Chapter 34 Looking for clues
Chapter 34 Looking for clues
Xiao Zhurong lowered his voice and said, "This morning, the master called all of us inner court disciples together and formed ten teams. We are the sixth team. You can join us! We will provide a subsidy of one guan of money every day. If our team can find the treasure lamp, each person will be rewarded with three thousand guan of money!"
Xiao Xia raised an eyebrow, "So many?"
"The head of the family has invested a lot of money this time. My father is in charge of this case. I have already reported your name. Are you free after dinner?"
Thinking of the benefit of one tael of silver per day, Xiao Xia nodded happily, "I'm free!"
"Let's go check out the warehouse together after dinner."
Xiao Zhurong handed him a bronze medal and said with a smile: "Welcome to join the Sixth Team!"
…………
After the meal, everyone went to return the plates, and Xiao Xia discovered that Liu Erhu was gone.
He asked in a low voice: "Liu Erhu looks very worried. Is there anything wrong with him?"
Xiao Zhurong sneered and said, "Of course he is worried. He was on patrol that night, but he was nowhere to be found. A dozen of his men gathered together to gamble, so the thieves were able to sneak into the warehouse. The owner will hold him responsible."
It seems that a lot of interesting things happened that night! Where did Liu Erhu go again?
…………
The lobby of the Xiao Mansion was full of people. They were all the sons of the inner court who came to solve the case. There were both legitimate sons and illegitimate sons. They sat together in groups of three or four and talked in low voices.
They had no idea where to look, so they all came to check the scene. The head of the family, Xiao Cong, agreed, but they couldn't rush in all at once. Each team was only given a quarter of an hour to take turns checking.
Now it's the fourth team's turn to watch, the other teams are waiting in the lobby.
Xiao Xia asked in a low voice: "Why don't you let the government investigate the case? The government is more professional!"
Xiao Zhurong smiled bitterly, "If the government knows about this, they will definitely report it to the court. The head of the family just wants to find the things before the princess knows about it. We can't let the government know about this!"
"That's true!"
Xiao Gui beside him also laughed and said, "So you see, it's the Xiao family's inner court disciples who are investigating the case, just because they are afraid that the news will leak out."
Xiao Xia shook his head, "I'm not!"
Xiao Zhurong punched him lightly, "You are special. My father said you are a lucky star, so he specially approved you to participate!"
Xiao Ju asked, "When will the money be distributed?"
In fact, this was also what Xiao Xia wanted to ask, but he was too embarrassed to ask. Unexpectedly, someone asked it for him.
Xiao Zhurong frowned, "We will meet once in the evening, I should send it then!"
Xiao Xia quickly said, "I won't attend the meeting tonight. You can collect the money for me."
"Row!"
At this time, Butler Liu shouted at the door: "Group 6!"
"It's our turn, let's go!"
Xiao Zhurong pushed Xiao Xia, and the four of them quickly got up and left.
"In fact, there are no clues in the warehouse. The thief climbed in through the air vent, came out through the air vent, and then ran away!"
As Butler Liu spoke, he led the four people to a large stone house.
There are many warehouses in the warehouse area, but only this stone house is made of large bluestone and is extremely sturdy. The warehouse door is made of cast iron and has two doors. If you don’t have the key, you really can’t enter from the front.
Xiao Xia took a look at the air vent, which was about two meters from the ground. It was very small, but one could stick his head in. There should have been an iron fence, but it was cut off, and the broken part was shining with metallic luster.
"Butler Liu, can I come in?" Xiao Zhurong asked.
"Okay, everything inside has been put away, you guys go in! I'll be waiting outside."
Xiao Zhurong brought Xiao Gui and Xiao Ju in. Xiao Xia was still outside observing the air vent. He looked carefully at the dirt ground below the air vent.
"Butler Liu, is there a ladder?"
"Have!"
Butler Liu brought a ladder from the warehouse next door, put it on the wall, patted Xiao Xia on the shoulder, and said earnestly: "The master values you very much, work hard!" "Thank you, butler!"
Xiao Xia climbed up the ladder to the air vent. He looked carefully for a moment and found a little red mark on the broken end of the fence. He scratched it and the red mark fell off in the form of powder.
This is blood!
Moreover, the iron fence was not cut by a sharp blade, but was sawed off.
"Xiao Qilang, don't you want to come in and take a look?" Xiao Zhurong shouted in the warehouse.
"coming!"
Xiao Xia walked along the ladder until he was ten feet above the ground, and jumped down directly from the ladder. Butler Liu was startled, "Xiao Qilang, it's so high, be careful!"
"fine!"
Xiao Xia looked at the ground, smiled and clapped his hands, put the ladder back to its original place, and then walked into the warehouse.
The warehouse was large, filled with iron shelves, but they were empty as all the things on them had been put away.
Xiao Zhurong pointed to a wooden frame on the wall and said, "The Liang King's spear was originally placed here, and then look at this spear shaft."
Xiao Zhurong picked up the three-foot-long spear on the ground and handed it to Xiao Xia, "This is the spear of King Liang. It was cut off by a sharp knife. Look at the neat cut on it."
Xiao Xia saw the smooth cut and suddenly asked, "How did you know that the Liang Wang's spear was placed here? Have you been in here?"
Xiao Zhurong nodded, "Actually, I came in the night before. According to the case introduced by Second Master, the other party had a very sharp dagger or something, so he could cut through the iron bars of the air vents and the iron bars!"
"How heavy is the spear head?"
"It's very heavy! It's made of Wootz steel and weighs at least thirty kilograms."
Xiao Xia nodded, "Where is the treasure lamp?"
"It was in the corner over there, in a box. It was only there for a few days, and then it was stolen!"
“What were these iron shelves originally used for?”
"All kinds of gold, silver and treasures are here. The Xiao family's wealth is all here!"
Xiao Xia pondered for a moment and asked again: "Were there a lot of boxes in the warehouse originally?"
"Yes, there are a lot of them, piled over there."
Xiao Zhurong pointed to the corner where the treasure lamp was placed just now, "There were probably dozens of them, and we moved them all away."
At this time, Butler Liu coughed outside, "Balang, it's time!"
"Xiao Qilang, have you found anything?" Xiao Zhurong asked anxiously.
Xiao Xia spread his hands and laughed, "It's a wasted trip. There's no clue at all!"
Xiao Zhurong sighed, "Yeah! Where can I find him in such a vast sea of people?"
As they walked out of the warehouse, Xiao Ju suddenly asked, "Balang, should we pay for our ten-yuan coins in silver or copper coins?"
A trace of anger flashed in Xiao Zhurong's eyes, and he couldn't bear it anymore and said, "How should I know?"
..........
After walking out of the house, Xiao Zhurong said to the two, "I don't have anything to do this afternoon, so you can go back first! We can get together after dinner."
The two were overjoyed and quickly said goodbye and left.
Xiao Zhurong looked at the two men's backs and gritted his teeth and said, "Two idiots, what's the use of them?"
Xiao Xia said calmly: "Let's go back first!"
Xiao Zhurong quickly asked in a low voice: "Did you find anything?"
Xiao Xia nodded, "Let's talk about it when we get back!"
Xiao Zhurong was overjoyed. Xiao Xia said this, which meant he must have made a discovery.
(End of this chapter)