Warm fragrance cloud around

Cheng Jiangyun frowned: "The Min family...was also involved in the ink corruption case?"

"Probably not," Yan Sizheng swallowed, "We haven't found this yet."

Cheng Jiangyun paused for a moment and asked again: "How much money did Min Chongshan embezzle in ink?"

Master Fan stretched out a finger and shook it, "10 taels of silver."

"He's quite courageous," Cheng Jiangyun sneered, "He's a servant, it's impossible for him to steal such a large sum of money without anyone noticing, and there might be an envoy behind him, have you all checked?"

Yan Sizheng nodded: "Master Zhao suspected the Minister of the Transfer Department at first, and after a few days of investigation, he found no abnormalities. He should or did not participate in this corruption of ink. Several local officials who dealt with it said that they followed Min Chongshan's orders, and we also I found the letters they exchanged, and the handwriting is consistent with that of Min Chongshan."

Cheng Jiangyun thought for a moment, and said to the two of them: "Don't bother with Mr. Zhao's affairs for now, and continue to collect witnesses and evidence of Min Chongshan's embezzlement according to the original plan."

"But……"

"Just handle it impartially after collecting the evidence. I will send someone to keep an eye on Min Chongshan. If he is related to Mr. Zhao's disappearance, he will definitely show his feet."

Yan Sizheng and Fan Zhubo looked at each other, and bowed to Cheng Jiangyun, "This subordinate takes orders."

After the two left, Lin Junnuan elbowed Cheng Jiangyun, "Do you think Mr. Zhao's disappearance has nothing to do with Mr. Min?"

"He doesn't have such great ability."

"Isn't it greedy for 10 taels, and I can't bear it?" Lin Junnuan was aroused a little curious.

Cheng Jiangyun sighed, "Let's put it this way, if someone told me that Min Chongshan robbed others of 10 taels of silver by force, I might believe it, but if it was said that he colluded with local officials and used means to steal 10 taels of ink, There is definitely a problem here."

"It sounds like you look down on him?"

Cheng Jiangyun didn't deny it, and after considering it, he said: "There are guards at the main and side gates of Zhao's mansion, and there are servants in the mansion who watch around at night. Min Chongshan doesn't have the ability to snatch Mr. Zhao away without anyone noticing, in front of so many people. Unless he has another helper."

Lin Junnuan lowered her head and played with her fingers, suddenly thought of something, and her expression became serious, "Why do I feel that Master Zhao's disappearance this time is aimed at you, Shaoqing?"

Cheng Jiangyun turned sideways slightly, motioning for her to continue.

"With the absence of Dali Temple Minister, Shaoqing will have the opportunity to go further. This is one of them; the investigation of Mr. Min's ink corruption case may involve Mrs. Jianyuan Hou, or even the entire Jianyuan Hou Mansion. Shaoqing also has something to do." Sufficient motivation to stop, this is the second. No matter how you calculate Cheng Shaoqing, he is the biggest beneficiary of this case, isn't he?"

Lin Junnuan poured a cup of tea to moisten his throat, and said: "Of course, I believe that Shaoqing has nothing to do with Master Zhao's disappearance, but Shaoqing might as well think about it, whether he has offended anyone, especially you and Master Zhao. common enemy."

After thinking about it, she added: "Even people who look extremely inconspicuous cannot be ignored. You must know that arrogance often blinds our eyes."

Cheng Jiangyun lowered his eyes, as if he was thinking about her words seriously, and looked up at her seriously after a while: "Thank you for reminding me, I will pay attention."

"However, it's also possible that we've overcomplicated the matter. People are missing in the Zhao Mansion, no matter what the truth is, the Zhao Mansion will definitely leave clues," he smiled lightly, "Let's go to the Zhao Mansion to see together?"

Lin Junnuan stood up straight, smiling brows and eyes crooked, "Your subordinate takes orders!"

***

The two came to the mansion of Mr. Zhao, Minister of Dali Temple, and Mrs. Zhao received them in the main hall.Because she was worried about her husband, Mrs. Zhao stayed up all night. At this time, her eyes were bloodshot and sunken, and she looked extremely tired.

Several people greeted each other, and Cheng Jiangyun asked straight to the point: "When was the last time Madam saw Master Zhao?"

Mrs. Zhao pressed her forehead and thought carefully, "Yesterday's dinner was served together, and I haven't seen my husband since then."

"What was unusual about Mr. Zhao at that time?"

"He has a bad appetite, and he only ate half a bowl of plain rice." Madam Zhao's face showed a trace of remorse, "It's because I didn't think carefully. If I had prepared supper for him earlier, this kind of thing wouldn't have happened."

"Ma'am, there is no need to blame yourself. Mr. Zhao will definitely come back safe and sound." Lin Junnuan comforted him, and Madam Zhao nodded silently.

"Where were Master Zhao's followers that day?"

Mrs. Zhao ordered Ah Fu and Ah Gui, who had been waiting outside the door, to come in. After the two saluted, they answered Cheng Jiangyun's question respectfully.

"The adults said they wanted to talk about something, and told the younger ones to watch outside, not to be disturbed by anyone. The younger ones have been guarding in front of the moon door leading to the study, and have not let anyone in."

"Did you see Mr. Zhao leave the study?"

Ah Fu and Ah Gui shook their heads at the same time, "No, we guarded the door for a long time, and no one came in or went out."

"It wasn't until Sizheng and Master Master came out of the study and asked where he had gone that we didn't know he was gone."

This sounds interesting, Lin Junnuan blinked at Jiang Yun, and said in a low voice, "Let's go to the study."

Cheng Jiangyun nodded, looked at Ah Fu and Agui, "Take us to the study."

Zhao’s study is located in a secluded corner of the outer courtyard, with its back against a small pond. There are two rooms, one large and one small. A low desk is placed in the space.The small one was decorated like a tea room, where Mr. Zhao discussed the case with Yan Sizheng last night.

The big and small rooms are connected by a small side door in the middle, and each has a main door leading to the Chaoshou corridor.One end of Chaoshou veranda leads to the Moon Gate, and the other end leads to a small pavilion on the pond.

Lin Junnuan walked around the inside and outside of the study, his eyes inadvertently became bright.There is only one way to leave the study, which is to walk through the Chaoshou corridor, and then leave through the moon gate.But the two attendants outside the door said they didn't see anyone coming in and out, but Mr. Zhao disappeared from the study. This is clearly a secret room incident.

After she whispered her thoughts to Cheng Jiangyun, Cheng Shaoqing pursed her lips, "It doesn't have to be through the corridor, but it may also leave through the flowers below."

"Well, actually..." Ah Fu, the attendant, took a look at Cheng Jiangyun, and said in a low voice: "After the lord disappeared last night, we searched both inside and outside the study, and wondered whether the lord left through the flowers, but it rained heavily yesterday. , the soil on both sides of the veranda is soaked, and there will be footprints when walking up, but we didn't find any footprints, and we don't have any now."

Lin Junnuan followed Ah Fu's eyes and saw the muddy ground on both sides of the veranda, which was still wet. As he said, at a glance, the muddy ground was flat without any footprints.

She couldn't help raising her eyebrows at Cheng Jiangyun and Cheng Jiangyun thought for a moment, then said: "It's also possible to go to the other side, jump off the pond from the gazebo, swim to the opposite side and leave."

"We adults don't know water." Ah Fu lowered his head and said again.

Lin Junnuan picked up the conversation from the side, "If you don't know how to swim, you may be taken there by someone who can swim, but if that happens, there will be a lot of noise. Did you hear the sound of water?"

Afu and Agui shook their heads quickly: "No, the little ones didn't hear the sound of water."

Lin Junnuan nodded, with a trace of complacency in his tone, "It seems that the missing scene is really a secret room, what does Cheng Shaoqing think?"

Cheng Jiangyun lowered his head and thought for a while, then chuckled suddenly, "You seem to have overlooked a very important thing."

"What?" Lin Junnuan looked at him blankly.

Cheng Shaoqing took two steps to the side, rolled up his sleeves slightly, tapped his toes lightly on the ground, suddenly rose into the air, and appeared on a cobbled path a few steps away from the veranda. The trail can be left in the other direction without going through the Moon Gate and without leaving any marks in the mud.

Lin Junnuan looked embarrassed, and couldn't help but cover his face and sigh.Indeed, she overlooked a very important thing, this is a world with unscientific existences such as martial arts and even light kung fu, she thinks too much about secret rooms and so on.

A Fu and A Gui next to them stared in a daze. A Fu woke up first, and stammered: "Young Qing is good at kung fu, but, but, our lord, he, he doesn't know martial arts."

Agui also chimed in: "That's right, we adults are not as skilled as young ones, and we don't know how to do light work."

"What does this have to do with Master Zhao knowing kung fu?"

Lin Junnuan frowned, suddenly a light flashed in his mind, and he squinted at the two of A Fu, "Speaking of which, you have been saying just now that Mr. Zhao doesn't know water skills, and Mr. Zhao doesn't know martial arts. Is it possible that you have been doing this all the time?" You all know that Mr. Zhao left by himself?"

"Also, you said that you didn't see any footprints, and you said you didn't hear the sound of water. It seems that you have been misleading us to think in the direction of the secret room." She picked up a piece of dry grass and pulled it on her hand, her eyes became serious , "What the hell do you know?"

Agui's body trembled unconsciously, and his eyes flickered. Ah Fu's psychological quality was much better, and a dry smile appeared on his face: "My lord, what are you talking about? I have explained everything that needs to be explained, no?" Nothing to hide."

Cheng Jiangyun slowly walked over from another direction, his eyes swept over Agui like a torch, and then looked at Afu, "It's about Master Zhao's life, if you two continue to hide it, I have no choice but to invite you to sit in Dali Temple."

Ah Fu humbled a lot when facing Cheng Jiangyun, but he still didn't let go, "I really don't know anything, please Shao Qing to find out." A Gui also followed his example.

Lin Junnuan approached Agui with small steps, pinched his nose suddenly, and pretended to be surprised: "It smells so strong, did you drink last night? You adults have been missing all night, are you still in the mood to drink?"

Agui's face turned pale, and he shrank back, his eyes dodged: "Just, just took a sip, don't, someone else invited you."

"Ah Gui!" Ah Fu next to him looked at him sharply.

Agui knew that he had made a slip of the tongue, and his face became paler and paler. Lin Junnuan looked at him with a smile, "Oh, someone else invited you. Didn't it mean that the whole Zhao Mansion has been looking for someone since last night, and someone else invited you to drink? In your mansion The relationship between people is really good,"

She sniffed, and said loudly: "Let me see, there are also appetizers, um, fennel beans, sauced beef, fried snails, there are quite a few dishes, you adults are gone, this is a glass of wine Celebrate?"

Agui pulled up her clothes and smelled them, and looked at her in horror. Afu sighed, "My lord, you don't need to test Agui, he really doesn't know anything."

"It means that you do know something." Cheng Jiangyun said in a deep voice, with a certain degree of certainty in his tone.

Ah Fu glared at A Gui bitterly, shook his head and sighed: "It's okay to tell Shaoqing, and please keep the madam a secret."