Looking at the mess on the ground, Jiang Yuwei gave instructions to Uncle Ning Wu;
"Fifth Uncle, hurry and check if any money is missing from the cabinet."
Uncle Ning only realized what was happening after hearing this, and hurriedly ran through the mess on the floor to the counter to check the silver.
Jiang Yuwei then instructed Ning Qiu and Ning Daya:
"Hurry up and get the shop ready. We'll be open for business as usual today."
Having just opened a few days ago, and at the height of its success, closing down now would surely fall into the trap of a villain. Without time to think further, Jiang Yuwei hurriedly went to the backyard, fetched a bucket of water, and placed it at Ning Huaizhi's feet.
"Huaizhi, take care of these flowers and plants first. Pick out the wilted ones and put the rest in the flower-reviving bucket with water to keep them healthy."
After saying that, Jiang Yuwei handed Ning Wan a rag.
"Wan'er, you'll be in charge of wiping down the shelves."
Uncle Ning, his hands trembling as he held the empty cash box, said:
"Yuwei, the money is all gone..."
Jiang Yuwei nodded. This was the result she had expected. Fortunately, Jiang Yuwei was a cautious person. She would put large amounts of silver notes and ingots into her space every day, and only leave some loose silver in the shop for Uncle Ning to use to give change to the customers. Therefore, Jiang Yuwei was not too upset about the lost silver.
Jiang Yuwei handed all the loose silver coins from her purse to Uncle Ning Wu and said:
"Use these small amounts of silver for today's emergency, and record them in the ledger later."
After receiving the silver, Uncle Ning went back to the counter and busied himself tidying up his counter.
Jiang Yuwei said to Ning Huaizhi:
“Huaizhi, I’ll drive the oxcart to report to the authorities first. Once Ningqiu and the others have tidied up the front, we can open for business as usual. Don’t touch the backyard yet, so that the government officials can come and inspect it.”
Ning Huaizhi nodded and said:
"Okay, don't worry, Yuwei, I'll take care of things here."
Jiang Yuwei went straight out and drove the oxcart to the yamen. At this time, she did not notice that a pair of cold eyes were staring intently at her back from the Ge family paper shop opposite the Moxiangzhai.
Jiang Yuwei rushed to the yamen and was about to beat the drum to appeal her case when she was stopped by Constable Huang.
"Jiang, what brings you here again?"
Jiang Yuwei smiled wryly upon hearing this:
“I don’t want to keep coming here. I’m here today to report to the authorities. My shop has been robbed. All the money in the shop is gone, and many valuables are missing.”
Upon hearing this, Officer Huang frowned and said:
"Please wait here for a moment, I will go and report to the magistrate."
Jiang Yuwei nodded gratefully. She then waited patiently outside the yamen. Now that she had some free time, Jiang Yuwei began to consider the people who had a grudge against her: Old Man Jiang, the Ning family, Madam Ge? She went through all of them in her mind, but still couldn't come up with a clue. Jiang Yuwei felt that all of them were possible, but something still felt off.
Just as Jiang Yuwei was lost in thought, Constable Huang led a group of men out of the yamen.
"Let's go, Jiang. You lead the way, and we'll go to your shop first."
Jiang Yuwei nodded and said:
"I'll trouble you all then. However, my shop has only been open for a few days, and the front of the shop cannot be closed. I can take you to the back of my shop to have a look."
After saying that, Jiang Yuwei drove the oxcart ahead, leading Constable Huang and his group towards Moxiangzhai.
As they approached the entrance of Moxianzhai, they saw Manager Zhang standing smiling at the entrance of Ge's Paper Shop, calling out to Jiang Yuwei:
"Oh, isn't this Manager Jiang? How come you've already run into legal trouble after only a few days of opening?"
Jiang Yuwei glanced at Steward Zhang and said calmly:
"Is Manager Zhang bored out of his mind? There are no customers in the shop?"
Upon hearing this, Manager Zhang immediately stretched out his neck and angrily said:
"Pah! My shop has way more customers than yours!"
Just as Jiang Yuwei was about to say something more, she noticed an unfamiliar man standing behind Steward Zhang, staring intently at her. Jiang Yuwei felt inexplicably irritated by his gaze, so she decided not to get entangled with Steward Zhang any longer and led Constable Huang directly into the backyard.
Looking at the mess in the backyard, Officer Huang said:
"What time was it discovered?"
Jiang Yuwei pondered for a moment, then spoke:
“When we arrived this morning, the shop was wide open. It looked like this as soon as we entered. Around 7 a.m., we found that our dog in the backyard had been slashed in the stomach and there was a lot of blood on the ground. When we found it, the blood on the ground was still wet.”
Officer Huang stepped forward, squatted down, wiped the bloodstains on the ground with his hand, and nodded, saying:
"The blood has dried completely now, so the thief must have committed the crime around 9:00 AM. At that time, the curfew had just been lifted, and there weren't many pedestrians on the street, making it a good time to strike."
Officer Huang stood up, looked at Jiang Yuwei, and continued to ask:
"Besides the lost silver, did your shop suffer any other losses?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuwei quickly went to the front and pushed Ning Huaizhi over, asking:
"Huaizhi, did you take inventory of the items in the shop just now? Is anything else missing?"
Ning Huaizhi nodded and said to Constable Huang:
"This shop is missing gold powder paper in addition to silver coins."
Officer Huang frowned and said:
"Is it just the gold leaf paper that's missing?"
Ning Huaizhi nodded and slowly began to speak:
"Yes, only the gold-powdered paper is missing. Officer Huang, you may not know this, but this gold-powdered paper is the signature of our Moxiangzhai. It is made of real gold, so a single sheet can sell for one tael of silver. This thief didn't steal any of the other papers, only the gold-powdered paper and the silver in the cash box."
As Officer Huang was pondering, he suddenly heard a noisy commotion outside:
"Gold powder paper for sale! Gold powder paper for sale! It doesn't cost a tael of silver per sheet, you can buy it for just fifty copper coins!"
Everyone in the backyard heard the shout. Huang, the head constable, exchanged a glance with Jiang Yuwei and hurriedly went out. They saw that it was Manager Zhang from Ge's Paper Shop hawking gold powder paper.
Jiang Yuwei followed behind and came out. She noticed that the man who had been standing next to Manager Zhang was nowhere to be seen, and she felt that something was wrong.
Huang, the head constable, stepped forward, picked up the gold-flecked paper in front of Steward Zhang, and frowned as he looked at Jiang Yuwei.
"Is this paper the same as the one in your shop?"
Jiang Yuwei stepped forward and reached out to stroke it, immediately nodding and saying:
"This is the paper in my shop. The paper from my shop is different from the paper produced by the neighboring paper mills. My paper undergoes special treatment to make it thick and delicate. This gold powder paper is unique to our Moxiangzhai, so I am sure this is the paper made by my shop."
Upon hearing this, Manager Zhang immediately became enraged and said angrily:
"Jiang Yuwei, don't think you're someone special just because I call you Manager Jiang! This paper clearly belongs to our Ge's Paper Shop, how did it become your Moxianzhai!"
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