Ch. 542 - Jade in the Furnace

| Zhou's backyard. |

Facing the position of the fire, a Grand Tutor's chair was placed, which was carried from somewhere. Qiu Yunfei sat on it with a calm face, and the four guards behind him lined up with their waist knives and wild goose wings, with an indescribable sense of solemnity.

Under the overwhelming aura, the Yamen officers at the survey site were all trembling with fear. Not to mention shouting like usual, they didnt’ even dare to breathe a sigh of air, and even handled clues lightly.

This eerie investigation work lasted from morning until noon and most of the places in the fire that might have hidden clues had already been thoroughly rummaged through. Even a few burnt sheet music books were called upon by the pianist to carefully review them to ensure that there were no hidden secrets.

It was a meticulous investigation that lasted for over two hours but still yielded nothing.

In the second quarter of the afternoon, even with those four great guards in the formation, the patience of the servants had already worn away. Idle workers, whispering, and two team leaders simply approached Zhao Wuwei to speak.

Zhao Wuwei couldn't ease his feelings, so he had to grit his head and leave the fire. In front of Qiu Yunfei, he bowed and said, "Inspector, you see everything that needs to be investigated is also..."

"Continue to investigate."

Before Zhao Wuwei could finish speaking, Qiu Yunfei bravely returned. However, considering Zhao Wuwei's recent troubles, he didn't show him any mercy.

Therefore, Qiu Yunfei added, "You have also seen the location of this study, which was in the most remote corner of this courtyard. Whether it was from the front or back door, it was not as close as the main house. If there was no special reason, why do thieves choose to set fire here instead of seeking distance?"

"Perhaps those two maids are cleaning and tidying up in the study..."

"Impossible."

Qiu Yunfei shook his head and said, "Yesterday, I followed Lord Sun to investigate and found that there were traces of half-cleaning in the living room of that house. According to Lord Sun's judgment, two people were cleaning with different tools at that time."

"So there must be something in this study that the killer wants to destroy!"

Even so, that thing was probably already burned!

Unfortunately, Zhao Wuwei only dared to say this in his heart and did not dare to argue logically in front of Qiu Yunfei.

He was waiting for the backfire scene, let his subordinates cheer up again, or at least deal with the unknown fire in the small Yamen today first.

Unexpectedly, just as he was about to turn around, he heard Qiu Yunfei's command and said, "Qiu Yi, go to the nearby restaurant to buy some wine and vegetables, and let the big guys fill their stomach first."

As he spoke, Qiu Yunfei raised his voice and promised the crowd, "As long as you guys are willing to work hard today, no matter if you can find any clues in the end, I will be the host tonight. We will go to the Baihua Building and have a good time!"

This promise was much more effective than Zhao Wuwei's empty words.

Before the words could be finished, they drew everyone to agree in unison.

Amidst the cheers, there was a discordant voice as Qiu Yi arched his hand and said expressionlessly, "The Grand Commandant has an order for us to stay without leaving your side."

The reason why Qiu Yunfei was unhappy today was that he had a disagreement with his father. Now that he has heard that Qiu Yi using his own father's orders to suppress others, he was very angry.

Rubbing against his chubby face, he stood up straight and squeezed out some ferocious wrinkles. He asked word by word, "Did my dad ever tell you to embarrass me in public?"

Without saying a word, Qiu Yi immediately knelt on one knee in front of Qiu Yunfei, only to hear a clatter of armor. It turned out that these four generals were all lined with soft armor under their spacious outer robes.

“I am willing to take the responsibility of being punished. Even if I died, I won’t dare take any reckless action."

Qiu Yi said these words expressionlessly, and the three other generals who came together were even more disrespectful in their expressions.

If it had been in the past, facing these few lifeless faces, Qiu Yunfei would have kicked them away earlier. However, after more than half a year of experience, he still made some progress. He gritted his teeth and glared at Qiu Yi, but he stubbornly refrained from taking action.

Of course, it was impossible for him to actively forgive Qiu Yi.

Fortunately, there was Zhao Wuwei nearby. Seeing Qiu Yunfei frozen there, he didn't know how to end the situation for a moment. He quickly stepped forward and tried to make amends, saying, "Don't worry. Why bother with some small matters? I'll have someone buy some food and bring it back."

As he spoke, he turned around and greeted, "Da Li, Zhang Ernao!"

The servants in the fire scene were also paying attention to the movements here. At this moment, they heard the call from Captain Zhao and quickly abandoned their current tasks, running over.

The two cowards ran forward, but then hesitated and stopped. Looking back at the incense burner they had just thrown in the corner, they turned around and turned back.

"Zhang Ernao!"

Zhao Wuwei shouted again, but when he saw Zhang Ernao ignoring him, he just held the incense burner and carefully examined it, his heart couldn't help but move.

Just as he was waiting over to see what was going on, Qiu Yunfei, who was standing beside him, quickly rushed closer and asked, "Why, what kind of mechanism does this incense burner have?"

"Returning to the Inspector."

Zhang Ernao saw that it was Qiu Yunfei who had personally arrived, so he quickly bowed and said, "I threw it casually just now, but I heard a crisp sound coming from inside as if something was hidden."

Upon hearing these words, Qiu Yunfei's heart was even more uplifted. He took a few glances at the copper incense burner and saw that the incense ash inside had been emptied, leaving nothing to be seen.

But if observed carefully, the bottom of this incense burner was unusually thick.

Qiu Yunfei raised it to his ear and shook it vigorously, only to find something hidden inside.

He just didn’t know if it was poured inside or if there was any mechanism that could open it.

As he was looking back and forth, Qiu Yi took the initiative to step forward and said, "Why don't you give this item to me?"

"Do you know how to open it?"

Qiu Yunfei gave the incense burner to Qiu Yi with suspicion, but saw Qiu Yi turn his head and leave the fire, walking nonstop for a moment, continuing to walk outside the courtyard.

"What do you want to do, scumbag?!"

Although Qiu Yunfei didn't think there would be any problems with the guards sent by his father, he couldn't help but want to catch up.

However, the remaining generals blocked Qiu Yunfei in front of him, and the leader advised him, "I don't know if there is any mechanism that can harm people in this incense burner. Please stay calm and leave it to Qiu Yi for disposal."

Qiu Yunfei finally felt relieved and watched as Qiu Yi disappeared outside the courtyard wall. He then looked around for a while before seeing him holding out the incense burner that had been divided into two sections.

"What's inside?!"

Qiu Yunfei quickly stepped forward to take a closer look, only to see that there were many fine powders in the interlayer of the incense burner, which looked like incense ash, but with a darker color.

Qiu Yunfei instinctively reached out and wanted to pick up some powder to verify what it was, but his fingertips touched a piece of thing.

"Eh?"

Qiu Yunfei pinched the thing out of the incense burner and shook off the black powder on top, only to realize that it was a piece of jade the size of a bird's egg, and there seemed to be some text carved on it, but most of it was covered in black ash and couldn't be seen clearly for a moment.

"Hurry up and fetch some water!"

With a command from Qiu Yunfei, a Yamen attendant immediately brought a bucket of well water over.

He personally washed the jade clean again and held it in his hand, reciting word by word, "First, eliminate evil, second, cure unjust diseases, and third, knowing misfortunes and blessings... Strange, why does it seem like I've seen this thing somewhere before?"

After reciting these words, Qiu Yunfei frowned unconsciously. He pondered for a while, but couldn't remember where he had seen them before. He remembered that there were also some words engraved on the back of the jade and quickly flipped over to look.

But what was engraved on the back was, “Supernatural Jade, not to lose or forget, Immortal Longevity and Everlasting Prosperity.

*Supernatural Jade?*

Seeing these words, Qiu Yunfei's mind flashed with lightning, and a baby face suddenly popped out of his mind!

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