jdhmnovel Chapter 377 Confirmation, Search Again
Chapter 377 Confirmation, Search Again
After several days of theft from the warehouse, Lord Lu had no clue. The news reached the ears of his colleagues in the court, and everyone was discussing the matter after dinner. Based on his many years of experience in handling cases, he could conclude that the things must still be in the Shangshu Mansion, but he sent people back and forth to investigate the Shangshu Mansion in the past two days, but still did not get any results, and also caused the displeasure of Shangshu Shen. Even the emperor was alarmed by this matter, and ordered him to investigate it strictly and give an explanation to the Shangshu Mansion.
On this day, when Lord Lu was worrying about the Shangshu Mansion, someone came to report: "Sir, a little beggar just came over and said someone asked him to give you this letter."
"Bring it here." On the envelope was a note that said "From Lord Lu himself". He opened the letter and was shocked by the contents. He immediately ordered a team to go to the Shangshu Mansion. When he arrived at the gate of the Shangshu Mansion, he ran into Shen Wenting who was about to return home.
Shen Wenting looked at Lord Lu who had brought his men over again, and a look of displeasure flashed across his face: "Lord Lu, what brings you here today? But do we have any clues about the theft case in our mansion?"
"Minister Shen, I received news that the theft in the Shangshu Mansion's storehouse was staged by you, so I brought people here to investigate."
"What nonsense are you talking about! You are insulting an official of the imperial court. Believe it or not, I will report you to the emperor!"
"Whether it is nonsense or not, we will know after checking. Come, go to Lord Shen's study and take a look." Lord Lu gave an order, and his men stepped forward and prepared to enter the mansion.
"How dare you! That's my office! It involves confidential court documents. If anything goes wrong, can you take the responsibility?!" Shen Wenting shouted angrily.
There was quite a commotion at the gate of the mansion, and soon attracted many people to watch: "So many soldiers are at the gate of the Shangshu Mansion, what's going on?!"
"Isn't that Lord Lu? I heard that he is in charge of the theft case in the Shangshu Mansion. With so many people coming here today, he must have some clues!" Most of the people who live near the Shangshu Mansion are high-ranking officials and dignitaries of high status, so they basically know the first thing about any hotly debated issues in the court and the family mansion.
"The Shangshu Mansion was robbed?"
"Yeah, you don't know! The whole warehouse has been stolen."
"Oh! Who is so bold as to steal from officials' families?"
"Who said it wasn't true? When this happened, I stepped up my guard when I returned home that day, fearing that thieves would steal from my house." The speaker was a master of a famous merchant in the capital. Although he was very wealthy, in the eyes of those officials, he was just a lowly merchant family. However, life couldn't go on without money, and sometimes they had to bow to him because he had money! He had a lot of good things at home, so it was normal for him to worry.
"Don't worry, Lord Shangshu. If anything goes wrong, I will take responsibility! If the lost items are not found today, I am willing to personally go before the emperor and apologize." Lord Lu promised in front of the onlookers.
"What's going on? Could it be that the stolen items are still in the Shangshu Mansion?"
"Looking at Lord Lu's confident look, I'm afraid he must be absolutely sure to be so sure."
"Minister Shen, since Lord Lu dares to guarantee it, just let him in! Isn't it a good thing to find the lost things?"
Everyone tried to persuade him one by one.
Shen Wenting listened to what everyone said and thought about it. If he wanted to check, then let him check. Anyway, he had already cleaned up the study basement and there was nothing there. What would it matter if he looked? Was it illegal to build a basement?
"Remember what you said. If you don't find what you want, don't blame me for being rude!"
"Don't worry, Minister Shen. If we don't find him, you can beat him or punish him as you like." After Lord Lu finished speaking, he led the officers and soldiers into the mansion and went straight to Shen Wenting's study.
The people watching at the door were reluctant to leave and were all waiting at the door to watch the excitement.
When they arrived at the door of Shen Wenting's study, there was no servant guarding the door. Shen Wenting thought that everything had been stolen a few days ago and the people in the dungeon were gone, so there was nothing to guard, so he sent them all out to find someone.
For some reason, Shen Wenting always had a bad feeling, as if something big was about to happen. Before he had time to think about it, Lord Lu had already brought his people into the study.
The officers searched the study for a long time but found nothing. They shook their heads at Lord Lu in disappointment.
"How is it, Lord Lu, have you found what you want? My study is so small, how can there be enough space to put all the things in the storehouse? You have been looking for it, and now it's time for you to give me an explanation?" Shen Wenting saw that they had been searching for a long time and couldn't even find the entrance to the basement, and his uneasy heart finally calmed down a little.
"Sir! We found something!" Suddenly one of the officers shouted, "The ground floor is empty. It seems there is a basement!"
"Oh? Minister Shen, your study also has a basement!" Lord Lu had a hunch that the things must be hidden in the basement. The last time he sent someone over, Minister Shen did everything he could to prevent them from entering the study. It was unlikely that he had nothing to hide.
"There are too many things. It is normal for me to build a basement. Lord Lu is meddling too much! Humph!" Shen Wenting is not worried at all about the basement being discovered.
"Please open the basement, Your Excellency, and let me go and take a look, so that I can prove your innocence." Lord Lu said politely.
"You must be sure to read it. If not, your career as an official in Jingzhao Prefecture will be over. Lord Lu, you must think it through."
"Someone, open the basement!"
"Yes!" The officers were experienced in handling cases and quickly opened the entrance to the basement.
Shen Wenting was watching the show from the side, waiting to see how Lord Lu would end today.
After the entrance to the basement was opened, several officers jumped down first. After a while, they came back empty-handed.
"Lord Lu, now that we have searched the last place, you can finally rest assured, right?" Shen Wenting breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at the man who came out empty-handed.
"Your Excellency, the things lost from the Shangshu Mansion storehouse were found in the basement!" The official waited until Shen Wenting finished speaking before reporting.
"What! Impossible! How could there be things lost from the warehouse in my basement!" Shen Wenting was panicked. He was about to run over to check the situation, but was stopped by someone.
"Wait! Minister Shen, my apologies! Come here, keep a close eye on him. I'll go down and take a look." Lord Lu ordered his men to stop Shen Wenting, and he went down to the basement to check the situation.
As soon as he entered the basement, he saw the ground was piled high with valuables. He said, things are good, they can't just disappear into thin air. It turned out that Minister Shen himself had embezzled and stolen things from his own warehouse.