Gu Wangchen took the interrogation records from Thousand-man Commander Nie Ling and flipped through them casually.
“Commander Nie, many of these questions you’ve asked are quite pointless. Asking what time they left their houses, what time they reached the porridge shed, and even whether today’s porridge was salty enough?”
Seeing Gu Wangchen question her professional expertise, Nie Ling immediately responded, “Lord Gu, these are all necessary pieces of information. We cross-examine different people with the same questions to fully reconstruct the crime scene, especially one as chaotic as this.”
“Reconstruct the scene? Is there a need for that?” Gu Wangchen slapped the records against the tight Bi’an pattern covering Nie Ling’s chest and questioned her. “All I want is to catch the attackers and dig out the mastermind, not a minute-by-minute description of every detail.”
Nie Ling’s dark brows furrowed. She took back the records and replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, “It is necessary.”
As a Thousand-man Commander of the Demon Suppressing Division under the Jingting Guard, she was specialized in major cases. She had personally solved and made arrests in countless incidents involving human malice, the demon race, and even demonic cultivators.
With her experience and her strength at the 6th Realm, there had yet to be a case she couldn’t crack.
Did this guy, who didn’t have a single trace of True Qi in his body, have any right to question her professional standards?
If it weren’t for the fact that he was favored by the Empress Dowager and carried her golden token, she would have kicked this playboy aside long ago.
She didn’t know what Her Majesty the Empress Dowager was thinking. Of all the people she could have chosen, she chose Sheng’an’s number one playboy to solve the problem.
If Nie Ling were in charge, she was confident she could bring the attackers to justice within 3 days.
“I’ve said it already—these trivial details are useless,” Gu Wangchen snorted and spoke bluntly. “We only have 12… no, there are only 11 hours left now. We must close the case and catch the mastermind before 5:00 PM tomorrow.”
“12 hours? Why the rush?” Nie Ling’s brow tightened, her voice growing somber.
“The situation is urgent. If it weren’t, why do you think Her Majesty the Empress Dowager would choose me to be in charge?” Gu Wangchen walked up to her, eyeing her slender figure up and down before letting out a light smile. “Otherwise, wouldn’t it be better to let a veteran Chief Constable like you handle it?”
Upon hearing the title “Chief Constable,” Nie Ling’s pupils constricted. She quickly spoke up, “Lord Gu, please do not mention matters unrelated to the case.”
Seeing Nie Ling’s reaction, Gu Wangchen smiled calmly. He thought to himself that it was a good thing Xiao Wan had given him the dirt on this woman before assigning her to him; otherwise, she would have been difficult to manage.
From this perspective, he could see that Xiao Wan’s purpose in sending Nie Ling wasn’t to monitor or hinder him, but to actually provide help. She had even given him leverage over her, fearing that Nie Ling wouldn’t listen to him.
‘I previously misunderstood you, Auntie Wan!’
Setting his thoughts aside, Gu Wangchen glanced at Nie Ling, whose expression was grave as she seemed to be weighing her options. He spoke calmly.
“Fine, I won’t mention it. Commander Nie, regardless of what you did in the past, you only need to know that time is of the essence right now. You must cooperate with me unconditionally. Understood?”
“… I understand.”
“Good. Now, I ask, and you answer.”
“Please speak, Lord Gu.”
“First, were there any direct eyewitnesses who saw the attackers’ faces?”
“None.”
“Second, did anyone at the scene notice the accumulation of black fire oil?”
“… None.”
“That’s not right.” Gu Wangchen seemed to realize something and changed his line of questioning. “To cause an explosion of this scale, the amount of black fire oil required isn’t something a single person can carry. It was either prepared in the porridge shed in advance, or… it was carried by a dozen or so people simultaneously.”
“The probability of it being prepared in advance is low. If that were the case, it would mean all of Sheng’an has been infiltrated to the point of being a sieve. It would mean even the East Palace Guards under the Crown Princess’s command couldn’t be trusted. If they were that deep, they wouldn’t need to assassinate her here.”
Following his train of thought, Gu Wangchen paced back and forth, continuing his deduction. “This means they acted as a group. Each person carried a portion of the black fire oil and ignited it at the same time. Only then could they cause an explosion and fire of this magnitude, and only then would it be possible to injure the Crown Princess.”
“After all, the Crown Princess is a 6th Realm expert. With her True Qi manifested and spiritual energy protecting her body, a mere one or two jars of black fire oil wouldn’t be enough to hurt her.”
At this point, he looked up at Nie Ling. “Commander Nie, when you were questioning them, did you notice anything unusual about the survivors?”
Hearing this, Nie Ling lowered her head in thought for a moment. Following Gu Wangchen’s logic, she discovered a problem she had overlooked.
Just as Gu Wangchen said, if the black oil had been stockpiled in or around the shed beforehand, the situation would be almost unsolvable, and there would be no point in investigating further. She didn’t believe the various institutions of Sheng’an had decayed to that extent yet.
Therefore, the scenario Gu Wangchen described was the most likely.
She had been following her past experience, questioning the survivors separately and cross-referencing their answers to distinguish truth from lies.
But what if… those survivors didn’t just consist of innocent bystanders, but also accomplices of the attackers who were there to mislead them?
Linking this to the 12-hour limit Gu Wangchen mentioned, Nie Ling felt this possibility was extremely high.
The attackers… had definitely planned this for a long time!
Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but look at Gu Wangchen, the man known as Sheng’an’s number one playboy, once more.
‘Was this guy just lucky, or does he actually have a talent for investigation?’
“So, has Commander Nie figured it out?”
Seeing Nie Ling’s look of sudden realization, Gu Wangchen asked casually.
“Lord Gu, what you said… indeed makes sense. I was stuck in a narrow mindset.” Nie Ling bowed slightly, cupping her hands in a respectful salute.
There was no shame in this. Although she had experience, it didn’t mean she was immune to mistakes. If anything, Gu Wangchen’s words had opened up a new line of thinking for her.
She had always analyzed cases with a detailed gaze and mind but hadn’t elevated her perspective to a higher level. That was why her investigation had just stalled.
Indeed, although she had diligently questioned the survivors, she hadn’t obtained any useful intelligence. Looking at it now, her premise had been wrong from the start.
“Commander Nie should know what to do next better than I do,” Gu Wangchen prompted again.
“Naturally. I will go and re-interrogate those survivors.”
“Mm, that’s good.” Gu Wangchen glanced at Sikong Yue, who had been dazed through the entire exchange, and formed a plan. He called out to stop Nie Ling once more. “Commander Nie, wait a moment.”
“Does Lord Gu have further instructions?”
“We will split into two groups. You stay here and continue searching for clues at the scene and from the survivors. As for me…”
He looked at Sikong Yue and Wei Yang behind him. “I will take the only eyewitness we have and follow the clues to scout ahead.”
“Sikong Yue, you know the exact direction they fled and what they were wearing, right?”
Sikong Yue nodded. “I know! Ever since I started my second bowl of porridge, I felt those guys were acting sneaky, so I kept an eye on them. I didn’t expect my hunch to be right!”
“Excellent. So, Commander Nie, do you have any objections to my arrangement?”
Nie Ling looked at Gu Wangchen, who had no True Qi fluctuations, and then at Sikong Yue and Wei Yang, who were both at the 4th Realm. “Lord Gu, do you need to take more men with you?”
“No need. Just the three of us. A large group makes for a big target; it wouldn’t be good to alert the enemy.”
“True.” Nie Ling nodded in agreement. “I have no objections to your arrangement, Lord Gu. Please prioritize your own safety. After all… you are the person chosen by the Empress Dowager.”
“Thank you for your concern, Commander Nie.” Gu Wangchen smiled calmly.
“Alright, Sikong Yue, lead the way.”
“Follow me!”