The hallways on the first floor and the corridors on the second floor of the Red Fort are very retro and ornate, with baroque patterns and exquisite ornamental carvings. Except for the carpet in the reception room, the entire Red Fort is covered with large Western tiles, and walking on it will make a crisp and powerful sound.

Han Daring and Bai Chongwei were led by Lao Cai to the corridor on the second floor, where there were many Western oil paintings hanging on the wall.

Mei Ruohong learned to paint since childhood, and her skills in painting landscapes, flowers and birds are not low, and later she studied Western drawings and oil paintings in the church school. However, Han Daring did not understand Western paintings, and in his eyes, these Western paintings were only more three-dimensional than Chinese ink paintings, but they were far less ethereal and ethereal than Chinese paintings.

In addition to the paintings, there are also Roman column stands against the walls, somewhat similar to those in the hall downstairs. Each column is fastened with a glass cover with a red velvet cushion on which some small and beautiful works of art are placed

In the corridor on the right side of the second floor, a pair of Western knight's armor is placed, and in front of the armor is two Roman columns with glass display cases. Han Daring was very interested in this knight's armor, so he walked over to take a closer look.

This armor is covered with a burqa, and the iron armor exposed outside the burqa is also shining with silver, which looks like a whole armor made of iron sheets.

Generally, this kind of furnishing is placed in the castle or manor of the foreigner, and is placed in a human form standing together, and will hold a weapon, or sword, shield or spear, held in the hand armor of the armor, and the end of the weapon is clubbed to the ground.

The armor in front of him, the iron armor of the arms exposed by the burqa drooped, the armor of the two hands intersected on the abdomen, the palms downward, and the left and right sides were stacked on the end of the hilt of a long sword, the position of the head of the sword. The tip of the longsword is downward, stuck in the wooden base under the armor. The pose is like that of an old man, with both hands on crutches. The sword in the armor's hand is exactly the same as the one hanging from the wall on the left.

Han Daring was a little puzzled, so he asked casually:

"Why is there a similar sword hanging next to this armor, and the armor on display is wearing a burqa?"

Lao Cai replied:

"The lord said that this is the armor of a nobleman during the European Crusades, and the velvet burqa is a set! And the two swords are also the swords of this nobleman! ”

Han Daring looked at the armor and long sword again, the armor looked very tall and straight, it seemed that this armor and armor, to say the least, weighed dozens of pounds, it was hard to imagine how someone would wear such a bulky thing to fight before.

Han Da'er wanted to reach out and touch the armor, but was stopped by Lao Cai's words. Lao Cai said that because some servants saw the armor walking around in the corridor by itself and had no head, it was rumored that the armor was possessed by resentful spirits, coupled with the recent legend of the revenge of the Yellow Lotus Virgin, so the lord placed him in the corridor on the second floor and did not let anyone touch this armor again. I hope that with the power of God, I can get rid of the infestation of evil spirits, and after speaking, I pointed to the display case in front of the armor.

At this time, Han Da'er saw that in the display case in front of the armor, there was a beautiful gemstone cross, which seemed to be a priceless antiquity, and the so-called power of God probably referred to this thing.

Although he heard Lao Cai say this, Han Da'er was still very curious, and when Lao Cai turned around, he had to secretly reach out and touch the knight's armor!

He leaned forward, through the glass display case, reached out to touch the armor, only to feel that the tentacles were full of a cold feeling of pig iron, and he flicked his fingers on the armor again, the armor was very hard, and suddenly made a "zheng" sound. Lao Cai turned his head when he heard the sound, and Han Da'er quickly stood up straight and looked out the window, pretending that the sound had nothing to do with him.

Lao Cai was displeased, and said to Han Da'er:

"Mr. Han! Regardless of whether this armor is attached to the wraith, the lord does not like guests to touch his collection casually! ”

said and bowed slightly, although the action was polite, but Lao Cai's words had already brought out a sense of displeasure. Although this old Cai is Chinese, his actions and words are all pure British style, which is really a bit rigid!

Bai Chongwei was a little embarrassed by what Lao Cai said, and looked at Han Da'er, which seemed to mean that after all, it was someone else's house, which was very rude! Han Daring smiled at Bai Chongwei and nodded, Bai Chongwei sighed and shook his head helplessly, it is estimated that he has begun to regret bringing Han Daring to this banquet in his heart.

Lao Cai led the two to the corridor on the left. Han Daring still looked back at the armor in confusion.

The corridor on the left and the corridor on the right are basically the same length, and there are many oil paintings on the walls, and there are many Roman columns and glass display cases on the side. Most of the display cases here are some ancient ornaments, including Chinese tassels and gold hairpins, as well as mirrors inlaid with crystal gems at sunset, which look like some ancient antiquities.

In addition, there is a long rectangular glass cover, on display is an ancient Chinese sword, the scabbard is engraved with many ornamental talismans, and in the glass cover next to it is a crown with three pearls embedded in it.

Han Daring saw that these two were Chinese Taoist objects, and asked casually:

"Your master still collects Taoist magic weapons?"

Lao Cai Dao:

"The lord is a Chinese expert, in fact, I believe in the theory of Chinese Taoism and the five elements of the I Ching, these two are treasures collected by the lord in his early years, and the legend is that the relics of the Eastern Han Dynasty Heavenly Master Taoist Founding Patriarch are very precious!"

Han Daring pursed his lips and said secretly in his heart:

"I can't think of a foreign devil, and I'm quite superstitious about these gods and ghosts! What did he say about God's holy light just now, but now there are some Chinese Taoist magic weapons, and I don't know what he believes! ”

Bai Chongwei does not seem to pay attention to these collections, and it is estimated that for him, antiques and works of art are just a valuable commodity, and there is no other value significance other than investing and buying and selling these antiquities, which can obtain huge profits.

By this time, the three of them had already arrived in the room at the end of the hallway. In front of it is a two-door closed door, the interior decoration of the gate and the Red Fort is unified, both are ornate carved ornaments in the Baroque style, and the white background is black with gold patterns, which looks very luxurious, and even the door handle is decorated with some carved patterns.

Lao Cai bowed slightly to the two and said:

"Wait, both of you!

Then he stretched out his hand and knocked lightly on the door, and said in English:

"Sir! Mr. Bai and the two have arrived! ”

A low, hoarse voice in the door said in English:

"Come in, please!"

Lao Cai said to Bai Chongwei and Han Daring:

"Two inside, please!"

As he spoke, he gently pushed open the door, invited Bai Chongwei and Han Daring into the room, and then exited and gently closed the door.

This is a one-bedroom suite with two living rooms. The large living room on the outermost side is furnished with baroque sofas and antique coffee tables, with patterned carpets on the floor and a fireplace on the opposite side of the coffee table. I don't know if it's because the house is too big, or if this European building itself is cold, even if the fire in the fireplace is strong, this room still makes people feel cold.

Chandeliers hang on the roof, and standing candlesticks are placed against the doors and walls. In front of the window hung a thick velvet curtain with a white gauze curtain inside. In the corner by the window, there are several Greek-style marble carvings, on which are placed the Song Dynasty jade pot spring bottle, the Western Zhou Dynasty bronze jue, the Han Dynasty grain pattern jade, and the others are not famous.

Han Da'er was also not familiar with antiquities, and he didn't know if he had made a mistake in those few things, he had only seen similar things from some artworks and archaeological books in the library when he was in school.

The door of the suite is ajar, you can see part of the space inside, the layout is like a study, and it is a bit like an office, and the black walnut desk by the window that does not match the style of the room at all, in addition to the magnifying glass, glasses and candlesticks and other things, it is also full of unknown various delicate tools, Han Dada'er estimates, these should be used to restore antiquities. But with a glance, you can see that the tables have not been touched for a long time, and they are covered with dust.

The study inside is much messier than the living room outside. There are all kinds of utensils, bottles and jars, or ancient utensils, or stone carved statues piled up everywhere, Han Daring is completely ignorant of these, and he doesn't know whether the antiquities placed here inside and outside are true or false. In fact, even if there are fakes, or they are all fakes, Han Dada'er can't see it at all.

There was a closed door further inside, which was supposed to be George Brown's bedroom.

At this time, the half-open door of the study opened, and a man walked out of the study, this person was medium to tall, about half a head shorter than Han Da'er. He is neither fat nor thin, and he appears relatively strong. Dressed in an off-white suit, his tan hair was neatly combed, and the strangest thing was that he wore a pure white mask on his face, which looked somewhat like a masquerade mask, but this mask was not half face, but almost covered the entire face, only the mouth and part of the jaw were exposed.

This man introduced himself, it was George Brown!

He walked up to Bai Chongwei and Han Da'er, spread his right hand and gestured towards the sofa and said in English:

"You two may be seated!"

His voice is very hoarse and old, and he can't tell his age, but looking at his posture and speed of speech, it is estimated that he is about fifty years old. Although Han Daring knows that George Brown is a foreigner, many foreigners who have been in China for a long time can speak Chinese, such as his friends Lao Bai and Little Jew, who have always spoken Chinese. Not to mention George Brown, a Chinese expert who studies historical antiquities, I didn't expect George Brown to speak English.

When George Brown stretched out his hand, Han Daring saw the burn scars on his hands, and secretly said in his heart, they all said that this person was a master of repairing antiquities, but since he experienced an accident a few years ago, he no longer repaired antiquities, and the antiquities on display this time were his last works before he was injured. Looking at the scars on his hands, it is estimated that nine times out of ten they were caused by that accident.

George Brown said in English:

"Mr. Bai is a leader in the business world, and I am very honored to have Mr. Bai here this time! I wonder what Mr. Bai and this gentleman want to see me alone? ”

Bai Chongwei also said in fluent English:

"This is a famous detective in Tianjin, Mr. Han Zhigang, in fact, he has something he wants to ask Mr. George Brown!"

Han Da'er had no problem reading English, but he learned French in school, and the English conversation was really average, and the English he spoke was a little stammering, so he told Bai Chongwei what he wanted to ask in Chinese, and asked Bai Chongwei to relay it in English.

Who knew that as soon as Han Dadaer said two words, George Brown said in Chinese:

"I can understand Chinese, Mr. Han can speak directly!"

George Brown's Chinese is really average, and coupled with his hoarse voice, it sounds a little weird! George Brown explained that he was injured in an accident many years ago, when he was burned by fireworks and injured his throat and tongue, and when speaking Chinese, his vocal cords vibrated and some tongue curls would be very unnatural, so it sounded weird, but on the contrary, speaking English would be clearer.

After a while, Lao Cai came back with a tray, there was an English teapot on the tray, Lao Cai poured three cups of Longjing, and then withdrew and closed the door.

I don't know if the fire in the fireplace is burning, sitting in front of the sofa for a long time, the people in the fireplace are dry, Han Dada'er and Bai Chongwei both picked up their cups and drank the dragon well in the cup. Only then did Han Daring ask George Brown about Thriving, that is, the Xinghe Trading Company.

George Brown explained in English, Han Daring said that English is not very good, but he can still understand English, even if there is something he doesn't understand, Bai Chongwei can explain it.

George Brown said that Xinghe Trading was just a joint venture with a few friends he had met in his early years, and the company did start out as an import and export trade, trafficking in some silk fabrics, porcelain and tea. He revealed very frankly that in fact, there were some private messages to open this company, because at that time, there were some antique artworks, and the tax when transporting them would be much higher than that of ordinary silk tea.

Therefore, George Brown will also put some of the antiquities he has collected in the cargo and transport them back to England every time he transports them. Because he plans to return to England in a few years and open a private museum, and now these collections will be exhibits in the museum at that time.

Han Daring scolded in his heart, isn't this George Brown just smuggling antique cultural relics, but he has a high-sounding reason to open a museum, saying what is the difference between Guiqi and those cultural relics dealers. It's just stealing things to look better!

George Brown also said that the business of Xinghe Trading itself was actually very ordinary, but he himself had a lot of wealth, and he did not care whether the business was good or bad, and the company's shipping was just to provide a channel for himself to transport antiquities. But the other two partners in the firm, the German Frank Heinrich and the Englishman Robert Redcret, don't think so. Two Chinese were found to join the shares, one named Heji was a British Chinese, and the other was called Yi Ersan.

That Hedge had some channels and could transport some gun contraband, so he became the apparent manager of the company, but he was okay. The most terrible person is a man named Yi Ersan, who not only uses the company to transport opium, but also uses cargo ships to sell people.

When George Brown found out, he was very annoyed, but the other two partners, who made a lot of money by relying on two Chinese, later added the two Hedge and Yi Ersan to the company's public contract at the shareholders' meeting.

Han Daring thought that it was estimated that this was the origin of the share contract in triplicate.

Although George Brown was a major shareholder, he was powerless to stop it, so he asked for a withdrawal of shares. Who knew that more than a year ago, the person named Yi Ersan was caught by the Huajie police in the East Freight Yard by the Haihe River, and it was said that this person was a devout disciple of the Sanyang Sect. The man was later thrown into prison and never heard from again. Even that Heji has been missing lately.

Han Daring heard that what he expected was true, this is really Yin Xiao. Heggie is British-Chinese, so it's no wonder that he can't be found in any of his household registration records in China.

Han Da'er asked:

"Mr. Brown, you know that your partner, the German Frank Heinrich, is dead! And the way to die is very strange! ”

George Brown is visibly getting upset! There was a quick knock on the door with a "knock", "knock", "knock"!