tallest building

Chapter 236 Suo Zhen Worm

Gong Chang'an then leaned close to Ying Tong and whispered, "Your Highness, I have a way to find out whether this foreign woman has stolen anything."

"Oh? Really? Then you should try it." Ying Tong was also in a dilemma at this moment. After all, the other party was a young girl. If he let his subordinates use force, it would not be good for his reputation.

But if things remain deadlocked like this, it would be really unreasonable.

Gong Chang'an jumped off his horse, pulled over the eunuch serving Ying Tong, and instructed him to do this and that.

After Gong Chang'an finished speaking, he squeezed into the crowd, where the crowd was still arguing.

"Oh dear! There really is a thief here, my purse is gone!" Gong Chang'an shouted after a while.

"Someone has lost something again?" people couldn't help but wonder.

"Brother Gao, please have your men surround all these people. Don't let even one escape. The thief must be among them," Gong Chang'an said to the head guard.

They traveled together, accompanied by more than a dozen guards and attendants.

They easily surrounded all of them.

"What are you doing? Are you going to search everyone one by one?"

"Let's report it to the authorities! They can do whatever they want with it. They can't just let anyone interrogate a thief, can they?"

The crowd was buzzing.

"There's no need for the officials' trouble, and I won't search you all," Gong Chang'an said loudly. "I dare say I can find the thief in the blink of an eye."

"boast!"

"nonsense!"

Of course, no one believed it.

However, some sharp-eyed people still recognized Gong Chang'an.

"Hey, isn't he the child prodigy from the Gong family?"

"Which one? The one who got into the Three Paths Academy?"

"It's definitely him! I was standing at the very front during the competition, it was him!"

“Since he is a prodigy of the Gong family, it’s not surprising.”

"Indeed! Zhuge Liang's last disciple is no ordinary person!"

Once Gong Chang'an was recognized, the tide turned.

“I know this is a bit impolite, but in order to find the thief as soon as possible and avoid alerting the authorities, please stand as I said, keeping an arm’s length apart. Do not stand too close,” Gong Chang’an said. “Please hurry.”

The crowd was puzzled, but in order to prove their innocence and to find out how Gong Chang'an could quickly find the thief, they had no choice but to do as he said.

Then Gong Chang'an took out a jar from his pocket and held it high.

"I have a bug here named Suozhen, which has a keen sense of smell for thieves. Just let it sniff the scent of where the stolen item was originally located, and it can accurately find the thief. However, this bug hates evil as much as it hates it, and it will definitely bite the thief after it finds him."

This insect is highly poisonous; most people who are bitten by it will not survive…

Gong Chang'an glanced at everyone as he spoke: "So I hope the person who took the money pouch will step forward now, return the item to me, and promise not to pursue the matter further. Otherwise, if Suo Zhen bites you, your life could be in danger."

The crowd fell silent, and for a long time no one stepped forward to admit it. Gong Chang'an cleared his throat and said to the two princes on horseback, "What do you two think?"

“Theft isn’t a capital offense. If that person really loses their life because of it, that would be bad.” Ying Bai shook his head.

“To convict a thief, we need to see what he stole. The purse in Chang’an contained imperial gifts, so logically the thief should be sentenced to death.” Ying Tong sneered. “Besides, he was already given a chance to confess. If he refuses to confess, then his crime is compounded.”

"Don't worry, everyone. If Suo Zhen finds out the real culprit and accidentally injures someone else, I'm willing to pay with my life." Gong Chang'an said, opening the jar and releasing an insect from it.

The insect looked like a large bee, but it was two or three times larger than a normal bee, and its patterns were unusually bright, making it look extremely poisonous.

It seemed to obey Gong Chang'an's commands. Gong Chang'an placed it on his waist for a while to let it get used to the scent.

Then he placed it on his finger and said, "Go!"

With a flick of his wrist, he released the insect.

The insect circled twice in front of Gong Chang'an, then flew straight toward one of the people and landed on his head.

The man screamed like a pig being slaughtered and rolled around on the ground, apparently bitten by Sozhen.

"Go up and search him!" Ying Tong ordered coldly.

Several people went up and, sure enough, found a brocade money pouch in his arms.

Gong Chang'an took the money bag and put it in his pocket, while Suo Zhen flew back and climbed back into the jar.

"Wow, this insect is really intelligent!" People couldn't help but exclaim when they saw it.

"That thief too, everyone said these bugs can kill people. If he had just handed them over earlier, wouldn't he have been fine? If he had apologized properly, he wouldn't have lost his life."

Meanwhile, the person who stole Gong Chang'an's purse was already curled up on the ground, motionless.

"You!" At this moment, the barbarian girl called out to Gong Chang'an, "If you can find the person who stole the money bag, you will definitely be able to find the person who stole the beads."

"What you mean, young lady, is..." Gong Chang'an blinked, "...what if someone dies..."

“I’ll take full responsibility,” the girl said firmly. “You just need to find it for me.”

"Oh dear, who took that string of beads? Come out quickly! Don't let anyone get killed!" The shopkeeper now believed that the barbarian girl was not a thief, otherwise why would she have taken the initiative to ask for an investigation?

"Yes! Yes! Hurry up and come forward and admit it! It's better than losing your life," people chimed in.

"Everyone, please check yourselves first," Gong Chang'an reminded them, "Do you have anything extra?"

The group was somewhat puzzled, but they did as he said.

after awhile……

"Hey? Hey?! Hey!" someone exclaimed in shock, holding a string of gold-inlaid jade beads in his hand, his eyes filled with terror. "How did this thing get on me?! Good heavens! I didn't take it."

The shopkeeper quickly rushed over, picked up the string of beads, examined it, and said, "Yes, yes, this is the string of beads that went missing from our shop."

"But I really didn't take it! I didn't even go into your shop. I only came over to watch the commotion because you were arguing." The man was a shop assistant from the silk shop next door.

"Prodigy, please save me! It must have been that thief who saw what happened and slipped the item to me in the chaos!" The shop assistant cried, tears streaming down his face. "Heavens above, I'm so innocent!"

“It’s alright,” Gong Chang’an said at this moment. “Although that person moved the stolen goods, the scent is still there. Suo Zhen is good at identifying the scent of thieves, not just the scent of the stolen items.”