Chapter 50 a.n.a.lyzing
By the time Xuan Yuan Duan Ai and Tang Chen finished telling Xuan Luo the whole story, a couple of hours had already gone by. Xuan Yuan Duan Ai was very detailed; he didn’t leave out a single detail. Xuan Luo vaguely sensed a conspiracy was going on.
“There is something fishy about this.” Honestly, Xuan Luo didn’t have to meddle in this muddy water. However, since he had arrived in Du Cheng, his heart felt very troubled. Yet, he couldn’t really explain why. Perhaps the incident with Shen Tui Men has caused him to over think.
“I think so too! That day, I was told to protect the items on the carts and to bring it to the Nan gong family’s residence. The client had already put down a deposit, and the deposit was no less than twenty thousand silver tael (currency from the Qing Dynasty). I didn’t think anyone would be so generous!” Xuan Yuan Duan Ai exclaimed.
“We truly need to deeply a.n.a.lyze this situation.” Xuan Luo repeated again. He has no idea what he was getting into.
“Let’s a.n.a.lyze.” Tang Chen said calmly. He also has strong feelings about this; because why on earth would the client asked the biao ju to deliver* a bunch of gunpowder? Not to mention, the Nan gong family definitely has enough potential without the help of the biao ju.
“The client wanted us to escort the carts of gunpowder, but he/they didn’t want us to know about it. The carts were prepared ahead of time, and we were only told to deliver them.” As Tang Chen a.n.a.lyzed, he used tea cups to represent the different people.
As he was a.n.a.lyzing, Xuan Luo and Xuan Yuan Duan Ai stood by his side and chirped in extra details he may have missed.
Not only is Tang Chen talented in martial arts, he is also very good at a.n.a.lyzing and reasoning.
“There is definitely something fishy going on. Huge deposit, took the responsibility of putting in the items on their own, and then handing it to us. It’s as if everything was planned.”
“Yes, your conclusion makes a lot of sense.” Xuan Luo nodded. Then he pointed to the cup on the table and said, “I agree with what Tang da ge said. I think someone purposely used a psychological method to get Zhao biao tou to take this task. Not only that, the person also wanted to use Hu Wei biao ju’s well known reputation.”
As Xuan Luo spoke, he looked at the cup that represented the client, “Zhao biao tou was forced to take this task. If he refused, he would be looked down upon by the people in his field. Since his biao ju is already so big, he definitely wouldn’t care about all the little stuff. It’s just like money; once you have the reputation, you don’t have to think about it anymore. However, if your reputation is ruined, it would be very difficult to get it back. Thus, the client first used Hu Wei biao ju’s reputation. He knows that if Zhao biao tou refused him, the news would spread and it will ruin the biao ju’s reputation. Once the rumours spread, everything will slowly go downhill. Ruined reputations cannot heal within a short period. Thus, that’s the reason why Zhao biao tou agreed to take on this task.”
“You’re right!” Xuan Yuan Duan Ai and Tang Chen totally agreed with Xuan Luo. Although they have thought about it previously, they didn’t see it as clearly as Xuan Luo. Now that Xuan Luo brought it up, it was as if everything had become clear at once.
True, sometimes, reputation is everything. Many would be willing to sacrifice a lot for reputation; that is human nature for you.
“Also, if one were careless, with the amount of gunpowder within the carts, then the result could have been… you know, right now it’s the hottest time of Summer. The temperature is super high right now.” Xuan Luo continued. Tang Chen immediately inhaled a breath of cold air.
It’s true. The July Sun is incredible. If one weren’t careful, the gunpowder could have exploded. That should have been obvious to anyone.
Although they used the chests that the biao ju provided, the heat from the Sun could still go through. It’s like having calcium oxide lying around; when it is heated, it will emit an intense glow…just like burning paper, that process wouldn’t take very long. Gunpowder would take longer to ignite, but that fear is still there.
“Yes, with such a large amount of gunpowder, it could have exploded half way! All of us know how narrowly we escaped.” As Tang Chen thought back, he was aghast.
“Yes, from here, we can tell our client is very smart. And whoever that is behind this definitely hates Zhao biao tou’s guts!”
“Yeah! Why didn’t I think of this?!” Tang Chen and Xuan Yuan Duan Ai stared at Xuan Luo in awe. They never expected Xuan Luo to a.n.a.lyze this so thoroughly. Xuan Luo was very logical. Plus, Xuan Luo wasn’t actually here during the event. He basically listened to Tang Chen and Xuan Yuan Duan Ai and figured out everything on his own. They were definitely impressed.
“More importantly, someone/people robbed the items. Something is clearly wrong with that.” Xuan Luo added.
“Aiii, how should we solve this?” Tang Chen looked expectantly at Xuan Luo, hoping he could come up with a solution.
“Umm, I need to do some research first. But before that, I need to find out the background and the power of the Nan gong family.” Xuan Luo didn’t even hesitate as he gave out his suggestion.
At this moment, someone pushed the door open and out came a fresh looking teenager. The teenager was around Xuan Luo’s age, but he looked even more delicate. When comparing himself, Xuan Luo felt like an uncle.
“Tang da ge, Xuan Yuan da ge, it’s already quite late. I see that you guys haven’t came out for lunch, therefore, I came to bring you guys some food.” The boy stated.
“Oh! Thank you, Zhao Xin.” Tang Chen didn’t realized they have discussed for so long. It was already nighttime. The sky was pitch dark and the moon has already hung itself up in the sky.