Chapter 51: Probably an Internal Traitor

  Yu Fu's entreaty was devoid of his earlier arrogance, and he even changed the way he addressed Hua Lang. Seeing this, Hua Lang turned around and said: "Since Mr. Yu is willing to tell the truth, I don't want to lose this business opportunity either. Please speak!"

  Yu Fu nodded repeatedly, then opened his mouth and said: "To be honest, what was really stolen was not two thousand taels of silver, but... a jade Ruyi. I said it was two thousand taels of silver because this jade Ruyi is worth a fortune, I'm afraid you'll ask for too high a price, and then I'd be reluctant to pay."

  After listening to Yu Fu's words, Hua Lang nodded slightly, but in his heart, he was thinking secretly that you might not be willing to tell the truth. It's not because I'm afraid of asking for a high price, but it's probably because there's something wrong with the Jade Ruyi. Would someone as wealthy as you care about a little commission?

  Although Hualang thought so, he didn't show it and smiled: "Mr. Yu is worrying too much, our detective agency prices according to the difficulty of the case and the price of finding things, but we are not those who open their mouths like a lion, Mr. Yu can rest assured that even if your jade Ruyi is worth a city, I Hualang will still charge you one hundred taels of silver as commission."

  Yu Fu saw that Hua Lang was no longer suspicious, and hastily smiled: "Since that's the case, then please, Master Hua, hurry up and find some clues to help me retrieve my jade pendant."

  Hualang nodded and then searched around the room. The items in the room were neatly arranged, and a landscape painting on the wall was slightly tilted. Apart from that, there was nothing else. Hualang immediately went outside the door. Because it had rained lightly the night before, there were no footprints left behind. At the window, Hualang found that the window was broken with a hole in it. Judging by the size of the hole, it seemed that the thief had used a bamboo pole to break the window and blow anesthetic powder into the room.

  After a while, Hua Lang turned around and asked Yu Fu, who had been following him all the time: "Did you sleep well last night, Mr. Yu?"

  Yu Fu nodded and said: "Very good, I have never slept as well as yesterday."

  Hualang nodded slightly and asked again: "Since Master Yu got out of bed, nothing in the house has been moved, right?"

  Yu Fu nodded: "Of course, since discovering that the Jade Ruyi was gone, I didn't dare to make a sound in the mansion, so I hurriedly came to find you for help."

  After listening to Yu Fu's words, Hua Lang smiled slightly: "So it seems that I have a clue now. Mr. Yu's room is tidy, and the window has been poked with a hole. It seems that the thief gave you anesthetic first, then quietly entered and stole the jade Ruyi. Moreover, the thief was very familiar with where Mr. Yu placed the jade Ruyi, so he didn't search around the room randomly, but directly stole the jade Ruyi."

  Everyone was shocked when they heard this, and Yu Fu hastily said: "What Mr. Hua means is that the person who stole my jade Ruyi is a traitor?"

  Hualang smiled faintly: "It's hard to say whether there are internal traitors or not, but one thing is for sure, I know my boss very well."

  Yu Fu was very angry after Hua Lang finished speaking. He seemed to have not expected that the thief who stole his jade Ruyi would be a traitor or even one of his own friends. However, despite being angry, Yu Fu remained calm and said: "Since Young Master Hua can see through this, I suppose you must be able to catch the little thief."

  Hualang nodded slightly and asked: "Is Old Master Yu hiding the Jade Ruyi behind that landscape painting on the wall?"

  Yu Fu was shocked and looked at Hua Lang with a mixture of surprise and disbelief, asking: "How did you know?"

  Hualang shrugged: "That painting is a bit tilted, it must have been moved recently. But one painting hangs well on the wall, what's the point of moving it? The Jade Ruyi is worth a city, Old Master Yu will definitely keep it safe and sound. Behind that landscape painting is naturally the best hiding place."

  After nodding in agreement, Yu Fu said, "That's right, Flower Master is indeed divine." As he spoke, he walked up to the painting and took it down. After taking down the painting, all that could be seen was the wall. However, at this moment, Yu Fu knocked three times on the wall, and after the third knock, a brick on the wall suddenly popped out.

  Although the brick popped out, inside was a hidden passage, just large enough to hold the box containing the jade Ruyi.

  After seeing everything, everyone was stunned. Yu Fu looked at the crowd and said: "This secret passage has a mechanism, it must be tapped three times to come out, if you tap more or less, this wall will shoot countless sharp arrows. That thief can actually steal my Jade Ruyi, it seems that Hua Gongzi's words are correct, that thief is very familiar with me."

  At this time, Yu Fu suddenly became humble and his appearance looked very cunning, making people feel secretly afraid.

  After hearing Yu Fu's words, Hua Lang slightly raised the corner of his mouth and said: "Since we know it's an internal traitor, does Mr. Yu still want us to continue solving the case?"

  Yu Fu listened to Hua Lang's words, his eyes rolled around and said: "Of course we have to invite him, although I know there is a traitor, but I don't know who it is. Catching the thief still relies on Master Hua."

  Hualang smiled slightly, and Yu Fu was indeed clever. Hualang had always felt that this matter was suspicious, so he wanted to probe Yu Fu a bit. If Yu Fu didn't want them to investigate the case anymore, then this matter would be even more suspicious. But now it seemed like Yu Fu had seen through Hualang's thoughts, and even though he didn't want Hualang to intervene again, he still let him continue investigating.

  To continue investigating is to continue investigating, but how to investigate is another matter altogether.

  "In that case, I have a few questions for Old Master Yu, may I ask?"

  Yu Fu cupped his hands and said: "Please!"

  "Does the boss know about the Jade Ruyi? How many people know, and how many know that you hid it in the secret passage on this wall?"

  Yu Fu thought for a moment and said, "I'm not clear about this. I've never told anyone that I have the jade Ruyi, nor have I ever mentioned the jade Ruyi or the secret passage in the wall to anyone else. Who knows about my having the jade Ruyi and the secret passage? I really don't know. Maybe it was someone from the mansion who saw me secretly through the window. I'll go call them over and ask one by one."

  Yu Fu seemed to have given up on cooperation, but Hua Lang smiled faintly and said, "Wait a minute, Mr. Yu. It's better not to make this matter public, or the thief might find out and destroy the evidence."

  This sentence hit Yu Fu's weakness, he pretended to consider it, then nodded in agreement.

  Seeing that Yu Fu was so wealthy, Hua Lang didn't want to stay here for long and said: "Since Master Yu can't think of who might have stolen your Jade Ruyi, we'll take our leave. When we get a lead, we'll naturally come back to find Master Yu. Master Yu can rest assured that if we can't help you catch the thief, these ten taels of silver will be returned to you."

  After finishing speaking, Hua Lang and others were about to leave, but at this time, Yu Fu suddenly cupped his hands and said: "The things in the mansion, please don't spread them outside, Flower Young Master. The internal thief is stealing, it's really not good to hear."