After Lu Huan finished looking through the recent robberies and fights in the capital, he felt that there was something strange about these cases.

If he really looked at the people that the Supreme Court had already arrested, these cases shouldn't have anything in common. It was just a few rioters suddenly causing trouble at different places at different times. Who could predict where it would happen next? If there was any countermeasure, it could only be to remind the people to pay attention to their own safety.

It seemed like there was no connection, but there was one detail that caught Lu Huan's attention. According to the records of the Supreme Court, the people in two of the cases were poor and destitute, but the location of the crime was in the inner city's West Market.

There were two large markets in the capital, the East Market and the West Market.

Because the West Market had a river that transported water, it had a lot of trade with Hu merchants. Over time, almost all of the items sold in the West Market were rare and strange beasts, gold, silver, and precious weapons. Only the people in the Imperial Palace and high officials and nobles could afford to buy them.

The East Market was connected by a heavenly street. It was the place where the people of the city would buy, trade, hold lantern festivals, and gather.

The land in the West Market was also expensive. Only the residences of important court officials could be located there.

Previously, Lu Huan was in Prince Ning Fu's residence. Because Prince Ning Fu had declined, his residence was located in a more remote area in the East Market.

In other words, most of the ordinary people bought good things at cheap prices in the outer city. Even if they had some money on hand and could be considered half a rich person in the capital, they would at most go to the East Market to buy some supplies.

After all, most of the people coming and going in the West Market were the children of noble officials. If they accidentally bumped into them, they would lose their lives.

Thus, these two criminals clearly had poor families, but they still committed crimes in the West Market. This was very strange.

What were they doing in the West Market on the day of the crime?

Lu Zhuo ordered two of his subordinates to secretly investigate the matter.

They didn't investigate what the owners of the wine shops and brothels around the West Market said on the day of the crime.

The Supreme Court should have already investigated this before they were able to arrest the criminals and bring them to justice.

These people were also very easy to bribe, so it would be a waste of effort to ask them again.

He asked his men to investigate all the people who entered and left Xi City on the day of the cases.

There were many people in Xi City and the jurisdiction was not strict. This was extremely difficult to investigate and required the cooperation of the Ministry of Revenue.

Therefore, it took Lu Huan two days to get the file.

He asked his subordinates to pick out the people who were in Xi City on the days when the cases happened.

In this way, one hundred and ninety-eight people were selected from the tens of thousands of people who came and went.

Among these 198 people, a few of them caught Lu Huan's attention.

Among them was a barbarian merchant with a pointed hat and long robes. He was a merchant from the Western Regions who had come to the capital two months ago to deliver wood and carpets. He had come to the capital several times, but there were no records of any transactions in the past two months.

Lu Huan made a trip to the Minister of War's residence.

When people from the Western Regions stepped into the territory of the Yan Dynasty, they had to have a customs clearance document. Moreover, they had to be evaluated by the soldiers stationed there. If they were easy thieves, they would not be allowed to enter the territory of the Yan Dynasty.

Therefore, the Minister of War should have received the evaluation of this barbarian merchant.

The Minister of War hurriedly took him to the storeroom and had two subordinates spend a long time to find the evaluation of this barbarian merchant from the mountain of customs clearance documents.

The evaluation of the northern soldiers was that his temperament was irascible, but his eyes were like a hawk's and his ability to appreciate was extremely strong.

The Minister of War knew that Lu Huan had been secretly investigating this matter recently. Seeing him close the copy of the customs clearance document, he turned around and closed the door. He asked, "Ninth Prince, how is it?"

"I'm afraid this matter is not as simple as the Supreme Court found," Lu Huan said.

After this investigation, he had a completely different guess about the recent crimes committed by the bandits in the capital.

He furrowed his brows and said to the Minister of War, "Those two merchants who had never been to Xi City before but had defiled and killed two women in Xi City were probably just scapegoats."

When the Minister of War heard this, he said, "Crimes committed under the foot of heaven are different from crimes committed in the provinces and counties. Those who handle the case are doing it with their heads on the line. Moreover, the Empress Dowager was attacked a few days ago. The Emperor was furious and ordered that this matter be investigated as soon as possible and that the criminals be arrested and imprisoned.

If anyone dares to cover up for them, they will be charged with the crime of deceiving the Emperor.

The situation is tense right now. Who would dare to do such a thing?! "

Lu Huan glanced at the Minister of War.

Although the Minister of War's words were a question, he had already understood the situation.

This matter had caused an uproar in the capital. Currently, the Fifth Prince and the Supreme Court were investigating it.

The Supreme Court had already arrested all the criminals and reported them to the court. However, they had only caught a scapegoat to take the blame.

The Emperor thought that the matter had been resolved and was temporarily pleased. He felt that the Supreme Court was very efficient.

However, if they investigated further, they would definitely discover that they had caught the wrong person and that there was someone covering up for the Hu merchant.

The Emperor was already in his forties. Although he was lax in court affairs, he wasn't stupid. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to sit in this position. It was only a matter of time before the Emperor found out.

And even if he didn't find out after half a month, someone would definitely poke their nose in front of him and let him find out.

When the time came, either the Supreme Court had caught the wrong person due to negligence, or the Supreme Court had been bribed to cover up for the Hu merchant and frame an innocent citizen.

The Fifth Prince would also find it difficult to escape the blame.

In his fury, The Emperor would probably dismiss the Supreme Court and ban the Fifth Prince.

However, if the matter was really that simple, then it would be strange.

Lu Huan said, "I investigated this Hu merchant and found that he hadn't made any transactions in the capital in the past two months. His relationship was very clean, and it was almost impossible to find out who he was working for. However, during the Crown Prince's birthday last year, he just happened to pass by the Crown Prince's residence and brought in some rare treasures to celebrate the Crown Prince's birthday.

If it had to be investigated, then it could only be him and the Crown Prince. "

If he could find out this much, then The Emperor could find out as well.

The Minister of War said, "Do you mean that the Crown Prince is working with this Hu merchant to frame the Fifth Prince?

But the Crown Prince isn't that scheming. If this matter wasn't done by the Prime Minister's side, then it would seem more like the Fifth Prince was using a trick of injuring himself to gain the confidence of the Crown Prince. "

"Your guess isn't wrong, but there's currently a lack of evidence. No one can be sure who this Hu merchant is working for and who he's working for. It's not impossible to say that it's someone else in the palace."

The Minister of War said, "The Second Prince has always been low-key and doesn't interact much with others. Although the Third Prince is a womanizer, it's also hard to see through his intentions. It's not impossible to say that it's one of these two.

But now — "

The Minister of War was reminded and suddenly shivered. Wasn't the one who attracted the wind right now Lu Huan?!

If, according to their speculations, The Emperor began to investigate this matter and this Hu merchant suddenly insisted that it was Lu Huan who did it, then the matter would become serious!

This was very likely.

Although the crown prince was the only one who had a direct relationship with the barbarian merchant, among the princes of the imperial court, Lu Huan was the only one who had the status of a wealthy merchant outside of the imperial palace. Saying that the barbarian merchant had some sort of connection with Lu Huan in the northern lands could also be forcefully fabricated.

At that time, no matter who this barbarian merchant was — or if this barbarian merchant insisted that he was on someone else's side, that prince would become the one who used a borrowed knife to frame the crown prince and push the blame onto the fifth prince.

When the time came, it was unknown who The Emperor would believe.

With this thought, the Minister of War broke out in a cold sweat and said, "I didn't think that a mere crime committed by bandits in the capital would attract so much attention.

We don't have much evidence at the moment, so we can't find out who set this trap. "

Thinking about it carefully, he actually felt that the Crown Prince, the Second Prince, the Third Prince, and the Fifth Prince were all possible suspects.

If he and the Zhenyuan General didn't understand Lu Huan's nature, they might have felt that Lu Huan was the most suspicious. After all, he had killed two birds with one stone and dragged the Crown Prince and the Fifth Prince into the water, leaving him as the most famous person in the capital. In this way, it seemed that he would be the one who would benefit the most.

If he thought this way, then The Emperor would probably think this way as well.

Although there was no evidence that this matter was directed at Lu Huan, Lu Huan calculated that he had already returned to the capital for more than four months.

Other than the Crown Prince and the Empress who wanted to use the consort selection as an excuse to plant spies at his side, the other princes had probably also tried to plant spies in his residence. However, his residence was guarded by the Yulin Forest Guards who had returned from the north, so spies simply couldn't squeeze in.

Four months had passed, and the spies hidden in the shadows didn't dare to act blindly without thinking. However, by now, they should have been unable to restrain themselves and made their move.

Lu Huan lost all of his appetite for these fights and felt deeply bored. However, since the soldiers had come, the general naturally had to block them.

He said to the Minister of War, "For the time being, let's not worry about who set up this scheme. Just focus on breaking the situation."

He had the Minister of War propose a few measures in the Throne Room during court the next day. They would divide the Eastern and Western Markets into clearer areas to make it easier to manage. They would also test out a curfew. After sunset, the Supreme Court would take the lead and each of the Six Ministries would send out people to patrol the capital.

If someone suspected of committing a crime was caught during the curfew, the lightest punishment would be flogging, and the heaviest punishment would be beheading.

Apart from the previous cases of bandits, there were quite a few incidental crimes in the capital. This measure could reduce the crime rate to a certain extent.

If this measure was tested in the capital and found to be feasible, then it could be implemented in all of the provinces.

After the Minister of War proposed this measure in the Throne Room, some officials agreed, feeling that this measure would greatly maintain public order. There were also officials who strongly berated him, feeling that the curfew would affect the people's livelihood. For the time being, there was still no conclusion to the debate.

The next day, Lu Huan asked the Grand Commandant Of Cloud to bring a few officials to the Western Markets to discuss matters. Or rather, to pretend to discuss matters.

The Grand Commandant Of Cloud and the Prime Minister were political enemies.

Once the Grand Commandant Of Cloud went, the Prime Minister would definitely try to find out what he and those officials were plotting.

The heavy responsibility of breaking this situation fell on the Prime Minister, the only person in the Crown Prince's party who was still clear-headed.

After Lu Huan made some arrangements, he quietly waited for the situation to develop.

Apart from this matter, the previous Mission 16, which was to promote the law of reducing taxes on corvee, was not something that could be done in a day or two. It still needed an opportunity.

Lu Huan wanted to reach 300 points as soon as possible, so he became more and more restless when it came to government affairs.

However, it was currently summer vacation in Suxi. After a while, she would be in her third year of high school and go to school. There would not be many opportunities for the two of them to date.

Therefore, Lu Huan would transmigrate directly to Suxi every day after quickly dealing with government affairs.

At the end of summer, the long summer vacation was almost over. The last few days were especially hot. Cicadas in Suxi's neighborhood and Lu Huan's mansion were all clamorous in the same tone.

Huo Jingchuan begged Suxi for a long time. Suxi could not resist his coaxing and pestering and called Lu Huan over to play basketball with them.

The basketball court was in the school. After the holidays, they could not enter the teaching building, but they could still enter the school.

Huo Jingchuan's eyes lit up when he saw Lu Huan. He went over to greet him. "Brother Lu, I missed you so much!"

Their team had a player who sprained his ankle some time ago. They had been short of players, causing the boys in their class to not be able to play basketball for more than half a month.

They had long wanted to call people from other teams, but they were not familiar with each other, so it was easy to have conflicts.

And Lu Zhuan was the most suitable candidate for this job.

He was tall and could intimidate the people from the opposing team. However, he was a newbie in basketball, so he would not overshadow Suxi's limelight —

Huo Jingchuan thought so secretly. He also glanced at the girls who were gradually gathering around the sports field, his little abacus jingling in his heart.

Lu Huan had a handsome face and could attract many beautiful girls. However, when he started to play basketball later, those girls would realize that although he was handsome, he was a complete novice when it came to basketball. He was not even as good looking as Huo Jingchuan from Class 26, who was second only to him in terms of looks but was much better at playing basketball than him. Huo Jingchuan himself was the man.

In this way, those girls' gazes would all be focused on him.

Huo Jingchuan was so proud of himself that he was immersed in his beautiful dream. The gaze he looked at Lu Huan with became even more passionate.

Lu Huan tied up his long black hair and wore a cap. He wore a crayon Shin-chan short-sleeved shirt with the pattern of Nohara Hiroshi that Su Xi had picked for him. It revealed his beautiful, white, and strong arms.

Although he was dressed a little childishly, the expression on his face was cold and cool. He immediately attracted a lot of girls near the sports field who had returned to school to get things.

Many people surrounded the basketball court and sent text messages to their friends screaming.

Although Huo Jingchuan and Lu Huan were the same age, Huo Jingchuan grew up in a greenhouse. How could he compare to Lu Huan, a little fox who grew up in political battles?

Lu Huan could roughly guess Huo Jingchuan's thoughts and felt a little funny in his heart.

However, Huo Jingchuan usually took care of Su Xi. After Lu Huan confirmed that he was not someone who could threaten him, he also had some goodwill towards him.

He nodded to Huo Jingchuan and said, "Brother Huo, please explain the rules to me. Sorry to trouble you."

Huo Jingchuan was already used to his genteel way of speaking. He explained the three-point shot, shooting, fouls, and so on to him.

The other team members looked at him as if they were looking at a new continent.

Su Xi wore a short-sleeved shirt and a miniskirt. She held her jacket in front of her and stood next to the sports field with a box of mineral water.

Gu Qin stood next to her.

Su Xi was a little nervous. After seeing people wearing matching sweaters in the mall last time, Lu Huan asked her to swipe his card and buy two.

After coaxing and pestering for a long time, Su Xi bought two Crayon Shin-chan sweaters. She was wearing Meiya.

Although Lu Huan did not know these two cartoon characters, his eyes were very bright. He was obviously very happy. Seeing that he was so happy, Su Xi let him be and followed him to put on the couple's shirt and came out.

However, she did not expect that there would be so many people on the sports field today. Su Xi felt guilty and her cheeks burned. She used her jacket to cover the pattern in front of her.

The girls stared at Lu Huan with bright eyes and talked about him. However, Gu Qin had already seen Lu Huan a few times. His immunity had increased and he could not look away.

She whispered to Su Xi the gossip before the holidays, "I heard that the school hunk used the same trick to ask the girl from the school next door to watch a movie the day after he handed you the movie ticket."

"Really?"

Su Xi was a little nervous because of the clothes she was wearing. She stared at the court, afraid that Lu Huan would bump into something because it was his first time playing basketball. She did not listen to Gu Qin.

Gu Qin was more indignant than him. She flipped through the gossip in school and said, "Why are boys like this nowadays? I don't think it's love at all. It's just a pastime. Fortunately, Xixi, you didn't go to the movies with him that day. Otherwise, you would have become a laughing stock."

As she spoke, Gu Qin's gaze suddenly fell on a girl wearing a knitted sweater and a long dress on the side of the sports field. She suddenly grabbed Su Xi's arm and said, "Damn, Su Xi, look. That girl is so beautiful."

Compared to the previous topic, Su Xi was obviously more interested in this. Her nervous attention was slightly diverted and her eyes suddenly lit up. She held Gu Qin's hand and asked, "Where, where?"

"Over there."

Gu Qin pointed and said, "I don't know where she bought the dress. It shows off her figure. I don't think she can wear it. Xixi, you can try this style. Don't wear casual clothes all day."

Su Xi stared at the girl without blinking and exclaimed, "She's really beautiful. Her long, straight black hair is really beautiful. Why haven't I seen her in our school before? Is she from the school next door … You can ask around …"

Before she could finish her sentence, she felt a chill on her body for some reason.

She subconsciously looked in the direction of the chill and saw that the basketball court hadn't started yet. Everyone else was warming up. Lu Huan warmed up and rotated his arms while looking at her quietly.

Su Xi, "…"

She suddenly remembered that Lu Huan had excellent hearing and eyesight when he was in the army. He could hear her even though she was only ten meters away.

Su Xi's words suddenly turned into crazy flattery. "No!

Her figure is good, but it's not as good as Lu Huan's!

She's very good-looking, but I don't think she's as good-looking as Lu Huan! "

Gu Qin, "…?"

Lu Huan's expression relaxed, but during the warm-up, he intentionally or unintentionally blocked Su Xi's view of the girl.

Su Xi, "…"