It was already time for the fire to be completely extinguished. After the fire, several nearby streets had been blocked by patrolling Kyoto prefectural police officers. In addition, the capital was under martial law recently, so except for the people who came to put out the fire nearby, there was no one. A crowd of onlookers.
More than a dozen police officers from Kyoto Prefecture also participated in fighting the fire. After the fire was extinguished, the officers immediately searched to see if anyone was buried in the flames.
Compared with local government officials, the government officials in Kyoto Prefecture were well-trained, and during the martial law period, such a fire naturally had to be handled with caution.
Among the ruins, although the fire was extinguished, there were still sporadic fireworks.
After the fire was extinguished, Manager Qiu quickly checked the people in the pawn shop with Shopkeeper Xu. The Qi family's pawnshop is not small. The shop is connected to Shopkeeper Xu, and there are eleven people in the front desk and backroom in total. However, there are 11 people on duty here tonight. But there were only five people. Except for shopkeeper Xu who was sitting in the front hall, the other four were guarding the back storehouse.
The pawn shop redeems things and comes and goes. Naturally, there are many kinds of goods stored in the pawn shop. In addition, there is also some cash stored in the shop.
A few days ago, the pawn shop temporarily stopped accepting pawns due to the shortage of money. However, in order to prevent some regular customers from pawnbroking, the money was still placed here just in case. No matter how difficult it is for the Jinyihou Mansion, the money will be collected. I didn't dare to call him over. After all, the most important thing in running a pawn shop is the word "faith". If some regular customers pledge money, there must be no excuses for refusing to accept it.
Among the broken bricks and tiles, I found several iron boxes that sealed the silver. A lot of the silver was left in them. From this, I could also determine the location of the pawnshop.
Except for the silver, most of the other items stored in the pawnshop, except for a very few fireproof items, had been burned.
Yang Ning followed Manager Qiu and walked through the ruins of the pawn shop with a solemn expression.
"Your Majesty, everything in the pawn shop is almost burned." Manager Qiu led the two of them to search through the ruins, and said with a wry smile: "How much has been lost, the account books have been burned, so it is difficult to calculate it for a while, but it should be No less. Fortunately, all the clerks in the store are safe and sound, which is a great blessing among misfortunes."
Yang Ning didn't say much. Even if Manager Qiu didn't say anything, he knew that the fire had dealt a heavy blow to the Jinyi Hou Mansion.
"Your Majesty, Shopkeeper Xu said that the source of the fire should be in the back library." Qi Feng had come up from behind and said to Yang Ning: "He said he heard a cry from the backyard in the middle of the night. He got up to look and found that the back library was here. While on fire, he hurriedly ran over. At that time, a fire broke out in the back warehouse, and the fire spread quickly. He was anxious to put out the fire with the night watch guys, but it was difficult to put out the fire with the strength of a few people, so he could only put out the fire while Send for help.”
"Where were the account books placed at that time?" Yang Ning asked.
Qi Feng said: "The account books in the shop are all placed on the cabinet. Shopkeeper Xu was in a hurry to put out the fire. He was confused and failed to take out the account books in time. When he realized what was happening, the account books on the cabinet were also on fire. He wanted to grab it. He went out to take out the account book, but the fire was too strong, so several clerks held him back." He added: "Chen San also proved that the fire started from inside the pawnshop. They did not have the key in their hands. After discovering the fire, shopkeeper Xu quickly Came here."
"So, the fire started in the warehouse?"
"Several of them said it was indeed the case." Qi Feng said: "Next to the back warehouse is the dormitory where the guys stay on duty at night. They take turns to watch and patrol in the middle of the night."
Yang Ning frowned and said, "If the back warehouse is the source of the fire, how did the warehouse catch fire?" He asked Manager Qiu, "Who holds the key to this warehouse?"
Mr. Qiu said: "The pawnshop is the most important place in the pawnshop. Even shopkeeper Xu cannot open it alone. The surroundings of the pawnshop are airtight and there are no windows. The only way in and out is the double locked door." For the door, shopkeeper Xu and Lu Chaofeng each have a key to open a lock, and only two keys together can enter the warehouse."
"Where is Lu Chaofeng?"
"Lu Chaofeng and Shopkeeper Xu take turns to be on duty at night." Manager Qiu explained: "Tonight Lu Chaofeng takes turns and Shopkeeper Xu is on duty. Logically speaking, no one can enter the warehouse after the door is closed."
Yang Ning said: "This is strange. No one can enter the warehouse, but the fire breaks out from the warehouse. Isn't that a ghost?"
Manager Qiu also frowned and said: "The warehouse is such an important place that the door is never opened at night, and it is strictly forbidden to use fire to enter the warehouse. It will never cause a fire in the warehouse."
"Who discovered it first?" Yang Ning pondered for a moment and finally asked.
Qi Feng said hurriedly: "It's Chen San. He said that when he was on duty, he inspected it once and then went to the latrine. When he came back, he found that the warehouse was already on fire, and the fire burned very fast. In the blink of an eye, There was fire everywhere, so he woke up several other people, and then alerted Shopkeeper Xu. When Shopkeeper Xu came over, the warehouse was already in flames."
Manager Qiu said angrily: "How does this Chen San do things? Doesn't he know that there must be no less people in the warehouse for a moment?"
Qi Feng didn't say anything. Yang Ning thought that there was no point in worrying about this at this time.
"In this way, the fire started when Chen San went to the latrine." Yang Ning said thoughtfully, "The last time he went to the latrine, it didn't take long. When he came back, several other people were still asleep. , that is to say, people in the pawn shop will not enter the warehouse with a light at all."
Manager Qiu shook his head and said: "You can't get in without a key, and some of these guys have been in the pawn shop for at least three or four years. They are all old guys. They know the rules of the pawn shop and will never make such a mistake. Yes." Yes, when I locked the warehouse today, I personally walked around the warehouse, and there was absolutely no fire apparatus in it, and I personally watched the warehouse lock the door."
"Manager Qiu came here this afternoon?" Yang Ning asked.
"The deadline for the money from the bank is coming tomorrow." Manager Qiu frowned: "The third lady asked me to come to the pawn shop to see if anyone has redeemed the pawn, and I can transfer some money from here. I will come over in the afternoon Here, I checked the pawnshop and saw if I could send some money to the house."
General Manager Qiu is the general manager of the Jinyi Marquis Mansion. Yang Ning already knows that General Manager Qiu’s father followed the old Marquis Jinyi and helped him take care of everything in the mansion in an orderly manner. At that time, General Manager Qiu also He followed his father to do odd jobs. When his father got old, Manager Qiu took over his father's position and helped to continue running the Hou Mansion. He had always been conscientious in his work.
The business of the two shops in the Hou Mansion, a drug store and a pawnshop, has always been good. Although the man behind the Hou Mansion is Gu Qinghan, after all, a prostitute, and a female family member of the Hou Mansion, should not show off outside, so there are many people outside. Manager Qiu takes care of specific matters.
Yang Ning nodded slightly and said, "Manager Qiu, are there any highly flammable substances such as sulfur in this warehouse?"
Manager Qiu shook his head and said: "Absolutely not. There is sulfur in the drug store, but those things are not collected in the warehouse of the pawn shop." He asked, "Does the prince think that the fire in the warehouse started on his own?"
"Apart from setting it on fire myself, it's hard for me to imagine that anyone else could enter the warehouse and light a fire." Yang Ning sighed: "There can't be anyone who can enter through the wall, right?"
Manager Qiu looked solemn and thoughtful.
Qi Feng finally said: "Sir, the guys in the pawn shop will never set fire to themselves. These are old guys from the Jinyi Hou Mansion and are loyal to the Hou Mansion. I am only worried...!"
"worry about what?"
"I'm worried that someone will take the opportunity to set the fire on fire." Qi Feng hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "Maybe someone is an enemy of my Jinyi Hou Mansion and wants to do something in the pawn shop."
Manager Qiu nodded slightly and said: "What Qi Feng said is not unreasonable. Your Majesty, the general's upright temperament may have offended some people. Now that the general has just passed away, a fire broke out in the pawnshop inexplicably. There may not be an enemy behind it." What hands and feet."
"Oh?" Yang Ning's eyebrows tightened: "Enemies?" He glanced at the two of them, "Do you think someone set the fire on purpose?"
Qi Feng nodded and said: "This is extremely possible, otherwise this fire cannot be explained."
Yang Ning said nothing, put his hands behind his back, and wandered among the ruins. He suddenly stopped, squatted down, put his hand on the ground, and then put his fingers to the tip of his nose to smell. Qi Feng had just passed by. , but Yang Ning had already stood up, walked around to another place, and squatted down again.
"Master, did you find anything?" Qi Feng asked softly.
Yang Ning stood up, shook his head and said, "It's nothing." At this moment, he suddenly heard a noise coming from behind him. When he turned around, he saw a group of people gathering not far away. Shopkeeper Xu and Gu Qinghan were surrounded. In the middle, Duan Canghai stood beside Gu Qinghan with a cold face, fully alert.
Yang Ning's face darkened when he saw that the group of people were so aggressive. He walked over quickly and heard someone say: "Third Madam, we all know that you are the head of Jinyihou Mansion. We have always respected Jinyihou and have no offense." But this time such a big thing happened, we can only take offense. This fire was caused by your pawn shop. I don’t know about other people’s homes. Our shop, the whole family depends on it for their livelihood. Now that it has been completely burned, the whole family has no support, so I hope the third lady can give me a word."
"Who says otherwise?" Someone on the side sighed: "Your family has a great cause, one finger is thicker than our waist, and one shop is gone. It will not hurt your family, but it will not hurt our flesh and blood." , but it has already been skinned and blood drawn. We respect the Hou Mansion. The Marquis has just passed away, and we don’t want to make the Hou Mansion look too ugly. If this matter can be resolved privately, there will be no need to labor with the government."
Several more people were wailing and complaining, and Yang Ning knew immediately that in a short period of time, several of the affected shops had come to find them.