NovelOnline #471 - Jiang Lei's plan
#471 - Jiang Lei's plan
"That's right, before the birthday banquet started, you, me, and Chief Li were indeed together," Lu Jing nodded, but then his tone shifted, "However, Hall Master Jiang's death did not occur at that time."
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"What do you mean?" Lu Qinghou frowned, "Clearly, Hall Master Jiang's body was already discovered by the maid at that time..." He seemed to realize something as he spoke, pausing slightly.
"It seems Village Master Lu has also realized it," Lu Jing pointed to the headless corpse at his feet, "This is the real Hall Master Jiang. If you don't believe me, everyone can check his clothes. Doesn't he have a wound on his left rib, and a fierce tiger tattooed over it to cover the wound?
"Previously, Madam Jiang relied on this scar and the tiger tattoo to recognize the headless corpse in the room as her husband, but in reality, her husband is here, and he wasn't dead at that time... In this way, the mystery of the timing is solved. Not only is Boss Jin a suspect, but everyone's alibi is also overturned."
Duke Ying Guo shook his head, "Since both people have scars and tattoos, why do you, Great Hero Lu, say that the corpse here is Hall Master Jiang, and the other one isn't? Moreover, even if the corpse in Hall Master Jiang's room isn't him, that person died in the time between when you left and when the maid discovered the body, that's undeniable. It seems that Boss Jin is still the only suspect."
"No, no, no, besides Boss Jin, there's another person who could have done it."
"Who?"
"Leaving aside why there would suddenly be another person in Hall Master Jiang's room, what's the point of Hall Master Jiang doing this? Finding someone with a similar build and killing them, and then dying here himself? What does he gain from this whole charade?"
Lu Jing raised a finger, "Let me first answer your first question, Village Master Lu. The answer lies in a box."
"Hall Master Jiang and his wife brought a box with them this time to celebrate the birthday, the one placed beside his bed. After Hall Master Jiang died, I opened the box and found that it contained one thousand two hundred taels of silver and some daily clothing."
"This sum of money might be a great fortune to ordinary people, but it's not too much for someone of Hall Master Jiang's status. However, I asked the maid who was responsible for cleaning, and she told me that Hall Master Jiang valued that box very much and didn't allow anyone to approach it. Once, when she was sweeping, she accidentally got a little too close and was scolded harshly by Hall Master Jiang."
"If that box didn't contain silver and clothes before, but a living person, and a living person chosen by Hall Master Jiang as a substitute, then everything makes sense. Oh, right."
Lu Jing paused here, then continued, "I've even figured out why there were one thousand two hundred taels of silver inside, and not one thousand one hundred taels, or one thousand three hundred taels."
"Why?" Duke Ying Guo couldn't help but ask.
"Because Hall Master Jiang's body weight is exactly one hundred and twenty catties. If someone carefully noticed the weight of the box when it was carried into the manor, then the equivalent in silver would be exactly the same," Lu Jing啧啧, "I can only say that the person who planned this matter really thought it through carefully. There's no flaw in the entire plan."
"As for the second question... it has indeed troubled me for a long time, or rather, until today, I never suspected Hall Master Jiang. A very important reason is that Hall Master Jiang is the one who suffers the most in this matter. No matter how he plans, there's no reason for him to sacrifice his own life. Fortunately, I've figured out this problem now, because Hall Master Jiang didn't intend to die in the first place."
"I asked... uh, some friends to help me investigate the financial situation of Hall Master Jiang and the Thunder Fire Hall, and found that the Thunder Fire Hall suddenly began to expand rapidly in the past six months, secretly recruiting approximately five thousand members."
"At the same time, they purchased a large batch of armor, iron ore, and materials for making gunpowder, in astonishing quantities, even exceeding the total amount purchased by the Thunder Fire Hall in the past ten years."
"Undoubtedly, this also requires a large sum of money. Of course, due to the Thunder Fire Hall's good reputation in the martial world and years of cooperation, the merchants who supply the Thunder Fire Hall agreed to let the Thunder Fire Hall pay three percent, or even one percent, of the money first, but the remaining money must eventually be paid."
"Unfortunately, with the Thunder Fire Hall's financial resources, it's impossible to repay this money under normal circumstances, so Hall Master Jiang had no choice but to set his sights on this birthday banquet, or more precisely, on Boss Jin."
"Everyone knows that Jin Duoduo and his Treasure Pavilion are the richest in the world, but Jin Duoduo must also be an extremely shrewd person to have accumulated such a terrifying fortune. It's not easy to get money from him."
"So, under duress, Hall Master Jiang had no choice but to find another way, coming up with a crooked trick to use his own 'death' to get money for the Thunder Fire Hall."
"The specific method, to put it bluntly, is nothing much. It's just finding a substitute with a similar build to himself in advance. Well, Hall Master Jiang should have initially thought about finding someone who looked the same as him, but it was probably a bit difficult."
"After all, even twins will have some slight differences in appearance, and Hall Master Jiang himself would be active in Wen Family Manor at that time, making it easy for people to see the difference."
"So, for the sake of safety, he had no choice but to settle for second best, finding someone with the same build but a different appearance, making a knife scar on the substitute's left rib, and tattooing his own matching tattoo. Then, when it was time to celebrate the birthday, he would bring this substitute in the box."
"They had even started planning this matter half a year ago." Lu Jing thought for a while, and ultimately didn't reveal the relationship between Wen Lun and Jin Duoduo, because he had also realized that the reason why Wen Lun approached Jin Duoduo and became his mistress was probably also to plan for the future.
In this case, the relationship between Wen Lun and Jin Duoduo is likely not real, but her relationship with Jiang Lei is as loving as the rumors in the martial world say. For her man's ambition, she even sacrificed her body and reputation.
Lu Jing sighed in his heart, and then continued, "Before the birthday banquet started, Jiang Lei cut off the head of the substitute, disguised him as himself, and then tried to trick Jin Duoduo into his room, while he himself left one step ahead and hid in this secret room. Considering the time of the crime and the hard requirements on martial arts, Jin Duoduo became the only suspect."
"And then, in order to obtain the understanding of Madam Jiang and the Thunder Fire Hall, Jin Duoduo would inevitably have to pay a large sum of money, and that was Hall Master Jiang's plan."