Chapter 45: Night Run (I)

Sherlock's father, Thassarian, is not only the president of the Shining Gold Chamber of Commerce, but also the leader of the family business.

Sherlock knew that most of the people under his trading company had been in a state of panic since Thassarian had been taken away, and that what they needed most was not a maverick successor, but a steady leader who would give them enough confidence that their successor could stabilize the situation.

That's why Sherlock dressed like this, like Thassarian, even though he hated it before.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, known as the Minister of Finance, can be said to be one of the most powerful ministers in the entire kingdom of Navia, and he wants to seize a local chamber of commerce, which is not something that a few local businessmen can compete with.

In order to make the members of the Flash Gold Chamber of Commerce submit, Alcatio first commanded the Redbeard Pirates to attack the ships of the Chamber of Commerce in the territory, and then colluded with Navy Captain Roy to make it more difficult for the Chamber of Commerce's goods to leave the port, and even changed the main officials of the place where the Chamber of Commerce headquarters was located and arranged his own cronies.

And in order to intimidate the members of the Chamber of Commerce, Alcatio also chose an early bird to assert his power.

Sherlock's family trading company is this bird, so until now, Sherlock has still not been able to save his father, despite his efforts to maintain it, the business of the trading company is becoming more and more sluggish, and the local officials take turns to make things difficult, and the members of the Chamber of Commerce are afraid to help, for fear of angering Alcatio, who is almost a one-handed man in the kingdom.

Perhaps in his heart, Sherlock imitated his father, and there was some hope that he would arouse sympathy from the outside world, but he was too strong to admit it.

Night, inside the villa.

Sherlock lay in bed tossing and turning unable to sleep after dealing with the magistrates who came back to investigate, worried about the safety of his father, Thassarian, and the family business that had been built up over generations.

It wasn't until he came to this embattled situation that he realized how difficult it was for his father to always put on a low profile in front of the Sassarians, and he didn't know how many times he had grovelled to officials who found all sorts of reasons to find fault, which was not pleasant.

He also had a moment when he resented William's proposal for involving his own smuggling business, but he was not a fool who only blamed others, knowing that the smuggling business was personally nodded by himself, and he couldn't complain about others.

After tossing and turning in bed, tossing and turning for an unknown amount of time and still unable to sleep, Sherlock finally sighed, sat up from the bed, and went to the study to check the ledger again.

Most of the servants in the villa had already slept, and Sherlock did not alarm anyone, and went to the study alone, where there were traces of his father's Thassarian, and through the moonlight pouring in from the window, Sherlock seemed to see Thassarian sitting behind his desk as before, drinking and flipping through the ledger.

Sherlock's eyes were a little sour, the family was already in flux, he didn't want the servant to see his gaffe, so he rubbed his eyes, picked up a bottle of red wine and a wine glass, pushed open a secret door hidden as a bookshelf, and entered a cramped secret room.

This secret room was set up by Thassarian in the past, and it was dedicated to important ledgers and some valuables, and there was only a pair of tables and chairs and a few safes in the room.

Sherlock lit the candle in the secret room, closed the secret door, and took out the ledger from the safe, the light of the candle was a little uncertain, so that half of Sherlock's face was cast in shadow, but he didn't care, just slowly reviewed it with red wine.

I don't know how long later, Sherlock suddenly heard a faint movement outside the door, he frowned slightly, and his heart was secretly angry, thinking that some bold servant saw that the house was broken, and had thoughts that he shouldn't have, and ran to the study to steal things.

He walked behind the door and listened for a moment, and the voices of a man and a woman came to his ears, and Sherlock's heart was shaken, and the voices of these two people sounded familiar to him, and they were his stepmother and the local tax collector.

Shylock's biological mother had died a few years earlier, and Thassarian had married a young and beautiful woman two years later, which was one of the reasons why the father and son did not get along.

The two people in the study also seemed to be afraid of being discovered when they spoke, so they deliberately lowered their voices, but because they were far away from the door of the study, they were very close to the bookshelf where the secret door was located, so Sherlock, who was lying behind the door, could hear the conversation between the two clearly.

The tax officer's hoarse voice passed through the secret door: "Lord Earl has a noble status, but he is not a person who sits back and watches someone who may be involved in his safety, that Sherlock, I don't think he is still a wine bag and rice bag, he must be disposed of quickly, in case he really takes risks, it is also a threat, even if he does not endanger Lord Earl, it is my dereliction of duty, and the impact is not good." ”

A somewhat lazy female voice then said, "Sherlock is bent on maintaining the family business now, and he shouldn't take risks." ”

The tax collector said: "Don't be afraid of 10,000, just be afraid of what if, besides, it doesn't matter if he will really take risks, as long as the Earl thinks that he will take risks, I can dispose of him, and I can leave a good impression in the Earl's heart, not to mention that if you don't dispose of him, how can you rightfully accept this family business, I received the news that Thassarian is dead, as long as you get rid of Sherlock, you are the only person who can inherit the property." ”

The tax collector's tone became a little flirtatious.

The lazy woman ate and smiled: "You are so good to me, how can you let me repay you?"

The two laughed a few words, and then there was a sound of undressing behind the door, and the tax collector said in a thick tone: "When the time comes, I am afraid that the people who pursue you as a pretty widow will fill the street, but don't forget my goodness." ”

The stepmother gave a soft "um" and stopped answering.

Behind the door, Sherlock clenched his teeth, his face was hideous, his eyes were bloodshot, and he could hardly help but push the door out, exposing the conspiracy of the dog man and woman for the first time.

But what was left of his sanity stopped him, and Sherlock walked to the table, picked up the red wine on it, drank it, and opened a safe with two pistols inside.

The pistols were made of ivory with intricate patterns carved into them, more like works of art than weapons, and they were indeed works of art, bought by Thassarian to collect, but Sherlock knew that they could also be used to kill.

The candle in the chamber faded over time, and the darkness dispelled by the light expanded, and most of Sherlock's figure was gradually enveloped in shadows.

In the dimly lit chamber, he took out his pistol and the matching bullets and primers, and sat down in his chair to reload the two old pistols.

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(Three thousand collections plus more chapters, tomorrow will still be three more.) ）