The Wen Family’s affairs are not suitable to be discussed with Wang Jian or Zhang Liao, as they involve many open and hidden struggles among the upper ranks of the Xuanqing Guard and the Temple Hall—Wang Jian and Zhang Liao are not in that league, and saying too much would easily cause trouble.

Therefore, after leaving the Interrogation Chamber and making arrangements for the Black Banner Battalion’s upcoming matters, Shen Hao still went to find Tang Qingyuan.

The assessment Tang Qingyuan made earlier regarding the Wen Family was quite accurate, giving Shen Hao a lot of confidence.

Seeing Shen Hao approach, Tang Qingyuan dismissed several Flag Officers who were in his Public Office gathering information, then shut the door and instructed the guards outside not to let anyone in.

"How did it go?"

Shen Hao held nothing back, laying out the situation Wang Jian and Zhang Liao had analyzed. Skipping over the details for now, he was certain in his conclusion: there were definitely two separate groups that attacked the dungeon last night. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"I just went to see Wen Renhai. Originally, I wanted to check his condition and see if I could get any clues about the second group from him. But unexpectedly, I got an answer I hadn’t thought of before."

"Oh? Tell me."

Shen Hao collected his thoughts and continued, "I had been thinking that the ones who most wanted Wen Renhai dead would be those who had committed some dirty deeds and happened to be found out by him, such as the Jingbei Army. That fits the concept of a ’murder for profit and to cover up a grudge.’ Moreover, the Jingbei Army has countless experts under its command—even though I haven’t looked into it deeply, I’d imagine there must be some dedicated assassins and sabotage specialists among them. They definitely have the skill and guts to launch a sudden attack on us, the Xuanqing Guard."

"However, while Wen Renhai did mention the Jingbei Army, they’re not, in his view, the ones who most want to see him die in prison. Wen Renhai believes that the person who stands to benefit the most and most hopes for his death is his elder brother, Wen Renqing."

At this, Shen Hao paused, noticing the "surprised yet not unexpected" expression on Tang Qingyuan’s face. Clearly, he had thought of this as well.

"According to Wen Renhai, as soon as he dies, his eldest brother Wen Renqing will be guaranteed to become the Wen Family’s next patriarch. That’s why he suspects that after Wen Renqing learned their mother, Qin Yurou, was planning to mount a jail break to rescue her son, he secretly sabotaged the plan and took advantage of the chaos to go all the way and try to have Wen Renhai killed."

Tang Qingyuan nodded now and then as he listened. He was a man of some experience; while not deeply versed in the infighting of great families, he certainly wasn’t unfamiliar with it and had heard plenty. Moreover, Wen Renhai’s speculation was perfectly reasonable—his elder brother Wen Renqing indeed had both the motive and the means.

But Shen Hao still felt something was off.

"What is it? You think Wen Renhai’s account doesn’t add up?" Tang Qingyuan, of course, picked up on the note of doubt in Shen Hao’s tone.

"Yes, somewhat. My lord, don’t you think Wen Renqing wouldn’t need to take such a big risk and move against Wen Renhai at this critical moment? A Wen Family junior who’s always stirring up trouble and has finally put the entire clan in the fire—is he even qualified to be the Wen Family patriarch? Surely not, right?"

"If Wen Renhai is unlikely to continue as the Wen Family’s successor, what reason does Wen Renqing have to kill him?"

Shen Hao’s earlier misjudgments regarding the Wen Family were mostly due to a lack of firsthand understanding of the great families of this world. But now, he’d started to catch on. When it came to concrete doubts, his thinking was still sharp; a quick mental turn and he could spot the oddities.

"True. So you’re saying you lean more toward the second group of attackers being sent by the Jingbei Army?" Tang Qingyuan directly nodded, agreeing with Shen Hao’s logic. Indeed, after this debacle, Wen Renhai could never again qualify as successor to the Wen Family and thus posed no further threat to Wen Renqing.

In contrast, the Jingbei Army—this massive force—would have more motivation to carry out an attack: If they kill Wen Renhai, who knew about their illegal arms trading, would the Wen Family dare to expose them? As long as they were careful and left no evidence for the Xuanqing Guard to find, wouldn’t they be able to sleep soundly?

However, Shen Hao furrowed his brow and shook his head.

"My lord, the Jingbei Army does indeed have the motive, but Wen Renhai reminded me of something I’d previously overlooked."

"And what was that?"

"That internal conflicts within the Wen Family are actually quite bloody. Blood ties don’t mean leniency—they just hide the bloodshed out of sight."

"And then?"

"Then I started thinking, actually, aside from the Jingbei Army, there’s another faction eager to see Wen Renhai dead—the Wen Family itself."

"What do you mean?"

"My lord, think about it: Wen Renhai’s scandal lands the Wen Family right in the middle of the upper-level political struggle. If they try to rescue him, they’re voluntarily wading into the fray and becoming a battleground. No matter who wins or loses, the Wen Family will suffer. But if they don’t rescue him, Wen Renhai is too important—he knows too many secrets of the Wen Family. Coupled with the Xuanqing Guard’s usual methods, the family can only worry that he’ll spill the beans."

"They can’t save him, but they can’t just stand by either. So the best option... is to kill him. In fact, compared to the Jingbei Army, the Wen Family might want Wen Renhai dead even more—maybe even desperately so."

As soon as Shen Hao voiced this suspicion, he left Tang Qingyuan momentarily stunned.

The Wen Family not only refusing to save their own but risking everything to clean their own house?

At first, it sounds wild, but when you think about it—it really could be possible.

After a pause, Shen Hao continued, "If we take this speculation further—could it be that Qin Yurou’s reckless decision to sneak out of the Wen Family and rescue her son on her own was because she’d already learned that the Wen Family planned to clean house?"

Tang Qingyuan had fully caught Shen Hao’s meaning.

"You mean you want to put this in the case report?"

"That is my intention, sir."

Tang Qingyuan smiled knowingly, nodded, and said, "Lord Jiang said before that our Li City Black Banner Battalion was to conduct the actual investigation, but the general direction must be set by Lord Jiang. You have a good idea; use this line of thinking, draft the report, and submit it up the chain. I imagine Lord Jiang is probably anxiously waiting for this first-hand intel."

"Heh heh, as long as you agree, sir. I’ll take my leave and aim to send in the first report before the shift ends."

"Good. And remember to properly arrange the ten experts Lord Jiang sent in support—don’t neglect them."

"Rest assured, sir. I understand."

Shen Hao left Tang Qingyuan’s Public Office and returned to his own place. The first thing he did was urge Wang Jian to finish the initial draft of the case report as soon as possible so he could then edit it. Once it was ready, he would have it expedited up the chain, just in time for the evening shift change.

When he pushed open the door, Wang Jian seemed to have been waiting outside for a while.

"Something wrong?"

"General Flag, the ten experts sent in support from the Thousand Households Station have all arrived. According to your instructions, they’re stationed around Wen Renhai for protection. However..."