After having enough wine and food, everyone present smiled with satisfaction.
Liu Zhang repeatedly praised Zhen Luo's craftsmanship, but he still had the arrogant and domineering attitude before:
"Miss Zhen's cooking skills are really beyond the reach of those so-called restaurants. Being able to have a bite of such delicious food makes today worth it."
Pang Xi smiled and joked next to him:
"My lord, you may not know that Miss Cai and the others are from the tavern business. I heard that their gentleman is one of the best in food research and development. If we have the chance, we must try their signature dishes.
.”
"Is there still such a thing?
That gentleman can not only grow tea, but also cook?"
Liu Zhang was hesitant. After all, a person only has so much energy. He was already very busy just dealing with business matters. He could not imagine that a person could have such abundant energy and be able to make achievements in so many aspects.
Ma Dai, who heard Liu Zhang's question, said drunkenly:
"Harm, where are you going?"
"Sir, he is a man who knows everything about astronomy and geography from ancient times to the present. For him, cooking vegetables and tea is just something he can do easily."
"Just brag. If there really is such a person, I might not know about it?"
Liu Zhang was also drunk now and insisted on arguing with Ma Dai.
Not only that, he also pulled Ma Jun next to him and said:
"Boy, I can see that you are the only one among such a group of people who has real ability and dares to talk nonsense about me, Liu Zhang. You are definitely not an ordinary person... Tell me, what is the gentleman they talk about doing?
What?"
Ma Jun smiled slightly, because he didn't drink, but he seemed quite sober. When Liu Zhang questioned Yi Xiaotian, Ma Jun shook his head and said:
"My abilities are only a drop in the bucket compared to Mr. Yi's, not to mention that I only have some skills in making these mechanical tools. Mr. Yi's fantastic inventions are not something that a mortal like me can match."
Liu Zhang choked on Ma Jun's words. He really didn't believe that someone could be so powerful, but everyone in front of him praised that gentleman so much. Even if he didn't believe it, he couldn't completely deny it.
And with all the compliments from everyone, Liu Zhang really had the idea of inviting that gentleman to come to Shu...
Therefore, regarding what he was most concerned about, Liu Zhang carefully probed:
"Then let me ask you, does your gentleman... know how to lead troops in war?"
"Ahem!"
Before anyone could answer, Cheng Ji was already impatient... He couldn't be considered impatient. In short, he felt that Liu Zhang was not focused on what he had ordered before. He was somewhat anxious.
However, when he coughed like this, Liu Zhang became a little angry. He turned his head and stared at Cheng Ji and asked:
"how?
Did you choke?
If you get choked, drink more water and stop coughing!"
"No... Lord! I have something important to report. It's about the matter you ordered me to investigate first!"
Cheng Ji felt quite aggrieved. Seeing that Liu Zhang didn't remember what he had said before, he stood up and loudly interrupted everyone's discussion, and also reminded Liu Zhang:
"It's about Xu Jing..."
Now Liu Zhang slapped his forehead and suddenly woke up.
"Ah! Yes, yes! There is one more thing! Look at my memory..."
"How's it going? Did you find anything?"
Liu Zhang asked anxiously, while Pang Xi on the side showed a meaningful smile.
It's not just Pang Xi... In fact, everyone is waiting for this moment. The net will be closed as soon as it is cast, and the plan will finally be implemented.
I just heard Cheng Ji give instructions to the people next to him:
"Bring up the iron box."
His subordinates quickly placed the rusty iron box on the table.
By the way, while putting down the iron box, Cheng Ji kept his eyes on Pang Xi.
He wanted to see if Pang Xi would react to this thing.
However, to his disappointment, Pang Xi not only did not respond, but also acted quite leisurely... This made Cheng Ji a little confused.
However, Liu Zhang's words still brought Cheng Ji back to his senses:
"What is this iron box for?
what is inside?"
"Returning to my lord, here is an account book from a year ago."
"Oh...I see...wait...wait a minute?
How many years ago?
A year ago?”
"Well, that's when you think about it, my lord..."
Liu Zhang was overjoyed and thought Cheng Ji had found evidence that Xu Jing had committed a crime.
However, Cheng Ji opened the iron box in front of everyone and took out the account book directly:
"My lord, you should know by now that the business you left to your cronies to take care of was actually the smuggling business of Shu brocade in your name."
"This crime may be big or small, but after all, I have always been filial to you and have hardly caused any trouble with you. We will not pursue this matter for the time being."
"Well, that's true...and the people are all dead, so it doesn't matter what's right or wrong. I just want to know who killed them, and who took over their account and took their place."
Liu Zhang stroked his beard and looked thoughtful. In fact, he had no intention of thinking at all. He just thought that the person who had committed the crime could only be Xu Jing.
But Cheng Ji's next words left Liu Zhang stunned:
"The specific details in this account book are too detailed. Since I have already read them once, I will pick out some important ones and share them with you. If you have any questions, please circulate this account book and see if there are any discrepancies with what I told you."
"First of all... this is an account book from a year ago. The time coincides with the time when the lord was sober and lost contact. If nothing else, this should be the person who committed the conspiracy to hide the gains they made in the transaction.
A contradictory and hidden ledger.”
"It can be seen from this account book that the amount of the last transaction between the two parties was quite huge, and it was all about Shu brocade..."
"There is no problem with this - the real problem lies in the gap between the accounts and the accounts - what does it mean? To put it simply, when these few people were trading with a certain regular customer, the other party only took
I received the goods but didn’t pay for them.”
"Further judging from the various figures displayed on the account book, I privately concluded that the reason for such a problem came from an unexpected price increase."
"I don't know if it's a temporary price increase by these lord's cronies, or what...at least judging from past transaction records, this price increase is enough to make this old customer pay 50% more cost."
"This is where the contradiction arises."
"Of course I know what happened a year ago. I only have this account book, and without the testimony of witnesses, it may be difficult to restore the situation at that time - but the records left in this account book can prove something very special.
The important thing—that is the identity of this regular customer.”
"Am i right?
Huge Man?"
As soon as Cheng Ji said these words, the whole place was in an uproar.
Liu Zhang looked at Cheng Ji with his mouth open, and then at Pang Xi in the distance. He seemed to have never expected that the result would be like this.