No matter if you are a human or an immortal, you can still farm for me after traveling through time!

After arriving in Chang'an, Ji Qingyue found that it was not difficult to find out information about the royal family. As long as it did not involve private secrets, the government would not restrict the people's freedom of speech. Therefore, when strolling on the street, he could often hear people talking about the royal aristocracy without any hesitation.

For example, the Princess Gu'an who has returned to the people's attention.

Princess Gu'an married into Tuyuhun at the age of fourteen. During the forty-eight years of the marriage, Dali under the rule of Emperor Hui was able to catch its breath and concentrate its forces to fight against the Uighurs in the north. If Tuyuhun and Uighurs had united at that time, Dali might have been destroyed long ago.

Compared with other princesses who died in a foreign land and were unable to return to their homeland, Princess Gu'an was lucky.

Now Princess Gu'an is already in her sixties. Her husband is the King of Tuyuhun, and her son will be the next King of Tuyuhun. Her position in Tuyuhun has long been unshakable. All she needs to do next is to live out her days in peace and contentment.

Unfortunately, the Tuyuhun king died of illness. With the help of Dali, the new king came to power and the Tuyuhun regime returned to stability. Princess Gu'an no longer had any worries and only wanted to return to her homeland.

So she wrote a letter to Dali, begging the emperor to allow her to return to Chang'an and to allow her to be reborn there.

People had long forgotten this eldest princess. Only with the emperor's permission did the people remember that there was such an unknown woman who sacrificed her life for the country and stayed in Tuyuhun.

Every year in late spring, vassal states would pay tribute to Dali, and Dali would also give gifts in return to the tributary states, forming a stable relationship of reciprocity.

From the beginning of summer to the end of autumn, tributes would arrive in Chang'an one after another. At that time, the emperor would receive rare treasures from the Western Regions, Tuyuhun, Huihe and other countries: corals, pearls, ivory, medicinal materials, spices, animals, etc. Among them, animals were the most prominent category of tributes, and their popularity exceeded that of jewelry, and they were regarded as rare treasures.

……

Ji Qingyue and Li Erlang chatted until the third watch gong sounded, then they ended the topic reluctantly and slept together on the couch in each other's arms.

Thanks to the careful management of the government under Hong Yu's control, cotton seeds flowed smoothly into the hands of more people. More and more people in the northwest got cotton seeds, and the fields used to grow cotton became larger and larger. Although the scale was not as large as Ji Qingyue expected, there was at least one thing that made him feel relieved - the cotton seeds were not monopolized by landlords and nobles. Caravans supported by the government and other private caravans began to bring cotton seeds to more places.

In addition to the northwest, cotton also began to appear in the fields outside Chang'an.

April and May are the cotton planting seasons. Ji Qingyue decided to go back to his old job of selling cotton seeds and speed up the progress.

The ordinary days did not change with the arrival of Li Erlang. Ji Qingyue either opened the shop on time or returned to the painting to deal with the endless farm work.

After two days, Ji Qingyue suddenly realized that the two brothers were very busy and were not seen during the day. Compared with Li Erlang who would come back before closing, Li Sanlang was so busy that he had a reversed day and night cycle and slept in the Dali Temple for two out of three days.

Could it be that the urgent official business from two days ago has not been dealt with yet?

That night, Li Sanlang returned home and took the initiative to talk about the official business at hand. He picked out what he could tell Ji Qingyue: "Two days ago, people started reporting to the authorities that a non-Hu merchant was murdered in Huaiyuanfang. The murderer has not been found yet. Brother Ji, please remember to be careful at home and be wary of strangers entering the store."

Ji Qingyue was shocked. It turned out to be a murder case, and the victims were all Hu people!

Li Erlang had already heard about this and frowned: "How many cases?"

"Three." Li Sanlang rubbed his swollen forehead. If it were just one murder of three people, it would be fine, but now there are three different murders. The Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple are under tremendous pressure. They have been doing their utmost to investigate the case for the past few days, but there has been no substantial progress. "Today is the third day since the incident. Even if the Dali Temple intends to suppress the news, it can't stop the people from talking about it. I'm afraid the whole city will know about it tomorrow."

Wow! These are three separate cases!

Most of the people living in Huaiyuanfang were Hu merchants. The sudden death of three of them must have caused a stir in the city.

"So, the three people who died on the same day were found on different days?" Li Erlang combined the information he had heard and keenly discovered the inside story of the case.

Li Sanlang confirmed his brother's guess with silence.

At first, they thought it was just an ordinary murder case, but people came to report the case one after another. When the coroner examined the bodies of the victims, he was surprised to find that all three people died on the same day. It was only because they were found at different times that they mistakenly believed that the three people were not killed on the same day.

Li Erlang asked sharply, "What kind of business are these three people doing?"

"They're ostensibly dealing in silk, but they're actually smuggling silkworms." Seeing Ji Qingyue's suspicious gaze, Li Sanlang anticipated his brothers' thoughts and shook his head in frustration. "The passes and other documents these three people carried were all forged. We checked and found no corresponding registrations in the places listed on the passes. This means these three either entered Chang'an through a different route under their current appearances, or disguised themselves and arrived via a fake pass."

Li Erlang offered a third hypothesis: "Or perhaps they disguised themselves and took another route... Regardless of which hypothesis, this group must have a second pass. Now that it can't be found, it must have been taken." Then Li Erlang asked, "What route would the fake pass take?"

"The three of them entered the Jiannan Road from Nanzhao, Zhenla, and Pyu respectively and headed north."

With Li Erlang's additional explanation, Ji Qingyue understood that these three names represented vassal states located southeast of Dali, directly or indirectly bordering Dali. Although these three were not Hu merchants who entered Dali via the northwest trade route in the broad sense, Dali referred to merchants from foreign countries as "Hu merchants," and these three were all "Hu merchants" from Southeast Asia.

Facing the brothers' sudden silence, Ji Qingyue tilted his head in confusion. "Their appearance should be very different from the common Hu merchants we see in the north. Doesn't this prove that they are indeed from the southeastern countries? Is there any other problem here..."

Li Sanlang pondered for a moment and replied, "The three of them do look very different from the Western Regions merchants. The Dali Temple has already sent people to the Southern Barbarians to investigate, but it will take some time to verify the truth. If they are indeed from the Southern Barbarians, I'm afraid the hidden story is even more complicated..."

Li Erlang nodded slightly, as if he was telling a riddle, which made Ji Qingyue stunned.

"Brother Ji, do you know that there are more trade routes than just the ones we're familiar with?"

When Ji Qingyue came to this world, he knew that there was a major economic artery connecting the east and the west, connecting Chang'an through the northwestern countries to the distant Western Regions. This is the well-known Silk Road.

Dali has a vast territory, surrounded by countless countries and tribes, so there is naturally more than one trade route.

There are also trade routes in the south: Tea Horse Road, Lingguan Road, Yak Road...

Ji Qingyue learned something new from this, and at the same time, he was even more puzzled as to what the two brothers were worried about: "And then...?"

"Brother Ji, no matter which trade route it is, Dali has always been the leader, never the other way around. But these three people smuggled silkworms to Dali under the pretext of reselling silk. Have you noticed that this goes against their original intention?"

Under Li Sanlang's guidance, Ji Qingyue suddenly realized!

If the three of them came to Dali from a small country in Southeast Asia to smuggle mulberry silkworms, then they should not have come to Chang'an. Chang'an is not a place where the mulberry silk industry is prosperous, the south is!

That's why Sanlang said the hidden story was more complicated.

Seeing that Ji Qingyue had already understood the key, Li Erlang and Li Sanlang continued to analyze it bit by bit based on the simple clues.

"Although these three people seem to have no connection on the surface, the paths recorded in the fake cases are almost the same." This is also the main reason why the Dali Temple combined the three cases into one.

Ji Qingyue followed their thoughts: "Sanlang, you said that they are all silk merchants on the surface, but secretly they are engaged in the smuggling of mulberry silkworms..."

In Dali, in order to protect the silk industry, the export of mulberry seeds and silkworm seeds was prohibited. Smuggling mulberry seeds and silkworm seeds was a serious crime. Although it was not as serious as possessing weapons and armor, it was still punishable by imprisonment, and serious cases could be sentenced to death.

"Ordinary merchants are cautious and know when to stop, but they are so bold that they are willing to come to Chang'an even though they are accused of smuggling silkworms. I'm afraid the truth they are trying to hide is even more serious than the crime of smuggling silkworms."

With no real progress in the case, Li Sanlang was extremely anxious. He had already thought about this, but he was frustrated by the lack of further clues. He had no idea where these people came from, what they were transporting to Chang'an, or what their real purpose was in entering Chang'an...

When Ji Qingyue was talking to Li Sanlang, Li Erlang remained silent. He always felt that some obvious doubts had been overlooked.

It is known that all three of them are barbarian-looking merchants, and there is a high probability that they know each other. They use fake passages and silk trading as a cover to hide the smuggling of silkworms and even more serious crimes.

Now that the three people have been silenced and the goods that have not been processed are left behind, it means that the murderer behind the scenes is not afraid of exposing the smuggling of mulberry silkworm seeds, or if they are unfortunately discovered on the way, they can use the crime of smuggling mulberry silkworm seeds to cover up deeper crimes. Leaving behind the intact bodies of the three people and a fake residence shows that the murderer is not afraid of exposing the identities of the three people, or in other words, the first identity.

The people are fake, and the goods are fake too.

It is very difficult to get to the bottom of the case, no wonder it is still so delayed after three days.

The three of them chatted for a long time, but still couldn't come up with a more reliable idea, so they had to turn off the lights and go back to their rooms.

Not long after lying down, Li Erlang's thoughts were still churning. Suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind. Without waiting for Ji Qingyue to ask, he suddenly turned over and sat up. Then he got down and lit the oil lamp in the study: "No... Something is wrong..."

Ji Qingyue followed him to the table and watched Li Erlang pull out a piece of paper and quickly draw something with a pen.

"This is... a map?"

During the two years of training with Yang Huang in the barracks, Li Erlang came into contact with more and more detailed maps. He also drew several maps of the northern border for Yang Huang. He knew the locations of the various states in Dali and the directions of the neighboring countries very well, and he could be said to have some understanding of them. Now he only gave a rough description with his inspiration.

Li Erlang recalled the prefectures and counties where his brother had registered, and drew three rough routes from different countries all the way north to Chang'an.

With Jiannan Road as the center, Nanzhao and Zhenla border Jiannan Road. Nanzhao is located in the southeast, Zhenla is located in the south, and the Pyu Kingdom does not border Dali, as Nanzhao is between them.

Jiannan Road is generally narrow from east to west and wide from north to south. The neighboring countries in the southeast are already clear, except for the large blank area in the north.

Ji Qingyue pointed to the vast expanse of empty land bordering Jiannan Road, Pyu Kingdom, and Nanzhao and asked, "Where is this?"

Li Erlang held the pen in his hand, frowned, and sighed softly: "Tuyuhun..."

The three words "Tuyuhun" were like a bomb, instantly detonating all the thoughts in Ji Qingyue's mind. He looked at Li Erlang in shock.

Although there was no evidence pointing to Tuyuhun, and they did not express this speculation out loud, neither of them dared to rule out this idea.

Once doubt arises, it will linger in your mind.

Tuk-tuk-tuk——

"Second brother, Brother Ji?" Li Sanlang heard the noise and light coming from the study and stood up as well.

Li Erlang led his brother to the desk and expressed his suspicions. "There's no evidence pointing to Tuyuhun right now. I hope I'm just being too suspicious."

Li Sanlang did not respond. He knew that his second brother boldly told him this unfounded guess out of trust and concern. If it were not for the previous series of reasons, they would never suspect Tuyuhun.