The second person was named Li Duo. He was once a servant in the Wei family of Wu County. At that time, he was only seventeen or eighteen years old. Now, he has reached the age of thirty. He not only has a family, but also a stable job. He is engaged in the trade of porcelain.
Wei Shuwan sat in the chair, listening quietly as Li Duo recounted his twelve years of business experience. She admired his diligence and courage.
However, as usual, I asked, "You said that after you left the Wei family, you first made several trips by boat, and then you started trading porcelain. Where did you get the capital for your first trip?"
Li Duo replied, "On my last voyage, I was escorting a batch of porcelain for a merchant from Jiangzhou. Unexpectedly, we encountered a group of river bandits halfway through the journey. They not only stole the porcelain but also tried to kill the merchant. At the critical moment, I broke free from my restraints and took the bandit leader hostage, thus rescuing the merchant from them and saving the ship full of valuable porcelain. Afterwards, to express his gratitude, the merchant took me into the business and later gave me capital. Year after year, I gradually built up a considerable business."
Wei Shuwan turned to look at Li Qingchen and saw him nod slightly, so she knew that what he said was true. She then told him to go back to his room first and asked Yuan Que to call over the last suspicious person.
The last person was named Qi Dazhong. He was the gatekeeper of the Wei family at that time, and he is now the one who is doing the best among all the dismissed servants of the Wei family.
"Qi Dazhong, I heard that you are now quite wealthy in Zheng County. Where did you get your initial capital for your business?" Wei Shuwan asked him the same question as usual.
Qi Dazhong smiled and said, "Speaking of this, I've wanted to thank my former employer for a long time! If you hadn't dismissed everyone back then, I might have spent my whole life guarding those two doors and never seen the scenery outside!"
As he spoke, Qi Dazhong indeed clasped his hands together and bowed to Wei Shuwan, like a devout believer worshipping the God of Wealth.
Wei Shuwan showed no interest in Qi Dazhong's frivolous smile, remaining indifferent as he waited for him to get to the point.
After Qi Dazhong finished his bow, he recalled: "Back then, when I was laid off by my employer, I suddenly lost my place and felt uneasy, so I simply took the two taels of silver I was given as severance pay and went to the gambling den to gamble! And guess what happened?"
Wei Shuwan was too lazy to engage in a back-and-forth with him and simply waited quietly. Seeing that he was getting bored, Qi Dazhong continued speaking:
"As it turned out, I was blessed with good fortune all day long and returned victorious in the end!"
"So how much did you win in total?" Wei Shuwan asked coldly.
Qi Dazhong stretched out his right hand, spreading out his five fingers, but didn't say it directly, deliberately making it mysterious.
Wei Shuwan then asked, "Five taels or fifty taels?"
"Five hundred taels!" Qi Dazhong's voice was full of pride.
Wei Shuwan's eyes flickered, and she repeated incredulously, "Five hundred taels? You won back five hundred taels with only two taels of capital?"
Qi Dazhong nodded heavily, his eyes widening and gleaming, perfectly capturing the smugness of a petty person.
Wei Shuwan chuckled, finding it increasingly absurd, "Which gambling den did you go to?"
"Next to Du Erniang's Restaurant in the north of the city, the one owned by Boss Tu!"
What were you playing with that day?
"Bet on big or small!"
"You were able to earn five hundred taels in one night, which must have become a legendary story in the casino. The dealer should remember this, right?"
Qi Dazhong suddenly burst into laughter, "Young lady is right, if Boss Tu were still alive, he would definitely remember!"
Upon hearing this, Wei Shuwan's face darkened: "He's dead?"
"It's common for gangsters to double-cross each other in this line of work. He was stabbed to death in the street five years ago. Although the young lady was still in Wu County at that time, she probably didn't know about these kinds of entanglements in the underworld, so it's not surprising that she didn't know."
"And what about the others? Are there any other people who can testify about this?" Wei Shuwan continued to ask.
Qi Dazhong smiled bitterly: "Young lady, have you ever heard the saying: 'Nine out of ten gamblers lose, and there are no winners in the long run'? Few people who are addicted to gambling can have a good end. Twelve years have passed, and I'm afraid most of those old gamblers from back then have become real ghosts by now."
Wei Shuwan sighed silently, "So you mean there's no one who can testify for you?"
Qi Dazhong nodded: "Indeed, no one can testify for me."
Wei Shuwan smiled slightly: "You just said yourself, 'Nine out of ten gamblers lose, and there are no winners in the long run,' so how have you managed to get through these past twelve years?"
Qi Dazhong smirked, "Nine out of ten gamblers lose, but there's always one more. I just got lucky."
Seeing that she couldn't get any more information out of him, Wei Shuwan could only say, "Then you can go down now."
After Qi Dazhong returned to his room, only Wei Shuwan and Li Qingchen remained in the main hall. Gu Zhuang and Yuan Que were taking a nap in the carriage in the courtyard.
Li Qingchen jokingly asked her, "I wonder if Lord Wei has made any progress in solving the case?"
Wei Shuwan had no intention of joking with him and only seriously analyzed, "Zheng Hai and Li Duo's statements can both be corroborated, only Qi Dazhong is more suspicious. Although there are no obvious flaws in what he said, it is too mysterious. How could a gambler win for twelve years in a row?"
Li Qingchen briefly recalled the part about Qi Dazhong in the letter, "In fact, Qi Dazhong's twelve years have not been smooth sailing. His business has been mediocre, and there were several times when he almost went bankrupt, but each time he was able to come back from the brink of ruin, as if someone was backing him up."
Wei Shuwan's eyes flashed with a sharp light: "If only we could find out who's covering for us!"
"You suspect that the person who covered for him is the same person who harmed your brother back then?"
Wei Shuwan nodded honestly, "Qi Dazhong's fate changed precisely from the day he left the Wei family. He never had the chance to meet any benefactors outside. So the person who could protect him for so many years must be a member of the Wei family. That person harmed Ah Xiu and was caught by him, which is why he kept giving him hush money!"
“It’s not difficult for you to find this person.” As he finished speaking, Li Qingchen glanced at the carriage outside the door, a faint smile on his lips: “Gu Zhuang is best at coaxing people to tell the truth. Let him interrogate Qi Dazhong alone, and he will surely find out who this person is.”
Wei Shuwan had no doubt about Li Qingchen's words. She had heard of Gu Zhuang's abilities in her previous life, and they were already legendary, described as unparalleled and masterful. As one of Li Qingchen's seven henchmen, he was the one who established and expanded the infamous Imperial Prison.
Gu Zhuang, whom Li Qingchen described as "the best at coaxing people to tell the truth," was actually coaxed with all sorts of torture devices in hand!
Although Qi Dazhong was not a good person, Wei Shuwan did not want to see such an inhumane scene, so she politely declined: "There is no need to go to such trouble. In fact, I have a simpler way that may allow Qi Dazhong to go to that person himself."
A faint smile appeared on Li Qingchen's lips, and his eyes swept over with a hint of anticipation.
...
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