Chapter 9 is tricking you

  Xu Chang shouted "Thief!" while anxiously asking Xu Qian: "Are you hurt?"

  Xu Qian didn't dare to slack off and joked: "I'm indeed injured, but I don't know if it can be counted as a work-related injury."

  The father and son were talking, but Jiang Kun, who was being subdued, saw that struggling was hopeless and couldn't help but roar: "Damn you, are you blind? Lin Qingke is the thief!"

  Xu Qian however held tightly onto his hair, rendering him immobile, and sneered: "Thief? The real thief is you."

  Wang Gong's eyes flashed with a hint of suspicion, but his gaze towards Jiang Kun turned cold as frost.

  Lin Qing was stunned, and Zhang Qin, the head of the inner court, was even more bewildered.

  Shouldn't it be Lin Qingke who was caught? How did this thief suddenly become Jiang Kun?

  However, some people who knew Jiang Kun couldn't help but stand up: "You servants are really too much, do you know where this is? You're still causing trouble here, look at the state of the flower hall."

  Although it was just a brief conflict, Xu Qian found that the entire flower hall had indeed been messed up by his father and son.

  Jiang Kun was furious and shouted, "The evidence and witnesses have all proven that the one with the surname Lin is the thief. You say I'm the thief, do you have any evidence?"

  Xu Qian smiled and said: "There is no evidence, but there is a story. I don't know if you want to hear it."

  He didn't wait for everyone's response and turned to Xu Chang, saying: "Dad, should you tell this story or should I?"

  Xu Changdao said: "You're no good at playing word games when your father is not around, you say it."

  Xu Qian suspected that Lao Yezi was indirectly scolding him for being a smooth talker, but he couldn't catch the drift and could only force a laugh.

  At this time, Wang Gong still had the mood to tell stories, but he was sitting on a chair with a cup of tea in his hand, blowing the foam off the tea water, looking very calm and collected. In fact, although Wang Gong looked like he didn't care, Xu Qian knew that Wang Gong was waiting for the result, and the process was not important to him at all.

  Xu Qian said: "Actually, this calligraphy was not stolen last night, but was replaced four or five days ago. Someone used a fake to replace the real thing, thinking that they could cover it up."

  The crowd was shocked again.

  The king continued to drink tea with his usual carefree and absent-minded manner.

  Xu Qian continued: "My father and I were entrusted by Duke Wang to find the true trace of this calligraphy, so we staged this play. In fact, last night, I asked Deng Jian, the guard of the mansion, to take down the calligraphy and monitor Lin Xiao's every move at night. The reason for framing Lin Xiao is that four or five days ago, he was not in the mansion but had returned to his hometown to visit his relatives, so he could not be the real culprit. Since he is not the real culprit, it is natural to exclude him."

  Lin Xiao was stunned for a moment, what kind of logic is this? Not the real culprit, so he deliberately came to frame himself? He glared at Xu Qian with anger, his face looking even worse.

  Jiang Kun's face was slightly frozen, and a hint of panic flashed in his eyes.

  Xu Qian continued: "The reason I deliberately framed Lin Xiao is actually for a purpose, which is to lure out the real thief who stole the calligraphy. Think about it, if he had quietly swapped Wang Gong's most treasured item, wouldn't he be on high alert, thinking that every creak of the floorboards and rustle of leaves was a sign of someone approaching? And what would he do when he found out that this piece of calligraphy had been stolen again, and the fake one he replaced it with had already been torn to shreds?"

  As he spoke, the tea-drinking old man seemed to understand something, and a hint of appreciation flashed across his cold eyes as he glanced at Xu Qian with a careless air.

  Afterwards, the one who reacted was Zhang Qin, the head of the inner court. Zhang Qin said with a hint of flattery: "It seems that I also understand now, this is a very simple truth. If someone swaps it, they will definitely be uneasy in their heart. After all, once discovered, at the very least, they would not be able to escape being beaten to death by the public official. However, at this time, there was suddenly a rumor outside that this calligraphy involved a treasure map. Then last night, this calligraphy was stolen. Afterwards, evidence of Lin Xiao stealing the painting has been found, and Lin Xiao has become an almost certain thief. Next, two situations will arise: because there is only physical evidence, the evidence is still not sufficient, so Public Official Wang will continue to investigate, and it is very likely that he will find the real culprit in the end. On the other hand, someone else may provide testimony to prove that Lin Xiao went to the main hall last night with a guilty conscience, making Lin Xiao's crime a certainty, and letting things 'come to light'. In this way, Lin Qingke would become a scapegoat, and from then on, the real culprit could escape punishment and no longer be nervous. Is that right?

  Being able to mix with Zhang Qin to this extent, her IQ is naturally not low. Xu Qian threw a brick to attract jade and immediately let Zhang Qin reveal the truth.

  At this point, everyone suddenly realized. No wonder Jiang Kun was so insistent that he saw Lin Xiao lurking around the flower hall last night, and his words were vivid and convincing, as if he was afraid others wouldn't believe him.

  But Jiang Kun did not think that this was a trap, last night, Deng Jian had been squatting outside Lin Xiao's bedroom, just to prove today that Lin Xiao had never left the house.

  Whoever tells lies is a thief!

  Wang Gong put down his teacup and gave Jiang Kun a cold glance before saying loudly, "Bring Deng Jian in."

  Deng Jian had been waiting outside for a long time. As a low-ranking guard, he finally had a day where he was noticed by others. Deng Jian was so excited that he almost shed tears of joy, feeling as though his ancestors' tombs were emitting a wisp of smoke, and that he had brought honor to his family for once. After rushing in, Deng Jian hastily paid his respects to Wang Gonggong, saying: "Your humble servant has seen you, sir."

  "Yesterday night, you stood guard outside Lin Xiao's bedroom for a whole night?"

  Deng Jiandao: "Yes, I followed Xu Xiaoguan's orders and kept watch outside Lin Xiao's bedroom all night."

  The king's face was expressionless, and his tone was flat: "Then have you ever seen Lin Xiao go out at night or come to the flower hall?"

  Deng Jian shook his head and said, "Lin Xiao entered the house and didn't come out until early this morning."

  It's unnecessary to ask any more questions now. Lin Xiao had never been out, but Jiang Kun insisted that Lin Xiao went to the flower hall last night. Jiang Kun was lying, and he lied just to cover up his own theft.

  ………………………

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