"What do you mean by that?" Xue Gui collected his thoughts. He understood that Shen Hao’s words just now had returned to focus on the case itself. Now was not the time for other political maneuvering; it was more important to concentrate on the case.
"What I mean is actually the same as what Lord Xue meant. The previous investigations into this case went down the wrong path, which is exactly why there haven’t been any clues at all."
Xue Gui did not deny Shen Hao’s words. In fact, he agreed with them. To put it bluntly, this was the conclusion he and several top investigators from the Xuanqing Guard had reached together earlier. The question now, however, was that even though they knew the path they followed was wrong—where is the correct path?
"Do you have any ideas?"
Shen Hao shook his head and said, "No ideas. If we’re just relying on so-called clever tricks, I don’t think that’s realistic. You all must have already tried countless methods and angles, and since none succeeded, it means there’s truly no shortcut for this case. So I think it’s best to overturn everything and start from scratch."
"Start all over again?"
"Yes. Otherwise, it’s easy to fall into the trap of habitual thinking. Also, I’d like to begin immediately. I wonder if Lord Xue has any objections?"
The person died in the Ministry of Justice Prison; the autopsy, investigation, and more were all handled by the Ministry. So whatever Shen Hao was planning, he could not avoid the Ministry of Justice.
Xue Gui thought for a moment and nodded. "Alright. Lord Shen, where would you like to start?"
"First, let’s inspect the Celestial Prison scene; otherwise, I’ll have no sense of the place. After that, I’d like to speak with the prison guards."
"Very well, let’s go now. I hope Lord Shen discovers something."
With that, the two of them stood up and left Xue Gui’s public office, turning left as they headed toward the Ministry of Justice Prison. Xue Gui also called his deputy, Li Qing, ahead to handle the formalities at the Celestial Prison.
Compared to Xue Gui, whose expression was unreadable behind his mask, Li Qing’s attitude toward Shen Hao was openly hostile—calling it disgust was no exaggeration. She never once looked directly at Shen Hao, as if afraid her eyes would be tainted.
Shen Hao pretended not to notice Li Qing’s resistance. Though he was a petty man, he knew his boundaries; she was just an irrelevant woman, and there would be plenty of chances to deal with her in the future. If she ever fell into his hands, she would certainly learn his methods.
"This way, Lord Shen."
Before them stood a giant building behind the Ministry of Justice Commander’s Office, square and heavily guarded. From the outside, it was already filled with security checkpoints, and the fluctuations of arrays were clear—this place’s defensive system was no less strict than the Xuanqing Guard Thousand Households Station’s dungeon and might even be tighter.
Truthfully, walking into such a place, even Shen Hao felt a slight sense of oppression—after all, this wasn’t Xuanqing Guard territory.
Without hesitation, he followed behind Xue Gui, passing through several checkpoints before entering the prison’s interior. During this, Shen Hao saw Li Qing, walking ahead, produce three writs: one from the Minister of Justice, Ma Xuanlin; one from Xue Gui; and one, surprisingly, from the Xuanqing Guard Commander’s Office. It seemed that this visit by Shen Hao had essentially been communicated to all involved parties.
Though no one explained the surroundings to Shen Hao, the moment he entered, he could sense presences locking onto him, completely undisguised. Still, with his greatly improved cultivation, Shen Hao did not feel the least threat from these auras. He quickly made some judgments in his mind regarding all the arrangements here.
At least on the surface, this Ministry of Justice prison was indeed strict from inside out. The passageways, the mechanical designs, and the buffer zones between the different wards and security zones were all set up very reasonably, entirely comparable to the most secure cells within the Thousand Households Station.
Generally speaking, with such heavy security and dense arrays, trying to break in by force from outside would be almost impossible—even for a Profound Sea Realm cultivator. Therefore, Shen Hao still leaned toward believing that the perpetrator was more likely someone from within the Celestial Prison.
They reached the central security section, where three paths branched out. One led to the ordinary wards, one to the Celestial Prison, and the last to a special ward below the Celestial Prison.
"Wait a moment. Lord Xue, are the Celestial Prison and the special ward completely separated, or is there some internal passage?" Before entering the fork, Shen Hao suddenly paused to ask a question.
Xue Gui answered, "They’re completely separated. The Celestial Prison houses felons, while the special ward usually holds members of the royal family. To prevent unnecessary disturbance, they’re completely cut off from each other. Not only is there a wall, but also a defense array as a barrier. So, Lord Shen, you don’t need to suspect that anyone in the Celestial Prison tampered from inside."
Shen Hao wasn’t surprised that Xue Gui saw through his intentions, but he insisted, "I’d like to take a look inside the Celestial Prison. Please, Lord Xue, could you guide me?"
"Of course." Xue Gui did not refuse. They had already agreed to re-examine everything about the case from the beginning, so it was understandable that Shen Hao wanted to eliminate all possibilities himself first.
Following Xue Gui into the Celestial Prison, Shen Hao noticed that, although the prisoners here were classified as felons, compared to those held by the Xuanqing Guard, they were actually fairly "docile." Shen Hao even saw a few ordinary people without any cultivation here. It became clear that the "felons" here were felons by law—different from the Xuanqing Guard’s definition, which made sense.
According to Xue Gui’s direction, Shen Hao thoroughly inspected the Celestial Prison section twice, focusing especially on the area separated by just one wall from the special ward below.
No problems—at least, Shen Hao did not find any issues for now. This was consistent with the result that Xue Gui had previously described.
Having confirmed there was nothing noteworthy on the Celestial Prison side, Shen Hao and Xue Gui entered the special ward below together.
"Previously, only Prince Qian and Prince Jing were held here. Now that Prince Qian is dead, Prince Jing’s safety is also in jeopardy, so His Majesty has ordered Prince Jing to leave his cell and instead remain under house reflection."
"What about the contents inside? Nothing’s been touched, I hope?"
"Nothing. Everything is as it was when the crime occurred. Though, due to the guards’ negligence before, some of the arrangements in Prince Qian’s cell were rather messy. The rest is fine." By now, Xue Gui had lost his earlier indignation, swiftly assuming his role. He was thoroughly familiar with everything here and was eager to see how this Shen investigated a case.
Just as he had in the Celestial Prison above, Shen Hao meticulously inspected every corner of the special ward, entering at last the cell where Prince Qian had been held.
The bedding was in disarray, the furnishings simple. There were no bloodstains, no traces of a struggle, and even the air was free of any odd smells. In fact, this special area didn’t even have the usual musty stench of a prison at all.
"This was where the body lay. The prison guards who rushed in afterward moved it to the bed for first aid, which is why the bedding is so messy."
"Oh? So the messy bedding was caused by that?"
"Yes."
Shen Hao nodded, then carefully examined the two locations Xue Gui mentioned where the body had been moved, and finally sat himself down on the bed.