"How long have you been working in the Pinotta mine?" Zhang Heng asked the waiter to bring two more glasses of wine to the miners opposite.
"I have been working in the Binotta mine for five years, but in the middle two years I changed other jobs, loading and unloading goods at the dock, the work is a little easier than in the mine, but the income is also less, two years Then I had a fourth daughter, and I needed more money, so I went back to the mine." The older miner said, and then pointed to the younger miner beside him, "He is my nephew, and he went down with me this year. Mine, is a good boy, works hard and never complains."
"Well, when did you stop working this time?" Zhang Heng continued to ask.
"It was about half a month ago," the old miner tried to recall.
"Sixteen days ago to be precise," added his nephew, "we went to work in the mine as usual in the morning, but the supervisor told us that there was an accident, the mine tunnel collapsed, and we couldn't start work until it was cleared." , everyone can only go home and wait for the news."
"Did you go to the mine to see it after the incident?"
The old miner and his nephew looked at each other, "We said that we can help clean up. After all, our wages are paid on a daily basis. There are many mouths waiting to eat at home. We don't know how long the shutdown will last. We can resume work earlier. We resumed work earlier, but the supervisor didn’t let us in. Even though we said that we can not pay wages, he told us that slaves can handle this matter, we don’t have to worry about it, but now... we have been closed for two weeks, and in these two weeks We can only do odd jobs here and there to live, if it weren't for the gold coins you gave us, we would have gone into debt."
"Did anything unusual happen before you stopped working, or did someone you haven't seen come to the mine?" Zhang Heng leaned his back back and changed to a more comfortable position.
"Cobb's eldest son, Klassey, doesn't like the mine and us, but a few days before the incident, he suddenly went to the mine to inspect. We saw him chatting with the supervisor for a long time, avoiding other people, and what happened The night before the landslide, there was nothing in the mine, and there was no rain that night, so everyone was very surprised by the landslide the next day." The old miner said.
"Then, is there anything else worth noting?"
So far, what the old miner said has only proved from the side that the landslide in the Binota mine is indeed very likely to be man-made, but it has not provided any clues about the mastermind behind the scenes. In this case, Zhang Heng I'll have to go back and visit Krasey or Cobb again.
The old miner shook his head, but then Zhang Heng noticed a look of hesitation on the face of the young miner when he heard the words.
"If you think the money is not enough, I can pay you three more gold coins." Zhang Heng added.
"Oh no, you misunderstood, you gave us two gold coins just for asking, we can't ask for more, the reason why I didn't say it before is because I don't want to cause trouble to the person who told me about it ” said the young miner.
"Um?"
"I have a friend, she is... a servant of the Cobb family." The young miner stammered.
"slave?"
"Yes, she actually heard something a few days before the shutdown and told me, but I didn't tell anyone else, and I told her not to tell anyone else."
"Don't worry, you can get my guarantee, and we won't leak what you told us to others, right?" Zhang Heng looked at Decius, who immediately nodded repeatedly with a serious expression on his face.
"My mouth has always been very strict, and I never talk nonsense."
"Well, I believe you." The young miner finally made up his mind and said, "One week before the incident, someone visited Cobb in the middle of the night, and the two of them stayed in the study almost all night, plotting something , In the middle, I called someone to pour the water, that is, at that time, my friend heard Cobb said, this thing is too dangerous, you pay a higher price, and the visitor replied that it was just a delay No one will know when the batch of bronze statues will be cast, and then my friend will go out."
"Did your friend see the visitor's face?" Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, she told me. The main reason was that the impression was too deep. She said that the man had a red birthmark on the left cheek, like a flame."
"Oh, this narrows down the scope at once." Zhang Heng said, "There are not too many people with red birthmarks on their faces in Rome, and there are not too many people who dare to do anything to the bronze statue. I believe it is not difficult to find out. Come out." Then he took out two gold coins and threw them to the young miner, "You don't need to refuse your reward, you have done me a great favor, you deserve it, I have nothing else to ask, You can go."
The young miner collected the money, thanked Zhang Heng again, and left the tavern with his uncle.
On the other side, Decius had a nervous and awkward smile on his face. He put down the wine glass in his hand with some anxiety, and asked Zhang Heng, "Are we... involved in something?"
"What do you think?" Zhang Heng asked back.
"I'm just a small character, why did this kind of thing happen to me." Decius complained with a bitter face, "Why would anyone pay attention to those bronze statues? The delay in handover is not only cheating me What's the benefit? And this is a statue of His Majesty the Emperor, who would dare to make trouble with His Majesty the Emperor?"
Zhang Heng was noncommittal, "It's too late to talk about this kind of thing now. If you don't want to take the blame, you can solve the matter with me. You heard what he said. You should know some people in the Senate. You know whose face Someone with a red birthmark or someone with a red birthmark on their face?"
"In the senate, no one should have a red birthmark on their face... As for the subordinates," Decius frowned, "in my capacity, I can only get in touch with a limited number of elders, but I have a friend who is a lobbyist. , to contact all parties specifically for the approval or rejection of a certain proposal, he has basically seen everyone, if this visitor with the red birthmark really exists, my friend should know who he is working for."
"Very good, then let's visit your friends next." Zhang Heng said, finished drinking the wine in the glass, and threw down six copper coins for the wine fee.
He was also relieved to hear that he could finally leave the southeast area, but at the same time he also felt a little strange, because after such a long time, no one came to trouble them. The southeast city that stole Fabino's engagement ring and beat people to the ground at the same time