Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 351 The Extra Seals

Gong Ling did not hesitate, "Ten. This is a habit I've developed over the years with blood and tears."

Gong Ling seemed to have thought of something, and her body trembled. The cheerful face she had shown while fighting crickets was now surrounded by black mist, making her look like she could turn into a demon at any moment.

Even his expression turned sinister.

"I usually start by drawing a design and showing it to the important people. They then point out five, six, seven, or eight flaws, and I revise the design seventy, eighty, or ninety times before finally finalizing the mold. Although most of the time, they would lazily say, 'Well, after all the revisions, the first one you drew was still better.'"

Once the design is finalized, I begin casting. I don't know how others do it, but I cast one first so that my superiors can take a look and approve it. If they think it's acceptable, then I'll make a whole set in one go.

There are two designs for these bronze lion medals, so I made two of them first. Then, according to the requirements, I made four of each design, for a total of eight.

From these ten, the eight most perfect ones were selected and submitted. The remaining two were kept as a backup.

When Gong Ling said this, she was filled with resentment, and her teeth were clenched so tightly they were grinding.

He stared at Zhou Zhao with his eyes wide open, but didn't continue speaking. His face clearly said, "Go ahead and ask, keep asking!"

Zhou Zhao cleared her throat and asked the question Gong Ling wanted her to ask: "Why prepare for unforeseen circumstances?"

"It's easy to see the King of Hell, but difficult to deal with his underlings. Nine out of ten people who come to inspect will find fault and say that one of them is flawed. So I replace it with the spare one. In fact, sometimes even without replacing it, they won't be able to tell. But by replacing it, I can easily get away with it."

After we get through this hurdle, a few years later, it's very likely someone will lose it and send someone urgently demanding we immediately make a new one, or else their entire family will be executed.

It's not like drinking egg drop soup; it's not that easy.

Are they all people who can't be offended?

Since there's something readily available, we can take our time and deal with it. Of course, we can't rush it, otherwise next time they'll demand even faster results.

As Gong Ling spoke, her chest heaved violently with anger.

Seeing that Zhou Zhao and Su Changying were both staring at him intently, he immediately wilted.

The old man chuckled sheepishly and said ingratiatingly, "These are just small bits of wisdom left by our predecessors, not worth mentioning in the eyes of you two gentlemen."

"Where are the remaining two?"

Upon hearing Su Changying's question, Gong Ling immediately replied, "As a servant of the Imperial Household Department, I am well aware of the gravity of this matter. I dare not allow such things to leak out; I have kept them hidden carefully and sealed them with wax."

He looked around as he spoke, then led Zhou Zhao and Su Changying into one of the rooms in his backyard.

As soon as he entered the house, the old man took out a crowbar from behind the door, paced around the room, spotted a floor tile, pried it open with a snap, took out a wooden box sealed with wax, and then blew the dust off it vigorously.

The box is entirely black, with patterns painted on it in yellow paint.

"Ah, no! This is a Qilin. It was carved for Prince Yu in the previous dynasty. He was blind and asked us to carve it with distinct scales and horns, but it couldn't be too hard to hold. It had to be hollow so it wouldn't be too heavy and he might accidentally drop it on his foot, but it also couldn't be completely hollow, lest he sit on it and crush it..."

At this point, Gong Ling started speaking in her hometown dialect.

Although Zhou Zhao couldn't understand or hear clearly, she was certain that Gong Ling must have used extremely vulgar language.

The old man put the box back, then hunched over and paced a few steps. "Ah! I remember now, it should be this one, under this brick."

As he spoke, he used the crowbar again to pry up a slab of bluestone. "Found it! It really is this one!"

Gong Ling shouted, squatted down and pulled out a box. As soon as he got his hands on the box, his face changed instantly. His scarred hands trembled, and the wooden box fell back down with a thud.

Gong Ling turned around and looked at Zhou Zhaotong and Su Changying with a grim expression.

His voice trembled slightly, "My lords, the weight is wrong. The contents of the box are most likely missing."

He made bronze sculptures, and apart from the fact that Gongzi Yu was blind and his Qilin was special, each of the others was quite substantial.

When he picked up the wooden box, it felt so light, like it had no weight at all, which meant there was nothing inside.

Zhou Zhao was not surprised at all. She exchanged a glance with Su Changying, walked to Gong Ling's side, and picked up the wooden box.

"The box was intact, but the wax used to seal it had been cut open. When you took the Qilin box, it was covered with a thick layer of dust, and you had to blow hard to see the patterns. But with this box, you could see it clearly without blowing on it."

This indicates that the box was recently moved; the dust on it was blown away, or perhaps the dust slid off when the lid was opened and the bronze seal was taken away.

Zhou Zhao turned to look at Su Changying.

"It must have been yesterday. After the man in black escaped, before entering the palace, he discovered that I had broken off the lion's tail and immediately came here to take the pair of lions."

He dared not take only one identical lion, because then we could eliminate four people and narrow down the remaining four based on the pattern of the missing lion.

Su Changying nodded and pondered, "This person is very familiar with the wisdom of Master Gong's predecessors."

These boxes are buried underground, and he can retrieve them quickly and accurately; nine times out of ten, he has an inside help.

Zhou Zhao looked at Gong Ling, whose face was ashen, and asked, "Did you stay here at night? Did you hear any noise? Besides you, who else knew that you hid the bronze medal under the floor tiles?"

Gong Ling took a deep breath to calm herself down.

“I have been living here with my young apprentice. I slept very soundly last night and didn’t get up or hear any noise. Besides, my son and nephew know about this. My nephew is my young apprentice, named Gong Huan.”

"Where is Gong Huan now?" Zhou Zhao asked.

“Every morning he would go to Lao Cheng Ji, three streets away, to buy me sesame seed cakes. I didn’t see him when I got up this morning, so he probably hasn’t come back yet.”

Zhou Zhao and Su Changying exchanged a glance, both with a bad feeling. "Which room is Gong Huan staying in?"

Gong Ling stood up and walked out, pointing to the west wing next to her.

Zhou Zhao darted to the door and pushed it open easily. The door wasn't locked.

The room was small, and you could see the bed at a glance. A man was lying on the bed, covered tightly with a quilt, not moving at all.

Gong Ling tried to walk over, but Su Changying stopped him. He craned his neck to look and exclaimed in surprise, "Ah Huan, why are you late today? Did the master make you sick because he wanted you to revise the tenth chapter?"

The person on the bed did not respond.

Zhou Zhao glanced at Gong Ling and said, "Stop shouting, the person is probably already dead."

Gong Ling's expression changed drastically. He pushed Su Changying's hand away, rushed over, and pulled back the brocade quilt. He saw Gong Huan lying on the bed, his chest covered in blood.