Datang: Hiding private money, exposed by Xiao Sizi

Chapter 695 Shouldn’t have disappeared!

When Shen Lian heard Du Chuke say the name Zhang Qin, a gleam of light suddenly flashed in his eyes.

Zhang Qin's line was really revealed directly!
Mrs. Han gave me clues about Zhang Qin.

Snake also gave clues about Zhang Qin.

I went to the Ministry of Industry and found out that the last person before the fire was Zhang Qin.

And now, Zhang Qin has disappeared again.

He shouldn't have disappeared.

But he was gone!

All of this seemed to form a circle, surrounding Zhang Qin.

This should be a very normal and reasonable thing.

But at this moment, Shen Lian felt something strange.

Shen Lian thought it was reasonable to say that Zhang Qin was the arsonist.

After all, it had been deduced before that Zhang Qin was the one who led Han Qian to the temple.

As expected, Zhang Qin was a thief from the Beidou Society who had been hiding in the Ministry of Industry earlier.

So it was reasonable for Zhang Qin to deal with some of the traces of the fake Han Qian after discovering that Han Qian was inexplicably killed.

But, you have to know, Zhang Qin didn't realize that he had already begun to doubt him.

Currently, the only person who knows Zhang Qin’s name is Mrs. Han.

But Mrs. Han had no chance to spread the news.

In other words, neither Zhang Qin nor the Beidou Society knew that Zhang had actually been exposed.

Therefore, under such circumstances, Zhang Qindu reached the position of Vice Minister of Works. This official position is believed to be a very important position for Beidou Society.

If there is no other way, they will never give up easily.

And I haven't expressed any suspicion towards Zhang Qin, so there is no need for Zhang Qin to run away after setting the fire.

This clearly shows that he is suspected of arson!
This is almost equivalent to self-destruction.

Therefore, this self-destruction is very unreasonable!
What caused Zhang Qin to self-destruct?
What is the reason that makes Beichen give up such an important chess piece as Zhang Qin?

Shen Lian was somewhat confused.

Could it be that they already knew that I was targeting Zhang Qin?
But from the time I knew Zhang Qin's name until now, it has not been long at all, not even more than an hour.

How could they possibly know in such a short time?

Or……

Are there other reasons for Zhang Qin's disappearance?

Shen Lian pondered for a moment, and felt that Zhang Qin’s disappearance was not as simple as Beidou giving up.

He looked at Du Chuke and said, "Have you looked everywhere? Are you sure you didn't find him?"

Du Chuke nodded: "I will give the order and ask everyone to gather together."

"And then Zhang Qin wasn't found."

"I was worried that Zhang Qin might not have heard my order or that he was ignored, so I sent someone to look for him in his office, but they didn't find him."

"Then I asked other people, who were scattered throughout the government office, and they all said that they had not seen Zhang Qin after the fire. He had indeed disappeared."

Shen Lian continued to ask: "Have you asked the guards at the gate? Did they see Zhang Qin leave?"

Du Chuke said: "I asked, but they said that no one left after the fire. At the same time, they did not find Zhang Qin leaving at other times."

As the Minister of Works, Zhang Qin was the second or third in command of the Ministry of Works, so the guards would naturally pay close attention to Zhang Qin.

Once Zhang Qin left, there was no way the guards would have failed to notice.

Shen Lian narrowed his eyes, this was interesting.

The guards did not notice that Zhang Qin had left.

But Zhang Qin disappeared.

And no one saw him after the fire.

So where did he go?
Can you still climb over the wall and leave?
But there is absolutely no need!

With Zhang Qin's identity, even if he took advantage of the chaos after the fire, he could leave through the main gate openly.

The guards absolutely did not dare to stop him.

He could leave easily.

But if he climbed over the wall to leave, he would run the risk of being discovered, and once discovered, there would be no way to explain.

Therefore, no matter what Shen Lian thought, he felt that leaving in a fair and open manner was the most appropriate and least faultless way.

He felt that considering Zhang Qin's ability to hide in the Ministry of Industry for so many years, Zhang Qin would never add unnecessary details.

But the result was that Zhang Qin did not leave through the main gate.

So, does this mean... Zhang Qin didn't leave?

Is he still in the government office?

But Du Chuke said that he didn't find him...

Shen Lian narrowed his eyes, looked at Du Chuke, and said, "Master Du, my suggestion is that you look carefully for it. Don't miss any room, any corner, or even a cabinet."

"I suspect that Zhang Qin is still in the government office!"

"Still in the government office?"

Du Chuke was a little surprised when he heard Shen Lian's words.

He clearly sent someone to look for it, right?
However, Du Chuke was aware of Shen Lian's intelligence and talent.

With Shen Lian's ability, even if the invader farted and said the fart was fragrant, Du Chuke would doubt whether there was something wrong with his sense of smell and would think that the fart was smelly.

Therefore, he did not hesitate at all and said directly: "Okay, I will have someone look for it carefully again."

Shen Lian said: "Master Du, you must make sure they don't miss any corner."

“Don’t overlook any blind spots.”

Du Chuke nodded directly: "Don't worry, Lord Shen, I will tell them."

After saying that, Du Chuke left quickly.

Shen Lian looked towards the second floor again.

Three-fifths of the entire second floor was burned.

Three-fifths of the files, almost ten years' worth of files, were burned.

These files, which have been preserved for a long time, are extremely valuable.

Now that it's burned down, it basically means it's completely gone.

This is a huge loss for the Ministry of Industry.

but……

Shen Lian narrowed his eyes.

"Perhaps, things can still turn around."

He suddenly turned his head to look at Sishe and said, "Sishe, help me do something."

Sishe came over quickly and said, "My lord, please give me your orders."

Shen Lian said: "Send someone to search Zhang Qin's mansion and find some things."

"If you can't find it, check if Zhang Qin has any other houses. That house may not be in his name, but he often goes there."

"Or, you can also check whether Zhang Qin has secretly kept a mistress outside. If so, check it out as well."

When Sishe heard Shen Lian's words, his eyes flashed and he asked, "Master Shen, do you mean to say?"

Shen Lian said: "I have some doubts, but I can't be sure yet, so let's check it out."

"correct."

Shen Lian asked, "During this period, Zhang Qin hasn't been to the temple often, right?"

Sishe shook his head: "According to the intelligence we have collected, Zhang Qin only goes to the temple once a year, and the last time he went to the temple was half a year ago."

Shen Lian nodded slightly: "Okay, I understand, you go check it out."

"Yes!"

The snake left quickly.

Shen Lian took another careful look at the fire scene on the second floor. He said to a yamen runner, "When you clean up here later, please pay attention and help me find the broken pieces of the porcelain bottle."

As he spoke, Shen Lian took out the blackened fragments he had picked up and said, "It's like this. When you find it, collect it and send it to me." The yamen runner did not dare to hesitate and nodded quickly, "I understand."

Shen Lian nodded slightly. There were no more clues on the second floor, so Shen Lian came to the first floor.

When he reached the first floor, he saw the chief clerk directing the yamen runners to move the files on the first floor out.

"Master Shen."

The chief clerk hurriedly bowed to Shen Lian.

Shen Lian said: "Move away?"

The chief clerk nodded and said, "It's not safe here. If it rains, the files will get wet, so the minister found a room for us to stay in temporarily."

Shen Lian nodded.

He leaned against the doorpost, watching everyone busying about, and casually asked, "Does Zhang Qin come here often to borrow files?"

The chief clerk said, "He has been coming more frequently in the past two months, basically once every two days."

Shen Lian said: "You didn't come here often before?"

The chief clerk nodded and said, "Unless it is necessary for business, otherwise, I don't come here very often."

Shen Lian continued to ask: "When he comes, does he go to the second floor more often, or the first floor?"

The chief clerk said, "On the second floor, basically not on the first floor."

Shen Lian narrowed his eyes. It was just as he expected.

He continued, "What about Han Qian? Does he come here often to borrow books?"

The chief clerk said, "Sir Han, the frequency is relatively regular. He comes three to four times a month. It has been like this for the past few years."

Shen Lian's eyes flashed: "Has the same frequency been maintained for several years?"

The chief clerk nodded.

Shen Lian's heart suddenly became active.

"The fake Han Qian has been staying in the Han Mansion. It is obvious that the mission has not been fully completed."

"And he has been looking through the files in the file room at a frequency that is neither too high nor too low for several years."

"Does this mean that their purpose is to find some secrets in the files?"

"And the real Han Qian was an accident that occurred when he was repairing a building ten years ago...Repairing a building means that the building has been completed. If you want to repair it, you must use the files of that year."

"So, is this the file they are looking for?"

"So, what I'm really looking for is not just the files from ten years ago, but also the files of the building that Han Qian renovated?"

Thinking of this, Shen Lian's eyes suddenly brightened.

He just felt that he seemed to be closer to the secret of Beidou Society.

"Master Shen!"

At this moment, a burst of anxious footsteps suddenly sounded.

A yamen runner came over quickly and said to Shen Lian, "The Minister asked me to tell you that we have found Master Zhang Qin, but... he is dead!"

"died?"

Shen Lian was a little surprised when he heard what the bailiff said.

In his mind, Zhang Qin was worried about being discovered, so he hid and waited for an opportunity to act. This was the most likely thing.

But unexpectedly, Zhang Qin died!

Shen Lian asked directly: "What happened? Why did he die?"

The bailiff shook his head: "I don't know either."

"All I know is that Zhang Qin was found in an abandoned well. The well had dried up and Zhang Qin's body was inside."

Abandoned well?
Where is Zhang Qin's body?

No wonder no one found Zhang Qin before.

After all, they were just going to call for help, who would have thought that Zhang Qin would be in the well?

If I hadn't asked Du Chuke to search again carefully, Zhang Qin's body might not have been found.

Shen Lian asked: "How did he die?"

The bailiff said, "It seems that there was a serious blow to the back of the head."

A serious blow to the back of the head?

Was he murdered?

Could it be that there are people from the Beidou Society in the Ministry of Industry?

wrong!

Shen Lian frowned.

This is not something Beidou would do.

Beidou had no reason to kill Zhang Qin to silence him.

After all, Zhang Qin had every opportunity to leave calmly after setting the fire.

Afterwards, Beidou will come to pick up Zhang Qin, disguise him, and help him escape, and then Zhang Qin will be fine.

At least in the short term, it will not be easy to be caught.

Therefore, there is obviously a better way. Beidou will not have to kill people in the Ministry of Works.

After all, the risk of being discovered is too high.

Moreover, at that time, the Ministry of Works was crowded with people coming and going, and people from outside could not get in to kill people.

If the person hiding in the Ministry of Works was killed, wouldn't it expose that the Beidou Society had other spies in the Ministry of Works?
This is completely superfluous.

It doesn't conform to Beidouhui's usual style!

Therefore, Shen Lian felt that the probability of Zhang Qin dying at the hands of Beidou Society was not high.

So, who killed Zhang Qin?
What's the purpose?
He looked at the bailiff and said, "Take me there."

The yamen runner quickly said, "Please come in, Lord Shen."

The two men quickly left the file room and soon arrived at the backyard of the yamen.

Then, Zhang Qin’s body was seen in a remote location in the northeast corner.

At this time, Du Chuke was arranging people to guard the scene.

After seeing Shen Lian, he hurried over, his face looking a little grim, and said, "Sir Shen, Zhang Qin is dead."

First there was a big fire, and then Zhang Qin, who was the Minister of Works, was also killed. This was a huge blow to the Ministry of Works.

It is an even bigger trouble for Du Chuke.

Shen Lian nodded and said, "Jingzhao Yin Han Min is currently handling the follow-up of Han Qian's case, so let's hand this case over to the Dali Temple."

As he spoke, he looked at a yamen runner and said, "Please go to the Dali Temple and inform the Shaoqing of what happened here and ask him to send a coroner over."

The yamen runner dared not hesitate and said quickly, "I will go right away."

Having said that, he ran out quickly.

After the bailiffs left, Shen Lian came to the corpse.

At this time, Zhang Qin's body had been taken out of the dry well and placed aside.

........................

Shen Lian glanced at Zhang Qin's front. His clothes were a little messy, but it might have been messed up when he fell into the well and was taken out.

There were some bruises on his face, but they were not serious.

It may have been caused by falling into a well.

Apart from that, there were no obvious wounds on the front that could be fatal.

He asked: "When you found the body, was it facing up or facing down?"

Du Chuke said, "The back is facing up."

Shen Lian nodded slightly.

That was consistent with his inference that many of the injuries might have been caused by falling into the well.

He said, "Turn him over."

That was consistent with his inference that many of the injuries might have been caused by falling into the well.

He said, "Turn him over."