Not long after, the servant came back with the bag of things. Chu Qingwan took a quick look and saw that the bag was full of emeralds, agates, gold and silver ingots, etc. It was enough for an ordinary person to live a lifetime. It was indeed a lot.
She checked and found that no one had touched it, and then said: "Go and call everyone in the east courtyard over."
For a large family, the people in a courtyard are not only those who serve at the front of the house, but also those who sweep, do odd jobs, cook in the kitchen, and so on.
Chu Qingwan thought about it carefully, and in order to facilitate the care of the old lady, Mrs. Song's house was located in the side room next to the main house in the east courtyard.
That place is also within the scope of the old man's main house. People from other courtyards are not allowed to enter without permission, so the problem can only be with the people in the east courtyard.
After all, Chu Qingyue and Liu probably wouldn't do this kind of sneaky thing themselves, but would probably bribe some servant to do it.
Gathering all the people in one place, Chu Qingwan had plenty of ways to catch them out.
After a while, everyone in the east courtyard was gathered. Together, men and women totaled fifteen people.
They didn't understand why they were called, and whispered in small groups, speculating on the reason.
Mrs. Liu couldn't tell what kind of medicine Chu Qingwan was selling in the gourd, so she frowned and said, "The old lady is in need of people, what are you doing?"
Chu Qingwan smiled: "Don't worry, madam. I'd like to help you find a stronger cloth bag."
The wrinkles between Liu's eyebrows became deeper and deeper, so she asked someone to get it.
Chu Qingwan took it, put something in it, and handed it to Wei Zhan.
She stood in front of the fifteen people: "There was a burglary in the old lady's room. I asked you to come here to catch the thief and restore peace to the east courtyard."
The crowd was silent for a moment, then exploded, with different expressions on their faces.
Chu Qingwan continued: "Don't panic, I won't be wronged if you are innocent, but I won't tolerate those with unclean hands and feet."
"Everyone knows that objects like jade agate are most easily stained with dirt. Likewise, human fingerprints can easily remain on it."
No one understood what fingerprints meant. Chu Qingwan explained: "The so-called fingerprints are the lines on the fingers. Everyone is different."
"No one has touched the stolen goods since they were discovered. In other words, the last fingerprints on those agate jadeite stones were left by the thief."
After saying this, Chu Qingyue and Liu were a little panicked.
Without him, they couldn't quite understand what Chu Qingwan said, but they vaguely felt it made sense.
The mother and daughter looked at each other with the same nervousness in their eyes.
Chu Qingwan pointed to the cloth bag in Wei Zhan's hand: "I just put a fingerprint collector inside. Just touch it and you can collect fingerprints."
"The collected fingerprints will be compared one by one with those on the jade agate, and it will be obvious who the thief is."
Fingerprint collectors are a blind spot for everyone's knowledge. They look at me and I look at you, with a question mark on their foreheads.
Chu Qingwan explained the rules clearly, and did not forget to add a threat: "I have zero tolerance for thieves. Once caught, I will be disabled in the least, or put to death in the worst."
"So, for your personal safety, it's best to leave your fingerprints for comparison carefully to avoid being mistakenly killed."
After finishing speaking, Chu Qingwan gave Wei Zhan a look. He walked to the crowd with the cloth bag and asked them to touch it one by one.
Chu Qingwan observed it and found no clues for the time being, so he simply sat down and drank tea.
After a cup of tea, everyone had finished touching, and Wei Zhan returned to Chu Qingwan: "Miss, the fingerprints are all here."
Chu Qingwan said "hmm" but did not take the so-called fingerprint collector. Instead, she came to the crowd and said, "Now, stretch out the hand you just put into the bag."