Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo'-Chapter 821 - 499: Soul Stabilization (Part 3)

Chu Er was startled: "Did I say something like that?"

Support Wen Hongyan nodded beside him: "You did say it. At that time, Li Qi sent people to deliver money, but you refused to accept it. You said the account wasn’t clear, and you had to find Li Qi and explain it face-to-face."

Chu Er looked at the ledger and calmly nodded: "It does need a face-to-face explanation, is Li Qi still at Bridge Yesong?"

Wen Hongyan didn’t answer, but looked at Yang Yanzheng.

Yang Yanzheng nodded: "He is still at Bridge Yesong, I estimate he’ll be back soon as well."

Chu Er pondered for a while and said: "This account can’t wait, I must go to Bridge Yesong to find him."

Yang Yanzheng hurriedly tried to dissuade her: "Miss, we are not in a hurry for this moment, Hundred Joy Gate’s income this month isn’t small, I’ll help you sort through it."

Chu Er waved her hand: "I have sorted through the Hundred Joy Gate’s account, go buy me a train ticket, I’ll go to Bridge Yesong tomorrow."

Yang Yanzheng picked up another ledger: "Qi Qiu City has also seen the return money, let’s calculate it together."

"That bit of money isn’t urgent to calculate, you hurry up with the train ticket matter."

"Miss, the business over at Loess Bridge, let’s discuss it further."

"What’s the matter?" Chu Er frowned, "Why are you interrupting me all the time? Is there something you’re hiding from me?"

Yang Yanzheng contemplated for a moment and confessed: "Miss, Bridge Yesong has been sealed by the Defense Agency, the train has stopped, no entry or exit allowed."

Chu Er was taken aback: "When did this happen?"

"Just these past couple of days, it’s said to be because of the Red Lotus matter."

Regarding the Red Lotus situation, Chu Er had heard, mainly because Xia Shumin made too much of a fuss.

"Didn’t Red Lotus get taken to the Outside Provinces by that Xia?"

Yang Yanzheng said: "The Defense Agency released some news. It’s said that when it was time to verify the goods in the Outside Provinces, the item was found missing. Xia Shumin lost face and led people back to search, starting from Bridge Yesong, now they’ve sealed off Bridge Yesong."

"Is Liao Zihui just letting Xia Shumin mess around like this?"

"Liao Zihui is still in the Outside Provinces receiving medical treatment, said to be injured by the Red Lotus, and now the entire Defense Agency is under Xia Shumin’s command."

Chu Er didn’t quite understand: "Xia Shumin lost the Red Lotus, yet he’s managing at the Defense Agency?"

Yang Yanzheng sighed and said: "This Xia Shumin is no simple character, this event won’t be small either."

Chu Er was silent for a moment and asked: "Will this matter implicate Li Qi?"

Wen Hongyan said: "Li Qi went to Bridge Yesong for business, and coincidentally all this happened there. To say it has nothing to do with him, I’m afraid no one would believe it either."

Yang Yanzheng quickly added: "The Seventh Master is a smart person. Things unrelated to him, he’ll surely be able to explain."

Chu Er shook her head: "If Xia Shumin gets fixated on Li Qi, it won’t help to say more, besides, Li Qi surely doesn’t want to talk much with them. How many people did he have with him when he went to Bridge Yesong?"

Yang Yanzheng said: "As far as I know, he didn’t bring many people. You know his personality too, he’s used to acting alone."

"What about Lu Chunying?"

"Lu Chunying accompanied Xiao Yeci back home for a familial visit, just brought a few supporters along."

"I heard He Yuxiu also went."

"He Yuxiu went there for business discussions, none are heading for a fight, so not many people are brought along."

Chu Er rubbed her forehead: "I always feel something big will happen this time, I must go to Bridge Yesong to see."

Wen Hongyan said: "How would you go, Bridge Yesong is completely sealed."

"I have a way," Chu Er got up and said, "Go gather the manpower."

...

At the Defense Agency, Xia Shumin was questioning Zheng Siyi.

Xia Shumin had been there for so many days, asking Zheng Siyi questions every day, Zheng Siyi had gotten used to it.

"Commander Xia, you’ve seen all the handover materials, the theft of the Red Lotus indeed has no relation to our agency."

Xia Shumin said: "Old Zheng, it’s not the time to assign blame now. I came to you this time to confirm three things. First, what was Chief Envoy Liao’s purpose for coming to Bridge Yesong?"

"Chief Envoy Liao came to inspect our work, I detailed it in my report."

"If it was just a routine inspection, why bring combat personnel?"

"This was arranged by the Chief Envoy, the specific reasons I don’t know."

Xia Shumin continued: "The second thing, Chief Envoy Liao had a confrontation with Chase the Light Group Boundless Camp, what was the reason?"

"It wasn’t a confrontation, it was mediation," this wasn’t unknown to Liao Zihui prior, Zheng Siyi had prepared for it, "Members of Chase the Light Group and two influential figures in Puluo State had a conflict, Chief Envoy Liao stepped in to mediate, and calmed the situation."

"Which two influential figures?"

"He Yuxiu and Li Qi, these two people I don’t need to introduce, you should be very familiar with them."

Xia Shumin nodded: "So you’re saying this matter is related to Li Qi."

Zheng Siyi couldn’t say it wasn’t related, otherwise he would be trapped. His response was: "Whatever grievance Li Qi had with Chase the Light Group, I don’t know, we only performed our duty, preventing the situation from further escalation."

Xia Shumin frowned: "Boundless Camp was almost entirely wiped out, and the situation isn’t big enough?"

Zheng Siyi calmly replied: "It was a necessary action, in this conflict, no civilians were harmed, our mediation work achieved very good results."

Xia Shumin took a pen, a pen with a Spirit Attribute, recording Zheng Siyi’s words word by word.

"The third thing, after I left, you sent people to guard the acquisition location of the Red Lotus. To my knowledge, one night the duty personnel didn’t go to the site."

Zheng Siyi was taken aback: "Such a thing happened? I must verify it thoroughly, if it’s true, duty personnel must be severely punished, I also bear certain responsibility."

No need to verify, Zheng Siyi knew everything clearly, that night Li Qi went to visit the Local Deity’s place, it was Zheng Siyi who provided the convenience.