The Famous Detective of the Red Mansion

Early the next morning.

As soon as the fiery sun rose from below the horizon, Hong Jiu carried a birdcage and walked into the Xiankelai Restaurant. He sat in the middle with a big appearance and ”bumped” the bird cage onto the table.

While the parrot was chirping wildly, Hong Jiu also shouted in a rough and atmospheric voice, "Where are the people? Where have you all died to?”

The Xiaolong Bao made by the restaurant could also be called famous in the entire Capital. Therefore, many old customers came to visit them early in the morning. Seeing Hong Jiu's style, they couldn't help but glance at him.

The more attention he received from the crowd, the more arrogant Hong Jiu's attitude became. He put one leg on the bench, tilted his neck, and was ready to shout again.

At this moment, a shop assistant rushed over as if flying, wiping the table and laughing, saying, "My guest, do you want to...”

However, as soon as this polite remark began, the waiter's face suddenly changed, pointing to Hong Jiu and exclaiming, "You... Aren't you the beggar Hong Jiu who lives in a nearby dilapidated temple? How could you dress up like this today?”

What a flamboyant expression!

Hong Jiu sneered at this guy's acting skills in his heart, but he straightened his chest and said fiercely, "Of course, it's me, Master Hong Jiu.”

As he spoke, he took out a piece of broken silver weighing five taels from his sleeve and slapped it on the table with a sneer, saying, "Last month, you were still insulting me. You said the Xiaolong Bao in your restaurant; even if you were to feed the dog, you wouldn't give me one. Today, I want to see if I can buy a few of your Bao to taste with this real gold and silver.

The shop assistant looked at the silver on the table and exclaimed exaggeratedly, "Where did you get this silver? Shouldn't it have been stolen or robbed?”

Who the hell chose this ”actor?”

With his flawed appearance, how dare he have the courage to compete with me!

Hong Jiu's heart was full of slander, but he raised his nose to the sky and sneered disdainfully, "What kind of character am I? Can I go steal something from someone else? To tell you the truth, I am a good person and have good rewards. If I pick up something, I can casually sell it for over three hundred taels of silver.”

The shop assistant, like a repeater, quickly handed over another line, "What can be so valuable? Are you just boasting big?”

“Boasting?”

Hong Jiu glared and said, "You're not a deaf person. Haven't you even heard of the name pottery, pearl, gold, and shell? I found pottery, pearls, gold, and shells last year. A few days ago, I heard that this item could be exchanged for money, so I took it out and asked someone. I didn't expect it to be some high-quality shell, and one was exchanged.”

“What?”

Before Hong Jiu could finish speaking, someone among the guests jumped up and said urgently, "Did you pick up a high-quality golden shell?”

As expected, someone jumped out and questioned him, and Hong Jiu immediately patted his chest and said, "The real gold and silver have already fallen into my pocket. Can this still be fake?”

Unexpectedly, the guest shook his head and sighed, "A beggar is indeed a beggar; it's insightful! How can you sell that high-quality golden shell without five hundred taels of silver now? You sold it for three hundred taels of silver, it's really... Sigh”

Upon hearing this, Hong Jiu immediately jumped up in a fit of anger, posing as if he were furious and cursing loudly, "How could this plagued Wang Dahu deceive me?! No, I have to find that bastard.”

As he spoke, he picked up the bird cage and ran out regardless.

Everyone in the hall couldn't help but burst into laughter, but their hearts were filled with envy.

The person who just spoke shook his head and said, "I wonder which unlucky person has lost this high-quality pottery, pearl, gold, and shell…”

Someone sitting next to him chuckled and said, "Didn't you hear him say that he picked it up last year, and at that time, a top-quality golden shell was only two taels of silver? Who could have thought that in just over six months of effort, it had already risen to the sky.”

“No.”

Another person chimed in and said, "Who doesn’t protect a high-quality golden shell in their house like their eyeballs now? How could someone else take advantage of it?”

“Not to mention the top grade; even the middle grade is currently very valuable.”

“I heard someone bought more than ten coins for three taels of silver, which has more than quadrupled in two months.”

Unfortunately, this thing was not easy to buy; otherwise, buying a few pieces back and saving for a year and a half would definitely make a big profit!

Everyone was discussing fiercely, but suddenly the shop assistant exclaimed in surprise, "I remember. I heard that a beggar recently made a windfall and bought the name of the Beggar Security from the Government Office. I didn't expect it to be him.”

This was the last line and the only line that Hong Jiu didn't know.

After finishing speaking, the shop assistant, regardless of the diners' reactions, happily touched the silver in his pocket and couldn't close his mouth, giggling.

Just at this moment, a young man flew in and arrived at the northwest corner table, panting heavily, saying, "Dad... Dad... Dad... Dad..."

TL/ Note: In Chinese, the pronunciation of “Dad” and “fallen” are the same

The guest at the table was startled, grabbing the young man's arm and saying, "What's wrong with our dad? When I came out this morning, wasn't he still okay?”

The young man shook his head like a rattle and stomped his feet, "No... It's not our dad…”

The guest first froze for a moment, then relaxed and said in silence, "Since it was your Father-in-law who had an accident, what's the use of looking for me?”

“It's not my Father-in-law either.”

The young man was frantic and pounded his chest hard, saying word for word, "It's the pottery, pearls, gold, and shells prices that have fallen.”

“What?!”

Upon hearing this, the guest became several times more nervous than when he was just worried about his father. He grabbed his Brother's arm and shook it vigorously, saying, "How could it fell? Hasn’t it risen three times these days? How much has it fallen? How much has it fallen?!”

“A drop of six full coins of silver.”

The young man hurriedly said, "There is someone near Honglu Temple who has placed over 2000 medium-quality golden shells, and he has released a sale for one for fourteen coins.”

Upon hearing the price, the customer calmed down a bit and thought to himself that he had bought it for 928 taels of silver, and now he still had a lot of profit.

But this morning, he lost six coins of silver. If it continues to fall…

“Let's go.”

The guest waved his hand and said, "Go home and bring the golden shells I have saved. Let's also go to Honglu Temple and have a look.”

As soon as the two of them left, the remaining diners in the restaurant were also somewhat absent-minded, thinking about finishing their meal quickly so that they could go to Honglu Temple to see the excitement. In addition, the two of them simply left the Xiaolong Bao and quickly followed them out.

Half an hour later, at Prince Beijing’s Residence, Wei Rusong, with a livid face, paced back and forth in the flower hall. In the early morning, he had just boasted in front of the Prince. Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, someone publicly smashed the idea!

If this golden shell's price was ruined, how could he explain it to Shuirong?!

“Lord Wei.”

Just as he was feeling anxious, he saw Steward Liu hurriedly enter the mansion and bowed to report, "We have also received news from Prince Zhongshun's Residence. Several Stewards were eagerly inquiring about who the person selling the pottery, pearls, gold, and shells at Honglu Temple was.”

“What's the point of asking about this at the moment?”

Wei Rusong had originally hoped that Prince Zhongshun would use thunderous tactics to suppress the suddenly emerging troublemaker, but unexpectedly, he waited for such vague news.

Steward Liu smiled bitterly and said, "I'm afraid it's not their fault. I heard Prince Zhongshun followed His Majesty down to the Palace for summer vacation yesterday, and there's no one in charge at home. Who dares to make decisions recklessly?”

So this was the case; no wonder…

However, in this way, the burden of maintaining the price of the pottery, pearls, gold, and shells completely fell on the head of Prince Beijing’s Residence.

Steward Liu watched as Wei Rusong was deep in his thought and couldn't help but urge, "Lord Wei, why don't we call out the Prince and invite him to...”

“No.”

Wei Rusong paused and shook his head, saying, "This is not the time to hesitate. If we continue to delay like this, the price of the pottery, pearls, gold, and shells will plummet.”

As he spoke, he gritted his teeth. He ordered decisively, "Immediately have someone bring all the silver and buy all those golden shells! At the same time, spread the rumors that the Noble Family plans to build a longevity mountain with pottery, pearls, gold, and shells as a birthday gift to the Emperor.”

Steward Liu said, “This...”

“What about it?”

Wei Rusong glared and said, "If we can't stabilize the momentum right now, all the 90000 golden shells we bought will ruin our hands! Besides, as long as we can stop the momentum and raise the price of the golden shells again, even if we buy them for fourteen taels of silver, we can still earn a lot.”

“But if, after all the purchases, the momentum still can’t be stabilized, wouldn't it be…”

“Impossible.”

Wei Rusong waved his hand confidently and said, "The Summer Palace is only half a day away from the Capital. What else is there to worry about after Prince Zhongshun returns from the palace?”