Late Qing Dynasty Executioner

Chapter 19 Inquiry
Every city has a drainage system.

Where these sewers connect to the outside of the city, there are naturally guardrails to prevent anyone from attacking the city, but the inside is unobstructed.

There are large and small sewers. The largest one is naturally on the cross street. Bai’s Restaurant is on the main street of East City.

Liu Er's house is naturally not on the main street, but it is not on the outermost edge like Zhang San's house, but in the middle of Xicheng District.

Although the sewer outside was not very big, Chen Gu was short in stature and could crawl inside it. Once he entered the main street, he could even bend down and jog.

The condition of the sewers was discovered by Chen the judge during his investigations in the past two days. After the hailstorm, the government felt that the spring flood was approaching, so it organized people to clean the sewers.

That is to say, it is one of the types of labor service, the Gongtuding, which has the same meaning as the corvée in all dynasties. However, it was called Dingyi in the Qing Dynasty, and there were two ways of conscription: either paying silver or doing labor.

The sewer is a place where filth and dirt are hidden. If you lift up the stone slabs above, you will find all kinds of things underneath, even abandoned babies.

Chen Gu was extremely grateful that he did not drill directly into the sewer. Drilling into the sewer was not something that most people could do.

Even after cleaning it up, Chen Gu didn't want to drill anymore. After all, he had to crawl forward unless there was a heavy rain in the near future.

To Chen Gu's surprise, it started to rain that night after the sewer was cleaned.

The rain was not heavy, but not light either. The water on the eaves formed a line. It did not last long, but it was enough to flush the sewer.

There was nothing else to do. After the rain stopped, Chen Ke went into the sewer and tried it. Although it still smelled bad, it was barely bearable.

After returning to the room and changing into the beggar's clothes that he had not thrown away, Chen Jue wrapped his head with sackcloth, covered his mouth and nose, leaving only his eyes exposed, and then entered the sewer again.

Entering from the small sewer at the door and crawling forward for a while, Chen Ke arrived at the sewer on the main street.

Although the sewers on the main street were big enough for people to jog with their backs bent, Chen Gu did not hurry. Instead, he walked at his usual pace to measure how far he had walked and where he was.

Chen Gu had visited the Bai Family Restaurant many times and had memorized the location of the restaurant. He also remembered clearly how many steps it took to get there from different directions.

After all, the stone slabs covering the sewers were not perfect, and there were many gaps between the two slabs. Therefore, Chen Kui could not use any lighting tools in the sewers and could only rely on his senses to determine his position.

After walking three hundred and twenty steps, Chen Gu slowed down and began to walk forward step by step, while reaching out his hand to grope for something.

Not long after, Chen Gu touched a bamboo pole, which he had placed here during the day when no one was paying attention, to mark the location of the sewer outlet of the Baijia Restaurant.

After groping to the right twice, Chen Gu felt a few wooden fences.

Perhaps it was because Jiangjin County had been peaceful for a long time, or the Bai family had enough confidence, because during the day Chen Gu saw that the wooden fence had not been replaced.

At this time, Chen Jue grabbed one of the wooden strips and tried hard. As expected, he broke the strip easily. The gap revealed was enough for Chen Jue to pass through.

It was just the second update time at this time. After entering the restaurant through the sewer, I could see through the gaps in the stone slabs above that the restaurant was still brightly lit.

The curfew only applies to ordinary people. Those who can spend money at the Bai Family Restaurant naturally don’t care about the curfew. They can eat and drink until very late before going home.

Even after eating and drinking, you can rent a private room in the restaurant to smoke opium, gamble, and visit prostitutes. The restaurant can provide a variety of services.

The place where Chen Gui came in was in a corner of the backyard of the restaurant. It was very remote and no one would come here. After trying several times, Chen Gui found a lighter stone slab to push it open and then climbed out of the sewer.

Hiding among the flowers, Chen Gu carefully looked at the layout of the restaurant.

Not far away was the kitchen, from which came the aroma of food. There must be a lot of firewood piled in the kitchen, which was Chen Gu's first choice for arson.

Unfortunately, the kitchen is an independent small house, at least one meter away from the restaurant, and it is made of bricks and tiles. People have already done the fire prevention work in advance.

The restaurant itself is made of wood, so it is not difficult to burn. However, it is not so easy to start a big fire. After all, there must be someone guarding the restaurant for twelve hours.

Moreover, the Bai Family Restaurant is very close to the government office. Once a fire breaks out, the government office's water dragon bureau and fire prevention squad will be able to rush over quickly.

Chen Gu couldn't help but sigh. It was a pity that no one cooperated with him. If he set a fire somewhere else first to lure people away, it would be much easier to burn down the Bai Family Restaurant.

However, Chen Gu did not give up. He hid in the darkness and continued to observe the movements inside the restaurant.

After midnight, the noise in the restaurant gradually died down, and the waiters and helpers in the kitchen began to go home after work, but there were still some people staying in the restaurant.

And there were several of them, all of them strong and healthy. They should be thugs or security guards hired by the restaurant.

At four o'clock in the morning, that is, after one o'clock in the morning, there were still thugs wandering around outside.

It was not until the fifth watch that the two thugs ran into the kitchen. Chen Gu waited for more than an hour, but the two thugs still did not come out.

Judging from the situation, the best time for Chen Gu to take action is after dawn.

But once the fire breaks out, the people in the restaurant will inevitably take action, and how to deal with these people putting out the fire is something Chen Gu must consider.

Chen Gu had been thinking about this problem for two consecutive days, and he also monitored the Bai Family Restaurant for two consecutive nights.

This made Chen Gu feel a little exhausted during the day.

While eating, Liu Er looked at the timid Chen Kui and asked with amusement, "Have you been a thief these two days?"

"That's about it, let's go check it out!" Chen Gu nodded.

Liu Er couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and asked, "What good stuff is worth you going there to check out for several days in a row?"

"Bai's Restaurant!"

With Liu Er's cleverness, he could not hide the fact that Chen Gu was away from home for a long time, not even at night. After all, their rooms shared the same wall, and he could tell by listening to his breathing.

"Oh!" Liu Er laughed disdainfully, "Those people in the Bai Family Restaurant are not weak. With your small body, you'd better not try to take advantage of them!"

"The cow is so big, but it crushed the flea to death without saying a word. This is not a martial arts competition, so it's hard to say who is stronger or weaker!" Chen Gu sneered.

(End of this chapter)