There is a god in the sky

Chapter 144 The Mystery of the Dock 11

Many people drank alcohol tonight, and when they returned to the warehouse, it was already snoring loudly.

Shen Lan only let go of Xiao Ji after entering the warehouse, and took the wet cloth handed to her by Xuan'er to wipe her hands.

Xiao Ji stretched and thanked Shen Lan, "Thanks to Miss Shen for getting me out of that predicament."

This wasn't the first time Shen Lan had been misunderstood about her relationship with Xiao Ji.

She joked, "Your skills at pretending to be drunk are getting better and better."

“This county magistrate deliberately got me drunk. I don’t know what he was up to. I just asked Manager Wang, and he said the person wasn’t invited by him.”

"If they weren't invited, then they either came because they heard that the adults were here, or they came for something else."

At the same time, Zhang Yanqiao was also meeting with Steward Wang.

Manager Wang has been kneeling for quite some time now.

"The magistrate entrusted this dock to you and Jiang Zheng, and he's given you plenty of benefits, so how did things get so messy?"

"Please forgive me, sir. You know what kind of people come and go at this dock. It's quite normal for people to die."

But by sheer coincidence, a very important person arrived, and it just so happened that one of his men died, which escalated the situation.

"Yes, if I hadn't come today, wouldn't he have turned the dock upside down?"

"Don't worry, the goods in the warehouse are safe."

This is called "the darkest place is under the lamp"—the less attention a batch of goods receives, the safer it is.

"Hmph! That man even dared to kill Jiang Zheng, so he might be after us. Do you have any suspects in mind?"

Manager Wang shook his head with a bitter face.

He was afraid too.

He feared he might follow in Manager Jiang's footsteps.

But at the same time, I also felt a little smug.

Previously, Manager Jiang was in charge of this dock, but now that he's dead, I can take his place.

"Sir, that thief's killings are completely random; perhaps it was just an accident."

"hope so."

Around midnight, the snowstorm stopped.

Shen Lan didn't dare to sleep soundly at night, remaining on guard.

So when the lid of the secret passage made a slight noise, she immediately opened her eyes.

She didn't move, but turned to listen to the sounds coming from the first floor.

There were people on night duty on the first floor, but she didn't hear any voices or even footsteps.

No one came up, Shen Lan thought to herself.

The next morning, she went to check the entrance to the secret passage.

There was a ring of powder scattered around it, and now there are a few finger marks, but no footprints.

The onlookers exclaimed in surprise, "Was someone here last night?"

"It must be Kong Xiang. What is he doing sneaking over here in the middle of the night?"

“It’s not him,” Shen Lan and Xiao Ji said at the same time.

The reason we're certain it wasn't him is because Kong Xiang didn't have the guts.

"The murderer was here." The murderer who killed someone in the middle of the night.

"What is he doing here? Who else does he want to kill?"

Knowing full well that they live here, this person still dared to take the risk; he's incredibly bold.

"But why didn't he come up? Did he discover our trap?"

Perhaps he changed his mind at the last minute after seeing the patrolling officers on the first floor.

The sound of a horse-drawn carriage could be heard outside the warehouse.

When everyone opened the door, they saw a convoy of cars coming and stopping in front of the warehouse.

Manager Wang ran over and said, "I'm sorry to disturb the adults' rest. Today is the day we deliver the goods. We need to transport the porcelain to the dock to be loaded onto the ship."

"Can the boat still sail in this kind of weather?"

"Our goods are going south. The waterways are open, so there won't be any problems."

Chen Shi waved his hand and said, "Sure, go ahead and move them. We've got nothing else to do anyway, so we'll help you move some too."

Manager Wang thanked them repeatedly, but dared not let them do the work.

"How could I trouble you, sirs? I have prepared wine and food at the inn. Please come and have a meal."

It was breakfast time, but Steward Wang deliberately chose this time to come.

Officials from Tongan County also came to invite Xiao Ji.

"Lord Xiao, County Lieutenant Zhang requests your presence to discuss the case, saying he has found a new lead."

Xiao Ji gladly went, but only took Sui Feng with him.

The rest of the people stayed in the warehouse and ate dry rations, which included roasted chestnuts and hot soup, so they ate quite well.

After finishing her meal, Shen Lan went over to watch them move the boxes.

Manager Wang also noticed that this group of people were actually listening to a woman.

He already knew that the woman was the coroner accompanying Lord Xiao, but when did coroners become such a person?

"Be gentle, move it gently, these are all top-quality porcelain, don't break them!"

Manager Wang kept shouting orders, his eyes never leaving the boxes.

While munching on a roasted chestnut, Fu Qingyan complained, "These are just the most ordinary porcelain pieces, how are they high-grade?"

Shen Lan looked at him suspiciously, "Young Master Fu, have you seen the porcelain in the box?"

She thought that Fu Qingyan had too high standards and that ordinary goods were not good enough for him.

He replied, "Although I am uneducated, I can still distinguish between good and bad things. If these porcelain pieces were sold within the territory of Daxi, they would only fetch a few dozen coins each."

If that's the case, it certainly can't be considered top-quality.

Both Manager Jiang and Manager Wang have taken this shipment very seriously.

He brought dozens of people and dozens of carriages with him today. If it were just this kind of goods, it would be a bit of a waste.

She took a few steps forward and deliberately bumped into a porter.

The man's hand slipped, and the box fell to the ground.

With a loud crash, the man was startled and quickly turned to look at Steward Wang.

"How could you be so careless?" Manager Wang rushed over.

Shen Lan apologized, saying, "I'm sorry, I was walking too fast. Open it up and see how much was broken, I'll pay for it."

She reached out to open the box, but was stopped by Steward Wang.

"It's alright, it's alright. They're all our own things, not worth much. Miss Shen, don't worry about it."

"Why is this so embarrassing?"

"You're joking. Please rest over there. They'll be done moving soon."

Shen Lan stepped aside and waited for them to move the boxes away. She glanced at the ground and saw that there seemed to be some blackish-gray powder on the ground.

Manager Wang rubbed the box with the sole of his shoe and chuckled, "This box was filled with shock-absorbing straw, but it must have been covered in dust from being here for so long."

Shen Lan walked to the other side, gave Sui Ying a wink, and led him to a corner to talk.

“There’s something strange about this shipment; we need to find out what’s inside.”

Suiying asked in confusion, "I opened them all that day and they were all porcelain."

"Porcelain is not necessarily empty inside."

Sui Ying suddenly realized, "That's quite possible. No wonder those boxes were heavier than I expected."

"Brother Suiying, follow them and see where they've taken the goods."

"it is good."

Shen Lan stood there lost in thought.

There are only two kinds of things that can be contained in porcelain bottles: liquids and powders.

If it were a liquid, there should have been some liquid coming out after that fall, but it didn't.

On the contrary, the blackish-gray powder looked exactly like gunpowder.

If gunpowder leaked from the military was transported out through such docks, it would indeed be difficult to detect.

This warehouse is clearly related to the Tongan County government. Could it be that the Tongan County magistrate was involved in the resale of gunpowder?