After finishing his work, Chen Guanlou took Xiao Jin to the place where Hong Zhuangshi had the accident. Hong Zhuangshi's home is outside the city. In order to facilitate his work, he rented a small courtyard in the city to live. The courtyard is very small, with only three rooms in total. After entering the courtyard, you can see the layout of the whole house at a glance. One main house, one wing room and one kitchen. The fight took place in the main house, the tables and chairs fell to the ground, and there was a pool of blood on the ground. Xiao Jin was a little confused, "Chen, what are we going to check?" Chen Guanlou looked at the roof, "Where do you think Hong Zhuangshi would hide the valuables?" Xiao Jin was obviously stunned for a moment, and then said: "Wouldn't the beams be too obvious? If I want to hide something, I will either dig a hole in the wall of the bedroom, hide it in the kitchen, or hide it in the yard." "Okay, I'll look for it according to your idea." What? Xiao Jin was stunned.
He scratched his head, "Chentou, are you serious? But Hong Zhuangshi shouldn't have much money." "Don't worry about whether he has money or not, just look around according to your idea of hiding things. I will explain it to you when the time comes." "Oh!" Xiao Jin still obeyed the order and began to explore these rooms. Chen Guanlou came to the yard and climbed over the wall. Sure enough, he found a not very clear footprint. He squatted on the wall thinking, and inadvertently, his eyes swept across the firewood pile under the eaves, which was very messy. A ray of sunset afterglow swept over, and he was dazzled. He quickly jumped off the wall, came to the firewood pile, and searched. Found it! Purse! Three bulging purses. "Found it." Xiao Jin heard the noise and hurried out of the house. Chen Guanlou picked up one of the purses and opened it. It was full of silver. He picked up another purse, which contained various gold and silver jewelry. Picking up another purse, there were gold grains in addition to silver. Xiao Jin opened his mouth wide, feeling very shocked, "This, this, this... all these add up to at least a few hundred taels of silver." "Two or three hundred taels is definitely there. No more, no less." Chen Guanlou weighed the weight and estimated a value. "Where did Hong Ergou get so much money? His death..." Xiao Jin's face turned pale in an instant, and his pupils were dilated, obviously frightened. Chen Guanlou signaled him not to be afraid, and said: "If nothing unexpected happens, he died because of this money. You just need to know about this. I know you are tight-lipped and won't say anything." "Don't worry, Chen, I won't say a word. Hong Ergou quietly got so much money secretly. Sure enough, you can't judge a person by his appearance." Xiao Jin sighed again and again. On weekdays, he really didn't see that Hong Ergou had this ability.
Chen Guanlou said, "It's not worth losing your life for just a few hundred taels!" He knew who gave the money, and he also knew who killed Hong Ergou, but he had no evidence. He had no way of knowing when Hong Ergou had colluded with Yu Zhaoan. A jailer died, and even if he had evidence, he couldn't hurt Yu Zhaoan at all. Reality is so cruel. Yu Zhaoan's cruelty and insidiousness can be seen from this. This man is in the prison, but he can still control the political situation, and he wants to be the hand behind the scenes, stirring up trouble and playing with people's hearts. "Chentou, what should we do with this money?" Xiao Jin asked quietly. Chen Guanlou came back to his senses and said, "Give it all to the Hong family. You know what to say." Xiao Jin nodded, "Chentou, leave this matter to me, I will definitely do it properly." He promised, but his face seemed a little hesitant. Chen Guanlou looked at him, "If you have anything to say, just say it." "Boss Chen, do you want to continue investigating Hong Ergou's case?" "No." "Oh!" Xiao Jin looked relieved, and he was obviously relieved. As an old hand in the Tianlao, although he had never been to school, he knew that the less he knew, the less curious he was, and the longer he lived. Also, never lag behind others in the money that should be coveted, and never reach out for the money that should not be coveted. Don't think that those officials who are imprisoned in the Tianlao will become fish on the sticky board and can be controlled by the little jailers. If you really reach out secretly, the end will be like Hong Ergou, who died inexplicably. You have to take the money from the criminal officials, but you must do it in an open way. The money from the dark way, those officials are so greedy, how can they be willing, sooner or later something will happen. Hong Ergou was too greedy and thought he was an exception. Little did he know that in the eyes of the officials, the little jailers were all without exception and deserved to die. Xiao Jin sighed secretly. He was an old hand, and without Chen Guanlou telling him, the money was enough to make him understand what happened. "Ergou is so confused! He replaced his elder brother and served in Tianlao. He has been in Tianlao longer than you, Chentou. Five or six years is also considered an old man in Tianlao. He still couldn't escape the word greed." Xiao Jin sighed. "I will burn more paper for him when we get to the Hong family tomorrow." Chen Guanlou took out five taels of silver and handed it to him, "This is my funeral gift, please help me take it to the Hong family." "Chentou won't go to deliver it in person?" "I won't go." "Alas, too many people have been in trouble recently, and it's hard for Chentou." Chen Guanlou looked around, closed the gate with his own hands, and left the small courtyard. He separated from Xiao Jin halfway, bought a pack of braised beef, braised pork head, braised pig ears, and braised pig tails on the way, got a pot of wine, and staggered to Master Du's house. Master Du's old servant was making dinner, all vegetarian, no meat. Seeing that he was carrying a bag of braised meat, he was so happy that his teeth were not visible and he invited him in very warmly. Master Du was correcting students' essays. When he saw him, he invited him to have tea and complained, "What a crap essay you wrote. I must have been uncultivated in my previous life, so I met these useless people in this life." "As long as you have money, it's fine." Chen Guanlou comforted him casually. He also studied in the Chen clan school and knew the situation there. Parents sent their children to the clan school, not expecting them to become famous. It's enough for them to know a few words, read, write and count, and not be blind. If you want to take the imperial examination, you have to go to a proper academy, which is the place to learn knowledge and take the imperial examination. Master Du threw the pen in his hand and said, "No more revisions, no more revisions. None of the articles are worthy of attention. The young generation of the Chen family is really no good. None of them can read." "Are those young masters in the Marquis' Mansion no good?"
Master Du smiled bitterly, "What good are they? They are all spoiled children, and they don't expect to take the imperial examination. A few days ago, I met the eldest master and mentioned that the children's martial arts lessons should also be picked up and not neglected. The eldest master said that he had the same idea. The Marquis' Mansion started with military merits, and military merits are the foundation. Reading is just to stand in the court, at least you can understand what the civil servants say. When quarreling, you can occasionally quote classics to refute a few sentences." Chen Guanlou laughed out loud, this was the happiest moment for him in recent days. He smiled and said, "The elder master is indeed a pragmatist. He is right. Young masters of the Marquisate can become officials without taking the imperial examination, but they still have to study, just to avoid being considered illiterate and unable to understand what people say. So, Master Du, you can relax your requirements a little bit."
