The Heavens Begin with Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 33 It’s rare to be confused
Chief Constable Jiang didn't know the origins of the thieves in the mountain, and he didn't dare to arrest them randomly. He just wanted to keep an eye on the clues first and make a decision after receiving news from the government office.

Now seeing Zhan 24 acting so vigorously and decisively, he suddenly became panic-stricken, fearing that he would be involved in the struggle between the powerful and unable to extricate himself. He hurriedly asked the bailiff to return to the yamen to report and wait for further instructions.

Both families were wary of each other, so they had different attitudes and ulterior motives when doing things.

It is easy to transfer personnel from Zhan 24, but in order to let them go up the mountain to inform their own people, they have to delay time.

Before receiving the news from the government office, Chief Constable Jiang did not dare to go up the mountain, so he deliberately made excuses to delay.

The two companies have different goals, but their methods are unusually similar: they are both trying to delay time.

It was not until it was almost dark that both sides gathered together.

Zhan Ershisi made eye contact with the returning people and realized that the mountain was clear, so he asked Chief Constable Jiang to lead the team up the mountain to suppress the bandits.

Captain Jiang finally got a hint and realized that the bandits on the mountain were roving bandits who could be wiped out.

The two sides reached a consensus and stopped talking. Instead, they dispersed and searched the mountain in an encircling formation.

The result was obvious. The mountain was now empty, and there was no trace of any goods.

Xue Pan became furious and started yelling at Jiang Dairong, pointing at his nose.

"Didn't you say that the thief must be in the mountain?"

"Why is there nothing here now?"

"Fortunately, Master, I didn't listen to you and guard the exit down the mountain. Otherwise, wouldn't we have to guard here for three to five days?"

"Pooh!"

"waste time!"

Jiang Dairong was also very puzzled. All the clues pointed to this place, so why was there no one here?
I wanted to continue searching to see where the thieves came down the mountain, but it was already dark, so I had to go down the mountain and return to the city and come back tomorrow.

Zhan Ershisi was also happy to save the money for their funeral and so he went back to the city without making any more trouble.

The next day, when Jiang Dairong was about to take people to search again, he received news that a large amount of money had been withdrawn from the Xue family's other shops using fake seals and passwords, totaling more than 100,000 taels.

The Xue family suffered heavy losses as a result. Young Master Xue is now cursing in the Shuntian Prefecture government office, and specifically asked Chief Constable Jiang Dairong to handle this major case.

The minor case of the disappearance of shopkeeper Xue Zhong was put aside for the time being.

Prefect Han did not dare to provoke such a powerful person, so he followed his wishes and gave Jiang Dairong new orders.

There was no other way, Jiang Dairong had to give up the clues on the hill and went to each of the Xue family's stores in the city one by one to start investigating this fraud case.

You wouldn't know until you check. Once you check, you'll be shocked to find out that these stores committed the crimes at the same time, by different people, using the same reason.

The reason given was that Shopkeeper Xue went to buy spices, and there was not enough cash in the store, so some silver was withdrawn to temporarily deal with the emergency, and the repayment would be made in a few days.

Because the visitor had the seal that only the head of a family had, as well as the unique password of each store, no one suspected him and they all tried their best to raise some cash.

After asking in more detail, he found out that the authentic seal was now in the hands of the mistress of the house, Madam Xue, who was the younger sister of Wang Ziteng, the governor of nine provinces, and currently lived in the Mansion of the Duke of Rong.

There is no need to ask at all. This matter definitely has nothing to do with Mrs. Xue. Someone must have faked it.

Fortunately, Master Xue was open-minded and took the initiative to ask his mother, telling Chief Inspector Jiang that Shopkeeper Xue had borrowed the seal once before. Jiang Dairong interrogated all the shopkeepers in each store and learned that the password was only known to the shopkeepers and the owner, but Xue Zhong had been a big shopkeeper in Beijing for many years and actually had a way to get these passwords.

He began to suspect the head manager Xue Zhong, and went to Xue Zhong's house to check. He found that the house was deserted, except for a small number of servants, his wife, children, housekeeper, confidant, and all gold and silver jewelry, land deeds and house deeds were all missing. They had disappeared last night.

Combined with some gossip that came from nowhere, Jiang Dairong suddenly understood.

"This case is an inside job!"

"Xue Zhong was not kidnapped by the thieves, but conspired with the thieves to commit this crime!"

“That’s why those thieves didn’t stay on the mountain, but just took a rest and left.”

As for whether it is true or not...it's rare to be confused!

Otherwise, there is no telling how many people are involved in this huge case involving hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. Not to mention that it would be difficult to solve the case, even if it was solved, I am afraid that not much of the silver would be recovered.

First find a backup thief. If there is any gain in the future, it will be a merit. If there is no gain, at least the responsibility will not be too heavy.

If this major case ends up with no clue and even a scapegoat is not found, he might not be able to continue his job as chief constable.

He was afraid that Xue Pan and others would not believe him, so he organized his words and spoke with certainty, putting all the blame on Xue Zhong.

After listening to this, Zhan Ershisi and Xue Pan looked at each other and felt greatly relieved.

Chief Constable Jiang is so thoughtful!
It suits my taste very well!
"I see!"

Zhan Ershisi's face was heavy, and he sighed:
"Wenlong, no wonder the thief knew everything about the shops. It turned out that Xue Zhong was the one who stole the goods!"

"That's right!" Xue Pan also cooperated very well, with an indignant look, and cursed loudly, "This bastard even got the passwords of all the shops. It's obvious that he has been planning this for many years."

"He has not taken action for so many years, but is only taking action now. I am afraid that he is considering that the seal is not in the capital, so it is inconvenient for him to take action."

"My family recently entered the capital, which gave this thief an opportunity."

"He is the head shopkeeper. If he pretends to have the seal and has the password, no one will doubt him!"

"I only regret that I didn't discover his evil ambition earlier, which led to the loss today!"

Zhan Ershisi comforted him:
"Wenlong, this is not your fault."

"It is likely that this guy has been cheating in the store on a daily basis, causing the store to suffer heavy losses."

"Now that your family has entered the capital, he is afraid that you will check his accounts, so he has done something desperate and tried to escape punishment."

"But he didn't know that the net of heaven is vast and nothing can escape it. Wait until the government issues a warrant to arrest him. Sooner or later, he will be brought back and punished according to law!"

Chief Constable Jiang was originally worried that these two shrewd young masters would see through his tricks. Now, after listening to their conversation, he realized that there was so much inside information. He couldn't help but enrich his own story with a lot of materials to make it more complete. At the same time, he bowed and said:
"Please rest assured, young masters. The arrest warrant can be issued today."

"I will continue to follow up on this matter. If there are any clues, I will investigate it to the end and will not show any leniency."

Zhan Ershisi originally wanted to offer a reward, but considering that Chief Constable Jiang was very capable, if the reward was too high, what if he really solved the case for the sake of the reward? So he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue and just said:
"Then I'll have to trouble Chief Constable Jiang."

(End of this chapter)