Chapter 70: Car Ride.

Lin Yannan finished speaking, and Xiao Qian continued: "The person who discovered the tragedy of the Meng family was an old man named Zhang, who lived on Changping Street and made steamed buns for a living. He was acquainted with Meng Chao's father. Every day, Zhang would wake up early and make steamed buns. At dawn, he would carry his load and go to the market in Xicheng to sell them. Yesterday evening, Zhang even saw Meng's father. Meng's father told him to save ten steamed buns for him today. Zhang left his house on time this morning to sell the steamed buns. On his way, he passed by the Meng family's house and noticed that the front door was slightly ajar. Thinking that Meng's father was awake, he decided to give him the steamed buns now, as they would have been cold by the time he returned from the market. Zhang knocked on the door, but no one answered despite calling out multiple times. Feeling that something was amiss, he went inside to take a look and discovered Meng Chao lying in a pool of blood, already lifeless. Terrified, he quickly ran out and woke up the neighbors, then reported the incident to the authorities..."

It's my turn, it's my turn..." Lu Zhaonan urgently wanted to show his investigation results.

"You may speak."

Lu Zhaonan said, "I visited the neighbors of the Meng family. Meng's family moved here ten years ago when Meng Chao became the guardian of the Dinghuai Gate. The Meng family has always been decent and honest, with harmonious relationships with their neighbors. In the past ten years, they have never had any conflicts or arguments with anyone. It is simply impossible for them to develop any enmity with anyone."

Xiao Qian is still waiting for Lu Zhaonan's response, but Lu Zhaonan starts drinking his tea.

"Gone?"

"That's about it, everyone has said pretty much the same thing. Let me summarize." Lu Zhaonan thinks he has summarized it well, succinctly.

Xiao Qian was speechless; asking was the same as not asking.

"When I came out, I casually asked around. One person said that Meng's father used to work at a firecracker workshop and had three fingers on his left hand blown off by a firecracker explosion. The shopkeeper of a grocery store on the street said that Meng Chao would come to his shop every few days to buy things. Three days ago, Meng Chao came to buy soy sauce and accidentally took two extra copper coins without realizing it. The shopkeeper had to chase after him to give him the money back. At that time, the shopkeeper even asked Meng Chao if he had something on his mind. Meng Chao shook his head and said no, but he looked like he had lost his soul." Lin Yanyan added.

“街头开杂货铺的那老头？我也问过他啊，但他没跟我说这些。”陆昭南悻悻。

萧潜斜了他一眼：“你怎么问的？”

"I... I am just asking the Meng family if they have any feuds or grudges with anyone, isn't that what you asked me to ask?"

Xiao Qian didn't want to talk to him anymore, and looked towards Guan Sheng, asking, "How about your side?"

"Master, I asked the guards stationed at Ding Huai Gate. They all said that Meng Chao is a bit slow-witted, but he is definitely diligent and hardworking. If anything unusual happened, it would be four days ago when Meng Chao was scolded by the commander of the guards, Guo Yongli. The reason was that Meng Chao was too slow in inspecting the cargo of Shunchang caravan, causing congestion at the city gate. At that time, there happened to be an official's wife who wanted to enter the city. Guo Yongli told Meng Chao to stop but he refused, so he was scolded by Guo Yongli."

“当众训？”萧潜问。

“当众训也几句，后来有人瞧见郭永利把孟超叫去单独又训了几句。卑职找到郭永利询问，郭永利的说辞和大家说的差不多，就嫌孟超做事太磨叽，没眼力见。”

Have you seen the registration book for entering the city?

I only copied the registration record for that day, sir.

Guan Sheng handed over a list.

林晏晏道：“从大家的描述中孟超是个老实本分，做事认真的人，他坚持要查顺昌车行的货，肯定是发现了什么问题。”

萧潜赞同的点点头：“关胜，你再去一趟定淮门，把近一个月的入城登记册都拿来。甄公子，陆公子，我们去顺昌车行。”

三人来到顺昌车行，这是一家专门帮人运货的车马行，是京城三大车行之一。

车行的负责人叶管事听说顺天府来人，忙出来迎接。

“四天前？有好几车货往来，小的也记不清了，要不几位大人稍等，小的去看看账目。”

“快去快去，小爷忙着呢。”陆昭南不耐烦地催促。

Xiao Qian and Lin Yannan looked at Lu Zhaonan together.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong or do something wrong?" Lu Zhaonan had already been greatly impacted today. He had gone to the scene excitedly, but after only taking a glance, he felt so dizzy and nauseous that he couldn't continue. When he tried to ask the neighbors for information, he didn't get any helpful answers. The gap between reality and imagination felt too big. So now he wanted to show himself well. He saw that Guan Sheng and the others always acted cool and drank to their heart's content when they went out, acting like they're superior.

林晏晏转看萧潜：你的人你自己教吧，哪有衙门里的人说自己小爷的，还当自己是陆小王爷。

萧潜暗叹一气：“待会儿你不要说话。”

Lu Zhaonan: Uh...

He was wrong again?

In a short while, Steward Ye brought out the accounts. Xia Qian flipped directly to the records from four days ago and found three cars coming from the direction of Dinghuai Gate. Flipping further back, there were three cars again on the next day, coming from Ezhou. Translation: "

"What kind of goods are you transporting?"

"Sir, these are some local specialties, including bronze mirrors, Zilian from Jiangxia, and Fa Si rice."

"Where are the goods now?"

"They have all been delivered to the customers. Rice was delivered to Guangda Rice Shop, Zilian was sent to various major restaurants, and the bronze mirrors were sent to various rouge shops."

"Are they all delivered?"

"The delivery is done."

"What about the carriage? Is it still here?"

"Sir, the carriage has already been sent out. Our carriage business is doing very well, we are too busy to handle it all."

Xiao Qianxin said, "Then why bother investigating?"

Lin Yannan pondered and asked, "You must have warehouses for all the goods coming and going every day, right?"

Ye Steward nodded and humbly said, "Yes, we have warehouses, we do."

"How many of them are there?"

“一共两处。”

“都带我们去看看。”

“大人……”叶管事面露难色。

萧潜眉梢微挑，释放威严气势：“怎么？有难处？莫非这仓库里头有见不得光的东西？”

Yeguan waved his hand repeatedly, "No, no. It's just that I suddenly remembered there are still many matters to attend to. Well, it's more important to cooperate with the adults' affairs. I will accompany you right away."

"However, Sir, can I reveal where our car dealership went wrong? The client is asking, and I'd like to give a proper response."

Xiao Qian replied coldly, "This official suspects that someone has been smuggling prohibited items."

Ye Guanshi's face changed drastically: "Sir, this is absolutely impossible. Our family's car business does legitimate business and never engages in illegal activities."

"Whether it is or not, we will only know after conducting an investigation," Zhuo Nan Lu replied, imitating Xiao Qian's tone, arrogantly.

三人跟着叶管事往车行后面走。

出了后门是一个大院子，院子里停着七八辆马车。

林晏晏慢悠悠道：“叶管事，你们车行不是生意很好吗？怎么还有这么多马车空着？”