There is a god in the sky

Chapter 141 The Mystery of the Dock 8

After that, Xiao Ji casually asked Steward Wang a few more questions.

Only after Sui Feng brought Jiang's concubines did he cautiously ask them, "Did Jiang Zheng go home last night?"

The two had clearly cried at home, and shook their heads in unison: "We haven't seen the master return to the mansion."

"Does he often stay out all night?"

"Not often, unless it's because they've acquired a new beauty, but most of the time they just bring her back to their residence."

Out of the corner of Xiao Ji's eye, he saw Su Qiyu's pen tremble slightly, leaving a small drop of ink on the paper.

Although he quickly covered it up with words, Xiao Ji still sensed something was amiss.

"Is Manager Jiang such a beauty?"

The two concubines retorted coquettishly, "What man isn't lustful?"

The docks are frequented by itinerant travelers; it's rare to see women, let alone beauties.

That's why Steward Jiang brought two concubines with him.

But there are always times when passing guests will use their beauty to seduce them.

If Steward Jiang takes a liking to someone, he might just sleep with her half-heartedly; it's not a big deal.

"Do you know who he has enemies with? Does he have any people he doesn't get along with?"

"Sir, the master doesn't tell us about what's going on outside. He must have a lot of enemies, after all, he controls such a large dock."

How many people would be envious of the money he makes?

However, Xiao Ji was certain that the other party did not have a grudge against him because of this dock.

This kind of feud isn't worth targeting Jiang Zheng for; instead, you should target the powerful figure behind him.

Before killing him, they beat him severely, causing him to suffer as many as thirteen fractures throughout his body, and his internal organs must have been severely damaged as well.

Even without that final blow, he would most likely have died anyway.

But the other party, fearing he might not die, delivered an additional, heavy blow, indicating that he killed out of spite.

Xiao Ji had asked the same question to others earlier.

Most people would vaguely say they didn't know, not wanting to make enemies.

Only one of the shop assistants told him that he had seen Manager Jiang and Manager Wang arguing over the goods in the warehouse.

According to them, Manager Wang was mainly in charge of the inn's business, while Manager Jiang was in charge of the buying and selling in the warehouse.

He had boats, and the warehouse was just a transit point. Sometimes when things got busy, even the innkeepers had to go and help move the goods.

After asking the questions, Xiao Ji said to Su Qiyu, "Thank you, Mr. Su. You can go back now."

Su Qiyu quickly stood up and said, "Then I will take my leave. If you need my help, please send someone to call me."

"it is good."

The two said goodbye politely.

After Su Qiyu left, Xiao Ji picked up the statement he had recorded and then took out the two lines of poetry he kept close to his body to compare them, and found that the handwriting was not the same.

Seeing this, Shen Lan asked curiously, "Are there other scholars at this dock? Why don't we try Manager Wang's calligraphy?"

As the person in charge, Wang Meng couldn't possibly be illiterate.

"That's easy, just send someone to get an account book to take a look."

There were ready-made ones on the counter, and Xiao Ji knew at a glance that they couldn't have been written by Steward Wang.

His handwriting was only slightly better than Shen Lan's.

A person with beautiful handwriting can imitate different handwriting styles.

However, it is very difficult for someone with bad handwriting to imitate beautiful handwriting.

Xiao Ji put away the confession and led Shen Lan and the others along the road back to the Jiang residence from the inn.

“Jiang Zheng left the inn around 9 PM last night. It would only take him the time it takes to drink a cup of tea to get home. It’s such a short journey, yet an accident happened. The possibility of a chance encounter is extremely small. It’s highly likely that the murderer was waiting for him on purpose.”

Fu Qingyan asked, puzzled, "He's rich and powerful, why didn't he bring any attendants home late at night?"

“I asked him about that. He’s usually busy, and everyone around him is busy. Apart from the servants who serve him in the mansion, he rarely takes any attendants with him when he goes out.”

The dock is small; you can walk anywhere without needing a carriage.

However, it takes courage for him to walk alone in the dark in such a chaotic place.

"Jiang Zheng should know some kung fu. He carries a sword, which means he is confident in his martial arts skills."

Fu Qingyan retorted in a low voice, "He must be confident in his identity."

As they spoke, the Jiang residence came into view.

Although it was called a mansion, it wasn't very big; it was just a few large tile-roofed houses with walls that were a bit higher than other people's houses.

Xiao Ji led his men inside and found a piece of paper that hadn't been completely burned in Jiang Zheng's study. The handwriting on it was exactly the same as the two lines of poetry.

"It seems this person is at the dock."

The few words left on the unburned paper read: "Delivery as agreed in three days."

The first part is roughly the contract details, and the last sentence is the delivery time.

"It must be referring to the goods in the warehouse, right? Three days later, I don't know which day that is?" Fu Qingyan pondered.

Shen Lan speculated, "I guess it's tomorrow. Jiang Zheng's study should be cleaned every day. This piece of paper was pressed under the wastebasket, so it must have been missed by the servants when they cleaned it. But even the laziest servants couldn't possibly miss a piece of paper for three consecutive days."

"Will this recipient show up tomorrow? Is he the murderer?"

No one knows the answer.

But at least they knew one thing: this person knew Steward Jiang, and perhaps they were quite familiar with each other.

Xiao Ji summoned one of his concubines and asked, "Do you usually have many guests visiting your residence?"

"Not many, the master rarely brings people back."

"Who usually comes to visit? Or who can be invited into the study?"

The concubine thought for a moment and replied, "It seems that most of the time it's Steward Wang, and occasionally Mr. Su will come to hand in the account books."

Have you ever heard them arguing?

"No, the master is quite amiable and doesn't usually argue with people."

Judging from the past two days, Jiang Zheng's temper is indeed quite good; at least he is very enthusiastic towards guests.

As I left the Jiang family's house, I saw Suiying escorting a young man over.

He was also carrying a bundle in his hand.

"Have you found Jiang Zheng's clothes?"

Suiying kicked the young man in the back of the knee, forcing him to kneel, and then handed him the bundle.

"The body was found in this man's house. He admitted that he saw Manager Jiang's body at the dock in the early morning, and when no one was around, he stripped him of his clothes, shoes and socks, and also got a lot of valuables."

The young man kowtowed forcefully, crying and pleading, "My lord, spare my life! I didn't mean to, it's just... it's just too cold, I can't sleep, so I came out to see if I could gather some firewood to take back and burn."

The little man found the corpse, but it was dark and he couldn't see who it was. Seeing that the person was dressed warmly, he took the clothes back with him.

"Gathering firewood in the middle of the night?" Xiao Ji asked with a half-smile.

People who come out in the middle of the night are probably up to something sneaky.

He asked the other person, "When you saw Manager Jiang's body, did you notice any other people?"

"Definitely not. If someone were there, why would I dare steal a corpse's clothes?"

Xiao Ji looked through the bundle. Besides clothes, there was a jade pendant and a blue purse.

The purse was heavy, containing a considerable amount of loose silver and copper coins.

He weighed it in his hand and asked the man, "You didn't touch any of the money?"

"No, no, I originally intended to hide the things for a few days and use them after things calmed down, but I didn't expect..." I didn't expect them to be found so quickly.

The money wasn't lost, which means the other party wasn't after the money.

That would truly be a case of enemies seeking revenge.