out while calling out to her subordinates to whistle and gather, simultaneously using the Thousand-Mile Sound to report the situation to Xue Gui.

Li Qing moved fast—by the time she received Xue Gui’s Thousand-Mile reply, she had already left Qin Xiuyuan’s home with most of her people, racing toward the Qin Family’s First Branch residence.

On the way, she opened the Thousand-Mile Sound and saw just a few words, but they chilled her to the bone: Beware ’luring the tiger out of the mountain’!

"Damn it! Go back!" Li Qing’s heart dropped, a bad feeling instantly filling her mind. She activated her body technique and rushed back the way she’d come.

But... still too late.

When Li Qing returned to the front gate of Qin Xiuyuan’s home, she found that the few people she’d left behind were now all outside, forcibly squeezed out, while several knife-wielding Xuanqing Guard Black Banner Battalion soldiers stood watch at the entrance, allowing no passage.

Just minutes ago under Major Case Department control, the Qin Xiuyuan mansion had changed hands. The moment Li Qing left, dozens of Black Banner Battalion soldiers who had long been waiting in the alley swept in, instantly snatching control.

Now, reclaiming the authority over Qin Xiuyuan’s mansion was nearly impossible unless Li Qing dared attack these Black Banner Battalion soldiers—otherwise, she’d be facing the same embarrassing predicament as Wang Yiming earlier.

"Shameless!"

Besides shouting "shameless," Li Qing really didn’t know how else to describe these Black Banner Battalion bastards. Just for the sake of grabbing investigative authority over the case, they’d deployed tactics like ’luring the tiger out of the mountain’ commonly used in military battle arrays. Did they really see us as enemies now?

"Constable Li, please don’t be angry. Vice Officer Wang left word. Once the arrests are made, all documents from the Qin Mansion will be stamped for you to take away. We all have to file case dossiers—mutual understanding would be best, wouldn’t it?"

"Utterly shameless! What right do you have to arrest Qin Xiuyuan’s family? You don’t even have investigative authority! This is nonsense! If you don’t want to face charges for exceeding your authority, you’d best back off right now, or you’ll regret it!"

The Black Banner Battalion Xiaoqi leading the squad wasn’t at all intimidated by Li Qing’s threats. The Xuanqing Guard and Ministry of Justice were entirely separate tracks, so Li Qing lecturing him on the law was a joke—he had absolutely no fear.

As for going physical? The Xiaoqi was certain she wouldn’t dare. If Vice Officer Wang hadn’t dared go after the Ministry of Justice, then swapping places, the Ministry wouldn’t dare either.

The Xiaoqi smiled, cupped his hands politely to Li Qing, and then turned to shout into the chaotic, tearful courtyard, "Move quickly! Don’t miss a single one!"

"You—!" Seeing him ignore her entirely, Li Qing was so furious she nearly struck out.

But... a wave of footsteps resounded loudly from beyond.

From the east, dozens of Ministry of Justice Major Case Department governmental officials approached; their aura alone marked them as cultivators, not ordinary men. Xue Gui led in front, the squad dispersed in formation, advancing swiftly with body techniques like galloping horses.

Meanwhile from the west, another squad arrived—this time, all in black robes with Yanji Sabers, the elite forces from Jingxi Town Governor’s Office, Jiang Cheng’s Personal Guard. From the overwhelming momentum, Jiang Cheng’s guards were clearly much more forceful than Xue Gui’s men—at least double, no exaggeration.

Both sides stopped at the entrance to Qin Xiuyuan’s mansion. Xue Gui demanded their purpose in a deep voice, but Jiang Cheng’s Personal Guard said nothing, obeying orders to form a defensive battle array at the entrance, making it clear: come any closer and you’ll be met with drawn blades.

Xue Gui’s face under the mask turned livid. He was always called a "martial man," and although part of the civil servant system, plenty disliked him and called him a brute. But today, he felt these obstinate, unreasonable Xuanqing Guard people were the true brutes—never communicating, simply taking a stance: fight or leave.

Thankfully, the standoff wasn’t prolonged. Including servants, there were just over thirty people in Qin Xiuyuan’s household; they were strung together like candied hawthorns, rope around their necks, hands tied behind, then led out in a long chain. The document stamping would take a bit longer.

"Wait—you can’t just take them—" Xue Gui never managed to cross the line the opposition had drawn, and could only watch as everyone was led away.

One misstep, and the whole game was lost.

The situation, once under control, changed abruptly due to Li Qing’s flawed response. Not only did they fail to protect Qin Xiuyuan’s household, but even Qin Xiangyu, staying at the Qin Family’s First Branch, slipped out of their grasp—now all in the Xuanqing Guard’s hands.