Why am I, a cook, always involved in cases?

Chapter 188 Lin Xing and Lin Gen

This woman was the head personal maid of Imperial Concubine Shuwan. She responded to all of Quan Wushuang's inquiries on behalf of the concubine who was mistakenly identified.

At that time, the fake concubine was already very weak and could hardly speak. Just because she looked similar to Concubine Shuwan, she was forcibly pulled in to be a concubine. She had no idea why and looked confused.

Some people speculated that this might be a joke made by Concubine Shuwan on a whim, asking her to replace herself.

Quan Wushuang clenched his fists, knowing clearly in his heart that as a eunuch who always had a smile on his face, his behavior was extremely wrong.

(At this moment, he was feeling very uncomfortable and couldn't think of any better way to deal with it.)

Concubine Shuwan said that she would never come back, and she must have escaped from the harem that imprisoned her.

You know, escaping from the harem is a serious crime and may even result in capital punishment.

And if the concubine is of noble status, the crime will be even more serious.

The woman in the imperial kitchen once said that it was like a prostitute escaping from a pit of fire.

(She actually compared the place where the prince was born to a place of fireworks. This is really her nature.)

A bitter smile appeared on Quan Wushuang's face.

As for the woman, no trace of her has been found to this day.

Given Lin Zhiruo's personality, she might willingly follow Concubine Shuwan away, but she might also be abducted by her.

(Why did things develop to this point?)

There are still many unsolved mysteries hidden in this.

Quan Wushuang wanted to ask more details from the head maid, but she just shook her head.

Although torture is also a means of interrogation, Quan Wushuang believes that it is futile.

The head maid's eyes didn't look like she was lying.

All the maids, servants and eunuchs in Zixiao Palace, anyone related to Concubine Shuwan, were imprisoned in a room.

The lecture hall for lectures in the harem has just enough space.

To be on the safe side, Quan Wushuang ordered the eunuchs to search the maids in the harem carefully, but no one suspected to be Concubine Shuwan was found so far.

Quan Wushuang was unable to accompany Concubine Yuyao during her childbirth. Although he was very worried about her, he still let Gao Zhongcheng take his place.

Quan Wushuang was in the study, thinking hard with his head in his hands.

"Just now, General Zhimou suddenly broke into the harem and almost broke in."

The situation was urgent, and Wumuqi stayed by Quan Wushuang's side to serve him.

"..."

His cheek muscles twitched slightly, as if he wanted to laugh but couldn't.

(That military advisor with monocles always does weird things.)

"It seems something has leaked. And..."

Wu Muqi looked bitter and continued:

"Xiao Liang's whereabouts have not yet been discovered."

He called Xiao Liang by his name, and the reason was self-evident.

If Concubine Shuwan flees the harem, her father, Xiao Liang, will also be considered guilty of deceiving the emperor.

As for Hu Fei, who committed suicide by drinking strong liquor, Wu Muqi also mentioned it briefly.

Although she survived, she is still in a coma.

I heard that Hu Fei knew the palace maid Jiaqing, and it must be because of this relationship that she and Concubine Shuwan planned this matter together.

After the death of the previous emperor, Quan Wushuang speculated that her anger had shifted to the harem.

Although the palace maids in the imperial kitchen did not know who the mastermind was, they all obeyed the orders silently. They were all victims of the late emperor.

Quan Wushuang didn't have time to waste here. He was extremely anxious and wanted to find Concubine Shuwan immediately.

However, there are too few clues, and hasty action is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

(Perhaps we should first find Xiao Liang's whereabouts... No, this matter should be left to someone else.)

So, Quan Wushuang could only pace back and forth in the study.

“Manager Quan.”

At this time, Wu Muqi glanced at the door of the study and saw that there seemed to be a guest visiting. He signaled Quan Wushuang not to lose his composure.

In desperation, Quan Wushuang had to sit down and pretend to be calm.

Wu Muqi glanced at the bronze mirror hidden in the dark corner, tilted his head slightly, and waited for the visitor.

The person who came in was a civil servant, short in stature, with slightly curled hair and wearing a pair of round glasses.

Apart from his small eyes and curly hair, he looks like an ordinary person.

Quan Wushuang seemed somewhat familiar with this person's demeanor.

In Tianshu Kingdom, there are very few surnames, less than twenty.

When talking about family background, people usually use the "zi" (character name) passed down from generation to generation to refer to the family.

The royal family also bestowed characters to distinguish different families.

The "Lin" in this person's name is just one word.

In the outer court, the only ones who could be called "Lin" were Lin Gen and his adopted son, as well as Lin Xiang, who had recently entered the harem as an imperial chef.

Quan Wushuang didn't understand why Lin Gen's adopted son came here to visit.

"What brings you here?"

Although in terms of official position, Quan Wushuang has a higher status.

But the man's sudden appearance seemed a bit rude.

However, if you glare at someone every time you encounter this situation, it will be difficult to get anything done.

What's more, some officials were even more rude to Quan Wushuang because he was a eunuch.

"I would like to ask the steward to take a look at this."

Lin Xing took out a scroll of bamboo slips from his sleeve and handed it to Wu Muqi.

Wu Muqi squinted his eyes and looked at it, then handed it to Quan Wushuang.

This person is Lin Gen's adopted son, and what he brings must have a deep meaning.

Quan Wushuang then calmly unfolded the bamboo scroll and began to read it.

Quan Wushuang gently untied the ribbon and browsed the contents inside.

“!”

"What do you think, sir?"

Lin Xing observed Quan Wushuang's expression with a smug look.

Although he was complacent, the contents of the volume were indeed shocking.

It's just a list of numbers and words, but if you look at it from a different perspective, the meaning is completely different.

"This is something my adoptive father has recently suspected, and he ordered me to investigate. He's been troubled by the unknown origin of the bronze artifacts. Anyway, I first checked the assets of the officials who were recently punished, and I found some interesting things."

This is a financial cashier's account book, which can be checked by any treasury manager.

People from other departments can also view it according to regulations.

"It would be too troublesome to read the whole thing directly because there are too many of them, so I have excerpted some important parts for you to see."

Although it is an excerpt, it is clearly organized and even Quan Wushuang, who doesn't understand finance, can understand it.

These contents show that the circulation of silver and money in a certain government office has increased significantly in recent years.

"That's interesting. There haven't been any droughts or locust plagues in recent years, so why would food prices be rising? I was skeptical, so I checked the prices in the city again and found that they have been very stable in recent years."

Lin Xing said pretentiously.

It seems that the price of food is indirectly increased by slightly increasing the price of other items every month.

"Another thing is that copper prices have also gone up. This is a nationwide increase in metal prices. Could it be that a large Buddha statue is being cast somewhere?"

Quan Wushuang already understood what Lin Xing meant.

Although the price increase of grain is not very high, the quantity is huge. Once the price increases, the difference will be considerable.

Lin Xing hinted that perhaps someone had embezzled the difference.

As for metals, overall prices rose, indicating increased demand.

Perhaps someone was undertaking a major undertaking, or erecting a monument or statue to demonstrate power, collecting metals from all over the place, and even melting down kitchen utensils and farm tools for use.

As for other reasons...

"If I were to investigate, I could investigate in detail the flow of money and goods over the years and where they ultimately ended up."

Lin Xing said what Quan Wushuang wanted to hear most.

It seemed like I had come here to talk about this from the very beginning.

Quan Wushuang felt that there seemed to be a deeper meaning in Lin Xing's eyes.

He showed this thing to Quan Wushuang for this purpose.

This person will not act rashly unless they have common interests.

"what do you want?"

Quan Wushuang asked directly.

Lin Xing seemed to be waiting for this sentence, and his eyes softened a little.

He looked a little embarrassed and took out a piece of paper from his pocket.

"Could the steward please be flexible on the amount on this piece of paper?"