Chapter 293 I Have an Idea
“You’re almost thirteen years old, and you don’t eat as much as I do when I’m nine. I can drink two bowls of porridge from this small bowl.”
Li Nanke said with a grin.
As soon as he finished speaking, he couldn't help but touch his belly and chuckle.
"I haven't had breakfast yet, Ninth Brother, you don't mind if I eat a little, do you?"
Shen Cong raised his eyebrows slightly.
"You came to my house so early in the morning on an empty stomach? Can't you even afford breakfast?"
Li Nanke stuck out his tongue.
"I had an emergency, so I didn't have time to eat. Besides, look at these several side dishes."
"You can't possibly finish all this, so don't waste food."
"Li Yongfeng and Li Yao were burned to death at Dali Temple, and you were so scared that you didn't even have time to eat breakfast?"
Li Nanke blinked, thinking to himself: Sure enough, Shen Cong's channels for obtaining information are very fast.
She waved her hand.
"It's not about them being burned to death, but something else entirely."
She took the account book from Nangong Qiang and handed it to Shen Cong.
Then she recounted how she had discovered the secret room in Li Yongfeng's study the previous night, and how it contained more than a dozen boxes of gold and silver.
Finally, he placed the paper summarizing Li Mu's findings in front of Shen Cong.
"There are seven serial numbers in total, and the income amounted to 10,000 taels of gold and 10 million taels of silver."
In addition to income, there are also some expenditure items, which are also represented by serial numbers. There are more than a dozen expenditure items in total.
My father and I speculated that these serial numbers representing income might indicate Li Yongfeng's shops or shady businesses.
Shen Cong remained silent, flipping through the ledger page by page.
The only sound in the room for a moment was the rustling of papers being turned over.
Seeing that Erfeng was not there, Li Nanke beckoned the servant boy in the corridor to come in.
"Could you please bring me a bowl of hot porridge? Oh, and your prince's bowl too, it's gone cold, please bring him another one."
The servant instinctively looked at Chen Cong.
Shen Cong glanced at Li Nanke, nodded slightly, and then continued to look at the account book.
The servant ran downstairs in a flash and quickly brought up two bowls of hot porridge.
When placing the porridge in front of her, she couldn't help but whisper, "Although His Highness is vomiting blood much less often now, he still has no appetite."
Only Miss Ke'er would dare to directly replace the prince's bowl of porridge, otherwise...
Shen Cong gave a light hum.
The servant shrank back and ran away in a flash.
Li Nanke smiled and pushed the bowl of white porridge towards Shen Cong.
"Not too hot, not too cold, just right to eat right now," Ninth Brother said, watching as he ate.
After saying that, he lowered his head and began to drink the porridge in front of him.
She had only eaten one steamed bun at home and rushed over, and was now starving.
A bowl of porridge with spring rolls and side dishes was delicious.
"Mmm, this porridge is so delicious, and the spring rolls have my favorite red bean paste filling..."
Her voice was crisp and clear, and she looked extremely surprised, which unconsciously made people's lips curl up slightly.
Shen Cong glanced at her enjoying her meal, then subconsciously picked up the bowl of porridge in front of him and took a sip, then another.
Even the spring rolls that had been sitting in front of me all morning, I picked up and tasted one.
Only then did he put down his chopsticks.
After Li Nanke had finished eating and drinking, he asked, "Could Ninth Brother have noticed anything in the account books?"
Shen Cong was silent for a moment, then said, "Hide all ten thousand taels of gold and ten million taels of silver, but make it look like the Marquis of Anping's mansion is in ruins."
Either he's a typical miser, deliberately feigning poverty to hide his wealth, or the money isn't his, and he can't just take it as he pleases!
He suddenly changed the subject and asked, "Li Yongfeng used to love going to Desheng Opera Troupe to listen to operas and going to Dongjia Antique Shop to buy antiques."
Li Nanke nodded.
"That's right."
As soon as she finished speaking, her eyes suddenly lit up.
"Does Ninth Brother mean he suspects that Deshengban and Dongjia Antique Shop are two of these seven numbered shops?"
Shen Cong remained noncommittal.
The more Li Nanke thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
In her dream, when she was sent to Shen Xu's side, the most popular opera troupe in the capital was a troupe called Shuangxi.
The Desheng team no longer exists.
In other words, something must have happened to the Desheng Opera Troupe, otherwise how could such a popular opera troupe simply disappear from Bianjing?
"If Li Yongfeng was secretly managing both the Desheng Opera Troupe and the Dong Family Antique Shop, then his frequent visits to the Desheng Opera Troupe and his purchase of antiques from the Antique Shop were actually a means of concealment."
Li Nanke paused, then suddenly remembered something and abruptly raised his head.
The moment their eyes met, the two spoke almost simultaneously, uttering the same two words.
"Rebel!"
Li Nanke's face turned somewhat pale.
Previously, the Imperial Guards had arrested Chen Wang's traitors in the Desheng Troupe. At that time, the troupe leader and all the members of the Desheng Troupe were arrested.
A few days later, the leader and the actors of the Desheng Troupe were released again.
Li Nanke murmured, "I remember during the days when Desheng Class was arrested, Li Yongfeng went out every day and returned late at night."
"If the Desheng Troupe is under Li Yongfeng's control, could he also be involved with the rebels?"
"If he's involved with the rebels, what about Bai San Niang? What about the Chen family of Quanzhou?"
Li Nanke's little head was confused, and he felt as if he were trapped in an invisible net.
She couldn't see where the boundaries of the net were, but she felt that many people were trapped inside it.
It's unbelievable that Li Yongfeng, who was just a down-on-his-luck marquis in the eyes of the world, actually had such intricate connections with the rebels!
Shen Cong frowned and pointed to a page in the ledger.
"What you've said are just your guesses, without any solid evidence, but based on this speculation, let's look at the expenditures in the ledgers."
Perhaps these expenditure serial numbers represent certain government departments or individuals within the imperial court?
Li Nanke was dumbfounded.
"Are you saying that Li Yongfeng has secret financial dealings with government departments or officials in the imperial court? What is he planning to do?"
Shen Cong put away the ledger with a sullen face.
"This matter is of great importance. I will send people to investigate it secretly. I will also report the truth to my brother."
He hesitated for a moment, then gave Li Nanke a deep look.
"The gold and silver in your secret room... I'm afraid it's going to be lost."
Li Nanke had already prepared himself for this on his way here.
She was surprised that Shen Cong would say such a thing to her; she thought he would not hesitate to take his men and loot the gold and silver.
"I understand, but I have an idea. Would you like to hear it, Ninth Brother?"
Shen Cong: "Oh? Speak."
Li Nanke half-lay on the small table, her whole body close to Shen Cong's side.
He muttered a few words to himself.
"What does Ninth Brother think of this idea?"
A look of surprise flashed in Shen Cong's eyes, and he took another deep look at Li Nanke.
Based on just these few words, the little girl is definitely not a simple nine-year-old child!
"Ninth Brother thinks this is inappropriate?"
Seeing that he didn't speak, Li Nanke asked.
Before Shen Cong could speak, Er Feng hurriedly walked in from outside.
"Your Highness, I have figured out how the fire at the Dali Temple started last night."
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