Chapter 14: The Old Master Investigates the Case

  Back at the Zhou residence, Zhou Shiming was both furious and worried. The fury was a given, as his silver had been robbed, leaving him fuming. As for the worry and fear? Losing the silver wasn't what was frightening, but rather that the news would leak out and reach the imperial court, which would mean certain death and the extermination of his entire clan for secretly colluding with the rebel army. Zhou Shiming could be said to be in a state of extreme anxiety...

  At this time, the steward Liang Xingchu walked in and Zhou Shiming hastily asked: "Is there any casualty?"

  "Fortunately, no one was killed, only a few servants were slightly injured and will be fine after resting for a few days. So, sir, you don't have to worry about it. It seems that the robbers just came for our silver and didn't intend to harm us." Liang Xingchu replied.

  "Xing Chu, what do you think went wrong with tonight's matter?" asked Zhou Zhuang, while also falling deep into thought himself.

  "Yes, I've been thinking about this problem too. I think there must be a traitor among us, that is to say, someone in our household has leaked the information." Liang Guanjia said while analyzing, "I don't think the traitor could be among those who left, because we only loaded the goods tonight, and besides, the silver was packed up when they were loading it, so they didn't even know what was inside. Even if they did find out that there was silver in it, they wouldn't have known where to send it or at what time. So I deduce that the traitor is unlikely to be among those who left..."

  "You analyzed it very reasonably, just like what I thought. " Zhou Shiming highly agreed with Guan Jia's statement, "Then this traitor must be someone from our own household?"

  Liang Guan nodded slightly and said, "I think this possibility is more likely."

  The master continued to analyze: "This person must have obtained some information from our family, and the time was probably last night at three o'clock. This is all because I was careless and didn't do a good job of prevention! We must immediately investigate this spy, or else something big might happen! Who knows if he has grasped an even bigger secret of the Zhou family?" Master Zhou Shi Ming became more and more worried as he spoke, pacing back and forth in the room... "No, time can't be delayed any longer, you'll take action tonight."

  Zhou Zhuang suddenly stopped in his tracks, calling Liang Guan to his side and whispering instructions in his ear. Liang Guan nodded lightly and turned to leave...

  Zhou Shiming lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep all night...

  The next morning, the butler came to his door and knocked gently, "Master, are you awake?"

  Zhou Shiming heard the sound of the Guan family calling at the door, quickly got out of bed, opened the door and welcomed Guan into the house.

  "How's the investigation into yesterday's incident going?" Zhou Shiming asked eagerly as soon as Liang Guanjia entered the door.

  "Following the master's instructions, after investigating and checking, on the night before last at the third watch, there were seven people in the mansion who were acting alone, that is to say, no one was with them. I think the traitor is probably among them, I have already isolated each of them separately, now they are each in a room, waiting for the master's interrogation." The steward reported.

  "Alright, summon a few reliable house servants and let's secretly interrogate them together." Master Zhou ordered.

  Zhou Zhuang's master and Liang Guan's housekeeper brought several servants to the room where a man named Wang Xiao'er was being held. When he saw the door open, Wang Xiao'er quickly scrambled to his feet and hastily paid his respects, "I've seen you, sir!"

  Zhou Zhuang's master didn't say a word, walked to the front of Wang Xiao'er, lightly coughed once, and scared Wang Xiao'er into trembling...

  "Wang Xia'er, where did you go after the third watch last night?" asked Zhou Shiming.

  "The night before last, I was playing cards with Qian Wu. We didn't think about the time and played until very late before going to sleep. In the middle of it, I went out once."

  "What time did you come out?" the housekeeper asked sternly.

  "Is it just after the third watch?" Wang Xiao'er lowered his head, frightened pale.

  "What's going on? How long has it been?" the housekeeper continued to ask.

  "I went out to...to the toilet, just for half a pack of cigarettes' time..." Wang Xiao'er's words were filled with fear, "Master, I dare not do it again, from now on if there's nothing going on I'll go to sleep early, please forgive me!"

  Zhou Zhuang's master gave a wink to Liang Guan Jia, and Liang Guan Jia turned around and went out.

  After a while, he returned to the house and whispered something in the ear of the host. The host nodded slightly and walked out the door with Liang...

  "From your investigation of Qian Wu's situation, Wang Xiao'er didn't lie. With the half bag of cigarettes as evidence, he shouldn't have had time to commit the crime. It's unlikely that he is the insider." Zhou Zhuang said to Liang Guan while walking.

  "I think so too," replied Liang Guanjia in agreement.

  The two of them walked and talked until they arrived at the place where the second person was being held. Liang Guanjia introduced him, saying: "This man is called Yao Qidi, that night no one testified for him."

  "Let's go in and take a look." Zhou Zhuang pushed open the door and entered the room.

  Yao Qidi was lying on the bed and saw someone coming in. He didn't even lift his head and shouted, "Who is it?"

  "What time is it? Still sleeping?" The housekeeper's voice was somewhat stern.

  Hearing that it was the housekeeper, he immediately got up from the kang and said in a panic: "I thought it was Ma Erlaizi coming back, but it's actually Master..."

  Yao Qi's seventh brother got down from the kang, and the housekeeper's tone also became more gentle. "I'll ask you a few questions, and you must answer them honestly."

  Yao Qidi stood still, not daring to make a sound...

  "What were you doing at three o'clock last night?" asked the housekeeper.

  Yao Qidi thought for a moment, tidied up his thoughts, furrowed his brow, and stuttered: "N-nothing, I was just... sleeping!"

  "What time did you go to sleep last night?" asked the old man.

  "I remember it was just after one watch that I lay down. That day, we dug the soil in the backyard for a whole day, and there was too much work to do. After finally finishing it, I was so tired that I couldn't open my eyes after dinner, so I went to bed." said Yao Qidi with certainty.

  "Who will vouch for you?" asked the steward.

  "Does this still need to be proven? Originally, I was in the same room as Ma Erlaizi, but a few days ago his mother fell ill and he asked for leave to go back. You should know about it, Housekeeper." Yao Qidi seemed unaware that he had been isolated, "Why are you asking about this? I really was sleeping..."

  "Alright, you continue sleeping." The old master said and turned around to walk out of the room by himself. The butler saw this and also followed him out.

  "Could it be this guy?" The butler took a few quick steps forward and whispered to the master.

  "It's hard to know a person's heart, this is really difficult to judge. Let's go and take a look at the others. Alas..." Zhou Shiming let out a sigh, and his face was filled with even more worry.