Chapter 41: Ledger Issues

  It started raining in the morning.

  After everyone got up, the rain fell even more heavily and heavily, so that they could only take it with them wherever they went in the house.

  The rain is very heavy, with a loud pattering sound like a huge bell, which is very pleasant to hear.

  It's rare to have some free time, and it's also interesting for everyone to sit together and chat. As they chatted, they talked about Huā Láng being a private detective, and at this time, Huā Láng told them his idea.

  To become a private detective, one must have fame, and to have fame, one cannot help but rely on Bao Gong's prestige. Therefore, taking on a few cases for Bao Gong is necessary.

  When everything is ripe, Hualang opens a detective agency in Tianchang County and informs the local people of the purpose of the agency. At this time, if the people have any difficulties or if there are suspicious cases at home that they do not want to disturb others with, they can come to Hualang for help. Of course, if necessary, cooperating with the government to solve the case is naturally the best.

  Hualang spoke at length and after Yin Wuchuang and Wen Meng understood, they all felt that this industry was very interesting, much more so than entering the officialdom or doing business.

  And besides, by collecting commissions according to the situation, making a living is no problem.

  After everyone finished discussing the private detective issue, they talked about many other things. The rain outside was blown into the house by the wind, making people feel very cool.

  Just as the rain was not very big, a young servant came in a hurry and said that the government had sent an official to see Flower Lang.

  Bao Zheng sent a yamen to the Wen Mansion, and when Hualang heard about it, his face suddenly changed. If nothing was amiss, Bao Zheng wouldn't have someone come in the rain.

  After the little servant invited that official into the living room, Hua Lang immediately asked: "Did Lord Bao send you to find me? Is there something going on?"

  The yamen runner nodded: "Hua Gongzi, Zhu Yougui admitted that he owed Dong Cheng over a thousand taels of silver, but he did not admit to stealing the account book, nor did he admit to killing Dong Cheng."

  "Oh, there's actually something like that?" Huā Láng asked with some interest, and at this point, he seemed to have expected it.

  The official nodded and said, "Indeed, that's what Zhu Yougui said. He admitted that on the day Dong Cheng died, he took away the IOU note hidden in the account book from Dong Cheng's grain store, but he had no need to take away the account book itself. Moreover, the account book was so big, if he had taken it away, someone would have discovered it."

  After hearing the words of the yamen runner, everyone also felt that there was some reason to it. If Zhu Yougui only wanted an IOU, why would he need to take away the account book? This would only raise suspicions. But if the account book wasn't taken by Zhu Yougui, then who could have taken it?

  Dong Cheng was killed by whom again, Zhu Yougui?

  Why didn't he take away those one thousand two silver coins after killing Dong Cheng?

  The case is getting more and more confusing, at this time, the bailiff looked at Hualang and said: "Hua Gongzi, my master invites you to go to the county government office for a visit, let's see what to do next."

  Hualang agreed and then he and Wen Mengyin hurried to the county government office under their oil-paper umbrella.

  Tianchang County is under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou and belongs to Jiangnan, so there is also a unique elegance and ambiguity here. As they walked along the street, they couldn't help but be filled with poetic meaning.

  But thinking of the poetic meaning, Hua Lang thought of Dai Wangshu's "Rain Alley", but here the rain alley is not desolate, nor is there a girl with a melancholy ending.

  After walking down the long street, they finally arrived at the county government office. After entering the county government office, Bao Zheng was already waiting in the living room. After Bao Zheng detailed today's interrogation, Hua Lang also furrowed his brow. What Zhu Yougui said made some sense, but if that were true, who would be the murderer?

  After serving tea to Hualang and others, Bao Zheng continued: "I have already asked someone to re-examine the copy of the account book obtained from Mr. Accountant to see if there is anything missing."

  Hualang nodded: "Brother Bao did the right thing, since the account book wasn't stolen by Zhu Yougui, it must be someone else. But why would others want to steal the account book? It seems that there's definitely a problem with this account book."

  As they were speaking, a man who looked like a gentleman walked in. He came to Bao Gong's side, bowed and said: "Your Honor, I have checked this account book, the income and expenses are balanced, there is no discrepancy anywhere, but there are several entries that seem strange, both the outgoing and incoming ones do not look like they should belong to a rice store."

  After listening to the old man, Bao Zheng nodded slightly and then looked at Hua Lang and asked: "What did Brother Hua think of?"

  Hualang smiled faintly: "I've thought of Mr. Accountant."

  Dong Cheng's accounts were all written down by himself one stroke at a time, so there wouldn't be any discrepancies. His own business, would he still cheat himself?

  Mr. Kezhangfang is different, managing accounts, the profit should be quite sufficient, just doing some handwork, can make a fortune, of course, the most important thing is not to be discovered by Dong Cheng.

  While Dong Cheng was still alive, because Dong Cheng checked the accounts very strictly, the accountant had no chance to embezzle any money. But after Dong Cheng died, he could manipulate the accounts to get some extra income for himself. However, after doing so, he had to destroy Dong Cheng's original account book, so that all the financial reports of the rice store would have to be based on the copy kept by the accountant.

  After Hualang explained it to everyone, Bao Zheng immediately sent someone to bring the accountant over.

  After being caught, Mr. Accountant listened to Hualang's account and immediately knocked his head and confessed.

  "Spare my life, sir! I indeed embezzled the shop's silver and falsified the account book. After doing so, I stole and destroyed Mr. Dong's account book... but all of this was done after I learned that Mr. Dong had been murdered. His death has nothing to do with me!"

  The old accountant was already very old, and now he was kneeling on the ground begging for mercy, looking pitiful. However, this couldn't evoke sympathy from everyone. It was his greed that had wasted a lot of time and energy for many people, but in the end, they got nothing. Who killed Dong Cheng? Nobody had any idea.

  One thousand two silver coins, why didn't the murderer take away one thousand two silver coins after killing someone? What is his intention in doing so?

  Is it because you look down on a thousand taels of silver? But no matter how rich a person is, they will not think that a thousand taels of silver is a small amount.

  What he wants is to avenge Dong Cheng, so his intention is not on the silver. Even if it's revenge, after avenging, seeing one thousand two silver, who can't be moved? Moreover, if it's really revenge, he must hate to tear Dong Cheng into pieces, how could he let go of Dong Cheng's one thousand two silver?

  If neither of these possibilities is true, then it can only be said that the murderer was too clever.