Gong Chaoqun simply couldn’t find a reason not to accept this grand gesture.
He wasn’t required to rack his brain solving cases in his official capacity, allowing him to wrap things up easily and make a good account of himself to both the court and the public—this tale was too perfect and of the kind that the masses were eager to accept.
In terms of the situation, although it might not significantly impact the entire Maitreya Sect, it could at least contain the situation in Yangzhou. Otherwise, with the Magistrate and the Cao Gang riddled with Maitreya followers, Gong Chaoqun was genuinely worried that by the time he woke up the next day, Yangzhou would have changed its allegiance, and his own head would be cut off to adorn the flag.
In terms of justice, killing barbarians was a righteous act.
In fact, this garbage of a Magistrate was in cahoots with the Maitreya Sect, making his job of the Demon Suppression Department investigating the sect incredibly difficult. He had long wanted to kick this bastard to death, and it could be said that the Magistrate’s death was a gift in itself.
No matter how he looked at it, it was all so perfect that he wanted to hug the real perpetrator and give them a kiss for committing such a considerate crime.
As for finding the real criminal being his true responsibility?
Well, Zhao Changhe would find them anyway.
Seeing that Gong Chaoqun clearly could not reject this grand gesture, Zhao Changhe smiled and said no more, indeed it was a choice anyone would make.
What he didn’t say out loud, knowing it was useless to mention, was this: Have you considered why the murderer was so considerate? What benefit does plotting every move bring to him? Is it merely to kill without being held accountable? Even if you didn’t arrange it this way, it would be very difficult to find out who you are.
Gong Chaoqun was a veteran of serious case squads; it was impossible for him not to think of these things. But upon weighing them, the benefits were too obvious, he didn’t want to bother with anything else.
Yue Hongling didn’t have any better ideas either; whether dealing with the Maitreya Sect or the barbarians was something she relished. As for the real culprit, she could always help Changhe investigate afterwards. Finally, she said, "I discovered the base of the Maitreya Sect a few days ago, located ten miles east of the city at the White Lotus Temple."
"Indeed, it’s there! I’ve long suspected it, but was thwarted and concealed by the Magistrate at every turn." Gong Chaoqun declared with enlightenment, "Today, I will root out the Maitreya Sect in Yangzhou!"
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The Magistrate’s assassination case was solved within an hour.
The Magistrate’s concubine, detected by the Demon Suppression Department to be a Heavenly Girl of the Maitreya Sect, confessed under interrogation that she used secret techniques of the Maitreya Sect to control the Magistrate and drain his True Yuan;
Furthermore, she confessed that under her control and seduction, the Magistrate intentionally acted on various pretexts, resulting in a great number of families being ruined and then recruited by the Maitreya Sect to bolster its followers;
Various forms of exploitation, the seized silver taels fattened not only the Magistrate himself but also the Maitreya Sect.
—These were the true facts.
Even the initial descent into a life of debauchery and subsequent faith in the Maitreya Sect had occurred during this process.
The news broke and shocked Yangzhou, leaving countless Maitreya followers dumbfounded, including Ruyan, who was still entertaining guests at the Xiao Xiang Inn.
Of course, the spread of the news was a story for another time; the confessions of the Magistrate’s Heavenly Girl concubine were not just these.
She also confessed to seeing signs of the Magistrate breaking free from control. The Maitreya Sect, in a fit of evil courage, conspired with the barbarian Chi Li to secretly assassinate the Magistrate in his room at midnight.
This was of course improvised on the spot, its logic awaiting scrutiny, but nestled among the previous solid truths, no one pondered the flaws here. It goes without saying that Gong Chaoqun would later report to the Imperial court with additional fabricated details.
For now, it was sufficient to convince the Main General of the army.
In prosperous areas, the military discipline had long been lax, yet at least the forces had not been heavily infiltrated by the Maitreya Sect—this too was a major reason why the Maitreya Sect still felt the time wasn’t ripe to openly revolt.
Even the most lax military was still a military, and sheer numbers alone were a valuable asset.
The Maitreya Sect had so far operated as a social network within homes and had not formed a militarized organization, but when the army began a city-wide scourge to arrest Maitreya Sect followers, the sect was caught off guard and could hardly resist.
There was even spare force to send several hundred Strong Bow and Crossbow soldiers, along with over a hundred elite from the Demon Suppression Department, who, along with Zhao Changhe and Yue Hongling and others, charged directly towards the White Lotus Temple ten miles east of the city.
Today, Fa Yuan was restless within the temple.
He knew about the Magistrate’s assassination and the lockdown in the city, but this time the Demon Suppression Department’s blockade was extremely tight, and the outside world did not know the details of the assassination, nor that the Magistrate had died right in front of their Heavenly Girl’s gate.
In his heart, this was not the work of their Maitreya Sect, and it was nonsensical to evacuate everyone due to this minor change. Instead, he was worried that the Heavenly Girl at the Magistrate’s house might be discovered by the Demon Suppression Department and was thinking about how to rescue her.
There were plenty of other officials in the city who belonged to the Maitreya Sect followers, so pulling some strings to extricate the innocent Heavenly Girl should not be a problem.
In Fa Yuan’s mind, assassinating the Magistrate, who was nothing more than a bastard, was ludicrous. The Maitreya Sect had invested so much effort to turn the Magistrate to their side. He hadn’t enjoyed the benefits for long before the man died... Who knew what sort of person the Imperial court would send as the next Magistrate, and how long they would have to spend grinding away again?
If the Sect Hierarch had already taken action, it would be another matter; with the Magistrate dead, Fa Yuan himself could call out, the city would change color, and who would need the Magistrate? However, the Sect Hierarch had not yet made his big move, and now Fa Yuan was in a serious headache, neither advancing nor retreating seemed right.
Chi Li sat beside him, watching Fa Yuan pace back and forth. He said coldly, "If I may suggest, Master, either take decisive action now, seize control of Yangzhou, or immediately evacuate."
It seemed the rumors of the Maitreya Sect colluding with the barbarians were true. Chi Li, after being injured and fearing trouble, was not actually hiding in the Magistrate Mansion but in the White Lotus Temple.
Fa Yuan shook his head and said, "Your Great Khan has not yet raised his troops, and the Sect Hierarch here cannot respond. How can I possibly act alone in Yangzhou?"
"Then evacuate. Your Heavenly Girl is trapped in the Magistrate Mansion, and the Demon Suppression Department is not to be underestimated. You’d better not be optimistic and think you can still get her out. You should prepare for the worst, that she has already been discovered and controlled by the Demon Suppression Department."
"Even if they find out she’s the Heavenly Girl of our Maitreya Sect, that’s no cause to evacuate, is it?"
Chi Li had not expected the people of Central Earth to be so duplicitous, to pin the assassination on him and the Maitreya Sect, regardless of who the real culprit was. In his mind, the Magistrate’s death had nothing to do with him—he was one of their own, and Chi Li was outraged by his death.
But the sharp instincts honed through years of life-and-death struggles made him uneasy. He felt something was terribly amiss, but couldn’t quite pinpoint the reason right away.
Seeing Fa Yuan unconvinced about evacuating, Chi Li knew he couldn’t persuade him any further and simply stood up, saying, "Then we’ll be leaving first."
Fa Yuan was puzzled, "Why so sudden?"
Chi Li shook his head, "It’s just an instinct, like being stalked by a pack of wolves on the grasslands, I’m covered in goosebumps. Follow me if you believe me; if not, I have no reason to stay. Anyway, we are leaving now."
After speaking, he hurriedly left with Ba Tu and others.
Just shortly after his departure, the sounds of battle cries rose outside. Hundreds of Strong Bow and Crossbow soldiers surrounded the White Lotus Temple, and the elite of the Demon Suppression Department flooded in, with Gong Chaoqun leading the charge and kicking in the temple doors: "Zhang Banfu, come out and face your death!"