"Lord Chen, if you were the master of this silver theft, how would you arrange this matter?" Shen Chongming turned his head to Chen Xiao and asked.

Chen Xiao was stunned for a moment, and then admired Shen Chongming even more. This trick is really too clever, and if you think about this matter from the perspective of the mastermind, many things that you don't have a clue about for the time being can be deduced.

"If the subordinate is the mastermind, the first thing to do should be to arrange for someone who is absolutely trustworthy to enter the treasury as an errand boy, or to buy off the treasury messenger by means for my use, only when this is in place, can I do the next thing. And when this is done, the people will definitely be withdrawn, after all, the more people who remain inside, the greater the danger of exposure. Chen Xiao thought for a while and said.

"What Lord Chen said is right, and the mastermind is very likely to arrange his own people to go in, after all, the people who are bribed are not very reliable, and he will definitely eliminate all potential dangers for such a big thing." Shen Chongming nodded and said.

Chen Xiao smiled, "In this case, the transfer of the bank treasury officer must be recorded in the Yamen of the Political Secretary, as long as we compare it carefully, we will definitely be able to find out." ”

"Admire, the two adults are so knowledgeable." Director Xin, who had been listening carefully, had a look of admiration on his face, and said with a smile: "Since this is the case, then let's go to the Yamen of the Political Secretary, lest the thieves find out and destroy the evidence." ”

Everyone nodded one after another, left the Hangzhou Mansion Prison and went straight to the Yamen of the Political Secretary.

The Yamen of the Government Secretary is located in the center of Hangzhou, and the Hangzhou Government Prison is close to the city wall in such a remote place, coupled with the pedestrians on the street during the day, the traffic is not smooth, it is not as good as walking on horse, and it took half an hour to reach the street where the Yamen of the Government Secretary is located.

"Look, my lords!" Li Xijin pointed to the sky in front of him and said, his voice full of surprise.

When everyone looked up, they saw smoke billowing in the air, which was rising from the Yamen of the Political Secretary!

"Not good!" Chen Xiao was startled, and galloped forward on his horse, and Shen Chongming also realized what was happening and hurriedly followed.

At this time, the Yamen of the Political Secretary was in a mess, and many officials ran out in a panic, including Zhao Langzhong, who came with his subordinates to check the account books.

"Lord Zhao, what happened?" Shen Chongming saw Zhao Langzhong run out, got off the horse and ran over.

"Oops, it's scared to death. In the middle of the day, the copywriting library in the yamen actually caught fire, and the official took our people to check the account books in the next room. Zhao Lang Center had palpitations, his face was gray and black, and he looked very embarrassed.

Shen Chongming's eyes narrowed, and he sneered in his heart: "So fast hands and feet!" ”

"Lord Shen, do you think the account book of the political secretary and the yamen is really something boring, why did it catch fire for no reason as soon as we came to check the accounts, did someone want to destroy the evidence, or even want to murder the official?" Zhao Langzhong whispered, feeling uneasy in his heart, this is really a terrible errand.

Shen Chongming smiled and comforted: "Lord Zhao is too worried, if you really want to guess like this, this copywriting library should have caught fire as early as after we explained our intentions yesterday." ”

"What Lord Shen said is reasonable, but the fire in broad daylight can't be justified, it must have something to do with something, someone is deliberately setting the fire!" Zhao Langzhong said with great certainty.

"Hehe, my lord is very knowledgeable, if the lower official guesses well, it should be related to the theft of the silver treasury. Xiaguan and Lord Chen of the Criminal Department just discovered a little eyebrow, and all the clues were cut off by this fire. Shen Chongming shook his head and smiled bitterly, he still doesn't have a strong sense of confidentiality, so he will have to pay attention to it in the future.

Zhao Langzhong was shocked and said in disbelief: "It is related to the theft of the treasury, Lord Shen means that this theft of the treasury involves people from the government?" ”

"Most likely, Lord Zhao, you rest first, and the next official will go in and have a look." After that, Shen Chongming picked up the placket of his clothes and ran through the flow of people into the political secretary.

As soon as I entered the compound of the Chief Minister, I felt that the smell was choking, and it seemed that this fire was big enough.

The fire was raging, and although all the miscellaneous servants tried their best to extinguish it, the three rooms in the copywriting library and several rooms on both sides were still turned into ashes, mud was everywhere, and wisps of green smoke were rising, which was quite beautiful.

Guo Mingyi stood aside with a pale face, his fists clenched and gurgling, this was obviously someone deliberately setting the fire, otherwise how could there be a fire for no reason in broad daylight. And the fire is so fierce that it's too late to put it out!

"Lord Guo, what can I do, the upper part of the household department just came to check the account books and there was this thing, and the crotch of the pants is sticky with yellow mud, it's not but." Cai Wenyuan, the right-hand political envoy, was speechless in a panic, and blurted out folk sayings.

Fortunately, Guo Mingyi didn't want to pay attention to this little problem while being angry, and nodded and said: "Yes, this matter must be investigated, otherwise we won't be able to explain it to the court!" ”

"Two adults, I'm afraid it's not so simple, the lowly messenger who followed the capital has just found a clue, and is about to come to the yamen to check the personnel transfer of the treasury during this time, and now the copywriting library has turned to ashes, and all the evidence is gone." Li Xijin, who ran in for some reason, couldn't help but step forward and tell the truth when he saw the two discussing this matter.

Guo Mingyi was startled, his brows instantly wrinkled into a lump, no need to ask, this theft of the silver treasury was done by his own people!

"Ladies and gentlemen, this barrel is filled with oil!" Chen Xiao, who was looking back and forth, pointed to a wooden barrel under his feet and said.

Everyone was shocked and hurriedly ran over to check, although the oil inside was poured out, but there was still a thin layer of sticky on the inside, which could be found by touching it with your hands.

"Come on, gather all the firefighters at once, and remember, let them bring their buckets!" Guo Mingyi turned around and shouted coldly.

Lord Guo gave a strict order, this efficiency is naturally high, it didn't take much effort to assemble dozens of gray-headed and disheveled servants carrying buckets and wooden basins, all of them looked embarrassed, which shows how conscientious they are when fighting fires.

"But who has ever seen someone carrying this barrel!" Without waiting for Lord Guo to speak, Cai Wenyuan stepped forward with a wooden barrel filled with oil and asked, his expression was very majestic, and he dragged it down to fight if he didn't make a truthful statement.

The servants exchanged heads, but they thought it was funny, all the buckets were almost identical, and the fire just now was urgent, who could notice this, it seems that Lord Cai's head is funny.

Seeing that no one came out to identify the officers, Cai Wenyuan was furious and shouted, "Does anyone know? ”

"Nope!" The servants replied suddenly, the momentum was very scary, Cai Wenyuan's face froze, and he turned back to Guo Mingyi and shook his head helplessly.

Guo Mingyi also knew that he had made a stupid move when he was angry just now, since people dared to use oil to fight fire, they would definitely not be discovered, where could they find out.

Thinking about it, Guo Mingyi shook his head and waved his hand and said, "Disperse." After that, he nodded to Chen Xiao and walked towards his room, Chen Xiao understood, and followed side by side with Shen Chongming.

"Tell me about the progress of the case, two adults." Guo Mingyi waved his hand to let the two sit down and said.

"Lord Guo, according to Lord Shen and the lower officials, the theft of the treasury silver this time is that someone in the treasury is guarded and stolen, of course, they are just small minions, according to the fire in the Yamen of the Political Secretary, the mastermind must have a large official position, and there are many people who work for him, so that the copywriting library can be burned so quickly and the evidence of the crime destroyed." Chen Xiao said succinctly.

Guo Mingyi nodded in agreement, and sneered: "Although it seems that the mastermind has destroyed the evidence and cut off the clues, but the more this is the case, the more clues he will leave, this official is not good at investigating the case, this matter depends on the two adults, and the mastermind must be found out!" ”

Guo Mingyi's words, Shen Chongming couldn't help admiring in his heart, he was worthy of being an official for many years, this thought was meticulous, and he saw the flaws left by the mastermind at a glance, a lie needs a thousand lies to round the field.

"Lord Guo, please rest assured, Xiaguan and Lord Chen will do their best to bring the culprits to justice!" Shen Chongming arched his hand and said, and then looked at Chen Xiao beside him, and the two looked at each other and smiled, very tacit.

"Please, two." Guo Mingyi, regardless of his identity, actually got up and saluted the two.

Out of the Yamen of the Political Secretary, Chen Xiao looked at no one on the left and right, and asked in a low voice, "Lord Shen, what do you think of this Lord Guo?" ”

Although the words are not clear, Shen Chongming understands the meaning, he smiled, and said softly: "At present, all the people in the Zhejiang Political Department are suspected, and according to the official's opinion, you and I can't trust anyone for the time being." ”

Chen Xiao smiled, and couldn't help but give a thumbs up, after so many years of handling cases, he is sanctimonious on the surface, but he has seen a lot of male thieves and female prostitutes in his heart, there is nothing strange about it.

"Lord Chen, where should we start next?" Shen Chongming thought for a while and asked, now he also has a little headache, the easiest clue has been cut off, and the next thing will not be easy.

"Xia Guan thinks that since the people of the yamen are involved, then this matter cannot simply be regarded as a case of theft of tax and silver, and it is very likely that it has been mixed with the struggle between the factions of local officials, so the next step is to investigate and understand the situation of the Yamen of the Political Secretary." Chen Xiao pondered for a while and said.

Shen Chongming's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help admiring in his heart, this Chen Xiao is worthy of being an expert in handling cases, and he can even detect the motives of the criminals!