Oh no! My grandmother made me shoulder the responsibility for eight households!

Chapter 9 Shops Vandalized

The next morning, before Lin Chen even opened his eyes, he heard a commotion coming from the courtyard.

"Eighth Master! Eighth Master, something bad has happened!" Lin Wu's voice was extremely anxious.

Lin Chen put on his coat, got up, and pushed open the door to go out.

Lin Wu was panting heavily, his face filled with anger: "Our silk shop in the south of the city was vandalized last night!"

"What?" Lin Chen frowned. "What are the specifics?"

"At the beginning of the Yin hour (3-5 AM), a group of masked men stormed into the shop, injuring the manager and two employees, overturning all the shelves, tearing and burning the silks, causing a loss of at least three thousand taels of silver!" Lin Wu gritted his teeth.

"The shopkeeper recognized one of them as the head servant of Young Master Wang!"

Wang Sheng.

A cold glint flashed in Lin Chen's eyes.

"Have you reported it to the authorities?"

"We reported it, but the officials are dragging their feet and haven't even gone to the scene to investigate yet," Lin Wu said indignantly. "They're clearly deliberately delaying!"

Lin Chen pondered for a moment: "Let's go, let's go to the scene and take a look."

"Eighth Master, should we inform the Old Madam first?"

"No need," Lin Chen waved his hand. "I can handle this little thing myself."

Just as the two were about to leave, a clear, cold female voice came from outside the courtyard: "I'll go with you."

Lin Chen turned around and saw his sister-in-law, Liu Ruyan, dressed in a martial outfit with a long sword at her waist, standing at the gate of the courtyard.

Her expression was solemn, and her eyes were filled with anger.

"Sister-in-law?"

"The Wang family smashed the Lin family's shop; this is a slap in the face to all of us," Liu Ruyan said coldly.

"Although I am a woman, I know what family honor and disgrace are. Let's go."

Lin Chen felt a warmth in his heart: "Then I'll have to trouble you, sister-in-law."

The three rode out of the mansion and headed straight for the south of the city.

The silk shop is located on Jinxiu Street, the most bustling street in the south of the city. It's always busy with people and does good business.

But at this moment, the shop door was tightly closed, and there were obvious kick marks on the door panel.

Several men squatted by the door, their faces bearing injuries.

"The boss is here!" a sharp-eyed waiter shouted.

The shopkeeper was an elderly man in his fifties, surnamed Zhou, with gauze wrapped around his forehead, from which blood seeped.

Upon seeing Lin Chen, he burst into tears: "Eighth Master! I am incompetent and failed to protect the shop..."

"Uncle Zhou, don't say that." Lin Chen helped him up. "It's good that you're alright. Tell me in detail what happened last night."

Shopkeeper Zhou wiped away his tears: "After closing at 9 PM last night, I and two employees were in the shop doing the accounting."

Just as midnight struck, I heard banging on the door. As soon as I opened it, seven or eight masked men rushed in, attacking anyone they saw and smashing anything in sight.

They are all quite skilled, at least eighth-rank martial artists, we can't stop them at all..."

"Are you sure it's someone from the Wang family?" Liu Ruyan asked.

"Confirmed!" a young man gritted his teeth and said.

"I recognize the leader. He has a scar on his left cheek. He is Wang Biao, the head of the guards next to Young Master Wang!"

He was cursing and swearing as he hit him, saying, "Let your master mind his own business!"

Lin Chen walked into the shop.

a mess.

The shelves were overturned, and the finest silks were either torn to shreds or covered in footprints.

The counter was smashed, and account books were scattered all over the floor.

The most outrageous thing was that several large characters were written on the wall in charcoal: "Those who meddle in other people's business, die!"

"Arrogant!" Liu Ruyan gripped the sword hilt tightly, her knuckles turning white.

Lin Chen remained unusually calm.

He crouched down, carefully examined the footprints on the ground, and picked up a piece of torn silk edge to look at the tear marks.

"This wasn't done by ordinary thugs." He stood up. "These people are well-trained, and their actions were swift and efficient. Smashing the shop was secondary; the main thing was to demonstrate."

Liu Ruyan frowned: "You mean, there's someone behind Wang Sheng?"

"Possibly." Lin Chen remained noncommittal. "But whoever it is, since they've made a move, they have to pay the price."

Just then, a lazy voice came from outside the door: "Make way, make way, this is an official case!"

Several constables strolled over slowly, led by a short, stout head constable who looked impatient.

"Who's the manager?" the constable asked, glancing sideways.

Manager Zhou quickly stepped forward: "Yes, sir."

"Tell me, what happened?" The head constable picked at his ear, without even looking at the scene.

Manager Zhou recounted the story again, and when he mentioned Wang Biao, the constable's expression changed slightly.

"You mean the head guard of the third young master of the Wang family?" the constable interrupted him. "Do you have any evidence?"

"Yes! I saw it with my own eyes!" the young man exclaimed.

"You?" The constable sized him up. "Who do you think you are? Trying to frame the Minister's son with nothing but empty words? I think you're trying to extort money from him!"

"You!" The waiter was so angry that his face turned red.

Lin Chen stepped forward:

"Officer, the evidence at the scene is all there. You didn't even look at it before concluding it was extortion? Is this how the Jingzhao Yin's office handles cases?"

The head constable then took a good look at Lin Chen, noticing his luxurious clothes and extraordinary bearing, and softened his tone slightly: "And you are...?"

"Lin Chen of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion."

The constable's expression changed: "So it's Young Master Lin the Eighth. My apologies for not recognizing you. But this matter..."

He rubbed his hands together, looking troubled. "Without solid evidence, we can't very well go to the Minister's residence to arrest him."

"Didn't you check the footprints on the ground? Didn't you examine the way the silk was torn? Didn't you compare the handwriting on the wall?" Lin Chen asked three questions in a row.

"Or does the head constable already know who the murderer is, so there's no need to investigate further?"

The head constable, sweat beading on his forehead, said, "Eighth Young Master, what you're saying... We definitely need to investigate! It just will take time..."

"How long will it take?"

"Well... it could take three to five days at the earliest, or ten days to half a month at the latest," the constable chuckled. "After all, it involves the Ministry of Rites, so we have to be careful."

Liu Ruyan couldn't listen any longer and said coldly, "Three to five days? By then, the murderer would have already disposed of the body!"

The head constable's face darkened: "Madam, watch your words! Cases are handled based on evidence, not just what you say!"

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Just then, the sound of horses' hooves came from the street corner.

A troop of cavalrymen galloped in, about twenty men, all dressed in black tight-fitting clothes and carrying standard long swords at their waists.

The leader was a man in his thirties with a stern face and sharp eyes.

"The Imperial City Guard is handling a case; all bystanders, please step aside!" With this command, the onlookers dispersed.

Upon seeing the newcomer, the head constable's expression changed drastically, and he quickly bowed, saying, "Greetings, Commander Liu!"

The Imperial City Guard was an intelligence and oversight agency directly under the emperor, wielding immense power.

A centurion, though not of high rank, wielded far more real power than an ordinary yamen runner.

Liu Baihu dismounted, his gaze sweeping across the scene before finally settling on Lin Chen:

"Could it be the Eighth Young Master Lin of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion?"

"That's right." Lin Chen cupped his hands in greeting.

Liu Baihu returned the gift:

"I am Liu Zheng, a centurion of the Imperial City Guard, ordered by the Emperor to inspect the security of the capital. I have come to investigate after hearing of the vandalism that has occurred here."

Lin Chen's heart stirred.

Why did the Imperial City Guard arrive at such a convenient time?

"Thank you for your trouble, Commander Liu." He said calmly.

"As you can see, my shop was vandalized last night, suffering heavy losses. The perpetrators are suspected to be guards from the Ministry of Rites."

Liu Zheng nodded and waved to those behind him:

"Investigate the scene and collect evidence. You, you, go ask the surrounding businesses if anyone saw anything last night."

The Imperial City Guards acted swiftly and decisively, getting to work quickly.

The yamen runners were left standing there, feeling extremely embarrassed.