Master of Strange Dao

This should be sufficient to support the Divine Country, fundamentally not requiring a River God to hold fort.

And it is stable enough.

Just hearing about it gave little feeling; only by personally coming here did one realize that finding the White Water Egg's base is like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Only with the manpower and resources of the Divine Dynasty can such a task be accomplished.

Yu Ziqing stepped into the Mother River, and with a thought, the sacred sound of the sages in the Earth Deity Origin slightly changed, and he disappeared in the river.

He directly entered the Earth Deity Divine Country left by the River God in those years.

Inside the Divine Country, just like the outside Mother River, it is said to stretch nearly a hundred thousand miles. Upon entering, the river is abundant with resources, filled with fish and aquatic products, and vaguely some demon qi with Earth Deity aura can be sensed now and then.

Yet more overwhelming is a sense of insubstantiality, a result of the Earth Deity Divine Country lacking the support of an Earth Deity.

Yu Ziqing walked in the river, moving upstream, with eyes closed, sensing everything here through the Earth Deity Origin.

He could feel that, if he wished to claim this unowned Earth Deity Divine Country, he could easily do so.

Then finding the White Water Egg's base would be as easy as turning over his hand.

But if he were to occupy it, the fate of Daqian Country would certainly sense an Evil God occupying the Earth Deity Divine Country without official decree.

He dared not expand the sensing range; too much would mean declaring occupation.

Following the river current upstream, reaching the realm of Kuihou Country, Yu Ziqing stepped out of the river, leaving the Earth Deity Divine Country.

Such matters are better left to Daqian to handle.

With Emperor Qian's temperament, if he wasn't trying to handle these White Water Eggs, there's only one possibility, he's also involved with them.

...

In the Jinyi Wei's prison, Song Chengyue personally came to interrogate, alone.

He took out a booklet, sketching on it here and there.

Painted Skin White Water Egg didn't understand what Song Chengyue was doing. They agreed on solitary interrogation, yet Song Chengyue didn't ask him a single question.

After quite a while, Song Chengyue took out the booklet, placed it before Painted Skin White Water Egg, and let him take a look.

"Sign off after you've read it."

Painted Skin White Water Egg was shocked after just one glance.

He hadn't said anything, so why did the records state he spoke of the Mother River and Earth Deity Divine Country?

He hadn't seen clearly, but vaguely he also saw, the Three Divine Dynasties' chaos, inviting the East Sea Sea Clan onto land, and more.

A whole heap of allegations, all confessed by the two of them.

"I haven't said anything."

"No, you have. Wishing for a quick death, you confessed all these without missing a word."

"Is this how Jinyi Wei handles cases?" Painted Skin White Water Egg was both shocked and angry.

He had only seen part of it, but could also confirm these matters did relate to them.

Another person said it?

But that death row inmate shouldn't have known these things.

Where did Song Chengyue get the confession from?

"Jinyi Wei handles cases based on evidence, and these are the evidence."

Song Chengyue glanced at Painted Skin White Water Egg with a smile and immediately averted his eyes.

He put away the booklet and summoned a trusted aide.

"Give them potions, don't let them die, let them sleep as long as they can."

Painted Skin White Water Egg was clueless, the Jinyi Wei couldn't get a word from him, so they just soaked him in a medicinal vat.

Seeing the two White Water Eggs fall unconscious, Song Chengyue finally gave instructions.

"Go, quietly swap their positions."

Song Chengyue left the death cell with the evidence.

He came daily to personally interrogate, for several consecutive days.

He actually asked nothing, merely writing and drawing on his own.

He didn't need to ask; what he said became the confession, became evidence.

As long as Emperor Qian acknowledged it, the procedure could be adapted a bit.

He wasn't in a hurry to report to Emperor Qian, continuing to trace the investigation. Only after another ten-plus days did he appear mournful at the palace city.

"Your Majesty, I have found part of the results through investigation and felt it necessary to report to Your Majesty first."

"Beloved official, your diligence is truly commendable."

"This is what I should do."

Song Chengyue handed over the memorial.

Emperor Qian opened it, and after just a glance, his gaze became abruptly cold.

The memorial clearly documented everything.

Due to this unexpected situation, Song Chengyue cautioned himself, consulting various dossiers and records.

He unearthed similar cases.

Involving the Crown Prince, involving the Queyan Sect.

Involving the Second Prince, involving Minister of Rites Bian Clan.

Also the Three Divine Dynasties' conflicts, East Sea and land conflicts, even involving Dadui.

Also involving Devils, involving Immortal Herbs.

Anyway, whatever could be involved, was involved.

Song Chengyue declared, for the sake of shielding his martyred subordinates, he hadn't pursued it further, leading to exploitation, and now it's impossible to fully investigate.

Investigating to this point, going further would turn everything on its head.

Prioritizing the stability of Daqian, he specifically came to request guidance.

Emperor Qian's eyes were cold, looking at the memorial's records, his anger building.

This matter of swapping the death row inmate is definitely related to the Crown Prince.

Unexpectedly, it's not the first time, the Crown Prince was involved, and so was the Second Prince.

Emperor Qian set down the memorial, drooping his eyelids, remaining silent for a long time, then opened his eyes towards Song Chengyue.

"What do you think, beloved official?"

"I have currently found no evidence of the Princes' involvement." Song Chengyue replied.

"But I have captured someone, a core member of the Jiang Clan, who knows about this and was personally involved."

"And the bandit's lair is roughly pinpointed, within the Earth Deity Divine Country of the Mother River."

"And without a River God in the Mother River, there's no one to balance them out."

"What else?"

"There's one more thing, I am guilty, please punish me, Your Majesty." Song Chengyue knelt to the ground with a thump.

"I inadvertently, in a moment of neglect, allowed two key suspects to escape on the fifteenth of this month."