When Shen Haolin and Shen Cha returned to the small hall, they saw Yan Yuan, who had eaten and drank enough, half slumped on a chair, burping with satisfaction. It seemed that the people in Liuzhou Mansion had suffered a lot. Even the noble master should have All etiquette was completely thrown away.
Merlin stood aside and looked at him with a look of disgust on his face. He really couldn't figure out how the young Master Yan, who used to be arrogant and shouted at the door of the Duke's Mansion, had changed into such a virtuous person after not seeing him for several months. As expected, all scholars It has two faces.
Hearing the noise coming from the door of the small hall, Yan Yuan turned around lazily and saw Shen Haolin and Shen Cha walking in side by side. He quickly sat down, as if the guy who was not sitting just now was not him.
Shen Haolin and Shen Cha had a tacit understanding and pretended not to see Yan Yuan's change. They walked directly to him and sat down, looking at Yan Yuan up and down.
"My lord, general, what are you..."
"Young Master, how many days did it take from the time you were captured to the time you escaped?"
"Three days." Yan Yuan answered directly without even thinking, "To tell you the truth, these three days have really been like years, and I will never forget them in this life."
"Yes!" Shen Cha nodded and continued to ask, "Then, young master, can you tell me how you escaped? Didn't Bao Gui send someone to guard you closely?"
"Guard..." Yan Yuan shook his head gently, "After I was arrested, I was thrown into their woodshed. I was not tied up or gagged. I just locked the outside door. However, once Three meals a day are delivered on time. This guy Bao Gui has a very good relationship with my wife. Even if I break his affairs, he will not do anything to me, let alone kill me. He I was locked up just because I was afraid that I would hear something I shouldn’t have heard and report it to the government. Although I don’t have any official position, after all, I come from an official family, so he is still very afraid of this."
"So, who took such a big risk to let you go?"
"They are siblings."
"Brother and sister?" Shen Haolin and Shen Cha looked at each other and raised their eyebrows at the same time, "Oh, Mrs. Bao."
"But..." Merlin folded his arms and stood beside him and asked in confusion, "Why did Mrs. Bao let the eldest young master go? Shouldn't she be of the same mind as Bao Gui?"
"I think so too, but..." Yan Yuan raised his chin slightly and recalled it carefully, "Their relationship doesn't seem to be particularly good. During the days when I was at their house, except for the day when I first arrived, there were also I haven't seen her since the day she let me go. I once asked Bao Gui about it, and he said that his younger brother and sister are very withdrawn. They usually like to stay at home and don't like to go out or interact with others. I have been in Liuzhou Prefecture for many years, but I haven't seen any close friends."
"Really?" Merlin thought for a moment, "How is Mrs. Bao's condition?"
"She doesn't look particularly good. She is very thin, and her complexion is not very good. She is very pale, as if she has been seriously ill for a long time." Yan Yuan sighed softly, "Besides, she never gave me anything The distance from opening the door to the small door that led me to Bao's backyard was not particularly far, but it seemed to be a very difficult journey for her. Before I left, I accidentally glanced back and saw her leaning against her. He was breathing heavily on the wall. But when he saw me turning around, he quickly waved me to leave quickly."
"It seems that she is indeed not in good health." Shen Cha nodded, "You said she gave you a money bag? Can you show it to us?"
"Of course." Yan Yuan agreed readily, took out a money bag from his arms and handed it to Merlin beside him. "There were more than seventy taels of silver in this before, which was enough for me to travel back to Xijing from Liuzhou Prefecture. However, I was worried that Bao Gui would find me missing and send someone to chase me. I have never stayed in an inn at all. Even if you live in an inn, your daily life is different from that of normal people.”
Merlin took the money bag, poured out all the silver ingots inside, and inspected the money bag. He felt something strange while feeling it. He took out his knife from his boot and carefully cut the money bag open. A piece of paper fell out.
She looked at Shen Haolin, Shen Cha, and then at Yan Yuan who looked surprised. She quickly browsed it and handed it to Shen Haolin's hand.
"As expected." Merlin sighed, "Mrs. Bao wants to report her husband and wants to do something inappropriate."
"What...meaning?" Yan Yuan looked at Merlin helplessly, "Did they really...didn't do anything good?"
"Young Master, do you know about the strange thief case that happened in the Jiangnan area?" Seeing Yan Yuan nod slightly, Merlin snorted coldly, "Your brother-in-law is one of the suspects in the strange thief case. Mrs. Bao said that about a year and a half ago , Bao Gui’s behavior began to become sneaky.”
"A year and a half ago..." Shen Cha leaned over to look at the piece of paper in Shen Haolin's hand, "You started planning so early? Mrs. Bao said that a year and a half ago, Bao Gui, who had always been personally responsible for purchasing jade, began to act uncharacteristically. , I no longer participate in any shopping, but I go out early and come back late every day, and from time to time I bring some friends I don’t know where I know from to my house, and I stay busy all night until the early morning."
"Mrs. Bao said that Bao Gui's friends were very ignorant of the rules. They got drunk several times and broke into the backyard. If Bao Gui hadn't stopped him, they would have entered Mrs. Bao's house. Even if Bao Gui warned him, They agreed on the surface, but they still went their own way. But in the following months, they spent less and less time drinking, and such things almost stopped happening. In the past month or so, their gatherings have been particularly frequent, and every day They get together every five days, but rather than saying it is a party, the Bao family is treated as a place similar to an inn. They always change their clothes and leave, and don’t come back until dawn." Merlin clapped his hands and signaled everyone to pay attention to him. , "Here's the important point, Mrs. Bao said, every time they come back, they will bring back some things of unknown origin, and the packages containing those things are sometimes stained with a little dirt."
"She suspects..." Yan Yuan frowned, "Those thefts were committed by Bao Gui?"
"No." Merlin's expression was very helpless, "Mrs. Bao's idea is very strange, at least most people don't think so. She suspects that... those things are all open weapons, and Bao Gui went to rob some ancient tomb."
"It's not unusual for her to think so." Shen Haolin threw the piece of paper on the table. "There are indeed many ancient tombs in Liuzhou Mansion, and there are also many tomb robbers operating nearby. But we know very well that Bao Gui is nothing Grave robbers have nothing to do with that."
"Yes, even if he is not the Phantom Thief himself, he is still related to the Phantom Thief. At least he helps the Phantom Thief transport the stolen goods." Shen Cha looked at Yan Yuan, "We accepted Mrs. Bao's report. There is something I still need to trouble the young master to help us draw a few portraits of Bao Gui, is that okay?"
"Of course, happy to oblige!"
