C9

Meng and Du sat in the palanquin of the Chen Prefecture Lord. They were in a hurry and were so tired that the men in the palanquins were sweating like rain. They didn't dare to slack off until they finally arrived at the Chen Mansion.

Chen Lu took the lead and led Meng and Du to the living room. They saw that there was a square table in the hall with tea, fruits and sandalwood on it. However, there was no one there.

Chen Lu frowned slightly and said to Meng Chun Lou with a smile, "Please wait here for a moment, I'll go ask the lord to come!"

"Steward Chen, do as you please!" As Meng Chunlou spoke, he took a seat at a table. As for Du Jiangsheng, he bravely walked over to the table after Chen Lu left. He reached out his hand to pick a banana, turned around and began peeling it.

"You greedy cat, didn't you eat enough in the Top Scorer Restaurant just now?" Meng Chun Lou said as she stared at Du Jiangsheng.

"Where's the banana?" As Du Jiangsheng spoke, he took a bite and then passed it in front of Meng Chunlou, "The taste is not bad. How about you have a bite too?"

At this time, the sound of hurried footsteps could be heard coming from outside the house. Meng Chunlou sat up straight and hastily said to Du Jiangsheng, "Quickly put it away, the lord is here!"

Du Jiangsheng immediately understood and quickly finished the banana, then casually threw it out. He was about to destroy the corpse, but someone suddenly shouted from outside, "Ouch, who ate this banana peel? "How dare you!"

Hearing this, Du Jiangsheng was startled. He subconsciously looked at Meng Chunlou and saw that fear was written all over his face. He couldn't help but lower his voice and say, "This is bad!"

Before he could finish his sentence, he saw Prefect Chen walking in quickly with a banana peel in his hand. With a displeased expression, he asked, "You two are here?"

Meng and Du stood up in hurry to greet him: "Greetings Sir Chen!"

Prefect Chen nodded his head and threw the banana skin to the side. Then, he gestured for Meng and Du to take a seat. "What bad luck! Even walking can be smashed by bananas!"

"Old Master Chen, just now, I was careless …"

"You can't be blamed, it's all my bad luck!" Prefect Chen sighed.

"Did my lord encounter some unpleasantness?" Meng Chun Lou asked.

Chief Steward Chen wanted to say something, but hesitated. He pointed at the teacups on the table and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, let's drink some tea first!"

Meng Chun Lou knew he was having a hard time talking, so she picked up her teacup and took a sip. "Good tea!" "Could it be Longjing from the West Lake?"

Prefect Chen forced a smile and said, "Sir is indeed someone who understands tea. Unfortunately, no matter how good the tea is, it is hard to swallow in my mouth!"

"Milord, what happened? Can you tell me?" Maybe this little one can help the Lord out with this matter? " Meng Chun Lou asked.

Master Chen let out another long sigh, hesitated for a moment, and then said: "To be honest, Sir, you just left this morning, and my treasure pearl disappeared without a trace! Just because of this matter, the Madam had been looking for death and tormented to the point that the entire mansion became restless. She had even tried hanging herself three times! "Sigh!"

"Ah?" You really lost your treasure? " Meng Chun Lou was shocked and broke out in a cold sweat. She thought to herself, "I haven't even made a move yet, how could I lose his precious bead?" Isn't that ruining our plan? "

I don't believe in ghosts or gods anymore. Now that something like this has happened in this house, I have no choice but to believe in it. Sir, since you have an ironclad mouth that is broken and are entrusted to you by my father's soul, may I ask you to use your sacred art to find the pearl for me?

"Master, I am duty-bound to do this, it's just that the theft of the pearl was too sudden, although your father entrusted it to me, he did not inform me who stole the pearl, so, in order to find out the whereabouts of the pearl, I dare you to bring me to the location of the pearl, I wonder if you would agree to that?" Meng Chun Lou asked.

Prefect Chen hesitated for a moment and then sighed: "Alright! Now that we are in trouble, please follow me! "

Hearing this, Meng and Du immediately got up and followed Chen Prefect out of the living room. Then they passed through a long corridor and turned into a small courtyard. After passing through the courtyard, they passed through a few places and almost knocked Meng and Du out.

Master Chen took out the key from his sleeve and opened the door, only to see that the interior of the room was decorated quite simply. Besides the bed and a few tables and chairs on the west side, there was nothing else.

"Don't worry, there's another mystery here!" Chief Steward Chen said.

"Actually, if you put the bead here, it would be even safer because who would have thought that such a simple and crude house would be a place to hide the bead?" Du Jiangsheng laughed.

When Prefect Chen heard this, he could not help but glance at Du Jiangsheng and smile. He then walked to the wall opposite of the bed and extended his hands to push against the wall. With a creaking sound, the wall actually turned over, creating a secret passage!

"Wonderful!" This design is simply too wonderful! " Meng Quan praised.

When Prefect Chen heard someone's praise, he couldn't help but feel proud of it. He smiled and said, "Please follow me!"

Meng and Du immediately followed behind Prefect Chen into the secret passage and casually put down the wall. Prefect Chen lit a fire piston and led the two of them along the stone path. He then saw two oil lamps on the stone wall on both sides and lit them up, revealing the situation inside.

They saw that it was a tunnel. There were huge rocks on both sides of the tunnel, and the pillars supporting the ceiling were designed to be very sturdy. However, this was a dead end, with no end.

"Sir, there is no other way, could it be that we are in the wrong place?" Meng Chun Lou asked.

"Could it be that there is another mystery here?" Du Jiangsheng asked.

Prefect Chen sneered and slowly walked towards the entrance. He then said, "There is indeed no other path here. However, it cannot be any better to deal with the great Jiang Yang bandits!"

Meng Chun Lou was shocked when she heard this and asked, "What do you mean?"

"You two bold bandits, it's one thing for you to steal from others in the martial arts world, but now you dare to come here and touch the earth, you are simply courting death! I advise you to hand over the pearl as soon as possible, and I might be able to spare your lives.

Suddenly, two iron grilles fell down from the top of the tunnel, trapping Meng and Du. At this time, a dozen more people with crossbows suddenly burst in. Each of them nocked an arrow and aimed at Meng and Du. Meng Chunlou anxiously asked, "Sire, what is the meaning of this?"

"Humph!" "At this point, are you two still unwilling to speak the truth?" "You guys were first trying to scare me, hoping to attract the housekeeper's attention. When we have the chance to enter the mansion, you will use my father's spirit as an excuse to trick me into taking the bead for a lie, but in reality, you are trying to tempt me to take out the bead for a test. This is a trap, and I have already seen through it, so I definitely won't fall for it. It's a pity that my lady heard the three of us talking, out of suspicion, and took out the pearl to inspect it."

"Master, you misunderstand!" We are not the ones who stole the pearl! " Meng Quan explained.

"That's right!" "After we left the Chen residence, we had tea with Boss Li at Fuchun Teahouse, and later, we coincidentally met Boss Zhao at the Champion Stadium. Both of them can testify to this matter, so we don't have the time to commit the crime!" Du Jiangsheng said.

"Hmph, do you think that just because you say this, I will easily believe your lies? Let me tell you, I am not that stupid! Right now, you must hand over the precious pearl and live, otherwise, with my order, you will immediately become hedgehogs! " Chief Steward Chen said angrily.

"Master, the pearl was not stolen by us, if you kill us, I am afraid you will never have the chance to find it again!" Meng Chun Lou said anxiously.

"You dare to threaten me when the situation is right in front of you? "I see that you're determined to oppose me. Fine, I'll let you die a quick death!" As Prefect Chen spoke, he raised his arm towards the group of servants, "Get ready!"

When the group of people heard his orders, they pulled their bowstrings to their fullest and waited for him to give the order to shoot!

"Hold on!" Du Jiangsheng cried out, "Master Chen, it's not good enough for us to die! It's a pity that we're dead, but you're really going to die! You want to trade your entire family for the two of our cheap lives, are you willing to give it up? "

"You!" Prefect Chen was so angry that his entire body was trembling, "Brat, your death is near, yet you are still so arrogant!?" Good! I'll lock you up and torture you. I don't believe that you won't tell the truth! Someone, bring them down and interrogate them! "

When the servants heard this and were about to grab him, they saw Chen Lu jogging his way in, shouting, "Master, it's bad, the mansion lost something again!"

"What?" Lost it again? What did you lose this time? " Prefect Chen was both shocked and angry as he spoke.

"This time, not only did I lose Madam's hairpin, I also lost a maidservant!" Chen Lu said with an anxious expression.

"What?" Chief Steward Chen was so angry that his entire body was trembling. "The bandits are still here. How can we kill them?"

"Master, they might really not be thieves …" Chen Lu's voice became softer and softer until it could no longer be heard.

Chief Steward Chen paced back and forth in anger, gritting his teeth as he asked with hatred, "Which one is that hairpin?"

"It was my lord's father-in-law's congratulatory gift for Madam's birthday last year …" As Chen Lu spoke in a low voice, he observed the expression of Prefect Chen. When he heard this, he was so angered that his mouth was crooked and his eyes were slanted. He hurriedly lowered his head in fear, not daring to make a sound.

"Rice Bucket!" You are all useless fools! Are you all blind in the middle of the day? How could he let a living person and such a precious hairpin be stolen? Could the murderer have used invisibility? You bunch of bastards, all of you deserve to die. Chief Steward Chen said angrily.

"Please spare me, please spare me!" Chen Lu fell to his knees in panic, kowtowing as if he was pounding garlic. "This lowly one knows I'm useless and is willing to accept the punishment, but now is not the time for old master to be angry. Madame, she, she …"

"What happened to her?" Chief Steward Chen asked in shock.

"Madam jumped into the well!" After Chen Lu boldly said this, he was so frightened that he knocked his head against the ground, not daring to raise his head again.

When Prefect Chen heard this, he immediately became flustered. He only saw stars flashing in front of his eyes, and heard a buzzing sound. His body went limp, and he fell face first onto the ground!

"Quick, quick, quick!" Hurry and help the old master up! " Chen Lu crawled up from the ground in a panic. As he commanded the servants to save Prefect Chen, he stretched out his sleeves to wipe the cold sweat off his face. A messenger next to him asked, "Butler, what do we do with these two people?"

"Who would care about them now?" Let them stay! Go to the doctor, and the others will carry the master back to his room. You bunch of clumsy dog slaves! " As Chen Lu kicked the messenger, he helped carry Prefecture Lord Chen and hurriedly left the secret passage.

Hearing the footsteps of those people gradually getting farther and farther away, Meng Chunlou could not help but smile bitterly. He turned to Du Jiangsheng and said, "This time, I'm afraid we won't be able to get out!"

"What can we do when we encounter a prefect who pretends to be smart and stupid?" Du Jiangsheng smiled bitterly.

"Who exactly stole the pearl? Why did he steal the pearl at this time? Could it be to frame us? " Meng Chun Lou could not help but let out the doubts in her heart.

"We've just entered the martial arts world and we don't have the opportunity to offend anyone. It shouldn't be a trap!" Du Jiangsheng analyzed.

"Could it be a coincidence?" Meng Chun Lou asked.

"It should be!" Du Jiangsheng said.

"But because of this coincidence, it's hard to tell even if we're talking all over!" Meng Chun Lou smiled bitterly.

"However, this Thief has a lot of conscience. Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken the risk again just to clear us of any suspicions!" Du Jiangsheng said.

"You said that he once again committed theft in order to help us clean up?" Meng Chun Lou asked.

"Even if it isn't, another coincidence is enough to get us out of this predicament!" Du Jiangsheng said.

"It's a pity that we're locked up here. Otherwise, I'd rather go out and meet this Thief with a conscience. Maybe we could be friends with him!" Meng Chun said.

"Become friends with Thieves?" Are you thinking too much? " Du Jiangsheng laughed.

"As long as he is kind, why not?" Meng Chunlou said with a serious expression.

"At the moment, I only wish to leave this place as soon as possible. If we delay it any longer, our plan will fail!" Du Jiangsheng said with a depressed expression.

"Isn't our plan repeatedly disrupted? If we were to talk about failure, I'm afraid it would have long been for naught! " Meng Chun Lou smiled bitterly.

"Although something went wrong in the middle, it's still in our control. It doesn't have much of an impact. But now that we're locked up here, even if we're full of energy, what can we do?" Du Jiangsheng smiled bitterly.

As he spoke, he suddenly heard a series of "hualala" sounds, which sounded like iron chains twisting around each other. Accompanied by the sounds was the iron fence that surrounded them. Soon after, they had completely ascended to the top …