Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Miao Ying gave Zhao Yu a lecture. She said, “Although they did arrest a bunch of guys that were making counterfeit relics and providing loan shark services, in regards to the Tomb Murder Case, they really did lose their dignity.”
When each branch was looking closely at everyone’s movements, the Rongyang Branch employed huge forces to investigate the Tomb Murder Case. However, they made a mistake and had only arrested an illegal organization that was making counterfeit relics. Hence, it was definitely embarrassing for that snafu to be spread around!
There were two main reasons for this. Firstly, Flower Market Street wasn’t under Rongyang Branch’s jurisdiction. Secondly, investigating the counterfeit items was not included in the police detective’s orders for duty. Thirdly, the people were bashed up terribly, which made it difficult for them to give any explanations to the higher ups!
So, Miao Ying had to spend a lot of effort in order to clean up Zhao Yu’s mess. Hence, Captain Miao, of course, now wanted to complain!
But, Zhao Yu wasn’t bothered by Miao Ying’s lecture. In his opinion, he had arrested a bunch of criminals, so it was considered as still being a great thing. After all, he had removed some of the evils from among the people.
Also, because of the miracle system, Zhao Yu had hope. He went into the interrogation room to interrogate Fat Sausage and the rest of the gang personally. He even used his last lie detector in the process. However, he did not manage to get any information regarding the Tomb Murder Case.
Through the lie detector’s verification, Fat Sausage and the others were only in charge of making counterfeit relics. Their circulation channel was the antique market, so it didn’t overlap with the grave robbers at all. Hence, the Tomb Murder Case had no connection at all with them!
Following the interrogation, the police detectives were busy for the rest of the night. Although they had arrested a criminal organization, it still had not helped with the tomb murder case at all.
After sunrise, another two pieces of relevant news came in, one after another. ..
Firstly, the police detectives did not find any suspicious vehicle through the surveillance video that Yunyang County had provided. Although there were a few trucks that might have been used to carry stolen goods, when they had investigated the license plates, all were certified and ruled out.
Secondly, regarding the lost report of the three old experts, it also led to a dead-end. The three of them had done their homework beforehand. They hid away from the surveillance camera and did not leave any traces behind. No one know where the three of them went.
Attempts at tracing them via surveillance video did not work, so the police detectives from the municipal bureau had to use the human relationships of the victims to try to find a new breach. But, that would require door-to-door visits, which would take time. Therefore, there wouldn’t be any new clues anytime soon.
Hence, each branch that was determined to resolve the case had to use their own new and creative methods to continue investigating. In the morning, the rain lessened in intensity, but still showed no signs of stopping. It was supposed to a hot summer day, but the rain brought a chilly breeze that made people feel uncomfortable.
Although Zhao Yu did not get any new clues about the Tomb Murder Case, following what happened with Fat Sausage, he suddenly had a new train of thought. According to Captain Miao Ying’s orders, Zhao Yu was mainly placed in charge of investigating suspicious cultural relics in order to see if he could find out any news regarding the grave robbers through the cultural relics!
So…
Zhao Yu naturally had to focus on “cultural relics”. But, whenever these two words came up, Zhao Yu would think about the head of the underground black merchant in the Depth in Breath Gymnasium, Li Mengqi!
Due to the bank robbery case, the underground black market under Li Mengqi was uncovered by the police. As she was accused of multiple violations, she was being held captive in the detention center, awaiting her trial.
According to Li Mengqi’s confession, her underground black market was one of the biggest in Qinshan. Thus, any higher level stolen goods would have to go through her.
Then…..Would Li Mengqi know anything about the cultural relics from the Ming Dynasty tomb?
Recalling what happened back then, when the Mianlin Case had reached a bottleneck, Zhao Yu had visited experts in the prison. Through an introduction by the other kidnapper, they had managed to progress in the case investigation.
Then…This time, can we repeat a similar success here?
There’s a saying “Stones from other hills may serve to polish the jade”, which means that wise men correct their own failings by learning from others’ faults. I wonder if Li Mengqi could give me some new updates or new ideas?
However, although Zhao Yu was not familiar with its exact inner workings, he knew the basic rules of the underground black market. If he were to visit out of the blue to interrogate Li Mengqi, she would not spill the beans easily.
So, Zhao Yu needed to do some homework first. Zhao Yu spent the entire morning preparing information and contacting staff in the detention center. Thus, it was already lunchtime by the time he got to the detention center to interrogate Li Mengqi.
Having been locked up in prison, Li Mengqi was not the arrogant lady boss that she had been back in the Depth in Breath Gym anymore. Her shoulders slumped down and she looked lethargic. Her white sideburns made her look way older than she actually was.
As expected, when Zhao Yu made clear the purpose of his visit, then asked her where would people go to sell or trade the unearthed relics, Li Mengqi pretended to be completely dumb. She then tried to divert the issue, saying that she didn’t like to talk about things that were gloomy.
But, she finally began to open up. She explained that, ever since she started the underground black market, she hardly had any communications with the grave robbers. She also said that the grave robbers were very smart. She explained further that the types of ancient tomb relics they dealt in would normally be sold outstation.
What Li Mengqi said was exactly what Zhao Yu had been worried about. Although, after the case, the municipal bureau ran traffic control to check the vehicles that came in and out strictly. But such high level grave robbers normally had their own transporting channels. Hene, the bunch of unearthed relics that were excavated from the prefect’s tomb might have already left Qinshan.
“Stop the nonsense, sis!” Zhao Yu smiled when he said this. “Your trading circle was the biggest in Qinshan, so even if you don’t like talking about gloomy things, as a big player in the market, you must have heard something! Look, I came with sincerity today. You heard about the Tomb Murder Case, right? If you were to help the police to find new clues, there would only be benefits for you, not harm!”
He continued begging for her help. “See, in no time, you would be at trial! I think you are already clear with the unavoidable results of your trial’s ending! So, this is a good opportunity to win back at least some honor! If you were to perform deeds of merit now, it could even perhaps help to reduce your sentence!”
“Humph!” Li Mengqi sent a death glare to Zhao Yu. “If it wasn’t for you, would I be here now? You said you came here with sincerity, but from what I see, you only came here for yourself!”
“Hey! That’s unfair! You can’t put it that way…”
Zhao Yu said the words of chagrin, but inside, he was actually thrilled. This meant that Li Mengqi most likely knew something!
“Police officer, what do you want me to do? I don’t know anything! I don’t care about any Tomb Murder Case!” Li Mengqi was obviously getting a little emotional.
“You could introduce me to a few masters regarding the appraising of the cultural relics! If the grave robbers were to sell of trade the items, they would have to find some experts to evaluate them, right?”
Zhao Yu continue to speak, “And, besides your underground black merchant, who else is big enough to take in such a great deal of such unique items?”
“Hehe…” Li Mengqi smiled coldly. “That’s a joke! To decrease my sentence, you want me to betray my people and colleagues of the same trade? Robbers have codes and values, too. Even if I get a life sentence, I couldn’t betray anyone like that! Plus, I have family! If I were to point them out to you, then what about my family?”
Not skipping a beat, Zhao Yu took the opportunity to show Li Menqi the photo he had pre-loaded in his phone. In the photo, there was a beautiful young lady. The young lady was Li Mengqi’s daughter.
“You?!” She saw Zhao Yu holding her daughter’s photo as he spoke, suddenly furious. She slammed the table and asked, “You! What do you want to do?”
“Don’t panic! Listen to me…” Zhao Yu smiled maliciously. “Your daughter goes to a university in the States, so I know that the expenses there are really high! I wonder how she manages her living expenses and tuition fees? I also wonder, would there be a shadow account or something of that sort funding this?”
He was slowly connecting the dots for her. “Oh, and I just found out that our nation has a way to freeze the overseas bank accounts of any suspects! So, if they managed to find out that your daughter’s source of financial aid was related to you and any illegal doings… Tsk tsk…”
“I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you!” Li Mengqi understood what Zhao Yu meant, so quickly pleaded, “What do you want to know? I’ll tell you everything! But please, don’t do anything to my daughter! She’s young and is in a foreign country all by herself. If she were to lose her financial support, I…”
Li Mengqi was already sobbing at the mere thought…
