Chapter 415 Wife's Brother
"What does Li Jianzheng want to tell us?" Zhu Lan looked at Li Xiang and asked.
From the moment she arrived at the Shaofujian, she sensed that there was something fishy going on between Li Xiang and Zhou Xiangrong.
Li Xiang looked at Zhou Xiangrong out of the corner of his eye and said unhappily:
"This man is my brother-in-law."
Zhu Lan and Si Ying looked at each other, and Si Ying asked, "Did he pass the Ministry of Personnel's assessment?"
Li Xiang didn't say anything, the answer was already very obvious.
“I see.” Zhu Lan nodded. No wonder Li Xiang, who was at the same level as him, was inexplicably attentive when they met today. It turned out that he had used his power to secretly arrange this position for his wife’s brother.
If this matter was known to others, it might not be considered serious. After all, it was not uncommon for officials in the court to arrange some small or medium-sized jobs for their relatives. Everyone kept silent about it and got by like this.
This kind of thing could be big or small, but as the Chief Censor, my duty is to supervise all officials.
Li Xiang had run into trouble now. If he reported him for abusing his power for personal gain, he would at least be suspended from his job.
"So, this person was a clerk in the storehouse, but he stole the goods, and Li Jian knew about it?"
“No, no, no!” Zhou Xiangrong suddenly knelt on the ground, his face pale.
"Then... the hole on the roof was dug by me without a doubt, but I definitely didn't steal the Nine-Curved Pearl. Please judge for yourself, Lord Zhongcheng!"
Li Xiang also said: "Zhu Zhongcheng, although my brother-in-law is not very ambitious, he would not dare to steal the treasures from the treasury. You know, if the treasures are stolen, I will be the first one to be implicated. If I lose my position as the Supervisor of the Imperial Household, who will be able to help him in the future?"
Zhu Lan said nothing when he heard this.
Although the other party's one-sided statement cannot prove Zhou Xiangrong's innocence, it does make some sense.
When the treasure of the Shaofujian was lost, the first person to be held accountable was Li Xiang. At this time, he should be the one who most wanted to find the Nine-Curve Pearl as soon as possible. There was no reason for him to take such a big risk to protect his wife's brother who was not related to him by blood.
"Why did you go up to the roof to dig a hole?" Si Ying asked Zhou Xiangrong with a cold face.
Zhou Xiangrong hung his head in dejection, "When the guards of the Shaofujian changed shifts this morning, I went to check the treasures in the storehouse and found that the Nine-Curved Pearl was missing.
I...I was absent from my post yesterday, and fearing being discovered, I took advantage of the guard change to climb onto the roof with a ladder and make a hole, creating the illusion that someone had sneaked into the Shaofu Prison and stolen the treasures in the middle of the night.
If the treasure was lost in the middle of the night, then... it has nothing to do with me."
Si Ying seemed a little confused and asked him:
"Why did you leave your post yesterday? And how do you know that the treasure was not lost in the middle of the night?"
Zhou Xiangrong then stammered and told the truth.
It turned out that the Shaofujian stipulated that the storekeepers' duty time was Xu time, but Zhou Xiangrong had a drinking party yesterday, so he left the Shaofujian early at You time without reporting in advance.
"Why didn't you report leaving early?" Si Ying asked.
Zhou Xiangrong touched his nose awkwardly and looked at Li Xiang guiltily. Li Xiang rolled his eyes at him.
"This...usually..."
Zhou Xiangrong mumbled something, and Zhu Lan and the others understood what he said.
It seems that everyone in the Shaofu Supervisor knew that Zhou Xiangrong was Li Xiang's brother-in-law, so no one dared to intervene, and Zhou Xiangrong often neglected his duties by relying on this relationship.
Apparently, leaving work early has become a common occurrence.
“I was leaving at twilight hour, but I had some new treasures to store yesterday at twilight hour, so I gave the key to Yang Zhubu and asked him to help lock the door after an hour.
Oh, by the way, I went to the treasury before leaving at 12:00 pm, and the Nine-Curved Pearl was inside!"
"Master Yang?" Zhu Lan asked.
"Yes, Chief Yang has a good relationship with me. He is not on good terms with his wife, and usually leaves work very late.
Every time I left at twilight hour, he would sign and lock the door for me."
Zhou Xiangrong said, and suddenly raised his head and added:
"Old Yang is a nice guy, and he comes from a good family, it's impossible for him to steal treasures!
So I guessed that the treasure was stolen during the hour when I left and went to Lao Yang to help lock the door."
"During this hour, there is no one guarding the treasure house?" Zhu Lan found it hard to believe.
Zhou Xiangrong whispered, "There are guards patrolling nearby, but they are not as strict as the nighttime guards. Nothing has ever happened before."
"You bastard!" Li Xiang was so angry that he almost wanted to kick him.
I was so blind to bring this kind of person into the Shaofu Supervisory Office, and ended up causing such a big mess!
Zhu Lan concluded:
"You didn't steal, and you believed that Yang Zhubu wouldn't steal, so you thought the treasure was stolen by someone else during the time you were on duty.
This happened because of your negligence in duty. You were afraid of being held responsible, so you took advantage of the guard change this morning to damage the roof and put a red-tipped white feather into the treasury, hoping to create the illusion that the rumored thief Shi Taxue sneaked into the treasury and stole something last night, right?"
After hearing this, Si Ying couldn't help but look at Li Xiang with a very dissatisfied tone:
"Li Jianzheng, even if you want to protect your wife's brother, you can't let him act so recklessly. Isn't this interfering with the direction of our investigation?
Don’t you want to find the treasure as soon as possible? "
"Wait... wait!" Zhou Xiangrong's eyes flashed with confusion. "It's true that I damaged the roof, but I didn't release the red-tipped white feather!"
"Not you?" Si Ying was a little suspicious, but seeing that Zhou Xiangrong didn't seem to be lying, she couldn't help but think about it.
"Could it be... that the flying thief Shi Taxue has really returned to the arena?"
Zhu Lan hesitated for a moment and shook his head gently, then said slowly:
“It’s hard to say. Although the red-tipped white feather is unique, it is easy to forge. It is possible that someone left this feather behind after committing a crime and used rumors to confuse the public.
There is still one person who is highly suspicious, please ask the police to summon him immediately."
"Master Yang?" Si Ying and Zhu Lan thought of the same thing and immediately asked their subordinates to bring the person over.
After a while, the Dali Temple's officers reported back:
"Sir, I have asked all the questions. Yang Zhubu did not come to the Shaofuguan for duty today."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
