Chapter 66: Bai Yutang Visits to Investigate the Case

Estate of the Duke of Yu.

It would still take a few days for Wu Jiufeng, the manager of the Wanlin Bank whom Lu Lan wanted to see, to return from the Jiangnan region.

Right now, what he needed to consider was how to expand his production scale as much as possible.

Boiling coal pot by pot was simply too time-consuming. Every bitter winter, the sales of charcoal in the capital city alone reached one million carts. Some wealthy households consumed a massive amount of charcoal, with a single family hoarding hundreds of carts of it.

Needless to say, the market potential of the entire Southern Chu nation was enormous.

He wondered if it was possible to mass-produce smokeless, non-toxic coal.

However, his own knowledge was ultimately limited, which made him think of Gu Xingwan.

He penned a letter by hand and handed it to Tong Yan.

"Deliver this personally to the Second Young Miss Gu."

Tong Yan nodded and left.

Before Lu Lan could even catch a breath, a gatekeeper hurried over to the Water-Cloud Pavilion to report:

"Your Highness, a master detective from the Six Doors has come to our estate, saying he has a case to ask you about. He is waiting in the main hall!"

The Six Doors?

Lu Lan remained as steady as an old hound, completely unfazed.

Over the years, getting into fights and brawls and ending up at the Shuntian Prefecture office was practically like returning to his own home; many of the newly recruited prison guards were far less familiar with the layout than he was!

Still, what was this about the Six Doors?

He had never killed anyone in his life.

"Understood. Serve him some good tea first, and tell him I'll be right there."

"Yes!"

Just as Lu Lan was about to head to the main hall, he was intercepted by Yourong.

"My lord, take a look at yourself in the mirror. You're covered in pitch black from head to toe, looking exactly like the corpse dug out from the Yifangting Inn this morning."

What kind of ridiculous comparison was that?

Lu Lan glanced at his own unpresentable appearance and flicked Yourong on the forehead:

"Hurry up and help your master bathe and change."

Putting on a brand-new set of autumn garments, Lu Lan strode into the main hall.

A bailiff dressed in a silver-white yisa robe sat upright with a stern expression. His pupils were of two different colors, and his imposing aura was naturally commanding without a hint of anger.

It was Bai Yutang.

"Ah, Lord Imperial Cat, what a rare and honored guest!"

Lu Lan greeted him with a smiling and bantering tone.

Bai Yutang stood up and bowed respectfully: "Your humble servant Bai Yutang of the Six Doors pays his respects to the Heir."

"Please be seated, Lord Imperial Cat."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Lu Lan picked up his teacup, the lid gently tapping against the rim, as his eyes carefully sized up Bai Yutang.

"What case brings Lord Imperial Cat here?"

Ever since his rebirth, Lu Lan had behaved quite properly, and apart from the incident with the Qingfengyuan Agency, he hadn't provoked any other troubles.

Bai Yutang dropped the polite pleasantries, and the interrogation began:

"A few days ago, did Your Highness visit Jiapi Gou Alley in the eastern part of the city?"

"I did."

"What did you do there?"

"Burned down a house."

Bai Yutang: "..."

You certainly confess quite readily!

There was no need for Bai Yutang to employ any interrogation techniques at all.

"Was the house you burned the Qingfengyuan Agency?"

"That's right."

"Why did you burn it down?"

Lu Lan smiled as he took a sip of tea:

"Qi Changgui, the manager of the Qingfengyuan Agency, is the father of a concubine in my household, and Qi Cong is that concubine's younger brother. The three of them colluded over the years to embezzle tens of thousands of silver taels from my estate. If it were you, running into such ungrateful rats biting the hand that feeds them, wouldn't you burn their house down too?"

Bai Yutang pinched the bridge of his nose lightly with two fingers. It served them right. If it were him, not only would he burn the house down, but he would also chop the Qi family's earthworms into eight pieces and shake the yolks of their eggs until they scrambled.

That was tens of thousands of silver taels!

For someone like him whose annual salary did not even reach a hundred taels of silver, it was nothing short of an astronomical figure.

He hadn't seen that much money even when visiting his ancestors' graves.

Of course, as a master detective, he couldn't actually voice such thoughts.

The two engaged in a rapid-fire session of questions and answers, and the basic facts matched the official records in Bai Yutang's hands quite closely.

The most crucial point was that the father and son of the Qi family had not filed a complaint against Lu Lan.

Furthermore, the arson case resulted in no casualties. The Qingfengyuan Agency was a standalone building constructed by the waterside, and it had not ignited any surrounding residences.

There was no plaintiff, nor were there any public grievances or disputes.

Therefore, no matter how one picked faults, Lu Lan's actions did not constitute a major crime; they didn't even rank in the top ten among the scoundrel deeds he had committed.

Bai Yutang was here to look for clues regarding a serial case.

"Has Your Highness heard that last night a fire broke out in Yandai Slanted Alley, and twenty-seven people burned to death at the Yifangting Inn?"

Lu Lan wore a look of astonishment: "Twenty-seven people? How come I heard that fifty-one corpses were dug out?"

"Has Your Highness ever been to the Yifangting Inn?"

"Never have."

"Do you know anyone who stayed at the Yifangting Inn?"

"What a joke!" Lu Lan replied very decisively. "Could anyone I know possibly stay at the Yifangting Inn? What kind of establishment is that? If any friend of mine dared to stay at Yifangting, I'd break off relations with him immediately."

Bai Yutang: "..."