"Where's my drink?"
Wu Qinghui asked with concern.
"Did Lao Zhong steal it?"
Lady Liu thought of Lao Zhong's unusual behavior and became suspicious.
Su Qin Qindao
"Although we are not familiar with Lao Zhong, we also know that Lao Zhong is not a good drinker. Why did he suddenly start drinking tonight? Besides, he came to our door one by one looking for Xiao Zhong. In the past, there was no need to look for Xiao Zhong. It’s so troublesome, just say hello and we’ll go look for him, so what’s he doing in this unnecessary way when he’s drunk so late at night, unless he wants to remind us of something but can’t say it directly.”
Several ladies nodded one after another
"Then let's go to Lao Zhong's shop and have a look."
At this time, Lao Zhong and others had gone far away without a trace. The ladies came to the fireworks shop and saw that the shop was brightly lit and the door was ajar.
"It's true, Lao Zhong knew we were coming and didn't even close the door."
When they pushed open the door and entered the shop, a strong smell of gunpowder hit their nostrils, and several ladies covered their mouths and noses with their sleeves.
"Ahem! This smell..."
Several people passed through the outer hall and entered the inner room through a small door. The inner room was not big, with two beds, one large and one small, occupying most of the space. Two work tables were crammed into both sides, and there were more tables on them. There are all kinds of tools on display, which makes it look very crowded.
"Xiao Zhong was born with such a handsome child, and living with such a rough guy like Old Man Zhong for so long is really in vain."
Lady Liu said angrily.
Wu Qinghui only thought about his wine.
"Is there so much wine hidden in here?"
Su Qinqin looked around the room.
"Lao Zhong's place is indeed a good place to hide wine. The smell of gunpowder here can just cover up the pungent smell of wine."
"Where's the wine?"
"Come quickly!"
Mrs. Hu from Rouge Square was already rummaging around. When she reached Lao Zhong's bedside, she found some water stains seeping out of the corner of the bedside.
Su Qinqin dipped her fingertips into the water and smelled it before putting it to her nose.
"Qing Hui!"
She put her finger in front of Wu Qinghui's nose, and Wu Qinghui knew it was her wine as soon as he smelled it.
"Yes, it's my wine!"
"Sisters, let's break down this wall."
Su Qinqin said.
Several ladies ran back to their shops and brought tools for chiseling the wall.
It took them a full hour to carve a hole in the stone wall.
"Ahem!"
After a cloud of dust, Wu Qinghui covered his nose and coughed twice, then put his head into the hole.
It was pitch dark inside the cave, and the visibility was poor, but one could still see a neatly arranged cart of wine inside.
"It's my wine!"
Wu Qinghui jumped up excitedly.
Su Qinqin wiped the sweat from her head and said
"Sisters, work harder."
After another half an hour, they finally chiseled out the wall to a human-sized size.
Su Qinqin took out a candle.
"You follow me."
Several people lined up and slowly walked in through the hole.
The space inside the cave was not big, almost larger than the inner room, and the wine jars were spread neatly on the ground.
Wu Qinghui stepped forward and inspected carefully. Except for two jars of wine that were probably damaged during transportation, the rest of the wine was in good condition.
"No big deal."
Wu Qinghui breathed a sigh of relief. The problem that had troubled her for two or three days was finally solved today.
After a few people spent a long time moving the wine jar out of the hole, Madam Hu seemed to have discovered something.
"There's something here!"
After the last row of wine was removed, a square plank was revealed on the ground.
The square wooden board seemed to be embedded in the ground, and there was a wooden handle on one side of the wooden board.
"There is actually a secret door here."
Su Qinqin looked at the wooden door and said in surprise.
Then she grabbed the wooden handle and tried to lift the wooden door, but found that the wooden door was so heavy that she could not pull it up at all.
"Come and help me."
Wu Qinghui and others heard this and stepped forward to help.
"Creak, creak."
Several people worked together and finally slowly lifted the wooden door, revealing a square hole.
Dark, darker than outside.
Several people looked at each other, a little hesitant, but Wu Qinghui was more courageous.
"What are you afraid of? It's already reached this point. Since Old Man Zhong hinted us to come in, he might just want us to come in."
After a few people thought about it, this was also the case.
Wu Qinghui rolled up his sleeves and took the candle from Su Qinqin's hand.
"Now you follow me."
There is a row of wooden ladders on one side of the cave, probably specially prepared for the convenience of going up and down.
Wu Qinghui slowly climbed down the wooden ladder, and before long, he disappeared from the sight of the ladies.
"Qing Hui?" "Qing Hui?"
Several people shouted several times, but there was no response, and they were a little anxious.
"Why is there no candlelight left?"
Lady Liu said anxiously.
Su Qinqin was relatively calm.
"There is no ventilation here all year round, probably because there is no air down there, so the candle cannot burn."
"Will Qing Hui suffocate to death?"
"It's okay. The passage is open, so it won't happen again."
While speaking, Wu Qinghui's voice came up from below.
"I'm fine. I was a little out of breath just now. I'm fine now. Come down quickly. There's a tunnel inside."
Several people were relieved when they heard this and were about to climb down, but Su Qinqin stopped them.
"I'll just follow you down. I don't know what's down there. You guys stay up there. If something happens, you'll have someone to take care of you."
The ladies looked at each other. Madam Liu, who was thoughtful, immediately noticed their hesitation and walked down the slope.
"Okay, we'll wait for you up there, be careful."
Su Qinqin responded and went down the ladder.
The ladder seemed a bit long, and it took Su Qinqin a while to climb to the bottom.
Wu Qinghui had been waiting for her below for a long time. He helped her get off the ladder, looked up and asked
"Where are they?"
Su Qinqin said
"I asked them to wait up there."
Wu Qinghui nodded and looked around.
"I observed it, and this is not the authentic starting point, you see."
She motioned Su Qinqin to look behind her. It was connected from front to back and turned out to be just one of the nodes of the tunnel.
"According to our current location, the Twelve Streets of the capital run north-south, while this secret passage runs east-west... Let's go east first."
Su Qinqin said.
The tunnel was pitch black, and the mud walls on both sides were dripping with wet water. It was dark and humid. After walking for a long time, the air became thinner and thinner, making both of them breathless.
"No, we will be suffocated to death if this continues."
Wu Qinghui was out of breath, and his voice was far less energetic than before.
Su Qinqin frowned and said
"Let's go up first. This secret passage has been without ventilation for too long. Let's wait a few days before coming back."
Wu Qinghui nodded and said
"good."
After a while of burning incense, the two returned to the ground.
"How about it, what's down there?"
Lady Liu asked.
"It's a secret passage with no end in sight, but we didn't go too far before we ran out of breath. Let's open the wooden door first and let the air flow inside for a few days before exploring."
Su Qinqin said.
Lady Liu nodded.
"Then let's help Qing Hui carry the wine back first."
After a few people moved the wine, they found that it was already dark.
"Everyone, please go back and wash up and take a rest. It's been a busy night."
Lady Liu said.
Several people said goodbye and returned to their shops.
After Xiao Zhong, Lao Zhong and Chang Sheng disappeared one after another, except for the city lord's mansion sending out people all over the city every day to find out the news, and the ladies on the handicraft street searching for the whereabouts of Xiao Zhong, the capital city was like the past. calm.
Until June 18th, Taiyang Mansion.
Someone complained at the door.
Early in the morning, "Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Wu Qinghui and Su Qinqin beat the drum of injustice in front of Taiyang Mansion.
"Sheng! Tang!"
Pei Wei, with an upright look on his face, sat upright in the lobby and shouted.
Several government officials, holding killing sticks, were lined up on both sides.
After a rapid and shocking roar, Su Qinqin and Wu Qinghui were brought to the hall.
"Who is in the hall and what are you telling me?"
"Folk women Su Qinqin and Wu Qinghui."
"Report a missing person."
When Pei Wei in the hall heard this, a subtle smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"Who is missing?"
Su Qin Qindao
"Sir, Xiao Zhong from the fireworks shop on Handicraft Street suddenly disappeared five days ago and has not returned yet."
Pei Wei pretended to be surprised and said
"Oh? Is this happening? Do you know where you disappeared?"
Su Qinqin replied
"Our sisters have been searching for him for several days. According to people who saw him, Xiao Zhong disappeared in Tea Street."
Pei Wei asked again
"Whoever saw it, call him to come, I will investigate carefully."
While he was talking, a man dressed simply knelt down in front of the hall.
"Who are you?"
Pei Wei stared directly at the man, and the man also raised his head.
The two looked at each other and understood each other immediately.
The man replied
"The villain's name is Wang Qi. Everyone usually calls me Brother Wang. I am a frequent visitor to Lu's Steamed Bun Shop. Because Xiao Zhong is also a regular visitor to the Steamed Bun Shop, I recognize him. I happened to run into him on the Tea Street that day. After chatting for a while, he said he was going to buy breakfast, and we haven’t seen each other since.”
Su Qinqin looked at the two people's eyes, and a bad premonition suddenly flashed in her heart.
But Pei Wei clapped the gavel in his hand angrily, startling both Su Qinqin and Wu Qinghui.
"This is unreasonable! In broad daylight, with the world clear, that bun shop dares to rob people. They really think that our Taiyang Mansion is just a decoration!"
As soon as these words came out, it was really majestic, and the sound of killing majestic sticks hitting the ground on both sides was deafening.
"Where are the soldiers?"
"arrive!"
A shocking shout suddenly came from outside the lobby, shocking the souls of Su Qinqin and Wu Qinghui in the lobby.
In the courtyard outside the lobby, hundreds of soldiers were ready to go in an instant, as if they had been prepared for a long time.
"Follow me to capture the culprit and bring peace to the people of the capital!"
Su Qinqin secretly thought that something was wrong, how could a small disappearance case usually cause the Taiyang government to go into such a big fight, let alone hundreds of government soldiers who had to be dispatched. Moreover, those government soldiers and Mr. Pei in front of them seemed to have expected that they were coming. Everything is ready, just waiting to go get someone.
But Pei Wei doesn't care what she thinks, things will fall into place, all he has to do is knock on the door of the bun shop.
Not even a stick of incense was seen before and after, everyone in the originally bustling Taiyang Mansion suddenly left, leaving only Su Qinqin and Wu Qinghui looking at each other, kneeling alone in the lobby.
"That's it, it's over?"
Wu Qinghui looked at Su Qinghui blankly, unable to believe what was happening in front of her. The case was actually over before she said a word?
"Why do I think Mr. Pei is more anxious than us?"
