F{h*F 5"+ V hapter 92 Battle of Magic_3
“Hmm, indeed, you’re right to consider it that way.”
Li Lei nodded, “So, I will bring you some copies of the case files tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Uncle Li.”
“What’s there to thank, kid.”
The relentless rain that had persisted for days finally stopped, and the weather in Xing City began to clear.
At night, the streets of Qingyuan District were bustling with people.
During the past several days, the large-scale search operation had filled the streets of Qingyuan District with Inspectors, forcing many entertainment venues to close temporarily.
Now that the Green-faced Ghost had been captured, the joint operation by the Inspection Bureau, Zhi Ge Court, and Righteous Court also came to a halt. Customers who had been holding back for days couldn’t resist any longer and flooded out, bringing life back to Qingyuan District.
In Qingyuan District, besides Qingyuan Fist Village, there was another famous establishment—the opium den.
But opium was strictly prohibited by the court, so unlike the gambling dens and brothels, the opium den couldn’t operate openly but had to stay hidden.
A rickshaw sped through a dimly lit alleyway, with the rickshaw puller’s legs pumping furiously; a passenger wrapped up tightly sat on board, and a burly man with a large saber in hand was running alongside.
Soon, the rickshaw stopped in front of a courtyard gate.
“Sir, we’ve arrived.”
The rickshaw puller steadied the vehicle and turned to speak.
“I’ve told you so many times, don’t call me Sir outside!”
The tightly wrapped man on the rickshaw scolded in a low voice.
The rickshaw puller bowed his head and stood to the side.
The man, accompanied by his saber-wielding guard, entered the courtyard gate and was quickly led through the small yard, entering another dark alley from the back door and then into another courtyard.
This courtyard contained many separate rooms filled with billowing smoke, with people inside smoking opium.
The man walked all the way into a study room and then unwrapped the cloth from his head and took off his coat.
His name was Shi Chen, a Forth Level Main Judge at the Court of Judicial Review and also the hidden owner of this secret opium den.
This secret opium den was opened with the support of the Tiger Saber Gang and delivered a substantial amount of profits to the gang every year!
The nominal manager of the opium den knelt down before Shi Chen, speaking anxiously:
“The incident happened suddenly, coinciding with the joint operation of the three institutions; that’s how we got caught.”
Shi Chen looked at him grimly:
“What exactly happened?”
So, the manager recounted the events of a few days ago:
A wealthy businessman came here to smoke opium and brought two prostitutes from a brothel with him.
Normally, this wouldn’t be an issue, but the businessman got carried away with the opium and ended up playing the two women to death!
In the Da Lan Dynasty, brothels were legal, and all prostitutes were recorded and managed by the Inspection Bureau, so the sudden death of two people was not a trivial matter.
However, similar incidents had occurred in this opium den before and had been promptly suppressed. But this time, it coincided with the joint operation of the three courts.
The opium den’s staff were caught by searching Inspectors while burying the bodies, making it impossible to cover up the incident any longer.
“Now, the two workers involved in handling the bodies are locked up in the Inspection Bureau’s prison. Although they have been with us for many years, they are implicated in a homicide case, and who knows when they might spill the beans. When that happens, this opium den…”
The manager knelt on the ground, fearfully looking up at Shi Chen.
Shi Chen’s expression remained dark:
“Send a message to those two workers in the Inspection Bureau’s prison. Let them take the blame for now, saying it was involuntary manslaughter. Once the Inspection Bureau hands them over to the Court of Judicial Review, I will take over the case and show leniency. Afterwards, we can arrange for them to earn merit while in prison, and they could be out in no more than a couple of years.”
“Yes, we owe that to you, Sir.”
“Let that rich businessman pay for all the bribes that need to be handed out!”
“I understand, Sir. I will make sure to squeeze a hefty sum out of him this time!”
Shi Chen nodded, intending to give a few more instructions, but suddenly a commotion erupted outside the room.
Shi Chen frowned and asked.
The door to the room was pushed open, and the guard who had accompanied Shi Chen in said in a panicked tone:
“Sir, it’s not good, the Green-faced Ghost has broken in!”
There will be another chapter at 12 noon, and from now on, these will be the two regular update times~